Sunday, January 26, 2020

The Movement Of German Expressionism Film Studies Essay

The Movement Of German Expressionism Film Studies Essay German expressionism occurred during the attempt of a liberal democratic republic after the so called March revolution in 1848. The revolution lead to the Weimar republic until 1933 where the NSDAP rose in power and brought with it a totalitarian dictatorship. Although this is the nearest estimate to how it happened, the theory that many where unhappy during the Weimar republic since it was democracy without democrats is also supported. German Expressionism is an artistic movement of the 1910s and 1920s that involved theatre, photography, painting, sculpture, and architecture and of course film. We will acclaim the German expressionist film time period from 1918 and 1930, at this time the aftermaths of world war one and the troubled Weimar republic overshadowed the films that were being made. The Weimar democracy had to face many difficulties such as: rampant inflation, strikes, street fighting, armed revolt, mass unemployment and political rivalry. This gave expressionism the perfect start to create an art based on the illusion of reality, and this since film is being watched as a sort of avoidance towards ones own life. Making cinema be a medium of escapism, where reality is put on hold for an hour or two as the viewer sits in a darkened room and consumes the images projected onto the screen. This is why adventure films were the most popular in the beginnings. Considerably like in the classical Hollywood cinema al so known as the golden age of Hollywood, era between roughly 1910 and 1960. Which the Films from Germany at that time, tried competing with. The style of German expressionism is what turned it to an influence in the end. The world of German expressionism is an artificial world a world of light and shadow, it created a unique Mise-en-scà ¨ne German Expressionist films look different, but they have a lot in common with each other. The directors created atmosphere by means of strange camera angles, lighting and contrasts between black and white. Shadows and silhouettes were frequently displayed; sometimes they were even painted on to the sets. The stories that were told in the German expressionist cinema were often dark and sombre, matching the visuals. Crime, madness and paranoia were frequently addressed and the claustrophobic atmosphere created by the shadows and dark lighting served to heighten the drama Many modern films such as Blade Runner, Batman demonstrate the influence of German expressionism. The style is ideal for portraying macabre subject matters. Devices such as low key lighting are used to convey mystery, and monsters lurking in shadows. Distortion is also commonly used in both expressionism and later horror films, employed through make-up, camera angles, costumes and strange backdrops But these arent the only attributes that German expressionist films hold. Broadly spoken the films welled together an entire film crew, and none of the films at that time can be left unaccredited of the entire crew, whereas nowadays a director gains the acknowledgements. Also, the desire of combining box-office success and artistic touch is rarely seen in todays world, but was fundamental to Weimar film. They include thematic negations like: Dream vs. reality, Blindness Vs. vision, Insanity vs. Sanity Which symbolically reflected the political fears of society From the perspective of style, Metropolisis an avant garde science fiction film. The mad scientist returns, this time to create a robot double of Maria, the heroine. The robot is able to break away from the control of its master and in the end the whole city is destroyed. A lot of films haven dissected its themes. There can be no doubt that Metropolis is one of the greatest films ever made, regularly appearing on all-time-best lists. Considering when it was made, it is an extraordinary achievement and it has created lasting visual impressions on audiences since its release in 1927. But it is not only for its wealth of cinematic innovation that it is rightly hailed as a classic. Its themes of social injustice, the relationship between man and machine and the growth of the industrial society have had a huge influence on the work of subsequent film-makers, especially those working in the field of science-fiction. Thousands of slaves work on gigantic machines in a huge underground city. The rich live above ground, in an Eden-like garden paradise. One day Maria inadvertently escapes out of the underground city and with a few poor children reaches the luxury life of those above ground. The son of the all-powerful factory boss falls in love with her and follows her into the underworld, where he learns how miserably the proletariat has to live. The inventor, Rotwang, builds a robot, an artificial worker, who can make no mistake. He drags Maria into his laboratory and, with the help of electric energy succeeds in transferring her looks onto the robot. In doing this, he creates an evil Maria. This figure is then sent to the workers to spur them to revolt. The underground city is flooded at the end Lang presents this very vividly. The rising water threatens the children who have been left to fend for themselves by the rampaging workers. The evil Maria is burnt, the real Maria is abducted by Rotwang. Finally, a fight between Fredersen, the son of the boss, and Rotwang leads to the latter falling to his death. At the end the social classes are reconciled, life continues in a socio-political utopia, the machines are destroyed. The word Utopia, derives from greek literally meaning: Not-Place. An ideal state or community. For the whole film Metropolis is locked inside a sealed frame; an inner world which purports to be an outside world. The monumentalism of this Lang film creates claustrophobia, but has left its tracks in countless science-fiction films, not least of which is Blade Runner I wanted to explore future germany so Metropolis brings the audience into the year 2026. You can see Gothic skyscrapers,and the society in this city or state consists of two groups. On one hand the plannersand thinkers, who live an unbelievable comfortable life, and on the other hand the workers who live in the underground working hard to serve the privileged. Johann Joh Fredersen rules over Metropolis. In Blade Runner, these two groups are the humans and robots which are called the replicants. Dr. Eldon Tyrell built an empire, that without slaves would never work like Johann Fredersen in Metropolis. In Metropolis a monument is built which stands for the greatness of humanity and the creator of the world. This monument is very high, actually it reaches the stars. In Blade Runner you can also see this elevated lifestyle (for example Dr.Tyrell himself is living in one of these high-tech skyscrapers), but elsewhere it is not gleaming at all, it is dark and cold. The workers in Metropolis revolt and destroy the monument because of their overwhelming anger. In Blade Runner, Roy Batty leads a revolt of the replicants against their creator Dr.Tyrell. Finally Roy kills the doctor. Blade Runner presents a dystopian Los Angeles in the year 2019 in which human beings were genetically manufactured (called the replicants). These replicants have to do all the hard and dangerous work. In Metropolis, the workers also live a poor live and have to work underground and under very dangerous conditions. A very interesting detail is that a robot is one of the main female characters in both of the movies. Maria (in Metropolis) has a duplicate robot of herself just as Rachael (in Blade Runner) is a robot that is modeled after Tyrells niece. the tower of Babel amazed me, a hierarchical social status symbol in the form of the centered most highest building in town, when I was thinking about set-design They were built from a variety of haunting images: Edward Hoppers painting Nighthawks, the skyline of Hong Kong at night, the fiery industrial landscape of Tyneside and Teesside of My childhood, the French comic-book: Mà ©tal Hurlant [Heavy Metal], and, quite clearly, Metropolis Both Metropolis and Blade Runner have similar set designs, because one thing influenced the other, when it comes to the architecture of the cities, being the tower of Babel. In Blade Runner the opening sequence is shot by a huge pan, this enables a threatening feeling, all the smoke and fire. It is a magnificent but also a very disturbing picture of the Tower of Babel, showing the headquarters of the humanoid replicants factory, where the dirty work for human beings is done. Based on Metropolis Jerry Siegel und Joe Shuster decided to name their base in the film Superman after the famous film. The architectural design of Tim Burtons Gotham City in Batman is strongly based on the art deco of Metropolis by using for example the tower of Babel thanks to Anton Fursts openly creative transformation. There is no doubt about it. People always try to find what makes you tick as a designer and I think in this respect there is no doubt that I was influenced by German expressionism or so later. Kenneth worked together with Kubrick to construct a metropolis like set-design set at futuristic standards for 2001: a space odyssey. The 1940s Hollywood film noir films were hugely influenced by German expressionism and many of the motifs and images can be seen in films such as The Big Sleep. Indeed, Fritz Lang even directed some films of this genre himself. But How did the Expressionism influence the film noir? The opportunities offered by the booming Hollywood film industry and, later, the threat of growing Nazipower led to the emigration of many important film artists working in Germany who had either been directly involved in the Expressionist movement or studied with its practitioners Directorssuch as Fritz Lang, Robert Siodmak, and Michael Curtizbrought a dramatically shadowed lighting style and a psychologically expressive approach to visual composition, or MHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mise_en_scà ¨neise-en-scà ¨ne, with them to Hollywood, where they would make some of the most famous of classic noirs. Langs magnum opus, M-released in 1931, two years before his departure from Germany-is among the first major crime films of the sound erato join a characteristically nourish visual style with a noir-type plot, one in which the protagonistis a criminal (as are his most successful pursuers)

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Is stress necessary to motivate us

I do not agree that stress is necessary to motivate us. I get motivation from being stress-free. I have better days when I am not stressed. I am happy and joyful, instead of angry and frustrated. When I get stressed I just am down or angry and don't want to be bothered. I have kids, and they can tell when I have a stressful day because it shows on my face. Then they are not happy and I just get more stressed then before. If people did not feel any stress their productive levels would probably be very good.Getting things done eliminates worries. If you are not stressed than you can focus on getting done what needs to be done. I think my ideal level of stress is when I am so fed up I want to explode. If I start to cry and I just feel like I can't take anymore, my stress level is very high. I try to control my stress level, and try to be a very happy person. That's how I like to be. Under no circumstances is it ever acceptable to treat coworkers or employees differently because of their differences.You should never judge a book by its cover before taking the time to read it. Our differences are what make us who we are. You and your coworkers are not going to see everything the same, so you should take in their differences, and accept them as they are. I think you should recognize coworker or employees openly. Everybody has something they do one way, and the next person does it another way. It is okay to take in others judgment, and look at it as a positive, and not a negative thought.

Friday, January 10, 2020

Pink is for Girls, Blue is for Boys

Pink is for Girls, Blue is for Boys: The Cultural Change in Gender Throughout HistoryThis essay will address the issue of culture, the media and gender and how they affects us in today’s society. â€Å"The generally accepted rule is pink for boys, and blue for the girls,† noted an article published in the Ladies Home Journal in 1918. Society, the media and gender role socialization have changed since the early part of the twentieth century. Gender differences have influenced men and women’s behaviours, thoughts and feelings since the early 1900s.A large part of this is because of how the media tells us we should act. Girls, for example, are traditionally seen as emotional nurturers and boys are seen as rough or tough providers and the breadwinner for the family. Since the moment of birth in the hospital, we are thrust into these gender roles – pink blankets for baby girls and blue blankets for baby boys. The constant changing ways of our society and the me dia is fascinating. The media provides us with an outline of how we should go about things in our daily lives. It also influences us on just about everything that we deal with on a day to day basis.Our social interactions, for example, our beliefs, and our influences on others are all shaped to some degree by society and the social pressures we feel. Media and gender roles have appeared for a long time in our society and that people follow them because they are comfortable with them and it is what we know. It’s unfortunate because so much of society abides by certain rules that the small population of us that do not follow those rules, get judged and shunned by the rest of society because they are different – most of us view that if something is â€Å"different† it is wrong.Gender roles, in turn, provide us with a sense of who we are, what we should do and how we should go about doing it. They also provide us with a false sense of reality. The more and more our society and culture changes, the more and more â€Å"traditional† views are pushed aside. For instance, not all women are effeminate and not all men conform to traditional concepts of masculinity. The stereotypical portrayals of gender roles on television and in the media, have gradually changed over the years, although not to the extent that society still sees as practical. Although women are beginning to berepresented in more occupations, men are rarely represented in ‘traditional' female roles, such as the nurturing child care provider or attending to the housework; this is still seen as a women‘s job. However, with society changing more and more every day, we see more women in the workplace, more men taking on a role in the home, and women (and men) spending more time in school to get a higher education in order to provide for their families. All of these factors lead to changes in our gender roles and it goes to show how quickly our culture and society consis tently change.Although the media has improved greatly in the past few years. Signorielli, a professor at the University of Delaware, argues that â€Å"[t]elevision can still be seen, therefore, as representing a distorted view of society, which the perceptive minds of children may pick up with ease† (70). This quote proves the fact that from the beginning of childhood, children can pick up on social intimation and gender socialization. It starts in early childhood with children’s toys, the girls are encouraged to play with Barbie and the boys encouraged to play with trucks, and more masculine equipment.Overall, what matters the most here is that men and women are still misrepresented as their traditional stereotypes in the majority of mass media. This stereotype becomes rooted in our minds, and is passed on from generation to generation as an ample view of male and female gender roles. Although women are slowly gaining respect and equality in today‘s society, it is not uncommon to see men and women illustrated as equals, working along side each other in an evenly challenging setting. This is especially true in the workforce.

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Programs That Help Convicts Return Of The Community

Programs That Help Convicts Return to the Community A broad range of information and support programs are offered to guide convicted criminals released from federal and state prisons and jails prepare for their reentrance into society. These programs’ main aim is to equip prisoners with skills and information to assist them in their transition from prison into the community and help them survive life outside of prison. These curriculums offer a lot of relevant knowledge according to each prisoner’s situation. This process phase of the development is called â€Å"Protect and Prepare† (Corrections, Pg. 141).They include education, rehabilitation, transitional work programs, and housing programs. According to James S. Vacca (2004), educational credentials are very essential if one has to secure employment in the competitive economy that we are in today. A larger number of the convicted prisoner’s in United States’ penitentiary have very low levels of e ducation achievements. This makes it challenging in securing employment after they are released. Presented by Amy Solomon, it is expressed that â€Å"53% of Hispanic inmates, 44% of black inmates, and 27% of white inmates have not completed high school or obtained a GED† (Corrections pg. 142). Educational and vocational training programs offered in prisons have shown to be useful in helping inmates to get back into the society. Correctional training programs usually provide imprisoned individuals with the knowledge and skillsShow MoreRelatedIncarceration Of The United States Criminal Justice System1744 Words   |  7 PagesIncarceration Rates in the US are The United States criminal justice system has failed to rehabilitate criminals. Even after being punished for their crimes, convicts continue their wrongdoings without having gained valuable lessons from being incarcerated and are sent back to prison. 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