To begin with I was quite daunted by the challenge of writing about a cultural item, while relating it to actual theories. But through extended planning and collecting of research, as well as by attending the sessions and lectures, the tasks became easier the more that I became engaged with it.
I started with Metropolis as my cultural item as not only am I a fan, so I wanted to research it's creation, e.g. use of camera angles, sets, etc, but I knew that it had a lot of themes in it and history attached. I wanted to keep it as broad as possible to begin with, to make choosing a specific area of analysis easier later. This proved to be the case as I actually had too much that I wanted to research into. However, the process of stripping back and focusing on certain points began to become quite natural after a while, as some areas were easier to relate to the theories and research. Also, I found that choosing an item from the start of the 20th century was incredibly helpful as it meant that there was a lot of information on the item already to study. At the same time, it was sometimes difficult to sort through all of this information, but by using a range of sources, from books, online journals to websites, it meant that a range of information, whether it was focused on Metropolis, or more general, was always available. My main problem was with the title 'Metropolis' - as it's so generic, it frequently brought up anything even remotely related.
The actual writing of the essay wasn't as problematic as I'd imagined it would be. I'd collected all of my research, I had a basic plan and I'd completed the poster which outlined my direction for the essay. Having notes compiled on my blog was useful for me as well, as it meant that all of my notes at least were in one place. Using these it was pretty easy to just get started and then to determine more structure to the essay later. I did have difficulty not including more information on the film's history and production as it is so interesting, but this would have slowed down the pace and diverted slightly off topic. The word limit was my biggest problem - I could have continued to write, so in a way it was good for making my writings concise, but it was quite taxing to develop a point with so few words. However, I liked to think that I focused in enough to anaylse the item to a degree where a point is picked out well. After completing my first draft, getting it checked by a lecturer and making amendments, like collecting extra research, helped to make the essay more analytical and to fit the brief. Plus it helped me to know that I was on the right track.
From the whole process I now have a much better understanding of what is needed to compile and write an essay, from research, drafting to the bibliography and referencing. As well as a knowledge of selected theorists' work. Using the information learnt here, I feel I can apply them to other areas of my practical work, particularity if working for a client, to understand how my work may be interpreted by an audience. Not only this, but I feel that I know more about my cultural item as well. I set out wanting to analyse how Lang had constructed the film, because it's style is so iconic. While I only partially focused on this in the final essay, I actually learnt a lot about how a cultural item exists in the world, surrounded by other items. Next time I think I'd like to collect more wider research as most was based around Metropolis. I found that reading around the item on related topics actually not only helped me to understand the film, but other areas and perspectives on culture. This way it might aid in understanding other texts as well, not just Metropolis. However, I feel that I've learnt a lot that can be taken and improved upon next year.
Sunday, 6 April 2014
Essay Work
I was able to find a lot of material on Metropolis from the UWE library. Most of it focused on Fritz Lang and his filmography, but some offered more in depth reflection on the film. A lot of the same information was repeated, but most were great for picking parts of the film apart. It took a while to find information on Lang's wife, von Harbou (to say she was involved with the Third Reich, there really isn't a lot chronicling her life). By looking around the subject, at design books and books by suggested theorists, this helped as well to get a different perspective on what could be influencing the film and us as consumers.
This was only an efficient way to work because I researched which books were relevant beforehand. I think if I had picked every book up, I wouldn't have found half of the information that I needed. Still it guaranteed that the sources were reputable - which I've been careful with over the research, although the Eisner book did seem quite biased. Even reputable sources can be misleading in this way and had to be checked when doing an essay on opinion.
I managed to find relevant images as well, mainly from the film or the documentary Die Reise Nach Metropolis. I initially thought that I wouldn't be able to relate any images to the essay, as it focuses on the audience. But it's their interpretation of the item that's being studied, so illustrating this with images, that the reader can interpret themselves, actually works well.
This was only an efficient way to work because I researched which books were relevant beforehand. I think if I had picked every book up, I wouldn't have found half of the information that I needed. Still it guaranteed that the sources were reputable - which I've been careful with over the research, although the Eisner book did seem quite biased. Even reputable sources can be misleading in this way and had to be checked when doing an essay on opinion.
I managed to find relevant images as well, mainly from the film or the documentary Die Reise Nach Metropolis. I initially thought that I wouldn't be able to relate any images to the essay, as it focuses on the audience. But it's their interpretation of the item that's being studied, so illustrating this with images, that the reader can interpret themselves, actually works well.
Poster Exhibition
To advertise which Cultural Item we were analysing we had to create a poster, detailing our intentions for the final essay, e.g. which theorists and theories we're studying and why etc, as well as being visually appealing.
Below is my poster for Metropolis:
I really wanted to get across the style of the film as well as have enough room for all of the text - the poster image was perfect for this, as it communicates that it's about the film.
Original Film Poster:
While the altering of the poster (the bright red and yellow) relate to how it's been appropriated, especially by Moroder's Pop version. I took inspiration from that version's poster:
I did a bit of thumbnailing as well on how to position the text:
This helped to get a good idea of where the text would go. It was a bit of a challenge to have such a busy background and to fit the quite large amount of text on as well. It was useful practice though as normally I don't have to consider this amount of text on a visual document.
On Display:
( 04/03/14 - 07/03/14, F Block, Bower Ashton)
The poster helped me to cement some of my ideas and pushed me to prepare an outline of where I want to go with the essay. This made starting to write the first draft a lot easier then I previously thought.
Below is my poster for Metropolis:
Original Film Poster:
While the altering of the poster (the bright red and yellow) relate to how it's been appropriated, especially by Moroder's Pop version. I took inspiration from that version's poster:
I did a bit of thumbnailing as well on how to position the text:
On Display:
( 04/03/14 - 07/03/14, F Block, Bower Ashton)
The poster helped me to cement some of my ideas and pushed me to prepare an outline of where I want to go with the essay. This made starting to write the first draft a lot easier then I previously thought.
W8: Class, Cultural Capital, Taste and Power
Key notes from this lecture:
The measurements for social class have varied over time. Marx determined them entirely by a person's relationship to 'means of production'. There used to be 3 main classes; Proletarians, Bourgeoisie and Aristocracy. These were determined by looking at your occupation, wealth and education.
However, a recent BBC initiative has determined that there are now 7 classes, which are determined by your relationship to the economic, social and cultural.
Taste can be said to be an indicator of class. Catherine McDermott stated that a critical judgement of human objects and culture creates a well trained appreciation of what is aesthetically pleasing. It depends on knowledge, connoisseurship and critical appreciation.
But what is aesthetically pleasing? A study of beauty/ branch of philosophy/ a colour palette?
Is taste learned as well? Historically, it's admiring and desiring objects that are deemed 'beautiful'. But can taste be learned and then taught to others? Can it be natural or neutral, or is something always affected by cultural capital?( the status gained from non-financial factors, like education, clothes, food). Learning is said to start the moment that we're born and can reflect our family's culture, religion and value system. Our taste positions us withing cultural hierarchies as well though.
Pierre Bourdieu defined cultural capital. He was also interested in the construction and performance of class and in what roles education, consumption and cultural capital had in this. Whether there was a form of value associated with culturally authorised tastes, such as consumption patterns, attributes, skills and awards.
Also considered was whether the same cultural level means it is easier to connect and share with others. Here parent influence plays a large part as practicing the same activities may generate a taste or make it easier to relate to similar others.
Essay:
I found this lecture really appropriate and interesting for my essay as reviews are basically centered around personal tastes. As it appears that there has always been a mass evaluation of Metropolis, it would be useful to apply McDermott's theory to see why, when we're all developing tastes, that we could have ended up with one mass opinion and at set times in history? Highlighting contributing factors would help this as well.
The measurements for social class have varied over time. Marx determined them entirely by a person's relationship to 'means of production'. There used to be 3 main classes; Proletarians, Bourgeoisie and Aristocracy. These were determined by looking at your occupation, wealth and education.
However, a recent BBC initiative has determined that there are now 7 classes, which are determined by your relationship to the economic, social and cultural.
Taste can be said to be an indicator of class. Catherine McDermott stated that a critical judgement of human objects and culture creates a well trained appreciation of what is aesthetically pleasing. It depends on knowledge, connoisseurship and critical appreciation.
But what is aesthetically pleasing? A study of beauty/ branch of philosophy/ a colour palette?
Is taste learned as well? Historically, it's admiring and desiring objects that are deemed 'beautiful'. But can taste be learned and then taught to others? Can it be natural or neutral, or is something always affected by cultural capital?( the status gained from non-financial factors, like education, clothes, food). Learning is said to start the moment that we're born and can reflect our family's culture, religion and value system. Our taste positions us withing cultural hierarchies as well though.
Pierre Bourdieu defined cultural capital. He was also interested in the construction and performance of class and in what roles education, consumption and cultural capital had in this. Whether there was a form of value associated with culturally authorised tastes, such as consumption patterns, attributes, skills and awards.
Also considered was whether the same cultural level means it is easier to connect and share with others. Here parent influence plays a large part as practicing the same activities may generate a taste or make it easier to relate to similar others.
Essay:
I found this lecture really appropriate and interesting for my essay as reviews are basically centered around personal tastes. As it appears that there has always been a mass evaluation of Metropolis, it would be useful to apply McDermott's theory to see why, when we're all developing tastes, that we could have ended up with one mass opinion and at set times in history? Highlighting contributing factors would help this as well.
Wednesday, 22 January 2014
Essay Planning: Film and Documentary
As I'd not seen it in a while I needed to watch Metropolis again to see if I could see any themes in the film myself. I also watched the accompanying documentary about the film, Die Reise nach Metropolis (Dr. Artem
Demenok) and it's recent reconstruction to get a better historical background on it.
Below are all of my notes.
From watching Metropolis I found that a lot of the theories from Elaesser's book were really apparent. What was useful though was getting my own perspective on the film - I'd been reading a bit of negative material on it, so it was great to watch the film and remember my own opinion on it. This should be useful for linking in how different experiences influence our perception of cultural texts.
The documentary was incredibly helpful for getting an overview of Metropolis's history, in particular how it's been viewed, edited and received from it's conception to the most recent restoration.
I'll build on these materials and my own notes for my essay, looking at how the film is interpreted through the decades.
Below are all of my notes.
 |
| Die Reise nach Metropolis notes start here |
From watching Metropolis I found that a lot of the theories from Elaesser's book were really apparent. What was useful though was getting my own perspective on the film - I'd been reading a bit of negative material on it, so it was great to watch the film and remember my own opinion on it. This should be useful for linking in how different experiences influence our perception of cultural texts.
The documentary was incredibly helpful for getting an overview of Metropolis's history, in particular how it's been viewed, edited and received from it's conception to the most recent restoration.
I'll build on these materials and my own notes for my essay, looking at how the film is interpreted through the decades.
Thursday, 16 January 2014
Essay Planning: Further Plans
Developing ideas for essay:
Another point to add is how Walter Benjamin's theories apply well. (re-produced art. Meanings coming from moment of consumption).
Elsaesser:
(p17) "Metropolis's combination of sophisticated design with radical naivety of mythic cliches in the mode of a self-referential mise en abyme is now a familiar feature of mainstream film-making, almost a condition for entering the international market in the first place. Like Steven Spielberg's 'politically correct' (i.e. timid) fairy-tales or George Lucas's Star Wars saga, Lang and von Harbou's film shows the 'imagineer' at work, rather than the artist striving for self-expression."
(p21) Elsaesser lists multiple references and provides image evidence.
The clock image would fit perfectly for the poster: references focus on time.
(p55) Reference to 'The Vamp and the Machine'
"...Freder's castration anxiety and the fetishised image of woman did indeed receive ample textual, as well as contextual attention. In his essay 'The Vamp and the Machine', Andreas Huyssen took up two traditional Weimar motifs, the anxious male and the intellectuals' technophobic cultural pessimism."
Elsaesser:
(p17) "Metropolis's combination of sophisticated design with radical naivety of mythic cliches in the mode of a self-referential mise en abyme is now a familiar feature of mainstream film-making, almost a condition for entering the international market in the first place. Like Steven Spielberg's 'politically correct' (i.e. timid) fairy-tales or George Lucas's Star Wars saga, Lang and von Harbou's film shows the 'imagineer' at work, rather than the artist striving for self-expression."
(p21) Elsaesser lists multiple references and provides image evidence.
The clock image would fit perfectly for the poster: references focus on time.
(p55) Reference to 'The Vamp and the Machine'
"...Freder's castration anxiety and the fetishised image of woman did indeed receive ample textual, as well as contextual attention. In his essay 'The Vamp and the Machine', Andreas Huyssen took up two traditional Weimar motifs, the anxious male and the intellectuals' technophobic cultural pessimism."
I think definitely exploring different interpretations of the film over the years and comparing them, focusing on the political and cultural relevance, will be interesting. There's von Harbou's contribution, the USA's interference with it's screening, the Nazi period, Lang's fleeing of Germany, Lang's extensive use of Expressionist references, it's modern viewing and how it's now a cultural reference itself.
Essay Planning: Initial Plan
Few notes on what topics I could research more for my essay.
I really got into the idea of how the film can be seen in a social and political context, but more over how frequently it's seen in different lights on these issues. From it's initial screening, it's reception in America, over the Nazi period, the late 20th Century to it's re-release in the 21st Century, it seems to gain a different meaning from each period. Over the years, people/ cultures seem to have wanted to take control of the interpretation of the film.
Metropolis - Thomas Elsaesser
Notes from/about the book Metropolis by Elsaesser.
Links to Gendered Gaze, check camera angles etc in film.
- bright future? Argues it's full of "vitality", not negative.
Structuralism/ Post-structuralism.
-Idealised view before 'awakening'.
Lang fled Germany, while "von Harbou joined the Nazi party" (p15)
Political: Marxism
Structuralism/ Post-structuralism.
-Communist or otherwise, doesn't agree/ not strong enough for a real comment. No one's happy with the outcome as it's not asking the right questions.
Political: Marxism
-Different interpretations in different times.
Cultural: Risk of homogenity
Political
Possible essay direction:
Relate Metropolis to modern/ changing historical times? From Moroder musical version to his influence on Daft Punk.
- Changing views (in intro, so not fully developed points).
Links to Gendered Gaze, check camera angles etc in film.
- Changing perceptions
- bright future? Argues it's full of "vitality", not negative.
Structuralism/ Post-structuralism.
- Changing ideals
-Idealised view before 'awakening'.
Lang fled Germany, while "von Harbou joined the Nazi party" (p15)
Political: Marxism
Structuralism/ Post-structuralism.
- Lack of message
-Communist or otherwise, doesn't agree/ not strong enough for a real comment. No one's happy with the outcome as it's not asking the right questions.
Political: Marxism
- Political leanings and making
-Different interpretations in different times.
Cultural: Risk of homogenity
Political
Possible essay direction:
Relate Metropolis to modern/ changing historical times? From Moroder musical version to his influence on Daft Punk.
Wednesday, 15 January 2014
W7: Impact of 'Reality' Lecture on essay/ Current Progress
As the lecture was about reality: what is could be, how it can be mediated and how cultures can merge, I reflected on how this could apply to my essay quickly.
Progress:
I need to:
- The USA regulated the film industry with Hollywood: The UFA studio in Germany wanted to increase it's audience by screening films in the US, so made a deal with the studios in America. This however meant that Lang's film was considerably cut down when it reached America due to it's length.
- Could relate Metropolis to the Nazi's use of propaganda. Lang's wife joined the Nazi's and Goebbels liked the film and Lang's work despite the socialist ideals in Metropolis and the seeming opposition to the Nazi's in 'M'.
- Lang tries to show the gap between the classes with distinctive levels.
Progress:
- I've currently looked for journal articles and books about my chosen text and around it.
- I've reflected on my research by considering which themes to maybe focus on.
I need to:
- Reflect more on already collected research
- Watch Metropolis again.
W7: Whose Reality Is it Anyway?
We started off with a bit of context of how we live at the moment. We (here in England) live in a Post Modern, Post Industrial society, with an 'Information Economy'. Advances in communication and technology have led to a shrinking of the world as we can now travel around it safely and in a matter of hours. Marshall McLuhan (1964) called this a 'Global Village' as we've experienced the collapsing and condensing of space and time.
The Global Village has it's benefits, for instance Cultural Fusion (where two cultures meet and new cultural forms are produced, e.g. Chinese art influences). A good example of this is the post second world war occupation of Japan by the Allied Powers - there was a censorship of media by the US and their own pop culture was transferred. Consequently Japanese graphic communication has been influenced by this initial contact with the West, taking traits from Hollywood and even Disney (e.g. design of characters with big eyes).
However, there's always a risk of Homogenity occuring (where everything becomes uniform). Called 'McDonaldization' by George Ritzer, it can mean that societies/ cultures take on the characteristics of the fast food industry, becoming efficient, standardised, predictable, controlled and with limited options.
Additionally Cultural Imperialism is a possibility (where one culture dominates another ideology (body of ideas or beliefs)). According to some, like Noam Chomsky (Hegemony of Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance (2004)) contemporary America is guilty of this as it's brands stretch out over the world, e.g. Starbucks where you consume to have an identity. Another example is of the Nazi's cultural control through it's use of film propaganda, where feelings were won and then the audience was told how to think.
But how can we judge reality? There's currently a digital divide (gap between those with/ without access to technology). We see other parts of the world through the media, but is that all that's actually occurring? It's easy sometimes to confuse what we 'see' with what's 'happening'. The hegemony (dominant influence) risks confusing what we 'see' with 'reality'.
This relates back to the Culture Industry (Adorno) and the theory that it keeps consumers passive. We may be being presented a mediated (determining what's important) view of other cultures, people and 'reality'. According to Guy Debord (1931 -1994) (The Society of the Spectacle (1967)) every engagement is mediated on some level, from clothes, hair and health to food, we're given pre-determined opinions. While Jean Baudrillard ((1929 - 2007) a French Post-Structuralist theorist) argued that our 'real needs' have been eclipsed by 'false needs'. 'Symbolic value' (e.g.pink = feminine) is relational and arbitrary and we've entered the realm of 'hyper-real' (where simulacra (hyper real copies, e.g. perfect apples) have replaced reality and the object that they once referenced). Currently, the digital/ virtual worlds offer the lure of the hyper real as well.
In conclusion, our understanding of the world is often mediated/ interpreted and framed for us by other people and cultural bodies. The representations that we receive are selective, edited and sometimes new for specific consumers. While seemingly transnational cultural forms walk a fine line between cultural fusion and cultural imperialism.
The Global Village has it's benefits, for instance Cultural Fusion (where two cultures meet and new cultural forms are produced, e.g. Chinese art influences). A good example of this is the post second world war occupation of Japan by the Allied Powers - there was a censorship of media by the US and their own pop culture was transferred. Consequently Japanese graphic communication has been influenced by this initial contact with the West, taking traits from Hollywood and even Disney (e.g. design of characters with big eyes).
However, there's always a risk of Homogenity occuring (where everything becomes uniform). Called 'McDonaldization' by George Ritzer, it can mean that societies/ cultures take on the characteristics of the fast food industry, becoming efficient, standardised, predictable, controlled and with limited options.
Additionally Cultural Imperialism is a possibility (where one culture dominates another ideology (body of ideas or beliefs)). According to some, like Noam Chomsky (Hegemony of Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance (2004)) contemporary America is guilty of this as it's brands stretch out over the world, e.g. Starbucks where you consume to have an identity. Another example is of the Nazi's cultural control through it's use of film propaganda, where feelings were won and then the audience was told how to think.
But how can we judge reality? There's currently a digital divide (gap between those with/ without access to technology). We see other parts of the world through the media, but is that all that's actually occurring? It's easy sometimes to confuse what we 'see' with what's 'happening'. The hegemony (dominant influence) risks confusing what we 'see' with 'reality'.
This relates back to the Culture Industry (Adorno) and the theory that it keeps consumers passive. We may be being presented a mediated (determining what's important) view of other cultures, people and 'reality'. According to Guy Debord (1931 -1994) (The Society of the Spectacle (1967)) every engagement is mediated on some level, from clothes, hair and health to food, we're given pre-determined opinions. While Jean Baudrillard ((1929 - 2007) a French Post-Structuralist theorist) argued that our 'real needs' have been eclipsed by 'false needs'. 'Symbolic value' (e.g.pink = feminine) is relational and arbitrary and we've entered the realm of 'hyper-real' (where simulacra (hyper real copies, e.g. perfect apples) have replaced reality and the object that they once referenced). Currently, the digital/ virtual worlds offer the lure of the hyper real as well.
In conclusion, our understanding of the world is often mediated/ interpreted and framed for us by other people and cultural bodies. The representations that we receive are selective, edited and sometimes new for specific consumers. While seemingly transnational cultural forms walk a fine line between cultural fusion and cultural imperialism.
Monday, 13 January 2014
W6: Seminar Reflection
After the seminar we had to reflect back on all of the lectures that we had, considering how they could relate to our chosen text.
I found quite a few topics/ themes/theories related to Metropolis:
Initial Notes:
Related Theories:
I found quite a few topics/ themes/theories related to Metropolis:
Initial Notes:
- Industrial Revolution - fear of technology, masses, social revolution, 3rd Reich, style development.
- Gender Roles and Representation - women signals (moral tale, whore vs mother) display.
- Consumers - control of media (social side), not docile, revolts.
- Creative Industry - style, 3rd Reich
Related Theories:
- Marxism - social masses, control of media
- Althusser - reality?
- Laura Mulvey - Gendered Gaze - camera angles/moves, roles. Representation of women.
- Structuralism and Post Structuralism - meaning there or just personal perception?
- Industrial Revolution - consumer culture, style, art development.
- Adorno and Horkheimer - consumer/ viewer as docile
- Walter Benjamin - active consumers, hard to keep down/persuade, social.
W6: Creativity - Definitions and Histories
This week's lecture was on the Creative sector (the fastest growing sector of the UK economy in the last 10 - 15 years) and the work that we'll all hopefully be going into.
We started by considering Creative Practitioners and what they exactly are. We began with individuals that express and create, that try to do something original. But what about people that come up with a concept, but don't actually make it? Who is the 'Creative' then? Aren't chefs, computer scientists, etc. creatives as well? It seemed like there are many different interpretations which were sometimes incompatible.
The definition of creativity has changed historically though, meaning different things at different times:
However the Culture Industry is different to the Creative Industry. It's defined by an essay of the same name written by a group of German Intellectuals (Adorno and Horkheimer theory) associated with the the Institute for Social Research at the University of Frankfurt in the 1930's/40's and is a critique of standardised pop culture forms, e.g. Hollywood movies, magazines, music. It's against media as propaganda and mass ideological persuasion. It's main critique is that culture becomes Homogeneous (standardised, uniform, predictable) and this encourages conformity where as we should critique everyday life. They considered culture and industry to be opposite and that meaning comes from the moment of creation.
Yet Walter Benjamin, a colleague, disagreed with this. He argues that the fusing of culture and the commercial was good as it opens it up to a wider range of people. It democratises an image by destroying its aim. From art being reproduced in new places, meanings emerge at the moment of consumption.
We're Active Consumers - unpredictable, interactive, critical, collaborators in production of culture (social media, online gamers, flash mobs), not docile.
This challenges Adorno and Horkheimer's theory who saw consumers as passive and producers as standardising ideological values.
Now consumers are seen as having an Idea of knowingness, a resistance to capitalist values and the need to employ culture jamming/ adbusters (subverting the original message of a product). We're understood as discerning, discriminating and hard to persuade. Consumption needs to be understood as an action.
Now the Creative Industries have moved beyond the elite vs mass and arts vs entertainment. It's a combination of creative arts and cultural industries, perhaps due to/ working with the rise in consumer industries and the decline of manufacturing industries. The Creative Industries are now able to impact on connectivity, rejuvenate cities, and create new media and (inter)active consumers.
In conclusion, the definition and understanding of creativity has changed over time. While the importance of the earlier idea of 'Culture Industry' is necessary to consider, there have been challenges to this idea. In particular from the emergence of 'Creative Industries' and the relationship between creativity and commerce being contested.
We started by considering Creative Practitioners and what they exactly are. We began with individuals that express and create, that try to do something original. But what about people that come up with a concept, but don't actually make it? Who is the 'Creative' then? Aren't chefs, computer scientists, etc. creatives as well? It seemed like there are many different interpretations which were sometimes incompatible.
The definition of creativity has changed historically though, meaning different things at different times:
- The modern form originated 200 years ago from Neville Brody.
- 18th Century - arts seen as a separate activity - galleries, idea of aesthetics.
- Romanticism - originality, progress, artists as genius. An individual with insight and imagination.
- Modernism (late 19th and early 20th Century) - looking forward, experimental, radical, separate to entertainment - technological advances. e.g. Helvetica font. Gerald McBoing-Boing - 1950s parred sown aesthetics because of TV. Jan Tschichold - typographer, Penguin classic book cover.
- Post-modernism (mid/late 20th Century) - mixing of 'high' and 'low' cultural forms, borrowing from earlier styles, celebrations of retro design, value of inauthentic, intertextuality (referencing different forms).
However the Culture Industry is different to the Creative Industry. It's defined by an essay of the same name written by a group of German Intellectuals (Adorno and Horkheimer theory) associated with the the Institute for Social Research at the University of Frankfurt in the 1930's/40's and is a critique of standardised pop culture forms, e.g. Hollywood movies, magazines, music. It's against media as propaganda and mass ideological persuasion. It's main critique is that culture becomes Homogeneous (standardised, uniform, predictable) and this encourages conformity where as we should critique everyday life. They considered culture and industry to be opposite and that meaning comes from the moment of creation.
Yet Walter Benjamin, a colleague, disagreed with this. He argues that the fusing of culture and the commercial was good as it opens it up to a wider range of people. It democratises an image by destroying its aim. From art being reproduced in new places, meanings emerge at the moment of consumption.
We're Active Consumers - unpredictable, interactive, critical, collaborators in production of culture (social media, online gamers, flash mobs), not docile.
This challenges Adorno and Horkheimer's theory who saw consumers as passive and producers as standardising ideological values.
Now consumers are seen as having an Idea of knowingness, a resistance to capitalist values and the need to employ culture jamming/ adbusters (subverting the original message of a product). We're understood as discerning, discriminating and hard to persuade. Consumption needs to be understood as an action.
Now the Creative Industries have moved beyond the elite vs mass and arts vs entertainment. It's a combination of creative arts and cultural industries, perhaps due to/ working with the rise in consumer industries and the decline of manufacturing industries. The Creative Industries are now able to impact on connectivity, rejuvenate cities, and create new media and (inter)active consumers.
In conclusion, the definition and understanding of creativity has changed over time. While the importance of the earlier idea of 'Culture Industry' is necessary to consider, there have been challenges to this idea. In particular from the emergence of 'Creative Industries' and the relationship between creativity and commerce being contested.
Saturday, 11 January 2014
W5: Sex & Gender
In this lecture we looked at Sex and Gender and we started with a bit of context: the Equality Act 2010 (UK) legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and wider society, yet equality is still not achieved worldwide - in 2013 70% experienced physical or sexual violence.
We all should care because it effects how you will/ have been treated and an understanding of the issues can help you to communicate and relate with the audience of your work more effectively.
Defining 'man' depends on who you ask though - it can mean something different to everyone. It can be any age and may not be the same as reaching emotional or psychological maturity.
The 'natural attitude' is that there are only 2 genders: this is often seen as 'unquestionable' and is based on reproductive organs.
An 'essentialist' understanding of sexual difference is quite rigid as well and assumes that masculine and feminine is not a choice and any deviation from this is a pathology.
Even the cultural definition and dominant representation in mass media of a 'man' aren't necessarily right. They define them as: white, agentic, pursposeful, strong, fearless, independent and heterosexual. Masculinity is sometimes classed as being what it is not - femininity, which is shown as being: an object, purposeless, passive, dependent, fearful and weak.
In general the mass media promotes an exaggerated version of human 'sexual dimorphism', difference between sexes, often physical, yet it's the smallest difference in all other primates. E.g. a strong female is stronger than a weak man.
The media can often exaggerate all of these 'definitions' though, presenting a 'hetronormative' discourse, straight seen as the norm, others seen as abnormal. This can also lead to 'symbolic annihilation' of other identities, where they're seen not to exist.
Certain traits have also been given significance for each gender, for example, a desire for power is seen as a masculine trait, where as in a woman it is framed as unattractive. As well gendered identities are sometimes understood as being 'performative', where there's a 'choice' to their behaviour. Judith Butler in her book Gender Trouble (1990), identifies gender as 'doing', rather than 'being' - encultured rather than biological.
Roles can be normalised by repetition and re-iteration in the mass media. Theories related to this include Laura Mulvey's 'the gendered gaze', first introduced in Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (1975). She highlighted the use of the camera to naturalise ways of looking at men and women - simply the power of the gaze. Mulvey studied how the camera is used as a tool to objectify and normalise this, e.g. the camera being used to suggest that women are simply there to be looked at.
In general gender characteristics can be dangerous and limiting as stereotypes are formed which we feel we must conform to.
Our cultural understanding of gender effects our work and our audience. Through our work we have to be aware of whether we perpetuate or challenge these cultural constructions of race, gender, beauty etc.
We all should care because it effects how you will/ have been treated and an understanding of the issues can help you to communicate and relate with the audience of your work more effectively.
Defining 'man' depends on who you ask though - it can mean something different to everyone. It can be any age and may not be the same as reaching emotional or psychological maturity.
The 'natural attitude' is that there are only 2 genders: this is often seen as 'unquestionable' and is based on reproductive organs.
An 'essentialist' understanding of sexual difference is quite rigid as well and assumes that masculine and feminine is not a choice and any deviation from this is a pathology.
Even the cultural definition and dominant representation in mass media of a 'man' aren't necessarily right. They define them as: white, agentic, pursposeful, strong, fearless, independent and heterosexual. Masculinity is sometimes classed as being what it is not - femininity, which is shown as being: an object, purposeless, passive, dependent, fearful and weak.
In general the mass media promotes an exaggerated version of human 'sexual dimorphism', difference between sexes, often physical, yet it's the smallest difference in all other primates. E.g. a strong female is stronger than a weak man.
The media can often exaggerate all of these 'definitions' though, presenting a 'hetronormative' discourse, straight seen as the norm, others seen as abnormal. This can also lead to 'symbolic annihilation' of other identities, where they're seen not to exist.
Certain traits have also been given significance for each gender, for example, a desire for power is seen as a masculine trait, where as in a woman it is framed as unattractive. As well gendered identities are sometimes understood as being 'performative', where there's a 'choice' to their behaviour. Judith Butler in her book Gender Trouble (1990), identifies gender as 'doing', rather than 'being' - encultured rather than biological.
Roles can be normalised by repetition and re-iteration in the mass media. Theories related to this include Laura Mulvey's 'the gendered gaze', first introduced in Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (1975). She highlighted the use of the camera to naturalise ways of looking at men and women - simply the power of the gaze. Mulvey studied how the camera is used as a tool to objectify and normalise this, e.g. the camera being used to suggest that women are simply there to be looked at.
In general gender characteristics can be dangerous and limiting as stereotypes are formed which we feel we must conform to.
Our cultural understanding of gender effects our work and our audience. Through our work we have to be aware of whether we perpetuate or challenge these cultural constructions of race, gender, beauty etc.
Monday, 6 January 2014
Research
Some notes and article links related to my critical text of Metropolis (1927) covering a range of subjects. I wanted to look at items/ subjects around the film, like art movements and the history of the time as well to see if they are linked in any way, providing a better analysis. At this point I'm just collecting resources and will edit down and select which ones I'll study in more depth later:
BFI Film Classics - Metropolis: Tom Elsaesser. Book: Changing appreciation- moroder soundtrack
- messages: themes not as strong as thought;socialist. romanitc. political
- von harbou - political and 1930s
-style- german expressionism - modern; daft punk and moroder, tron.
Metropolis: Catherine Russell. - Modern review. Changing perceptions (compare to old review). Links to Tom Elasser book.
The Future is Now: Diegetic Prototypes and the Role of Popular Films in Generating Real-world Technological Development
Looking for the German Revolution in Weimar Films
-Used already to authenticate Elsaesser's opinion and book.
The Not-So-Golden Twenties: Everyday Life and Communist Agitprop in Weimar-Era Berlin:Richard Bodek
BFI Film Classics - Metropolis: Tom Elsaesser. Book: Changing appreciation- moroder soundtrack
- messages: themes not as strong as thought;socialist. romanitc. political
- von harbou - political and 1930s
-style- german expressionism - modern; daft punk and moroder, tron.
Metropolis: Catherine Russell. - Modern review. Changing perceptions (compare to old review). Links to Tom Elasser book.
From Caligari to Hitler: A Psychological History of the German Film
Book by Siegfried Kracauer
The Vamp and the Machine: Technology and Sexuality in Fritz Lang's Metropolis: Andreas Huyssen
The Future is Now: Diegetic Prototypes and the Role of Popular Films in Generating Real-world Technological Development
Looking for the German Revolution in Weimar Films
From "Caligari" to Dietrich: Sexual, Social, and Cinematic Discourses in Weimar Film
The Mediation of Technology and Gender: Metropolis, Nazism, Modernism
-Used already to authenticate Elsaesser's opinion and book.
Foreign Exchange: German Expressionism and Its Legacy:Tricia Welsch
Theory, History and German Film; Katie Trumpener
The Not-So-Golden Twenties: Everyday Life and Communist Agitprop in Weimar-Era Berlin:Richard Bodek
Lovers, Filmmakers, and Nazis: Fritz Lang's Last Two Movies as Autobiography;Michael Tratner
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