Aspect of acting

Aspect of acting The Technical Aspect of Acting Acting was developed in ancient Greek Theatre. The Greeks were the ones who introduced theatre and bought out an individuals talent known as acting. However in those days the technology had not advanced and there werent any films, the only source of entertainment the people had was through theatre. Theatre acting and acting in films differ vastly from each other. According to actress Kim Stanley â€Å" No matter what you do in film, it is, after all, bits and pieces for the director, and thats marvelous for the director but it doesnt allow the actor to learn to mold a part. In films, its the director who is the artist. An actor has much more chance to create on stage.† (Giannetti, 2008) Film acting is a basic tool of the director to make his film successful. Indeed it requires talent and learning for the individual in the field of acting. He needs to understand the role and connect himself emotionally to the character and then enact it for the audience in a way that it may see m real. A film actor gets several chances for displaying the emotions in front of the camera and a director may take several takes till the time the right emotions are bought out to his satisfaction. Unfortunately this is not the case for stage actors; they do not get several chances to bring out the reality in their acting, they only go on stage once and thats it, it is then in their hands to grab the audiences attention and do their best. Film has different categories of actors; extras, nonprofessional performers, trained professionals and the stars. Extras are the actors who are merely used to fill the camera frame, they are the unnecessary people needed to surround the main actors or just to be a part of the set. For instance if a film shows a market scene; to make it real the director puts in several people in the frame just to show the crowd in a market place. Nonprofessional actors are those that are not really good in acting; they dont master the art but; their physical appearance and presence on screen suits the characters personality on the basis of outlook. Trained professionals is that particular category in which majority of the actors are. They are those actors who have the ability to fit into any character and play any role according to the directors will. The last kind of an actor is the star. The stars are the actors who are successful in the film industry and their talent is admired and appreciated by the audience and the critiques. They often grab the audiences attention through their acting as well as their physical appearance. In the history of cinema the first kind of motion pictures that came out were silent films that did not have many dialogues. In those times acting was much more challenging then it is today. The emotional display of character was done through the facial expressions and the movement of the actor. The actor had to work hard to make the audience cry or laugh merely through his actions and expressions. Slowly and gradually as the technology advanced, there was advancement in cinema as well. There was more dialogue added to the film and now it was a challenge to the actor to develop a style of acting which would help him convey his message through dialogue delivery alongside, with the expressions and body language. Now the actor did not only have to make sure that his facial expressions were good but; he had â€Å"to know what words to stress and how to stress them, how to phrase properly for different types of lines, when to pause and for how long, and how quickly or slowly a line or sp eech ought to be delivered.† (Giannetti, 2008) The talent bought out in an actor is basically the art every director has. The actor works the way his director wants him to. If the director is successful in explaining what he wants and the way he wants it, and the actor is a master in his profession, the film ends up being a hit. The director also brings out the acting in a scene through the kinds of camera shots he takes. If he wants his audience to closely relate to the actor he would take a medium or a close up shot of the actor. The audience feels the intensity in the emotion the actor displays. For instance if the director is capturing an emotional scene and wants his audience to feel the sorrow the character is going through, he would want to take a close up shot; where he might zoom in from a medium shot moving his camera towards the actors eyes and showing the drop of tear that falls from his eye. The way the camera zooms towards the actor that is the time when the dire ctor grabs the audiences attention and they feel the intensity of emotion that the director is trying to bring out and many a times the actor is so good and the directors shot is so perfect that the whole scene seems real and makes the audience cry as well. There are several different techniques that make a film successful and all of them are very closely related to each other. Acting is closely related to the technique of mise en sense and editing. Mise en scene is everything shown within the screen frame; such as, the entire background, the set, the objects and the actors in a particular scene. It is the technique where the director places everything in the screen frame of his shot. Mise en sense would be incomplete without acting and acting would be incomplete without the technique of mise en sense. The technique of acting can be brought out with a perfect frame the director would set up. If the frame is empty or in other words there isnt any frame then the actor alone would not be able to do well on his own. Acting and editing are also very closely connected. A director takes several shots of an actor and then in the end its the editing that puts it altogether. The connection of shots appropriately is all in the hands of the editor. If edited correctly the acting seems perfect, an editor may edit a single shot in several different ways and chooses one p articular shot that brings out the best acting that the actor has shown. Director Akira Kurosawas Rashomon was one of the foreign films which proved brilliance in the acting technique. The first impression that the viewer forms in this film is confusion because there are different stories going on at the same time or rather one story with the same characters being told by different people with different angles. The major star cast of the film includes; Toshiro Mifune (the bandit), Masayuki Mori (the husband) and Machiko Kyo (the wife).C:UsersAfifaDesktopR1.bmp The film revolves around a crime committed by Mifune; he raped the wife and murdered the husband. The main plot of the film is how this story is interpreted and told to the jury from different point of views and how each character gives a different outlook to the entire situation. The actors have done quite an amazing job with their acting, according to a review â€Å"Direction is excellent. Shot completely outdoors, the camerawork is flawless. Toshiro Mifune gives a sterling performance as the ver min-ridden bandit. Machiko Kyo supplies a role of dramatic intensity as the wife. Masayuki Mori lends an impassive, glowering presence to the part of the husband.† (Rashomon Review) The actors of the film are certainly talented actors. As said earlier that the film has one basic story which is told from different point of views through different characters. Whenever a character tells the story, it includes the main actors of the film; the bandit, the husband and the wife. However the role each one plays in the different stories told by the witnesses and the victims changes the personality of the character completely. Each individual tells a story in the way he or she wishes. We see the story through the way the director wants us to. It certainly is a very challenging task to bring out the actors talent, where the character changes time and again. There is one story in the film where the director wants his audience to feel sympathetic towards the wife. Kurosawa very smartly has been successful in changing the audience view. There is a scene in one of the stories where the wife is being attacked by the bandit and she denies to him and tries to save her life. In that scene we see Machiko Kyo extremely hurt and asking for help and pleads the bandit to release her husband and let go off them. In that scene the director successfully portrays that the wife is weak and in pain and makes the audience feel very sympathetic towards her. The same story when told by another eye witness proves the wife to be very smart and cunning. In that scene the wife is flirting around with the bandit and asking him to mar ry her and kill her husband. In that scene the viewers dont really like the wifes character and get a bad impression about her character. She proves to be a woman who is selfish; doesnt care whether her husband lives or dies as long as she survives and is in safe hands. C:UsersAfifaDesktopR2.bmp Two different stories being told in the same film by two different people but the story has the same characters with different characteristics. Each time the story has been told the characteristics of the actor changes, in one scene he is shown weak and in the other scene very sharp and cunning. Kurosawa has been successful in bringing out the acting skills of his actors in this film, in the scenes where he wants us to feel sympathetic, he has taken long shots, in which we see the wife being mistreated by the bandit and the husband tied up in the other corner. The frame covers all three characters in the story. However in places where he portrays the wife to be very cunning, he takes medium to medium close up shots and captures the sharpness in the facial expressions of the wife, and shows her flirting with the bandit and motivating him to kill her husband. In that scene the focus is on the bandit and the wife and lesser on the husband. Its the camera shots that the director takes an d the way he shoots the scene which brings out the acting skills of the actors in a perfect manner. There are several scenes in the film that are magnificent in their structure and in the setting as well, which as a result brings out the simplest scene acted in the most simplest manner to look extraordinary. The director wants the bandit to look as wild as possible, even when he is seducing the wife is one of the scenes and expressing his liking for her, there is a constant vicious look on his face. He is perfect in presenting the role of a wild bandit roaming around in the woods; just the sight of the bandit would scare its viewersC:UsersAfifaDesktopR3.bmp. Mifunes performance as the bandit was greatly admired by the film critiques; he was successful in bringing out the intense vulgarity in his acting that ideally represented evil. Mifunes acting style has been applauded by critiques from Japan itself and even the American Cinema (Smith). The American critiques drew a conclusion that his acting was so wild and closely related to an animal from the wild. Kurosawa was looking for the animal in that character and he even told Mifune to connect himself to the lion and show the ferociousness of a lion. No doubts the actor was a perfect choice and representation of the bandit. For the acting to have a stronger impact on the audience and make them feel the character the director takes his medium close ups quite often so that the anger and frustration is bought out through the actors eyes and facial expression. Kurosawas Rashomon is a foreign film liked by many critiques all over the world; for its acting techniques and camera techniques were over powering. Many reviews and critique state that the film was one of its kind and the actors had done a marvelous job since it was very challenging to show different characteristics at one time in the same film. References: Giannetti, L. (2008). Understanding Movies. New Jersey : Pearson Prentice Hall. Japanese Film Greats . (n.d.). Retrieved decemebr 11, 2009, from http://asian-films.suite101.com/article.cfm/japanese_film_greats_akira_kurosawas_rashomon kleph.com Rashomon . (n.d.). Retrieved december 11, 2009, from http://www.kleph.com/blog.php?b=1e=1175pg=Rashomon Rashomon Review. (n.d.). Retrieved december 11, 2009, from http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117794327.html?categoryid=31cs=1 Smith, G. M. (n.d.). Greg Smith, Greg M Smith: Critical Reception of Rashomon in the West. Retrieved decemeber 11, 2009, from http://www2.gsu.edu/~jougms/Rashomon.htm#Schemata

Organization’s Cost and Profitability and Performance Indicators Essay

The emergence of the internet and other information technology has been hailed by the business world as one of the drivers of growth and profitability. It revolutionized the relationships between businesses and their customers; between and among businesses; and between customers, too. Implementing e-business, however, is not easily implemented. Apart from the monetary costs, there are also integration and transition issues that an organization needs to face. Quan (2008) argues that in spite of the heavy investment in e-business activities and platforms, there is no conclusive proof that demonstrates significant returns from e-business. When profitability is measured, leaders demonstrated success. In terms of cost measurement, however, they did not. I agree with Quan that too many executives and IT practitioners have joined the bandwagon of e-business because of success stories of some internet businesses. It is easier to join the bandwagon and duplicate what other organizations have done than to take a look at one’s own situation and peculiarities to really determine, which approach would work. If this were followed, the impact of e-business would have been more salient. In my own experience, the integration of information technology and e-business framework has mixed results. It helped the way that the business connects with its customers and clients. In terms of customer relationship management and the way that the business manages its inventory and its communication needs. The investment on e-business is significant. The business has to employ additional individuals so as to manage the elements of e-business and spend on additional equipment and gadgets that could make the system work. The returns on this investment, however, cannot be felt right away. There are several areas of business operations rendered more efficiently such as reporting, accessing information, savings on materials such as paper that are no longer used extensively. In the short run, e-business platforms and elements tend to be more on the cost side of the business. For managers, this is a rather alarming situation. Profitability is of course the ultimate goal of any business. Yet, e-business tends to be unprofitable in the short run. Quan agrees with such an observation. To maximize the impact of e-business profitability, the timeline of the implementation should be clear and there should be clear guidelines as to the implementation of the project. In our case, we managed the expectations of stakeholders by informing them of the process that the organization will go through while e-business platform is being integrated into the system. Managers and organizations, in general, should be able to manage expectations as to the situation of e-business integration. Yet, management should not be afraid to take risks because of the benefits that e-business could bring to the organization as a whole. Several months might not be enough to see the results of e-business integration. Yet, if the organization will really follow through on its investment, the results will be seen in due time. The challenge, however, is planning and mapping out these results. With deft management and effective communication within and without the organization, e-business will succeed and become integrated into the operations of the business in the long run.

Personal space Essay

Most social situations North Americans require a comfort zone of six to eight square feet per person, and any violation of that buffer can trigger a reaction (Bowen). â€Å"People use avoidance responses,† says Robert Sommer, a psychologist at the University of California-Davis and author of the book Personal Space (qtd. in Bowen). But where does the standard of personal space come from? According to Sommer, â€Å"a comfort distance for conversation varies from culture to culture.† Because Mediterranean and Asian countries are more densely populated, their personal space zones are much closer to the body than those of North Americans and Northern Europeans (qtd. in Bowen). The westerns are certainly planning on keeping this standard in the future. In fact, the world’s population is increasing at an incredible rate. Even the country offers its citizens plenty of spaces everywhere; they have to learn to make compromises on their personal space not only to accept the inevitable reality but also for the benefit of this compromise. First of all, urban Americans should make compromises on personal space when they are using public transportations. The New York City subway system is a really great representative example of personal space; the total number of urban citizens is more than 18 million, thus making the subway system extremely crowded every day. But even during the rush hours, the passengers are still careful about their distance with the others. If one person has a minor physical contact with someone and doesn’t express the apology, the other person will raise their voice instantly and say â€Å"excuse me† and certainly feels offended. This is totally unnecessary, especially during the rush hours, because some people might be late for work or school already, and someone might be thinking about today’s schedule. The rest of them are doing things that indeed catch their attention. Under such circumstances, it’s highly possible for passengers to have minor physical contact with others out of negligence they don’t notice. On the other hand, there is Shanghai, the second largest city in China with more than 20 million residents and most of them use the subway for daily transportation. It’s even more crowded compared to the New York City subway. So close to each other with their shoulders and backs passengers may nudge 2 or 3 persons at the same time, and they have been totally adapted to this situation without any discomfort. The Tokyo subway  system passengers have even less personal space during the rush hours. The metro staff will push the passengers back so that more people will have the opportunity to get in the train in the morning. What are the passengers’ reactions? They don’t feel offended at all. They are actually grateful because all of them can get to work on time, and their personal sacrifice is helping many people. Their joint efforts make the subway system much more efficient and indeed prevent lots of unpleasant arguments. â€Å"When they’re moving, they tend to keep a distance of three or four steps so as not to violate each other’s personal space.† said Larry Gould, director of operations analysis at New York City Transit (qtd. in Gardy). But the sheer density of the population is giving the Chinese a very different sense of personal space (Toy, 2). â€Å"Personal spaces overlap,† said Stuart Strother, an economist who has lived in China and who wrote a travel guide, â€Å"Living Abroad in China†. â€Å"It’s not that you don’t have any personal space, but I may have to share your space,† he said. Perhaps as a consequence, Strother said, pointing at and touching people, even total strangers, is not considered rude (Toy). There’s also another interesting phenomenon. You will never see two strangers sitting together in the New York City subway if there’s empty space somewhere else. The definition for â€Å"empty† means nobody is sitting next to you, and there’s at least one seat separating you from your surroundings. Most of the time, even during the rush hours, passengers prefer to stand rather than take the single seat between two passengers. Based on Robert Sommer’s theory, â€Å"The violation of personal space increases tension levels enormously (qtd. in Bowen)†. In other words, urban Americans prefer to sacrifice many things in order to sustain their high standard of personal space. But with the expansion of population, Americans eventually have to make compromises on personal space. So why not prepare to adjust the situation ahead of time? There’re also many benefits if they’re willing to do so. The most direct benefit is to increase the capacity of the train; more passengers can get in the train if most of them are willing to have less personal space. On top of that, more empty seats will be occupied if they sit close to each other. The amounts of seats are designed for a reason; it’s common to see 3 people occupy 4 or more seats. They sit apart simply because they want to have more personal space. Nothing bad will happen if  Americans make compromises on personal space. Urban Americans don’t need to create those invisible walls to protect themselves. They probably waste a great opportunity to make new friends sitting away from each other in the subway. Society will be filled with harmony and peace if people are not so suspicious and stop creating those invisible walls subconsciously. Lots of Americans are having a hard time adjusting to Chinese culture during their visit in Chinese cities. Some locals may come to them in order to take photos with the foreigners. Other locals are probably looking at the foreigners out of curiosity. Those actions are really common in China but the Americans are quite sensitive to those actions and sometimes feel offended. Their invisible walls are necessary to isolate them but indeed increase the tension levels. Americans’ perceptions and standards of personal space are definitely hard to change, but if they do, it always comes with a greater good. The United States is currently the No.1 country in the world, which receives millions of immigrants every year. By receiving those immigrants, United States not only receives the knowledge but also accepts their different cultural standards. Urban Americans can neither apply all the American standards to new immigrants nor expect them to adopt the entire standards by themselves. Personal space is only the tip of the iceberg, but it’s fairly important to live in the big cultural melting pot of New York. Subway passengers are highly diversified, and there’re probably people from 50 different countries taking the same train at the same time. According to Shuhan Wang, the executive director for Chinese language initiatives at the Asia Society, there’s an old Chinese saying â€Å"you treat other people’s elderly as if they’re your own, and you treat other people’s children as if they’re your own∙∙∙ So in a way, everybody in society is extended family† (qtd. in Toy). This is a good concept that urban Americans should take a look at to make compromises. By lowering the standard of personal space, it will be easier for foreign immigrants to be part of the society, and lower standards are always easier to be adopted gradually. The standards of personal space can also be interpreted through sociological perspective. According to Robert Pepper, a sociology professor at New York Institute of Technology, conflict theory can be used to explain the standards of personal space because people are competing for scarce resources; every single passenger would like to  have some extra space in the subway especially during the rush hour. He used the term â€Å"ethnocentrism† to suggest that Americans to make compromises on personal space. He believes Americans should not place their own cultural group above the rest. The standards of personal space are definitely different based on the culture, and the Americans should respect all customs and religions. â€Å"Chinese society emphasizes a collective mentality over an individualistic one.† said Stuart Strother (qtd. in Toy). But the American culture is exactly the opposite, thus making it even harder for urban Americans to accept. Having the idea of individualism, Americans are rewarded for behaving independently, making their own plans, and working toward achieving their personal goals. Under such circumstance, individuals are hired and promoted largely based on individual achievement and qualifications (â€Å"Culture†). And the Americans expand this idea of individualism into all areas; they want to be unique, to be easily distinguished from the crowd, and a high standard of personal space is definitely necessary. Chinese people are different, they emphasize the idea of the group, and everyone in the group shares things equally, so no one is necessarily better than the rest. People will stay together to achieve the group goal. No one wants to be unique because if you are unique that means you are isolated. The overall impact from high population density and idea of big groups are helping the Chinese adjust the lower standard of personal space in the long run. If Americans could learn some of the concepts, it will be much easier for them to make personal sacrifices in exchange for the greater good of the society. But some people may argue that lack of personal space can indicate people’s lack of manners and this is not right. In Lee, Patrick P’s article â€Å"Rush Hour,† he introduced his own life experience in Hong Kong which at the time was still a British colony. Hong Kong adopted the language, social order, peoples’ perceptions of things and especially manners. They are taught with the British gentlemen’s style, but on the other hand, there’s no need to say â€Å"excuse me† in the subway, or any doorway. The locals aren’t being rude when they invade your personal space. They simply need to go everywhere, nowhere, fast. In tiny and overcrowded Hong Kong, the concept of â€Å"personal space† is a luxury which one can’t afford and probably doesn’t exist (Lee, 2). This kind of situation will eventually happen in big US cities. If they’re making the compromise now, it  can be beneficial in the long run. The United States doesn’t have mandatory birth control which will inevitably make the population expansion even faster, and as a result the personal space will shrink. So to be prepared ahead of time is always a good thing. The younger generation will have different mind sets in the future in order to adjust the situation. Driven by individualism, urban Americans are treating their personal space as one of their birth rights. It’s complicated even verbally to ask them to make compromises on their personal space. But the whole world population just passed 7 billion 1 month ago; this inevitable reality should give urban Americans a wakeup call. If they choose to live in the big cities, they’re going to have to face the overcrowded society. They’re going to feel disappointed because their old standards cannot apply anymore. So, make the changes of mind from now and it will eventually give them greater benefits. They can have a good mood to start the new day with the crowded subway, if they’re willing to make minor sacrifice on personal space. They’re still very gentle persons even they sit next to someone because the society accept the different mind and adapt to the situation of fast expanded population and less personal space. Foreigners won’t feel the indivisible walls anymore because urban Americans don’t need them anymore. The whole society could be filled with harmony and urban Americans could be living more like a big family.

On Wordsworth and Emerson¡¯S Conceptions of Nature

Abstract: By comparing and analyzing their two poems, I will try to define Wordsworth and Emerson ¡Ã‚ ¯s respective conception of nature. The reason why they formed such conceptions of nature is, to the former, lies in his passiveness; and to the latter, in German philosophy and bold individualism. Key Words: conception of nature £Ã‚ »NATURE £Ã‚ »philosophical conception of nature £Ã‚ »common conception of nature £Ã‚ »passiveness £Ã‚ »individualism Outline I. Introduction II. Wordsworth ¡Ã‚ ¯s conception of nature III. Emerson ¡Ã‚ ¯s double conceptions of nature IV. Conclusion  ¢Ãƒ ±. Introduction In the 19th century, romanticism prevailed as the literary mainstream throughout the European continent. William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was one of the pioneers in the†¦show more content†¦In the eighteenth century poems were supposed to serve the upper class, and the theme usually had something to do with the upper-class life. In contrast, romanticism gave much attention to the nature. As a great poet of nature, he was the first to find words for the most elementary sensations of man face to face with natural phenomena. These sensations are universal and old, but once expressed in his poetry, become charmingly beautiful and new. His deep love for nature runs through such short lyrics as  ¡Ã‚ °I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud ¡Ã‚ ±: I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o ¡Ã‚ ¯er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the thess, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay: Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. In the first two stanzas the narrator, one version of the poet, tells us that one day when wandering through a landscape, he was struck by the sight of a field of daffodils. The first line  ¡Ã‚ °I wondered lonely as a cloud ¡Ã‚ ± immediately establishes the speaker ¡Ã‚ ¯s loneliness. And in sharp contrast with the poet ¡Ã‚ ¯s loneliness, the daffodils are happy and bristling with life: they are  ¡Ã‚ °dancing ¡Ã‚ ±, and  ¡Ã‚ °tossing ¡Ã‚ ± their heads. In addition, the daffodils are in large numbers. Their vast number is emphasized in the second stanzaShow MoreRelatedThe Development of Individualism and Romanticism2451 Words   |  10 PagesArtist became preoccupied with articulating the personal experiences they become, in turn, a representative one. The artists takes on a quasi-religious status not only as a prophet and moral leader, but also as a divinely inspired vehicle through which nature and the common man find their voices. The idea of man’s natural goodness and the stress on emotion also contributed to the development of Romantic individualism; they believed that what is special in a man is to be valued over what is representative