Monday, September 30, 2019

Importance of movement in child development Essay

In a Montessori Tides classroom, there are carefully designed didactic materials that incorporate all the senses in the learning process. The hands which, according to Dr. Maria Montessori, â€Å"are the instruments of man’s intelligence,† work together with the mind. Freedom of movement grants the child the opportunity to observe and explore the prepared environment. Constantly the Montessori child actively uses and refines her senses as she absorbs the world around, while the child in the traditional classroom is generally confined to her desk, left almost exclusively to listen. The child in a Montessori Tides classroom is thus an active rather than a passive learner, who makes good use of all her senses while freely moving about the prepared environment. Furthermore, movement is connected to spiritual development. Physical activity nurtures the whole being, including the spirit. Montessori acknowledged, â€Å"If muscles which should normally be functioning are dorma nt, there is not only a physical, but a psychic depression as well. This is why action can have an influence also upon one’s spiritual energies.† Without activity a child energy supply is depleted, causing learning to be a more difficult task than it would be if there was a freedom to move. Dr. Montessori emphasized, â€Å"In fact, it is only by movement that the personality can express itself.† Freedom of movement clearly relates to freedom in general. Montessori believed that a child who is in control of herself, prepared to make rational choices and resist fleeting, illogical temptations is free. Consequently, freedom goes hand-in-hand with responsibility and self-discipline. Within the prepared environment, the child is allowed to develop her focus, become self-disciplined, and act responsibly. She is thereby able to become truly free. It is a catch 22 though; a child must initially be given freedom to learn to exercise responsibly, as a child in a Montessori Tides classroom is. She is free to move and make choices about her learning. There are limits, however; she is certainly not free to waste her days and disturb other children. â€Å"A child who is free to act not only seeks to gather sensible impressions from his environment but he also shows a love for exactitude in the carrying out of his actions.† In essence, freedom, including freedom of movement, permits a child to act responsibly, and responsibility, in turn, brings about true freedom. Finally, movement ties together the physical, intellectual, and spiritual being. It keeps the entire person healthy. Both the spirit and the  intellect depend on action to gather ideas and express themselves. The â€Å"child is a discoverer† by nature, and it is through this active discovery that she learns. The Montessori Method takes advantage of this by offering the child freedom of movement. Actually freedom of movement is a significant portion of the whole notion of freedom found in the Montessori Tides classroom, and it along with sensory education pave the way for developing the intellect as well as the spirit. â€Å"Through movement, [the child] acts upon his external environment and thus carries out his own personal mission in the world.†

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Effects Drugs Have on Urban Communities

{draw:rect} Did most urban communities start out as nice as most suburban communities are today? Yes, they did. The government built subsidized housing complexes for low income households; today they are called â€Å"the projects† or the ghetto. These communities have been run down over the years by vandalism, and crime, most of these criminal activities that take place in these urban communities are drug related. Even though drugs can be bought out of any community, the urban communities are the most effected by drug activities. Drugs are destroying the urban communities. Children can buy drugs off almost every street corner and most of the youth in the urban communities are or have been in jail for drug sales. {draw:frame} Crime rates have gone up in urban communities because of drug activities. Every day an article can be read in the newspaper about crimes in urban communities. Most of these crimes are drug related. The drug dealers that are on the streets get busted for selling drugs almost every day and charged with sale charges and possession charges. Police departments set up sting operations to catch these dealers in the act. Addicts are arrested daily as well. They get caught with drugs they have purchased and receive possession charges. Drug dealers often rob each other for their supply,which results in breaking and entering charges, burglary charges, and sometimes even murder charges. Addicts tend to steal and rob to support their habit and usually get caught and arrested for these crimes. Drug addicts will rob stores, strangers in the street, even family members to get money for their drugs. That is not the only crimes addict commit. While under the influence of drugs some people commit acts they normally would not do, such as killing, stealing, or driving which could result in people getting hurt. They get high and do things without thinking. With all these problems in the urban communities, it becomes difficult to sell property at its book value. It becomes an undesirable place to live. People who are looking for reasonable priced housing get discouraged because of the environment that surrounds these houses. Nobody wants to live in these areas with all the drug related crimes and drug activities that go on. These issues cause the property values to go down in urban communities. Below is a bar graph to show the difference in property values between urban communities and suburban communities. Average Property Values {draw:frame} Even though drugs can be bought out of any community, the urban communities are the most effected by drug activities. Drugs are destroying the urban communities. Children can buy drugs off almost every street corner and most of the youth in the urban communities are or have been in jail for drug sales. I think if the public paid more attention or cared a little more about the drug related problems that are over powering our urban communities, these communities can be taken back from the criminals that have run them down so bad that they are so obsolete in the government’s eyes. Then maybe instead of spending thousands of dollars into communities that don’t really need it, that money could get put to good use in an urban community that really needs improvement. Hernandez, R. (2010). VCStar. com. Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group. Retrieved from http://www. cstar. com/news/2010/feb/09/suspect-went-on-drug-related-crime-spree-tells/ Jonathan Butler. (2004). BROWNSTONER. Retrieved from http://www,brownstoner. com National Drug Intelligence Center. (January 1, 2006. ). National Drug Intelligence Center. Retrieved from http://www. justice. gov/ndic/pubs5/5140/index. htm Secretary of the Publications Board. (2010). United nations. Retrieved from http://www. un. org/esa/so cdev/poverty/subpages/iyephab. htm The world bank group. (2010). Urban poverty. Retrieved from http://: http://go. worldbank. org/QH7WZFCPK0

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Inflation of Singapore

Bachelor of Commerce (Bridging) Intake 17 Elements of Economics Contents Introduction3 CPI inflation4 MAS inflation5 Private road transport5 Accommodation6 Recommendation7 Conclusion8 References9 Inflation here up 5. 5% in December Introduction Last December, Singapore’s inflation, which is defined as a persistently rising price level, rose to 5. 5 per cent on a year-on-year basis. The author states that CPI inflation is due to the accommodation and private road transport higher contribution. Furthermore, the author also mention the MAS core inflation increased to 2. per cent year-on-year due to the ongoing pass-through of earlier increasing costs. The report from December’s MAS’s Recent Economic Developments in Singapore further supports the author’s article. In this discussion, it could be argued that consumer demand for housing and transport are the major factors, which Department of Statistic Singapore reported, contribute to the increment in inflation . In addressing the challenge of the governments to meet the consumer demand, the paper will mention a few discussions and a recommendation about the issue on inflation of Singapore.CPI and MAS Inflation CPI inflation CPI, or Consumer Price Index, measures the average of the prices paid by urban consumers for a â€Å"fixed† basket of consumer goods and service (Michael Parkin, 2011). In Singapore, the major contributing â€Å"fixed† baskets are Housing, Food and Transport. In total, these three factors are more than half of the entire CPI. Data extracted from the December 2011’s CPI report is using year 2009 as the base period, which is derived from a Household Expenditure Survey.As Singapore inflation rates are published monthly, the Singapore Government is preventing bad or fictional speculations of future inflation. [pic] Source: Department of Statistic Singapore, 2012 Below table showing partial data of Singapore CPI December 2011 |FOOD |2,205 | |HOUSING |2, 548 | |Accommodation |2,002 | |Fuel & utilities 357 | |Household durables |189 | |TRANSPORT |1,553 | |Private road transport |1,166 | |Public road transport |366 | |Other travel & transport |21 | |Source: Department of Statistic Singapore, 2012 |MAS inflation MAS’ core inflation is stated as a smaller amount than the CPI inflation in this article. This difference is due to MAS monitoring a core inflation measure that excludes components of â€Å"Accommodation† and â€Å"Private road transport†. Private road transport Data from Department of Statistic Singapore states that the overall inflation of transport increased 10% from last year’s December with a detailed 12. 2% increment for the sub category â€Å"Private road transport†. Singapore Government controls the number of vehicles on the island via placing a quota on COE.In mid October 2011, the Singapore Government announced that the annual growth rate will be decreased smoothly until end of 2014 as vehicles population is growing faster than the government’s vehicle growth rate (Tony Ng, 2011). With the sharp increase in COE premiums in June and July 2011 (MAS, 2012), car prices surged, therefore defining the 12. 2% increment in â€Å"Private road transport†. As COE supply is tight, private road transport costs will remain firm. Hence, contribution to the increased inflation is not entirely from private road transport, but from the other main â€Å"fixed† basket, Accommodation.Accommodation Singapore’s economy recovered fast unexpectedly, this is good news but with backlash as Singapore’s infrastructure programmes could not keep pace, causing shortage in the housing program (Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, 2011). Since property cooling measures were introduced by the government in year 2010, properties firms claimed that the number of deals closed have dropped by 30% compared to a year ago (PropertyWire, 2011). One of the new measures is th at home owners being required to sell off their flats first before qualifying to the higher bank loan of 80% of next purchasing flat’s value.Most sellers prefer buy first, then sell (Eugene Lim, 2011), causing them to disqualify from the higher loan and only facing with the maximum 60% loan from the banks. Now they have to produce 40% of purchasing flat value from their own cash. With such conditions, sellers are commanding higher cash premiums or cash over valuation (COV) resulting in more expensive or inflated resale flats. On the other hand, people who turn away from resale flats, with factor from the supplies of new flats that are slow in completion, are looking into rental accommodation.The other new cooling measurement the government has introduced is the Minimum Occupation Period (MOP). It is defined that flats can be only being rented out after five years, increased from the previous one to three years period. As more Singaporeans and other people in Singapore are loo king for completed dwellings, the inflation in accommodation is caused by high demand and low supply. Recommendation [pic] Supply and Demand Graph Source: Irena Asmundson, 2010. Demand and supply curves are charted as shown above.As prices rises, suppliers are willing to produce more and consumers buying less (Irena Asmendson, 2010). In addition, the demand for accommodation is high and the supply is low, Singapore accommodation’s price has inflated. To solve this increasing demand and shortage of accommodation, Singapore government has been producing more HDB apartments. From the key statistic from the Housing and Development Board, there are 43,030 apartments under construction in the fiscal year of 2010/2011, a 20. 8% increased from the previous fiscal year.A huge increase of 68. 6% apartments completed from the previous year further reinstate the government’s effort to lower the shortage of accommodation, but the total bookings for new flats are 17,419, less than h alf the number of apartments under construction. This difference can be defined as a huge number of unsold or surplus apartments as HDB in the market. If this is to be true, the huge number of unsold apartment will lower the prices, causing suppliers to produce less and consumers buying more. ConclusionSingapore CPI inflation rate in December is hugely contributed from the factor of accommodation and private road transport. In conclusion, the increased COE premiums and accommodation shortage can the detailed explanation. The Singapore government has been doing readjustment in the property market and private road transport. With introduction of new cooling measures and building of more new apartments, the government can curb or lowered the accommodation inflation rate. Inclusion with the huge surplus of unsold apartment, the accommodation inflation rate can be lowered to with the demand and supply law.Word count: 932 References Michael Parkin, 2009. Economics. 10th edition. Pearson A ddison Wesley Department of Statistic Singapore (2012, January 25). Singapore Consumer Price Index December 2011. Department of Statistic Singapore. Retrieved from http://www. singstat. gov. sg/news/news/cpidec2011. pdf [Accessed 6 February 2012] Matthew Bishop (2004, April). Economics A-Z. The Economist. Retrieved from http://www. economist. com/economics-a-to-z/i#node-21529397 [Accessed 6 February 2012] Monetary Authority of Singapore (2011, December 8).Recent Economic Developments in Singapore. Monetary Authority of Singapore. Retrieved from http://www. mas. gov. sg/resource/eco_research/eco_dev_ana/Recent_Economic_Developments. pdf [Accessed 7 February 2012] Tony Ng (2011, October 19). COE premiums hit record hit. AsiaOne Motoring. Retrieved from http://www. asiaone. com/Motoring/News/Story/A1Story20111019-305931. html [Accessed 8 February 2012] Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (2011, August 14). National Day Rally 2011. Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore. Retrieved from ht tp://www. pmo. gov. g/content/pmosite/mediacentre/speechesninterviews/primeminister/2011/August/Prime_Minister_Lee_Hsien_Loongs_National_Day_Rally_2011_Speech_in_English. html [Accessed 8 February 2012] Property Wire (2011, October 10). PropertyWire, Asia. Shortage or resale flats driving up prices in Singapore. Retrieved from http://www. propertywire. com/news/asia/singapore-real-estate-shortage-201110105661. html [Accessed 8 February 2012] Irena Asmundson (2010, June). Finance and Development. Back to Basic: Supply and Demand. Retieved from http://www. imf. org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2010/06/basics. htm [Accessed 9

Friday, September 27, 2019

The origins of modern dance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The origins of modern dance - Essay Example Modern dance form allowed for self-expression and allowed the dancer to design ones own steps and sequences (Dance Tutor, 2009). While these dance forms were invented in USA, the dancers were not very well received in USA and they had to travel to Europe where the audience was much more appreciative. Up till 1927, modern dance was regarded more as a form of curiosity and not taken seriously with audiences in US, booing away the dancers. Many in the audience could not accept a female dancer making pelvic thrusts repeatedly. In the great depression, modern dance was found to be ideal to represent the economic troubles that the people faced and gradually more people practiced it. Learning it did not require great expense and one could dance bare feet and wearing street clothes. Gradually, modern dance and its various forms were adapted into movies, musicals, and the classical dance form of ballet faded into the background. Modern dance grew into various sub forms such as Postmodern, Contemporary, Expressionist, Salsa, Reggaeton, Modern Jive, Hip Hop, Street dance and many more (Dance Tutor, 2009). Lester Horton, born in who lived from 1906 till 1953 was one of the founders of American modern dance. He was a skilled choreographer who invented a number of creative and innovative styles of dancing. Lester took to dancing at a young age and combined ballet, native American dance, art and the stage to create a unique form of dancing. He initially danced and participated in a number of dance pageants that were held in different cities and also collaborated with a number of other choreographers and dancers. He danced and partnered with artists such as Michio Ito from Japan and he continued to promote and popularise modern dance among a wide section of the population. In those days, ballet was considered as the accepted dance form and all other dance forms including modern dance were regarded with

Thursday, September 26, 2019

The city 'Istanbul' Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The city 'Istanbul' - Essay Example Turkey has a distinguished history and culture that tourists may learn about in their visit to this precious country and especially Istanbul city. The history of Istanbul dates back to the prehistoric times where about 300,000 years ago, Istanbul gave her land for settlement in the Yarimburgaz cave near Kuck Cekmece lake (Istanbul guide, n.p.). Another interesting piece of history about Istanbul is the conquering of the city by Sultan Mehmet in 1453 (Istanbul guide, 1997). Recently, Istanbul bears the prestige of developing and implementing the modern city plans that have remarkable sites and effective transportation and housing. Having no congestion and traffic jams, Istanbul is considered as the city of time. Istanbul boasts of the fact that the historical Istanbul and present have remarkably close similarities in both architecture of the buildings and preservation of the old but elegant structures. Turkey has many elegant landmarks to see like the Beyazit Tower, City walls Galata tower among others. Istanbul also has beautiful parks such as Arboretum, Beykoz woods, Cekmece lakes and Emirgan woods among others. These parks will take a tourist to the state of peace and oneness with nature. In the past half, a century, Istanbul has experienced extensive swatches of urban hinterland build upon industry, housing and infrastructure projects (Bowden, 52). Istanbul is particularly colorful in terms of its culture and art. It is home to the music and opera festivals held annually since the Turkish government policy of the 1930s to institutionalize and teach performance of polyphonic music and opera (Wikipedia, n.p). Apart from the annual festivals, orchestras, concerts and jazz legends continue to entertain and display culture in theaters all year round. Istanbul is also famous for hosting international artists. The Pera museum has hosted exhibitions of the world’s famous artist and has a remarkable reputation. Apart from the Pera museum,

Marketing Management at Kelloggs Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Marketing Management at Kelloggs Company - Essay Example That’s why Kellogg makes sure that her products are of high quality and also likable to the customers. Marketing has constantly been seeking those points that customers are easily influenced. For decades, these points have been regarded through the allegory of a â€Å"funnel†Ã¢â‚¬â€ customers start with a variety of prospective brands at the funnel’s wide end. Marketing activities are then embarked on so as the customers reduce the number of brands to one of their choice. Each day, individuals form intuitions of products from â€Å"touch† points such as product experiences, advertisements, among others. However, the exposure may appear wasted unless active shopping is witnessed from the consumers. All in all, when the impulse to buy is triggered the initial-consideration set is shaped The initial-consideration set is methodically narrowed, as proposed by funnel correlation, when the customers think about the available options, make judgment, and acquire products. Subsequently, the post sale stage turns into a trial era that determines customer loyalty and the possibility of purchasing the product for the second time. Pushing marketing towards the customers at every phase of the funnel progression has been the goal of every marketer. This is in an attempt to persuade their buying behaviour (Porter 1998). Earlier on, companies used to drive marketing by pushing on customers through direct marketing, traditional advertising, and other channels. At each stage in the funnel, as customers carved down their brand alternatives, marketers would try to influence their decisions. This inexact approach habitually failed to reach the consumer effectively. Making long term and continued relationships with the customer is refereed to as relationship marketing. Kellogg’s should take the opportunity of converting the sales of Coco Pops Choc N Roll Cereal into productive (long-tem) relationship

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

SYLVIA LAVIN too much information Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

SYLVIA LAVIN too much information - Essay Example It creates situations whereby most of the artists become uncomfortable because curators use non-art materials to explain art. In fact, most of the artists consider such approaches as anticritical and dictatorial. Lavin agrees that curators are increasingly replacing artists in art exhibitions because of the dominant use of non-art material to explain art (Lavin 2). I agree with the issues Lavin raises in the article because contemporary art lacks a standard principle or ideology. An increasing number of art organizers are claiming ownership of art materials that they present in exhibitions. Contemporary artists have allowed themselves to be used by organizers of art exhibitions. In fact, most of the contemporary artists have little interest in displaying their work. Rather, they are interested in selling their ideas to the highest bidder thus compromising their position in the world of arts. Consequently, contemporary artists have converted organizers into artists. Organizers who manipulate artists and present the works of these artists as their own are currently dominating contemporary art. It is no wonder that organizers are dominating contemporary art

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Joseph Papp(Theatrical Producer) Research Paper

Joseph Papp(Theatrical Producer) - Research Paper Example At the age of twelve years, Papp had already learned a gig as a soprano boy at a Sephardic synagogue in Brooklyn. Since then, he developed an interest in theatre, and to him intolerance was a greater threat than poverty (Horn 21). He was also the pioneer of the New York Shakespeare Festival and the public Theatre and he was the most important person in the American theatre during the second phase of the 20th century. Although he was not so good a student in academic work, Joseph Papp went to the Actors Laboratory Theatre College, which was situated in Hollywood where he studied acting and directing from the year 1946 to 1948. With the help of his teachers, he was able to feel a strong urge for Shakespeare (Horn 23). This made him to get a position as an assistant stage director of the national touring company of an Arthur Millers â€Å"Death of a salesman,† (Ullom, 24) two years after graduating from the Actors Laboratory Theatre. He started the New York Shakespeare Festival a fter working for closely to two years as an assistant director for the CBS in New York City. The New York Festival that he started became so different organization from other theatrical institutions in that it was able to provide free and unrestricted presentations and performances of Shakespeare’s dramas across different places within the New York City, comprising the outdoor production at the Central Park. When the company was given the Delacorte Theatre as their lasting base, JosephPapp worked for a long time with little pay just to make sure that he established the festival by remaining the decision maker of the festival while producing and directing most of the dramas and plays by himself (Epstein 33). Papp later started again the New York Shakespeare Festival Public Theatre, in 1967, whose primary function was to look upon modern and tentative dramas. The majority of its productions in the end travelled to

Monday, September 23, 2019

Weekly Journal #5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Weekly Journal #5 - Essay Example o focus on individuals and inner desires or feelings that shape behaviors as Cognitive Behavioral Theory remain to concentrate on how human cognitions affect their behaviors. Another key point learnt from the weeks reading is that Psychoanalysis constitutes the theory used by first family therapists. As demonstrated by Nichols (2013), many other theories and approaches to family therapy followed or developed from Psychoanalysis. From the perspectives of an experienced counselor, the frameworks of Psychoanalysis and Cognitive Behavioral Theory are not much apart. This means that it is easier to merge and manipulate the two techniques subsequently in treating a family. As explained by Nichols (2013), Psychoanalysis theory concerns with self-psychology and object relations theory to detail how people relate to each other, underlying expectations in every relationship and how fulfillment or failure affects emotions and behaviors of individuals. Simply interpreted, Psychoanalysis investigates how human relationships affect their self-understanding and emotions. Cognitive Behavioral Theory on the other hand generally emphasizes the need for attitudinal change to maintain change in behavior (Nichols, 2013). Again, this technique seems to center on emotions and inner desires of individuals as elements to regulate to cause positive and functional behaviors that maintain family dynamics. From the understanding, a cou nselor can just combine and merge the two techniques in treating a family. This will help to focus on individuals and families at relevant times as suites therapist’s strategies and goals. One of the insights that this week readings have elicited is that Psychoanalytic Theory and Cognitive Behavioral Theory share significant attributes with Experiential and Strategic Theories of family therapy. this is insight is due to fact that when deeply analyzed, the focus of the theories end at understanding emotions and inner desires of individuals, and their effects

Sunday, September 22, 2019

In a book written by Goldscheider Essay Example for Free

In a book written by Goldscheider Essay Studying the Jewish Future, the author revealed the reasons for the unexpected results, that instead of a vanishing race, the reality is that of a thriving community. And the explanation can be broken down into the following: 1. Conversion – It is surprising to find out that a considerable number of non-Jewish spouse opted to be converted to Judaism. It must be noted though that the said conversion may be formal or informal but true conversion is rather marked by a following community norms and values. 2. Acceptance – the Jewish community is now more open to the idea of intermarriage and this has resulted in a more openness which predictably made it easier for non-Jewish spouse to get exposed to Jewish ways. 3. Deliberate Outreach – the Jewish community and its institutions are forced to reach out to intermarried couples and by doing so encouraged non-Jews to be respect their beliefs and for some a desire to be counted as Jews. Ambivalence There is a dramatic change in perception and outlook that resulted in an improvement in how the Jewish community in general is treating intermarried couples. Still, the Jewish faith would never have reached its current position, a survivor of the Holocaust and many other forms of persecution without creating a defense mechanism that ensured the survival not only of its lineage but also of its beliefs and customs. It is this defense mechanism that made it hard for other to jump on the â€Å"accept the intermarried couples bandwagon† and prevented some to see the possibilities not only in finding a novel way of thriving in a modern society like America but also a novel way of finding new converts. In one extreme, intermarriage is one valid form of proselytizing whose impact is not yet fully measured. But as mentioned earlier, not everyone is convinced that the time has come for the Jews to fully open its house to the Gentiles. Bayme and Rosen provided an example of this ambivalence when they cited the popular Mordecai Kaplan who at one point encouraged intermarriages: Jews must meet all situations that might lead to mixed marriages, not fearfully or grudgingly, but in the spirit of encountering an expected development †¦ With a belief in the integrity and values of his own civilization, the Jewish partner to the marriage cold †¦ make Judaism the civilization of the home†¦ And yet two years later the same person said: Since Jews are a minority and Judaism is exposed to tremendous disintegrative forces from non-Jewish environment †¦ it cannot approve of uncontrolled intermarriage with non-Jews. If however, a non-Jew who desire to marry a Jew, after studying what is involved in being a Jew and what are the principles and practices of Judaism, he should be given every encouragement and should be welcomed into the Jewish community (Kaplan, as qtd. in Bayme Rosen, 1994, p. 268). Conclusion After thousands of years since God has declared them the â€Å"chosen people† the Jews continue to struggle and to find their place in the world. Every generation is pressured to find ways to pass on what they have received from their ancestors to the next generation of Jews. Each time the baton is passed the more it becomes more difficult to continually display integrity, commitment, and consistency. Just like other ancient religions, Judaism is finding it extremely difficult to solve the dilemma of identity and relevance. The present generation can enforce and strengthen their spiritual identity and dig deep into their past to find that old familiar path that will lead them to their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. But every time they struggle to keep their ancient traditions and beliefs together they risk losing their relevance to a fast evolving world. This is especially true in America; the world’s most advanced and most powerful nation. As a result the new generation of Jews are abandoning ancient traditions and exchanging it with new ideas. But this is just a part of a bigger problem. What they are most concern about is the marriage of Jews to non-Jews or interfaith marriages. As mentioned in the introduction part of this paper, the Jews can directly trace their lineage to an ancient people, the Israelites, children of Jacob. A long time ago, they co-existed with ancient people groups but they are the only fortunate ones to have survived the passage of time. It can even be argued that they are the only surviving, direct descendants of ancient tribes. This made them a special group. A fact that is not lost in the collective psyche of the Jewish people. This ability to survive against all odds does not come without a price. They have developed a sort of defense mechanisms against the â€Å"melting pot† effect of the world. The world is like one giant sponge of conformity, sucking them in to make them conform to popular trends and standards. The Jewish people, for thousands of years were able to resist that pull. They have their strict diet, their festivals, their rituals, and their traditions that must be strictly followed wherever they are. Whether they are in the midst of prison, or in a land filled with racism they have to remember who they are and by doing all these things they have fought back extinction and remained a distinct people group. The Jewish race also has one major secret weapon and it is the implied rule that they should not marry non-Jews. At first glance it is easy to believe that they perpetuate this rule for the sake of practicality. It would be impossible for an outsider to keep up with their way of life unless one has learned of these things since early childhood. But a close look into this code of conduct reveals a religion that is so exacting that it sees intermarriage as a threat to the continuity of this particular group. For thousands of years they had succeeded in maintaining the status quo. Wherever they went they formed a close knit community of fellow believers that find support and strength from one another. The long history of persecution and anti-Semitism forced them to band close together as one family. It is understandable why for a long time outsiders are reluctant to penetrate their strong defenses so that they can get an idea as to what Judaism is all about. Moreover, anti-Semitism is a serious problem that strongly discourages a potential suitor from risking his life for someone that is as enigmatic as a Jewish girl. Everything went fine until after World War II. It seems that the Holocaust has placed the Jews in the limelight and not to discount also the successes of the Holocaust survivors in the field of finance and business that may well have contributed to their fame in the international stage. Another factor is the settling of Jews in America, first coming in droves as refugees and then finally establishing a place they can call home. In the New World the Jewish community was able to thrive in an environment where anti-Semitism is denounced as something belonging to a bygone era. Then an unexpected thing happened. The lessening of anti-Semitism no doubt changed the way Americans see the Jews. In short Jewish men and women became desirable in the eyes of modern day Gentiles. And since they are in the land of the free, the new generation of Jews can find nothing wrong in interfaith marriages. But for the elders, especially communal leaders have a different perspective. They are perhaps remnants of that era where Jews are considered as the persecuted one in Europe and in many parts of the world. It may have been a difficult notion to entertain for these old folks – that a Jew can finally live with a non-Jew and yet retain its identity and continue practicing their faith. They cannot see the gray area, only the black and white shades that says either one is fully committed Jew, focused on his religious duties or none at all. Moreover, the increasing rate of intermarriages was seen as a black-eye for the Jewish community. They interpret it as a growing weakness in the institution that teaches Jewish beliefs and traditions. It was also interpreted as rebellion towards parents and to their way of life. In modern times, there are researchers like Goldscheider who contends that the elders made a fundamental error in judgment. He argues that the reason for the negative assessment of intermarriage is a wrong perspective. He hastens to say that if the elders and the whole Jewish community can see what intermarriage is doing to the community in general then they will be more open to the idea of intermarriage. Firs of all, intermarriages are means for increasing the number of Jews in America. This is because studies have found a significant percentage of non-Jews willing to learn more about the Judaism, willing to let their children grow up as followers of Judaism and in many instances non-Jews are getting converted formally or informally. Goldscheider warns though that in order for this new trend to be a source of joy for communal leaders and elders they need to have a paradigm shift. They no longer have to limit their idea â€Å"Jewishness† on the basis of birth but they must be willing to accept that a true Jew is not someone with a direct lineage to the ancient people found in the Jewish Bible, but they are people who are in love with Jewish customs and tradition and that they are eager to lead their children in following their lifestyle. For Goldscheider this is what 21st century needs and for him this is what intermarriage brings to the Jewish experience. Works Cited Bayme, Steven. Jewish Arguments and Counterarguments. New Jersey: KTAV Publishing House, 2002. Bayme, Steven Gladys Rosen. The Jewish Family and Jewish Contiunity. New Jersey: KTAV Publishing, 1994. Goldscheider, Calvin. Are American Jews Vanishing Again? Ed. Put Name of Editor of the book article was taken from. Place of Publication: Publisher, year of publication. _____________________. Studying the Jewish Future. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 2004. Jewish Bible. Retrieved 13 November 2007 from http://www. breslov. com/bible/Joshua3. htm#3 Shapiro, Edward. A Time for Healing: American Jewry Since World War II. MA: The John Hopkins Press, 1992. Sklare, Marshall. Understanding American Jewry. New Jersey: Transaction Books, 1982.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Blade Runner And Fifth Element Cityscapes Film Studies Essay

Blade Runner And Fifth Element Cityscapes Film Studies Essay Blade runner greets the viewer with a fascinating opening scene where the camera hovers over a vast industrial mega polis called Hades. The year is 2020 and overpopulated Hades is trying to reinforce itself. The place is filled with corroded skyscrapers which shoot flame and gases into the environment creating a sense of hazy and polluted atmosphere. Also, in this shot and in subsequent shots flying cars, called spinners, are seen moving around the cityscape. The entire Hades cityscape was a forced perspective miniature set with larger miniature elements in the foreground which get smaller and smaller as we approach the horizon. Special photographic effects supervisor Douglas Trumbull and his crew constructed the whole set on a plywood table which was about 20 feet wide at the back and 5 feet wide in the front. The actual horizon on the screen is just 15 feet away from the camera. They designed the table according the focal length of the camera, which provided them the base in accordance to field of view of the camera. This sort of careful planning enabled them to build the miniatures just inside the field of view without wasting valuable production time and money. Chief model maker Mark Stetson relied primarily on etched brass cutouts as elements to create buildings in the shot. But because these cutouts were two-dimensional, they had to stack a number of them together and stagger them across randomly to create depth in the whole shot. states that by using this technique Trumbull was soon posed with a problem: But as we got into putting the thing together, we realized quickly that the etched metal stuff would have given away the trick if wed use it too close to the foreground. They overcame this by building foam cast models and put them in the foreground. Those models were highly detailed and separately mounted using C-Stands. They were positioned carefully so that the camera could fly right in between creating depth. Another hurdle was creating the atmospherics in the cityscape. Director Ridley Scott wanted smoke and haze in the distant background to add to the drama of the whole scene. Douglas Trumbull created this effect using studio fans and smoke detectors. He first contained the set using black cloth all around it and set up the smoke detectors to trigger the fans. So when they fed smoke into the contained set, fans powered up and pushed the smoke around creating a natural progression of smoke in the environment. Describing his perception of the Hades cityscape, Mark Stetson states: I just had this scheme, I just wanted to do it as a series of silhouette and smoke. I wanted the smoke to really be the light and the light to light it up. Everything about that miniature had to be lights. The way light was used in this shot to create volumetric effects and reflections played a major role making it look real and credible. About 20,000 fiber optic cables (about 7 miles long) were used to light the Hades cityscape. The light cables were threaded up from beneath the plexi glass, on which the brass etched cutouts were mounted. They also mixed and experimented with a lot of interactive lights like axial, blinking, etc which created variety and helped improve the overall aesthetics of the shot. The flying cars (spinners) were a central impression throughout Blade Runner. Model maker Gene Winfield made four scale versions of the spinners, ranging from an inch to a gigantic forty-four inch long model, for different shots. Each model had its own light rig which could be tweaked to match the lighting of the shot. In order to integrate the cars into the shot, they had to shoot them as separate elements in four different passes and later on put them in using optical methods. Flying car model moves were created by Baker and McHugh using a Universal Hartland motion control unit. It is a hybrid method where they program simple motions like track and tilt and later on manually chart other controls such as pan, pitch, roll, etc. This enabled them to have a greater control over the placement and path of the move. For every spinner movement a corresponding matte was created to help composite it onto the environment. They created the mattes using front lit technique where the spinners were photographed as white shapes on a black background instead of vice versa. They shifted to the alternate in order to avoid the streaks caused by the motion control rig while shooting the mattes. discusses about the insertion of the spinners against the Hades cityscape: One of the most challenging aspects of the optical involvement was the insertion of spinners and other miniature elements into appropriately smoke-laden background plates-without having them come out looking like cutouts After great deal of testing and experimentation special photographic effects supervisor David Dryer got around this issue by generating a balance between the holdout and cover mattes. They are then lined up separately using the EEG system and fit onto the spinners onto the backplanes. In an establishing shot of New York cityscape in Fifth Element, female lead Milla Jovovich who was reconstructed from an alien DNA escapes from the lab and exits onto a narrow window ledge hundreds of floors above the ground. In consecutive shot, New York City in the year 2259 is portrayed as a towering urbanscape with huge buildings and heavy flying traffic. The lanes are parallel as if they were on a grid with old mid-fifties architecture all along and they extended until the horizon. states that Director Luc Besson vision was to show the 23rd century New York City in full detail and broad daylight unlike Blade Runner which is more dark. To produce this effect Special visual effects supervisor Mark Stetson used model photographs in conjunction with 2-D Matte paintings. Explaining about why they opted to not use computer generated imagery for the cityscape states that Mark Stetson states : We could have done it entirely in the computer but as large as Digital Domain is, with its several terabytes of disk space and hundreds of CPUs, there was still a practical limit. A totally CG New York would have been prohibitive in terms of time, storage space and processing power. For that reason, we chose to construct a big set of models. Stetson now made use of the advancement in technology which was missing back then when he was working on Blade Runner. He used computer pre-visualization and prepared models in different levels of details based on the camera lens, motion path, proximity of the miniature to the camera, etc. For the cityscape shot, about twenty-five buildings 25 feet high and above were built. Several CAD and town planning artists were invited to make plans for the layout of the city and the miniatures were placed accordingly. This helped them make the illusion of the vast mega polis more real and believable. To create a more natural look of sunlight hitting the vast cityscape, Supervising director of photography , Bill Neil developed a new technique called Fractured Sunlight which is a hybrid of direct and indirect illumination. They used a strong light source from one direction to mimic the sunlight which caused a lot of shadows on the other side. To minimize the effect, they had to use reflectors and spotlights to create an illusion of light bouncing back on the darker areas on the buildings. In order to add depth in the shot, they separated the cityscape into different parts with their respective mattes and then added atmospheric effects and made changes to the overall lighting. Also, they relied heavily on 2-D matte paintings to mix and create the effect of endless row of buildings which ultimately imposed depth in the shot. Flying cars were the crucial element in cityscape shot which left viewers in awe. Stetson initially planned to use miniatures for the effect. But due to development of technology, an effective CG pipeline was generated which allowed them to move to computer generated imagery. They first created primitive models of cars and rough patterns of the traffic flow to pre-visualize the shot. In order to distinguish between the traffic at various levels of the city, Digital effects supervisor Karen E. Goulekas created a weave pattern where traffic would travel in different directions at different levels. In order to create variation among the pattern of traffic flow, they keyed the cars to move at different speeds and stop at random points. Also variation of color and nature of the cars was accomplished by using special Renderman shaders. These programmed shaders allowed the artists to quickly tweak and create new variations of models easily. Once the traffic flow and detailing of the vehicles is completed, they would then run a script which replaced all the dummy models with fully detailed ones which they would then send for final rendering. Compositing supervisors Jonathan Egstad and Bryan Grill then carefully planned the allocation of resources which finally enabled them to generate the effects work in time. They used compositing packages (mainly Nuke, Flame, etc) to put together all the elements. Finally, color corrections and grading was done to complete generating the final imagery for the shot.