Sunday, January 26, 2020

Genres of Films Topic

Genres of Films Topic Film is an art. Just as the art itself, Film has a complex range of departments. Therefore, learning the classification of the film is definitely the first key for the learning of the film. The genre can also be called type or kind, which is used in the film culture. For example, film production, the popular consumption, the reception of films and etc (Langford, 2005). In the movie world, there are many different types of movies and there are many film classifications. There are a lot of controversies about genres of films, which can be categorized in many ways. For example, in the aspect of the content of the film, there are action, comedy, crime, horror and etc. And also the concept of the genre of films is vague, which means that there is no definite boundaries between two kinds of genres and boundaries of the genre of films are shifting. For example, there are action comedy, comedy horror, military comedy, and etc. The Back-Up Plan is a funny movie. In the beginning of the film, a desperate girl named Zoe wants nothing more than to meet the man who she loves and have a happy family with somebody. And the desire to have a family is more and more strong. Having dated for several years without any result, Zoe decides to solve the problem herself and fulfill her wishes by getting inseminated artificially. On that very day, on which she gets inseminated, along comes the man of her dreams, Stan. Stan is a cheese selling farmer. Hes a handsome young man and he is very charming. The two nice persons fall in love with each other quickly. After learning that Zoe is pregnant, Stan is a little hesitated and amazing. But after some serious considering, he is still willing to help her raise this kid who isnt his actually. They live together for nine months and finally have a baby of their own. The genre of The Back-Up Plan. According to the current classification of the most mainstream, there are adventure, animation, comedy, horror, crime, documentary, drama, musical, romance and etc. For example, adventure is a type of movie hard to explain literally, such as a personal biography or a legend. And some movie is a description of an event, which also belongs to the genre of adventure. Crime can be regarded as a big genre in American movies, which is a popular genre, such as the Godfather series, Pulp Fiction and so on. In these genres, The Back-Up Plan belongs to comedy. Comedy is generally exaggerated and it always has clever structure, witty lines and comic character. In The Back-Up Plan, during the first meet of Zoe and Stan, their lines are very funny. And the leading actressÂÂ  herself is an interesting woman. In comedy, the beautiful idea of life will always be affirmed. In The Back-Up Plan, Zoes desire for a family or a baby is fulfilled at last. Conflicts in comedy tend to be solved more lively and a perfect circle will be achieved. And also comedy films often reveal our social values and some preoccupations in our daily life (Lopez, 2000). When Stan knows that Zoe has a baby, Stan is confused and they have some quarrels. But after his considering, his love for her is more firm. Later, Zoe is not sure about Stans love and she is afraid of his leaving. However, through a wedding of her mother, she goes back to Stan. These problems are solved much easier, which is the characteristic of c omedy. Finally, like other comedies, Stan and Zoe have a perfect circle. Referring to the dimensions of genre, there are Iconography, Industry practice, Audience expectation, Ideology and myth. In the aspect of iconography, the setting of the film is peoples daily life. The character of the film is a woman left on the shelf, who is funny and brave. And then the theme of it is romantic love. Concerning the industry practice, the location of audience of The Back-Up Plan can be regarded as these older women left and it is a typical Hollywood film. The third dimension of genre of films is audience expectation. In the film, the life of Zoe sometimes seems a mess while it makes the audience laugh. Whether the audience is an old woman left or not, he or she will be interested in the strange life order of Zoe. Then the last dimension is genre and myth. From the aspect of theory and other three dimensions, the genre of The Back-Up Plan is romantic comedy. Comedy can be roughly divided into two types: the romantic comedy and satirical comedy. Satirical comedies often take current events as the theme of the film, which always concern the social and political problems by the authors humor writing style. The back-Up Plan is funny and a bit touching. To say in this regard, The Back-Up Plan is a romantic comedy. Romantic comedy often uses the topics like love stories. The plot forward of the story is often organized by some misunderstanding and clarifying (King, 2002). By the conflicts between Stan and Zoe and their clarifying, The Back-Up Plan tells people that it is very important to trust your partner who loves you and also you love and to accept the things he or she does. It is a feel good movie, which lets the women of the world believe that there are still some good men out there. And the other characteristic of the film is that the crazy and tough time that women experience during a pregnancy is presented. These features all prove th at The Back-Up Plan is a romantic comedy. Analysis on Journey to the Center of the Earth. Introduction of Journey to the Center of the Earth. Trevor is a geologist, whose brother, Max believed that the center of the Earth could be reached through the volcanic tubes and disappeared on a mysterious expedition. One day, Trevor is inspired by a password in a previous letter. Accompanied by his nephew, Trevor conducts an expedition to travel through the center of the earth. Before the process, they meet Hannah, who they find living in Maxs former research headquarters near the volcano he was investigating. They drop down from a crater of Iceland. Then in the expedition, they fall very frequently, and very far. However, no matter how frequently or how far they fall, they will land without injury. They always remain remarkably optimistic. They believe that there must be a way out of there. Overcoming all kinds of difficulties, like water shortage, lost, storm, they succeed to come back to the ground from a volcano of the westbound island. The genre of Journey to the Center of the Earth. The genre of Journey to the Center of the Earth is an adventure film. In adventure films, the characters always have some new experiences, which are often exciting or dangerous (Taves, 1993). The themes of adventure films include travels, conquests, expeditions, dangerous situations that the main characters encounter, some actual historical figures, and etc. The setting of Journey to the Center of the Earth is an adventure fanatic. In a rather short time, people have conquered the source of the Nile, the Sahara, Africa, North and South poles and the untouched wilderness on the earth becomes less and less. On the other hand, science and technology, especially archeology and geology have got an unprecedented development. The setting decides that the genre of the film is adventure. The character in the film, Trevor is a curious and clever man, which predicts that he will try his best to find out the cause of his brothers death. And because of his curiosity and wisdom, the journey must be a successful one. And then the audience location can be regarded as these who like risking and expediting. The theme of the film is to prove a new theory about the earth. During the expedition, they encounter many adventures, including prehistoric animals and natural hazards. The plot of the film has many ups and downs. The romantic and science imagination takes the audience into a fantasy world beyond space and time. Also it can be seen that adventure films are similar to action films, which shows that the boundary between two genres is shifting and become vague (Brode, 2003). Journey to the Center of the Earth is designed to be active and the characters have energetic experience, which makes the film is similar to action films. Conclusion. Today the genre of films is more and more complex and the boundary between two genres is more and more vague. The full understanding of the genre of films helps people understand and comprehend these film works better and more objectively. At first, the article makes a brief introduction about the genre of films. And then the article focuses on comedy films and adventure films by analyzing the two films, the Back-Up Plan and Journey to the Center of the Earth, which will result in a deeper understanding of comedy films and adventure films.

Saturday, January 18, 2020

HRMG Midterm Essay

When a company experiences a financial setback of the magnitude that More Beer, Incorporated had after its failed venture into internet marketing, it sometimes becomes necessary to reduce the workforce in order to mitigate the losses. The Human Resources (HR) Department faced a very difficult decision in choosing whom to fire, as there was a potential for legal action with each of the five candidates presented for possible termination. In addition, many of the candidates also had personality traits or issues in their personal lives that could have contributed to the decision. In the ending analysis, however, one must remember that More Beer, Incorporated is a business, and the personnel decisions made herein must first serve the best interest of the company, not the individual. Therefore, after careful consideration, the HR Department has concluded that the best way for the company to survive the economic downturn is to terminate three of the five employees and internally transfer the other two, according to the following recommendation, effective at the start of the pay cycle three weeks from Monday. Terminations The three individuals recommended for termination will all receive a severance package equal to one week’s salary for every year of service to the company, plus additional pay and benefits noted below. Each individual will be required to sign a waiver that releases More Beer, Incorporated, from any future claims against the company regarding their termination. The employees will be given 45 days from the date of notification to consider their respective severance packages. All three employees will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement that stipulates they are not to divulge any proprietary information they may have acquired during their employment with More Beer, Incorporated. Mike Williams Mike Williams’ employment is recommended for termination because his particular area of expertise involves maintaining the computer systems which will be obsolete when that segment of the company closes. Therefore, his skills will no longer be an asset to the company. His above average productivity, excellent attendance, and educational background indicate a strong work ethic that will be an asset to another organization. A Letter of Recommendation stating as much will accompany his severance package. In addition, Mr. Williams will receive all of his accrued sick leave, vacation, and holiday pay. In terms of post termination litigation, the company must ensure it is in compliance with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act as it pertains to race, as Mr. Williams is of Asian descent, and he may allege that his strong accent was a reason for his termination. In Fragante v. City and County of Honolulu, the appellate court determined that â€Å"[a]n adverse employment decision may be predicated upon an individual’s accent when – but only when – it interferes materially with job performance† (Twomey, 2013, p. 450). Although other employees complained they had difficulty understanding his heavily-accented English, Mr. Williams’ primary job was with maintaining computers, which has no requirement for oral communications. Accordingly, this argument should hold as a successful defense against both a disparate treatment and disparate impact claim, should Mr. Williams choose to pursue either of those allegations of unlawful employment discrimination. Phillip Price Phillip Price is also recommended for termination on the appointed effective date. The only positive contribution he made to the company was in the programming area, which is being eliminated. Mr. Price is an average performer, with an attendance record showing that he was absent nearly 43 percent of the time he was scheduled to work in the past two months. His overall track record is average. His supervisors have documented all of these performance items. There is no apparent benefit to transferring him elsewhere in the company, especially since Mr. Price mentioned he feels he has been treated differently after recently announcing that he is homosexual. Mr. Price will likely argue his termination is a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act as it pertains to sex. He may also claim disparate treatment or disparate impact. Title VII does not contain specific language protecting against discrimination based on homosexuality, as both the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the courts â€Å"have determined that the word sex as used in Title VII means a person’s gender and not a person’s sexual orientation† (Twomey, 2013, p. 427). Still, in Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc. , the Supreme Court found that sex discrimination consisting of same-sex harassment is actionable under Title VII. To have a claim under Title VII, Mr. Price would have to allege that his termination was solely based on â€Å"sex, † thus bringing his case within the precedent set by Oncale. More Beer, Incorporated is an at-will employer, which means it is â€Å"free to terminate the relationship with or without cause,† (Twomey, 2013, p. 598), so his argument will be moot. Mr. Price will receive the severance package that consists of one week of pay for every year of service to the company. He had used all of his sick leave, annual and holiday leave, and so will not receive any additional pay. Sally James Sally James is the third employee recommended for termination. While she is a very popular employee, and has longevity with the company, neither of those factors contributed to the company’s bottom line. Her productivity and performance were very good, but they were in a segment of the company that failed overall. Ms. James’ age, 55, puts her in a protected class, so the company must be wary of potential violations of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA). The company can use the â€Å"reasonable factors other than age† (RFOA) provision (Twomey, 2013, p. 536) as an affirmative defense of these claims. Because Ms. James has been with the company for twenty years, the company is going to offer her an early retirement package that will include the standard severance offer of one week basic pay for every year of service to the company. In addition, she will be offered stock options in the company, enrollment in the company’s Tuition Assistance plan for her son for one full semester of college, and Social Security â€Å"bridge† payments until she reaches retirement eligibility age (Twomey, 2013. p. 546). Acceptance of the retirement package would require Ms. James to waive any future claims against the under ADEA in accordance with the requirements set forth in the Oubre v. Entergy Operations, Inc. These requirements would include: 1. The waiver is part of a written agreement. 2. It makes specific reference to rights or claims under the ADEA and may refer to Title VII and all other claims. 3. It does not apply to rights or claims that may occur after the agreement is signed. 4. It is exchanged for value that is in addition to what the employee would otherwise be entitled to receive. 5. The employee is given written advice from the employer to consult with an attorney. 6. The employee is given a 21-day waiting period to consider the agreement and a 7-day period to revoke the agreement. (Twomey, 2013, p. 548) Transfers The remaining two individuals on the list will be transferred to positions within the company effective immediately. They will retain their current salaries and seniority in the company. Margaret Jones Margaret Jones will be transferred to the Sales Department. Although the internet sales concept for More Beer, Incorporated was a failure overall, Ms. Jones’ contributions were significant, and she has demonstrated that she is a dynamic salesperson who can contribute to the company’s profits. The decision to retain Ms. Jones was not made in any part because of her race and her affiliation with a local chapter of a civil rights group. To elect to retain or fire her based on her race or gender would be discriminatory, and would be in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act on the basis of race or sex. The fact that she is perceived to be a ladder climber, out only for herself, or not a team player, has no bearing on the success of the company, and therefore has no consideration in making this business decision. Jenny Smith Jenny Smith’s multi-lingual status has been a boon to the company’s global marketing efforts. Accordingly, she will be transferred to the Human Resources Department, Marketing and Public Relations Division. She will continue in that capacity if she chooses to return to work at the completion of her six weeks of maternity leave in compliance with the Family Medical Leave Act. That she is female and of Hispanic origin gives her protection under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The fact that she is currently pregnant puts her in a protected status under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Rehabilitation Act, and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. In order to make a reasonable accommodation to the disability of her morning sickness, the company will permit her to work from home as necessary, which will reduce her absenteeism and increase her productivity for the company. Conclusion The decision to fire a group of employees is never a popular one, and is rarely a pleasant task. The Vice President of Human Resources for More Beer, Incorporated performed a detailed analysis of the candidates, and makes the above recommendations with the company’s financial future as the primary basis for its decisions. Additionally, the HR Department had to consider potential legal ramifications of terminating these employees, even the ones who were ultimately retained. Finally, the profoundly distressing effects of terminations on the individuals were not lost, and every attempt has been made to mitigate the financial or professional impact wherever possible. References Twomey, D. (2013). Labor & employment law: Text & cases. (Fifteenth ed. ). Mason, OH: South-Western.

Friday, January 10, 2020

Braveheart Movie Report

Braveheart is a film directed by Mel Gibson which loosely portrays the life of William Wallace, a national hero in Scotland. In real life, Sir William Wallace was a Scottish knight who led the resistance against the English occupation of Scotland during significant periods of the Wars of Scottish Independence.While there are no accurate historical records that exist concerning the birth date and place of birth of Sir William Wallace, there are accounts of his exploits, one of the most memorable of these accounts is the mark of the beginning of this resistance movement for the independence of Scotland which was his killing of the son of the English governor of Dundee.The heroism of Sir William Wallace was such that it was the inspiration of historical novel The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, Knight of Elderslie written by the 15th century minstrel Blind Harry which was also attributed as the cause for the legend which surrounds Sir William Wallace. The onscreen portrayal of Si r William Wallace by Mel Gibson in the film Braveheart, according to critics, â€Å"has been somehow stretched to the limits that the silver screen can provide.† (Roger Ebert 1995) The famous cry for â€Å"freedom† in the movie is not as historically accurate as it is portrayed because the concept of personal freedom wasn’t widely celebrated during the era of Sir William Wallace. Another inconsistency of the movie with regard to the portrayal of Sir William Wallace lies in the battlefield strategy employed; there are no historical accounts of the 14th century Scotsmen burning the battlefield.Most of the characters in the movie, Sir William Wallace included, have been â€Å"glorified† to be able to properly manipulate the sentiment of onscreen audiences. Much of the portrayals tend to show only the glorious and benevolent sides and don’t reflect an accurate recount of the historical truths concerning the charact

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Critical Appraisal Of The Article A Tool For The...

Critical appraisal of the article A Tool for the Culturally Competent Assessment of Suicide: The Cultural Assessment of Risk for Suicide (CARS) Measure This is a critical appraisal of the article A Tool for the Culturally Competent Assessment of Suicide: The Cultural Assessment of Risk for Suicide (CARS) Measure with the purpose of improving my research and critical reading skills. Introduction I will methodically analyze all parts of the study to assess the validity of the article, by contrasting and comparing the information provided, with previous literature. I will try to make sure that recommendations provided by the authors are congruous with nursing practice and beneficial to the advancement of it. I will as much as possible provide in depth detail of previous studies on the same topic that either support or contradict the analysis provided by this study and its authors. Because I work in an hospital that cares for populations at great risk for substance abuse and untreated mental issues and disorders, I get to see patients that have, or at some time will try to commit suicide, I would like to take this opportunity to learn how to properly assess the community, to help those in need, and to educate their families and friends to look for, and recognize signs that can prevent suicides, toward this end, it is important that I have the necessary knowledge to assimilate the information in this study, in a manner that will provide greater benefit not only to myShow MoreRelatedFundamentals of Hrm263904 Words   |  1056 Pages With WileyPLUS: Students achieve concept mastery in a rich, structured environment that’s available 24/7 Instructors personalize and manage their course more effectively with assessment, assignments, grade tracking, and more manage time better study smarter save money From multiple study paths, to self-assessment, to a wealth of interactive visual and audio resources, WileyPLUS gives you everything you need to personalize the teaching and learning experience.  » F i n d o u t h ow t o MRead MoreIntroduction to Motivation16686 Words   |  67 Pagesbecoming an effective motivator, maintaining open lines of communication is a good start. 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