Middle Earth-from the novel to the silver screen Research Paper

Middle Earth-from the novel to the silver screen - Research Paper Example Perhaps the biggest deletion by Jackson is the scene including the scouring of the shire. In line with this, Valente noted that Jackson’s deletion of this scene might have been due to his, and Tolkien’s love for nature and the Hobbits (36). Nonetheless, the deletion of this scene comes with an emotional appeal to a viewer since they are able to appreciate the fact that the Hobbits beautiful Shire remained intact since the movie might have depicted the destruction in a worse way than the book explained. Hence, the viewer does not go through a position whereby they witnessed the destruction of a beautiful environment that was well maintained by the Hobbits. In addition, Jackson manages to maintain the Hobbits simple way of life throughout the book, which appeals emotionally to the viewers. In this regard, the scouring of the shire in the movie would have come with destruction of a simple way of life. Nonetheless, Jackson did not want to destroy this calm and uncomplicated life since the viewers would not have identified with such an action and would not find the adaptation appealing. Conversely, the scene was long and would not have fitted within the period resulting due to the change in the media. To continue with the depiction of the simple life that the Hobbits lead, Jackson adds something new in the movie in a scene that involves Merry and Pippin, two of the four Hobbits while at the gate of the Isengard. In this regard, Merry told Pippin that he smoked a lot (â€Å"The Return of the King†). While this statement does not have any effect on the overall story told by the adaptation, Jackson continues to show the drinking and pipe smoking nature of the Hobbits (Valente 36). In effect, Jackson wanted to make a... The fascinating perspective depends upon an individual’s taste although most viewers cite the adaptations to movies as more interesting than the novels. On the other hand, there are viewers who will indicate that the movie enhanced their understanding of the novel. Nonetheless, the perspective an individual takes depends on their preferences since movies are a visual medium and movie directors’ attempts in portraying written pieces, thoughts, and events might be challenging. In this regard, some readers of the novel might be disappointed after watching the movies. However, movie directors and producers are always at hand to explain to the viewers that the movies are adaptations, which may delete, add, or change some aspects of the novel in order to make the movie. It is evident that Jackson was able to turn a high fantasy of the 1950s gain the success in the contemporary society. In order to ensure the success, he had to make some alterations from the original text in order for the movie to fit into the visual medium and period. On the other hand, the contemporary society has changed from the society that liked the book by Tolkien in the 1950s. Hence, Jackson appeals to this society by giving the movie a humanly appeal when he highlights the most important aspects of human life such as pity, compassion, and the important role of each person in the society. In addition, the alteration of the characters by giving them a psychological depiction in the adaptation, which is in contrast to the superhero status in the book, makes the movie a success story when compared to the book.

Pestel Analysis Political Factor Management Essay

Pestel Analysis Political Factor Management Essay China automobile industry, the top vehicle superpower in the world has become the backbone in the national economy due to the fast growing of the industry in 2009. Protections and privileges have been set up by Chinese government to the foreign automakers which directly allow those foreign companies have easy access in Chinese automobile industry. Therefore, China is successfully attracted many multinational companies to enter the country such as Ford, and Volkswagen. Economy Factor The open policy have brings the country rapid and continuous economic growth and today, China has playing an important role in the global economic environment. Based on China currently growing economy position, huge market size, and the dominating position in the global economic environment which showed there are high profits potential have attracted big international vehicle manufacturers. Social Factor Firstly, any international firm needs to understand the Chinese concept of guanxi which is completely different meaning from Western concept of relationship. However, it is important for Western organisations to build their own guanxi networks in China in order to smoothen their operations. Finding local partners when begin a business in China is a sensible way. Thus, many of the multinational automobile manufacturers are choose joint venture as their entry mode where it can ease the process in both administrative and political processes, yet, cultural differences may become the obstacles for them to handle. Technology Factor The technologies in automobile industry are keeps upgrading, for example, automobile makers are now designing a car with environmental consciousness in order to protect the environment and they comes up with hybrid cars. Moreover, several automobile companies are using computers system in their car diagnosing problems. Environment Factor The consequences of the growth sales in automobiles are such as air pollution, sound pollution, and of course the global warming due to the overconsumption of oil which is causing the release of CO3 that harm the earth. Nevertheless, the responsibility is not only in the shoulder of China but also the burden of the whole world. Legal Factor China laws and regulations are usually often known as unclear, ambiguous and difficult to understand. However, the government is trying to liberalize the legal and regulatory environment for foreign investors. Michael Porters 5 Forces Threats of Product Substitutions The factor presenting the strongest threat of substitutes in the industry is the second hand car. This may be seen in the face of used automobiles which are sold by dealerships along with new cars. Especially, when it is in the economic recession which directly impact the increase of buying second hand cars and reduce sales in new cars. Public transportation like bus, train, monorail and others are another alternative mode of transport as the substitutes to cars. Threats of New Entrants Due to the economic booming and the rise of demand in purchasing cars in China, thus, it will attract more new entrants in the Chinese automobile industry. A large investment is needed by every new entrant in order to set up necessary facilities in producing large amount of production. The fixed costs are high, and then it will be a major entry barrier for new entrants. Besides, new entrants need to face some authorization processes before launch their new business. However, the lack of transparency in China legal system may bring substantial difficulties for them and it will create barriers too. Intensity of Rivalry As we know that, to involve in automobile industry the fixed costs are high. So, assuming a company wants to leave the industry, their loss of revenues and assets will be high too. Hence, to avoid disinvestment, companies will increase their research and development and invest in marketing in order to attract customers which will increase the intensity of rivalry amongst companies. Besides, international automobile companies not only need to competing each other, but also amongst the local automobile companies. Although it is true that customers might buy foreign cars by the mindset of quality, but, local customers will more prefer local automobiles where their design may fit their needs compare to foreign cars. Bargaining Power of Buyers Dealerships is the key buyers for those car manufacturers, yet, the end-user customers also importance to be counted. The exclusive contractual agreements make the switching costs for the dealerships are extremely high. But, dealerships are vital to those car manufacturers too in the sense of reaching the end consumers. Bargaining Power of Suppliers The bargaining power of suppliers is seem to be high. This is because by the small size of reliable suppliers whose are producing high quality raw materials and readymade components and parts which are no substitutes for all needed raw materials. Michael Porters Diamond Analysis Factor Conditions China is a large population country with its increasing purchasing power has made it as the ideal place for investments. In order to attract international automobile companies, the State council of China has developed a new development outline, called the Outline in March 2009 where it is about industrial upgrading, technological enhancement and promotion of new engines. It is no doubt that China has enough facilities including land capacity and natural resources that able to support every interested company. Demand Conditions Today, there are change in the level of Chinese needs and want which is come along with the increase of purchasing power and disposable income amongst the demographics. Moreover, the improvement in the Chinese lifestyle and economic life of state power risen the private consumption of them. The demand in China was especially heavy for cars that were perceived to be of higher quality than most of those produced by Chinese government and in China only about 20% of people owned car. Related and Supporting Industries China has realized that the reliance on low-end and labor-intensive manufacturing which use mainly imported technology is being no longer sustainable. Therefore, the development of the automobile industry shall involve restructuring of the production and technological advancement. The presented Outline by the Chinese government entails that passenger cars produced with domestically independent brands shall account for over 40% of the total car market, comprising about 10% (around one million) of the whole export production and sales in 2011. A powerful information system aimed at enhancing the Joint Ventures capabilities by better managing the entire value chain of the enterprise, including research, design, sourcing, production, marketing, sales, and service. Firm Strategy, Structure, and Rivalry In terms of market expansion it is a moderate factor influencing rivalry among competitors due to the established powerful brands in the industry, nevertheless some companies engage in more than one segment by utilizing different brands, e.g. BMW and Mini. Rivalry among competitors is also little reduced through a degree of differentiation in few diverse segments within the automobile industry like luxury cars and budget cars. The models offered by Changan-Ford in the Chinese market sold well because they appealed to a sophisticated segment of buyers, who saw Western-designed cars as differentiated because of their overall superior quality, innovative technology and aesthetic appeal. Hofstedes Dimension Social Orientation China scored 20 in the index which is showed that Chinese is a highly collectivist group where they act based on the group majority decision and not themselves. In contrast, United States is a highly individualistic community where this can be proved by they achieved a 91 score. In order to solve the problem between collectivist and individualistic culture, Changan-Ford can held workshops or seminars which are able to educate their employees about the important of teamwork (ie. Team building). Power Orientation By the high score of 80, China is a definitely power respect culture where they will obey to their superiors command and instructions. However, United States scoring a low score in this dimension which is only 40. And this is showed that Americans are practicing power tolerance where they will just follow their leader if they think that their leader is right, whereas the superior will listen to the employees opinion. Therefore, empowerment atmosphere is in the Americans culture. Changan-Ford may benchmark the Toyota lean productions strategy whereby Toyota is believed in bottom-up report and this beside can formalized the process but also can decentralized the organisation. Uncertainty Orientation In this dimension, China has score 30 which is showed that Chinese do not avoid risk and contented with ambiguity. Slightly scores higher score than China, US scores 46 which presented that Americans are risk takers and willing to accept new ideas, innovative products and willing to try new practices. Goal Orientation By the scores of 66, China is proven to be masculine society. Thus, many Chinese will rather sacrifice their family than careers due to they are more eager to be successful in their jobs. Not far different from China, US score 62 on this dimension showed that Americans are masculine society too. Time Orientation Chinese is known as the country that needed longest time to make decision making where persistence and perseverance are normal. This can be proved by they achieved extremely high score in this dimension which is 118 score. Contrast, US scores 29 in this dimension and showed that they are short-term oriented culture. Therefore, Americans make fast decision making than Chinese. The suggestion for Changan-Ford to solve this problem is they may set dateline to all decision-makings that all managers need to make.

Monet Essay example -- Essays Papers

Monet Claude Monet was born in Paris, France on the 14th of November 1840. When Monet was 5 he moved to the town of Le Havre for the majority of his youth. Monet was considered to be undisciplined and unlikely to make an achievement of his life by his parents and teachers. His father owned a wholesale grocery that Monet showed no interest in inheriting. He was only interested in painting. By the age of fifteen he was receiving commission from his works. He later grew to become one of the greatest influential impressionist painters of all times. Monet was the leader of the impressionist movement. He influenced art by trying to paint his personal spontaneous response to outdoor scenes or events. Earlier artists had also painted outdoor studies rapidly, almost in shorthand. They used such studies as â€Å"notes† for more elaborate pictures painted in the studio. Monet was the most important of the artists who first allowed their initial impressions of outdoor scenes to stand as complete works. Monet painted directly from the object in order to record visual sensation more accurately. He was especially concerned with the effect of outdoor light and atmosphere. Impressionists recorded their own sensations of color, and the outlines and solidities of the world as interpreted by common sense melt away. The impressionist emphasis on the prime reality of sensation in the process of apprehending nature or the world had its parallel in the work of contemporaneous scientists, philo...

His Panic: Why Americans Fear Hispanics in the US Essay

Review by Howard Jordan, The City University of New York – Hostos Community College of book His Panic: Why Americans Fear Hispanics in the U. S. written by Emmy-award-winning journalist Geraldo Rivera. Rivera has truly emerged as a true warrior in defense of the Latino community and immigrant rights by dissecting and clarifying several myths that feed the anti-immigrant prejudice against the growing number of United States-born and foreign-born Latinos in our nation. One of the most obvious untrue assumptions surrounding immigrants is that Latinos are more prone to crime than their American counterparts. Rivera confronts the question of whether immigrants are committing crimes at higher rates than U. S. citizens. The debate started with a story about a drunk driver in Virginia Beach who killed two teenage girls in a terrible accident. The driver was an â€Å"illegal† Mexican. Rivera accusing Bill O’Reilly of making this same â€Å"cheap political point,† Rivera said, â€Å"[He] could have been a Jewish drunk, an Italian drunk, or an Irish drunk, would you still care? (p. 5). I believe this is the perfect example to showcase the constant double standard that exists when it comes to use Latinos as ‘scapegoats’ to take the blame for high rates of crimes or other issues. Statistics show that immigrants are no more prone to committing crimes than are the native-born. Another false rumor that causes anti-immigrant hostility is that Latino immigrants come here to take jobs from U. S. citizens. This statement cannot be further from the truth. With agreements like NAFTA, immigrants are not the ones to blame for stealing the jobs of American citizens. Conversely, the ones truly affected before any U. S. citizen is deprived of any opportunity are Mexicans because the jobs that NAFTA secures in the U. S. were jobs previously held by Mexican workers across the border. So, let’s take a moment to rethink who’s taking what from whom? In addition, Rivera cites several studies that show â€Å"Latino immigrants are not displacing American workers†¦ and rarely over-utilize social services†. Those criticizing must know that illegal immigrants are not entitled to receive any governmental assistance, because of their immigrant status. Going further Rivera has evidence in his book about â€Å"nonpartisan, non-ideological, scientific data [that] proves that immigrants contribute greatly to the America economy† (p. 169). Again this corrects the misinformation that immigrants are not a burdensome to the U. S. if not a huge contributing force of this nation whose rights are often violated. A further huge inaccurate detail Rivera addresses in his book is the assumption that immigrants use ‘anchor babies’ presumably to further the parents’ quest for citizenship. Anchor babies are children born of illegal immigrants to help their parents acquire citizenship status in the U. S. That cannot be further from the truth because under current law, an illegal immigrant parent seeking citizenship cannot use the fact that their child is a citizen, until that child reaches the age of twenty-one. However, immigrants are being wrongfully and constantly criminalized for intending to build and raise a family. In conclusion I believe that the United States has to stop using fear mongering to influence, manipulate the opinions and actions of its citizens with the goal of fueling anti-immigrant sentiment. This country was built by immigrants’ sweat and hard labor not just from Latin America, but from Europe and Africa. How can the U. S. carryon with not only taking their land, but also taking their pride, belittle them by inviting immigrants into this country and then deporting them as they conveniently desire when ‘those second class citizens are no longer useful’. I genuinely believe that American are in fear of Latinos. And they act they way they do to keep them at a margin, contain at a place where they are in need to settle and at often times take the poor jobs they get. It is embarrassing as a U. S. citizen that my own country carries this behavior. How can anyone be the cause of such horrible acts, of separating families due to technical issues and then praise to be the most powerful country in the world. The United States is the most powerful country in the world because our predecessors have gone out of their way to steal anything of value, not other communities’ ideas like Iroquois, or from the other developing countries of the world. The U. S must stop this way of politics and reach an agreement. An agreement where immigrants and workers are rewarded for their efforts, where we pay the price they are worth and earned for their hard work, that we restore what has been stolen, where the rich upper class get taxed according to the gross income they are earning. Where the jobs stolen are restored to Mexicans and Africans, restored for everything they have lost as a result of being brought here to build this country. This should be the land of opportunity, where everyone is equal at all levels and topics, not the land of exploiting the weak and enslaving them. Where is all this nonsense going to stop? I know is not that simple, to reverse the damage that has been done after so many years but we must start somewhere, perhaps by acknowledging the truth and not hiding the real facts behind the Latino scapegoat. People must be educated before taking a stand on what spot on the spectrum to be in. It is a very sensible topic that involves the lives of actual people, actual families. Thank you Geraldo Rivera for not forgetting about your roots, and using your position as a media figure to be an activist against the Latino immigrants.

Distinctively Visual †Henry Lawson Essay

Henry Lawson’s Short Stories Q1 Describe one significant image from one of Henry Lawson’s Short stories. One significant image from ‘The Loaded Dog’ is the creation of the ‘formidable bomb’ that Andy constructs ‘to blow the fish up’. Lawson gives us a detailed description of the making of the cartridge. He uses adjectives, adverbs and exaggeration, to emphasis the danger it represents –‘three times the size of those they use in the rock’ and ‘big enough to blow the bottom out of the river’. His long-winded description of the construction process also builds suspense- ‘The inner skin was of stout calico. Andy stuck the end of a six foot fuse†¦ bound the bag firmly†¦ dipped the cartridge in melted bees wax†¦ bound a strip of sail canvas†¦ bound the thing with from end to end with stout fishing line’. This builds up suspense and by the end we are certain of the danger that this bomb represents. The descri ptive nature of this passage also builds on characterisation. Dave ‘got an idea’, ‘Andy usually put Dave’s theories into practice’ and Jim sat on the sidelines critiquing both of the above. The idea of mate ship between the key characters is also developed ‘a formidable bomb – but Andy and Dave wanted to be sure’. The detailed description of the materials used and the process of making the bomb, adds credibility and gives the reader a sense of the skills of the miners and an insight into their craft. By the time Lawson is finished we can ‘see’ this cartridge and understand its potential for harm. When Tommy takes the lit cartridge in his mouth we have a heightened understanding of the gravity of the situation and find ourselves on the edge of our seats. Q2 Examine how the relationship between context and text shapes meaning in one of Henry Lawson’s short stories. Text Summary: ‘The Drovers Wife’ is a short story by Henry Lawson about a woman who is left alone in the harsh Australian bush to look after the house and children while her husband is away sheep droving. The main complication the snake in the huts floor slab which threatens her families safety. The Context: * The Times: in the late 1800’s most Australians lived in the cities but the harsh reality of the Australian bush had captured their imagination  perhaps due to its’ contrast with British landscapes and life. * Literary History; Lawson was the first Australian born writers to document an unromantic view of the Australian bush and its uniquely Australian culture. As such, his writing represented a challenge to those like banjo Patterson who presented a romantic (unrealistic) view of the bush. * Audience; The drovers wife was published in 1892 in ‘The Bulletin’ which was known as the ‘Bushman’s Bible’ and Lawson’s presentation of the harsh realities of life in the Australian bush appealed to the white male dominated readership. * Lawson’s Life; Lawson was brought up on a poor selection himself and understood the realities of his subjects lives. He lived with his mother after her separation with her father and this perhaps g ives him special insight when writing the Drovers Wife. * Cultural Themes: which dominate 19th century bush life and evident in Lawson’s, ‘The Drovers Wife’ include; hardship/resilience, loneliness and isolation, loss and acceptance. How the Text interacts with Context to Add Meaning Text Style; ‘The Drovers Wife’ is written in the style of a ‘sketch- story’. The writer provides a picture in words by focusing on charecterisation and setting rather than plot. In Lawson’s words, ‘†I thought the short story was a lazy man’s game, second to ‘free’ verse, compared with the sketch. The sketch, to be really good, must be good in every line. But the sketch-story is best of all.† The sketch-story style is serious and uses powerful observations of the life of the drover’s wife for its own sake. Both the original and current reader observe with sadness and respect as Lawson’s ‘painting’ of her tragic and courageous life develops. Q3 Critically analyse the relationship between language forms and features, and meaning, in TWO of Henry Lawson’s short Stories. The Drovers Wife:-   1 Title; Lawson leaves ‘The Drover’s Wife’ unnamed and in doing so helps her stand for all women in her position. 2 Setting; the use of accumulation (continuous information) in portraying the ‘shanty’/lean-to house and describing ‘the bush all around’ with the repetition of ‘no’ e.g.; â€Å"no horizon†, â€Å"no ranges† and â€Å"no undergrowth† in describing the landscape, establishes the harsh backdrop to the family’s existence. The personification of the ‘sighing’ ‘she oaks’ tells us that even the bush  struggles to survive. The setting is painted in more detail in the context of the Sunday walk, ‘you might walk for twenty miles†¦. Without being able to fix a point in your mind, unless you are a bushm an. This is because of ‘the everlasting, maddening sameness of the stunted trees – that monotony which makes a man long to break away’. The landscape Lawson paints is far from attractive. In fact, if we find ourselves in it we will want to ‘sail as far as ships can sail and further.’ This is in stark contrast to how stories by authors such as Bango Patterson using a romanticised style portrayed the bush. 3 Background ; Lawson matter-of-fact statement that â€Å"the drover, an ex-squatter, is away with sheep. His wife and children are left here alone.’ emphasises the unavoidable isolation of the wife and children. We are told later the drought of 1818 â€Å"ruined him’, ‘he had to sacrifice the remnant of his flock and go droving again’. The drover is depicted as ‘a good enough husband’ –who treated her like a ‘princess’ before he fell on hard times. This communicates to the reader the unav oidable loss that the bush has inflicted on the drover and his family. 4 The Plot; The limited plot of this sketch / story revolves around ‘the snake!’ which is introduced with the use of exclamation ‘ look mother, here’s a snake!’ Action verbs in short sentences of dialogue; ‘snatches her baby’ and ‘yells at the boy’ all give us a sense of urgency. The snake ‘disappears’ under the timber slab floor, ‘near sunset and a thunderstorm is coming’. The ‘house’ is off limits as ‘the snake †¦.may at any moment come up through cracks in the rough slab floor’. The children are to be protected and are introduced matter of factly, ‘there are two boys and two girls’ are fed and put to be on the kitchen table which ‘sits down beside to watch all night’. The battle lines are drawn and her weapons are a ‘green sapling cub’ and ‘she has brought the dog into the room’. The plot slows to a stop with only snippets of information between long ‘sketches’ of background and characterisation (the main event). ‘Near midnight’ ‘whenever she hears a noise she reaches for the stick’,. ‘Near one or two o’clock Alligator lies†¦and watches the wall.’ ‘It must be near daylight.â€℠¢ ‘Alligator still watches the wall’ nothing has happened plot wise between sunset and daybreak but now he becomes ‘greatly interested’ and urgency returns. Short sentences with repeated action verbs ‘snaps’, ‘pulls’ and the repetition of ‘thud’ help us to see and hear the battle. The resolution of the plot is portrayed as a win of good over evil  by the use of the Biblical reference ‘he shakes the snake as though he felt the original curse in common with mankind.’ The plot concludes as the Drovers Wife ‘watches the snake burn’. However the final few sentences are reserved to conclude the main game of this story, the characterisation of the drovers wife. 5 Characterisation; If the plot is the framework of the drovers wife, characterisation is the house that is built around it. (i) Omniscient Third Party Narrator; We feel for the characters in their struggle with themselves when Lawson as the omniscient narrator shifts us back in time to key moments in there past, ‘As a girl she built the usual castles in the air; but all her girlish hopes an aspirations have long been dead.’ Yet she doesn’t completely abandon her femininity as symbolised by the ‘Young ladies Journal’. Later Lawson emphasises her struggle to remain civilised with a powerful background image, of her Sunday walk where, ‘She takes as much care to make herself and the children look smart as she would if she were going to do the block in the city, There is nothing to see however, not a soul to meet’. Lawson ends this section with an authorial insight into the ‘bushwoman’s’ contentedness despite this loss and struggle. She is ‘used to the loneliness of it’, ‘would feel strange away from it’, ‘She is glad when her husband returns†¦.but does not make a fuss’, ‘she seems contented with her lot.’ (ii) Flashbacks; Lawson builds our admiration for the drovers’ wife through the flashbacks’; bushfire, flood, pleuro-pneumonia and mad bullock. He uses them to show how the harshness of the Australian bush challenges gender roles. In the bushfire she is cast in a masculine role as she wears ‘an old pair of her husbands trousers’, ‘till great drops of sweaty perspiration’ run ‘down her blackened arms’ however in the arrival of ‘four excited bushmen’ we see the woman rescued by the men from the fire that ‘would have mastered her’. This idea is reinforced in the loss of the dam, when Lawson intrudes with an authorial statement, ‘there are some things that a bushwoman cannot do’ emphasising her vulnerability in the absence of her husband. Lawson builds empathy when he permits us a glimpse of emotion in the midst of loss and struggle, ‘she cried then’. Lawson uses these moments of tears to introduce the uniquely Australian habit of laughing at our misfortune as a coping mechanism, ‘she is hurt now, and tears spring to her eyes’ but ‘The handkerchief is full of holes and she..put her thumb through one’ , ‘This makes her laugh.’ The remaining  flashbacks see her conquering, a mad bullock, crows and eagles, and a ‘gallowed faced swagman’ leaving us in awe of the basewoman’s resourcefulness and success. (iii) Dialogue; The limited dialogue between the bushwoman and her children builds characteristaion. The eldest son wants to be the man for his mother, ‘Stop there, mother! I’ll have him. Stand back I’ll have the beggar.’ The colloquial and course exam ples of Tommy’s dialogue like ‘I’d like to screw their blanky necks’ also adds to the authentic Australian bush feel of the story. (iv) The resolution of the story is, appropriately and powerfully, all about the characters. Arguably the most meaningful bit of dialogue in the story is Tommy’s declaration â€Å"Mother, I won’t never go drovin’ blast me if I do!† Tommy wants to be his mother’s protector. They connect strongly as â€Å"she hugs him to her worn-out breast and kisses him†. The â€Å"worn-out breast† symbolises how the toll the bush has taken on her. The kiss is a rare act of affection showing that despite all the hardship, she still has a â€Å"womanly† side – life in the bush has not hardened her completely. THE LOADED DOG: Style and Purpose: Is a short story, which follows the normal convention of – orientation, structure and resolution. Lawson’s purpose is to entertain using a clever plot and humour. The quirky characters are ‘sketched’ briefly but the reader finds themselves engaging more with, the plot development and the humour, than the details of the setting and characters. Meaning; The meaning of The Loaded Dog is found more in the language, interaction and actions of the characters rather than in their characterisation itself. The setting may belong to a bygone era but the comedic larrikinism of this typically Australian yarn connects with the ‘tell me a good story’ expectation of the 19th century audience. The sardonic humour still rings true with the 21st century Australian today. Analysis; (i) Narrative: The 3rd person narration makes us an observer of Dave, Jim, Andy and Tommy. (ii) Characterisation: The opening sentence of the story lists the full names of the main characters hinting at their specific roles in the plot. Dave is the ‘ideas’ man, Andy the ‘hands –on’ one who puts ‘Dave’s theory into practice’. And Jim Bently the sensible one who ‘wasn’t  interested in their damned silliness’. The fourth main character is Tommy the dog, a lovable ‘overgrown pup’ that ‘seemed to take life, the world, his two-legged mates, and his own instincts as a hug joke.’ Tommy is often humanised ‘he watched Andy with great interest’. In contrast, Lawson characterises the Nasty Yellow Dog as the classic villain. Introduced late in the story, we form no attachment and when we find out he has hurt Tommy in the past, for no good reason, we can celebrate Tommy’s escape and laugh at the yellow dogs demise. (iii) Pace: Lawson makes effective use pace variations to entertain. The laborious description of the ‘formidable bomb’ leaves us certain of its capacity to harm when it was ‘wedged into his (Tommy’s) broardest silliest grin.’ Lawson immediately quickens the pace of the text through exclaimed dialogue and short sentences, ‘’Run, Andy! Run!’. He slows again to provide a humourous picture of the various running styles and speeds ‘Dave and Jim were good runners-Jim the best – for a short distance; Andy was slow and heavy’. Their panic is contrasted with Tommy’s joy, ‘the dog capered around him†¦.as though he thought, on a frolic.’ The ‘live fuse’ is personified ‘swishing†¦.hissing and spluttering and stinking’. The ‘lark’ takes several more fast paced hilarious turns before Dave enters the bar and Tommy leaves the cartridge with the ’vicious yellow mongrel cattle-dog’. ‘He sniffed at the cartrid ge twice, and was just taking a third cautious sniff when—-‘. This hanging (unfinished) sentence marks the slowing of the pace of the text to suit the aftermath of the explosion. (iv) Humour; Humour is central to the success of this short story and the understatement of fact following the explosion is a good example of Lawson’s use of typically Australian dark humour. Rather than focus on the fate of the yellow dog he simply states; ‘It was very good blasting powder—and the cartridge had been excellently well made ‘ (v) Hyperbole; Lawson follows this understatement with hyperbole (exaggeration) ‘Bushmen say that that kitchen jumped off its piles and on again.’ (vi) Australian Slang and Jargon; The Loaded Dog is faithful to the Australian bush throughout. The characterization, setting, humour and language are thoroughly Australian. It is entirely appropriate that Lawson finish a mate ribbing a mate in true Australian form with an au thentic Australian ‘lazy drawl and with just a hint of the nasal twang–†El-lo, Da-a-ve! How’s the fishin’ getting on, Da-a-ve?† ‘

Car-Wreck Compounds

Car-Wreck Compounds Car-Wreck Compounds Car-Wreck Compounds By Mark Nichol You see them everyday, whenever you login to a Web site or rollover an ad: what should be open compounds suffering from the compositional equivalent of a roadway rear-ender. The error of writing â€Å"everyday† (an adjective meaning â€Å"ordinary†) when you mean â€Å"every day† (synonymous with â€Å"each day†) has already been covered in another post, but this mistake is common with verbs, too. When you go to a Web site and type your username and password, you are logging in, so you should style the verb â€Å"log in† similar to the verb phrase â€Å"check in.† By the same token, when you glide your cursor over an online ad to activate it, you’re rolling over it, so the phrase is written â€Å"roll over.† (Think about it: When you stumble to avoid a feline on a beeline, you don’t fallover.) Oooh! Oooh! Oooh! Yes, I see you there in the front row, wildly waving your upraised hand. I know what you’re going to say: â€Å"But we see them like that all the time!† That’s why I call them viral car-wreck compounds: Back when the Internet was young, someone unfamiliar with the niceties of verb phrases, someone perhaps more at ease with programming languages than the magnificent mess we call English, once developed a Web site that directed visitors to â€Å"login.† More recently, when the first interactive ad was enabled, a programmer incorrectly typed the command â€Å"rollover.† But wait – does this mean that â€Å"login† and â€Å"rollover† aren’t real words? Sure they are they’re nouns. Your username and password comprise your login, and your cursor’s ad-surfing motion is a rollover. They’re equivalent in structure to the two other closed compounds I used in the sentence preceding this one. Then, others saw the train-wreck treatments but reiterated them, mistaking the labels â€Å"login† and â€Å"rollover† for the directives â€Å"log in† and â€Å"roll over† without recognizing the mistake, and the clunky compounds were unwittingly compounded. (That’s the very definition of a virus a self-replicating error.) But that magnificent mess we call English changes its rules all the time, you persist. Yes, it does. But don’t capitulate before it’s time. That’s why we have manuals of best practices like â€Å"Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary† and â€Å"The Chicago Manual of Style.† (The former cue gritting teeth defends the validity of â€Å"alright,† for example, but has resisted conceding to â€Å"alot.†) For the sake of professional pride, we must agree to codified consistency until the walls are breached. For my part, you’ll have to roll over my dead body (after, of course, you log in). Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Passed vs Past15 Great Word GamesShore It Up

buy custom Born to Buy essay

buy custom Born to Buy essay The increased consumerisms that have beset society have now caught up with the children. They are being viewed as the link through which markers can push upwards consumerism trends in an economy that is getting highly competitive and in due consideration of current financial problems plaguing the globe. Young people are very knowledgeable about new products as compared to the older generation and targeting them makes dissemination of knowledge regarding new products easier and hence effectively boost sales upwards. The kind of brands young people use have come to define their social places and this creates a demand for high end products and helping big brands in garments and technology grow. What this means is that any effort by parents to downsize their spending or at least simplify their lifestyles is met with strong resistance from their children who wants to toe the line or risk stigmatization. Modernity has subjected our children to a culture of increased consumerism and turning them into materialistic individuals who would rather spend their time with their toys and gadgets rather than pursuing traditional leisure activities with their friends. What is worrying is the tendency of young people in Americans to single mindedly pursue wealth and in doing so give up other activities traditionally viewed as vital for balanced growth. Lack of material things is viewed as poverty and a cause for anxiety among children in a manner that affects their lives. One negative impact which has stakeholders worried is the emerging obesity pandemic which is growing by the day. This has been caused by the reduced participation in physical activities and the increased consumption of sugar based products especially the controversial High fructose cough syrup. In addition, increased production spells trouble for our environment through pollution a feat which might aid to global warming. Parenting styles are largely to blame for this shift in marketing from the traditional parental focus advertisement to the current model of appealing directly to children. Most parents have cited the new trend as inescapable and have made no effort to revert or control the situation. In addition, the reduction in leisure times as the need to succeed forces them to spend more time in schools and indoors doing homework has spurred an improved demand for electronics. They then use these gadgets a tool for keeping in touch, entertaining themselves and in fulfilling their increased consumption urges. Buy custom Born to Buy essay

The Bad Old Days - The Dead

The Bad Old Days - The Dead From the Hoax: England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins was found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they thought they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night the graveyard shift) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer. The Facts: England was not so old and small that new cemeteries could not be established, but crowded graveyards did exist, due to the Christian tradition of burying the dead in the consecrated grounds of Churchyards. Some towns managed to arrange for cemeteries outside the municipal boundaries, but Church property was not subjected to secular law and the practice continued throughout the Middle Ages. There were no bone houses in England, but there were charnel houses. These were consecrated buildings for the storage of bones, usually uncovered in the course of digging new graves. If these bones had been buried in coffins in the first place a fairly uncommon practice among all but the wealthy the coffins had long since fallen apart. Some charnel houses were set up during the plague when the cemetery was overwhelmed by the number of bodies to be buried, and the corpses in previous graves were removed to make room to bury the freshly dead. It wasnt until the 18th century that the nefarious practice of secretly removing the bones from a grave to make room for new coffins took place. Church sextons would quietly dispose of the bones in nearby pits. The coffins were usually so decayed that if scratch-marks had ever been made inside them they would not be distinguishable in the rotted wood. The gravediggers would often appropriate the hardware (handles, plates, and nails) of decayed coffins to sell for waste metal.1 The matter was resolved in the mid-nineteenth century when London succeeded in passing a law that closed the churchyards and put heavy restrictions on burial within the city limits, and most cities and towns across Great Britain soon followed its lead. At no time during the Middle Ages was there a prevalent fear that people were getting buried alive, and in no known instance did anyone rig up a bell-pull to notify the living. Most medieval people were smart enough to distinguish a living person from a dead one. Throughout history, there has been the occasional case of someone getting buried alive, but by no means was this as frequent as the hoax would have you believe. The common phrases used in the last portion of the hoax have absolutely nothing to do with premature burial, and each has its origin in a different source. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the phrase graveyard shift dates to the early 20th century. It may have its source in the night shift on nautical vessels, which was called graveyard watch for its quiet loneliness. Saved by the bell originates from the sport of boxing, in which a fighter is saved from further punishment or from a ten-count when the bell signifies that the round is over. (But the next round is another story.) A ringer is slang for an imposter. It was used in cheating at horse races, when an unscrupulous trainer would substitute a fast horse, or ringer, for a nag with a bad racing record. This sporting association continues in the modern use of the term ringer for a professional athlete playing in an amateur game. But a human can also be a ringer in the sense of a person who closely resembles someone else, like the professional entertainers who impersonate celebrities such as Dolly Parton and Cher. A dead ringer is simply someone who is extremely close in appearance to another, in the same way as someone who is dead wrong is as wrong as he can possibly be. Once again, if you have an alternative origin for one of these phrases, please feel free to post it on our bulletin board, and be sure to bring your sources! Note 1. cemetery  Encyclopà ¦dia Britannicabritannica.com/eb/article?eu22388[Accessed April 9, 2002].

Did Lyndon Baine Johnson or Martin Luther King have a bigger impact on Research Paper

Did Lyndon Baine Johnson or Martin Luther King have a bigger impact on the Voting Rights Act of 1965 - Research Paper Example It is also of utmost importance to mention that this was a culmination of efforts of several proponents of change. Change, as usual, is normally met with resistance and this was not an exception. This change was still being waited for despite the provisions in the fifteenth amendment. After a speech to the congress on the importance of the matter, the president set the mood for a second thought on how American society was going to effect changes that forever set USA on a democratic course (Taylor, 49). One cannot fail to observe that Fifteenth Amendment of the US Constitution was clear that it guaranteed every US citizen the right to vote. This right to vote was supposed to be observed without regard to race or color. Nonetheless, almost a decade later, there were elements of discriminatory practices, intimidation, and violence that still persisted. These practices were what led to the rise of the civil movement led by Martin Luther King since they were transformed into policies that aimed at depriving the minorities, particularly African Americans in the Jim Crow South, of their right to vote. The life of Martin Luther King Junior has deservingly been accorded very many citations and legendary recognition for the simple fact that he believed in justice and equality and fought relentlessly for the rights of the oppressed minorities. He is the major character that is associated with the civil rights movement given his vocal opinions about the matter (Laughlin, 65). It has been observed that although there were other proponents of the movement, perhaps his oratory skills that echoed the concerns is what earned him the recognition. True, he deserved it. During the early middle and late 1950, Luther was one of the nation’s frontline black leaders. As an eloquent speaker blessed with an oratorical style and diction that was very compelling, he was calm, confident but serious

International Business (MaArketing ORHuman Resource Management) Research Paper

International Business (MaArketing ORHuman Resource Management) strategy of an International Firm - Research Paper Example The modern environment of the business world differentiates the business organizations of the world into the globetrotters and the globe watchers. The globetrotters are the most successful of the organizations where the essence is to target the different markets of the world. The globe watchers on the other hand look to take the advantages of the multinational companies in the production and the marketing process. The development of the globetrotters or the multinational companies depends on the efficiency of the marketing department of the organization to a large extent. The marketing in the other countries depend on the evaluation of the country. The market of the country and its customers are to be analyzed. The analysis of the economic conditions of the country will help in the growth of the company. The marketing department of the globetrotting companies has to evaluate the conditions to be able to exert them in these countries. (Cavusgil, December, 1991). The successful multina tional companies of the world have followed this model in its growth path. The paper will look into the marketing strategies of a well known international company to understand the situation. Coca Cola will be good example in the case of the study. Coca Cola was born in 1886 in Georgia. Dr. John Pemberton is credited with the invention of the drink. However, he was not aware of the potential of the drink and eventually sold it off to Asa Candler. It was under the reign of Candler that Coca Cola achieved iconic status. He was instrumental in the marketing and the advertising of the product. This was done with the help of merchandising of various products. Another important development during his reign was the bottling of the drink. The international expansion of the drink started under Ernest Woodruff and the bottling of the drink soon began in the other parts of the world. In Europe the drink was first bottled in France. Coca Cola became even more

Fashion Design and Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Fashion Design and Development - Essay Example The essay "Fashion Design and Development" analyzes Fashion Development and design. The word can be used to depict a wide variety of items ranging from shoes, furniture, clothes, and hair style. Better yet fashion goes far beyond to also depict tattoos, earrings, rings and any form of piercing that might be done on an individual. The majority of relevant cultures in the world, which in this case means the Chinese people, Japanese, notably Indians, Europeans and Americans all of them have different types of senses of fashion. A visitor in these countries would not only notice the diversity and difference in cultures but a visitor would also notice the difference in the mode in which the different people dress and apply ornaments of beauty. In 2005 a writer by the name Bennett wrote about fashion and said that fashion is one of the only major ways in which a person can be uniquely described and articulated. Those are the powerful words that he used to describe fashion and human identit ies together. It is thanks to that statement that this essay will devour enough material to understand what he meant and what he had in mind when he so intelligently personalized fashion to identities. Bennett had taken note of the power of images. What is seen lasts longer in the memory than any material we might read or any data we might hear. Hence when we keep looking at a person, sooner enough we start noticing a trend. It barely takes a couple of days for an individual to notice a trend in dressing.

Public Broadcasting Service Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Public Broadcasting Service - Essay Example The lingering question is how can PBS best position themselves to compete with broadcast networks and non-premium cable channels. With the rules of corporate underwriting having changed and with the public funding of PBS slashed with the arrival of Republican control of Congress and the White House, public broadcasting finds itself moving toward the acceptance of standard advertising techniques. The demographics of those who watch PBS strongly suggest that there will always be sponsors who wish to exploit that high end buying power. All of this does not mean that PBS needs to position itself to act like other TV selling organizations, however. Viewers of PBS are accustomed to a minimum of advertising and a prime selling point is the lack of interruption of those programs except for the semi-annual fundraising drives. To venture PBS toward a situation in which a Masterpiece Theater production of a Dostoyevsky novel is interrupted for commercials for tampons or beer would be to risk losing a primal attraction for the very audience seeking out that kind of prestige programming.

MLA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

MLA - Essay Example ). The figures above are used not to merely denote the size of the company and the amount of working capital it has, but represents an organization that means business, spells business and does it efficiently. They have been in the forefront of creating ‘The Human Network Effect’ which is the main theme all their advertisements are based on. One of the most interesting features of the company lies in its strategy to acquire other companies to add to its existing talent pool of software engineers. ‘Cisco is intentionally influencing knowledge flows through its management of IT.’ (Managing knowledge for sustained competitive advantage, Jackson. Susan, p 70). Being a company that reported a growth in sales over 50% annually in a timeframe of five consecutive years, this is truly a power to be reckoned with. This resultant growth is only due to its employees. It is because of the employees, hired in the best interests of the company who drove the sale’s m achinery and gave it immense profits that multiplied over the years. But, things have changed since the last few years. The global recession has not only dashed the hopes and wealth of large business enterprises, but also created a sense of intense fear and insecurity in the minds of good workers and employees. In this scenario, the training imparted to employees becomes all the more important because it defines their future roles and shapes their goals when they join the company. Though, currently, this kind of emotional distress seems to be an ongoing problem with most of the business establishments, Cisco needs to be treated differently because of the quality of the workforce it needs to maintain. This is main the reason why Cisco cannot avoid not having a training budget. Training employees is important to make them productive and contribute towards efficient and profitable performance in the long run. It can also act as a retention strategy and ensure that the best and more pro ductive

Summary and response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Summary and response - Essay Example According to Doran’s article, the environment and the lifestyle in the affected regions play a critical role in advancing the risk for suicide. The specific risk factors identified include stressful life events, mental illness, and drug abuse. Usage of methamphetamine is highest in these regions. The most common barriers affecting mitigation of suicide include lack of reliable data on the issue, cultural barriers, funding constraints by the HIS, and the nature of the involved communities (Dorgan, 2010). Although funding by the U.S federal government must be increased, coordination of activities among several entities would help in improving this situation. Personally, I agree with the author’s argument especially with regard to how teen suicide may be eliminated in the U.S because it has reached an alarming rate. I also agree with the solutions proposed by the author because they are practical and applicable. I have had an Indian friend who attempted suicide because he was being discriminated for belonging to a minority group. This happened even though his parents had sought medical attention where they were told that his behavior was normal. This implies that the healthcare professionals are not taking this issue with the appropriate

MLA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

MLA - Essay Example ). The figures above are used not to merely denote the size of the company and the amount of working capital it has, but represents an organization that means business, spells business and does it efficiently. They have been in the forefront of creating ‘The Human Network Effect’ which is the main theme all their advertisements are based on. One of the most interesting features of the company lies in its strategy to acquire other companies to add to its existing talent pool of software engineers. ‘Cisco is intentionally influencing knowledge flows through its management of IT.’ (Managing knowledge for sustained competitive advantage, Jackson. Susan, p 70). Being a company that reported a growth in sales over 50% annually in a timeframe of five consecutive years, this is truly a power to be reckoned with. This resultant growth is only due to its employees. It is because of the employees, hired in the best interests of the company who drove the sale’s m achinery and gave it immense profits that multiplied over the years. But, things have changed since the last few years. The global recession has not only dashed the hopes and wealth of large business enterprises, but also created a sense of intense fear and insecurity in the minds of good workers and employees. In this scenario, the training imparted to employees becomes all the more important because it defines their future roles and shapes their goals when they join the company. Though, currently, this kind of emotional distress seems to be an ongoing problem with most of the business establishments, Cisco needs to be treated differently because of the quality of the workforce it needs to maintain. This is main the reason why Cisco cannot avoid not having a training budget. Training employees is important to make them productive and contribute towards efficient and profitable performance in the long run. It can also act as a retention strategy and ensure that the best and more pro ductive

Reviews Kind of Blue Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reviews Kind of Blue - Assignment Example The loudness of the music however, is not eardrum-breaking rather, makes a harmonious effect with the soft and lazy notes. The sound sets a luxurious tone color which is appealing to the ears. Weather Report’s â€Å"Heavy Weather† has a dynamic mood attached to the music. The drums play a vital part in this feature, keeping a fast and cheerful beat. The songs in the album often start with a normal pace, having weak beats which eventually increase in speed and volume. They are polyphonic, with the drums creating the distinct banging sounds, the saxophone and piano with the high pitches and the bass guitar taking on the low. The pitch is alternately set to the high and low notes. Obviously, the piano is widely used to create various pitches complementary to the tones of the bass guitar and saxophones. What probably set this music as a jazz fusion is the element of jazz music, reflecting the African-American kind of music and incorporating modern music which is not only upbeat but experimental in nature. As the name of the genre suggests, the music is a combination of the popular blues element of jazz and the dynamic mood of modern music. Despite this, the melo dies are in perfect harmony, the music is simply wonderful to listen

Digital Tools Used In Gojira And Godzilla Film Studies Essay

Digital Tools Used In Gojira And Godzilla Film Studies Essay Humans have been around for thousands of years. Today, many movies have been created based on stories and legends of influential people and life-changing events that were recorded in history. Inspiration for the 1954 film Gojira came about as a result of World War Two during the twentieth century. The devastation brought on Japan by the two nuclear bombs had inevitably raised a wide spread awareness about nuclear weapons and its radioactive destruction (Ragone 2007). Both, Gojiras and Godzillas creation were linked to the nuclear bomb. With reference to the 1998 film Godzilla, it can be seen that the creation of the terrible lizard was linked to French nuclear weapons testing in the French Polynesia. Similarly in the Japanese context, Gojira was shown to be linked not only to the atomic bombs, but the hydrogen ones as well. With the devastation of the two atomic bombs still fresh in the Japanese minds, further H-bomb tests were carried out near Japan and eventually, the radiation fallout directly impacted on the Japanese fishing industry, causing a sharp decline. With all these tragic events occurring within a short span of time, Gojira was concocted out as an incarnation of the war itself (Ragone 2007 pg. 35) as the producers wanted a real-world scenario that reflected the Japanese concerns that time. In order to effectively protray the nature of destruction caused in the films Gojira and Godzilla, visual effects became increasingly important as it was necessary to provide an acceptable level of realism for audiences who will be watching the film. Therefore, this led to the development and creation of different visual effect techniques. Then with the advancements in technology, some older techniques were modified and re-developed accordingly. In this investigation, it will bring to light the common, yet contrasting comparisons of filmmaking between the analogue and digital eras. 2| Scene Selection | I will be comparing two parallel special effects sequences in both Gojira and Godzilla. A breakdown of this complex scene will be accompanied with a description of its technical aspects in laymans terms. The scenes involve the two animals going on a rampage through a major city at night causing massive damages. It also includes military forces trying to eliminate the creature. These two scenes were specifically chosen as I will like to highlight the core visual effects elements that can be found throughout the films. 3| The Character| It was called Gojira, but was later known as Godzilla for the American audiences. (Godzilla, King of the Monsters 1998) In the 1954 Gojira, visual effects director Eiji Tsuburaya pioneered a technique called Suit-mation. The main reason for the introduction of Suit-mation was because of the need to complete the job within a short timespan (Ragone 2007). If stop-motion technique was used, it would have taken them seven years to complete the film. The suit was constructed mainly from hand-stirred latex and then refined subsequently. Even after refinements, the suit could only be worn for several minutes due to the unbearable heat and almost non-existent ventilation within. Due to its flexibility limitations and tremendous weight, the first suit was scrapped as the actor inside could not even move. In certain scenes where only the legs of Gojira were filmed, the suit was cut into two and attached to suspenders, allowing the actor to be more comfortable while filming (Godzilla, Designing Godzilla featurette 2005). Figure |Man in halved Gojira suit Development on analogue visual effect techniques can be seen clearly in the 1998 Godzilla, when Tsuburayas technique of Suitmation was used. Trained professional puppeteers were hired for shots that needed more physical realism with the miniatures that they were interacting with. Eventually, the Godzilla suit would be replaced with a CG Godzilla. Animatronics, a technique similar to the Suitmation technique, was introduced. In this case, instead of Human actors in the creatures costumes, machines were used to replace them. This method allowed many close-up interaction shots which enabled a high level of realism (Aberly 1998). The suit was not entirely presented as a guy-in-a-suit. Primitive visual effects were added to give Gojira a scarier feel. In the shot where Gojira was tearing up Tokyo and boasting its bright flashing hind fins, hundreds of cells were hand drawn frame by frame (Ryfle 1998). In several shots where Gojira was using its atomic breath, the creature was actually a hand puppet (Godzilla 2005). With much use for puppetry and animatronics, computer generated graphics still triumphed as the best tool for visual effects in the digital era. In addition, with the developments of computer animation software and techniques, realism took to a new height. Puppeteers whom took the role of Gojira would soon be replaced with computer animators sitting behind the desk. While the actor in the Gojira suit was acting for the scene, he would be filmed using a high speed camera at around 240 frames-per-second. The film would then be projected at 24 frames-per-second giving the feel of weight and size (Faller 2010). Using modern day tools to make Godzilla (1998) move, instead of shooting a guy-in-a-suit at a high frame rate, Centropolis FX had Godzilla key-frame animated in the computer. Due to the difficulty of animating such a huge creature, the team of animators grew from twelve to sixty (Martin 1998). Subsequently, After many failed attempts of animating a proper walk cycle, the team managed to get the same feel of the high speed camera shots by animating Godzillas movement at a slower speed (Martin 1998). From using chicken wires and glued latex for the construction of the 1954 Gojira (Designing Godzilla featurette 2005), polygons and NURBS took over in the digital era. The Gojira suit was made by wrapping thin wires and bamboo with chicken wire. Cushions and fabric were also added for the actors comfort. Hand stirred latex was later applied onto the suit as skin (Designing Godzilla featurette 2005). Even though CGI was of an advanced technology, there were still setbacks. Modelers had to split up their work of digitizing the entire creature by manually using a stylus to draw out every single mesh into the computer. Furthermore, the software was not perfect and had its limitations. A Special Projects team was sent from Soft Image to trouble-shoot problems encountered by the CGI crew (Aberly 1998). Ideally, Gojira was thought to have suffered burns and scars from the H-bomb test. The textures and the suit of Gojira were hand crafted by two people. Tireless hours were spent modeling the skin bumps by using latex and then gluing it onto the skin (Godzilla, Designing Godzilla featurette 2005). However in the modern day Godzilla, there was the technology of displacement mapping whereby the 3D geometry of Godzilla would be displaced using a texture map that contained details of the skin. With the model rendered out in different passes (Martin 1998), the process was more effective and also gave compositors more freedom in manipulating the image to create a realistic Godzilla. 4| The Set | As the two Godzillas enter the city and begin their trail of destruction, the set they were on had to look real. Although both movies used miniatures for filming, this special effects technique was inevitably developed and refined extensively due to technological advancements. 4.1| Miniatures | Miniatures for Gojira (1954) were made for use as a city scape. Tsuburaya had the miniatures built mostly in the 1/25 scale, with the exception of the Diet building which was a 1/33 scale (Ragone 2007). With reference to the scale of the Gojira suit with the miniature set scale, it created an illusion of Gojiras large size. Buildings were made in a forced perspective method where buildings closer to the camera were built bigger and those at the horizon smaller. The sets were actually built on wooden platforms to allow cameramen to do low angle shots, making the buildings look even bigger (Ryfle 1998). Thin plaster and wood were used for the buildings framework. Elaborate planning of the citys construction included custom made streets that would create footprints when being stepped on. Plaster was poured over sawdust to create that effect (Ryfle 1998). Digital techniques such as CG effects animation helped the 1998 Godzilla in creating street cracks. With the help of Thomas Hollier, a senior technical director, street impact technology was created. This allowed a pipeline for a more effective way for animating pavements that would crack under Godzillas weight (Martin 1998). Miniatures were also widely used in the making of Godzilla (1998). Huge 1/24 size models were built to accommodate Godzillas path of destruction. Huge 1/10 models were also built for close-up shots. The buildings were much more detailed with some featuring plumbing and even desks. There were several miniature buildings that were reused from The Hudsucker Proxy and The Fifth Element. With this, a great amount of production time was saved as redesigning of the rest of the set was no longer required. Although both Godzilla movies incorporated miniatures, Godzilla (1998) added extensive digital compositing over its miniatures to give it more realism (Martin 1998). Techniques adopted for destroying the miniature buildings were much more sophisticated in the newer film. In the 1954 version, kerosene soaked rags were used to set the miniatures ablaze (Ragone 2007). For those that were to be destroyed by Gojiras fiery breath, explosives were set behind the buildings. Several buildings even had gasoline sprayed on them to make them burn more easily. For buildings that were supposed to be destroyed by physical contact, small cracks were made in those miniatures so that it would crumble in a more believable fashion when Gojira crushed it. It was a daunting task for the actor inside as he had to get it right on the first take as there was not enough budget and time for a rebuild (Ryfle 1998). In 1998, there were more types of pyrotechniques available and one such example would be the military type. Different methods were developed to be used on the different types of destruction. As Godzilla races through the city with its tail in free motion causing damages to buildings, cable pulls were attached to sandbags in the buildings interiors. When they were pulled, a trail of damage would occur as if Godzillas tail had swept through them. Mechanical rigs were also used to blast through a building with the CG Godzilla to be composited in later. The Chrysler Building in the scene which was destroyed by a misfire from the attack helicopters were very complex mechanical rigs. Right after the top floors exploded, it was orchestrated to shift and descend towards the camera (Aberly 1998). On the whole, miniature destruction could be choreographed with more control. Miniature vehicles were also used on the set for both films. The military elements used in the Gojira scene were tanks. Extensive pyrotechnical effects were used for the firing of the tank weapons. When the tank shells hit Gojira, blasts were created by wire rigged charges (Ryfle 1998). Comparing this to a similar scene in the 1998 movie, instead of tanks, CG Apache attack helicopters were used. Tracer fire, blasts including debris and smoke from the damage were all entirely computer generated. In addition of the rain and lighting effects which included the volumetric searchlights, RenderMan shaders were developed solely for the wet look of the helicopter. However, at the shot when Godzilla decides to lash out at the attacking military helicopters, a miniature was used. With creative ingenuity, a 1/8 scale model was made loaded with pyrotechnics and detonated (Martin 1998). 4.2| Atmosphere | To create the perfect terrorising atmosphere, Gojira (1954) was shot using a low-key lighting effect (Biodrowski 2007). This is because Low key lighting would create a darker toned picture with contrasting bright contours which is more suitable for dramatic shots. The grainy cinematography would also feed an extra punch to the eerie effect throughout the film (Ryfle et al. 2007). With the advancements in technology, analogue methods would be often replaced by colour grading and compositing. In Godzilla (1998), instead of using a low-key effect to give the dramatic shots, the environment was given a CG rain touch up. This was a complicated scene where many effects animations were applied. Not only was computer generated imagery used, acquisition footage was also being recorded for the environments. From rain to shattering windows, these footages would later be composited at different scales to tie up the scene together with the CG Godzilla (Martin 1998). Lighting was a key element in creating the perfect environment. Real lights from orange and bluish street lamps had to be reflected onto the CG Godzilla. Due to location shots where real lights were aimed at buildings when Godzilla was supposed to be in the foreground, artists had to rotoscope out the real lights and animate the CG ones. More complications had arisen when Godzilla rampaged and took out the real street lamps. Firstly, lights from the real lamps had to be rotoscoped out. A CG lamp would then be created and animated to flip or be destroyed (Martin 1998). Although this entire sequence would seem small compared to the main character, it made the scene look believable. Another small detail to add on is the stationary cars from the live action footage that underwent rotoscoping when Godzilla stomped past them. Compositing artists had to create rotoscope mattes for the vehicles and animate their bounce by hand. The add-on of the camera shake at post-production level also helped with the realism (Martin 1998). 5| The Conclusion| In my chosen scenes which depict the destructions from the streets of Tokyo to Manhattan, both Gojira and Godzilla held similar iconic symbolisms and metaphors. In the 1950s when Gojira was made, there were many underlying reasons for its creation. The focal point was the atomic bombs. Since Japan had directly experienced the impact of the bombs, it would have held a deep significance for them. To a certain extent, it was believed that without the two atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Gojira would not have surfaced. Gojiras rampage through Tokyo would serve as a reminder of the recent devastating nuclear attack on Japan to the survivors of the atomic bombs as well as to the rest of the Japanese. Gojira also created awareness on new nuclear weapon testing and how our interference with Mother Nature might one day prove apocalyptic and leave a trail of death and devastation. Today, in the modern world context where technological advances are ever improving and as well as relative peace, Godzilla (1998) still carries the same essence as it did 44 years ago. With the threat of existing nuclear weapons and even deforestation which leads to Global Warming, metaphorically, Godzilla still serves as a reminder and warning of an impending disaster if we do not change our ways. Iconically, Godzilla would be referred to as a present doomsday movie. From comparing the different special effects techniques that were used in 1954 to those used in 1998, one could see how the technology leap into the digital era made a big difference in improving film quality and the workflow efficiency of special effects artists. Even though gone were the days where analogue techniques such as filming in front of glass mattes were regarded as the modern methods of special effects, several analogue techniques are still considered relevant with the present world. The integration of both analogue and digital effects proved to be a success in creating a hyper-real Godzilla. With the age of computers and constant development on digital techniques and tools, no one knows what the future might hold for us as special effects artists. However, like all foundations of buildings, the journey of learning the history and methodology of analogue techniques should be deemed as equally important for future developments. 6| Bilbliography| BOOKS Aberly, R., 1998. The making of godzilla. London: Titan books. Kalat, D., 1997. A critical history and filmography of tohos godzilla series. 2nd ed. USA: Mcfarland and company, inc. Ragone, A., 2007. Eiji tsuburaya: masters of monsters. San Francisco: Chronicle books. Ryfle, S., 1998. Japans favourite mon-star: the unauthorised biography of the big g. Canada: ECW press. JOURNALS Martin, K., 1998. The sound and the fury. Cinefex, 74(3), 84-107. WEBSITES Faller, G., 2010. Tsuburaya, eiji. Available from: http://www.filmreference.com/Writers-and-Production-Artists-Ta-Vi/Tsuburaya-Eiji.html [Accessed 9 October 2010] Biodrowski, S., 2007. Gojira(1954)/Godzilla, king of the monsters(1954)-Film and DVD review. Available from: http://cinefantastiqueonline.com/2007/11/godzilla-1954-film-dvd-review/ [Accessed 25th October 2010] Ryfle, S. and Goldstein, B., 2007. Godzilla 50th Anniversary Pressbook. Available from: http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2007/12/06/godzilla-50th-anniversary-pressbook/ [Accessed 1st October 2010] DVD Godziszewski, E., Ryfle, S. and Aiken, S., 2005. Godzilla. DVD. UK: British Film Institute. Godziszewski, E., 2005. Godzilla-Designing Godzilla featurette. DVD. UK: British Film Institute. VIDEO Godzilla, King of the Monsters, 1998. Video. UK: BBC Video.

Francis Ford Coppola :: essays research papers

Following careful thought on which director to study, I chose Francis Ford Coppola. Although he has directed more films than I have had the opportunity to experience, I have viewed enough to understand his progression and style of his work. Over almost forty years of work, Coppola has directed about twenty-five films, produced near forty-five, composed two, and acted in eight. He is known predominantly for Apocalypse Now (1979) and The Godfather I (1972), II (1974), and III (1990). However, he has worked in other genres, such as Horror/Romance, Musical, and even Comedy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the few of his numerous films that I have seen, Coppola appears to use much of the same aesthetic techniques. Most of his works’ mise-en-scene, with some exceptions, seems to be very basic. When he is filming, Francis Ford Coppola does not put too many unnecessary items into the scene. When using a Wide-angle lens, the frames are very open and spacious. This allows the viewer to focus on what is happening, rather than distract their attention. This technique can also prove useful. For example, if he wanted to make a character seem alone, abandoned, and insignificant, this type of shot would work well. Opposite a number of his films, in Apocalypse Now, it was important to some of the frames full. However, they still were not completed with excess objects, instead they were lavishly filled with the natural, lush greens of the Philippines. Francis Ford Coppola also uses dissolves in his works. In The Cotton Club (1984), this technique was used a couple of t imes, when both dancing and singing was being performed. His editing style proved continuous. It was neither choppy, nor disruptive to the viewer, which allowed for a more pleasant experience.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Francis Ford Coppola uses sound in a rather conventional way, but at times adds a touch of his own creative style. The character that the audience is meant to empathize with may have their own particular motif, displayed through music. In The Conversation (1973), whenever Harry Caul, played by Gene Hackman, was intensely thinking about something, the same piano music would play.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  His direction of the actors was executed extremely well. He knew exactly what he wanted from them, and did not give up until it was as he had expected. Some of his setbacks in Apocalypse Now support this opinion. He wanted every part to be performed perfectly.

Physics of Black Holes Essay -- physics space black holes

Black holes - the strange scientific phenomenon that has astounded physicists and astronomers alike for decades. Popular subjects in science fiction novels, black holes are one of the greatest enigmas of the scientific world. Even today, the concept of a super-dense ball of matter that not even light can escape from is somewhat farfetched, and many scientists disagree with each other about nearly every aspect of a black hole. This project will attempt to shed some light on these mysterious formations, and will inform you the reader of the most popular and widely accepted theories surrounding them. Karl Schwarzschild is credited with being the brilliant astronomer who developed the concept of black holes. In 1916, using Einstein's general theory of relativity, he began to make calculations about the gravity fields of stars. He concluded that if a huge mass, such as a star, were to be concentrated down to the size of an infintessimal point, the effects of Einstein's relativity would get really fairly extreme. Schwarzschild doubted that a star could get that small, and theorized that if a star did infact shrink upon itself like that, its gravity would remain the same and the planets revolving around it would remain in the same orbits they always had. Since then however, some of Schwarzschild's theories have been disproved, but most of his initial theories hold intact today. The Schwarzschild Radius, the maximum radius a body with a specific mass can have that won't let light escape, is named in his honor, and the equation of which is still in use today: Rs=2MG/(c^2) In truth, English geologist John Michell was the first to suggest the existence of black holes. He referred to them "dark stars" and based his calculations on Newt... ...ke for instance the two images below. The first is a two-dimensional representation of the gravity of a normal star. Imagine any object floating through space as a marble. Said marble rolling along the flat surface of the space will roll into the indentation made by the sun's gravity. If you flick the marble hard enough, it can roll out of the indentation and roll away. The second pic is a representation of the gravity made by a black hole. Notice that if the marble rolls into the hole, there's no way it can get out, since there is no end to the hole. Such prospects are intriguing, and provide science fiction novelists with endless material for their writings. None of these theories have been proved, and since we can't get close enough to a black hole to study one, they're all perfectly valid. Perhaps one day mankind will discover the truths behind black holes.

Gothic Satire Essay

The subject of homework is cause for much debate between teachers, students, and parents. However, it is obvious that homework is not necessary every day. Homework should not be assigned to students on a daily basis because of health issues, the level of difficulty and the problem with time management. So I suggest the teacher can assign the homework twice a week, it is a way more easy to let students done their work. To begin, daily homework is unnecessary because of health issues. Students who have too much homework can develop poor sleep habits; many students pull â€Å"all-nighters† in an attempt to keep up. Another health issue is the lack of fresh air. Students show simple exposure to sunlight can provide bodies with neccessay vitamins, but there is no sunlight at your desk in your bedroom! Lastly, stress levels go through the roof when faced with too much work; in countries like China, overworked students have a high suicide rate. Evidently, too much homework can seriously damage your health. In addition, daily homework presents an unrealistic level of difficulty. If all teachers support daily homework, a student will have a heavy workload, with homework from four classes! Some homework is simply too difficult to be completed alone; a parent is not a teacher and should not be expected to know all the answers. Finally, struggling students who face failure at school and at home might choose to give up on school completely. A student who did not understand all day will fell even more discouraged when left alone to complete the work. Obviously, daily homework is simply too difficult. Finally, daily homework causes major problems when it comes to time. Many students need to work to supplement their family income or for posr=secondary education; there is no time for a student to manage a part-time job and homework. Valuable leisure time with family and friends also suffers when daily homework is assigned. Students need connections with the people who care about them in order to be emotionally and mentally healthy. With no time to simply unwind with those we love, we cannot form healthy relationships. Last but not least, students who have homework every day cannot join extracurricular activities such as sports and clubs. The educational system constantly stresses that a successful student is an active part of the school community, but a student with no free time has no time to join and make new friends. Thus, daily homework seriously compromises a student’s free time. In conclusion, due to problems such as good health, increased level of difficulty and lack of time, daily homework should not be assigned; it is, quite simply, unrealistic. Teachers should keep in mind that they are developing future people, and people require a healthy mind, body and spirit.

A Creation of Motivation in Life

There are many ways to motivate or de-motivate yourself or your employees. You could look at the motivation perspective from an individual or from a whole groups point of view. I will give examples of both by showing charts, lists, and other information that will tell you how to set goals for motivating yourself and your company†s employees. Motivating yourself is the first step you need to take. Everyone has different things that motivate them. This needs to be kept in mind when thinking about how to motivate others or when trying to come up with situations that will motivate others. Things that motivate you may or may not motivate another person. For instance people like knowing what is expected of them everyday, so try to apply it to your employees, but don†t force what motivates you on them. The next thing you can do is create a motivation file. This is for people that are critics or a creative leader. â€Å"A creative leader goes to the same conference as ordinary people, but in the first hour sees twenty ways the registration could have been done better, the speaker could have presented more effectively, or the doughnuts could have been distributed more efficiently.†(1) Being this way can be a de-motivator if you don†t know how to handle it. Because â€Å"Criticism is de-motivating. A habit of criticism will create a leak in a leader†s motivation reservoir†(1) This will soon turn into all criticism and no motivation. The motivation you have personally has all gone away. Creating a motivation file will help combat this tendency. â€Å"Each time you see another person – a pastor, denominational leader, educator, missionary, anyone – doing something dumb or omitting something important write it down starting with ‘I would.†Ã¢â‚¬ (1) Put yourself in their shoes and say ‘I would do this better† and then write what ever comes to your mind down. You have now helped yourself and created a motivation file. â€Å"You have â€Å"shifted from outward-directed criticism about things you can†t change, to inward-directed ideas where you might do something some day.†(1) This is why you create your motivational file. Reasons for using a motivation file: 1) Having a motivation file can help you get a job. As many times you have said to yourself this is what I would do you finally get confident. So when you are on your next job interview you can share with the boss some of your ideas. 2) Your friend gets one of your â€Å"Motivation File† jobs. An employee comes to you with a problem on getting motivated for a job. You can pull out your file and be able to give them a answer that you are confident with. 3) It can help you hire a new staff member. You are asked to hire a motivational speaker for your employees that you manage. You are prepared to ask the right questions that you think should be covered in the interview. 4) Someone else comes to ask you for advice. The things they ask might not be in your motivational file but you can improvise. This will help your friend or family member out and ad a new subject on to your motivation file. If you create a motivation file in your head you will benefit yourself. This way is not as effective, but you will redirect some of that negative criticism into personal motivation that you can later use. De-motivators are all throughout the work force. If you have a good idea on what some of these things might be, then you can start to eliminate them. The first thing you need to do is ask your employees what they would change in the organization to help better motivate them. The second thing you need to do is look at your employees as human beings. You must remember that they also want to succeed and strive for improvement in their field. Here is a list of de-motivators that might be within your organization. 1) Create an atmosphere full of company politics. 2) Develop unclear expectations regarding your employees' performance. 3) Create many unnecessary rules for employees to follow. 4) Plan unproductive meetings for employees to attend. 5) Promote internal competition between employees. 6) Withhold information critical for employees to perform their work. 7) Provide criticism instead of constructive comments. 8) Tolerate poor performance so your high performing employees feel taken advantage of.(2) After you have focused on identifying these problems then you need to change the organization around into a positive work environment. Remember that (a negative manager motivates employees by appealing to their fear, and a positive manager motivates employees by tapping into their potential.) (3) Here is a list of things that you can change in your organization to better motivate your employees. 1) If your employees do routine work, add some fun and variety to their routine. 2) Provide employees with input and choice in how they do their work. 3) Encourage responsibility and leadership opportunities within your company. 4) Promote social interaction and teamwork between employees. 5) Tolerate learning errors by avoiding harsh criticism. 7) Develop goals and challenges for all employees. 9) Make appreciation part of your repertoire. 10) Develop measurement that shows performance increase.(2) Motivation is hard to come by if you company climate is bad. Think back when someone, a teacher, a parent, and a minister, so on motivated you. They made you feel that you were doing something important and you wanted to succeed in whatever you were doing. Throughout that you had positive thoughts. This is one of the six things you need to have to get a positive climate that will motivate your employees. When ever you are trying to create a motivational climate keep these six things in mind. When you attain your goals, attain your goals, advertise your success. Thank individuals for the success of the group. Smile. Your enjoyment will be contagious. Demonstrate your pleasure when people and the team succeed. Build in enjoyable, social, activities so everyone enjoys themselves having coffee or lunch together. Ask people for their opinions. Listen intently to what they say. Consider their thoughts carefully. Give credit when you see somebody†s idea. Set clear, reasonable goals with the group. Make certain that stakeholders help set goals and agree to them. When you attain your goals, advertise your success. Thank individuals for contributing to the group. Identify how you can personally gain from an activity. Set this as a goal. Keep it in your mind. Identify your success. If you don†t succeed, identify why – so you will know what to do to succeed next time. Plan your messages. Take time to ensure you are communicating clearly. Check with others to ensure they understand.(4) Another way to motivate employees is to give them inspiration. Make them feel like they are there own bosses. You as the supervisor can use these five things to inspire and motivate your employees to succeed with in their own company. 1) Seeking and Using Employee†s ideas: To feel †¦ a part of the †¦ business and to be give an incentive, each employee must understand that he is free to contribute ideas. Management must encourage employee ideas and provide the necessary mechanism for obtaining them. (5) Successful managers create good attitudes by keeping employees well informed of business affairs through bulletin board, employee newsletter, or individual notices, and staff meetings. 3) Expressing personal interest in employees: Managers should be able to privately sit down with employees to discuss both business and personal matters. Managers should show appreciation by complimenting the employee for work done well. The supervisor provides the link between management and subordinates. He is the spokesman for his workers, which entails motivating and informing employees of responsibilities. Throughout this paper a motivation file has been talked about that can help benefit yourself. Things that de-motivate your employees were also listed which don†t need to go unrecognized. Also things that increase the motivation in your employees and will help in their insinuative to work and succeed throughout the company.

Mass Media and Its Influence

Mass Media and Its Influence Spoken, written, or broadcast communication whose medium may include television, radio, advertising, movies, newspapers, magazines, books, cell phones and the Internet becomes a mass media that affects our society's perception of ourselves and others and influences the structures of our society as well as the reactions of the individual. Americans perceive the political, economic, class, educational, and other structures of American society because of, by, and through the media. The American understanding of these structures within its society as well as those structures outside of the United States are manipulated and directed by the media. Similarly, the media influences the perceptions of individuals within American society by what and how the media is communicating. The media communicates and influences through the key motivators of our society today: sexual, monetary, and violent images. The most widespread form of this communication media is television, followed by the Internet. With the increased use of computers and multi-media cell phones, the Internet is on the road to exceeding the television as a communication media. How these media venues affect the world in which they operate shows how far and how deep the communications can reach, the speed in which the messages are delivered and accepted, the cultural impact that is experienced. Media has converted individual communication into group communication and has allowed for wonderful advances in civilization. Through mass communication, people groups, organizations, governments, and nations have found the media for the spread of information in business and industry, education, politics, technology and science, medicine and healthcare, weather and climate, and all levels of culture. It is in technology that the media's most obvious advancements are visible. In addition, the widespread distribution of information has allowed the world to respond to natural disasters, political oppression and exploitation, and in mass multi-national cultural events. In the area of culture, sex is not only a physical motivation in individuals, both male and female; it is also psychological motivation of people. Although, people express it in different cultures differently, the basic human need for sexual expression is one of basics of marketing and advertisement. It motivates sales and sales are best motivated in mass fashion for mass return on investment in massive profits via mass media. All forms of media use the basic instinct to identify a product for sale and manipulate the individual's perception to cause him or her to identify their individual sexuality with the product. Everyone wants to be sexy, attractive, wanted, desirable, in demand, and therefore, powerful. People will buy whatever they believe or perceive will provide this to them. Similarly, another motivator of power is violence. Whether the perpetrator-the inflictor, or the violated-the victim, there is no doubt about how powerful violence is. It also motivates sales indirectly through the marketing and advertisement of products supporting violent venues such as horror and R-rated films and television shows, sporting events such as boxing, wrestling, and football, war coverage, and the 11 o'clock news shows. The mass media clearly shows that violence motivates power and power motivates violence. The most vulnerable segment of society to the images and messages of mass media are America's youth. Young people are in a stage of life where they want acceptance by their peers, they want to be desired and loved, and they hope to be successful and powerful. They also seek to explore and express some of the same human motivations as the mature citizen: sex, violence, and power. The children and teenagers of America find all of these elements on the TV. In fact, as Arthur Asa Berger states, â€Å"the amount of time young people spend â€Å"media multi-tasking† has increased from 16% to 26% of media time, the actual amount of time devoted to media use has remained steady, at under just 6 1/2 hours per day (going from 6:19 to 6:21) 0r 44 1/2 hours per week (http://kff. org/entmedia/entmedia030509nr. cfm) (Berger, 12). Television and its self-directed version, cable, allow for the mass influence of these elements in both positive and negative ways. The positive aspects of violence and competition within the socially accepted structures of competitive youth sports and athletics promoted on TV and in video games and equally, in the fashion, dance, and young love seen in sitcoms, movies, and MTV music videos. Conversely, the use of junk foods, cigarettes, drugs, and alcohol combined with irresponsible, casual sex, excessive and explicit violence dominate much of the negative influence of media on America's youth. Joseph Dominic concludes, â€Å"that youngsters that are heavy TV viewers would display a pattern of beliefs and perceptions consistent with media portrayals (Dominick, 446). Regarding violence in mass media, again the young are exposed to a culture of violence reflected in the media. How the media sells or promotes those perceptions is the â€Å"reality† of the media. From a war somewhere in the world to the wars in someone's home, the media directs the interpretation of what is necessary, correct, moral, and immoral. From what is happening, is not happening, should happen, might and will happen, and what is and is not the cost the media influences our realities and reactions. This has resulted in Saturday morning cartoons that are as full of shootings, stabbings, explosions, and other forms of violence as is CSI or the nightly news; it has resulted in video games like Grand Theft Auto that allow children to be pretend drug lords, gang members, and pimps; it has promoted murder and abuse as entertainment for the masses. In the case of American youth, the effects of media violence on the developing mind and values of children and the personalities and beliefs of those children are increasingly negative. Aggressive behavior, lawlessness, and distorted views of reality are becoming commonplace among the children of today and mass media is one of the greatest influences. As these children mature into teenagers and young adults, the media blurs the realities of war in their minds and makes entertainment out of both virtual war games and actual wars on this earth. â€Å"More speci? ally, research provides strong evidence that in the short term, exposure to media violence causes increases in children's, adolescents', and young adults' physically and verbally aggressive behavior, as well as in aggression-related variables (such as aggressive thoughts and emotions) that are theoretically linked to aggressive and violent behavior (Anderson et al, 104). The young people of the United States are an identified and targeted demographic of the advertisement industry due to their large discretionary income from family and employment and due to their lack of experience and nowledge combined with an almost insatiable need to experiment and acquire. The use of sex and violence to market to America's youth, epitomized in the overwhelming success of the book and television series about teenage vampires, Twilight, has become a multi-billion dollar, multi-media industry. The media creates and promotes the ideal image of what is beautiful, desirable and sexy and what are the characteristics of a successful and power person, usually psychological and/or physical violence. Because these two instincts are so universal, primal, and strong, they are almost irresistible advertising vehicles. However, if sex and violence are the vehicles, money is the fuel. Consequently, the purpose of marketing and advertisement is to sell and make money. Mass media sells the belief to a person, young or old, that he or she can attain the characteristics of power, if they can buy the products that the powerful and violent own. It sells them on the belief that they can attain the characteristics of the sexy, if they can buy the products that makes one attractive and desirable–all as they are presented in the movies, TV, Internet or other media. The estimated revenue of all forms of mass media is in the 100's of billions of dollars. The cost of reality in relation to these perceptions is often much more expensive. An example of some of the more costly areas of influence is in the area of politics. In this area, political offices and careers both are promoted and destroyed. The media has a great influence over public opinion. The media has a huge influence over public opinion as can be seen by the use of opinion polls that it controls and manipulates. The use of polls and news coverage by the media can affect, positively or negatively, candidates and their ideas that, in turn, can change the political control of the nation. In addition, media control shapes the way people see their realities and it has a tremendous impact on our society. The War on Terrorism is a clear example of media influence on American society that resulted in the war in Iraq to stop weapons of mass destruction that did not exist in reality. This example shows how media can use information that is not real to create another reality it chooses. Because media is so powerful, it is owned by the powerful. In the United States, six corporations own 95% of all media nd the money they make are proof of their power: 2009 revenues of General Electric, $157 billion; Walt Disney, $36. 1 billion; News Corp. , $30. 4 billion; Time Warner, $25. 8 billion; Viacom, $13. 6 billion; and CBS, $13 billion (Freepress. net). â€Å"We find that media firms nearly universally have ownership structures with large controlling shareholders and that these shareholders are either families or governments. This evidence is broadly consistent with the ideas that there is large amenity potential (control benefits) associated with owning media–be it political influence or fame† (Djankov et al, 373). What this control costs American citizens in their freedoms and democracy cannot be calculated. In conclusion, the control of the media and its impact on American society, both positively and negatively, is important to the quality of our lives and to the freedoms we believe in. The media appears to be some huge, uncontrollable monster, but in reality, it is made of people just like our government is made of people and our country is made of people. Corporations, companies, governments, media are all people. Therefore, if the negative impacts and influences of media are to be controlled and limited, these people need to be challenged. In order to challenge these people's influence and control through the media, we must challenge what the media is selling, be it sexual, violent, moneymaking or otherwise. We must begin with ourselves and exercise our control over what we are buying. References Anderson, Craig A. , Leonard Berkowitz, Edward Donnerstein, L. Rowell Huesmann, James D. Johnson, Daniel Linz, Neil M. Malamuth, and Ellen Wartella. â€Å"The Influence of Media Violence on Youth†. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, Vol. 4, No. 3, Dec. 2003. 81-110. Berger, Arthur Asa. 2007. Media and Society: a critical perspective, 2nd ed. (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Inc. ) Djankov, Simon, Caralee McLiesh, Tatiana Nenova, and Andrew Shleifer. 2003. â€Å"Who Owns the Media? † The Journal of Law and Economics. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ) 27 Dec. 2010. Dominick, Joseph R. 2010. The Dynamics of Mass Communication: media in transition, 11th ed. (New York, NY: McGraw -Hill) Freepress. net. 2009. (Florence, MA: Free Press and the Free Press