Examples of Post Modernism in Play and Worker Drone

In any situation foreign to the character, anything and everything will be done to try to make sense of ones surroundings. The importance of identifying the type of the movies shown in “Worker Drone” by Raju, S. (2010) and “Play” by Kaplan and Zimmerman (2010) are vital to the understanding of not only the plot, but also the common themes presented. For example, common themes in both movies were was the sense of paranoia, a showcase of intertextuality and an ambiguous endings. All three common themes make it clear that these movies are in fact postmodern films, despite the fact that there were also a few common themes also found supporting a modernist and existentialist sense.

There were ambiguous ending in both filmsIn both films, there were clear ambiguous endings, which makes them postmodernis a large indicator of a postmodern film. For example, the audience also does not know what how the ending was in the movie “Play” movie “Play” ends, and leaves them asking questions such as to who was the little boy and does the female end up tell anyone else what she saw in the ending? In “The Worker Drone” the audience never finds out if the war had ended or even if Paul has actually told anyone else the truth.

These films display ambiguous endings and leave the audience wondering as to what exactly happened, and allows them to create their own version of the ending in their own heads. This common theme displays a postmodern type of storytelling in both “The Worker Drone” and “Play”.

Another key postmodern theme that I believe was most apparent was the use of intertexting themes in both “The Worker Drone” and “Play”. An example of such was used during “Play” when the story is actually set inside a videogame in which the characters play as characters inside of the game cartages. Also, Wwhile in “The Worker Drone” this theme is shown with the use of the “Planet Dogstar” promo commercial that is played as a video inside of a movie. These examples of intertexting are very apparent in both films and represents another aspect of postmodern themes.

Lastly, as related to the previous paragraph, most specifically the movie “Play”, the strange world in which these characters live in create a sense of paranoia and has them begin to question their reality. As mentioned, in the movie “Play” these characters find themselves in a strange video game world in which they are unsure of who they even are (eg. “Who am I? Where am I?”). Meanwhile, in “The Worker Drone” the main characters have developed paranoia in which they believe they are being monitored to the point in which they have nanochips implanted in their brains.

In conclusion, both “The Worker Drone” and “Play” presented common themes showcasing a postmodern view such as intertexting, ambiguous endings and paranoia. These themes stood out the most in my opinion and made these stories postmodern in my opinion.

Task 1, Topic 2: Two Examples of Post modernism

FINAL COPY

In any situation foreign to the character, anything and everything will be done to try to make sense of ones surroundings. The importance of identifying the type of the movies shown in “Worker Drone” by Raju, S. (2010) and “Play” by Kaplan and Zimmerman (2010) are vital to the understanding of not only the plot, but also the common themes presented. For example, common themes in both movies was the sense of paranoia, a showcase of intertextuality an ambiguous ending. All three common themes make it clear that these movies are in fact postmodern films, despite the fact that there were also a few common themes found supporting a modernist and existentialist sense.

In both films there were clear ambiguous endings, which is a large indicator of a postmodern film. For example, the audience also does not know how the movie “Play” ends, and leaves them asking questions such as to who was the little boy and does the female character end up tell anyone else what she saw in the ending? In “The Worker Drone” the audience never finds out if the war had ended or even if Paul has actually told anyone else the truth. These films display ambiguous endings and leave the audience wondering as to what exactly happened, and allows them to create their own version of the ending in their own heads. This common theme displays a postmodern type of storytelling in both “The Worker Drone” and “Play”.

Another key postmodern theme that I believe was most apparent was the use of intertexting themes in both “The Worker Drone” and “Play”. An example of such was used during “Play” when the story is set inside a videogame in which the characters play as characters inside of the game cartages. Also, while in “The Worker Drone” this theme is shown with the use of the “Planet Dogstar” promo commercial that is played as a video inside of a movie. These examples of intertexting are very apparent in both films and represents another aspect of postmodern themes.

Lastly, as related to the previous paragraph, most specifically the movie “Play”, the strange world in which these characters live in create a sense of paranoia and has them begin to question their reality. As mentioned, in the movie “Play” these characters find themselves in a strange video game world in which they are unsure of who they even are (eg. “Who am I? Where am I?”). Meanwhile, in “The Worker Drone” the main characters have developed paranoia in which they believe they are being monitored to the point in which they have nanochips implanted in their brains.

In conclusion, both “The Worker Drone” and “Play” presented common themes showcasing a postmodern view such as intertexting, ambiguous endings and paranoia. These themes stood out the most in my opinion and made these stories postmodern in my opinion.

Task 2: Movie Questions

Q. What is the name of the movie?
A. The Great Gatsby

Q. When was the movie made?
A. First in 1925 but again in 2013.

Q. What is the main setting of the movie? (Time and place)
A. Between West Egg and New York in the early 1900s after a war.

Q. Who are the main characters? Which one is the protagonist? Which one is the antagonist? (Who are they, describe them briefly). A. Daisy : Gatsby loves her. He met her five years ago but didn’t marry her, now she is married with someone else and Gatsby wants to get back with her. Nick : The cousin of Daisy. Is used by Gatsby to connect with Daisy, and he is the one narrating the story. Jordon: Has a connection between Nick, Tom and Gatsby, and is a “side character” Protagonist: He is “Jay Gatsby”. His character is shown as the film progresses, and he is a mysterious man that throws parties every Saturday for what is later revealed to impress Daisy. He is a con man and has made money off of corruption. Antagonist: Tom (Daisy’s husband) is the antagonist in the film. He is originally just loving to his wife, but upon realizing Gatsbys intensions, plans to Gatsbys death

Q. What is the essence of the problem or conflict that lies at the heart of this movie? A. Gatsby was unable to marry Daisy five years prior as he was too poor, and is now trying to win her back now that he is rich. The essence of the problem is also the decision by Daisy as to who she wants to spend the rest of her life with (Gatsby or her husband, Tom)

Q. How are the attitudes and perspectives on life from that era reflected in the film? A. The language is very clearly an older, more British form of English with many British phrases presented (“Old Chap”). On top of that, the clothing, buildings, and cars are clearly old fashioned and dates back to the early 1900’s. Lastly, there is clearly a cultural shift between the main characters, and the lesser “poorer” peoples. This is clear by the lack of disregard to colored and underprivileged peoples in the early 1900’s

Q. How is the story helped by camera angles?
A. There are close shots during emotional scenes in them such as the only time when Gatsby was angry and when he was shot dead as well. There are shots with Dutch/angle to show confusion during the party scene when Nick met Gatsby for the first time. And when Tom’s lover, was struck by the car that was being driven by Daisy. There were also many long shots from above to show wider detail like when there is a shot taken of the block/city.

Q. How is the story helped by music? Provide several specific examples. A. The music was really relative to the scenes, and clearly emphasized the point playing. For example, there was soothing music during intimate scenes, and in contrast there was loud, fast paced music playing during the party scenes. Also, there was a clear difference in genre of music based on the ethnicity shown. For example more classical music was played during scenes with Daisy’s husband, and hip-hop during scenes with African Americans.

Q. How is the story helped by costumes?
A. Every scene costumes played a major role on portraying the setting, wither it be representing rich from poor, casual to formal, or night to day, as well as portraying the time this film was set in. The costumes were clearly early 1900s and was showcased by women wearing full dresses with hats, as well as Gatsby even holding a cane for show. An example of formal to casual is showcased by the Butlers wearing tuxedos in comparison to causal night clothes worn by Gatsby and other characters.

Q. What is the overarching theme of the movie? Defend your choice. A. This film has one of the clearest themes I’ve even noticed, and it’s that wealth can’t buy you happiness. This is shown by the fact that Gatsby was able to throw rich extravagant parties, yet was unhappy because he was not with Daisy. Eventually he would actually die as a result of trying to get Daisy’s love back to marry him. Simply put, money cannot buy happiness

Q. How do these production choices (camera angles, music, costumes) contribute to the overarching feeling that the movie is existentialist, modernist, or postmodernist? Choose one of these three styles and show how production choices helped to illuminate the literary style of the film. A. As mentioned previously, camera angles, music and costumes played a major role in the film. These helped present a Modernist style of movie by presenting costumes in the early 1900s sense. Around this time modernism began to grow, and you can tell by the modernist touches to the clothing. The music along with the costumes presents the Flappers ideology and really presented the modernist feel.

Q. How is this like the poems, songs, or stories you have read in this unit? A. I found this movie had a variety of elements in it showcasing not only modernist views, but also existentialist and postmodernist ideas. Now of course these views have been presented in other poems, songs and stories throughout this unit, but it is the first time that all these elements are so clearly together. For example, modernist elements were found in the references to WW1 and Oxford U, while postmodernist elements were showcased in paranoia and suspension of other characters. In conclusion, I find this movie to have been a great blending of all themes, but having modernist as the center point idea.

Q. How is this film different from everything else that you have read, heard, etc., in this unit? Make two specific connections. A. I found this film showcased many examples of several elements showcased in this unit (modernist, postmodern, existentialist, etc.). This made it more of an opinion choice based off the evidence as to what type of film was showcased. I did find this film to be much more enjoyable than the other films shown (practically because I knew about the story prior to) and made this film much more enjoyable/realistic to watch.

Q. Is this movie mostly existentialist in outlook or mostly modernist in outlook or mostly postmodernist in its style? Why do you think that? A. I believe the movie was modernist for the most part because it had many of the elements required and did not have many postmodernist or existentialist elements throughout. Elements such as alliteration, such as the term “Old sport” were used for multiple reasons throughout the movie, which showcases a modernist form. Allusions/references were also very apparent, in such forms as references to WW1, Oxford U, etc. The theme of juxtaposition was shown as well when Daisy was deciding who to spend her life with.

Task 3: Script

The movie had many modern elements and concepts to it, and by adding the following monologue I hope to present the fact that it is such by using a few theatrical devises used from that era (eg. “Strong visual images, Free-form poetry”). This scene begins the story as a reflection of the stories events told by Mr. Gatsby before the story its self is presented in full. “She was unique. A lovely girl for whom I loved from when I laid my eyes first upon her. You see, I was a fool. Her exquisiteness was so mind-blowing, so much in such that I became too nervous to make my presence available to her. We first met in Louisville in 1917, and we fell madly in love.

Time changed, we grew apart. Yet here I found myself in the same country, same city and almost the same island yet I was a fool and I stayed reclusive.” “I don’t know how long it may have been, in fact I might not have ever reacquainted with her had it not been for a swell lad that moved next door named Nick. You see, every Saturday. Over and over again. Week after week. With my incredible wealth I hosted the grandest, most exciting parties that this Grand Island have ever seen, hoping, just hoping that this golden girl would show up.” “Today my heart is aching

For a woman that’s far away
I would give anything to hold him
And any ransom I would pay”
Once finished speaking, Mr. Gatsby finishes typing up what he’s said in story form.
Proceeds to the crumple up the paper and throw it in the trash bin.

Modified Poem from: https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poems/love/long-distance/#ixzz3TZLUMIlw