Can be understood as a philosophy that is characterised by concepts such as RE-IMAGINING, PASTICHE, PARODY, COPY, BRICOLAGE. It’s an approach towards understanding, knowledge and life

Parody v Pastiche

Pastiche is a work of art, drama, literature, music, or architecture that imitates the work of a previous artist

Parody is a work or performance that imitates another work or performance with ridicule or irony

“The Simpsons relishes its self-referentiality and frequently engages in pastiche” – Gray (2005:5)

Intertextuality: surface signs, gestures & play

Shuker notes, two points are frequently made about music videos: ‘their preoccupation with visual style, and associated with this, their status as key exemplars of ‘postmodern’ texts.’

• BRICOLAGE is a useful term to apply to postmodernist texts as it ‘involves the rearrangement and juxtaposition of previously unconnected signs to produce new codes of meaning’
• INTERTEXTUALITY is another useful term to use, as it suggests signs only have meaning in reference to other signs and that meaning is therefore a complex process of decoding/encoding with individuals both taking and creating meaning in the process of reading texts

Surface and style over substance

If it the priority is play, then the emphasis is on the surface, in other words, if the main focus is the idea of just connecting one product to another, then the focus is superficial, shallow, lacking depth, so ‘in a postmodern world, surfaces and style become the most important defining features of the mass media and popular culture‘

In terms of the key principles of art and design the priority is in formal elements: of shape, colour, texture, movement, space, time and so on. As opposed to more discursive principles of: narrative, character, motivation, theme, ideology

A brief economic, historical and societal backdrop to Postmodernism

In 1959, Richard Hoggart (Uses of Literacy) noted the shift in modern societies particularly the impact on our ‘neighborhood lives’, which was ‘an extremely local life, in which everything is remarkably near‘

Characteristic of modern societies, is the creation, development and concentration of centres of high consumption, with a displacement of both consumption and production that has radically altered the nature of societies and individuals living in them.

Fragmentary consumption = Fragementary identities

This process of fragmented consumption separating, splitting up and dividing previously homogeneous groups such as, friends, the family, the neighborhood, the local community, the town, the county, the country and importantly, is often linked to the process of fragmented identity construction

The focus on FRAGMENTATION OF IDENTITY is characterised and linked to an increase of consumption and the proliferation of new forms of digital technologies. In effect, another key characteristic of postmodernism is the development of fragmented, alienated individuals living (precariously) in fragmented societies

The loss of a metanarrative

A process which the French intellectual Jean Baudrillard would describe as IMPLOSION which gives rise to what he terms SIMULACRA. The idea that although the media has always been seen as a representation of reality – a simulation, from Baudrillard’s perspective of implosion, it is has become more than a representation or simulation and it has become SIMULACRUM not just a representation of the real, but the real itself, a grand narrative that is ‘truth‘ in its own right: an understanding of uncertain/certainty that Baudrillard terms the HYPERREAL

Jameson argued that parody implies a moral judgment or a comparison with previous societal norms. Whereas pastiche, such as collage and other forms of juxtaposition, occur without a normative grounding and as such, do not make comment on a specific historical moment

This links to Jean-Francois Lyotard’s proposition that postmodernism holds an ‘incredulity towards meta-narratives‘ (1979:7) those overarching ideas, attitudes, values and beliefs that have held us together in a shared belief, For example, the belief in religion, science, capitalism, communism, revolution, war, peace and so on. Lyotard points out that no one seemed to agree on what, if anything, was real and everyone had their own perspective and story

Definitions

• Pastiche – A parody but rather than mocking, it celebrates a work of visual art, literature, theatre, or music imitating a style or character of the work of artists
• Parody – A work or performance that imitates another work or performance with ridicule or irony
• Intertextuality – Shaping a text’s meaning by a different text
• Metanarrative – A narrative about narratives of historical meaning, experience or knowledge
• Hyperreality – An inability of consciousness to distinguish reality from a simulation of reality
• Simulacrum – Those systems in which different relates to different by means of difference itself
• Consumerist Society – A type of society where people devote a great deal of their life to “consuming”
• Fragmentary Identities – Presence of more than one sense of identity within a single human body
• Implosion – A collapse of a system
• Cultural Appropriation- The inappropriate adoption of the customs, practices, ideas, etc. of one people or society by members of another culture

• Pastiche – A pastiche is a work that imitates other works in a positive way, such as a homage. 
• Bricolage – A collection of works that are brought together in the creation of one work. 
• Intertextuality – The connection between different texts and the influence of some texts to other texts. 
• Implosion – The sudden collapse of something inwards 
• cultural appropriation – The use of other cultures by people of different cultures (often more dominant ones) outside their original cultural contexts. This is an example of how dominant cultures often use aspects of disadvantaged cultures without appreciation for those cultures. 

Postmodernism is a movement that focuses on the reality of the individual, denies statements that claim to be true for all people and is often expressed in a pared-down style in arts, literature and culture. An example of a thought of postmodernismis the idea that not all people would see stealing as negative.

• Pastiche – a pastiche is work that imitates other works but in a positive way.
• Bricolage – collection of works from a diverse range of things.
• Intertextuality – the relationship/connection between different texts and the influence of some texts to other texts. 
• Implosion – the sudden collapse of something inwards/ a sudden failure.
• cultural appropriation – the adoption of an element or elements of one culture by members of another culture. This can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from disadvantaged minority cultures. 

• Pastiche – Artistic work that imitates the work of a previous art work/ media text.
• Bricolage – the creation of something new through from a diverse media texts.
• Intertextuality – the meaning of a text being shaped by an other text
• Implosion– The collapse of a system/ the collapse of a message in a text.
• Cultural appropriation– the adoption of minority groups culture and used in dominant culture
• Parody– work that that imitates other work with ridicule or irony.
• Metanarrative– overarching ideas, attitudes, values and beliefs that have held us together in a shared belief.
• Hyperreality– a world based on simulation, making it difficult to distinguish reality from a simulation.
• Simulacrum – simulations are more real that the actual reality.
• Conumerist Society– a society in which consuming is the main objective.
• Fragmentary Identities– is that we construct multiple identities for different platforms.
• Reflexivity – the evaluation of our own beliefs and opinions.

what are you going to film?	Firstly, I am going to be filming a solo male who will appear by himself in all of the scenes that he is in. However, in order to split up the video I am also going to use some ‘filler’ scenes of landscapes of where he has previously been which will also be used towards the theme of old VS and Love VS Hate that I am trying to convey.
What do you need?	Tripod, Camera, Phone, Subject
Where?	I aim to film my scenes in desolate/ quiet/ abandoned places to further add to and emphasize my themes. Locations such as woods, fields, old buildings quiet streets.
Why?	As my themes evolve around quite sad/ depressing topics I think these sort of atmospheres will add to them.

My First Draft –

Music Videos (style models): Key linking word – Loneliness/isolation 

• The narrative is little but shows video of the ocean interspersed with the artist of the music, which emphasises the loneliness and isolation aspect, suggesting the protagonist of the video is stuck in an “ocean” of loneliness. The victim would be the protagonist who is shown as isolated from others as shown also in the video by the fact that no other characters are shown (suggesting that the protagonist is alone). The shots of TV static also suggest that the protagonist’s mind is muddled and confused from loneliness and isolation, showing how it is not natural or is difficult to deal with. 

• Like the previous example, this music video uses the ocean to represent isolation from others. I this video, the protagonist is shown drifting alone onto a desert island, emphasizing loneliness. There are also later scenes of the protagonist reminiscing on his life before being isolated. The protagonist also starts to hallucinate people from his past life being with him showing the isolation’s effects on his mind. The ending of the video also asserts that the island and isolation may not have been real but a metaphor or figment of the protagonist’s imagination. In terms of the tripartite narrative structure, The video starts in medias res with the protagonist in the new equilibrium of the desert island and cutting back to the past disruption to the beginning equilibrium that lead him to end up in the new equilibrium. 

• This video only features one character and shows him alone in dark streets and alleys and even alone a nightclub, which usually has many other people in it. The fact that the character is always alone even in public settings gives more impact to the theme of isolation and loneliness. The protagonist is also shown to be physically hurting and deteriorating, emphasising how he is damaged by his loneliness and it is suggested that he is hurting himself while alone physically and mentally by reflecting on his past actions or the people he may have wronged. While reminiscing is not physically shown in the video, it is implied by the actions of the protagonist and the message of the music. In this sense the video subverts the traditional narrative structure of hero vs. Villain by presenting the villain and victim as the same character, showing how the protagonist is hurting himself for what he is implied to have done. The video also starts with the disruption of the protagonist shown in agony and ends with the new equilibrium of the protagonist shown lying dead because of the isolation and lack of assistance. 

Plan for video narrative:

With my music video I aim to capture a feeling of loneliness as well as reminiscing on better times. To capture the sense of loneliness I will use shots of empty streets and roads to communicate this while the protagonist of the video is seen silently contemplating and reminiscing on life while listening to music. The video will also feature the protagonist wearing headphones to communicate how the character is isolated from other people and to fill the requirement set by the headphone advertiser. This allows me to incorporate the advert into the message of the video. The video will mainly consist of slow zooming shots to instill the sense of loneliness and to show the character isolated in an empty environment. 

Following Todorov’s tripartite narrative structure, my music video will start with the equilibrium of the protagonist listening to the music. The disruption will begin when the protagonist starts reminiscing and it will cut back to some memories they have which are with other people or generally more carefree and happy compared to the lonely situation the protagonist finds themselves in the current moment. Throughout the video the sense of isolation will be emphasised from cuts to the empty streets, sea, and the protagonist alone listening to music. At the end, the protagonist will exit their house in which they have been isolating themselves indicating the start of a new equilibrium, with all the protagonist’s memories left behind in the old equilibrium.  

The hero and victim would be the protagonist who is under threat from the villain, the protagonist’s inner thoughts and memories, since the protagonist is struggling to leave their memories behind and to escape their isolation and loneliness. The binary oppositions the music video’s narrative is structured around are the oppositions between loneliness and social interaction and reminiscing and making new memories. 

• Pastiche – A pastiche is a work that imitates other works in a positive way, such as a homage. 
• Bricolage – A collection of works that are brought together in the creation of one work. 
• Intertextuality – The connection between different texts and the influence of some texts to other texts. 
• Implosion – The sudden collapse of something inwards 
• cultural appropriation – The use of other cultures by people of different cultures (often more dominant ones) outside their original cultural contexts. This is an example of how dominant cultures often use aspects of disadvantaged cultures without appreciation for those cultures. 

Theme: Alone at the beach

People involved in shot: 1 person in the main shot, others involved in smaller shots

background song choice:

• Sweater Weather – The Neighbourhood

• Pastiche: an artistic work in a style that imitates that of another work, artist, or period.

‘Atlantis’ immitates many other movies and stories that focus on a nice ‘monster’

It is fairly similar to another music video also focussing on their loneliness

• Bricolage: something constructed or created from a diverse range of things

All style models were created using a diverse range of shots. However, ‘find me’ was created using the most varied range of camera angles and clip length.

‘atlantis’ has the most varied compilation of setting and characters.

lastly, ‘i lost a friend’ has only one camera shot throughout the entirety of the video (therefore one setting) although it has a diverse way of showing emotion (through dance, body language, facial expressions, weather, setting etc)

• Intertextuality: the shaping of a text’s meaning by another text

All 3 videos show intertextuality and rely on it in order for the audience to understand the videos meaning.

An example would be in ‘Atlantis’ the friendship between the ‘monster’ and the boy. This could be linked to texts such as beauty and the beast, monsters inc, Totoro or similar works in which the audience learns a ‘dont trust a book by its cover’ message

• Implosion: sudden failure of an organisation or system
• cultural appropriation: adoption of an element of one culture by members of another culture.

• Pastiche- A form of artistic work that imitates the work of another artists work or period.
• Bricolage – The construction or creating of something made out of a range or things ie making a music video out of clips recorded on a range of available tools like camera.
• Intertextuality  – the relationship between texts ie the relationship between the song and music video.
• Implosion – The tendency to collapse arising from the system’s own dynamics. Implosion arises from the destruction of meaning and the reality-effect due to the precession of simulacra.
• cultural appropriation – It is the adoption of an element or elements of one culture by members of another culture.