Postmodern films attempt to undermine main conventions of narrative and characterisation, while testing the audience’s ability to suspend disbelief. Key elements of postmodernism in film include:

1. extensive use of homage/pastiche
2. meta-referencing
3. connecting highbrow and lowbrow
4. a form of contradiction, in visual styles, morals, etc

Postmodern films tend to blend different themes and tones in one film, which can lead to homages or pastiches to previous films. For example, The World’s End, could be seen as a homage to The War of the Worlds, as it features many similar narrative elements. The World’s End is a postmodern film, and has many other homages to other films throughout. The scene in The World’s End when the characters try to prove to each other that they aren’t androids could be seen as a homage to a scene in The Thing (dir. John Carpenter, 1982), where the characters go through a similar process. Meta-referencing is also common in postmodern films, and it is when the film or characters reference things outside of their film, drawing the audience’s attention to that fact that what they are watching is just a film.

British feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey studied how female characters are depicted in horror films, coining the term the ‘male gaze’, in her 1975 book ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’. This refers to the idea that women are positioned an the ‘object’ of a heterosexual male desire. The concept is based around the psychoanalytic theory of Jacques Lacan, claiming that film (specifically horror in this case) offers the opportunity for sexual objectification through the patriarchal order of society, claiming ‘the cinema satisfies a primordial wish for pleasurable looking’.

Mulvey explains in her book how there are three ‘looks’ or perspectives which sexually objectify women. The first is perspective of the male character and how he perceives the female character. The second is the perspective of the spectator as they see the female character on screen. Finally, the third perspective joins the former two ‘looks’ together, it is the male audience member’s perspective of the male character in the film. This allows the male audience can relate to himself through looking to the male character in the film.

She calls for a destruction of the contemporary film structure as the only way to get rid of female sexual objectification in film. Removing voyeurism from film will create a necessary distance between the male spectator and the female character. concluding, she suggests that it is women who exist to define the patriarchal society because without women for comparison; a man and his supremacy as the controller of visual pleasure are insignificant. She argues that in order for women to be equally represented in the workplace, women must be portrayed as men are: as lacking sexual objectification. Context heavily influences Mulvey’s viewpoint, as her book “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” was written during the period of second-wave feminism. This is a time where sexual objectification and exploitation was heavily explored and criticized, so such views can influence her argument and how she perceived women in film.

Blade Runner is a hybrid between the Neo – noir genre and the science fiction genre – the film combines many of the recognizable tropes that are associated with the film noir style with a original sci – fi concept and this is an example of genre hybridity which is the combination of two established genres in order to create something entirely new and this makes the film more interesting than if it was just from one

This Genre hybridity is one of the factors that helps to make Blade Runner such an interesting film – the high concept sci – fi creates an ethical grey area which perfectly plays into the conventions of film noir , the replicants are robot slaves that Deckard has to kill , but when he falls in love with Rachael , his job becomes more complicated ,as he develops feelings for Rachael and this is the catalyst for the main ethical dilemma of the film. Additionally , Rachael conforms to the film noir archetype of the femme fatal , her motives are mysterious and the fact that she is a replicant is hidden from her , however the trope of the femme fatal is subverted when Rachael turns out to be a good person and the femme fatal is usually the villain and this is an example of how genre hybridization can lead to new and interesting takes on popular genres.

The Ordinary World:

The hero, Luke Skywalker is introduced sympathetically to the audience. There is usually a dilemma or stress the hero faces. In this case, Luke wants to join the Rebels and fight against the Empire just as his friends have done but instead he is tasked with working at his aunt and uncle’s farm.

The Call to Adventure:

Something shakes up the situation. In this film, the pivotal moment in this film is when Luke buys the two droids C3PO and R2-D2 from some merchants. R2-DT is tasked with bringing a rescue message from Princess Leia, a leader of the rebels, as well as plans for the Death Star, the Empire’s superweapon, to the rebels and Obi Wan Kenobi in order to expose any weaknesses and destroy it. Luke leaves his home with the droids to seek out Obi Wan.

Meeting with The Mentor:

Luke meets Obi wan and leans about the Jedi of the past. The mentor (obi wan) gives Luke his father’s lightsaber and promises to train him in the ways of the force.

Crossing the Threshold:

Luke arrives back at the farm to find his family dead and finally commits to leaving his old life behind, joining the Rebels and fighting the empire.

Tests, Allies and Enemies:

Here, Luke makes more allies: Han Solo and Chewbacca and he has his first encounter with imperial troops.

Approach:

Here, Luke and his allies travel to the Death Star and prepare for the major challenge of rescuing Princess Leia.

The Ordeal:

Luke and his allies have to go through an ordeal of tracking down and rescuing Leia from the empire as well as attempting to escape the Death Star in the process. This results in several battles between Luke, his allies and imperial soldiers as well as Obi Wan battling his old student and now a commander of the Empire, Darth Vader.

The Reward:

Luke is able to escape the Death Star with his allies and has successfully managed to rescue Princess Leia. However, this ordeal results in Obi Wan losing his life to Darth Vader and sacrificing himself to save the others.

The Road Back:

At this point in the story, the hero is often driven to complete their adventure and there usually is a chase sequence to signal the urgency of the mission. In this case, the chase sequence involves fleeing from imperial ships to deliver the Death Star plans to the rebels.

The Resurrection:

At the climax, Luke is tested once more as he joins the rebels in destroying the Death Star once and for all. Luke destroys the Death Star with the help of his allies and his actions change the character’s ordinary world forever.

Return with the Elixir:

The hero receives a reward for his actions and his character is forever changed. In this case, Luke receives a medal with Han Solo for destroying the Death Star.

Steve Neale states that all genres contain instances of repetition and difference. He states that a film’s genre is defined by how much it conforms to the genre’s conventions, and how much it subverts from them. A film must have enough conventions to be seen as part of that genre, but must also differ enough so that it isn’t just a copy of existing films. He also says that popular cinema relies on audiences finding pleasure in repetition and difference.

Thomas Schatz states that the identifying feature of a film’s genre is its cultural contexts. He believes that there are two types of genre: genres of order and genres of integration. Genres of order focus on a typically male hero, who fights against a force of evil. Genres like action, gangster and western are generally genres of order. Genres of integration focus more on cooperation between people, and are often more domestic films. Genres such as romance, musicals and dramas tend to be genres of integration.

Christian Metz theorised that all genres go through a cycle of four stages in their life. They are the experimental stage, the classic stage, the parody stage, and the deconstruction stage. In the experimental stage, the foundations and generic conventions are established. In the classic stage, certain conventions become iconic and are recognisable from that genre. In the parody stage, people mock the established conventions as audiences recognise them. In the deconstruction stage, the genre can evolve and merge with others, and rules can be broken.

The War of the Worlds (dir. Byron Haskin, 1953), comes in the classic stage of the science-fiction genre’s cycle. When this film is released, the typical conventions of science-fiction have been established, and the film follows these. For example, the classic conventions of an alien invasion, a strong male hero and victory of the protagonists are all seen in The War of the Worlds. When The World’s End (dir. Edgar Wright, 2013) was released, the genre had moved into its deconstruction stage.

Although feminist film theory, and female representation in horror is arguably influenced mainly by second wave feminism, context is another significant factor which can influence how and why females are represented through horror films

Professor Beth Younger of Drake university claims:

“The representation of women in horror interacts with and reflects whatever is going on in culture at the time”

Post – war disillusionment

“The disillusionment many soldiers , small businessmen and housewife/ factory employees felt in returning to a peacetime economy was directly mirrored in the sordidness of urban crime film”

The hardboiled tradition

“… created the “tough” a cynical way of acting and thinking which separated one from the world of everyday emotions – romanticism with a protective shell”

“when the movies of the Forties turned to the American “tough” moral understrata , the hardboiled school was writing with preset conventions”.

Noir conventions

“The majority of the scenes are lit for night. Gangsters sit in the offices at midday with the shade pulled and the lights off”

“in film noir , the central character is likely to be standing in the shadow”

“it , of course creates a fatalistic , hopeless mood”

“the rainfall tends to increase in direct proportion to the drama

“there is a love of romantic narration”

“the narration creates a mood of temps perdu : an irretrievable past , a predetermined fate and an all – enveloping hopelessness”

“it is obvious there is no hope for any future : one can only take pleasure in reliving a doomed past”

“A typical film noir would rather move the scene cinematographically around the actor than have the actor control the scene by physical action”

Themes of film noir

“the private eye had quit the police force in disgust”

“the over – riding noir theme : a passion for the past of present , but also a fear of the future”

“Thus film noir’s techniques emphasize loss nostalgia , lack of clear priorities”

Tonal – In Scott Pilgrim, a good example of Tonal montage is the scene where Stephan Stills shouts back at Scott as they walk to a party, as well as the scene where he’s dreaming of the desert.