this isn't confirmed, but doesn't the bass line from fifty cents new song "I'm buzzing" sound exactly like the intro to kenen and kel "aw here it goes" by coolio?
lol.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Intertextual reference in music
A big part of postmodernism is intertextuality, and intertextuality can occur between different types of media, in this case for example, a song can reference a film:
taken from the film "The goonies" and used by the band lostprophets in their song "can't stop got a date with hate"
... just thought i'd put that one out there...
taken from the film "The goonies" and used by the band lostprophets in their song "can't stop got a date with hate"
... just thought i'd put that one out there...
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Track listing
the illusion of choice
1. stop and stare -not being in the position that you want to be in
2. besaid island - chilling in the summer, younger years (primary school)
3. strawberry swing - 6 form, fun times
4. day 'n' night - feeling overworked (year 11-12)
5. to zanarkand - not sure
6. mad world - when things don't seem to make sense
7. radar detector - year 13
8. tsunami - when a shocking revelation takes place
9. underdog - getting your own back
10. black dog on my shoulder - feeling down over stupid things
11. mr brightside - the same as stop and stare
12. when you were young - wanting something so badly and then realising you don't need it
13. the scientist - guilt
1. stop and stare -not being in the position that you want to be in
2. besaid island - chilling in the summer, younger years (primary school)
3. strawberry swing - 6 form, fun times
4. day 'n' night - feeling overworked (year 11-12)
5. to zanarkand - not sure
6. mad world - when things don't seem to make sense
7. radar detector - year 13
8. tsunami - when a shocking revelation takes place
9. underdog - getting your own back
10. black dog on my shoulder - feeling down over stupid things
11. mr brightside - the same as stop and stare
12. when you were young - wanting something so badly and then realising you don't need it
13. the scientist - guilt
Monday, March 21, 2011
Postmodern aspects of musical examples
Dan Black's symphonies is a prime example of bricolage in music, a big part of postmodern media. Dan Black bases his song entirley on other peices of music e.g. a movie theme from the 1980's is the main melody of the song. This shows 3 of the qualities of post modern music: modification - a song has been pulled apart for the individual part to be used in this remaix style record by Dan Black, which ttakes away the seemingly untouchable quality of the songs we listen to in everyday life e.g. on the radio and shows that it can be recycled. This breaks the typical aspects of popular music, which is a very postmodern thing to do. authenticity displaced - relating back to the previous point, the untouchable, other wordly and indescribable quality which naturally forms around normal music.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Why Scott Pilgrim vs. the world failed at the box office
Scott Pilgrim vs. the world is a massive reconstruction of several very old games, comic books and the occaisonal film taken from an archive of geek culture and packed into a teen romance movie - needless to say, this did not generate the money it cost to make it. In reality the film is just one giant reference to hundreds of individual milestone media products of the last 30-40 years marking the revoloution in geek culture and the modern media it generates today as a result. As if trying to follow in the footsteps of other films such as "kick ass" or various creations of Quentin Tarantino by mashing up references in order to produce a text, it went completley overboard and in the end appears to have sacrificed structure and a sensible story line for the sake of referencing ridiculous amounts of past texts - it's like Kick ass on steroids maybe?
imagine an entire film which follows suit in making fun references like this scene from the film "hotshots"
It's possible that a film made in this style could accomplish the standards that were expected of Scott Pilgrim (a film with more references than sense), however, the references which are made need to be relevant, which is potentially the biggest mistake that was made when the creators of this homage tried to create a postmodern masterpeice. The target audience for a film about a "romcom" or teen romance situation tends to be, obviously, teenagers. The age range that i would set myself for this film would be ranging from 15-19, which itself is not a very big range and also contributes for the lack of public attention upon release of the film.
The main reason, however, for this film failing to generate the money it cost to produce still lies with in it's target audience, as the references which it was giving were things up t0
imagine an entire film which follows suit in making fun references like this scene from the film "hotshots"
It's possible that a film made in this style could accomplish the standards that were expected of Scott Pilgrim (a film with more references than sense), however, the references which are made need to be relevant, which is potentially the biggest mistake that was made when the creators of this homage tried to create a postmodern masterpeice. The target audience for a film about a "romcom" or teen romance situation tends to be, obviously, teenagers. The age range that i would set myself for this film would be ranging from 15-19, which itself is not a very big range and also contributes for the lack of public attention upon release of the film.
The main reason, however, for this film failing to generate the money it cost to produce still lies with in it's target audience, as the references which it was giving were things up t0
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Inglourious basterds research post
director Tarantino shows very postmodern elements in certain areas of his work which can be seen developing in parts of inglorious basterds. other pieces of tarantino's work include:
My Best Friend's Birthday
(1987)
Reservoir Dogs
(1992)
Pulp Fiction
(1994)
Four Rooms
(1995)
Jackie Brown
(1997)
Kill Bill, Vol. 1
(2003)
Kill Bill, Vol. 2
(2004)
Death Proof
(2007)
He also took part in various television directing, however his postmodern relevance is less obvious and apparent than in his film directing career. Inglorious Basterds received mainly positive reviews, such as this one by the telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/6060344/Inglourious-Basterds-review.html
This review in particular picks out elements such as the movies mixed theme which generally speaking don't seem to mesh well with each other, however Tarantino has managed to successfully blend and solder these genres together to give an overall coherent text with a postmodern tint to it. The main areas of inglourious basterds that really create this genre mix up feel certain scenes, such as the basement scene, which creates a Mexican stand off situation - not something that would normally be associated with a world war two scenario, and thus adds a homage style effect to the movie; even though it does not credit a particular text, it shows respect to other genre's of film by employing situations that often occur in these genre of films.
As shown in the two clips above, Inglourious basterds was the not the first time tarantino has constructed a scene in which a Mexican stand of style situation develops and multiple parties become involved in intense debate before taking to shooting - a natural contradiction in our perception of this film takes place when we see this scene, as even though it is perfectly possible for this situation to have arisen, we are naturally prone to associate it with stereotypical western films rather than ww2 films, and this is where cognitive dissonance can easily take away the viewers believability of the film.
This review took rather the opposite view of the film, the viewer obviously rejected the postmodern mix that Tarantino had created with the text: http://www.scribd.com/doc/19003891/Inglorious-Basterds-Movie-Review
Tarantino does have a back up which helps him in convincing the viewer to accept the combination of genres that he has to tell his ww2 story: the fact that it is entirely fictional and has no relevance to the actual outcome of the war what so ever - the film is actually opened with the line of text "once upon a time" - which instantly tells us that this is not a true story. Not to mention the fact that Hitler is killed in the end of the film inside a cinema by two groups of people who were completely unaware of each others presence, and this even further distorts the line between reality and fiction in the text, which in turn, helps us as the audience to accept the films mixed themes without rejecting it as a text.
Another view which can be taken on the text as a postmodern creation is the way in which it glorifies the American victory - even though tarrantino never mentioned this in any interview, and neither has any review i have read state this, i view the film this way myself - almost as a mockery to American film makers obsession with glorifying the USA in films with ridiculous circumstances which put the earth on it's last legs, but America comes through and saved the day. This can be seen in films such as independence day (aliens hover over an American city and their obviously highly advance technology does not allow anything to harm it, however Americans upload a virus to it from a mac (HOW!?) through a conveniently placed "USB port" in the alien spaceship), despite the absolutely ridiculous conditions under which the confrontation takes place, somehow America pulls through. Another example is the film "i am legend", which is actually based on the book by Richard Matheson. In the actual ending of i am legend, the scientist (will smiths character) finds out that he is actually the monster, not the "vampires" which are actually intelligent and non violent creatures after the infection broke out - and they are actually afraid of him, he is the subject of their stories, hence the title "i am legend". upon finding this out, Will's character returns the still living vampire to the other creatures which he had been experimenting, apologizes and they leave with their friend.
yes, that ending is completely legitimate and serious. this ending actually completes the moral of the story, without which, it has no point. but, suprise suprise, the American film actually takes a different spin on this, by deciding that yes the creatures are all insane and evil and will not let Will cure them because they are diabolical animals, not because they want their friend back. And, rather than this, Will runs out with a grenade in his hand, and blows them all to pieces, along with himself. Because, obviously, throwing the grenade outside the door and then hiding in the vault (in which there is easily enough room for all three of them) just isn't glorious and or violent enough. then to top it all off nicely, the woman and young boy take the cure will made to some sort of haven created by surviving humans and military forces where they hand over the cure, and surely enough the great USA will defeat the EVIL creatures in some sort of glorious event. This shows that even though most of the time American films obsess over themselves in the military genre, they tend to have their head up their own a** in other areas is well.
The way that this relates to inglourious basterds being a postmodern text is that i see it as having a mocking quality, almost as if Tarrantino has realised this phenomena that America generates and is going all the way back to world war 2 and creating a different ending in which Americans, almost single handedly save the day and kill Hitler as if to say, "hey look, better cover up that time where we actually were in a war, and kind of got owned before we did anything about it" - even though America defiantly had some impact on the outcome of the war, they did not gloriously feed Hitler his liver through a tube before he even declared war, as he actually did quite some damage to the world before they made a move. And to me, mixing this kind of mockery with a serious Film makes it a postmodern text as it opposes the natural reaction to receiving a text to categorizing it into a genre, as it mixes these. Not only this, but it is in it's way of mocking this American phenomena technically a kind of parody, which in turn makes it a pastiche, and in turn from that makes it postmodern.
My Best Friend's Birthday
(1987)
Reservoir Dogs
(1992)
Pulp Fiction
(1994)
Four Rooms
(1995)
Jackie Brown
(1997)
Kill Bill, Vol. 1
(2003)
Kill Bill, Vol. 2
(2004)
Death Proof
(2007)
He also took part in various television directing, however his postmodern relevance is less obvious and apparent than in his film directing career. Inglorious Basterds received mainly positive reviews, such as this one by the telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/6060344/Inglourious-Basterds-review.html
This review in particular picks out elements such as the movies mixed theme which generally speaking don't seem to mesh well with each other, however Tarantino has managed to successfully blend and solder these genres together to give an overall coherent text with a postmodern tint to it. The main areas of inglourious basterds that really create this genre mix up feel certain scenes, such as the basement scene, which creates a Mexican stand off situation - not something that would normally be associated with a world war two scenario, and thus adds a homage style effect to the movie; even though it does not credit a particular text, it shows respect to other genre's of film by employing situations that often occur in these genre of films.
As shown in the two clips above, Inglourious basterds was the not the first time tarantino has constructed a scene in which a Mexican stand of style situation develops and multiple parties become involved in intense debate before taking to shooting - a natural contradiction in our perception of this film takes place when we see this scene, as even though it is perfectly possible for this situation to have arisen, we are naturally prone to associate it with stereotypical western films rather than ww2 films, and this is where cognitive dissonance can easily take away the viewers believability of the film.
This review took rather the opposite view of the film, the viewer obviously rejected the postmodern mix that Tarantino had created with the text: http://www.scribd.com/doc/19003891/Inglorious-Basterds-Movie-Review
Tarantino does have a back up which helps him in convincing the viewer to accept the combination of genres that he has to tell his ww2 story: the fact that it is entirely fictional and has no relevance to the actual outcome of the war what so ever - the film is actually opened with the line of text "once upon a time" - which instantly tells us that this is not a true story. Not to mention the fact that Hitler is killed in the end of the film inside a cinema by two groups of people who were completely unaware of each others presence, and this even further distorts the line between reality and fiction in the text, which in turn, helps us as the audience to accept the films mixed themes without rejecting it as a text.
Another view which can be taken on the text as a postmodern creation is the way in which it glorifies the American victory - even though tarrantino never mentioned this in any interview, and neither has any review i have read state this, i view the film this way myself - almost as a mockery to American film makers obsession with glorifying the USA in films with ridiculous circumstances which put the earth on it's last legs, but America comes through and saved the day. This can be seen in films such as independence day (aliens hover over an American city and their obviously highly advance technology does not allow anything to harm it, however Americans upload a virus to it from a mac (HOW!?) through a conveniently placed "USB port" in the alien spaceship), despite the absolutely ridiculous conditions under which the confrontation takes place, somehow America pulls through. Another example is the film "i am legend", which is actually based on the book by Richard Matheson. In the actual ending of i am legend, the scientist (will smiths character) finds out that he is actually the monster, not the "vampires" which are actually intelligent and non violent creatures after the infection broke out - and they are actually afraid of him, he is the subject of their stories, hence the title "i am legend". upon finding this out, Will's character returns the still living vampire to the other creatures which he had been experimenting, apologizes and they leave with their friend.
yes, that ending is completely legitimate and serious. this ending actually completes the moral of the story, without which, it has no point. but, suprise suprise, the American film actually takes a different spin on this, by deciding that yes the creatures are all insane and evil and will not let Will cure them because they are diabolical animals, not because they want their friend back. And, rather than this, Will runs out with a grenade in his hand, and blows them all to pieces, along with himself. Because, obviously, throwing the grenade outside the door and then hiding in the vault (in which there is easily enough room for all three of them) just isn't glorious and or violent enough. then to top it all off nicely, the woman and young boy take the cure will made to some sort of haven created by surviving humans and military forces where they hand over the cure, and surely enough the great USA will defeat the EVIL creatures in some sort of glorious event. This shows that even though most of the time American films obsess over themselves in the military genre, they tend to have their head up their own a** in other areas is well.
The way that this relates to inglourious basterds being a postmodern text is that i see it as having a mocking quality, almost as if Tarrantino has realised this phenomena that America generates and is going all the way back to world war 2 and creating a different ending in which Americans, almost single handedly save the day and kill Hitler as if to say, "hey look, better cover up that time where we actually were in a war, and kind of got owned before we did anything about it" - even though America defiantly had some impact on the outcome of the war, they did not gloriously feed Hitler his liver through a tube before he even declared war, as he actually did quite some damage to the world before they made a move. And to me, mixing this kind of mockery with a serious Film makes it a postmodern text as it opposes the natural reaction to receiving a text to categorizing it into a genre, as it mixes these. Not only this, but it is in it's way of mocking this American phenomena technically a kind of parody, which in turn makes it a pastiche, and in turn from that makes it postmodern.
a brief ww2 timeline to help with inglorious basterds research
1939
•Hitler invades Poland on 1 September. Britain and France declare war on Germany two days later.
1940
•Rationing starts in the UK.
•German 'Blitzkrieg' overwhelms Belgium, Holland and France.
•Churchill becomes Prime Minister of Britain.
•British Expeditionary Force evacuated from Dunkirk.
•British victory in Battle of Britain forces Hitler to postpone invasion plans.
1941
•Hitler begins Operation Barbarossa - the invasion of Russia.
•The Blitz continues against Britain's major cities.
•Allies take Tobruk in North Africa, and resist German attacks.
•Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, and the US enters the war.
1942
•Germany suffers setbacks at Stalingrad and El Alamein.
•Singapore falls to the Japanese in February - around 25,000 prisoners taken.
•American naval victory at Battle of Midway, in June, marks turning point in Pacific War.
•Mass murder of Jewish people at Auschwitz begins.
1943
•Surrender at Stalingrad marks Germany's first major defeat.
•Allied victory in North Africa enables invasion of Italy to be launched.
•Italy surrenders, but Germany takes over the battle.
•British and Indian forces fight Japanese in Burma.
1944
•Allies land at Anzio and bomb monastery at Monte Cassino.
•Soviet offensive gathers pace in Eastern Europe.
•D Day: The Allied invasion of France. Paris is liberated in August.
•Guam liberated by the US Okinawa, and Iwo Jima bombed.
1945
•Auschwitz liberated by Soviet troops.
•Russians reach Berlin: Hitler commits suicide and Germany surrenders on 7 May.
•Truman becomes President of the US on Roosevelt's death, and Attlee replaces Churchill.
•After atomic bombs are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrenders on 14 August.
•Hitler invades Poland on 1 September. Britain and France declare war on Germany two days later.
1940
•Rationing starts in the UK.
•German 'Blitzkrieg' overwhelms Belgium, Holland and France.
•Churchill becomes Prime Minister of Britain.
•British Expeditionary Force evacuated from Dunkirk.
•British victory in Battle of Britain forces Hitler to postpone invasion plans.
1941
•Hitler begins Operation Barbarossa - the invasion of Russia.
•The Blitz continues against Britain's major cities.
•Allies take Tobruk in North Africa, and resist German attacks.
•Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, and the US enters the war.
1942
•Germany suffers setbacks at Stalingrad and El Alamein.
•Singapore falls to the Japanese in February - around 25,000 prisoners taken.
•American naval victory at Battle of Midway, in June, marks turning point in Pacific War.
•Mass murder of Jewish people at Auschwitz begins.
1943
•Surrender at Stalingrad marks Germany's first major defeat.
•Allied victory in North Africa enables invasion of Italy to be launched.
•Italy surrenders, but Germany takes over the battle.
•British and Indian forces fight Japanese in Burma.
1944
•Allies land at Anzio and bomb monastery at Monte Cassino.
•Soviet offensive gathers pace in Eastern Europe.
•D Day: The Allied invasion of France. Paris is liberated in August.
•Guam liberated by the US Okinawa, and Iwo Jima bombed.
1945
•Auschwitz liberated by Soviet troops.
•Russians reach Berlin: Hitler commits suicide and Germany surrenders on 7 May.
•Truman becomes President of the US on Roosevelt's death, and Attlee replaces Churchill.
•After atomic bombs are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrenders on 14 August.
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