#16 Research/Planning – Postmodernism in My Opening Scene

Hey everyone, Adrian here. In this post, I want to dive deeper into how the first-person, video game–style opening scene I’ve been planning connects directly to postmodernism and its main ideas.

The opening of my 5 minute film starts inside what looks like a video game mission. The audience sees everything from a first-person perspective, making it feel like they’re playing rather than watching. When the main character is taken down and the screen fades to black with “Click square to respawn,” it immediately breaks the boundary between fiction and reality. It’s unclear what’s real… the game, the film, or both. That’s where postmodernism comes in.

This sequence ties into hyperreality, one of the main traits of postmodern media. Hyperreality is when the simulation feels more real than reality itself. The viewer experiences this when they’re placed directly in the action, seeing through the character’s eyes as if they were controlling the story. Then, when the camera zooms out and reveals that the “game” was being watched on a monitor, it becomes a self-aware twist that plays with audience expectations.

A great example of this in popular media is from “Free Guy” (2021), starring Ryan Reynolds. The film takes place inside a video game world where the characters slowly realize they’re part of a simulation. The audience moves between the virtual world and the real world of the players controlling it, just like in my planned intro. Both play with layers of reality, question what’s authentic, and use video game logic to comment on how entertainment feels more “real” than real life.

This concept also mirrors the kind of intertextuality postmodern media relies on, borrowing recognizable elements from gaming culture and blending them with cinematic storytelling. It’s intentionally self-aware, made to feel familiar yet disorienting.

In short, the first-person opening scene isn’t just a creative way to grab attention. It’s built around postmodern ideas, combining simulation, self-reference, and blurred realities to pull the viewer into an experience that challenges what’s real and what’s not.

I’ll have more updates soon as we begin shaping the rest of the storyline and connecting this concept with the rest of the film’s narrative, but there’s been a topic that hasn’t been talked about for this film… see you on the next blog!