As part of my first project at 'Bournemouth University', I created a product, which would be made for television and film festivals; this was when I came across the 'Celtic Media Festival'. Since September I have kept the festival in mind as a place where I would like to showcase my work in the future.
I signed up for the ‘Green Light’ course, which is part of the media festival, the course was for film students from a Celtic background.
I decided to apply to gain some advice within my career and also network. This was a good opportunity for me as I generally network within England, this was a chance for me to gauge what is happening in Ireland and meet with producers from Celtic areas.
The event was held in the Canal Court Hotel, Newry
Suicide: Breaking the Silence is a 1 hr documentary about suicide which was produced by Tern Ni, which I watched via BBC iplayer this week after hearing and reading a number of stories about the film.
This documentary was extremely powerful for me, following 3 families testimonies surrounding their loved ones act of suicide. I was extremely touched by this documentary; I found the stories honest and reflective.
Suicide is a taboo topic throughout the world, although within Northern Ireland this is a topic which does not get touched on enough, we are losing individuals to suicide on a daily basis, we have more deaths due to suicide than road accidents. These deaths are brushed under the carpet, leaving families feeling embarrassed and angry rather than recognizing that this is a mental illness which individuals have, hopefully after the broadcast of this documentary families and individuals will be able to open up and meet suicide head on.
This documentary has inspired me and made me very proud of Northern Ireland, it is always brilliant to see good pieces of work coming out of the industry in N.I especially influential pieces like this which turn heads.
The only areas within the documentary, which I felt needed, changed would be the music, I felt the punctuation was irritating and in some areas dramatized the story.
“A narrative is some kind of retelling, often in words (though it is possible to mime a story), of something that happened (a story). The narrative is not the story itself but rather the telling of the story -- which is why it is so often used in phrases such as "written narrative," "oral narrative," etc. While a story just is a sequence of events, a narrative recounts those events, perhaps leaving some occurrences out because they are from some perspective insignificant, and perhaps emphasizing others. In a series of events, a car crash takes a split second. A narrative account, however, might be almost entirely about the crash itself and the few seconds leading up to it. Narratives thus shape history (the series of events, the story of what happened).” (Nelmes. J 2003, pg.84)
Film makers use a narrative style to ‘tell the story’, however not all narratives have the same structure.
Linear Narrative – where we are given a straightforward story from A- B for example Notting Hill.
Non Linear Narrative – a somewhat experimental type of film making where we are jolted forwards and backwards throughout the narrative. For example: Memento
Postmodern films work against the mainstream conventions of narrative structure. These films generally test the minds of the audience due to their style and way of story telling.
Many viewers may be familiar with the following postmodern films:
“Pulp Fiction”, “Memento”, “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang” and “Blade Runner”
Audiences may find films such as Pulp Fiction pointless if they are watching a postmodern film for the first time, viewers not familiar with postmodern film styles often have a negative reaction to such films as they find it difficult to follow the narrative.
“24 Hour Party People”
The postmodern film that I have chosen to focus on is “24 Hour Party People”. I will investigate whether the narrative fits ‘Dominic Strinati’s’ ‘5 point structure’. The blog will also make reference to other postmodern films.
Here is a trailer from the 2002 release of “24 Hour Party People”. Even the trailer is Postmodern…
“24 Hour Party People” is set in the UK, the film is about the Manchester music scene between the late 70’s and 1992, it specifically looks at ‘Factory Records’ (a British independent record label)
The film begins with the ‘punk rock’ era moving through to the ‘Madchester’ scene in the late 80’s onwards. Although the story is built around the music scene the narrative strongly follows ‘Tony Wilson’s’ story ‘The News Presenter’ from Granada Television. The head of ‘Factory Records’ is played by comedian ‘Steve Coogan’, the film also features the music of artists such as ‘Joy Division’, ‘The Happy Mondays’ and ‘New Order’. After the premier of the film and the music soundtrack release these bands all had further success.
24 Hour Party People, has been dedicated to the people of Manchester, rather than any of the bands or artists involved within the film. The film is looked at as a piece of Nostalgia, whether it be for a reader that has grown up with the Manchester music scene or a reader that has never heard of the music scene let alone the region where the film is set.
The film is a dramatization that is based around rumor, urban legend and true events plus a great deal of imagination from the creators. We are reminded of this constantly with the fourth wall being broken by our presenter ‘Tony Wilson’, this is shown through him interrupting the drama and speaking straight to camera, this style is quite controversial, the film ‘Alfie’ was one of the first films to do this in the 1960’s.
Strinati states that;“…popular culture signs and media images are taking over in defining our sense of reality for us, and this means that style takes precedence over content, then it becomes more difficult to maintain meaningful distinction between art and popular culture” (Stinati. D, 2004,pg.213)
Culture refers to “ the perceptual frames, values and norms used in social life; as the way society looks at itself as a filter for what it sees.” Michael Keating, The New Regionalism in Western Europe: Territorial Restructuring and Political Change (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 1998 pg 153)
Simulacrum is used within ‘24 Hour Party People’; although it is a mirror image of the time in which it is set, it is difficult for some audiences to determine the real. Due to the producer using reconstruction, recycled footage and imagination, it may be difficult for the viewer to understand what is happening throughout the film, on the other hand the producers want the viewer to bring their imagination to the film, creating a sense of nostalgia throughout.
Tarantino uses this theory within his films with themes and techniques from his other films in his newer projects to create the reflection of his previous work.
Popular culture, signs and media images somewhat dominate our sense of reality. It is difficult to differentiate between Culture and Society as they merge and become one way of looking at our reality.
Here is an example from Quentin Tarintino’s Pulp Fiction .
Strinati argues that "Postmodernism tries to come to terms with and understand a media-saturated society. The mass media, for example, were once thought of as holding up a mirror to, and thereby reflecting, a wider social reality. Now that reality is only definable in terms of surface reflection of the mirror"(Strinati. D 2002)
The second point Strinati conveys is that there is often within post modernist texts an emphasis placed on the style over the substance of the work. This isn't to say that post modern texts lack substance but that the images and visual style are as important in defining the work as the pure story being conveyed.
24 Hour Party People is mainly concerned with the style and look of the film focusing on nostalgia and paying homage to the Manchester music scene of the 80’s and 90’s. Audiences who are old enough to remember the period can relate to the film due to the visuals, even if they are not familiar with the Manchester music scene. The film itself is first and foremost a comedy, the information we are given may be factual, although it is important to remember that a lot of the film is stretched to fit its genre and entertain its audience therefore the visuals and music used within certain sequences present stylistic information rather than factual information.
The film itself is made up of a number of different elements which include animation, archive footage and reconstructed comedy scenes, this makes it difficult to differentiate between the real and the drama. However it does make the film suitable for any viewer to watch, and create their own perception of the time concerned.
Compared to a traditional documentary film “24 Hour Party People” has less substance and information for the viewer, instead like most postmodern films and texts, it focuses on the aesthetics with the use of strong cinematography, iconic music, and always mirroring other types of media with this being used it evokes nostalgia in an attempt to connect the viewer with time frame that scenes are set.
Here is an example of the use of animation, breaking the 4th wall, imagination, real even reconstruction and comedy from “24 Hour Party People”
This also highlights another aspect of post modernism, bricolage, which is the re-use of previous styles and genres and the mixing up of these to create a new twisted take on something that has gone before. We can also see in fashion examples where many styles from the 50's, 60's and 70's have become popular again as people mix styles to create a new take on something that had been fashionable before but within a new context. Thus the creators are more interested in presenting a style rather than telling the story.
Strinati’s view about style over substance can also be seen in the opening sequence of ‘Fight Club’ there are many extravagant camera moves throughout which are mainly created by special effects, although they do create a unique and distinctive style within the film, however they are not integral to the plot or structure, the style within this type of film is strong which overrides the actual matter of the film.
The viewer may get lost with the narrative of the film due to the style and tone used throughout “24 Hour Party People” as there is more focus on visual effects and music than telling the story of ‘Factory Records’ or the musicians of the time.However this is not critical, as the film is created to conjure up the feeling of nostalgia, where it is important for the viewer to bring their ideas and understanding to the entertainment which they view. The viewer is as important as the director within this type of film, it is important for the director to create something which is relevant to the audience, however it is just as important for the viewer to dissect the film and bring their ideas to the film, therefore every individual viewer will see the film in a different way.
Narrative theorist Bauldrillard states that “A crucial implication is that in a post-modern culture become more important, and evoke in turn a kind of 'designer ideology'. Alternatively, as Harvey puts it...'images dominate narrative'. The argument is that increasingly, surfacesand styles consume images and signs for their own sakerather than for their 'usefulness' or for deeper values that they might symbolise.”(Bauldrillard, 1991)
An example of High Culture and Popular Culture:
High Culture (Art)
Popular Culture
Opera
Pop Music
Theatre
Films
Literature
TV
The breakdown of the distinction between art and popular culture is the third point which Strinati highlights as featuring in post modern texts. We can see this in the media rich world we live in, especially in the field of advertising. Here there is a heavy use of high art principles to create eye catching and appealing designs to help sell a product or brand. In both the real and online worlds we are bombarded with images and the distinction between what is art and what is popular culture is often difficult to pin point.
Due to “24 Hour Party People” having a great nostalgic tone running throughout the film, it is clear that it is made up of a lot of the UK’s popular culture from the late 70’s until as late as 1992.
The signs within the film are low culture, therefore they can be recognised world wide, it is important for the viewer to bring their interpretation to the film to have their own understanding of the film. The music scene which the film is based around can be recognised as popular culture within the UK with the many references to the British bands through music videos and old footage, we are also connected to brit pop culture mainly through the presenter ‘Tony Wilson’ as we are informed and introduced to particular pop culture moments throughout the 2 decades of music.
The title music to Pulp Fiction is in many ways now known more than just a song in Tarantino's film, it takes on a new meaning when heard by conjuring up the images and feel of the film whenever it is heard. Similarly the 'showdown' piece of music from Kill Bill was suddenly found being used in everything from television shows to commercials for any 'scene' of confrontation or introduction of certain guests on a chat show for example. This music as a piece of art had filtered down from the film world to hold meaning to casual television viewers as well.
The narrative of "24 Hour Party People" is very much based on the music scene, the audience are carried by the narrator who relates to the time in which the film is set, through the use of nostalgic iconic events throughout, the audience can interpret the feelings and sense of time through viewing the film.
24 Hour Party People is a form of popular culture; throughout the viewer is given a sense of the music scene within the UK by showing popular music and iconic images in a mockumentary film style which overall is seen as a piece of popular culture.
