Patch Adams Relection Paper Essay

The movie Patch Adams is a truly inspiring movie for all those who wish to become doctors. The reason I enjoyed the movie, as is for most people, is the character and attitude portrayed by the lead actor Robin Williams. His role in the movie is both fascinating and inspiring. He was a man who, although initially considered himself to sick and suicidal, became one of the greatest flames in the medical history. The part that truly inspires me is his passion. There are very few people in the field today who work out of passion and love. In the process of learning every disease, cure and treatment know to man kind, medical students and doctors tend to forget that they are not treating machines but human beings who deserve not just their attention but also their compassion and sympathy. While I was watching the movie I realized that to become a doctor u need to work hard and pass your exams, but more importantly what u need is the interest and desire to really learn and put the acquired knowledge to use. I realized that if one has the passion and desire, then everything will automatically fall into place. I realized that by scoring the highest in your exams or by mastering every word in the book you only become a doctor. To become a great doctor what you need is passion, dedication and, most important of all, compassion. Another thing that I realized while watching the movie is the need to be open minded and to adapt. The field of medicine is an ever growing, ever developing one. With every passing day there is some or the other new disease or treatment. We have to keep our minds open to all such developments and accept the changes. I also learnt that this open mindedness is important not only in the theoretical knowledge we acquire but that practical life we live. One, no matter how high a position they acquire in the field, should always be open to change and suggestions because the only thing constant in life is change. In fact this movie reminded me of something my dad always tell me, â€Å"look at life through the eyes of a child and live each day like it is either your first or your last. If you can do this then what you have in you is not just focus and concentration but also passion, and an open mind and the willingness to learn.†

How do we feel about the monster at the end of the novel? Essay

Mary Shelly wrote the novel â€Å"Frankenstein† in 1817, she was just seventeen. It was a time of great exploration and discovery, this helps Mary Shelly delve into the unknown without it seeming too fictional. Mary Shelly had had a tragic life; she knew what it felt like to grieve as she had lost both her mother and child. Her experiences of death and grief greatly shape the context of this novel. Mary Shelly wrote â€Å"Frankenstein† in ‘Villa Mantalege’ in Switzerland. The villa was very isolated; as were many scenes in her book, for example the ice bound boat, the feelings of isolation run deeply throughout this novel in the form of the monster. He feels isolated in his own body because of his appearance. Isolation is also a great way to bring mystery and the extraordinary into the novel. At the beginning of the novel we learn that Frankenstein himself has experienced grief and is determined that nobody should ever feel like he did, he also wanted the world to know who he was; so, to pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold the mysteries of creation, the monster was born. Here Frankenstein spoke the most famous quote from the novel, â€Å"Beautiful! Great God! † Frankenstein is horrified with the result of the creature he has made and flees his laboratory. We have to remember that even though the monster had, â€Å"yellow skin, a shriveled complexion, and watery eyes†, that he was still a baby. He was one day old and the first taste of life he was handed was complete rejection. When Frankenstein runs to his bedroom and shuts the curtain on his four poster bed, the monster follows him. The monster reaches his hand out to Frankenstein who is petrified and flees once again. Mary Shelly presents the monster here as innocent, childlike just reaching out to his mother/father figure for some love. We empathise with the monster and remember a time when we have felt rejected, hurt or unloved.   

Chains of Organizational Structure †Free Samples to Samples

The music industry is one of the finest and vas industry which consists of various companies and individual people who are earning the capitals by successfully running their business by composing new songs, selling live concerts, live shows, different audio and video recording and the organizations and associations where they creating the compositions of the song[1]. The music industry control and operate by several organizations or individuals where different kind of activities are present for controlling. It can be creating or selling the recorded music where music publishers, music producers, record labels Studios, other online music stores are included. When it has been found as there are other organizations that perform live music programs, all of it are related with the sound engineers, booking agents, promoters, music venues, road crews all are included[2]. The music industry is one of the best business industries where it produces a fine line between the artistry and a structured business sense.   When someone wants to have their own business which is related to the music industry a sound business infrastructure is one of the great ideas for starting the music industry business. It is important to choose appropriate business structure for running a business successfully. It applies several liabilities for the owner of the business. In addition when the business is running the liability is become are debts or a circumstance which represent the liability to the proper legislations of the law[3]. The success in the music business depends on the intention of the Businessman and the strategy of business plan where it will be applicable by the law. In the future in the music business industry which always includes the sole proprietorship, the Corporation and the partnership where this will help the owner of the business in the music indust ry. The sole proprietorship defines the individual business where only one owner should present and control the organization and make it a corporation or a limited liability company. In the sole proprietorship it is need to have the common business registration where it should be start the basic legal structure which can be applied according to the law of that country or city or the state. Therefore as per the legal terms of the sole proprietorship need to give the nominal taxes and if any other personal liable for debts are required they need to pay then it will be the owner, who solely responsible for paying the every individual tax returns[4]. The partnership is another form of sole proprietorship where the owner can be more than one. The liability in the partnership is depend according how the owners are making their own partnership, where they can set their own rules and both of the partners are responsible and liable for every business debts. In the partnership the partners can also choose the term of Limited partners where the personal liabilities are free between the partners but they can have their mutual understanding over the business decisions and operation. This is one of the forms of business where at least one general partner should require. The corporation terms define where more than owners have equal personal liability where they have the capability of issue in public or private stock. There are two kinds of Corporation can be seen in music industry one is C Corporation which they have a complete separate taxed ownership or they have shareholders and in the S Corporation the partners who are the owners of the business or have their own entities regarding the regulation of ownership profit or loss allocation every corporate meetings and Record Keeping payment of tax treatment etc[5]. The limited liability companies are another form of separate entities which was mainly formed by the business owners who present an offer for the taxation capabilities for both of sole proprietorship and partnership and it relieve the owners from their personal liabilities. When the personal liabilities are distributed along with it the personal guarantees on loans and paid Federal and state tax dates intentional or negligent act fraud or other illegal behavior or failure to treat the limited liability companies as separate entity by their owners which all are included which are the important issue for form a successful business[6]. When a business corporation is introduced by the owners or the individual owner it is important that aim should be fixed which helps to set up a corporation structure where the corporation is only held liable for any incurring debts. It is important for the business owner that when the business strategies or the investments are using regarding the corporation then there will be no relation in between the personal Assets of the owner and the assets related with the business organizations[7]. When a person running a band business through a corporation and if any situation arises where the band was not able to pay the Dept for their any live concert then the corporation can force the organization into bankruptcy for paying the debts[8]. According to the law any personal assets are completely separated from the corporation where legally they cannot be seized. Therefore when someone investing the capital into the corporation it should be necessary that the investment used to pay back the depths and in this way the business owner personal assets like their house, cars or any other properties never involved in the business. If there is any loss the company suffered it should be the corporation itself and the capital investment which are related to the organization that will only affect due to the loss[9]. The person who starting the business must have the quality to running the business according to the common business law and the owner should be educated, smart and must give their complete potential for running the business and make it the best opportunities in the marketing of business[10]. If the business strategies failed to work according to the corporation law of that state of the country then the owner of the business can face legal consequences for breach the duty of care and the acts of business[11]. In the music business the compositions which include the song pieces lyrics the recordings which includes audio and video and media where different kind of CDS or MP3s or DVD’s are used mostly sometimes the music business has no interference[12]. Therefore it can be stated that the controlling and monitoring music industry is not an easy matter which according to the business perspective[13]. It is one of the intelligent business ideas which always complete business structure and help to maintain and promoting the music organizations[14]. The business structure is helps the company to get extra benefits and determination from the business strategies. However the liability of running the business where risk and reward both are equally balanced and help to build a business career under the circumstances of the legal constitutions and the corporation law of the said country[15]. Passman, Donald S. All you need to know about the music business. Simon and Schuster, 2015. Ashkenas, Ron, et al. The boundaryless organization: Breaking the chains of organizational structure. John Wiley & Sons, 2015. Wikstrà ¶m, Patrik. The music industry: Music in the cloud. Polity, 2013. Allen, Paul. Artist management for the music business. CRC Press, 2014. Steingold, Fred S. Legal guide for starting & running a small business. Nolo, 2015. Krasilovsky, M. William, and Sidney Schemel. This business of music: The definitive guide to the business and legal issues of the music industry. Billboard Books, 2007. White, Tom. Hadoop: The definitive guide. " O'Reilly Media, Inc.", 2012.

How the American Dream has changed for the worse over time Research Paper

How the American Dream has changed for the worse over time - Research Paper Example It is now infused with both an obsession with work and a desire to get rich quickly. Benjamin Franklin first talked about the American Dream in his Autobiography. He viewed it as in part the religious freedom that Pennsylvania embodied (Guercio). In modern times, religious freedom is not encompassed in our American Dream because we have largely accomplished it. No longer do religious minorities have to live in fear, there is an enforced freedom of religion in our nation, and thus I contend that that is why religious freedom is no longer part of the American Dream. But with the loss of this virtue comes a loss of some tolerance. We still have religious persecution. For instance, after 9/11 we saw a rapid increase in both state sponsored and personal harassment against Muslims. Many see Islamicists as threats to our freedom, and thus have no problem infringing upon religious freedom to ensure our safety. The Early American dream, however, is best embodied by the American story of immig rants. Our nation was built on immigrants, Chinese Immigrants built our transcontinental railroad, Irish Immigrants helped hold our nation together by fighting in the civil war, and German immigrants like Albert Einstein helped ensure we could maintain our presence around the world in World War 2. These immigrants built an idea of the American Dream that it was not necessarily easy, but that, with hard work, economic success could be gained. It was the willingness to work hard, to accept horrible conditions and racism, that helped immigrants like the Irish work their way up the societal totem pole and become accepted members of society. At first, they were hated by many, denied jobs, and even spit on (Irish Immigrants). While this hatred of the Irish was not part of the American Dream, what the Irish were able to accomplish was. After all, within about a century of being the scourge of the nation, an Irishman, John F Kennedy, was elected President. This advancement through social pr ejudice was once key to the American Dream, the kind of ideals our Founding Fathers used to enforce the ideas of our young nation, in contrast the oppression and prejudices of the old world (Todays American Dream). Some aspects of the American Dream were also defined with the settlement of the West, as settlers sought a place where they were not bound by laws or social constructs (Zinn). Yet this willingness to sell everything to head west was part of a wider aspect of the American dream, it embodied the idea that material possessions were worth nothing when compared to freedom and equality (Kozol). Manifest destiny, the settlement of Alaska, and the movement to explore space were all parts of this exploration aspect of the American Dream (Library of Congress). Yet these ideals of the American dream began to fall apart with industrialization. With factories and mass-produced consumer goods, people became less obsessed with freedom and more obsessed with amassing material wealth (Ben der). They were someone content with their current state of freedom, white males at least, and thus accepted their situation and, rather than try and change the system as a whole, accepted it and just tried to improve their situation. With the advent of credit and a huge new advertisement program, Americans became obsessed with material goods. This

Sport Sponsorship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sport Sponsorship - Essay Example Sports sponsorship emerged and has developed based on the fact that most sports teams and events lack the financial muscle to sustain themselves and sponsors come in to assist. Businesses identify a promotion opportunity created by huge audiences sport events bring together. It would then see business associate with sport clubs and events that act as agents of business promotion for the sponsors. This is a mutually beneficial move as both the sponsored and sponsors gain advantages (Fortunato, 2013:88). There are, however, several issues that come along with sponsorship. Cultural factors may prevent successful sponsorship as the players culture may not synchronise with the sponsor’s promotions (Stotlar, 2009: 112). Additionally, negative associations in which many sponsors that promote two contrasting products may sponsor the same event or club. Also, sponsorship fits in which large companies are to be involved poses a problem. The mutual benefit that both the sponsors and the sponsored teams gain cannot be overlooked. It has proved to be a considerable force behind the development of sports across the world and it deserves to be recognised as much as possible. Sponsorship benefits both parties involved and, therefore, quite

Ethical Issues within Information Technology Essay

Ethical Issues within Information Technology - Essay Example Similarly social networking media is used to connect with friend and relatives and share the events of life (Reynolds, 2014). But if someone’s intention is wrong then he may use the shared data or pictures which is not right at all. Security is another important issue. Hackers can easily hack into any computer by using internet protocol and collect data to fulfill some selfish reasons. In case of online banking hackers can easily get information about the transfer of funds and money can be transferred to their desired account by their interruption. So security should be at high level while using information technology (Azari, 2003). Ownership is such kind of ethical issue which indicates the right of an original creator on his work. Information technology has made it easy to get access about any information at any given point of time. There are so many music and book sharing networks through which people can download those data and can use for their own purpose. In such cases the original creators of those works lose the credibility of their work. Extensive use of networks and internet, easy access to technology and advanced wireless telecommunication system gradually losing the control on the whole process and hacker are getting benefits from their mal practices (Brennan and Johnson, 2004). Sharing own data also hamper the accuracy level of the information. People use these data as an authentic source but sometimes they do not get the proper data for using in their work. According to the importance of these ethical issues, these can be ranked as the following order: Privacy, Security, Control, Ownership and Accuracy. Privacy, security and control are three most important parameters for reducing the practice of hacking (George, 2008). Computer crime, viruses, hacking, piracy, plagiarism these are very serious impact on the field of information technology. Current

Work, People and Productivity Mgt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Work, People and Productivity Mgt - Essay Example The model helps the managers to establish the organizational focus by moving from the well-being and development of the employees to the well-being and development of the organization. Indeed, the model helps in the establishment of an adaptable, flexible, stable, and controlled organization. Since, organization leaders in an organization cannot agree on what contributes to the effectiveness of an organization, the model provides the best framework to define effectiveness. Furthermore, since organizational culture differs from one organization to another, the model helps managers to understand and pass the reference organizational culture to the other stakeholders. The competing values model helps in the differentiation of leadership roles and organization of the leadership roles and personality traits into an organizing schema, which enables organizational leaders and individual managers to understand their responsibilities. Moreover, the model helps organizational leaders to address certain issues like how to be innovative, how to organize and allocate resources, and how to collectively grow and establish organizational change. In addressing these issues, the model enables managers to achieve organizational effectiveness by addressing the competing positive tensions within the organizational culture. Most assuredly, the competing values model can apply in all aspects and levels in organizations where it can help organizational leaders to make effective decisions, motivate employees, recruit employees, establish organization capacity, enhance quality, change organizational patterns, assess financial performance, enhance competency, and evalua te communication within the organization. Managers can use the language and concepts of the model to associate with people at different levels in an organization. Indeed, the model helps managers to diagnose and manage the

Islamic marriages in the United Kingdom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Islamic marriages in the United Kingdom - Essay Example Marriage is one such key event and the religion impacts and dictates that event as well. This is particularly applicable to Islamic marriages, with all aspects of the union based and dictated by the religion of Islam and its teachings. In United Kingdom (UK) also, Islamic marriages are conducted on those lines, with the marriage or nikah being conducted with or without official registration under UK laws. When the marriage is not registered under UK laws, its validity is questioned, leading to host of problems for the women. With those Islamic marriages being considered null and void under the UK laws, a Muslim man have the dubious advantage of marrying more than once without officially divorcing his wife and also denying his wife various rights and benefits. This paper focusing on the existence of Islamic marriages and the maximal non-registration of those marriages in the United Kingdom, will discuss how those marriages have no official or legal recognitions, thereby leading to man y legal and personal problems for the Muslim women or in particular wives. Arranged marriages are more common in the Islamic religion, and that is visible in the Islamic community in UK as well. The arranged marriages are closely related to the â€Å"closed system† because it kind of helps to preserve the family traditions, rituals and the maintenance of kinship among the relations. Even if a Muslim man and woman decides to get married, without the initiation done by the parents, then also marriage is arranged according to Islamic customs. However, the basic Islamic viewpoint is, Islamic families in UK or in any country has to follow conservative norms regarding the marriage and the resultant evolution of family, thereby avoiding same-sex marriage, living together outside marriage, etc., for them to be constituted as a family. In an Islamic perspective, a family should normally consist of a legally married couple, their children, their parents, other relatives, etc. The empha sis is that a family comes into existence only through two means: blood relationship and importantly Islamic authorized marriage. This is mentioned in the religious texts as well, â€Å"And it is He Who has made man from water: The He has set up relationships of family and marriage: And your Lord is ever All Powerful (over things). [Surah AI Furqaan: 54]1. This focus on marriage being a relationship between an heterosexual man and woman forms a key part of Islamic marriage. Mernissi further validates this by stating, â€Å"The dynamics of shared spaces between the sexes can best be understood by analysing the functioning of the conjugal unit, the only model of heterosexual relationships that Muslim society †¦offers to its children.†2 However, all Islamic marriages are not similar, with the actual wedding ceremonies minimally or maximally differing according to the culture or nationality of the Muslim people involved in it. For example, a Pakistani Muslim wedding could b e different from the Malaysian Muslim wedding in certain aspects. â€Å"Many of the Muslims who marry are from widely different cultures - for example European, Turkish, African, Malaysian, and so on.†3 Another key or even anti-feminine aspect of the Islamic marriage is polygamy, with Muslim men being allowed to marry more than one woman at a time. â€Å"Man may have more than one wife, up to the limit of four wives simultaneously - so long as it is

Judith Jarvis Thomson's argument for limited abortion rights Essay

Judith Jarvis Thomson's argument for limited abortion rights - Essay Example Thomson takes issue with this assessment, arguing that a fetus cannot be equated with a born individual since the moment of conception, although she concedes that it is very difficult to exactly ascertain when a developing fetus deserves recognition as a human being. The other point she makes is that on what grounds would pro-lifers oppose abortion when the pregnancy was the result of a rape. Judith Thomson is essentially trying to differentiate between cases of pregnancies that result due to negligence or indifference of either of the partners, and those which arise due to crime. It is on such grounds that the author expects special rights be granted for pregnant women to choose. She also thinks that it is unfair for anti-abortionists to expect a woman to invest so much of her physical and mental resources on a child that she does not want in the first place. The pregnant woman also carries the risk of complications during childbirth, which in some cases could even cost her life. She argues that those who talk about rights of unborn babies should also consider the risk of life to the woman who is carrying the baby. Here too, Thomson asks for special concessions to be made for pregnant woman who fall under high-risk category, namely those who ha ve a history of complications, those who are physically weak or anemic, those who are too poor to take care of themselves, etc. Hence, the author is not in support of indiscriminate practice of abortion, but rather implores the readers to consider the vast gray areas in the issue and seeks a moderate approach from the lawmakers and the society at large. Judith Thomson’s viewpoint on the issue of abortion is not fully compatible with the unique cultural values of our nation’s culture. In its 240 year history, the majority of American people have been religious. The foremost among religions practiced in the country is Christianity, the doctrine of which

The Federal Reserve Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

The Federal Reserve - Essay Example As compared to the employment, the self employed or an entrepreneur in general, have to invest some amount, which is said capital, and it is the fate of the self employed that it may succeed or fail, whereas in the employment there is no risk for the investment, as there is no investment required, all the employee has just to do is to fulfill the job requirement and to get a an earning at fixed rate. The amount to be invested in business has risk, as above mentioned, but the business has too much attraction, because it has good returns, and if comparable by the employment, the investor may receive many multiples of the salary in a single period. A return on money received from the business, that is the profit in general determines the business efficiency. But the question is that, is it necessary to invest money into a company and purchasing the shares? Can’t it be invested in the bank to get the interest income on that? This question has been evaluated in the context of the g iven topic, and will help in determining the criticalness of various securities in the financial markets. Ordinary shares Ordinary shares are the main source of capital for any public company, the other sources of capital is the debt etc. Ordinary shares provide the money that the shareholders pay to the company and in return receive the dividend, and the rate of dividend depends on the performance of the company. The stock market is the market of corporate securities, but the corporations may issue stock; it is the stock that provides initial capital for a company and the limited liability is the key factor in the corporate sector (J Richard, 1998). A company with healthy profits will probably go for good dividend yield, whereas the company suffering from loss may not issue dividends to the shareholders. It should be kept into consideration that the company will only share the profit, and the shareholders are not supposed to compensate on the behalf of the loss of the company. How it generates the economic wealth A person may have en economic role in terms of economics, he may be dependant or independent, he may be a surplus unit or deficit unit. A deficit unit is anyone who has more money than he spends, and hence he can utilize the money to get more money. This money can be given to those who are deficit unit, or those who may need it, which is the function of stock exchanges and the credit unions. So those who have more money can spend their money into the stock markets and can receive the return on it. This rate of return depends on the performance of the company. When a person receive an income from the shares, that is called the dividend, the person has more to spend, which can be given to deficit units at a certain rate of return, and the deficit unit may start his/her own economic activity, that may be any businesses, but without this extra money given by surplus unit to the deficit unit through purchasing shares or purchasing government securities to the deficit unit, helps the deficit unit to pass some threshold, for the entrepreneur it may be the heavy capital required to start a business, or the government which want the people savings in their reserves which is going to be discussed later. Since the more economic activity can be generated by this security, economy can developed and the employment rate may increase, and the more the volume of economic activity, the more the taxes are accumulated, which in turn provide good infrastructure to the general

Leadership and Management Essay Example for Free

Leadership and Management Essay Initially I plan on reviewing the prevailing leadership styles in my organisation and then assessing the impact of these on the organisation’s values and performance. In order to assess the leadership styles I have produced a questionnaire (see appendix 1). The questionnaire was designed to find out how directive, participative and permissive each manager in our organisation is and then study the most prevailing style. It was evident from the information collated that the prevailing leadership style in our organisation is participative and directive rather than permissive. On assessing this information it became apparent that our manager’s leadership styles reflect a Contingency theory and they rather be present and take part in services in order to ensure controlled success. Contingency theory is a class of behavioral theories that claim there is no best way to lead a company, or to make decisions. Instead, the best action is contingent (dependent) upon the situation. Several contingency approaches were developed in the1960s. They suggested that previous theories such as Webers bureaucracy and Taylors Scientific Management had failed because they neglected that management style and organisational structure were influenced by various aspects of the environment: known as contingency factors. There could not be one best way for leadership or organisation. Historically, contingency theory has attempted to formulate broad views about formal structures that are typically associated with or best fit the use of different organisations. This perspective originated with the work of Joan Woodward (1958), who argued that skills directly determine differences in such organisational attributes as a span of control, centralisation of authority, and the formalisation of rules and procedures. My Organisation Values and Performance The organisation that I work for delivers a range of high quality services and projects, these services follow the principles of empowering communities, developing lives, furthering equality, diversity and inclusion and strengthening local voluntary sector delivery. These principles dictate the values in which we function. We are very much a voluntary sector, charitable organisation ensuring that at the heart of our services are the people that access them. Performance is measured through a set of service delivery indicators which form the base of our promises to funding bodies, staff, volunteers and customers in everything we do. These indicators are measured via our service development plan. Each year we publish an Annual Report based on our Service Delivery Indicators, which measure our progress and informs the public of our work over the previous year in delivering against our priorities. (See Appendix 2 for our organisations SDI’s) Our organisation values and performance clearly highlight a need for the leadership to be open and receptive. This allows us to except feedback and input from our service users. A directive and participatory leadership style is imposed by managers in our organisation for staff; however when dealing with service users we have to adopt a more directive style to ensure commination is clear and there is no room for bought. We have found in the past when we have given service users who are vulnerable and have mental health difficulties an opportunity to contribute to services they feel empowered, however they need time and guidance in order to make informed decisions. Effectiveness of my Own Leadership Style On assessing my own leadership style I appeared to be more directive, in the middle when it came to participation, however I did not seem to be very permissive. The results did not surprise me and seemed to be consistent with my approach. I tend to direct staff by the use of many models including action plans which are produced in team meeting and each member of staff is allocated actions, timescales, budget and directions. I am participatory when tasks are being carried out I ensure I understand the delivery method and observe when necessary. For example if we are promoting a new group I will ensure all promotion literature is checked by me prior to going out and visit the new group to view session delivery. I do not hide away form front line delivery and ensure I gage with staff, clients and volunteers therefore I understand the reason why on my leadership assessment I did not score highly on being permissive. Therefore I feel my management style suits the organisation. However with the changing nature of our organisation leading towards a more business-like approach I may find I have to review my management style. I may need to become more permissive, less participatory and even more directive. This will ensure I can work more strategically to order to retain services and staff. Changing my approach may be difficult for my staff to accept, however explaining that their jobs may be at risks if I do not manage differently may put it all into perspective. By applying a Contingency theory mentioned earlier I should be able to manage this effectively. I asked my staff to assess my leadership style using the questionnaire I produced and gave to fellow managers (Appendix 1). The results mirrored my self assessment, demonstrating that I understand my own leadership style well and that the staff have the same opinion. Apply Own Leadership Style in Range of Situations Over the last two weeks I have begun to assess my own leadership style in a variety of situations. These have mainly taken the form of meetings. I have chaired a client/volunteer meeting and a full staff meeting. My leadership style tended to change in these situations. I became less formal with the client and volunteer meeting in order to project at their level of understanding. Less detail was presented and less decision making was required. The meeting was more informative and decisions had been made by the staff team prior to the meeting. Feedback and participation was welcomed however it was in a manner in which it could be controlled so as a staff team we could make informed decisions.

Hollywood in the global film market | Film Studies

Hollywood in the global film market | Film Studies When the average Friday night cinema-goer sits down to watch a film in this country they would most probably be waiting to see the latest Hollywood blockbuster projected onto the screen. This seems to have been the norm for decades now but it wasnt always the case. Cinema was born in France with the introduction of motion pictures from the Lumià ¨re brothers; Auguste and Louis. The first presentation of motion pictures and the Lumià ¨re Cinà ©matographe (a combined camera, printer and projector) was to the Society for the Promotion of Industry (Socià ©tà © dEncouragement a lindustrie Nationale) on March 22, 1895. Only one film was shown, Employees Leaving the Lumià ¨re Factory (La Sortie des usines Lumià ¨re), shot by Louis. It was projected, almost as an afterthought, following their lecture on advances in experimental colour photography. It was nine months later in the darkened rooms at the Grand Cafà © in Paris on December 28, 1895 that the first exhibition of moving image s was opened to a paying, European audience. Included on the playbill were The Arrival of the Train (LArrivà ©e dun train à   la Ciotat), Babys Meal (Repas de Bà ©bà ©) and The Sprayer Sprayed (LArroseur et arrosà ©e). However, it wasnt long before cinema became international when the Americans tried their hand at making movies. In the period between the Lumieres first private and public exhibitions, two brothers, Otway and Gray Latham, screened the very first film to the paying public; Young Griffo versus Battling Charles Barnett, an impressive eight minute reel of a boxing match between the titular Griffo and Barnett. Their small storefront theatre in Broadway, New York became the first dedicated cinema. Over the next twenty years the number of filmmakers and films being made increased. This period of frantic filmmaking became known as the Silent Era. All over the United States movies were being shown at ‘Nickelodeons; shops that had been transformed into exhibition areas where films were projected onto screens, walls or hanging sheets. This was not just an American phenomenon; here in the UK over 3000 cinemas had opened by 1917. The number of important films of this era included Georges Mà ©lià ¨s 1902 film A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la lune) based on Jules Vernes novel From the Earth to the Moon (De la Terre à   la Lune) that is recognised as being the first science fiction movie; Edwin S. Porters 1903 movie The Great Train Robbery that introduced complex narrative structure it its editing techniques; and D.W. Griffiths 1915 feature The Birth of a Nation which grossed $10 million at the box office. The next logical step for this new industry was to integrate sound with the images. In 1927 Warner Brothers released The Jazz Singer, the first ‘talkie feature film to be widely distributed. This invention practically caused the death of the Silent Era as audiences demanded sound with their films and heralded the ‘Golden Age of cinema. But once again it was not an industry completely dominated by Hollywood. The French idea of commercial movie houses became the international model, and entrepreneurs scurried to build impressive movie houses across North America and Europe including theatres to seat up to 5,000 people, rather than relying on the storefront Nickelodeons from the turn of the century. Birmingham born businessman Oscar Deutsch opened his first Odeon cinema in the UK in Perry Barr, Birmingham in 1920. By 1930 the Odeon was a household name and to this day there is still an Odeon in the prime location of British cinema exhibition, Leicester Square. Since the Second World War (1939 1945) the dominance of Hollywood as the motion picture production capital of the world has been virtually unchallenged. With the exception of the Indian Film Industry, lovingly named ‘Bollywood, there has not been a notable challenger to Hollywoods crown. There have been moments when a possible contender to the throne has emerged from within Europe or the UK, bringing with it a new style of filmmaking, a new school of thought or an embarrassing outburst at an awards ceremony; â€Å"The British are coming!† In the last sixty years there have been several European film movements that have demonstrated that there is an alternative to the Hollywood system, however they have not managed to topple the system and in some cases have been neatly integrated and repackaged into the Hollywood blockbuster. In this essay I shall look at the stranglehold that Hollywood seems to possess over the global film market and contrast it to the state of the European film industries and in particular to the British film industry. I shall emphasis the importance of European and British films, filmmakers and movements and how they relate to the Hollywood system. Being that this is such a large topic area I shall focus on how Hollywood has figuratively grown into a dragon and that the sporadic attempts at slaying it by European ‘knights in shining armour more often than not end up feeding it and making it stronger. I shall try to determine how influential non-Hollywood films are on Hollywood, and vice versa. I also intend to examine how the British film industry has fared since the end of the Second World War against such stiff competition from the other side of the Atlantic; and what lies ahead in the not too distant future. For the purposes of this essay I shall refer to the mainstream American film industry as ‘Hollywood; I am not saying that Hollywood ‘is the American film industry as there are a number of independent filmmakers producing and releasing feature films that frequently make box office profits, most notably Miramax, but for this essay I shall be focusing purely on the Hollywood system. The Hollywood as we know it today began in earnest in the 1910s when major producers such as Carl Laemmle, William Fox, Adolph Zukor and Marcus Loew decided to disassociate from the Film Trust based in New York (a ‘trust of the ten leading American and European producers of movies and manufacturers of cameras and equipment set up in 1908 that would tax filmmakers into using their patents to allow the film to be officially ‘legal) and venture into a more independent, West coast filmmaking structure in the all-year sunshine of California. This departure from the Trust afforded the producers to shoot feature films instead of the normal short one or two ‘reelers (so named after the length of the reel of film used to shoot it). These independents introduced a vertically integrated system that eventually covered production, distribution and exhibition. The Hollywood studio system was born and names such as Paramount (formerly Adolph Zukors Famous Players-Lasky), Fox, Warn er Brothers, Universal (formerly Carl Laemmles Independent Motion Picture Company), Columbia, Universal Artists and Marcus Loews MGM blossomed. According to Douglas Gomery: â€Å"†¦the average cost for Hollywood features of the day rarely ranged beyond $500,000, expanding distribution across the globe meant revenues regularly topped $1,000,000.† (Nowell-Smith 48). This was a massive leap in the twenty years from a time when a film of a train approaching a railway station was shown to the general public. Hollywood understood that the needs and demands of the masses had become more sophisticated over the short period of time that was cinemas infancy. As such the producers looked towards popular pulp fiction novels, plays and in particular the newly invented genre of the Western to entertain their audiences. In 1922 the major Hollywood companies formed the Motion Picture Producers and Distribution Association of America (MPPDA) to assist in the promotion and distribution of films worldwide. This was run by a former Republican politician, William H. Hays. His work for the MPDDA was closely linked with the US State Department and allowed Hollywood to dominate the UK, Canada, Australia, Europe (except Germany and the Soviet Union), South America, Central America and the Caribbean. This world domination looked set to continue until the Wall Street Crash in 1929. Even though Hollywood had originally distanced itself from New York, financial backing from the East coast was needed to fund the studios. As such the Depression that followed the stock market crash proved a difficult time for Hollywood, though not immediately as the movie industry enjoyed its best year in 1930 as studio profits reached record levels. However, between 1930 and 1933 theatre admissions fell from 90 million per week to 60 million, gross industry revenues fell from $730 million to about $480 million, and combined studio profits of $52 million became net losses of some $55 million. (Nowell-Smith 220). However it wasnt all doom and gloom. As the ‘Big Five of Paramount, RKO, Warner Bros, Fox and MGM had to reorganise their financial structure (the integration of owning their own cinemas was almost bankrupting them), the ‘major minor studios of Columbia, Universal and United Artists were enjoying the freedom of only being production and distribution companies; therefore having the freedom to continue producing high quality films without the noose of the exhibition property around their necks. In fact it was in this period that the minor studios were producing ‘B-movies; factory-produced low cost, low risk genre films usually made up of cowboys, gangsters or horror (for example; South of the Rio Grande Columbia 1932, Afraid to Talk Universal 1932, and White Zombie United Artists 1932). This ability to adapt to the market is an early demonstration of why Hollywood is still the market leader in feature films. From these early years it was evident that the studio system was going to be at the forefront of film production. The 1930s and 1940s were to prove to be the beginning of the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema with the introduction of colour films and the release of such popular films as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Disney 1936), The Adventures of Robin Hood (Warner Bros 1938), Gone with the Wind (MGM 1939), The Wizard of Oz (MGM 1939), and Citizen Kane (RKO 1941). When the United States entered the Second World War in 1941 the Hollywood machine was utilised by the government to produce propaganda films for the American public. Within one year of the attack on Pearl Harbour, nearly one third of Hollywoods feature films were war related, as were the vast majority of its newsreels and documentaries (Nowell-Smith 234). Yet again Hollywood was flexible enough to mee t the demands of the public and due to the nature of the audiences at home and most notably abroad (the UK), Hollywoods foreign revenues reached record levels. Like the Depression before it, even the Second World War could not stop Hollywood. The next period of Hollywood cinema came in the 1960s and continues today. This is regularly referred to as Modern Cinema and saw the power of the studios sway towards the director (often regarded as the auteur). In his book Easy Riders, Raging Bulls author Peter Biskind highlights Arthur Penns Bonnie and Clyde (Warner Bros 1967) as the first of the new breed of films, â€Å"Bonnie and Clyde was a movement movie; like The Graduate, young audiences recognized that it was ‘theirs† (Biskind 49). This ‘new Hollywood saw new players attract new audiences. The new kids on the block included George Lucas (THX 1138, American Graffiti, Star Wars), Steven Spielberg (Jaws, ET, Jurassic Park), Martin Scorsese (Mean Streets, Raging Bull, The Aviator) and Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, Dracula). The power of the director was affirmed when George Lucass 1977 film Star Wars was released and confirmed that a single film could earn its studio huge profits and t urn a poor year into a very successful one. Star Wars had a production budget of around $13 million (imdb.com) and has (as of the end of June 2005) grossed nearly $798 million. (thenumbers.com) While the American film industry had always looked abroad for sources of revenue, the global focus of Hollywood was also amplified in this period. Overseas theatrical and video markets exploded during the second half of 1980s; between 1984 and 1986, Hollywoods European exports alone jumped 225 percent to reach $561 million annually. In some major European markets, Hollywood movies accounted for 45-65 percent of total box-office receipts. (Herman 39) In fact, according to The Numbers (a free resource for industry professionals to track business information on movies) out of the top 100 all-time highest grossing movies worldwide, only one movie was made before the period of Modern Hollywood Cinema (Gone with the Wind which has grossed $350 million dollars since its release in 1939). (thenumbers .com) With the top two films grossing $2,000 million having been released in 1997 (James Camerons Titanic) and 2003 (Peter Jacksons third instalment in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Return of the King) it is obvious that the Hollywood machine still manages to churn out money-making productions. So what is it that keeps Hollywood head and shoulders above other national film industries? In his essay Reconceptualizing National Cinema/s, Stephen Crofts points out that there are seven varieties of ‘national cinema as licensed by the political, economic and cultural rà ©gimes of different nation-states: â€Å"Cinemas which differ from Hollywood, but do not compete directly, by targeting a distinct, specialist market sector; Those which differ, do not compete directly but do directly critique Hollywood; European and Third World entertainment cinemas which struggle against Hollywood with limited or no success; Cinemas which ignore Hollywood, an accomplishment managed by a few; Anglophone cinemas which try to beat Hollywood at its own game; Cinemas which work within a wholly state-controlled and often state-subsidized industry; and Regional or national cinemas whose culture and/or language take their distance from the nation-states which enclose them.† Crofts 50) He ar gues that Hollywood can not be seen as a national cinema due to its trans-national appeal. Thomas Elsaesser adds that Hollywood is totally other to national cinema it is difficult to maintain because so much of any nations film culture is implicitly Hollywood. (Elsaesser 166). This is echoed in the words of Edward Buscombe who states that at times Hollywood appears to be†¦ no longer a national cinema but the cinema (Buscombe 141) These views propel the ideology that Hollywood is the word people use to describe popular cinema. As Crofts identified, there are a number of ways in which non-Hollywood cinema has tried to challenge (or indeed avoid confrontation) the American system. The fifth example; ‘Anglophone cinemas which try to beat Hollywood at its own game best represents how the British film industry tried to challenge the giant that is Hollywood (with varying results). The European film industries would fall into the third and seventh categories; ‘European and Third World entertainment cinemas which struggle against Hollywood with limited or no success; and ‘Regional or national cinemas whose culture and/or language take their distance from the nation-states which enclose them. Due to the many different European languages the latter example is perhaps the most relevant but at the same time admits defeat in attempting to export the film to the United States. However, this is not to say that Hollywood has not had to adapt to remain the world leader. The early 1980s saw a dramatic drop in box office receipts. The beginning of the decade saw a 9% drop in tickets sold nationwide in American cinemas when only 1,022 million were sold. This figure got worse in 1986 when just over 1,017 million tickets were sold (boxofficemojo.com) (compared to over 4,500 million ticket sales in 1930). The home video market had certainly dented theatrical sales but Hollywood would always recoup somehow. The immediate problem was the cost of keeping cinemas o pen; a similar situation to the post Depression period of the 1930s. Another financial reshuffle was in order. The six major Hollywood film studios were now part of conglomerates. Gulf Western (Paramounts parent company) also owned Madison Square Gardens, Desilu, Simon and Schuster, and Paramount Pictures Television. Yet, only 11% of Gulf Westerns revenues were derived from entertainment industry holdings and just 4% from Paramount Pictures in 1981. That same year, United Artists was bringing only 12% of the revenues in for Transamerica, Universal represented 22% of MCAs income, and Warner Bros. accounted for 24% of Warner Communications revenue. (Lewis 86). However, by 1989, the entertainment division of Gulf Western, led by Paramount Pictures, accounted for over 50% of Gulf Westerns yearly income during a year in which Paramount had only fourteen releases and a 13.8% share of the market thanks to the success of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ($197 million domestic box office), (the-numbers.com) demonstrating again just how important a single film had become by the end of the 1980s. These blockbusters were to save Hollywood and allow it to grow stronger, and in 2002 ticket sales were over the 1,523 million mark which was the highest figure for over twenty years. It is practically impossible to pinpoint a single film that best demonstrates how the Hollywood system works. I have chosen to examine three different movies from three different periods of its history to illustrate how Hollywood evolves; Intolerance (1916), Singin in the Rain (1952) and The Matrix (1999). D.W. Griffith directed over 500 films during his career, most of them were shorts produced between 1908 and 1914. In 1915 he directed Birth of a Nation, a film that â€Å"†¦established him as one of the first truly great film directors, able to balance scale with intimate, impassioned storytelling† (Falk 11) but the film also has its critics: â€Å"Hopefully the only film in movie history to project in its publicity the Ku Klux Klan as the heroic defenders of Christian civilization† (Shiach 12). Two years later he directed Intolerance. Intolerance is, in my opinion, a better example of a Hollywood film than the overtly racist Birth of a Nation. Its narrative structure is interwoven with four different stories from four different periods in history each telling their own stories of intolerance, be it through religion or society. This storytelling device of jumping from one story to another allowed Griffith to direct the film at a speed that would keep the audiences enthralled to the very last reel. Unfortunately it failed at the box office. The production budget was over three and half times than that of Birth of a Nation and the box office did not return this. The lavish sets and numerous extras that were brought in by Griffith to turn this into a spectacle ended up leading to its financial failure. This was an early lesson to the studios that throwing a lot of money at a production did not necessarily mean that it was going to be successful. In hindsight this film stands up well; the crowd scenes are epic, so to the Babylon sets and the innovative use of camera angles and cross-cut editing techniques. Griffith formed United Artists with Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, William S. Hart and Mary Pickford in 1919, cementing his position as a major player in the early Hollywood years. The year 1952 saw the highest grossing film in America to be the documentary This is Cinerama showcasing the possibilities of Cinerama; a widescreen system that employed stereophonic sound and used three cameras and three projectors to cover a huge curved screen. Further down the list was Stanley Donen and Gene Kellys musical Singin in the Rain (MGM 1952). Not only does the film include perhaps one of the most memorable scenes in Hollywood history (the song and dance of the title) but also one of the first big budget films to poke fun at its own industry. The story takes place during the transition from silent film into ‘talking pictures and highlights some of the problems that arose for all the major studios. Roger Ebert, film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times proudly states that â€Å"Singin in the Rain has been voted one of the greatest films of all time in international critics polls, and is routinely called the greatest of all the Hollywood musicals. I dont think theres an y doubt about that. There are other contenders†¦ but Singin in the Rain comes first because it is not only from Hollywood, it is about Hollywood.† (Ebert). The film was rushed through by MGM (the studio that produced most of the lavish musicals) after the success of 1951s An American in Paris and as such the film was an original screenplay and Donen and Kelly were freed from the constraints of adapting a stage musical, being able to develop something completely from scratch. This freedom is present on screen and, like the previous example Intolerance has won more fans in the years after its release than the audiences at the time. Today the musical is a rare sight to emerge from Hollywood. It is seen as an expensive genre that has served its time. There have been a few exceptions like Baz Luhrmanns Moulin Rouge (20th Century Fox 2001) and Rob Marshalls Chicago (Miramax 2002) but I cannot see any Hollywood studio spending money on this genre like MGM did in the Golden Age. Brothers Andy and Larry Wachowski directed the science fiction action movie The Matrix in 1999. Labeled by some as a â€Å"cult classic† (Gottlieb), I find it hard to agree that a film that has grossed over $450 million (thenumbers.com) worldwide should be called a ‘cult. Set sometime in the near future the film taps into a common paranoia that all is not as it seems. Hollywood released this film, with its $65 million (thenumbers.com) production budget knowing that the recent trend of Asian kung-fu movies were entertaining the young generation like Hark Tsuis 1991 film Once Upon a Time in China (Wong Fei-hung) or Woo-ping Yuens 1993 film Iron Monkey (Siunin Wong Fei-hung tsi titmalau). This film was also used in an extensive advertising campaign to promote the sales of DVDs; a figure of $20 million was spent on prints and advertising costs. With the combination of kung-fu, a storyline focusing on paranoia and special effects never seen before in a major blockbuster; it w ould not be cynical to believe that Hollywood thought of The Matrix as their ticket into the new millennium. The British film industry has historically always been the poorer cousin to Hollywood, or as Robert Murphy suggests, â€Å"British cinema has been despised and disparaged for much of its existence† (Murphy 5). While Hollywood was experimenting with and developing the dramatic narrative of feature films in the early 1910s, Britain did not realise the potential of the longer film format; and one of the only companys releasing fictional drama, albeit single reel films, was Hepworth who produced films such as Rescued by Rover (1905), Faust (1911) and A Fishermans Love Story (1912). As late as 1925 Joseph Schenck commented on the inferiority of British cinema saying that â€Å"You have no personalities to put on the screen. The stage actors and actresses are no good on the screen. Your effects are no good, and you do not spend nearly so much money.† (Schenck). This statement is eerily poignant eighty years after he said it. In fact as early as 1907 Hollywood was acting swift er than Britain in developing the cinematic world by exploiting British cultural heritage when the Selig Polyscope Company produced the one reel short A Tale of Two Cities based on Charles Dickens novel. Four years later Vitagraph remade the film as a thirty minute short in 1911. In fact Hollywood then remade the film six years after that when Fox produced A Tale of Two Cities in 1917. It wasnt until W. Courteney Rowden directed the one reel film of the same title that Britain finally had its own film version of the novel in 1922. And it wasnt until Ralph Thomas directed A Tale of Two Cities (Rank 1958) that Britain had its very own feature film of the novel; the sixth remake since the original 1907 film. Even though the British film industry was slow to accept the possibilities offered by the dramatic narrative of feature film there were some important figures to emerge. Alfred Hitchcock directed his first completed feature film in 1925 with the crime drama The Pleasure Garden, having already made a name for himself as a writer on Graham Cutts Woman to Woman (1923). He followed that up with a number of groundbreaking films including The Lodger (Gainsborough Pictures 1927), his first talking movie Blackmail (BIP 1929), and Jamaica Inn (Mayflower 1939); his final film in Britain before Hollywood producer David O. Selznick sent for him from Hollywood. At a time when Hollywood was going from strength to strength with the help of the MPPDA, Britain was finding that too many American imports were saturating the home industry; $165 million revenue was made for Hollywood by the overseas British market. (Nowell-Smith 58). The Films Act of 1927 set a quota on imported movies that â€Å"was pr ogressive, beginning at 5 percent and rising to 20 percent in ten years time.† (Balio 469). This should have been a period in which Britain could progress both in quality and quantity of film production as the Act was meant to â€Å"open up the market for ‘long (over 3,000 feet in length) British films by stipulating that 7.5 per cent of films acquired by film renters each year had to be British and 5 per cent of those shown by exhibitors also had to be of British origin, both percentages rising to 20 by 1935 and remaining at that level until 1938 when the Act expired.† (Street 10). In reality it allowed a number of cheap productions, or â€Å"quota quickies† (Balio 469) to be made that did more harm than good for the British film industry. However, the Act allowed Britain to emulate the American system of vertical integration with companies able to produce, distribute and exhibit its own films; this introduced The Associated British Picture Corporation and the Gaumont British Picture Corporation. The British film movement enjoyed a period of producing a number of fine films (most notably by Alfred Hitchcock) that included Alexander Kordas period drama The Private Life of Henry VIII (London Film Productions 1933), Marcel Varnels comedy starring Will Hay, Oh, Mr. Porter! (Gainsborough 1937), and Sam Woods drama Goodbye Mr. Chips (MGM 1939). When the Second World War broke out in 1939 Britain had to focus on the war effort; just as what was to happen in Hollywood, the films produced up to the end of the war were predominantly propaganda films. Some of the greatest filmmakers in British cinema were to come to the publics attention during the war; directors such as Michael Powell (The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp 1943), David Lean (In Which We Serve 1942), Thorold Dickinson (Next of Kin 1943) and Carol Reed (The Way Ahead 1944) exploded onto the scene. The 1940s were an exciting time for the British film industry with box office admissions peaking at 1,635 million in 1946 (Sparos 14) and companies such as the Rank Organisation began to expand, with a massive screen empire embracing the Gaumont British company; this included the Gainsborough Studios, the Odeon cinema circuit and Pinewood and Denham studios. The famous Ealing Studio, under Michael Balcon, secured its place in film history with the production of comedies such as Passport to Pimlico, Whisky Galore and Kind Hearts and Coronets, all made in 1949. Two years earlier Balcon founded the British Film Academy in a hotel suite at the Hyde Park Hotel on the 16 April 19 47. This was later to become BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts). Running parallel to the Ealing comedies was the movement of social reality films, commonly referred to as ‘kitchen sink dramas but often named the New Wave. At a time when the British public was feeling the burden of the aftermath of the war with rationing and high unemployment, there was a need for film to reflect the lives of the masses. One of the first major forays into this genre was produced by Filippo Del Giudice. Del Giudice was an Italian lawyer who left his native fascist Italy for London in 1932 and helped set up Two Cities Films in 1937. In the 1950 film Chance of a Lifetime directed by Bernard Miles, the story focuses on trade unionism and what stage the co-operative movement had reached in 1950, a few years after the reforming Labour government was elected but months before the re-election of Winston Churchill; showing that the country was oscillating between Socialism and Conservatism. Miless intelligent script was even-handed in its approach to these issues and also gave insights into the class system of the time yet did not go so far as to support the unions at the time. Alan Wood, biographer of Rank, charged the film with being â€Å"a crude form of anti-Socialist propaganda† (Wood 245). Even though critics felt the film did not go far enough into the class struggle it opened the doors for directors to comment on such issues as unemployment and the working classes. In earlier British films we had seen the working class as ‘good and decent supporting roles to the more noble upper classes (the most obvious analogy would be in the wartime Navy film where the working class would be below deck powering the ship and the upper classes above deck steering its course). Here we saw their lives at the centre of the action in great detail, told to the audience in an everyday household situation; hence the kitchen sink tag. We see events through the emotional journeys of these characters. Films like Jack Claytons Room at the Top (Remus 1 959) painted their protagonists to show that they had moved on from the hero at Normandy to an average, everyday person who wanted to make the most of their life and somehow try to improve their social position. This did not have to be solely represented in social realism, comedy crossed over as well. In John Boultings comedy Im Alright Jack (British Lion 1959) the class divide is made perfectly evident in the dispute between the workers and the owners of a factory; with the inclusion of Peter Sellers trouble-making union representative thrown in for good measure. At last the British film industry, as had the French and Italians, were producing films with a strong political and artistic background of their own that they would develop and progress into the 1960s. However, this particular notion of reality is much debated and is a problem when looking at whether film is â€Å"a product of society or that of an ideology of one director or author.† (Murphy 146) These New Wave films represented an â€Å"extremely dynamic, but short lived, period of film-making.† (Nowell-Smith 605). By 1963 London became the party capital of the world and the notoriety of ‘Swinging London and its Soho clubs and cinemas was in complete contrast to the gritty social dramas of the late 1950s. Suddenly British culture was internationally recognised. With the mass popularity of The Beatles in music, Mary Kwant in fashion and David Hockney in art people were looking towards Britain to produce films that captured the spirit of the moment: The 1960s witnessed a revitalisation of British Cinema and the emergence of a flourishing and diverse film culture after what was widely perceived to be the doldrums era of the 1950s.† (Moore-Gilbert 218). People demanded films that were not as ‘angry as the previous decade but celebrated the new possibility of social freedom. Unfortunately the money was not immediately available from British financiers and it was Hollywood that came to the rescue. The commercially successful Tom Jones, directed by Tony Richardson in 1963 was backed by United Artists and a number of American studios began investing heavily in British cinema. It is ironic that just as Hollywood saw the possibilities of exploiting British culture at the turn of the century, they were equally as deft to jump on the original ‘Cool Britannia bandwagon; leaving British investors to miss out all over again. United Artists also saw a lucrative business opportunity in Ian Flemings charismatic character James Bond. With the backing of United Artists, Terence Youngs 1963 film Dr. No, the first official What Is a GPS How Does It Work? What Is a GPS How Does It Work? Introduction to GPS The GPS also known as Global Positioning System is a global navigation system that runs on satellites that are active 24/7 (Library Of Congress, 2011). Development of the GPS was initially started by the US for military purposes; they would guide their troops and navigate them away from danger or would use this to launch missiles on a targeted area. Only recently during the early 2000s been the GPS released to the public by the US and made it free to access to anyone that owns a GPS receiver. Due to its various uses and availability the GPS started to gain popularity amongst people, in fact it has also helped in shaping the world into what it is today. The GPS system has become global and massive. It is used in most of our vehicles and smart phones to get us around its main purpose is to guide us to our location when we are lost, or for looking up a location. Like smart phones and email, this technology has become a key part of our modern day society. It has become a useful tool in our lives that we now have started to depend upon. GPS has replaced maps and has become the key tool of navigation. GPS is now also used in games and other application such as Facebook. GPS system works via detecting signals from GPS satellites located in space (Gray, 2012). The GPS system detects these signals via a GPS receiver (Bertagna, 2010). The GPS receiver detects the radio waves from satellites and then tries to find your location by calculating the time it took for the signal to reach the receiver. After calculating the time it took, it determines the location of the satellite and then determines how far it is from the satellite. By using trilateration it then calculates your location. Trilateration is a mathematical process which uses circles and triangles to calculate distance and area of a place. Common uses of GPS GPS has become a part of our daily lives ever since the US government released it to the public, our everyday devices have been equipped with GPS technology to assist us and enhance our experience (Saha, 2014) (Fortenberry, 2016). Everyday devices such as smartphones, tablets, vehicles and even packages we buy online have a small tracking device fitted in that constantly tracks its location, keeping the customer updated every minute. In fact, aeroplanes nowadays require a GPS tracker, which assists pilots in figuring out the route to their destination mid-air. This technology also helps control rooms in airports keep track of the aeroplanes current location. In fact, even passengers can view their current locations inflight through the entertainment system. Its not just aeroplanes that have inaugurated this technology but most of the vehicles being manufactured today come with a built in GPS system which helps drivers in setting a location and discovering the fastest way to reach it (Horban, 2009). This built in GPS technology also assists in tracking down stolen vehicles, which helps create a decline in car theft and gives a strong sense of security to the customer. The following graph taken from Rewire Security gives graphical evidence of a decline in car theft due to the implementation of a GPS system providing better and improved security. (Trading, 2014) Increase in GPS usage between teenagers Since GPS is now completely open for use to the public, many companies have started to develop softwares that utilize the GPS system. Most GPS softwares are found in mobile app stores these days since mobile phones are a common GPS using device. Moreover, since teenagers are often the age group that uses smartphones the most, quite a lot of the GPS apps are designed with the purpose of entertainment, which led to a huge rise of teenagers getting involved with such entertainment based apps. Entertainment apps which are booming between teenagers are mostly game or dating related (Collier, 2012) . Lets take the example of Pokà ©mon Go that came out quite recently, that game was a massive success due to the fact that it involved players leaving their house and going around different locations capturing Pokà ©mons. Pokà ©mon Gos main feature involved using a GPS tracker to track the players location as he would travel certain distances and to different areas. Pokà ©mon Go has also use d the GPS system to mark important landmarks as Pokà ©stops where players can buy items by using their points. This would not be possible without GPS technology. Whats important to consider here is how such a simple concept became very popular and addictive between teenagers, it is intriguing how a simple system that was used initially solely for the purpose of navigation has now turned into a means of entertainment. GPS systems are more often used by older teens in comparison to younger teens since parents do not give younger teens the freedom of roaming around the city since it is not safe for a child to roam around the city without parent supervision. Older teenagers however, tend to have a drivers license or some other means of transport and a lot of independence. Older teens tend to be given a lot more freedom in most parts of the world. Moreover, they often have to go to multiple places such as university, college, library and at times even their part time jobs. However, quite a lot of issues have appeared at the hands of GPS apps. Such as teens being addicted to the game Pokà ©mon Go and not caring about their own safety and walking around dangerous places. Moreover, GPS systems have also been adopted by dating apps now which has caused a lot of distress among parents. There has also been malpractice of the GPS apps at the hands of parents too. Some parents install apps which can allow them to track the location of their children via their childrens phone. This is an act of intruding a persons personal privacy. Due to how GPS trackers have various different uses, we have certain situations where we begin to question whether its really ethical to use such powerful technology in the way we have, which leads to social and ethical concerns being raised.

Strategic Goals Within The Automobile Industry Management Essay

Strategic Goals Within The Automobile Industry Management Essay This Report looks the performance of Firm C against strategic goals within the automobile industry. We will be looking on how Firm C has used the strategic principles and theories in order to compete with other six automobile firms in same industry. Basing on the areas of study we can see how Firm C has managed to utilize the resources. Using simulation technology over a number of weeks the company used market information to inform strategy and monitor performance. In retrospect, as this report concludes, much more informed decision-making processes and governance would have assisted in ensuring the performance of the company and achievement of the mission of Firm C. However through this simulation game, individuals have managed to relate the theory they have learnt in class and apply them in the really field. A companys strategy is managements game plan for growing the business, staking out a market position, attracting and pleasing customers, competing successfully, conducting operations, and achieving targeted objectives. (Thompson, Strickland and Gamble 2005, p 3) As described Thompson, Strickland and Gamble (2005) who explained that for a company to have a sustainable competitive advantages, needs to have a differentiated products with features such as added performance , high quality and wider product choices. This is what Firm C tried to achieve by reducing cost of production so that the price of cars should go down, the reasons for this is to get to a wide range of customers. Therefore, the firm concentrate on the price sensitive category, value seekers, customers with more disposable income and fairly price sensitive customers. Strategy Thinking One of Firm Cs strategies was to have a first mover advantage. This can be defined as: an organisation that moves down the experience curve by getting into a market first should be able to reduce its cost because of the accumulated experience it builds up over its rivals by being first. (Thompson, Strickland and Gamble 2005) Firm C has done this by being one of the first firms to produce a new concept car and by being the only firm to focus more on quality and safety. Adopting the Boston Matrix, Kotler and Keller (2006), the company used market feedback to place products in the market into the appropriate categories and used this to inform investment decisions. Using market data (consumer and external trading conditions) the company contextualised their strategic decisions by understanding customer needs, available market spend and trends linked to the overall economy, such as affordability and luxury. One key strand to ensuring high performance was focusing the models produced on a core market, but to provide a number of models. This approach allowed a diversification of products without overstretching the companys range of products. This, in turn, would allow for marketing to focus on the core offerings of the products. Through focusing on the core market, and limited development of new products, whilst maximizing plant capacity and marketing, it was considered to be part of the long term strategy to offer a return to investors and increase the value of the company without compromising customer perceived valued of the products and brand. Short-Term versus Long Term Considerations All decision -taken on these six periods was to ensure the company is doing well in car manufacturing industry and keeps on meeting customers expectations. This would give a company to have efficient production and hence result to profit maximization. The Short-term investment in product development allowed minor upgrades to come to market quicker in response to customer demands for safety and quality above luxury. No long-term decisions were taken at the immediate outturn whilst the company assessed the long-term prospects. The long term was taken when there was a necessary change in what customers prefer and in order to go together with the technology changes. Firm C has one of the highest technology capabilities in terms of interior, quality and styling with the highest technology capability than any other firm in the StratSim world to produce safe cars. This is one reason that has made Firm C to have competitive advantage over other firms in StratSim world which has set our cars to be safest over all cars. Mission Vision Mission and vision can be defined as: A mission is a general expression of the overall purpose of the organisation, which ideally, is in line with the values and expectations of major stakeholders and concerned with the scope and boundaries of the organisation. (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington 2005, p 13) The firms mission is to deliver a long-term high return for investors over the lifetime of products Vision is an integral part of strategic management and adds value to the process by integrating the products of strategic planning into a coherent and meaningful whole. (Wilson 2003, p 65) The firms vision is to produce the safest cars for people who want to travel safely. External Environment Johnson, Scholes and Whittington (2005) explain that the growth rate in an industry may affect the degree of competitive rivalry in an industry. For example, in situations of growth an organisation might expect to achieve its own growth through the growth in the market place whereas when markets are mature this has to be achieved by taking market share from competitors. Another example is high exit barriers; high investment in non transferable fixed assets may also increase competition because there is likely to be the persistence of excess capacity. Within this exercise, Firm C benefited from the lower performance of rival companies in the earlier stages. This ensured that the market place was one where companies could grow a significant market share in the early periods. Following major production years (period 4 and beyond), the market became more competitive with other company output increasing at a time when Firm C were decreasing output and incurring additional costs through utilizing a lower percentage of production capacity without the associated decision to reduce manufacturing capacity. Other factors included general population wealth and market factors (GDP) and the sensitivity of oil prices, focusing consumers to look not just at the short term purchasing price of vehicles, but the longer-term running costs. This explains the greater interest in hybrid models as the exercise progressed. Low-end market for gas vehicles remained robust for those with purely a purchase price consideration; this benefited Firm G in the short term, although longer term investments and a reduction in dealerships as well as manufacturing capacity hindered the companys ability to meet market demand related to external factors. Internal Environment The internal environment within the company is much easier to maintain a longer-term strategy, as well as making short-term adjustments to meat company objectives. However, it is the control of the internal factors that proved to be the single weakness in the deliver of the company strategy. Thorpe and Homan (2000) suggest that cost efficiency is determined by a number of cost drivers: for example, economies of scale. This was a key consideration in reaching the top performing market share as low-cost production created value for consumers and permitted a higher volume of unit production sales. In periods 2 4, the company strategy appeared to be paying dividends. Stock value price was attractive to investors in the early stages due to a large dividend pay out and strong sales / production outputs, promising even greater returns as a result of a longer-term strategy and the companys market position. In many of the key indicators set out in the appendices, Firm C was indeed the market leader. This led the company to believe that the existing strategy was correct and to maintain investment in the key areas that were driving performance. However, a number of internal factors were changed that hindered the product lifecycle, including decreasing the number of dealerships that then prevent the sales of our star products. Additionally, an overproduction of a vehicle coupled with a move towards producing a new type of hybrid vehicle distracted from the core performance resulting in poor sales across the board. As a result of the poor sales, reactive marketing spend was increased to try to attract a formerly strong consumer based. This reduced the investment in research and development and plant capacity, in turn hitting the bottom line of the company. In effect, it was a rapid downward spiral of performance. This poor performance, slow sales, inefficient manufacturing, loss of market share (through dealership reduction) reduced the overall market value of the company and therefore the attractiveness to shareholders. Irrespective of the strength of the core product, the company allowed itself to become distracted from what was going well, onto a short-term reactive stance without out any return. One area not monitored was the percentage return on sales. This would have been a better indictor of the overall health of the company as opposed to market share or sales totals. By periods 5 onward, the company failed to take any meaningful decisions related to market intelligence, and was starting a rapid decline in all key indicators. By period 7, the decline of the company had seen it outperforming rivals to rival companies taking the market share and sales off Firm G, whilst the stock price collapsed. The inactivity, rather than the activity, in decision making was the most significant cause of the companys failure in these periods. Internal considerations and decision-making chronology are set out in appendix 4. Personal learning The textbook did provide many very useful theories which made decision making more measurable, for example, the strengths and weaknesses of the SWOT theory. This did not however take out the uncertainty of decisions such as which car will be the best option to produce first, one learned that this can be reconciled by playing it safe as to not produce the Hybrid car first which the firm thought everybody will see as a new opportunity and instead focused on a different car design and see what the strategic moves of the competitors will be and then react to that with a better version car. The purpose and the priorities of the firm was not clearly established from the beginning of the StratSim exercise, this made it difficult to set the firms objectives and developing steps to achieve objectives in the long term and short term. In retrospect, the corporate governance of the firm was not planned very well. The company should have worked out a corporate governance method by splitting the responsibility of decisions between the team members. For example team member 1 was responsible for the inventory of the firm and team member 2 responsible for the marketing and so forth. This way, a more in depth understanding of the StratSim world would have been the result. In contrast, the time management of the firm was in the beginning stages more managed, but towards the end of the StratSim exercise the cooperation of the firm disappeared, a personal lesson learned was to for future references, to agree on set times when decisions needs to be made. More research should have been done on how the StratSim world works and what requirements were necessary to perform well. For example, the firm did not plan the firm inventory very well, resulting in too little or too many cars being produced. Furthermore, plant capacity was in the beginning stages below 100,000: this increased the unit cost and decreased profits. Conclusion This report has set out the strategic goals and rationale for Firm C; this was explained by giving an explanation for the short and long-term goals and decisions that was taken to gain a share in the vehicle manufacturing industry. The performance of Firm C started out healthy but because of poor informed decision-making processes and governance, the performance of Firm C radically declined and resulted in the failure of the firm to realise their mission which was to become one of the biggest car manufacturing firms in the StratSim world. The decisions the firm took reflected a reactive management style as opposed to a proactive one, for example with the inaccurate inventory control which saw the firm producing too little or too many cars and reacting to competitors decisions as appose to developing steps to become the market leaders. Strategic Models that were available for example, the Boston matrix, the product lifecycle and Value chain were never completely integrated into the companys decision-making which resulted in uninformed decisions been made, with consequences that resulted in shareholders loosing an interest in the firm and sales spiralling downwards. Reference Arthur, A., Thompson, Jr., Strickland, A. J. and Gamble, J.E. (2005) Crafting and Executing Strategy, 14th Edition, New York, McGraw-Hill Irwin Johnson, G., Scholes, K. and Whittington, R. (2005) Exploring Corporate Strategy, Text and Cases, 7th Edition, Essex, Prentice Hall Kotler, P. and Keller, K.L. (2006) Marketing Management, 12th Edition, New Jersey, Prentice Hall Stacey, RD. (2000) Strategic Management and Organisational Dynamics, 3rd Edition, Essex, Prentice Hall Segal-Horne, S. (2001) The Strategy Reader, Oxford, Blackwell Business Thorpe R. and Homan G. (2000) Strategic Reward Systems, Essex, Prentice Hall Wilson, I. (2003) The Subtle Art of Strategy, London, Praeger Appendix Final Results Decision Summary: Firm C, for Period 6 Technology Capabilities Interior Styling Safety Quality Curr. Expenditure (mill.) $240 $330 $399 $412 Product Development Dev Ctr Project Class Status Size HP Int Sty Saf Qua Curr Exp 1 Cameo Economy upgr: launch Per. 7 22 135 5 5 5 6 $129 2 Cafav Family upgr: launch Per. 7 28 155 4 3 5 4 $124 3 Crash Truck upgr: launch Per. 7 77 230 3 6 5 4 $124 Total (mill.) $376 Consumer Marketing Budget (mill.)   Regional Corp. Adv. $40 Direct Mail $3 Public Relations $8   Ã‚  Total $51 Direct Mail Targets:  Value Seekers(1), Families(2), Singles(3), High Income(4) Product Marketing Vehicle Platform MSRP   Dealer Disc.  Ã‚   Adv.   (mill.) Adv. Theme Promo. (mill.)  Ã‚   Cafav No Change $20,350 15.0% $70 Safety $60 Cameo No Change $13,500 18.0% $70 Styling $55 Crash No Change $21,598 16.0% $65 Interior $50 Total $205 $165 Plant Capacity Current Capacity (000s) 3,050 Capacity Change (000s) 0 Vehicle Production Vehicle Previous Sales  Ã‚   (000s)   Current   Inventory (000s)   Scheduled Production (000s)  Ã‚   Flexible Production Retooling Costs  Ã‚   (mill.)  Ã‚   Cafav 660 0 660 X $0 Cameo 605 0 605 X $0 Crash 442 8 450 X $0 Total 1,707 8 1,715 $0 Dealerships North South East West Total Dealer Inc./Dec. 0 0 0 0 0 Training and Support (mill.) $3 Financing Amount ($ mill.) Bonds Issued $60 Stock Repurchase $50 Dividends Paid $100 Bonds Issued Issued Amount (mill.)   Rate  Ã‚   Status Period 4 $10 8.5% callable in 1 year Period 5 $60 9.0% callable in 2 years StratSim Ind:ind1 Firm:c Period 5 User gre9313

World Rulers :: essays papers

World Rulers Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Genghis Khan This paper will explore the lives of three of the most well known rulers in human history, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Genghis Khan. This will first consist of an examination of the personalities and gifts of each of these rulers. Details of the course and extent of the conquests and achievements of each individual will follow this. The lasting contributions made by these three men will then be noted. The first ruler under consideration is Alexander the Great. He was the son of Philip II , King of Macedonia, and his wife Olympia, in the year 356 B.C. (^Alexander^). He was a student of Aristotle, and gained interests in the areas of philosophy, medicine, and scientific investigation (^Alexander^). Aristotle took great care in providing Alexander with a very structured and disciplined education (Williams 7-9). However, Alexander^s father, Philip II, would not allow Alexander to form the habits of a recluse. Philip initiated Alexander early with the duties of his high station. It was in this role that Alexander showed his ability to lead men, and be a great administrator. At age sixteen, Alexander was appointed Regent of Macedonia, while Phillip was detained at the siege of Byzantium (Williams 10). It has been noted that Alexander, by this point, had already astonished some Persian deputies by the pertinency of his questions, and the acuteness of his intellect (Williams 10). By the time he was eighteen, Alexander had commanded the left wing of the army at the battle of Chaeroneia, and defeated the Thebans (Williams 10-11). The following is an account of the words of Arrian, an acquaintance of Alexander. He spoke these words Alexander^s death on June 13, 323 B.C.: Let him who would vilify Alexander, not select a few blameworthy acts, but sum up all his great deeds and qualities, and then consider who and what he himself is who would thus abuse the man who attained the pinnacle of human felicity^who was the undisputed monarch of both continents^and whose name has pervaded the whole of the earth^ My own opinion, therefore, I will profess, that not without especial purpose of the deity such a man was given to the world, to whom none has ever yet been equal (Williams 409). The date of Julius Caesar^s birth is in dispute. The probable date was July 12 or 13, 100 B.C. (David 12). His father was Gaius Caesar, who died when Julius was only sixteen.

Symbiosis between George and Lennie in John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men :: Steinbeck Of Mice and Men Essays

A coon dog and a tick, an oak tree with moss on the north side, a termite and its internal bacteria, and a shark with tiny fish that eat the extra meat chunks in between the teeth all have one thing in common: symbiosis. Defined as the interdependence of organisms, symbiosis is the basis of the relationship between George and Lennie in â€Å"Of Mice and Men† by John Steinbeck. One type of symbiosis helps both parties while another type involves one organism being hurt by the exchange. The dog is hurt by the tick while the termites and the bacteria benefit from each other’s presence. These types of symbiosis can occur in humans and are evident in â€Å"Of Mice and Men.† Both types of symbiosis exist between George and Lennie in the novel.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The physical symbiosis of George and Lennie is beneficial to Lennie but detrimental to George. Although George used to hurt Lennie, Lennie now needs George to bail him out of trouble. Lennie also profits because he needs a person to tell him what to do. â€Å"He can’t think of nothing to do himself, but he sure can take orders† (39). Lennie is â€Å"a hell of a good worker†(22) and able to â€Å"put up a four-hundred pound bale† (22) but is likely to get himself in trouble without George’s protective influence. George likes Lennie but would be better off without him because â€Å"you (Lennie) can’t keep a job and you lose me ever’ job I get† (11).   Lennie hinders George while George helps Lennie.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The emotional symbiosis between George and Lennie helps each man. Lennie’s attachment to George is most strongly visible when Crooks suggests George is not coming back. Lennie is almost moved to hysterics and his fear does not quickly abate. George prefers to feign dislike for Lennie to Lennie’s face: â€Å"I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn’t have you on my tail† (7). When pressed, George reveals his true feelings for Lennie. â€Å"I want you to stay with me Lennie† (13).   They stay together because â€Å"It’s a lot easier to go around with a guy you know† (35). Both men need and value their strong emotional relationship.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   George and Lennie need each other to achieve their dream of their own farm with rabbits to tend. Lennie could not take care of his rabbits or even survive without George.

Essay --

INT. CLASS ROOM 303 EXT. ALFRED NEW YORK - AFTERNOON ENTER FRAME, DANIEL STANDs BY A WHITE BOARD POINTING TO THE LIGHT POSITIONS, EACH TURNING ON AS HE POINTS TO IT. A VOICE OVER IS HEARD. VOICEOVER HELLO EVERYONE, THIS VIDEO WILL HELP YOU TO UNDERSTAND THE BASICS OF PRODUCTION WITH US TODAY WE HAVE DANIEL. HI DANIEL THE THREE COMPONENTS TO 3 POINT LIGHTING ARE... YOUR KEY LIGHT; WHICH IS THE MAIN ILLUMINATOR IN THE SCENE AND CAUSE THE STRONGEST SHADOWS... NEXT IS YOUR FILL LIGHT, THE FILL LIGHT IS FROM THE OPPOSITE SIDE AND IS USUALLY A LITTLE LOWER, ITS MAIN PURPOSE IS TO ILLUMINATE THE DARKER SHADOWS CASTED FROM THE KEY LIGHT... LASTLY IS THE BACKLIGHT, THE BACKLIGHT HIGH LIGHTS THE CONTOURS OF THE SUBJECT AND GIVES A SENCE OF DEPTH. CUT TO: TWO X MARKS ARE PLACED ON THE FLOOR SIGNIFYING WERE DANIEL AND RANDY WILL WALK TO. AFTER ARIVEING AT THERE DESIGNATED SPOT THE TWO WILL LOOK TO BE HAVING A CONVERSATION AS A VOICE OVER IS USED. VOICEOVER NOW WE WILL TALK ABOUT BLOCKING BLOCKING IS THE PLAN OF ACTION MADE BY THE DIRECTOR FOR WHICH THE ACTORS WILL FOLLOW AS CAN BE SEEN, THE "X" ... Essay -- INT. CLASS ROOM 303 EXT. ALFRED NEW YORK - AFTERNOON ENTER FRAME, DANIEL STANDs BY A WHITE BOARD POINTING TO THE LIGHT POSITIONS, EACH TURNING ON AS HE POINTS TO IT. A VOICE OVER IS HEARD. VOICEOVER HELLO EVERYONE, THIS VIDEO WILL HELP YOU TO UNDERSTAND THE BASICS OF PRODUCTION WITH US TODAY WE HAVE DANIEL. HI DANIEL THE THREE COMPONENTS TO 3 POINT LIGHTING ARE... YOUR KEY LIGHT; WHICH IS THE MAIN ILLUMINATOR IN THE SCENE AND CAUSE THE STRONGEST SHADOWS... NEXT IS YOUR FILL LIGHT, THE FILL LIGHT IS FROM THE OPPOSITE SIDE AND IS USUALLY A LITTLE LOWER, ITS MAIN PURPOSE IS TO ILLUMINATE THE DARKER SHADOWS CASTED FROM THE KEY LIGHT... LASTLY IS THE BACKLIGHT, THE BACKLIGHT HIGH LIGHTS THE CONTOURS OF THE SUBJECT AND GIVES A SENCE OF DEPTH. CUT TO: TWO X MARKS ARE PLACED ON THE FLOOR SIGNIFYING WERE DANIEL AND RANDY WILL WALK TO. AFTER ARIVEING AT THERE DESIGNATED SPOT THE TWO WILL LOOK TO BE HAVING A CONVERSATION AS A VOICE OVER IS USED. VOICEOVER NOW WE WILL TALK ABOUT BLOCKING BLOCKING IS THE PLAN OF ACTION MADE BY THE DIRECTOR FOR WHICH THE ACTORS WILL FOLLOW AS CAN BE SEEN, THE "X" ...

Asses the Significance of the Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles did not dismantle Germany from its ability to wage war; it neither made the people grateful towards the allies. As the Italian political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli of the 1500’s stated â€Å"___________†. The Treaty imposed many demands of the war weary country, these demands did not have an immediate effect on the country, and it instead gave a long-term legacy of bitterness and humiliation. The defeat of the German military was a shock to most Germans, as they were made to believe that they would be the victors in the â€Å"Great War†. The Treaty came as an equal shock, as it gave the government no chance to negotiate the terms. The terms included military provisions to be changed, territories to be given away and reparations to be paid. The military of Germany was to be reduced to 100,000 and Germany was not allowed to produce any guns, poisonous gas or tanks. These terms affected many Germans especially wealthy industrialists who made large profits from the business. Those thousands employed into factories to build weapons also lost their jobs. The German military was at a time four million strong before the war with the reduced military this put thousands of trained men onto the streets without employment, these men would prove later to be enemies of the new republic. The German General Staff was dismantled, therefore putting influential generals such as Ludendorff and Hindenburg unemployed but most importantly there loyalty was to nobody since the Kaiser abdicated. This allowed ambitious politicians to take advantage of the famed generals as they persuaded them to join their political parties. An example of this is Hitler having Ludendorff join him in his 1924 failed Munich Beerhall Putsch, he was used as a symbolic figure supporting Hitler’s regime. The powerful navy that German had, was to be reduced to a mere few ships, and the U-boats were strictly forbidden. This had the same affect as it did with the army; it put hundreds of sailors on the streets unemployed and angry. Since it was not the Military that decided to sign the armistice they felt a sense of betrayal from the new government. This was to be called the â€Å"Stab in the back† theory, which was used by the military to explain why they were defeated and recalled. This theory was made to preserve the unscathed honor of the German military. The territories that the Treaty demanded were immense. The long held provinces of Alsace and Lorraine were taken by France. These provinces had been held by Germany since 1871, the people were a generation of Germans and the immediate change came as a shock. The Allies also claimed economic control over the rich coal-producing area of the Saar basin, its workers were German but the production was to go to France. This had a dramatic effect on the amount of coal German was producing, before the war Germany war producing 277 million tonnes and 14 million tonnes of steel. Because of the economic control of the Saar basin both of these vast industries were badly disabled, this therefore effected Germany producing an effective income from these industries that it prospered. The large region of Posen was created into a new country called Poland, but the allies determined that the new nation needed access to the sea. Therefore part of West Prussia was given to Poland, this area was called the Polish Corridor where many Germans lived, now under the new country Poland. The large city of Danzig was also taken from Germany and taken by the control of the new-formed League of Nations. Schleswig a region farthest north of Germany and south of Denmark was to be given to the government of Denmark, as the regions of Eupen and Malemdy was given to Belgium. The large area of the Rhine land, which lied on the border of Belgium and France, was to be demilitarized effectively stopping any further motivations to invade France. Germany had ten colonies based in Africa and Asia; these colonies had an overall population of fifteen million, adding trade and tax income to Germany’s government. But the Allies stated in the Treaty that Germany was â€Å"Colonially Unworthy† and as a result lost control of all her colonies. These colonies were controlled and administrated by the League of Nations. All these territorial demands from the Treaty of Versailles not only had an economic impact to the German country but it had a morale effect of humiliation to the German populace. Many articles in German Newspapers such as the Deutsche Zeitung stated, â€Å"German honor is being carried into its grave†¦. The German people will with unceasing labor press forward to reconquer the place among nations to which it is entitled. † and as well politicians used this as propaganda promising that their party will reclaim German honor. The Treaty also forced Germany to take full responsibility of the war. The Allies made them accept that it was their fault and that the countries all suffered because of Germanys selfishness. Because they were blamed for the war the Allies saw fit that they were to pay for the reparations of the war. This amount concluded to 32 billion American dollars, this was but a mere partial cost to the war but Germany still tried to resist paying the total amount. The reparations were not paid until 1921 a full three years after the signing of the Treaty. The initial German reaction the terms of the treaty was shock and anger. Since the Kaiser abdicated it fell upon the new government to sign the treaty, because of this the Weimar Republic was always held accountable for disgracing Germany. There were many in Germany, who urged a rejection of the treaty like Hindenburg, but many more had a realistic perspective and insisted that the government sign it; these people were General Groener and other members of the Reichstag. The initial anger and outbursts the treaty invoked on the people was of hopelessness, the reality was that Germany had little choice other than to accept the treaty. If the Government did not sign the Treaty the country would have been dismantled like it was after World War 2. The Treaty of Versailles importance is clearly exemplified in its determined effect of Germany. The country lost about thirteen percent of its territory, 12 percent of its population and a combined 64 percent of its iron and coal industries. But Germany still remained one of the strongest countries on the continent. As the Treaty effected the country on an emotionally level, the Germans of all classes were disgraced and angry at the Weimar Republic for signing the treaty. The Treaty obviously did not destroy Germanys ability to create an army (WW2) nor did it encourage them to not go to war. The effect of the Treaty forced a generation of Germans to swear vengeance on the Allies.