Creativity

Through out AS and A2 my creativity developed within various forms of media, and also in thought such as ideas.

The main form of creativity came within my photographs for my music magazine. Trying to come up with something that would suit the music genre which people could associate with , whilst trying to create something new was a challenge, and made me play around with the concepts of music magazines. Fonts and styling also played a key part within my music magazine. These were also quite selective due to having to fit the indie rock genre. I think that another aspect of creativity within the magazine task was creating a magazine name/logo. Although there are many examples to gain inspiration from, a lot of them are repeated, so once again trying to create something new that also looked professional at the same time was relatively difficult. The amount of creativity for a magazine is fairly limited in my opinion, due to the strong codes and conventions of magazines. These reduce the chance for creativity, as if these codes and conventions were to be challenge , and say a totally new magazine was produced, people may not like it due to being so used to what we know of magazines.

With the A2 task, I found that the ability for creativity was a lot higher. Music videos in todays world vary so much in style and what the audience sees that it is almost limitless as to what can be created. Already this task enabled me to be more creative than the music magazine, due to the nature of what I could create. I find that there is so much more that can be taken from a music video than a magazine , and this enables creativity to be truly displayed.

An example of this would be the use of narrative. A narrative is a story, of which this story could be anything. This in itself is a root for creativity to begin, as story's can be factual, false, made up, have a clear beginning middle or end, or simply not make sense. My narrative is creative as it explores the use of morals and stereotypes. The fact it also has no talking through out yet the audience can clearly see they are talking, lets the audience try and figure out what is being said, thus forming creativity from the audience. The fact that my video does not follow a typical ending to a narrative demonstrates my creativity in forming a  narrative that captures the audience and its not common to what the audience would expect.

My visuals are also creative through out my video. One way this is done is by the use of lighting to enhance the mood and vibe of the narrative of the video. I added a blue tint to the shots to make them emotive of the lyrics, as the lyrics are quite sad and slow. The end of my video is quite different to a typical narrative ending in terms of visuals, as a split screen effect is used to interpret two different endings. This is visually creative, as it is not a common scene to have within music videos, so I think by using it I have demonstrated that I had to use creativity to plan how the split screen would work and fit in with the story for both ending options.

I think that the ancillary tasks allow for a lot of creativity within A2. Digipaks have quite diverse images on them, which allowed me to experiment with photostyles and different items. Visualising a certain style or look helped me to develop a digipak and magazine advert that I liked. I wanted a digipak that stood out and followed the morals and lyrics of the song.

How I used digital technology from AS to A2

In both AS and A2, my work has always been influenced by the use of digital technology. Discovering certain digital technologies in AS allowed me to use and develop skills, which thus enabled me to then further my choices of digital technologies in A2.

The internet holds a large amount of possibilities for the use of digital technology. Social networking sites have helped me to attract an audience to gain feedback for both my music magazine and my music video. I used the website Facebook to post links to my music magazine and music video so that numerous amounts of people could access them. I then attached a link that people could click on to participate in a survey, in which I used the website Survey Monkey to create. This enabled me to easily get feedback from my audience, which I then used to alter my magazine and music video to suit the audience's requirements and taste to a certain degree.

Using websites to upload my magazine work and music video work are almost the same. These include websites such as slideshare, issuu, prezi and youtube. This allowed me to display my work in various formats and made it appear more interesting. Prezi was great for presenting my work due to the movement from one bit of information to another and the different backgrounds and designs that could be used. I found youtube was more beneficial for my A2 work due to the large amount of footage that I needed to upload and share.

Blogger was a major website that contributed to the whole of my coursework. I used it for both AS and A2 and found it really easy to upload work with various formats from pictures to videos. It also made it easy to share with people so that they could see my work and progress. It also allowed me to keep track of where I was at certain points due to every post being dated which helped with my time management. The use of labels also allowed me to navigate through my work and find exactly what I needed.

This year, my blog is relatively similar to last years, however I have tried to vary the forms of digital technology that I used compared to AS. Instead of having more prezi's, powerpoints and word documents, I decided to not only use these formats, but to include more videos and voice recordings to embrace the use of digital technology and make my blog more interesting.

Narrative and Audience

Speech on the mighty boosh

Narrative in my music video

Postmodernism in the Mighty Boosh

Postmodernism; a word with no set definition. However it is a word which many have challenged to try and form its meaning and purpose in our society.

We do know, that postmodernism is seen as a rejection of the modernist movement. Modernism seemed to fade as the postmodern movement challenged and changed modern beliefs and styles. This could be seen within various forms of media, such as art, culture, t.v. , music and many more.Theorists, artists, musicians, creators, all challenged postmodernism with their own interpretations, and things we had always seen as 'truth' began to be seen in a new light.

TV has always been a major part of everyone's lives. It is said that we live in a 3 minute world where we have become so used to absorbing information from these squares screens. Adverts, programs and music videos have nearly all either embraced or neglected postmodernism.

The Mighty Boosh is a perfect example of how TV has become postmodern. 20 episodes were aired on BBC three with the first being aired on the 18 May 2004 , and was written by Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt. Although ever episode includes postmodernism, one in particular that drew my attention was the episode of Milky Joe.

Even before the episode begins, it is clear to see that postmodernism is featured within the series. A mixture of random squiggles, cartoon characters and eerie music which has no set genre all come together to create an artistic beginning, which in itself is postmodern due to making the audience wonder what the series is going to be about, and what characters may appear. This would influence an active audience before the start of the program as it leaves questions unanswered about what is potentially going to happen.

The episode of Milky Joe is about the main characters, Vince and Howard, becoming stranded on an island, and create the character Milky Joe using coconuts and sticks to keep them company. The coconut is seen to be given human like qualities which would resemble anthropomorphism. A very highly used concept within postmodernism to confuse audiences and once again, make them ask questions as a response.  Nearer the end of the series, the coconuts actually come alive, which would then further push the boundaries of hyper realism as it is not actually possible for this to ever happen in reality.

This episode clearly uses intertextual references from the film 'Castaway' in which a man is deserted on an island and uses a football named Wilson as a companion. The fact that an object is used as a character in both The Mighty Boosh and this film, may also tell us that the mighty boosh might be trying to parody the film, especially by giving it a postmodern twist by actually making the coconut characters come to life, which we do not see in Castaway.

Bricolage is a theory which was formed by Claud Levi Straus which is said to be a technique where works of art are constructed from various materials available. In Milky Joe, this can be seen by the various mixture of genres, and concepts. This episode could be considered to be more like a short film than part of a series due to its narrative structure being based on the Castaway film. However it clearly embraces aspects of a musical and even a romantic comedy if you could class the coconuts as an actual character in which Vince and Howard become attracted to them.

Overall it is clear to see that The Might Boosh has embraced and taken on board postmodernism from every angle. It pushed the limits of postmodernism on TV  by creating something viewers had never come across before, and to this day I still believe that it is impossible for another TV series to be as postmodern as the mighty boosh was. I consider the series almost to be like a piece of artwork in which it cannot be re-created or interpreted. It leaves audiences with mixed emotions from confusion to happiness and it is obvious that the episode of Milky Joe contains many aspects considered to be postmodern.

Postmodernism in TV and Music Videos

Postmodernism in TV and music videos

Katie Norris

 

Postmodernism does not have a set definition. There are many different interpretations of it by different people. Many theorists have described what they think postmodernism is.

 

The term ‘postmodern’ was first stated around the 1870’s and was then used in 1921 and 1925 to describe new forms of art and music. However it mainly gained popularity during the twentieth century.  Postmodernism was initially created as a response to modernism and was therefore known as the era that followed modernism. An overall view of postmodernism is that it is an overreaching term for sceptical interpretations of culture, literature, art or philosophy, economics, architecture, fiction, and literary criticism. An example of postmodernism being used in our society can clearly be seen in music videos and TV, of both previous years and in today’s age.

 

Madonna first came around in the 1980’s after signing with Sign Records, and soon began to create a number of songs which topped the charts. She soon became renowned for pushing the boundaries of lyrical content in mainstream pop music and imagery in her music videos, which became a fixture on MTV. One main music video that could clearly be classed as postmodern was ‘Like a Prayer’ which was released in 1989. The video, a lot of catholic symbols were represented, as well as stigmata, and burning of the cross. It also challenges stereotypical religious beliefs that Jesus was a white male, as in the video, the character that is representing Jesus is a black male. This contradicted what many people believed Jesus to look like, and therefore caused upset amongst audiences. Not only this, but the obvious references in the video to Jesus and the catholic religion. So much so that the Vatican also acknowledged the video and condemned it. 

 

The video can be seen as postmodern due to the amount of religious references and questions it creates for an audience. Religion is a sensitive topic for many, and to contradict religious beliefs in the way in which Madonna does would clearly be seen as a revolt against modernism in terms of religion and the fact that everyone tends to only preach what they know. In the lyrics, Madonna states that “life is a mystery” and “everyone should stand alone” which may demonstrate that Madonna disagrees in the Bible and there is still a lot to question about how life itself began, and that by standing alone, no one should follow one another or rely on what they have been told (such as being informed of Jesus and believing he exists). Her use of sexual innuendo in the line “I’m down on my knees, I wanna take you there” was put into the song by Madonna herself to purposely provoke her audience.  This being a very postmodern as getting an audience interested or confused by what they see or hear is a typical aspect of postmodernism.

 

The Mighty Boosh is a T.V series that started out based from three stage shows and 6 radio performances which then developed into 20 episodes and was aired on BBC Three.  This TV series can be considered to be highly postmodern for many reasons.

 

From the moment the opening sequence begins, it is clear to see that this program contains postmodernism. From random squiggles and characters moving across the screen, to eerie music and a futuristic voice that talks about taking a journey “through time and space”. It is clear to see we are about to delve into the postmodern world of TV.  Through out all the series, many concepts and theories of post modernism can be found. This includes the continuous transformation of one of the main characters style ( Vince Noir) which seems to in one episode, be that of a goth, and the next a retro style for example. Mixing and matching a certain style to a different era that it was founded in can be seen as eclecticism which is highly used in postmodernism to question and confuse audiences about the current trends they live with. At the same time, this can also be seen through out the Mighty Boosh in terms of genres. The Mighty Boosh mixes comedy with aspects of a musical and fantasy. Making it highly postmodern. 

 

One episode in particular that I have studied is clearly postmodern. This being the episode of Milky Joe. A coconut becomes a character when Vince and Howard become stranded on an Island. As they are left longer on the island, more coconut characters begin to appear such as Ruby and Precious. These coconuts are seen to be given personalities which would resemble anthropomorphism. This episode can also be seen as a parody of the film Castaway, starring Tom Hanks. There are obvious parallels between the two as in Castaway a football is used to create a character whilst in this case, Milky Joe is created. However the story is developed further as a postmodern episode as the coconuts ‘come alive’ and become surreal when they try to capture Howard and Vince. 

 

Overall, it is clear to see that postmodernism has been used in music videos and TV. It seems like music videos have adapted to become more like short films over the years with less meaning involved, whilst TV has merged many different forms of postmodern media such as art and music with visual imagery and peculiar storylines.