This document discusses key characteristics of postmodernism as seen in film. Postmodern films are characterized by pastiche, disjointed narratives, altered realities, time bending, emotional detachment, nostalgia, and techniques that highlight the constructed nature of the image. Postmodern films often mix genres and popular culture references, feature nonlinear narratives and reinvented pasts, and question what is real while leaving those questions unanswered. Directors like Oliver Stone, David Lynch, and Baz Luhrmann are examples of postmodern filmmakers.

1. NED
Presentation By Simone Scott

2. Postmodernism

3. What is Postmodernism?

4. ‘Postmodernism has been an elastic and somewhat
nomadic term’
Postmodern After Images - Peter & Will Brooker (1997)

5. ‘Postmodernism is a complex paradigm of thought, art,
philosophy & method’
Fredric Jameson – Postmodernism & Consumer Culture (1988)

6. ‘A rejection of the sovereign autonomous individual with an
emphasis upon anarchic collective, anonymous experience’.
The Electronic Labyrinth - Christopher Keep, Tim McLaughlin, Robin Parmar. (1993-2000)
‘The return of the irrepressible…like a ghost, it eludes
definition’
From Postmodernism to Postmodernity: the Local/Global Context - Ihab Hassan

7. Simply Put
Pastiche
Disjointed narratives
Altered realities
Time bending
Emotional detachment
Nostalgia
(references to forms, genres, and styles
that have gone before)

8. Pastiche
Tongue-in-cheek
reworks. Parody’s,
references to pop
culture & mixing of
genre.

9. Parody
Reservoir Dogs
1992
City on Fire 1989

10. Pastiche
Something that refers to
itself.
Self Referentialism:

11. Pastiche
Mixes popular culture and serious
culture from various time periods.
High Art Low Art:

12. Marcellus
Reference to Shakespeare’s Hamlet
‘Something is rotten in the state of Denmark’ - Marcellus

13. Disjointed Narrative
Postmodern films often
have non linear
narratives. Frequently
used to mimic the
structure and recall
of memory.

14. Altered Realities
Drugs, mental illness and
technology provide a dark,
psychedelic, doorway to new
internal realities often exploring
the human condition and
dualism.

15. Time Bending
Time travel
provides another
way to shape
reality in
postmodern film.

16. Emotional Detachment
Technology,
violence, drugs, and
the media lead to
detached,
emotionless,
unauthentic lives.

17. Techniques
Uses techniques to highlight the
construction of the image that
reinforces to the viewer they are
watching a film.

18. Reality?
Postmodern film often
ask questions about
what is real. It
frequently leaves this
question unanswered.

19. Social Comment

20. “Its not the world that is postmodern, it’s the
perspective from which that world is seen that is
postmodern”
Hans Bertens

21. Nostalgia
The critic and Marxist theorist Fredric
Jameson refers to Postmodern film as
‘Nostalgia Film’

22. 1
Films that are about the past & set in the past.

23. 2
Films that reinvent the past
WWII SlaveryJFK Assassination

24. 3
Films that evoke the past

25. Postmodern Filmmakers
Oliver StoneDavid
Lynch
Baz Luhrmann

26. ?

27. Pastiche
Mixing genres
Drama
Fantasy

28. Altered Realities & Dualism

29. Referencing Popular Culture
The iconic image of James Dean is used
as a symbol of courage & wisdom.
James Dean Ned Re-creation

30. Symbolism
Rebel without a cause (1955) Sean in his James Dean
Jacket

31. Inspiration for Ned
Bram Stokers Dracula NedRock Stars
Russell Brand