2. Genre
Genre means a style or category of art, music, film or literature. It
originally comes from the early 19th century French meaning ‘a
kind’. Therefore conventional films such as Mainstream/Hollywood
films have clear genre styles that are highly rigid.
However this is a flexible definition as many new genres are being
made or multiple genres are being merged to form a Hybrid Genre,
such as Romance and Comedy to make a Rom-Com.
Negotiations are now made between producers and audiences. This
enables the producers to understand that audiences want a more
challenging and new experience- Postmodern films give this and
now producers are making a conscious effort to provide this.
Steve Neale stated that “Genre are instances or repetition and
difference. Difference is absolutely essential to the economy of
genre.” Neale also stated that Hollywood uses generic genres to
“guarantee meaning and pleasure from an audience” and to “offset
the considerable economic risks of industrial film production”
Horkheimer’s Critical Theory stated that this social theory embraced
the future possibilities of society by critiquing and
changing society as a whole, rather than the traditional theory
which only consists of trying to understand or explain society.
3. Pulp Fiction (1994) uses lots of different techniques to entertain the audience
and keep them interested in the narrative.
The narrative is non-linear and told through multiple points of view, with
events that happened in the same time frame but from different characters
perspectives.
Throughout the film, we swap from scenes of Vincent Vega and Mia Wallace,
to Butch and Marsellus Wallace; story’s which overlap but with different
reasons are behind what takes place. This keeps the audience interested as
they start to ask questions such as “Why have they changed clothes?” and
“Where is Jules?”, questions that are answered later on in the film.
They also use Hyperreality to make the audience aware that they are
watching a film. This adds humour when Mia Wallace says “Don’t be a …” and
draws a square rather than naming it, and the square appears as she draws it.
All of the characters are violent anti-heroes, this adds to the intrigue of the
narrative.
4. Django Unchained is an example of a
postmodern film as it is a remake of the
original 1966 Django. Tarantino has
adapted the original Django and has
made the remake a slight parody to the
original alongside also paying homage to
it through the use of the original
soundtrack and the name. Django fits
the criteria for a postmodern film as it
challenges the Meta-narrative through
an Anti-Hero and through the film being
a Hybrid Genre of Western,
Blaxploitation and Action.
The original Django and Django
Unchained both have the same theme
of revenge throughout and Django
Unchained uses similar costume and
fonts that are used In the original. This
shows that Tarantino is using Pastiche
rather than parodying the film.
5. Dystopian Films
A Dystopian film is a film that depicts an imperfect
world as opposed to a Utopia that is a perfect world.
Postmodern film narratives typically critique modern
society by using human error or a natural disaster to
create an imperfect world. For example in Post-
Apocalyptic films such as 28 Days Later (2000) and
World War Z (2013), human error caused a Zombie
apocalypse to be triggered.
6. Character types in Dystopian Films
Postmodern films challenge Metanarratives and this
means that they often have unconventional characters
that are difficult to categorise.
Dystopian films typically have a heroic male protagonist,
classified as an Anti-Hero, who has an ideology of the
“Post-Modern Cowboy”, meaning that they are the loner
type who is forced into action.
Other character types are:
Animalistic groups who use violence to survive.
Human Survivor groups who struggle to survive in this
new and dangerous world.
The hero helps this group as they remind him of the past
and of humanity. An example of this would be Mad Max
(1979)
The Helper who are usually from the alien/infected race
who help the hero and the human survivors fix or survive
in the new world.
7. Dystopian Subgenres/ Hybrids
Typically of Postmodern films, Dystopian film genres are often
Hybrids or have Subgenres. Examples of these include:
Science Fiction: “Science gone wrong” e.g. The Matrix, The
Terminator.
Post-Apocalyptic: An end of the world scenario with limited
survivors. It uses the basis for Darwin’s theory of Evolution in
that those who can adapt are the ones that will survive and
advance e.g. Mad Max, Planet of the Apes, The Road
Horror: A chaotic outbreak of Mutants or Zombies created by
humans e.g. 28 Days Later, World War Z
8. Dystopian Films
Hybrid Genre: Post-
Apocalyptic/
Zombie Horror
Killer Virus
Anti-Hero
Heroic
FemalePost World
War- due to
lack of oil.
Anti-Hero/
Loner
9. Warm Bodies is an example of
Dystopian Postmodern films as it is
a post-zombie apocalypse film that
uses humour to differentiate itself
from the countless other zombie
films.
Setting/ Location
In Warm Bodies it is never explicitly stated what
urban city it is set in but the city has been bordered
off from the rest of the world to protect from the
zombies. The film is set 8 years after the zombie
apocalypse.
Warm Bodies
Characters
Warm Bodies is narrated
from the point of view of R, a
zombie about his life as a
zombie and feeling
disconnected to the rest
of the world because he
is dead.
Lighting
Throughout the film, the lighting
uses grey tones to show how bleak
the world looks without the
millions of people going about their
everyday lives. However the
memories we see are well lit and
show the contrast between the
memories before the apocalypse in
comparison to after where
everything starts to look bleak.
Camera Shots/ Angles
An extreme close up is used to show
the make up used for the zombies
alongside a Mid-Shot to show the
characters make up and costume.
Wide shots are also used to show
the location and to help tell the
story.
The other character in this
film is Julie, whose father
is the leader of the
survival group who is
“kidnapped” by R and
eventually falls in love
with him.
Postmodern Techniques Used
This film is postmodern as it uses Hyperreality to show
that we are watching a film and not real life. The
technique used in Warm Bodies is to show the zombie’s
hearts starting to beat through their clothes as this is not
possible in real life.
10. 28 Days Later is an example of
Dystopian Postmodern films as it is
a post-zombie apocalypse film that
includes a hero, who doesn’t know
about the apocalypse until it’s too
late.
Setting/ Location
28 Days Later is set in London. It is set 28
days after the apocalypse.
28 Days Later
Character
The main character in this
film is Jim, a bike courier
from London. He wakes up in
the hospital once the “Rage”
virus has taken over the city.
The trail
Lighting
The lighting for 28 Days Later is
very dark in the beginning. This is
to emphasise the effect that the
infection had on the human
populace. However when the main
character awakens, the scenes use
a yellow tint on top of them to
make them look slightly distorted.
Camera Shots/ Angles
The beginning of the trailer uses
jump cuts to show the epidemic
spreading through the country. Mid
shots are used when showing action
moments from the film. However it
is mainly a mixture of wide angled
shots and extreme close ups
throughout the trailer. This means
that the audience get a sense of
what is going to happen in the film
but it does not ruin the entire
storyline.
Postmodern Techniques Used
28 Days Later is postmodern as the
main protagonist falls under the
postmodern character profile of a
member of the “Human Survival
Group” as he struggles to come to
terms with the new world.
11. The Purge is an example of
Dystopian Postmodern films as it is
set in the future. Not much has
changed in the future, just that
crime is down and unemployment
is in the 1%. However for one
night a year, all crime is legal.
Setting/ Location
The Purge is set in futuristic America. It never states
what specific city this film is set just that it is in the
US.
The Purge
Characters
The characters we are first shown are the family the
Sandins. This means that the audience know who the
film is based around. We are also shown a few of the
“Purgers”. These are shown to the audience usually
wearing masks. We also are shown a clear shot of the
neighbour preparing a weapon for the purge. This
shows the audience that everyone is normal and lives
together peacefully until that one night every year.
Lighting
As the film is set at night, the trailer
is dark, with only the beginning of
the trailer being light when the
scene is being set. All the scenes
have a dark tint to them. This adds
to the anticipation of the event.
Camera Shots/ Angles
The trailer begins with establishing
shots of the city where it is set. Close
ups are used to show the “Purgers”.
Wide shots are also used to show the
audience the number of “Purgers”
that are around in one night.
Postmodern Techniques Used
Old security camera footage is used to set the scene
for the audience. Some of the scenes look as if they
have been shot with a handheld camera. This means
that the audience feel as if they are part of the
action.
