GLOBALCULTURZ ISSN:2582-6808 Vol.I No.3 September-December2020
Article-ID 2020100019/I Pages221-228 Language:English Domain of Study: Humanities & Social Sciences Sub-Domain: Cinema Studies Title:Your Name: A Study of Imagery and Post-Postmodernity in Cinema
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Ram Prakash Dwivedi (Dr.)
Associate Professor, DBA College, University of Delhi, Delhi (India)
[ Email: rampdwivedi@gmail.com][M +91-9868068787 ]
Abstract—Cinematic images have emerged as a potential tool capable of creating and shaping the culture of a nation. They are able to design the real and replace the so-called physical-real, effectively. In post-postmodern era, digitally coded-third order of simulation is dominant over the other forms of communication. Virtually constructed reality (VCR) defines and controls the social relationships, individual behavior and economic dynamics of a country. Japanese anime, a popular term for animation cinema, is quite vast and has a rich history of production, distribution and viewing. These anime represent the complex codes of Japanese culture. In doing so, they have reshaped the present cultural perception. These computer-generated elements, in Japanese anime, have attained an entity of cultural phenomenon in itself. These elements-imagery, music, storyline, movements, dialogues and designs-are carefully choosen and incorporated by the film makers for powerful representation and dissemination of existing socio-cultural ethos. Paramountcy of digi-culture is an important characteristic of post-postmodernism. These are the key issues raised and addressed in this study. A qualitative socio-psychological research methodology has been adopted to elucidate these questions.
Keywords—Cinema studies, imagery, Japanese animation, post-postmodernism.
- Introduction
YOUR Name (2016) is a popular animation film of director/animator Makoto Shinkai. Makoto has several blockbuster films to his credit. His most acclaimed films are, 5 Centimeters Per Second (2007), Garden of Words (2013) and Voices of a Distant Star (2002). Advanced digital techniques have brought multifold change in creative art, particularly in animation cinema. Animations, unlike India, are more popular among all age groups of Japanese society and despite their super-natural, hyper-real themes carry ‘serious’ messages and depict social issues and individual desires. The master craftsman in the area is, surely, Hayao Miyazaki, an Academy Award winner of 2003 for his film Spirited Away. Makoto Shinkai is regarded as a successor of Miyazaki and has gained respect among film-critiques all over the world, particularly after the release of Your Name. Makoto himself likes Miyazaki’s film, Castle in the Sky (1986), the most. This film is his source of inspiration.