...Johnston Film Essay Avatar The critical acclaim that followed the box office destroyer, Avatar, out shined most films since the creation of Hollywood and the American cinema composition. Coming in at the second highest grossing film of all times only behind Titanic, James Cameron and his crew of artistic creators surely gave their audiences something to talk about. The film takes place in two separate worlds, the industrialized earth and the beautiful and plush avatar infested world of Pandora. The controversy of the film is centered on the humans mining the world of Pandora for a highly valuable element worth an estimated $20 million dollars a kilogram. The artistically drawn battle between the humans and the natives of Pandora, bring about a reminder of several classically organized stories that seem to follow along the same paths that Avatar treads upon. With this controversy that is being brought to light, the issue of race, racial tolerance and other problems dealing with color are brought up throughout the film in a multitude of ways. Whether it be embodied in the thoughts and processes of the characters, through the actual actions of the film, or the eerily similar comparisons that can be made between Avatar and other racially charged films, race is definitely a subject that was vividly dug up when the film crossed the minds of the viewers. Many reviews of the film Avatar put most of the racist charges and blames of inequality onto the writers of the film and...
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...prostitute called Thel Russell (Mili Avital), who sells flower papers. He lets her take him home. Thel's ex-boyfriend Charlie (Gabriel Byrne) surprises them in bed and shoots Blake, accidentally killing Thel when she tries to shield Blake with her body. the wounded Blake shoots and kills Charlie with Thel's gun before climbing bewilderedly out the window and fleeing Machine on a stolen pinto. Company-owner Dickinson, the father of Charlie, hires three legendary frontier killers, Cole Wilson (Lance Henriksen), Conway Twill (Michael Wincott) , and Johnny "The Kid" Pickett (Eugene Byrd) to hunt Blake as the murderer of his son and Thel, although he seems to care most about recovering the stolen horse. Blake then finds himself below a big american indian guy (Gary farmer) who is attempting to remove the bullet from his chest. the Indian guy called himself Nobody reveals to him that the bullet is too close to Blake's heart to remove, and Blake is actually walking dead. When he learns Blake's full name, Nobody decides Blake is a reincarnation of William Blake, a poet whom he idolizes but of whom accountant Blake himself had no idea. Blake and Nobody travel west, leaving a trail of dead and encountering wanted posters announcing higher and higher bounties for Blake's death or capture. Blake learns of...
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...minorities through film Introduction: Stereotyping against minorities had been an issue since the 20th century and since then the minorities had been protesting against the discrimination and inequality in entertainment industries. This includes the discrimination in vote, ownership, basic human rights and social rights which led to the stride of the minorities to protest for the equal rights living in a country. For example in America, the black Americans were hunted and lynched by the white Americans and it was celebrated as a sport. So in mid of 20th century, although the black Americans got their freedom, they still faced the color racism by the majority of America. Stereotyping against minorities through entertainment started at the start of the entertainment industry in the world. Unfortunately, stereotyping against the minorities through media was also recorded by the film’s historians. Considering the example of Joseph Goebbels, who was the propaganda general during World War 2 and he was considered to be the founder of the discrimination portrayed in his directed films. During Nazi Regime, there were many stereotyping against the Jews and this discrimination was proudly displayed by the Goebbels propaganda they specifically targeted the Jewish controlled organization and they were negatively portrayed in the entire film. However these stereotyping ended by the end of National Socialist Party but sadly the practice of stereotyping the minorities through film remained in...
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...The film “When Worlds Collide” offers an in depth analysis of the early influences effecting both European and American civilizations. One area that I found interesting is how different European royalty handled the advancement of their beliefs in the Americans. Each of them faced different obstacles, both in their own land, and abroad with their decisions affecting millions of people globally. Another piece of this documentary I found interesting is how influential our native foods were on a global scale. With most of these foods being taken for granted in our current society, this film demonstrated how large an influence food played in sustaining population growth. In 1492 King Ferdinand and Queen Elizabeth were just at the conclusion of the Wars of Religion, one that freed Spain from an 800 year old Muslim strong hold. Prior to this “Christians lived in the shadows of the Muslims” this victory was briefly described as peaceful, with the Muslim being granted permission for the continuance of observing their religious beliefs. Throughout this film I found a similarity regarding the words spoke of a King and Queen were vastly different than their actions. In this case, they recanted there previous agreement that allowed them to continue their Muslims beliefs and gave them an ultimatum to either convert to Christianity or leave the country. This sounded like a common occurrence in Spain as they continued to pressure Christianity to Jews, Africans slaves, and one of their primary...
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...Even though the treaties were supposed to favor the parties of both Europeans and Indigenous people, the British Crown had always walked away with the upper hand. One good example would be land disputes between the British and Amerindians. Despite the acknowledgement of Native American lands, the British government turned peace and friendship treaties into real estate deals, only allowing them land through negotiation. This upsets me because many Indigenous people consider the treaties with the British had outlined a way in which the two groups could coexist together. In my opinion, it seems that these treaties were a way the British government could strip Aboriginal peoples of their land. In exchange for their land, they would be ensured aboriginal rights to be protected, however problems continued to occur. Another problem I noticed while watching the film was the British Governments refusal to acknowledge the Royal Proclamation still existing today. Despite the past efforts to maintain friendship between the two groups, the relationship is slowly dwindling away. It didn't surprise me when the British Crown decided to attend a soccer game rather than meet with a delegation of Indigenous leaders and church guests on the 250th anniversary of the Royal Proclamation. It put into perspective how the British...
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...This paper is a brief analysis of James Cameron's Avatar, a massively successful film that has managed to gross, so far, a half billion in revenue. With its popularity and mass appeal, it has also incurred a considerable amount of criticism from a variety of sources, targeting a variety of topics of the film, from its presentation of alien natives and a colonial corporate military, to race issues and a depiction of cigarette use. This essay attempts to explore main threads of the film, analyzing criticism, and offering its own critique and deconstruction. It will employ diagnostic critique, as well, in order to analyze how Avatar is equally a reflection of and an active influence on contemporary culture. Avatar takes place in the virtual world of Pandora, created by Cameron with digital technology and colonized with fantastic creatures and an indigenous race of tall blue aliens called the Na'vi. The film is presented in three-dimensions, a technology that has been around for some time but this is the first time it seems to be used without reference to novelty. In this way Cameron and Twentieth Century Fox made a film, or rather an experience that cannot be pirated; a considerable amount of its revenue is from viewers paying extra to watch it in three dimensions, undoubtedly multiple times, on a monolithic IMAX screen. The virtual world within Avatar is closely reminiscent of virtual spaces like Second Life; in both environments, individuals use avatars to plug into the space...
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...A Further Analysis of Apocalypse Now Vlad Dovgan History Through Film Mr. Ellis Graham 1/13/2013 It is said that some of the best things in life are those that come unexpected. For weeks, my friend had nagged me to watch a movie he had seen, called Apocalypse Now. He described it to me, and I was not interested. War movies don’t excite me that much, and I did not want to go out of the way to watch it. I’m not a violent person so watching this movie would be out of characteristic for me. However, when this research paper was assigned, it seemed to be destiny that I would finally watch this movie. I gave in, and decided this would be a great way to kill two birds with one stone- I would satisfy my friend, and be able to complete this assignment. Little did I know at the time, I was in for something truly special. While most men would be satisfied serving their team in war and returning home, the same could not be said for Benjamin Willard. After fighting in Vietnam, Willard found that he did not fit in back in America. He was miserable and desired to return to battle, so he did. A highly regarded man, Willard was given the task of finding and killing Walter E. Kurtz, a murderer who is stationed in Cambodia with the Montagnards, who view him as a god. To reach Kurtz, Willard joins the crew of a Navy river patrol boat who are to ferry him up a fictional river up to Cambodia. The boat’s crew consists of four men: Chief, Chef, Lance, and Clean. With help from...
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...Dances with Wolves Tera Butler ENG225- Introduction to film Professor Daniel Burrello February 8, 2015 Dances with Wolves Westerns are stories of life and adventure in the American West a time period and way of life everyone should reflect on. Dances with Wolves(1990) is one of the most truth brought forward Westerns of our time, as it explores the ending of the Civil war and the embarks on the New Frontier that ultimately changed the way of life for most all Native Americans. This film is compiled with drama, love, loyalty, courage, and racism all with lasting impact on its audience. Directed by Kevin Costner in a simple cinematographic technique that allows the audience to experience the characters every move. This movie was written by Michael Blake and directed by Kevin Costner who also is the lead actor throughout the film. Other actors include Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, Rodney Grant, and Floyd Red Crow Westerman. The story starts with a wounded Civil War soldier about to have his foot amputated when he makes an attempt at his life by stealing a horse and running recklessly across the open battlefield nearly getting shot. The build from this scene is that the soldiers fighting see his act of desperation and encouragement and a distraction and use the fact that the enemy is so focused on shooting him off his horse that they never see the final attack coming. The end of this scene Kevin Costner...
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...Southern Illinois University Carbondale OpenSIUC Research Papers Graduate School 8-2014 Nollywood: A Case Study of the Rising Nigerian Film Industry- Content & Production Elizabeth T. Giwa Southern Illinois University Carbondale, toyin.e.giwa@gmail.com Follow this and additional works at: http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/gs_rp Recommended Citation Giwa, Elizabeth T., "Nollywood: A Case Study of the Rising Nigerian Film Industry- Content & Production" (2014). Research Papers. Paper 518. http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/gs_rp/518 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at OpenSIUC. It has been accepted for inclusion in Research Papers by an authorized administrator of OpenSIUC. For more information, please contact opensiuc@lib.siu.edu. NOLLYWOOD: A CASE STUDY OF THE RISING NIGERIAN FILM INDUSTRYCONTENT & PRODUCTION by Toyin Elizabeth Giwa B.S., Southern Illinois University, 2010 A Research Paper Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Master of Science Department of Mass Communication and Media Arts in the Graduate School Southern Illinois University Carbondale August 2014 Copyright by ELIZABETH TOYIN GIWA, 2014 All Rights Reserved REASEARCH PAPER APPROVAL NOLLYWOOD: A CASE STUDY OF THE RISING NIGERIAN FILM INDUSTRY CONTENT & PRODUCTION By Elizabeth Toyin Giwa A Research Paper Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in the field of Professional Media and Media Management...
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...Symbolic Interactionist Perspective Media Analysis SOC/100 Introduction to Sociology 06/07/2012 Mrs. Christina Oberste Symbolic Interactionist Perspective Media Analysis In today’s society, all human beings have their very own distinctive, customizable features such as body composition, hair length, attire, and style. At the same token, they all have genetic-based features such as color, height, facial features, and gender. While these features are quite commonly used to identify all human beings, they also give way to categorizing, mislabeling, and stereotyping another individual. Categorizing society by means of race, social class, and gender, is very common in today’s society; almost too common as it may seem. In this paper, the Academy Award-winning picture “Crash,” will be used to display some of the social injustices in today’s society. Crash, Oscar-winner for best picture, best original screenplay, and best editing at the 2005 Academy Awards, was co-written, produced, and directed by Paul Higgins in 2004. Crash was inspired by a real-life event in which Higgins’ Porsche was hi-jacked outside a video store in Los Angeles California. Crash touches up on a lot of different topics such as stereotyping, racism, classism, sexism, and exposure to different forms of racial discrimination such as racial stereotyping and racial profiling all from the non-verbal, symbolic perspective of an outsider. The first scene of the movie takes the viewers on-scene of a motor vehicle...
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...Ro e ll Intercultural Training with Films ilms are a great medium to use not only to practice English, but also to facilitate intercultural learning. Today English is a global language spoken by people from many countries and cultural backgrounds. Since culture greatly impacts communication, it is helpful for teachers to introduce lessons and activities that reveal how different dialects, forms of address, customs, taboos, and other cultural elements influence interaction among different groups. Numerous films contain excellent examples of intercultural communication and are highly useful resources for teachers. Additional reasons for teachers to incorporate films in class and encourage their students to watch movies in English include: • Films combine pleasure and learning by telling a story in a way that captures and holds the viewer’s interest. • Films simultaneously address different senses and cognitive channels. For example, spoken language is supported by visual elements that make it easier for students to understand the dialogues and the plot. • Students are exposed to the way people actually speak. 2 2010 N u m b e r F • Films involve the viewers, appeal to their feelings, and help them empathize with the protagonists. • DVDs usually come with subtitles in English, which facilitates understanding and improves reading skills. After discussing the importance of teaching intercultural communication and suggesting films that match specific cultural categories...
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...For my Final paper in this class, I have decided to do a comparative analysis between the movies Higher Learning and Smoke Signals. I will briefly summarize each movie in a few paragraphs and then I will discuss the similarities and differences between the themes in each movie before I discuss overall comparisons between characters, filming techniques used, and racial stereotypes. "Higher Learning" takes place at the fictitious Columbus University, where the producer makes use of a Christopher Columbus statue to suggest a racist atmosphere. Still, he does this effectively during harsh, well-observed opening scenes that capture different attitudes of white and black students on campus. A white students' pep rally is given a frightening intensity. A young white woman clutches her purse tightly when she finds herself in an elevator with a black student. The two groups' different musical tastes present an amusing contrast and a great use of sound design which is described in our textbook American On Film by Benshoff and Griffin. Mr. Singleton creates a lively air of expectation as his half-dozen main characters settle into their dorm rooms and the battle lines are drawn. John Singleton's film, Higher Learning, about the racial and sexual prejudices that color life on a college campus turns out to be an involuntary example of the same small-mindedness it deplores. Everyone here, from beer drinking white fraternity boys to rap-loving, marijuana smoking black students harassed by...
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...Key to notes listed a = also approved for Analyzing the Natural World b = also approved for Understanding the Individual and Society c = also approved for Understanding the Past d = also approved for Understanding the Creative Arts e = also approved for Exploring World Cultures f = also approved for Understanding U.S. Society g = Indicated courses specifically designed for those majoring in areas other than science and mathematics h = LAS nonlaboratory courses Anthropology (ANTH) | 102 | Introduction to Archaeology | 4 hourscg | 105 | Human Evolution | 4 hourscg | 218 | Anthropology of Children and Childhood | 3 hoursbh | 238 | Biology of Women Same as GWS 238 | 3 hoursgh | | | | Biological Sciences (BIOS) | 100 | Biology of Cells and Organisms | 5 hours | 101 | Biology of Populations and Communities | 5 hours | 104 | Life Evolving | 5 hoursg | | | | Chemistry (CHEM) | 100 | Chemistry and Life | 5 hoursg | 112 | General College Chemistry I | 5 hours | 114 | General College Chemistry II | 5 hours | 116 | Honors General Chemistry I | 5 hours | 118 | Honors General Chemistry II | 5 hours | 130 | Survey of Organic and Biochemistry | 5 hours | | | | Computer Science (CS) | 100 | Discovering Computer Science | 3 hoursh | | | | Earth and Environmental Sciences (EAES) | 101 | Global Environmental Change | 4 hours | 111 | Earth, Energy, and the Environment | 4 hours | 200 | Field Work in Missouri | 2 hours...
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... The film I will speak about today is “Color Purple” which was first adopted from a novel by Alice Walker in 1982. This film revolves around a native African American lady named Celie whose life was destined by oppression and mistreatment by her own father. This reminded me of my country Yemen sadly. Women in my country were always oppressed by men and had no rights. And this is one of the reasons I chose this film. The theme I will focus on today is religion and how the confusion of the Christianity belief took away her innocence at the age of fourteen...
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... 1.-Introduction, aim and scope..........................................................................................3 2.-Literature review...........................................................................................................3 2.1.-Code-switching...............................................................................................3 2.2.-Spanish in the United States...........................................................................5 2.3.-Spanglish........................................................................................................6 3.-Data and methodology..................................................................................................8 4.-Analysis.........................................................................................................................9 5.-Conclusion...................................................................................................................13 6.-Transcription conventions...........................................................................................14 7.-Transcription...............................................................................................................15 8.-Bibliography................................................................................................................17 9.-Plagiarism declaration.........................................................................
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