...I gave a four-star rating to "Sin City," the 2005 film based on a graphic novel by Frank Miller. Now, as I deserve, I get "300," based on another work by Miller. Of the earlier film, I wrote prophetically: "This isn't an adaptation of a comic book, it's like a comic book brought to life and pumped with steroids." They must have been buying steroids wholesale for "300." Every single male character, including the hunchback, has the muscles of a finalist for Mr. Universe. Both films are faithful to Miller's plots and drawings. "300," I learn, reflects the book almost panel-by-panel. They lean so heavily on CGI that many shots are entirely computer-created. Why did I like the first, and dislike the second? Perhaps because of the subject matter, always a good place to start. "Sin City," directed by Robert Rodriguez and Miller, is film noir, my favorite genre, taken to the extreme. "300," directed by Zack Snyder, is ancient carnage, my least favorite genre, taken beyond the extreme. "Sin City" has vividly- conceived characters and stylized dialogue. "300" has one-dimensional caricatures who talk like professional wrestlers plugging their next feud. The movie involves a legendary last stand by 300 death-obsessed Spartans against a teeming horde of Persians. So brave and strong are the Spartans that they skewer, eviscerate, behead and otherwise inconvenience tens of thousands of Persians before finally falling to the weight of overwhelming numbers. The lesson is that the Spartans...
Words: 383 - Pages: 2
...what made them so special. Prior to World War II American films were about singing, dancing and happy endings. The occupation in Europe changed all that. Many European directors, artists and actors escaped to America and brought their artistic visions and hellish nightmares with them. The movies they made provided them with a creative outlet. They showed a dark side to humanity in which American soldiers returning from war could relate to. It helped them see that they were not the only ones with problems and that life was not always easy. It helped normalize what they were feeling and perhaps even helped them adjust to coming back home. Film Noir films were a complete change to what the American public was familiar with. They exposed the audience to something new and different. These movies brought an “edge and roughness” to life as they knew it. Most of all they provided new techniques to film making. The director’s innovative use of lighting and cinematography were never seen before. The audience was drawn in to focus on the main characters which I think made the scene more intimate. The actors had to up there performances showcasing their acting ability. Music played a big role in these movies as well. If you closed your eyes you could hear the tension and emotion of the scene through the musical score. It helped set the mood and kept you engrossed in the film. Many of the elements used in Film Noir movies are still in use today especially the lighting and camera...
Words: 355 - Pages: 2
...out every aspect of production? Surely, if the director is the true Auteur this is what is required. If the director does not fulfill all the production functions, how is the 'author' of a film identified and established?” Extract from “The Singer or the Song?” (Cheshire, 2002) “The new film would resemble the person who made it, not so much in the autobiographical content but rather through the style, which impregnates the film with the personality of its director. Intrinsically strong directors will over the years exhibit a recognizable style and personality” (Stam, 2000) “Auteur study stressed the how over the what, a history of films over films in history. Although the danger of excesses was already apparent to Andre Bazin, who warned against a "cult of personality "and other sins, we should also note that auteur criticism had seminal importance in stressing formal questions of visual analysis.”(Truffaut, 1954) “O’Hara is mixed up in a murderous plot cooked up by Bannister's partner Grisby(Glenn Anders) Welles cooks up a dreamlike (though never surrealist) fluency and strangeness along with a salty tang of black comedy and desire between O'Hara and Elsa” (Bradshaw, 2002) “In sum, the viewer is offered the pleasure of seeing cinema extended as neither the studio tradition nor film noir had yet done up to 1947. Welles works within an aesthetic matrix that had already stamped him as a foremost auteur in the movie industry, but his visual and narrative obsessions also inflect...
Words: 473 - Pages: 2
...FILMENS UTVECKLING FRÅN 1895 – 2015 Den tekniska utvecklingen Den första officiella filmvisningen ägde rum i en biljardsalong i Paris 1895. Det var bröderna Lumiére som hade lyckats kombinera en filmkamera med en projektor och filmerna som spelades var inte mer än en minut långa. Från stumfilm till talfilm De första filmerna var så kallade stumfilmer, ingen hade hittat ett effektivt sätt att integrera ljud i filmerna och därför visade man dialoger och handlingsförklaringar som text i filmen. Dock var det sällan helt tyst under filmens visning, för det mesta använde man sig av livemusik inne i biosalongen för att förstärka det som visades på bioduken. Att ljudet inte hade lyckats kombineras med filmen handlade inte om brist på idéer, det var helt enkelt en avsaknad av tekniska förutsättningar som satte käppar i hjulet. Thomas Edison hade redan 1895 uppfunnit ett kinetoscope (tittskåp för rörliga bilder) där han med hjälp av en fonograf kunde förmedla ljudet till åskådaren via ett stetoskop. Denna teknik gick dock inte att överföra till biograferna. Man försökte vid flera tillfällen att använda sig av en fonograf eller grammofon för att kunna ha med ljus i filmerna, men synkroniseringen fungerade inte och det fanns inte heller några möjligheter till förstärkning, med andra ord hördes det inte tillräckligt bra. Det var runt 1920-talet som den nödvändiga tekniken för ljudsystem hade utvecklats men det dröjde ändå till 1926 innan den första ljudfilmen hade premiär;...
Words: 2298 - Pages: 10
...2007 – 2013) Project Code: ENT/CIP/09/E/N02S001 2011 Noir / Illuminati II (Denmark) Benoit Leleux IMD International This case has been prepared as a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either the effective or ineffective handing of a business / administrative situation. You are free: to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work to make derivative works Under the following conditions: Attribution. You must give the original author credit. Non-Commercial. You may not use this work for commercial purposes. Share Alike. If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under a license identical to this one. For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you get permission from the author(s). NOIR/ILLUMINATI II Introduction Peter looked out of his window. His window! He liked the sound of that. It had taken him 15 years of discipline and hard work to reach this point. Of course, he had enjoyed more prominent and remarkable views and offices in the past, but for the first time it was his name on the lease contract, his office and his company. And 2007 was going to be the year of Noir/Illuminati II. So far, after nine months, it looked very promising. Peter Ingwersen founded the companies in February 2005. The two entities were like Siamese twins; Noir designed and produced luxury clothing for women, while Illuminati...
Words: 7307 - Pages: 30
...the Impact of Images 187 Early Technology and the Evolution of Movies 192 The Rise of the Hollywood Studio System 195 The Studio System’s Golden Age 205 The Transformation of the Studio System 209 The Economics of the Movie Business 215 Popular Movies and Democracy In every generation, a film is made that changes the movie industry. In 1941, that film was Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane. Welles produced, directed, wrote, and starred in the movie at age twenty-five, playing a newspaper magnate from a young man to old age. While the movie was not a commercial success initially (powerful newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst, whose life was the inspiration for the movie, tried to suppress it), it was critically praised for its acting, story, and directing. Citizen Kane’s dramatic camera angles, striking film noir–style lighting, nonlinear storytelling, montages, and long deep-focus shots were considered technically innovative for the era. Over time, Citizen Kane became revered as a masterpiece, and in 1997 the American Film Institute named it the Greatest American Movie of All Time. “Citizen Kane is more than a great movie; it is a gathering of all the lessons of the emerging era of sound,” film critic Roger Ebert wrote.1 CHAPTER 6 ○ MOVIES 185 (c) Bedford/St. Martin's bedfordstmartins.com 1-457-62096-0 / 978-1-457-62096-6 MOVIES A generation later, the space epic Star Wars (1977) changed the culture of the movie industry. Star Wars, produced, written, and directed...
Words: 19373 - Pages: 78
... 1.1 – Introduction – p. 3 1.2 – Social and Political Climate pp. 3-11 1.3 – Production Code Resolutions pp.11-15 Part Two 2.1- Production Codes – I, II, III and IV pp.16 2.2 – Production Codes V, VI, VII and VIII pp.17-18 2.3 - Production Codes IX, X, XI and XII pp.18 Part Three 3.1- Hollywood and Film making – 1940-1949 pp.18-21 3.2- Movies – Awarded, Nominated, Not Nominated pp.21 Part Four 4.1- Hollywood and Film making – 1950-1959 pp.22-26 4.2- Movies – Awarded, Nominated, Not Nominated pp.26 Part Five 5.1- Synopsis of Film making in the 1960’s – New Era pp. 27-28 5.2- Conclusion pp.28-29 The Red Scare of 1917-1920, was the primary influence for the emergence of censorship through McCarthyism and Anti- Socialist sentiments in filmmaking during 1940-1960. McCarthyism and three international wars enhanced Anti – Communist resentments within the United States. A brief emergence of Socialist organizations in America heightened the fervor of conservative versus liberal views within cinematography. Motion Movie producers and Distributors, in Hollywood, California were heavily encouraged to influence film directors, screenwriters and actors by incorporating strict codes within their artistic expression. The Dies Committee, former State Senator Jack Tenny’s California Joint Fact Finding Committee on Un-American Activities from the late 1930’s and early 1940’s; as well as the House on Un-American Activities Committee and The Production...
Words: 7301 - Pages: 30
...Narrative A narrative is a sequence of events that a narrator tells in story form. A narrator is a storyteller of any kind, whether the authorial voice in a novel or a friend telling you about last night’s party. Point of View The point of view is the perspective that a narrative takes toward the events it describes. First-person narration: A narrative in which the narrator tells the story from his/her own point of view and refers to him/herself as “I.” The narrator may be an active participant in the story or just an observer. When the point of view represented is specifically the author’s, and not a fictional narrator’s, the story is autobiographical and may be nonfictional (see Common Literary Forms and Genres below). Third-person narration: The narrator remains outside the story and describes the characters in the story using proper names and the third-person pronouns “he,” “she,” “it,” and “they.” • Omniscient narration: The narrator knows all of the actions, feelings, and motivations of all of the characters. For example, the narrator of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina seems to know everything about all the characters and events in the story. • Limited omniscient narration: The narrator knows the actions, feelings, and motivations of only one or a handful of characters. For example, the narrator of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has full knowledge of only Alice. • Free indirect discourse: The narrator conveys a character’s inner thoughts...
Words: 12257 - Pages: 50
... CHAPTER 4 Chapter Objectives After reading this chapter, students should: • Have a working knowledge of the cinematographer’s job • Understand the difference between cinematography and mise en scène and recognize the importance of each • Understand the importance of color and lighting and how they affect the tone and feel of a film • Be familiar with different methods of photographing a film, and with terms such as panning, tilting, tracking shots, deep focus, and aspect ratios • Understand how different focal length lenses affect the look of a shot • Recognize what special effects can do for a movie—and what they can’t do 4.1 The “Look” of a Scene W hen we are first introduced to Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather, played by Marlon Brando, the Mafia boss is sitting in the study of his home. Along with his consigliore, or adviser, Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall), Corleone is listening to a line of people requesting favors on the day of his daughter’s wedding. Corleone is immensely powerful, as we learn by the scope of the favors he is asked to grant, which in one case includes the desire of a singer to be cast in a film to revive his musical career, and Corleone’s ability to grant them. However, it is not just what Corleone says in the scene, which introduces us to all that will follow, that makes us aware of his power. It is also how the scene looks, how it is shot, and how color and light are combined that give The Godfather such an immediately distinctive...
Words: 13907 - Pages: 56
...The Gift of the Magi Themes Love "Gift of the Magi" is the story of a poor, young couple whose love for each other is the most important thing in their lives. Such is their love that they're led to sacrifice their most valuable possessions to find Christmas gifts for each other. The warm home they make together contrasts with the drabness of their poverty and the dreary world outside. Their love seems to know no bounds, though Della (the wife) worries about how her sacrifice will affect her husband because of how it affects her looks. If ever there were a story with the message that all you need to be happy is love, this is it. Sacrifice The two main characters in "Gift of the Magi" are a husband and wife who give up their most precious possessions to be able to afford gifts for each other on Christmas Eve. The story seems to be all about sacrifice. We watch Della go through the process of deciding to make the sacrifice and going through with it, only to discover that her husband has made the same sacrifice. The story's narrator assures us that in their willingness to give up all they have, they have proven themselves the wisest of all gift-givers. It might remain unclear, though, exactly what their sacrifice has accomplished, or how it has affected them. Wealth In many ways, "Gift of the Magi" is a story about what it means for something to be valuable. Does something's value lie in how much money it is worth? Or are other things more valuable than money? The main characters...
Words: 10606 - Pages: 43
...Th e T yranny of Gui lt • Pa s c a l B ru c k n e r Translated from the French by s t ev e n r e n da l l The tyranny of Guilt An Essay on Western Masochism • P r i n c e t o n u n i v e r si t y P r e s s Princeton and Oxford english translation copyright © 2010 by Princeton university Press First published as La tyrannie de la pénitence: essai sur le masochisme occidental by Pascal Bruckner, copyright © 2006 by Grasset & Fasquelle Published by Princeton university Press, 41 William street, Princeton, new Jersey 08540 in the united kingdom: Princeton university Press, 6 oxford street, Woodstock, oxfordshire OX20 1TW press.princeton.edu all rights reserved library of congress cataloging-in-Publication data Bruckner, Pascal. [tyrannie de la pénitence. english] The tyranny of guilt: an essay on Western masochism / Pascal Bruckner; translated from the French by steven rendall. p. cm. includes index. isBn 978-0-691-14376-7 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. civilization, Western— 20th century. 2. civilization, Western—21st century. 3. international relations—Moral and ethical aspects. 4. Western countries—Foreign relations. 5. Western countries—intellectual life. 6. Guilt 7. self-hate (Psychology) 8. World politics. i. title. CB245.B7613 2010 909’.09821--dc22 2009032666 British library cataloging-in-Publication data is available cet ouvrage, publié dans le cadre d’un programme d’aide à la publication, bénéficie du soutien du Ministère des affaires étrangères et du service...
Words: 64873 - Pages: 260
...Curriculum Planning 3.1 Planning a Balanced and Flexible Curriculum 3.2 Central Curriculum and School-based Curriculum Development 3.2.1 Integrating Classroom Learning and Independent Learning 3.2.2 Maximizing Learning Opportunities 3.2.3 Cross-curricular Planning 3.2.4 Building a Learning Community through Flexible Class Organization 3.3 Collaboration within the English Language Education KLA and Cross KLA Links 3.4 Time Allocation 3.5 Progression of Studies 3.6 Managing the Curriculum – Role of Curriculum Leaders Chapter 4 1 2 2 3 3 13 14 14 15 15 16 16 17 17 18 21 Learning and Teaching 4.1 Approaches to Learning and Teaching 4.1.1 Introductory Comments 4.1.2 Prose Fiction 4.1.3 Poetry i 21 21 23 32 SECOND DRAFT 4.1.4 Drama 4.1.5 Films 4.1.6 Literary Appreciation 4.1.7 Schools of Literary Criticism 4.2 Catering for Learner Diversity 4.3 Meaningful Homework 4.4 Role of Learners Chapter 5 41 45 52 69 71 72 73 74 Assessment 5.1 Guiding Principles 5.2 Internal Assessment 5.2.1 Formative Assessment 5.2.2 Summative Assessment 5.3 Public Assessment 5.3.1 Standards-referenced Assessment 5.3.2 Modes of Public Assessment 74 74 74 75 77 77 77 Quality Learning and Teaching Resources 104 6.1 Use of Set Texts 6.2 Use of Other Learning and Teaching Resources 104 108 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 109 Supporting Measures 7.1 Learning and Teaching Resource Materials 7.2 Professional Development 109 109 Appendix 1 Examples of Poetry Analysis 110 Appendix 2 Examples of...
Words: 41988 - Pages: 168
...International Relations Theory The new edition of International Relations Theory: A critical introduction introduces students to the main theories in international relations. It explains and analyzes each theory, allowing students to understand and critically engage with the myths and assumptions behind each theory. Key features of this textbook include: • discussion of all of the main theories: realism and (neo)realism, idealism and (neo)idealism, liberalism, constructivism, postmodernism, gender, and globalization two new chapters on the “clash of civilizations” and Hardt and Negri’s Empire innovative use of narratives from films that students will be familiar with: Lord of the Flies, Independence Day, Wag the Dog, Fatal Attraction, The Truman Show, East is East, and Memento an accessible and exciting writing style which is well-illustrated with boxed key concepts and guides to further reading. • • • This breakthrough textbook has been designed to unravel the complexities of international relations theory in a way that allows students a clearer idea of how the theories work and the myths that are associated with them. Cynthia Weber is Professor of International Studies at the University of Lancaster. She is the author of several books and numerous articles in the field of international relations. International Relations Theory A critical introduction Second edition Cynthia Weber First published 2001 by Routledge Second edition published 2005 by Routledge...
Words: 74303 - Pages: 298
...Proceeding for the School of Visual Arts Eighteenth Annual National Conference on Liberal Arts and the Education of Artists: Art and Story CONTENTS SECTION ONE: Marcel’s Studio Visit with Elstir……………………………………………………….. David Carrier SECTION TWO: Film and Video Narrative Brief Narrative on Film-The Case of John Updike……………………………………. Thomas P. Adler With a Pen of Light …………………………………………………………………… Michael Fink Media and the Message: Does Media Shape or Serve the Story: Visual Storytelling and New Media ……………………………………………………. June Bisantz Evans Visual Literacy: The Language of Cultural Signifiers…………………………………. Tammy Knipp SECTION THREE: Narrative and Fine Art Beyond Illustration: Visual Narrative Strategies in Picasso’s Celestina Prints………… Susan J. Baker and William Novak Narrative, Allegory, and Commentary in Emil Nolde’s Legend: St. Mary of Egypt…… William B. Sieger A Narrative of Belonging: The Art of Beauford Delaney and Glenn Ligon…………… Catherine St. John Art and Narrative Under the Third Reich ……………………………………………… Ashley Labrie 28 15 1 22 25 27 36 43 51 Hopper Stories in an Imaginary Museum……………………………………………. Joseph Stanton SECTION FOUR: Photography and Narrative Black & White: Two Worlds/Two Distinct Stories……………………………………….. Elaine A. King Relinquishing His Own Story: Abandonment and Appropriation in the Edward Weston Narrative………………………………………………………………………….. David Peeler Narrative Stretegies in the Worlds of Jean Le Gac and Sophe Calle…………………….. Stefanie Rentsch...
Words: 117240 - Pages: 469
...Season 1 Episode 1 Sex and the city aired "Once upon a time an English journalist came to New York. Elizabeth was attractive and bright, and right away she hooked up with one of the city's eligible bachelors. The question remains, is this a company we want to own? Tim was 42. A well-liked and respected banker, who made about two million a year. They met one evening, in typical New York fashion, at a gallery opening. Like it? Yes, actually I think it's quite interesting. What? I feel like I know you. Oh, doubtful. I just moved here from London. Really? That's my favorite city. It is? Absolutely. It was love at first sight. You know, I think perhaps I have met you somewhere before. For two weeks they snuggled... went to romantic restaurants... had wonderful sex... and shared the most intimate secrets. One day, he took her to a house he saw in the New York Times. How about if we start at the top? There are four bedrooms upstairs. Do you have any children? Not yet. That day Tim popped the question. Would you like to meet my folks Tues-day night? I'd love to. On Tuesday he called with some bad news. My mother's not feeling very well. Oh, gosh, I'm sorry. Can we take a rain check? Of course. Tell your mum I hope she feels better. When she hadn't heard from him for two weeks, she called. Tim, it's Elizabeth. That's an awfully long rain check. He said he was up to his ears and that he'd call the next day. He never did call... Bastard. She told me one day over coffee. I don't understand...
Words: 31277 - Pages: 126
