Monday, January 27, 2020

Semiotic Analysis Of Visual Text Dasdhunga Film Studies Essay

Semiotic Analysis Of Visual Text Dasdhunga Film Studies Essay The Dasdhunga movie is chosen as a media text for this semiotic analysis. Dasdhunga is directed and written by Manoj Pandit, the screenplay based on the true story of Dasdhunga Accident. The accident took place 17 years ago and the movie was released in early September 2010 in Nepal. The Jeep on which Nepals political party UML General Secretary Madan Bhandari and other central committee member Jivaraj Aasrit were travelling from Pokhara to Chitwan accompanied by Amar Lama (the driver), fell down in the Narayani River on 3rd Jestha 2050 BS. Both leaders died on that accident whereas the driver Amar Lama survived without any scratch on his body (Rijal.P, 2010). The name of the movie is titled on the name of the place where the accident happened. The story starts from the point of accident and the character follows all corresponds investigating the mystery of accident, unfolding lots of aspect, the conflict designed over this struggle for unfolding the root of mystery. The story also provides the investigation of murder of Amar Lama who was shooted on an open space of Kritipur with 3 bullets on his head, where he died on the spot. The storys focal points are the ups and downs of the characters personal life as well as professional life and are structured balancing the fact and fiction. (ibid) The movie rolls around the main character Kiran Kumar who investigates the Dasdhunga accident and reveals lots of information about the accident which concludes, that was not simply an accident but a conspired accident. Actually the director wanted to make a documentary about the place Dasdhunga. The film has been in the news before its release because threats came frequently to stop the process. Censor board had also censored it seven times. They also omitted some dialogues and scenes in without losing the essence of the film. (The Kathmandu post, 2010 Aug 31) (Zeeman, 1997: 24) A sign is something which stands to somebody for something in some respect or capacity. This movie has the sympathy, suspection and expectation. For them Dasdhunga is just not a movie but the high expectation of truth. Which everybody is suspecting it was a big conspiracy but not just an accident. (Saussure, 1996). As he said the sign is a combination of concept with sound image which cant be separated. Sign here is the psychology of citizen about the accident. Till dates the accident was a big conspiracy. This cannot be separeted in the movie dasdhunga as well. The place Dasdhunga itself is the main location in this film which makes film more real and understandable to the viewers. (N Virginia, 2011) says it drives audience into the cinema which is participation observation. The main cast of the movie is Anup Baral, Mohan Bhandari, Daya Hang Rai, Saugat Malla and Sanchita Luitel. The central character of Madan Bhandari is played by Madan Bhandaris brother himself, Mohan Bhandari. And Ram Krishna Poudel is presented as Jeeb Raj Ashrit .Anup Baral, the acclaimed theatre actor plays the troubled detective, inspector Kiran Kumar. Subtle and impressive Baral looks very natural in his role and his talent is noticeable throughout the movie. Dayahang Rai looks convincing as driver Amar Lama and did a good job. The acting of all the actors in the movie is commendable and is highly acknowledged. (The Himalayan Times, 2010). It has proved that Sometimes the performance of marital and parental roles shows a number of changes in their personal and professional life. The effect of occupational characteristics on the males role has shown in the movie as in Nepali context. The mans participation in the family initially appears to depend upon his holding some sort of job. (J Aldous, 1969). As in the movie miscarriage of the investigators wife makes twist the story. Then he leaves the case, to live secure life, this is psycho-social fact that a human wants no harm in their life. Eight years later, a person hands over some important proof regarding Dasdhunga case to Kiran and he reopens the case. Then lift the curtain from the whole mystery. The shots are not jarring or rough cut. Director tends to take the story at a distance allowing the characters to establish their traits to the audience instead of pushing a barrage of angles at the audience. The position of the camera is intricately placed in all scenes. The movie is a perfect example of docu-fiction which is not tried before in Nepali cinema. The movie Dasdhunga was visualized in various place of Nepal, like Chitwan Dasdhunga, Kritipur, and Kathmandu. This film has a series of stunning special thriller and real scene. For example of real funeral visual footage of Madan Bhandari. This kind of real footage and, photographs from audio visual banks and archive consider as bearing witness to the event. (M David J Adam, 2006). The cinematography goes hand in hand with location, props, shoots to make the audience feel like they are inside the scene and enjoying the scene. The dramatic increase in tempo with tight close ups, medium close ups, and locations image are clearly shown, so that any one cant easily predict the upcoming suspense of the movie. (Kress Gunther Leeuwen the o van, 2002:344) Color is discussed as a semiotic resource , a mode, which, like other modes, is multifunctional in its uses in the culturally located making of signs and a In the chosen film Dasdhunga mostly grey scale colour is used, which emphasizes dangerous, suspense and full of thrill. Regardless Dim lights pale gleams and various techniques of eye catching scene gives viewers a full of suspense, fear, thrill, excitement adventure and emotions. The real people of the real time were also used in the film as eye witness, it makes cinema trustworthy. The loud music and sound effects has been used in the movie from the beginning. This sticks you in the chair with your eye open. Because some time it is scary. For example feet sounds, cries, loud music and real scene of the movie makes audience awake and think of the real accident. Costumes and make ups. All forms of realism are made possible through these artistic creatives, which are appropriate for the time and characters intended. The cast also claimed that the wardrobe and dialogue fit very well. If we take an example of Kiran Kumar the starring character always wears a hat, here is the hat as a symbol of investigation and interrogation. There are elements of surprise and unexpected twist in the development of the plot with the relation with its scenes, stories and every signs it has. As in syntagmatic approach according to H.Miriam, 1994, the proper relationship among viewer, projector, screen, story are the part of a cultural practice that has to be learned. The same way the driver of the jeep accident who was convicted as one of the planner of conspiracy, later killed by unknown in an open place. This gives full of surprise and suspense to audience. (Gorkhapatra Daily, 2010). As Signs are used in the movie as signifiers and signified, in the selected scene of trailer (while presentation), a variety of signs have been employed to construct the preferred meaning. These signs include audio signs (dialogue, music and sound effects), facial expression, gestures colour lightning editing length of shots and slow and fast moving camera and angles signifiers are chosen to make movie more realistic. As the term intertextuality is the deal of controversy according to (Berger A Arthur, 1993) in the movie Dasdhunga, the character of the driver is can be seen in a similar way. Every time he changes his statement at the time of interrogation. The language chosen in this movie is very simple to understand. This helps audience to understand the movie in a right way. For example the driver says when I reached Dasdhunga, it was raining and all of a sudden I couldnt control my steering, then investigator countered then how just you are alive without any scratch in your body? this kind of dialogue makes you to think before something reveals in the movie. This makes you to involve in the cinema. It gives impression of reality. (C Metz, 1974). Conclusion As in Dasdhunga this kind of genre of mystery and investigation has not been used in the Nepali cinema before. So this movie has opened a door for the making of detective movie in Nepal. This breaks the monotony of the non-sense love filcks that Nepali movie is accustomed to. The movie is informative and it drags audience into it because it dealt with the facts that people didnt know about. This makes audience to hope. But the audience may be disappointed because the movie does not reveal the truth of the Dasdhunga. (The Himalayan times daily, 2010). But as long as rating this movie goes, it deserves an ace for sure. Anup Baral- the investigator is an absolute pleasure to watch. He was even awarded with the best actor for this movie. Saugat Malla is equally fabulous and fit in the shoes of the character and steals the show with his incredible timing and natural acting. Although Sanchita Luitel only plays a side role, she has done justice to her part. As for the other actors, they hav e done an equally remarkable job.

Saturday, January 18, 2020

How does Frayn present ideas about growing up in Spies? Essay

In the novel Spies, the motifs of personal growth, growing up and childhood are all integral to the plotline. It could be said that besides the theme of memory, growing up is the most crucial theme of the novel. As a genre, Spies fits clearly into bildungsroman style, showing the importance of Stephen’s personal development with relation to the storyline. Throughout Spies, Stephen shows a great deal of personal growth as a character, from his outlook on life, to the ways he interacts with other characters. Frayn expresses this through a variety of literary techniques. Spies’ narrative style is set from two perspectives. Firstly, a reflective third person narrative from Stefan’s perspective as an elderly man that is recalling childhood memories. Secondly, a more direct first person narrative which seems to be more the perspective of Stephen as a young child. The contrast in narrative allows for greater flexibility in showing the contrast between the more mature man, and his younger counterpart. In chapter 9 when Mrs Hayward appeals to Stephen for his help, the perspective switches in the middle of the chapter, which is also indicative of the thought process of the character at that point. By the use of third person narrative to begin the chapter, Frayn gives Stephen’s mind a sense of distance and separation from the event, emphasising the surreal situation of an adult woman ‘driven to humble herself’ by asking a child for help, and Stephen’s inability to cope with the confusion that brings. It shows how at that point, despite his growing maturity, Stephen had not fully matured enough to fully comprehend what Mrs Hayward was asking of him. By dealing with this from a reflective aspect, allows for the elder Stefan to fill in some of the gaps in younger Stephen’s knowledge and understanding of the situation. When the perspective switches to the first person, it gives a greater sense of involvement of Stephen in the scene, and thus adopts language that is more childlike, and a younger inner voice. This again emphasises the difference between the thoughts of younger, and elder Stephen, and provides contrast between child and adulthood. Whereas younger Stephen’s sentences are much shorter and abrupt such as ‘Silence again. I sneak another look’, older Stefan’s language is more complex and extensive, as in examples like ‘he’d begun as her antagonist, now he was to become her accomplice’, showing that Stefan’s ability to express himself has yet to fully develop. These contrasting perspectives also allow to clearly show when the younger Stephen matures or achieves clarity on some thought, as in chapter eight. In this chapter, he claims ‘I see all kinds of things I never saw before’. Another example is when he begins to realise after Barbara’s interpretation that perhaps his and Keith’s ideas that Mrs Hayward is a German spy are perhaps false, or misunderstood. They also create many of the humorous points of the novel, by identifying childish misconceptions of life, and expressing them in a frank manner, as they would have been thought by the children. Characters such as Barbara Berrill and the Hardiment children provide aspects of comedy as to how they perceive the world, and how they are perceived by Stephen and the other children of the close. Barbara, being slightly older than Stephen, appears to have a more mature view on the world, yet it is shown how it is not necessarily correct, as when she claims ‘lots of ladies have boyfriends while everyone’s Daddies are away’. This shows a more romantic outlook on the world, biased by girls’ magazines and entertainment predominately focused more towards love, relationships, and families, rather than war and machismo. Other instances include credence being given to Elizabeth Hardiment due to the fact that she wears glasses; with no other basis for the claim that she is more knowledgeable or intelligent than any of the other children. Frayn also makes frequent use of symbolism to imply aspects of personal growth or sexual awakening. On a large scale, the tunnel that both Mrs Hayward and Stephen pass through to get to the barns can be said to represent a grander theme of Stephen’s transition from safety of childhood, to the more troubling nature of adulthood that Mrs Hayward frequents often. The fact that in order to make that transition Stephen is forced to confront guilt and self doubt shows his maturity as an individual, despite his motives for visiting the barns. Originally, this investigation is done with Keith, in order to discover Mrs Hayward’s secrets, but later again on his own Stephen shows a greater level of development, braving to face the barns on his own for reasons less self-motivated than before. Other smaller symbols used to represent growth include cigarettes and ‘x’ marks. Both of these symbols hold sexual connotations for Stephen, showing another aspect of how he matures throughout the novel. Cigarettes are a motif used throughout the novel to suggest intimacy and sexual relationships, as Deidre Berrill and Stephen’s brother Geoff are known to smoke together. This is explained to Stephen by Barbara in chapter 9 when she tells him ‘they smoke cigarettes and then they kiss each other’, thus implying there is a natural link and progression from one to the other. Mrs Hayward is also discovered to be leaving cigarettes for Uncle Peter in the barns, with the implication that they also smoke them together – another sign of intimacy. Finally also, Stephen and Barbara share cigarettes, this being indicative of their blooming relationship and Stephen’s increasing feelings towards her. As at the beginning of the novel, Stephen would not lower himself enough socially to talk to Barbara, the fact that he shares cigarettes with her further on shows how he has matured sexually, but also socially enough that he no longer feels that all girls are not worth talking to. The ‘x’ marks also represent sexual aspects of life to Stephen, being associated with kisses, femininity, equations, and things that he does not fully understand. As he begins to understand the meanings of the ‘x’ marks, he also begins to realise the childish nature of what he originally believed Mrs Hayward’s secrets were about. By maturing enough to grasp the more romantic nature of ‘x’ marks, rather than the sinister, allows him to accept more the idea that Mrs Hayward’s secret is of a more feminine and sexual nature than her being a German spy. Therefore, the ideas Frayn presents on the concept of growing up in Spies are largely in the use of symbolism and perspective switch, creating the varying levels of understanding for younger Stephen, and allowing the reader to understand the contrast between the thoughts and perspective of the younger character, versus the more elderly character reflecting. This also reinforces the overall theme of memory in the novel, as to have only one perspective throughout Spies would deny the reader to a whole level of the character’s emotions, either the more analytical emotions expressed in reflective speech, or the more abrupt and immediate emotions of the character as he is dealing with the situations he is facing. It is the combination of the two that creates the level of effectiveness that Spies has as a novel.

Friday, January 10, 2020

A Paper on the Market Pull and Technology Push Factors

UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Faculty of Business & Management: School of Business Administration Management of Innovation Technology CASE #2 â€Å"Innovation at 3M† Name: Ronald McLeod (0908851) Tutor: Mr. S. Whittle 3M Corporation takes pride in being a culture of innovation. I will be reporting on just one of 3M’s many innovative products the post-it notes. I will also highlight the market pull and technology push factors that were considered in developing the innovation. The key terms to be identified in this report are innovation, technology push, and market pull.Innovation refers both to the output and the process of arriving at a technically feasible solution to a problem triggered by a technological opportunity or customer need. Technology push describes a situation where an emerging technology or a new combination of existing technologies provide the driving force for an innovative product and problem solution in the market place. Market pull is the advancement of t echnology oriented primarily toward a specific market need. Post-it notes are pieces of stationery with a re-usable adhesive strip on the back, designed for temporarily attaching notes to documents and other surfaces.The release of post-it notes in 1980 in the United States was one that was not only innovative for its time but one which captured the needs of consumers in a whole new way. Post-it note became a big success for 3M and was adored by customers. The first and probably most important technology push that resulted in post-it notes is senior scientist Spencer Silver’s 1968 discovery of an adhesive that didn’t act like any others. Instead of forming a film, it is a clear, reusable and pressure-sensitive adhesive. For five years, Silver promoted his invention within 3M, both informally and through seminars, but without much success.In 1974 Art fry perceived the idea of coating the adhesive on paper. He soon realized that this technology would serve well as a note pad. 3M conducted a direct-mail program to the secretaries of CEOs of Fortune 100 companies, and got back letters from CEO’s of companies such as Chrysler and Phillip Morris telling them how much they loved this product (Post-it notes) and asking how they could get more. This was a major market pull factor as 3M now realized that this advancement in technology would satisfy a specific market need. Fry encountered serious technical problems very early.First, there was the problem of getting the adhesive to stay in place on the note instead of transferring to other surfaces. The company didn’t have coating equipment that could be precise on an imprecise backing such as paper. This resulted in further technology push as advances in the technical performance of 3M allowed for the post-it notes adhesive to be perfected as well as a manufacturing process was developed. Fry made sure that secretaries of 3M senior executives got them. Before long, their bosses were borrowing the little yellow pads. This Market pull factor illustrated the need for this innovation in the business place.In 1978 samples of numerous post-it was given out in the city of Boise. 3M discovered that more than 90 percent of the people who tried them would buy them. This market pull factor showed the general market need for this product. After success in Boise, 3M was convinced that the market potential for the yellow note was enormous and, in 1980, post-it notes were introduced nationally. The Managerial Implications * Technical and Market considerations * How to sustain new innovations * Time consumption * How to protect innovation from competitors. Recommendations Managers must take into account during problem solving within a firm, the technical and market factors in order to achieve successful management of technology. * Managers must invest time and money in research and development and other efforts to not only make improvements to commercialized technologies but to continuo usly endeavor to come out with new technologies/innovations. * Managers must respond to time consumption and shorten the time it takes them to design, develop and put new innovations on the market. They must decide when to innovate, update, or replace previous technology .They must also develop methods to cope with shorter product life cycles. This can be done through continuous improvement. * Managers must protect new innovations from competitors through the use of patents, trademarks, copyrights, and designs. This will also result in higher profitability for the organization. Conclusion The development of post-it notes was driven both by technological push and market pull factors. These factors resulted in; the recognition of a potential problem, decision of which technologies to use, a feasible solution to the problem, and the final commercialization of the innovation.Managers must learn to cope with the implications that will face them. References http://www. innovation. lv/ino2 /publications/leonardo_manual/en/www. innosupport. net/webhelp/wso/ind http://multimedia. 3m. com/mws/mediawebserver? 77777XxamfIVO&Wwo_Pw5_W7HYxTHfxajYv7HYv7H777777– ex. [email  protected]_id4240pl_id3558. htm http://www. tu-harburg. de/tim/downloads/arbeitspapiere/Working_Paper_5. pdf http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Post-it_note http://www. 3m. com/us/about3M/innovation/archive. html

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Analytical Response to Male Pregnancy Essay - 1862 Words

Analytical Response to Male Pregnancy Male Pregnancy by Dick Teresi and Kathleen McAuliffe support that the technology and the demand for male pregnancy will be possible in the future. They specifically state that, Someday a man will have a baby. They have written this article in an attempt to show why they believe this will one day become accepted and widely practiced. However, I disagree with Teresi and McAuliffe. I feel male pregnancy will never be freely practiced or accepted by any means. Teresi and McAuliffe start out their article by explaining what their general idea is for male pregnancy to occur. They state, What were talking about is implanting an embryo into a mans abdominal cavity, where the fetus would†¦show more content†¦They could potentially cause serious disorders or diseases in the long run. Also what would happen if too many chemicals where given, or too few? The baby may not develop fully or develop with disorders. Another problem I found with the example of using the baboon was that the experiment did not result in the birth of a fully developed baboon baby. The fetus in the male baboon had reached a point at which it had survived embryonic development, but did not develop for the normal gestation period of seven months, the baby baboon only underwent four. This means that yes, the fetus was able to survive past the embryonic development stage, but there is no guarantee that it would have been able to fully develop the rest of the way. Anything could simply fail to function properly after a certain amount of time. For example, if you put a new piece of equipment into your computer, it may run fine for the first 3 months and then just crash because it did not belong and could no longer handle its environment. This would be like a man carrying a baby for 6 months and then no longer being capable of producing everything the fetus needs since his body is not built like a womans to do so. The last problem I have with Teresi and McAuliffe using the baboon story as support was the fact that two decades later, the study remains largely obscure even to specialists in gynecology and obstetrics because Jacobsen never published theShow MoreRelatedA Male Dominant Society1816 Words   |  7 Pagessociety is still tilted towards a male dominant society, or what the sociologists refer to as a patriarchal society, it is pivotal that a thorough understanding of the characteristics of a patriarchal society is developed. When a strong grasp of the ideas of a patriarchal society is developed then we will be in a position to argue that it is in fact the commoditization of the female sexuality through media and other popular mediums that is fueling this ‘persistence’ of male dominance. 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