1. IS IT POSSIBLE TO
CREATE A
CULTURAL
ARTEFACT THAT IS
NOT
POSTMODERN?

2. KEY FEATURES
OF POSTMODERN TEXTS
 Intertextual references
 Bricolage

3. POSTMODERNISM, HYPERREALITY
AND THE AGE OF THE SIMULACRUM
 Simulation, Baudrillard claims, is the current stage of the
simulacrum: All is composed of references with no referents, a
hyperreality.
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Baudrillard#Simulacra_and_Sim
ulation

4. OBJECTIVE
 To investigate if it is possible to create a cultural artefact that is
not postmodern
 Reason – to test the strength of Baudrillard‟s idea that we live in
media saturated society where cultural artefacts are hyperreal
simulacra
 Coursework – in what ways is your coursework postmodern?
 E.g. – The Marvel

5. BOND…JAMES BOND
 Conventions / expectations of a Bond film – what are they?
 some brief sequences
 Conventions / expectations of a bond song and video – what are
the common patterns in the subject matter of the siongs and what
the happens in the videos

6. THE WORK
 Main task 1
To write song for Skyfall
 MUST write the chorus
 SHOULD write at least 1 verse
 COULD write at least 1 more verse
 Main task 2
 Plan the video for the Skyfall theme song
 MUST storyboard the sequence for the first use of the chorus
 SHOULD storyboard the sequence for 1 verse
 COULD storyboard the sequence for a repetition of the chorus

7. REVIEW
 Is it possible for a cultural artefact to not be postmodern
somehow?

8. JAMES BOND – A POSTMODERN
FRANCHISE
 The James Bond film franchise is a postmodern one
 Every Bond film works in relation to what has gone before – each
one refers to previous films and other films / TV series, sometimes
directly, sometimes indirectly
 Casino Royale was to mark a „re-boot‟ of Bond films
 How and why did Bond come to need re-booting?
 Die Another Day – strong box office, but poor reviews – a signal
for the producers to change course
 Between Die Another Day (2002) and Casino Royale (2006) – 2
new JB‟s come to town – Jason Borne and Jack Bauer

9. “WHY THE HELL DID THEY HAVE TO
REBOOT THE SERIES????”
 http://www.jamesbondwiki.com/thread/1699056/Why+the+hell+did
+they+have+to+reboot+the+series%3F%3F%3F%3F

10. BOURNE & BAUER – BOND BUT
BETTER?
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourne_%28film_series%29#Box_offic
e_performance
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24_%28TV_series%29#Awards_and_
nominations
 http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=batmanbegins.htm
 Jameson – postmodernism is the cultural logic of late capitalism
 The cultural logic of the success of the Bourne films, 24 and
Batman Begins (another franchise re-boot) was that Bond needed
to be re-booted

11. POSTMODERN BOND
 How and why can a James Bond film such as the 2 most recent
ones – „Casino Royale‟ and „Quantum of Solace‟ - be described
as postmodern?
 Postmodernism for money – because institutions have to respond
to changes in audience tastes