POLLOCK the film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

POLLOCK the film - Essay Example There are a variety of sacrifices made by Pollock’s friends, family, and colleagues. For instance, Pollock’s girlfriend and eventual wife, Lee Krasner, sacrifices her own well being and success in order to support Pollock’s painting. In addition to becoming his manager, Lee also takes care of Pollock when he is diagnosed as neurotic and continually tries to help him with his alcoholism. She essentially supports Pollock financially as well because he is not able to sell any paintings due to his inability to change his paintings for potential clients. Lee even appears to sacrifice motherhood because she knows that she must be there to care for Pollock and his mental health problems, in addition to pushing him to continue his art. Later on, she has to sacrifice her own happiness as she puts up with the affair between Pollock and Ruth Kilgman. Pollock also must make some sacrifices for his art. In the film, the audience sees Pollock struggle to sell his paintings. This is mostly due to the fact that Pollock does not appear to want to modify his paintings according to the tastes of others. Because he refuses to do this, art buyers are not purchasing his paintings. He seems to believe that his art is not as pure, or that he loses some of his artistic integrity if he gives in to the buyer’s desires. He is forced to sacrifice this type of mindset when Life magazine decides to write about him which appears to bother Pollock as he does not seem to want this added attention and seems to believe that he is a phony or a sell out for allowing Life magazine to cover him. Ultimately, he sacrifices his own career and life due to his alcoholism which ends up causing a deadly car cash. Due to the fact that so much pain and struggle surrounded Pollock’s life and career, the question of whether or not it was all worth it floats to the forefront of the discussion. Without the controversy and early death, it is likely that Pollock would not have been as

Case Study in Strategic Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Case Study in Strategic Management - Essay Example Competition is a force in the general environment, and it is likely the force that is going to impact companies within this industry the most, as it continues to change and grow in the next few years. â€Å"The nature and degree of competition in an industry hinge on five forces: the threat of new entrants, the bargaining power of customers, the bargaining power of suppliers, the threat of substitute products, and the jockeying among current contestants† (Ireland et al., 2006). In this industry, even though barrier costs are high, substitute products are a real threat. â€Å"If a supplier can either increase the price of its product or reduce the quality while selling it at the same price, the effect on established firms profitability is negative. A supplier that can do one of these things is said to be a powerful supplier† (Ireland et al, 2006). This rule holds true for the motorcycle manufacturing industry as well. There is also a particularly strong domestic market i n the US with strong and sustained growth. In terms of competencies and resources, possessing the first mover advantage in relation to its core competency allows a business like Harley-Davidson in the case to set the paradigm for future operations in the new market and also capitalize on all of the intrinsic benefits of this market in a way that will set a standard and leave a lasting impression. This is why many companies are willing to take the risk that being the first mover entails. There are also drawbacks to this situation: this hearkens back to Porter’s force of substitute products, which are increasingly available in an increasingly globalized international marketplace. From a perspective of strategic fit, Harley-Davidson is not in a bad position at the end of the case; it still has a centralized command structure, however. This is a common

Gender Variation in Racial Discrimination as a Factor in Academic Literature review

Gender Variation in Racial Discrimination as a Factor in Academic Achievement - Literature review Example Teachers and related school officials are human and subject to discriminatory feelings that can affect their relationships with the children that they are charged with nurturing intellectually. Those children they affect can be permanently affected by negative discriminatory practices either on gender or racial level. Adolescents are no exception. Aspects of the identity and the self are compromised when social differences mean that there are discriminatory experiences that place the concept of inferiority within the experiences that help to form the identity when in a school atmosphere. Gender and Racial Identities Cogburn, Chavous, and Griffin (2011, p. 25) created a study in which gender discrimination experiences that African American adolescents who were in the 8th grade were examined to see if gender was a factor in discrimination experiences that were associated with an academic and psychological function. Girls and boys had no significant variation in the frequency of experie nces, but boys reported that they were discriminated against more frequently because of their gender. Aspects of the race were more significant in affecting self-esteem while aspects of gender were more important in predicting grade point average and academic achievement. This study shows that how children are treated in regards to identifying factors has an effect on future achievement and their sense of self. Cogburn, Chavous, and Griffin (2011, p. 26) used a series of conceptual frameworks through which to address their topic. One of these frameworks is the double jeopardy hypothesis. This asserts that Black females will have double marginalization because they belong to two lower status social groups that are considered minorities: female and Black. This means that they are subject to both racial and gender-based discrimination. The alternative perspective which applies to Black males is that they suffer from both racial discrimination and discrimination based on their subordina tion as Black males in order to diminish them as a threat in the male world. Between the two social groups, Black males have a higher level of discrimination experiences because they are perceived as a higher threat. Cogburn, Chavous, and Griffin (2011, p. 26) also discuss the ethnic-prominence hypothesis which asserts that the racial/ethnic membership has a higher value where discrimination is concerned that the gender membership value.

Case Study in Strategic Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Case Study in Strategic Management - Essay Example Competition is a force in the general environment, and it is likely the force that is going to impact companies within this industry the most, as it continues to change and grow in the next few years. â€Å"The nature and degree of competition in an industry hinge on five forces: the threat of new entrants, the bargaining power of customers, the bargaining power of suppliers, the threat of substitute products, and the jockeying among current contestants† (Ireland et al., 2006). In this industry, even though barrier costs are high, substitute products are a real threat. â€Å"If a supplier can either increase the price of its product or reduce the quality while selling it at the same price, the effect on established firms profitability is negative. A supplier that can do one of these things is said to be a powerful supplier† (Ireland et al, 2006). This rule holds true for the motorcycle manufacturing industry as well. There is also a particularly strong domestic market i n the US with strong and sustained growth. In terms of competencies and resources, possessing the first mover advantage in relation to its core competency allows a business like Harley-Davidson in the case to set the paradigm for future operations in the new market and also capitalize on all of the intrinsic benefits of this market in a way that will set a standard and leave a lasting impression. This is why many companies are willing to take the risk that being the first mover entails. There are also drawbacks to this situation: this hearkens back to Porter’s force of substitute products, which are increasingly available in an increasingly globalized international marketplace. From a perspective of strategic fit, Harley-Davidson is not in a bad position at the end of the case; it still has a centralized command structure, however. This is a common

For Further Thought Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

For Further Thought - Essay Example The ethical issues arising before a teacher researcher may be dealt with easily in case you’ve got a sense of tact and have respect to other people. And yet, it is very useful to be reminded of professional ethics from time to time. As you read the chapter you feel embarrassed as to the results of the study undertook in the Billabong Elementary School, which aim was sooner to prove once again the advantages of the school in order to share them with the rest of the world. Even on the condition that we do not work at the school there appears a rash desire to change and improve everything. This is not our task, however. A teacher researcher is an outside observer, polite, thoughtful, and respectful. I find that the ethical guideline for teacher research outlined in the article is of great value for both beginning and working researchers. It is a kind of basic rules to be followed in work, which is associated with much intimacy and interpersonal relationships. The article provided a clear vision of answers to the questions put, though I felt rather confused at first. As to the data drawing a negative picture of individual teachers in the school, there exist certain rules concerning the how to do a research. It is very important to inform the faculty about the problems the school has. However, it should be done in an impersonal manner, without concrete names and grades. The confidentiality and anonymity are the major requirements of any research. So the faculty and the director should be explained the rules at once and informed that no names will be mentioned. A good professional will always understand his mistakes without being personally pointed to them. The rest of the faculty did not know about the problem, so let them stay unaware of their colleagues’ mistakes. It is not our task to prosecute anybody. We only propose help; people should make choices and decisions themselves. Moreover, the results of the study showed

Differences Between Documentary and Fiction Film

Differences Between Documentary and Fiction Film Generally speaking there is a clear distinction between documentaries and fiction films and a viewer should be able to tell whether what he is watching is fiction or documentary. The clearest distinction between the two is their relationship with the reality; a fiction film presents a story that is not based on reality, or at least not in the form it is represented; a documentary, however, tells something about the reality of our world shows us the real world (Bakker, 2002). But what reality are we talking about? There are several cases where it is difficult to draw distinction between fact and fiction. Even the experts fail to make this distinction sometimes as can be seen by the case of The Sea that Thinks which won the Joris Ivens award at the International Documentary Film festival Amsterdam, and was within a year in the competition for fiction films of the Dutch Film Festival (Bakker, 2002). Conceptually there is a significant difference between documentaries and fiction films. Traditionally, documentaries are generally short films and are based on facts while fiction films are not (or are at least not claimed to be) based on facts. This traditionalist view of documentaries has changed slightly in recent years with directors such as Michael Moore providing documentaries which are heavily edited and hence not entirely based on facts. This paper reviews the key differences between documentaries and fiction films. These differences are then used to discuss the key differences in documentary making and fiction filmmaking. Beginning with defining the key terms, this paper explores the key differences between the documentary and fiction filmmaking form a traditional/conceptual point of view. Following this, it uses evidence from real life cases of documentary and fiction filmmakers to assess the functional difference between the two. It investigates distinction between the two by comparing structural attributes and viewers interpretations and concludes that it is the latter which determines whether a film is fiction or documentary. Documentaries vs. fiction filmmaking: There are many definitions of the term documentary, and in my opinion, no one that could certainly define the term documentary as a whole. We can say that it would be up to the documentary maker and how he would define his or her particular style of documentary. John Grierson one of the founding of documentary approaches confirmed that documentary was distinguished from other shapes of films with reality desire to bring the citizens eye in from the ends of the earth to the story, his own story, of what was happening under his nose From Nicholss perspectives is a representation we already occupy and stands for a particular view of the world, one we may never have encountered before even if the aspects that is represented are familiar to us(Nichols, 2001) All these definitions may provide a different definition of the term but all these definitions indicate that documentaries are based on facts. Thus, documentaries by definition must be non-fiction. Commentary and opinions are allowed, but misrepresentation is not (Layton, 2010). But in last couple of decades, with the success of filmmakers such as Michael Moore, there have been certain changes in the documentary making. Firstly, some documentary filmmakers now aim for commercial success when they create a film; and second, in a development related to the first issue, some documentary films are in fact fictionalized to some extent through misrepresentation and omission (Layton, 2010). Again Moore can be the best example of this change in documentary making. His movies such as Bowling for columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11 have several clips which have been manipulated/edited in a manner to provide a meaning different form the actual meaning of the speaker. Moores work will still be categor ized as documentary because his clips are still from facts but the representation is manipulated to give a different meaning- sometimes completely out of context. Thus, Moores work is a mix of a fact and fiction but still categorized as documentary. A new debate a surfaced in the same context in recent years. While the puritans have described the making of docudramas as corruption of the documentary genre, there are several other experts who suggest that the act of recording the truth on film is fictionalizing in and of itself (Layton, 2010). According to the latter, when a documentary maker captures anything from a certain angle, he/she is actually using his/her own bias. When it comes to putting together the filmed content, the filmmaker faces a critical choice of what to keep and what to leave out. In such situations the filmmaker is likely to put together content so as to make something meaningful out of it. But the critics argue that because part of filmed content is left out which means that the documentary cannot be a complete representation of the truth and hence is fictions itself. But according to my view, this cannot termed a fiction. We must note the distinction between the filmmakers who filter out the content due t o constraints but still try to provide as accurate as possible view of the case and then there are filmmakers who deliberately edit the content so as to mislead the audience. While the former is a documentary in all respects, there can be a debate over whether the latter can be categorized as a documentary. Bakker (2002) provides an interesting analysis of the distinction between documentary and fiction filmmaking. He suggests three key points: First the clearness of the audio and visual information. Second one side of the relation between the information and reality. Third spectator play vital role by impose the pictures by them. From a structural perspectives the documentary is dawdling rapidity editing while, the fiction films are depend strongly on editing with fast rate editing. The shot in the documentary is a close up and extremely close up shots whereas; fiction films rely on wide shots. The numerous moving camera, sound formed in the studio and theatrical music in the fiction films but the contrary in documentary films like location sounds and infrequently roving cameras (Etizen, 1995; Huston and Wright, 1983) also, Nichols and Kochberg said that the documentary could distinguished by the voice-of-god commentary, interviews, scene sound recording and the absolute dependence on social actors(Kochberg, 2002) which is support the documentary tremendously in the documentary filmmaking process, one of the characteristics of this type of filmmaking. However, Renov argues that narration and musical complement could be included in the documentary films (Renov ,1993a). By another words a film is constructed of several attributes including sound, images, dialogues and written texts. Documentary and fiction film, both are audio visual media and contain all these attributes. The difference, however; lies in the manner in which these are communicated to the viewer. This is a unique language which can convey endless number meaning to the viewer. This language was termed as passe-partout by Hjelmslev (1968). The grammar of this language is related to viewers understanding and is not formalised. This means that a movie can be made in any manner possible without conflicting the established practices. However; the more distant a film is from the mainstream, the less it will correspond to the industrys dogmas and conventions of filmmaking. Another characteristic in the difference is the actors for the fiction films the actors do what they asked to do. The process of the filmmaking is defined by their performance in the acting by transmigrate the required role. The actors do their responsibilities on base of the contracted relationship, as a result the filmmaker has the validity to object on the performance of the actors and the actors will be praised on the good performance and his performance will determine the actors value. On the other hand, the documentary looks to the people as social actors, ordinary people they behave and carrying on their social daily life without any affectedness or artificiality they dont have a contract to behave in a certain manner, the people or the actors present their daily handling and their pure personality. Baddeley supported Nicholss words that people should be encouraged to perform naturally and do not integrate the artificiality in their behavior and they act autonomously, However he mentioned that in many occasions the professional actors must be involved to organize the naturally appearance of the people (Baddeley, 1981). Nichols (1991) has categorised the documentaries itself in four different categories with each one containing its own sub genre: Expository This style of documentary is basically a series of visual images complete with narration. It is a very traditional form of documentary with the narrator giving the viewer a series of facts and figures that accompany the visuals and is usually associated with wildlife or historical programmes for example. Observational This style of documentary is also known as cinema verità ¨ or fly on the wall. Its aim is to film events, on camera, as they happen. To film people and places and to represent the everyday life of the people, as if the camera wasnt there at all. The viewers are usually left to draw their own conclusions about what is happening. The filmmakers do not intervene in any way and it is meant to represent the facts and record people and events in real time. Interactive The interactive style of documentary covers the facts and figures but allows the presenter to interact with the people within the documentary. This particular style could contain a series of interviews or demonstrations and could also come across as being quite bias, in that certain parts of the documentary can be edited to influence the viewers reaction or thoughts on the matter in question. Reflective or Reflexive This style of documentary basically shows the viewer everything. The filmmakers themselves are usually seen on camera attempting to raise the consciousness of the audience themselves. It gives the impression that the people making the documentary are able to construct reality itself. Citizen Kane (1941), by Orson Welles is a commentary form of fiction film, while the Salesman, by the Maysles brothers is a form of Observational fiction film. Similarly, Cest arrivà ©e prà ¨s de chez vous (1992) by Remy Belvaux is an example of interactive fiction film. At the same time Bakker (2002) agrees that interactive mode is least commonly used in fiction films while observational mode is the most commonly used mode. However; the distinction becomes less apparent in the reflexive mode. According to Nichols (1991), in its most paradigmatic form the reflexive documentary prompts the viewer to a heightened consciousness of his or her relation to the text and of the texts problematic relationship to that which it represents. Similarly Metz (1991) states that the film speaks to us about itself or about cinema in general, or about the position of the spectator. And this is how this kind of doubling manifests itself in the text, which, in all theories, constitutes that without whi ch we cannot imagine the process of narrating. It is thus, in the reflexive mode that Metz (1991) domain of fictional films and Nicholss (1991) domain of documentaries overlap. Another aspect of the discourse on distinction between documentaries and fiction films is the contract between the viewer and the director. Bakker (2002) argues that since structural factors fails to clearly distinguish between documentaries and fiction films, there has to be some other form of distinction. This, according to him is the viewers interpretation which is often affected by the viewers pact with the filmmaker. The filmmaker thus influences the interpretation of the film as the documentary or fiction film and the ultimate judgment of interpretation rests with the viewer. Bakker (2002) refers to what Eco (1979) termed as the inferential walks. According to this, the viewer compares the film with his real life experiences and tries to prepare his story. This construction process is dynamic as the viewer continues to accommodate the developments in the story to reconstruct his own story as the film progresses. Thus, the viewer is a part of the film. The difference between documentaries and fiction films is that in the former, the viewers participation is explicit (through narration) while in fiction films it is not explicit. The filmmakers attempt is to make the viewer believe that what is shown in the film is a possibility (in case of fiction film) or a reality (in case of documentary). To do so he adopts several persuasive techniques/strategies. But the viewer has his own memory and interpretations on basis of which he/she accepts or rejects the possibility/reality of what is shown in the film. For creating specific effects of reality, the filmmaker uses cinematographic techniques and narrative strategies. Cinematographic techniques include techniques like camera movements, the use of color, the photographic grain of the film, the use of commentary, the gaze into the lens of the camera by the characters (Bakker, 2002). The competence of the director rests in whether he/she can make the viewer believe in what he/she is showing. There is, however; no guarantee that a viewer will accept his film as a possibility/reality. Conclusion To sum up, the notion of documentary truth might be best understood as that truth which is found in the way that we mentally organize our perceptions. Increasingly the theoretical understanding of documentary film is moving away from the notion of an inherent reality found within a film text and more towards an understanding of how texts are read. However, I believe that the idea of defining documentary as a receptive strategy should not negate a consideration of the filmic text as primary focus of consideration. At the heart of the matter lies the concept of truth. Throughout our discussion the paper emphasized that the documentary films more related to the reality for example the social facts in the society and the political issues in order to provide the public or viewers with good understanding with these issues, but the fiction films present unreality vision to some issues. From the implementation view the actors are different from the both sides, the documentary films depends o n the social people not really contacted actors. These differences illustrate the importance for both kinds and what they can provide the viewers with what they need from credibility to demonstrate the events or misleading views. Also, the interpretation of the viewer ultimately decides whether the film will be considered as a documentary or fiction. This is what distinguishes a documentary from fiction.

American Folk Music Essay -- Music History

The folk genre has origins all the way back to the 19th century, which in many ways is mirrored by many popular genres in modern musical genres. To make it easy folk music is merely, â€Å"ballads and songs which are composed and conveyed vocally, without being written.† Though what we distinguish ‘folk’ today as stylistically very different to what ‘folk’ was during the 19th century, at its basic form, it still holds the same standards and concepts, describing the simpler times. Through vigorous research, it’s hard to overlook the history and development of southern folk music, and how it may help understand the significance for observing and expanding the dynamics of southern race relationships. Both southern race associations and southern composition are replications of the social construction of the rural south. In the physically separated south, black and white melodic backgrounds show the same deviations and junctions which have historica lly characterized black and white relations. This is not an emotional analysis; but instead it is a socially ancient examination of regional popular culture which focuses upon the collaboration between two important features of that culture; race and music. The growth of the American folk music as a popular commodity is a process which matches the historical and cultural expansion of American society. In the formation of this commodity, two major streams, British and African, ran together over a two century period. Alan Lomax, one of folk music's foremost iconic historians, has observed that the junction of these varied elements has resulted in a cultural product which is "more British than whatever one can discover in Britain†. Southern music is a noteworthy measure of the folk customs; in man... ...nic scale by twisting the strings of the guitar to attain tones which expressed their feelings. These "bent notes" developed into a normal feature of the blues. Call and response patterns were complicatedly intertwined into the vocal arrangements of black music, both transcendent and secular. Yet another Africanism which merits attention is the widespread use of the "falsetto yell" "falsetto jump" in which the singing was elevated an octave "usually in the preceding syllable of a word, at the conclusion of a line". It is commonly understood that this mannerism was preserved in the field hollers and work songs of the slavery age and found its way into the early blues form. Some researchers have suggested that the "blue yodel† commercialized by Jimmie Rodgers and his many followers may have been an deliberate mixture of the Swiss yodel and the African falsetto jump.