Discuss the conventions of science fiction films with reference to Armageddon and Independence Day.
ASSIGNMENT 2 Media Discuss the conventions of science fiction films with reference to Armageddon and Independence Day. Two of the earliest science fiction stories were Frankenstein and war of the worlds by H.G Wells. Telling these stories gives directors plenty of opportunity for special effects. They can use their imaginations to design aliens, spaceships, robots, cities etc. Science fiction films are stories about imaginary scientific discoveries, space travel or life on other planets, they are popular because of this. People can just escape from their boring lives and enter a world of fantasy, where the only limit to as far as a science fiction film can go is your imagination. Science fiction is a popular genre of film, with a wide range of audiences. People enjoy collecting the memorabilia, they enjoy the action, the weapons, and the characters. Most science fiction films are set in the future, this is because the film can be as imaginative and as serial as you want. One of the most popular science fiction films ever made was star trek. Narrative- All science fictions films follow a Set pattern, there is a peaceful world at the beginning of the story, and then a problem is created by a new type of technology, an alien world, or an unknown force. A hero takes on the job of saving the group threatened, which is a whole world, a town or a family. Difficulties
The Self-help Craze: Motivational Speakers And Solutions They Sell
The Self-help Craze: Motivational Speakers And Solutions They Sell "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and gosh darn it, people like me," says Guy Smiley as he looks at himself in the mirror. This is how each Guy Smiley skit opened on Saturday Night Live, with actor Mike Myers playing Smiley. The character is a comic interpretation of a motivational guru, who tried to use mantras like the one above to over come insecurities. Although Smiley is fictional, the self-help genre Myers was making fun of has been growing in the last few decades and it on the rise. The public is being bombarded on every medium by self proclaimed gurus who offer people solutions to every problem they could face. Through television, radio, audio tapes, and live seminars, motivational speakers promise to give audiences the keys to change their lives, for a price. In 1995 an article in Forbes revealed that the self-help industry was estimated to generate 1.6 billion (Gubernick, 1995). According to an article in Business Week the books, tapes, and videos alone generated seven billion dollars in sales in 1999 (Morris, 1999). The followers of self-help gurus will enthusiastically swear that the teachings in a particular program have changed their lives, while skeptics view the programs as overly simplistic propaganda. As Marlin describes propaganda as a "systematic, motivated attempt to
An Experiment to Investigate How an Active Audience Will Affect a Skilled or Unskilled Player's Performance
An Experiment to Investigate How an Active Audience Will Affect a Skilled or Unskilled Player's Performance Centre Name: St. Leonard's RC Comprehensive Centre Number: 43421 Candidate Name: Sarah Davey Candidate Number: 6767 By Sarah Davey ABSTRACT Empirical Evidence used for this experiment was that of Triplett, Michaels et al. and Pessin, which all look at how an audience can affect a performance. Pessin and Triplett lacks ecological validity, due to unsporting relation, whilst Michaels et al. can be generalised more with this experiment, and is based on this. The aim of this experiment was to investigate whether skilled netball players with an active audience, would score more goals in 1 minute than unskilled players with an active audience. The Alternative Hypothesis of this experiment was that, skilled players would score significantly more netball goals in 1 minute, with an active audience than those who are unskilled. An experimental method was employed and an Independent Measures Design was chosen. The end T-Score was 18.4, and the Critical Value was 1.734. INTODUCTION INTRODUCTION: The generality of the investigation is to do with Sports Psychology. The main part of the experiment is based upon "Social Facilitation", which leads onto the "Dominant Response". "Social Facilitation" refers to the way in which the presence of other people may
Performance Studies: Cross Art Project
In small groups we were given a choice of stimuli such as poems, pictures and ideas. Our group chose the idea of 'chaos and order' as our stimulus because we thought that there would be many ideas to develop from this. We spent a lot of time discussing the idea of 'order and chaos' - they are opposites - there is never a situation where both occur at the same time yet you cannot have one without the other. Order is the way most people would like things to be, to keep order we use laws and rules so that everything should stay in control, without which there would be chaos. Chaos can be shown in many different ways such as riots or personal chaos e.g. a mental breakdown. There is no order in this kind of situation, if there were to be it would no longer be a riot but a march. We began by drawing out a spider diagram with the ideas we brainstormed about 'order and chaos'. Using these ideas we decided to base our piece on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) as it seem to express the idea of someone keeping order so much, to the point where their life becomes chaotic. In order for us to meet the criteria of this project we decided that we needed to research OCD so that we could base this piece on factual information. Our group gained a lot of useful information from the Internet and books. Fears, worries suspicions and beliefs come into everyday life but when these doubts
Evaluate Brian Clark's play "Whose Life Is It Anyway?"
The aim of this assignment is to evaluate Brian Clark's play "Whose Life Is It Anyway?" and to form an opinion on how the author keeps attention of the audience throughout the play. For this purpose, the research has been carried out through detailed analysis of the play, as well as through the study and evaluation of materials presented in books and websites, so as to determine the devices and structures used by the playwright to engage and sustain the interest of the audience. "Whose Life is it Anyway" by Brian Clark, is a play about Ken Harrison, a professional sculptor and teacher, whose spinal cord has been damaged by a car accident. Ken is paralysed by the neck down and is being kept alive only by the miracles of medical technology. However, Ken does not want to be kept alive and this provides the core of the play which is centred around the changed life of Ken Harrison, his determination to decide his own fate, and the determination of those who care for him to keep him alive. The play takes up six months after the accident, as Ken is starting to realise the full extent of his injuries. The problem is that he has not been told exactly what his life will be like. He has to ask the doctors, who scarcely tell him, that he will need to be in the care of a hospital for the rest of his life. Ken is determined to exercise a choice over his own life or death, but his decision
The Long, The Short and The Tall - drama anlysis
The Long, The Short and The Tall By Luke Parsons 11E For my 20th century drama I chose to read and analyse, "The Long, The Short and The Tall," a war drama written by Willis hall in 1958. The Long, The Short and The Tall was set in the Malayan jungle in 1942 during World War II. The play features seven British Army soldiers who have been sent out on a standard reconnaissance mission. During the mission the soldiers came across a little hut in the middle of nowhere. After a general patrol of the area the soldiers decided on a twenty minute break. The break didn't go to plan after a long series of events, including Private Whitaker forgetting to pick up the batteries for the radio set and the group taking a prisoner-of-war. The soldiers stay the night. Then things start to go horrible wrong and culminates with the gruesome death of the whole patrol apart from Johnstone. Willis Hall wrote this war play during an era of when many war plays portrayed the English as winning the war and being all great and mighty. Willis Hall however created a very dramatic play that endeavoured to show people that this was not the case and there was more to war than winners and losers. I think Willis Hall wrote this play to show the British public the truth about war and the horrors of the British soldiers went through at this time. This is something that many war plays did not offer at this
12 angry men is a production about a murder trial.
Drama Unit 1 2 angry men is a production about a murder trial. A boy that could be looked on as guilty from the word go, is put up to the jury to decide his fait. The boy has a background of violence and crime and has been brought up in a slum. The jury is almost certain of the boys guilt. Every member of the jury votes guilty but ONE and so the jury is forced to sit it out and make a decision. We started off the production by choosing who the director would be. In the director we looked for someone that was a good actor himself so that he could speak from personal experience. Also we wanted someone that people could respect and would give thought to his ideas. The people we chose to be or directors were Craig and Bill we chose Craig because of his talent as an actor. Craig has been a good director so far, we decided that Craig would be the director for act I. act I is full of key scenes that need to be presented to the audience in a understanding way. Bill was also chosen for the director of act II, bill was chosen because of his potential. I think because in the class work we have done he has shown really good initiative. For example in a piece of improvisation work he had the idea that if they turned all the lights off their words would have more of an impact and it did it worked like charm. He also has a good imagination I could see this when he was telling me what he
My task for the controlled condition test was to construct a 15-minute presentation centred around the thematic area of IRONY and things that aren't as they seem.
Coursework evaluation Hannah Taylor 11A Introduction My task for the controlled condition test was to construct a 15-minute presentation centred around the thematic area of IRONY and things that aren't as they seem. Although irony played an important part throughout our performance we were able to closely link it with a particular form of irony named dramatic irony. This is the irony that occurs when the implications of a situation, speech etc are understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play. Our presentation was about a pair of 18-year-old twins played by Sophie Wong and Rachel Steyne and their best friend played by myself, on a holiday near the beach. An argument occurs between one of the twins (Rachel) and the friend resulting in the murder of the twin. The surviving twin can see her spirit but the friend cannot. The murderer is a schizophrenic, with two personalities, the evil side played by Alison Verona and the good side played by Johanna Thorpe. The dramatic irony within this is that the audience knows she is dead but the characters do not. We chose to work in a group of five as we all take dance and drama and so would be able to concentrate on both performance techniques closely and as a group with no interference. Working as a five meant we were able to use a variety of characters and techniques in the performance, which was needed to
What do we learn about New York and the programmes themselves through the openings of 'The Sopranos' and 'Sex in the City'?
What do we learn about New York and the programmes themselves through the openings of 'The Sopranos' and 'Sex in the City'? This essay will focus on a comparison, contrast and review of the opening sequences of 'Sex and the City' and 'The Sopranos'. I will analyse how each scene depicts and represents the city of New York, and how the actual programme itself is portrayed. I will deconstruct and break down each technique used, and how it is symbolic towards the city and series. 'Sex and the City', the first programme I will be analysing, follows the daily routine and lifestyle of Carrie Bradshaw; a mid-30s single American woman. The television show focuses on Carrie, her friends, and their sexual and personal relationships and experiences in New York. It is aimed primarily at the young female adult demographic, and therefore it is always shown after the watershed. It would appeal to other audiences, but I believe that it has been produced with that one specific demographic in mind. Normally, the show has to be screened late at night, due to regular extreme language and explicit sexual content. 'The Sopranos', the second programme that I studied, follows the exploits of an Italian-American family of gangsters, and their involvement with the criminal underworld of New York. The main character, Tony Soprano, is usually the person that has his life documented by the camera.
'The Gift' and 'Frankenstein' - Response, Development and Evaluation
Response Phase We watched a video called "The Gift". This was a story of a girl called Annie, aged 16. She was a keen sportswoman and played football regularly. However, she began to develop balance difficulties. These difficulties began to escalate, Annie and her mother, Barbara, decide to go to the Doctors. They find out that Annie has a sever condition named Friedricks Attaxia in which your muscles waste away. Annie is told that her condition will deteriorate and she will eventually die. On hearing this news, Annie's brother, Ryan, who is fourteen, wants to be tested for the disease. Ryan finds that he is a carrier of the disease. The film now goes forward in time to the year 2012. Annie, Ryan's sister, s now dead. Ryan is married and wants to have a child but is concerned as to whether his wife is a carrier of Friedericks Attaxia, she is tested and found as a carrier. This means that there is a chance of their child being born with this disease. Ryan wants to make sure that their child does not have the disease. Ryan persuades his wife to let him select a child, using advanced technology, which does not carry the Friedericks Attaxia gene, on condition that that is the only thing that he selects. However, as a geneticist, Ryan can read and understand the gene odes which are presented to him, Ryan decides to pick a child without the Friedericks Attaxia gene, but also