Postmodernism Theory

Below is a diagram which showcases the four different threads connected to Postmodernism theory;

Postmodernism deliberately rejects the idea that there is a high and low culture. They tend to avoid rigid genre distinctions. Rathet than conforming to genre distinctions, postmodernists took a preferenve of the following formats;

• Pastiche - a mixture of different forms
• Parody - a spoof vertsion of a genre
• Bricolage - use of the materials available depsite the intended purpose
• Irony - when there is tension between what is said and what is meant

Vladimir Propp Theory

• 8 character roles or spheres of action (character and action being inseparable)
• 31 functions always highly predictable such as the villian being punished at the end of the story

• The Villian
• The Hero
• The Donor
• The Helper
• The Princess
• The Father (the King who rewards hero)
• The Dispatcher (who sends hero on his way)
• The False Hero (usually good looking and a coward)

Claude Levi-Strauss Theory

Argued that meaning in narratives is based upon binary opposition (or conflict), he was less interested in the arrangement (syntagmatic) of the narrative (or order) and more in the deeper meaning (paradigmatic) of themes.

Binary opposition are things like;

• Men v Women
• Earth v Space
• Science v Nature
• Good v Evil

Queer Theory

Queer theory is the field of gender studies that emerged in the early 1990s out of the fields of gay and lesbian studies, and feminist studies. Although many people believe that queer theory is only about homosexual representations in literature, it also explores categories of gender, as well as sexual orientation. It is not only concerned with sexuality but also with identity. It sees gender as constructed socially, to some extent through our association with the media.

An example of this threory is in the children's television programme 'Scooby Doo'. Three of the five main characters have defined roles which have been set through queer theory. These include;

• Fred - Leader, Male
• Daphne - Female, follows Fred, and is a Girly Girl
• Velma - Brainy/Nerd, Intelligent, Lesbian

Queer theorists analyse texts to expose underlying meanings within and to challenge the notions of 'straight' ideology. They generally challenge the idea that what appears to be straight is in fact a subversion of homosexual desires.

Detailed Analysis of Two Film Posters

In this post, I am going to analyse two film posters from which advertise a film from two different distinct genres - one being from the set film 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part Two', and the other being a poster which has been as part of the marketing campaign for a film in the same genre as the film which my group have created our trailer for, for this I will be using the poster from the British science fiction/ horror film '28 Days Later'.

Both of the film posters which I analysed adhered to the codes and conventions which I have looked at in a previous post, as they both contained a main imge, a release date, a slogan and the most important feature - the film's name. Both of the film posters although from different genres stick to the same basic design of featuring a title with the billing block as well as the release date below, although the Harry Potter slightly wonders away from this by not placing a title whatsoever on its poster and instead just placing a quote from the text, which is used in synergy on the film trailer.

Richard Dyer's Star Theory

Richard Dyer has written extensively about the role of stars in film, television, and music. Irrespective of the medium, stars have some key features in common. A star is an image, not a real person, that is constructed (as any other aspect of fiction is) out of a range of materials (e.g. advertising, magazines, music etc.). Stars are commodities produced and consumed on the strength of their meanings.

Stars depend upon a range of subsidiary media - magazines, television, radio and the internet - in order to construct an image for themselves which can be marketed to their target audiences. The star image is made up of a range of meanings which are attractive to the target audiences.

Fundamentally, the star image is incoherent, that is incomplete and 'open'. Dyer says that this is because it is based upon two key paradoxes;

• Paradox 1 - The star must be simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary for the consumer. They have to be someone which other people can aspire to be like.

• Paradox 2 - The star must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer. This means that the star are there, but have a private life which people can not see.    

The incoherence of the star image ensures that audiences continually strive to 'complete' or to 'make sense' of the image. This is achieved by continuous consumption of the star through his or her products. In the music industry, performance seems to promise the completion of the image, but it is always ultimately dissatisfying. This means their fans will get away determined to continue consuming the star in order to satisfy/ carry on attempting to complete their image.

Roland Barthes' Theory

Roland Bathes is famous in media studies for suggesting that narratives work with the codes.

• The Action or Proairectic
• The Enigma or Hermeneutic
• The Semic
• The Symbolic
• The Culturalor Referential

The Enigma Code is the most famous as we use this to make guesses to how the narrative will finish, therefore providing pleasure for the audience.

The Hermeneutic Code is the part of the story which is not fully explained. They exist as enigmas and questions that the audiences wishes to be resolved. A detective story for example, is a narrative that operates mainly by the hermeneutic code. A criminal act is shown and the remainder of the narrative is devoted to answering questions raised by the initial event.

In order to maintain interest, the final truth is not revealed until the end of the story and some devices are used to conceal it;

1. The Share - the deliberate avoidance of the truth - a tease or an implication which sends the audience down the wrong path
2. Partial Questions - revealing some of the final truth(s) that is used to increase suspense
3. Equivocation - a mixture of truth and snare, usually further muddying the water! 
4. Jamming - suggesting that the problem may be unsolvable

The Proairectic Code are actions that imply further action/ reaction. For example, a character has an argument and the reader wonders what the resolution or outcome of this argument will be. This creates suspense/ tension as the audience wonder what the outcome will be and begin to guess.

Detailed Analysis of Two Film Magazine Front Covers

In this post I am going to analyse two different film magazine front covers - one being the 'Total Film' magazine featuring the set film 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part Two', and the other being the 'Entertainment Weekly' film magazine front cover featuring a film from the same genre of which I will be creating, for this I have chosen 'Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street'. I will be analysing the two front covers by looking at the various codes and conventions which I have outlined in a previous post, to see whether both adhere to them.

Both of the film magazine front covers which I have chosen to analyse adhere to the various codes and conventions which are generally found on all film magazine front covers. Both the Sweeney Todd front cover created by 'Entertainment Weekly' and the Harry Potter front cover created by 'Total Film' feature an image on the cover which relates to the film by showing the main character(s); on the Harry Potter front cover this being Harry Potter himself and Voldemort, and on the Sweeney Todd front cover it being Sweeney Todd. This is a standard practice of the majority of film magazines when a blockbuster is released into the cinemas; it is done to advertise the actor to the general public, and target audience for the purpose of attracting the fan base of the advertised actor. Another feature which is similar on both front covers and a code and convention of magazine front covers is the use of the title in the masthead. The masthead is the area towards the top of the magazine's front cover which shows the title and logo in a specialised font which the reader can instantly identify. Even when magazines are running specials which feature an upcoming blockbuster, the masthead will nearly always stay the same, although it is common for the colour of the masthead to change to fit in line with the colour scheme of the marketing campaign of the advertised film. The first magazine has done this with the 'Harry Potter' special by turning the 3D masthead into a glowing masthead which falls into line with the text on the official trailer for the film; this being a practice of synergy which the marketing campaign have deliberately created so the public can link the various media practices which have been created for the purpose of advertising 'Harry Potter'. The second magazine however does not use this practice and instead sticks to their own colour scheme, although it is possible that this is because their layout does not follow the standard norm of other film magazines, as they include the title of the featured film's name in brackets below the name of the film; normally, film magazines place the title in larger text for the purpose of advertising, appealing to the film's target audience to buy the magazine, and creating synergy with the other media products which have been created by the film's marketing department. Another difference between the two magazines is that Total Film places more features for other items in the magazine on its front cover, whilst the Entertainment Weekly front cover places the features in small lettering under the main feature for the advertised film 'Sweeney Todd' and only one large feature on top of the image. I do not believe this is due to Sweeney Todd being more popular than Harry Potter and allow it to sell more copies of their magazine, but rather the two magazines have different sets of practices for what they place on their front covers. Personally, I like the minimalistic approach of Entertainment Weekly, but believe that the front cover of Total Film would attract more readers. This is what I would like to create for my own media product which I will creating and documenting the progress of on this blog.

Detailed Analysis of Two Trailers

In this post, I am going to analyse two different film trailers - one being the set trailer, 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part Two', and the other being a trailer from the same genre as the film which I will be creating in the planning and filming processes; for this I will be analysing the trailer for the Mel Gibson science-fiction/ horror/ thriller movie 'Signs'. I will showcase the similarities and differences between the two film trailers, to show whether the codes and conventions applies to trailers from all the various genres.

Whilst being similar due to both of them being film trailers which are relatively the same length, the two trailers are very different. This is due to the two trailers being from completely different genres, but taking has out of the picture, the codes and conventions are very similar. For example, both feature text slides including writing which has been considered important to the viewer to understand the film; in Harry Potter, text such as 'CAN LIVE' and 'COME TO DIE' tell the viewer a quote which is made by one of the main characters 'Voldemort' which is considered important for the viewer to grasp the plot of the film. In Signs however the text is used to show a location, as well as a date of when the events taking place within the film were supposed to have taken place (this being 'PORT SATAGA, EGYPT - NOVEMBER 28, 1992). Other text in the Signs trailer include showcasing the name of the main well known actor who plays the film's central protagonist (in case this is Mel Gibson). However Harry Potter does not need to showcase the name's of the three main actors in their film because Harry Potter is part of a lager franchise of films, so the audience are well aware of who the actors in the film are, and what their roles in the film are. Another code and convention which both films adhere to are the colour scheme attracting the correct target audience; Signs uses dark orange, black and red colours which links to the horror and thriller genres, and Harry Potter uses dark blues, and whites which links to the fantasy and mystery genres. This code and convention connects the colour scheme with the genre and the target audience. Age also contributes to this code and convention because after an audience from a particular genre is chosen, film marketers generally then look for a specific demographic, this normally being an age. For both of the film trailers above though, the age range in the target audiences is wide and varied as the story lines have not been designed for a specific age group but rather a general group.