Identifying the Characteristics of Postmodern Films

Playfulness and self reference:

Firstly when viewing a classical narrative, the narrative will try to hide the fact that its a fictional product, the film is usually edited in away to get viewers to forget about any editing transitions etc which has actually taken place. Compared to a classical/modern film, a postmodernist film will jump up and down to draw attention to itself and its modes of construction. Thomas Tykwer's film, Run Lola Run plays with its narrative structure, delivering a similar scenario three times with different conclusions. Its cinematic style which includes animation, both video and film stock, colour changes, whip pans(where the camera whips sideways), crash zooms which quickly focuses on experimental editing. It also never lets you forget that its a highly constructed film using a number of storytelling devices. The film also makes references to other forms of popular culture, such as music videos and computer games and also positions itself in context of other media products. The message of the film is basically not to take the film seriously which is done through the audience distancing itself from the media representations etc which are found in the film. Compared to a classical movie, a postmodernist films include texts which keep us at arms length by reminding us that its a constructed or simulated reality which we experience in order to communicate to audiences that the text being conveyed through the movie isn't real whereas a classical narrative draws the audience into the storyline of the film and attempts to create a belief in the characters and their experiences. Postmodernist film is also known to challenge the mainstream conventions of narrative structures and characterization, while also destroying the audiences suspension of disbelief in order to create a work in which a less recognizable internal logic forms the mediums means of representation and expression. For the film to convey their desired meaning, they are also known to maintain conventional elements to help orient the audience. Another example of where the film plays around with its narrative structure, is the film, The Time Travellers Wife, which plays around the narrative as Eric Bana's character goes back and forth in time, trying to reach different conclusions within his life with his family.

Postmodernist films also include concepts such as pastiche, flattening of affact, hyperreality, time bending, altered states and more human then human. Pastiche is self referential, tongue in cheek, rehashes of classic pop culture. Flattening of affect involves technology, violence, drugs and the media lead to detached, emotionless, unauthentic lives. Hyperreality is described in relation to where technology creates realities which are original or more desirable then the real world. Time bending is used to connote the importance of time travel, as it relates to how time travel provides another way to shape reality. Whereas altered states involves mental illness, drugs and technology which provide a dark gateway to internal realities. Whereas Human more human involves artifical intelligence, robotics and cybernetics, which seeks to replace or enhance humanity.

Generic blurring and intertexuality:

This is where films often cross boundaries between different genres an example of this is Pans Labyrinth, which clearly has different film genres included within the film such as it creates scenes of horror, tragedy, adventure and fantasy with elements of a fairy tale like story line combined with elements of military history when combined with the topic of the Spanish civil war and it also explores the themes of obedience, religion, politics, war and imagination.  Intertexuality is also, where the film makes reference to any other medium formats, such as Toy Story 2 refers to the shortage of Buzz Lightyear toys as an intertexual joke, which is connected to the manufacturers underestimated demand for the toy. This postmodern tendency towards generic cross reference and intertexuality creates a relationship with the audience by both playing with and complementing their knowledge of film. Another example of this is in South park, when they make intertexual references to Harry Potter, The Lords of The Rings and the Dark Knight, when Cartman dresses up as the Coon to make a mockery out of the Dark Knight. Pans Labyrinth also uses intertexual references to Del Toro's film, The Devils Backbone and Narnia etc, which Guillermo Del Toro uses to combine pieces of his favourite writers to compromise the story which is original and to explore the figure of the god, pan and its symbolic nature of the Labyrinth.

Popular and commercial media meets High Culture:
This were the film or another type of media format uses popular culture is combines with high culture, which can be done through various ways such as having parts of high culture such as literature, art forms etc combined with popular culture such as computer games etc. An example of this is Pan's Labyrinth which contains cultural styles and times which are combined with each other, as it challenges the chronological history as it includes scenes of Captain Vidal involved in fascism and while at the same time addressing Ofelia's innocence when completing Pans tasks.  These could be considered as high culture elements and the text can be perceived as postmodern as it involves this and can be considered modern because its enjoyed by the masses. The OC is also another example of where it combines the Cohens, high cultural lifestyle with that of Ryan's, whose from Chino.

Fragmentation and the death of representation:

This is were films, use a range of fragments from other texts, genres and cultural influences, this fragmentation also applies to representation. Captain Vidal representation of someone who is perceived as violent as it can be argued that there's a death of representation as his constructed to be like a monster and the audience make a connection with fairy tale monstrous characters, which Ofelia faces and see's as an uncertain threat, the same can be said about how the antagonist in The lovely Bones.

Uncertainty and the loss of context:
This can result in a sense of uncertainty and the shaking up of previously understood beliefs and roles. Postmodernist films can also make the audience feel their are no generic rules and that representations only make reference to other representations. Postmodernist filmmakers such as Christopher Nolan, Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch etc challenge aspects of life or belief systems. This can be said of Nolan's film, Inception, When the audience are made to decide if DiCaprio's character is trapped in reality or a simulated/constructed reality or The Simpsons which challenges law enforcement, science and the American Dream.

Other characteristics which are sometimes used in postmodernist films:

Postmodernist films are also known to include other key concepts when its comes to them being embedded into films. Such as postmodern films also include concepts like a pre-fabrication which is similar to how simulation is used in movies but this draws the audience closer to already existing and noticeable scenes, and these are basically reused in narratives, dialogue etc. A bricolage is also used, which is where a person such as a producer, editor or director usually builds a film like a collage of different film styles and genres. It also includes metafiction which is were someone within a film write someone writing within a film to demonstrate its fictionality and is used for shifts in narrative, impossible jumps in time or to mainatin emotional distance for the narrator. Historic metafiction is a technique refering to novels that fictionalise actual historical events and characters. Temporal distortion is the jumping of time backwards and forwards. Minimalism is a technique used to demonstrate characters that are unexceptional and events which usually occur. Postmodernist films are also known to use other characteristics such as technoculture, paranoia, maximalism, faction, participation and magical realism.