Media Coursework

TV: Postmodernism and Deutschland 83 Postmodernism is one of the more challenging ideas in A Level Media but fortunately  Deutschland 83  provides a brilliant case study as a postmodernist media text. We need to be able to look for postmodern ideas in the media texts we study - and some of that we've done already in our work on advertising and marketing, intertextuality and genre. Notes and definitions Postmodernism:  a late 20th-century style and concept in the arts, architecture, and criticism, which represents a departure from modernism and is characterized by the self-conscious use of earlier styles and conventions, a mixing of different artistic styles and media, and a general distrust of theories. (Source:  Dictionary definition ) A brief history Postmodernism is linked to the premodernism and modernism eras. Pre-modernism:  up to late 19th century. Religion dominates society. Modernism:  late 19th century to mid-20th century Science dominates; religion quest

Blog task: Deutschland 83 Close-textual analysis Type up your analysis from the lesson using the headings below. You may want to watch the key scenes again and develop your notes in further detail - the more specific and memorable your analysis, the better it will serve you when writing an essay on TV drama. Remember, you can  watch the episode for free on the All 4 website  and the main reading and research tasks for Deutschland 83 are on  this case study blogpost here . Scene 1: Garden/BBQ scenes (East & West Germany) 4.58 – 8.20 and 34.00 – 37.20 Make notes under the following headings: Technical codes – particularly mise-en-scene A ton of surrounding makes strain  stresses the thought he is a government agent  No music playing just mumbled exchange  Influences it to appear to be more matter of fact and cold  More extravagant gathering contrasted with the east could be a message about private enterprise Representation of East & W

TV: Deutschland 83 case study Our second television close-study product is critically acclaimed German cold war spy drama  Deutschland 83 . Just like our work on  Capital , we need to know everything about  Deutschland 83  - from textual analysis of key scenes to how it was funded, distributed and promoted. The notes from the lesson are here: Historical context: The Cold War The Cold War was a political dispute between the Eastern Bloc (the Soviet Union – Russia and 14 other states) and the Western Bloc (USA and NATO allies including the UK). It took place from 1947 to 1989. There was never large-scale fighting between the two sides but on at least two occasions the world came close to a fully-nuclear World War 3. The Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall was a symbol of the Cold War, constructed after the Berlin crisis of 1961. It divided Communist-controlled East Berlin and NATO-supporting West Berlin. East Germans were not allowed to cross the border for a better lif