Arthur Conan Doyle reveals Holmes Essay

Examine how Arthur Conan Doyle reveals Holmes character and his relationship with the police. Sherlock Holmes was created by Conan-Doyle in 1887. When Arthur Conan-Doyle’s character, Sherlock Holmes surfaced, London in the era of Queen Victoria was an intriguing place to live. At this time, Victorian people feared crime greatly due to the prostitution, drug abuse but mainly an infamous murderer, Jack the ripper. This brutal murderer was loose on the streets of London attacking vulnerable women savagely with a sharp, long-bladed weapon, this panicked many women due to the fact that the police’s methods were seen as inefficient; therefore would rarely solve the cases by catching the ruthless villains. Many Victorians had little if no faith for the police in London, as they did not appear to be protecting the public. On the other hand, Holmes, who is an excellent detective, is well known for his use of logic and observational understanding to unravel complicated cases. He described himself as a ‘consulting detective’ an expert who is brought in to cases that have proven too difficult for other investigators; we are told that he is often able to solve a problem without leaving his home. This is prodigious as Holmes was actually an amateur detective, not a member of the London police force. The purpose of this essay is therefore to show Holmes character and his relationship with the police. In some cases Holmes breaks the law, in others he does not. One example of when he doesn’t is in Silver Blaze; Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson pay a visit to their old friends the Baskervilles and find themselves in the middle of a mystery involving a missing horse and its dead trainer. Doyle reveals through his writing that Holmes’s character is very egotistical. This is shown many times throughout the story:† I follow my own methods and tell as much or as little as I choose. † Here, Holmes is being very demanding showing that he does not have much respect for other people; this is very shocking as Watson is not only a companion but most importantly a friend too. I think Doyle does this to ensure Holmes is referred to as a very dominant character in addition to being arrogant and making people feel small and unimportant. Doyle through his use of language creates Holmes’s character to have a greater intelligence over the police. Doyle uses sarcasm to show this: â€Å"Inspector Gregory, to whom the case has been committed, is a very competent officer, were he but gifted with the imagination he might rise to great heights during his profession. † This also shows that Holmes has no faith in the inspector in solving the case as Doyle uses the word ‘might’ to show the sarcasm therefore implying that he has no hope for the police in cracking the mystery. This same egotistical behavior towards the police is also repeated later on when Holme’s says â€Å"See the value of imagination; it is the one quality which Gregory lacks. † As this is repeated in his writing it reveals that Doyle is trying to emphasize Holmes’s views of the police as being incompetent. Furthermore, Holmes relationship with the police is very argumentative. Holmes is always mocking the police by acting witty. This is shown when Holmes says† The inspector here has done all that he could possibly be suggested; but I wish to leave no stone unturned in trying to avenge poor Straker, and in recovering my horse. † Doyle uses this sarcastic language to reveal Holmes true disrespectful manner and arrogance towards the police. In addition to that Holmes finds great pleasure in finding the clues way before the police are anywhere near. When the inspector says â€Å"I cannot think how I came to overlook it,† Holmes replies â€Å"I only saw it because I was looking for it! † Doyle, with the use of that language implies that Holmes was actually observing the murder scene, whereas the inspector did not think to do that. To Holmes, using his logic and observational understanding is general common sense, this is one of the reasons how Holmes makes the detectives feel incapable of their job in which they specialize in.

The Ancient City of Uruk

The metropolis of Uruk was at its most influential from 4000-3000 BCE, and its rise and enlargement can be partly attributed to the absence of prestige stuffs in the southern alluvial sediment ( Joffe 1994, 512 ) . Low entree to these stuffs led to the desire for trade and the formation of extended relationships with other metropoliss, which, along with other factors, led to the enlargement of Uruk, an event which can be displayed by a rapid population addition and drastic societal alteration. Previously, the belief that Uruk had low entree to raw stuffs was widespread, but this belief is baseless, as Uruk had about everything it needed but lumber. It has been observed that most local trees and reeds may hold served for Uruk’s demand for wood, demuring the edifice of big, monumental public architecture ( Joffe 1994, 514 ) . Though the alluvial field was fertile and rich, a premier topographic point for agribusiness, and so had most resources needed for endurance, Uruk’s entree to luxury stuffs was highly low. It has been argued that a chief stuff that drove the demand for trade was lumber, but this has been disputed by the fact that most monumental edifices in Uruk are composed of gypsum, which was a locally sourced rock, every bit good as the aforesaid beginning of local trees and reeds ( Joffe 1994, 513 ) . The cardinal thrust for trade was most likely the desire for luxury points such as semi-precious rocks and metals, objects which have been found within Uruk though they were sourced from rather far off. Evidence of this long-distance trade is found within entombments of a manner which moved off from that of the Ubaid period with the add-on of sedate goods ; objects such as mirrors and Cu axes were found within Gravess in Susa, the Cu imported from the mountains about 200 kilometers off ( Jennings 2010, 59 ) . Trade would hold ab initio been instituted near by, with colonies in close propinquity to Uruk, before traveling farther out to topographic points with more alien goods. These countries, along with supplying stuffs to another metropolis, would hold had a desire for the forte points being produced in Uruk with the addition of stuffs available. Artifacts of Uruk manner have been found from Egypt to topographic points every bit distant as Pakistan, with advanced clayware from Uruk traded for cherished rocks, gold, and other such stuffs ( Jennings 2010, 67 ) . As Uruk’s influence, as the trade Centre of the period, increase d over clip, the desire to keep the flow of goods into the metropolis precipitated the enlargement of Mesopotamian dregss along the trade path with the constitution of trading outstations ; this development allowed goods to be ferried between colonies instead than over long distances, many of these outstations walled and supplying a safer path for the prestigiousness points ( Jennings 2010, 68 ) . The prevalence of trade made immediate the issue of travel between these outstations, and so along with the usual agencies of conveyance – by pes – more efficient agencies were discovered and put to utilize, such as boats and sleighs ; donkeys were introduced to the profession of trade, as were wheeled vehicles ( Jennings 2010, 69 ; Joffe 1994, 515 ) . Equally good as a more efficient agencies of travel, the first signifier of authorship was developed in Uruk ; this was economic, and developed because of the increasing prevalence of trade. In response to the laterality of trade, Uruk underwent a monolithic enlargement of its boundary lines. Many colonies that have been identified by several historiographers as trading settlements were set up along common Uruk trading paths, and architecture characteristic to Uruk has been found in little communities along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, on the outskirts of Mesopotamia ( Algaze 1989, 571-608 ; Surenhagen 1986 ) . Some colonial outstations had become more than simple stop-overs for going bargainers, and had accumulated plenty wealth to justify protection by tall rock walls ( Jennings 2010, 68 ) . A chief cause of enlargement in Uruk was increased specialization in the production of goods. The increased handiness of prestige stuffs due to success in trade led to an inflow of people, both impermanent occupants – from trading colonies – and lasting occupants – from colonies that were incorporated into the metropolis of Uruk, under bid of the new-found elite. Equally good as external colonies, people were likely traveling into the metropolis with the hopes of thriving in their peculiar trade and providing to increased demand for luxury points. The alteration in the fabrication of fabrics, from flax to wool, is an illustration of the specialization that occurred, and is possibly one of the more important cases: woolly sheep were introduced from the North, and woollen cloths had many advantages, including the easiness with which they took dye ( Jennings 2010, 65 ) . The coloring of cloth was particularly of import in this new age of increasing societal stratification, and wool was besides far more convenient as it took far less attempt for laborers to bring forth ( Jennings 2010, 65 ) . Another root of the quickly increasing population of Uruk, unrelated to stuffs, is an inflow of refugees from fall ining city states in Sumer, but this can besides be attributed to the rise in power and influence of Uruk, its wealth and prosperity ma intaining it afloat where other metropoliss failed ( Jennings 2010, 69 ) . Equally good as trade and subsequent enlargement flowering from the desire for natural stuffs, a profound alteration in societal fortunes occurred. With a booming economic system within Uruk, as the Centre of trade during this period, societal stratification began to happen, with degrees being distinguished between the elite and the on the job category. The distribution of wealth was a major factor, those with the most holding places of power within the trading Centre. The development of composing farther separated the categories, as acquisition to compose would hold been something that was restricted to the elite, but what was most of import, as Algaze says, was economic distinction, as economic distinction leads to societal distinction ( 2001, 204 ) . There are many illustrations of differences between societal categories, one being a list of professions found widely, from Uruk to Ebla, ordered harmonizing to the rank of rubrics held by the elite ( Nissen 1986, 329 ) . This list na mes leaders of peculiar groups, from presidents, courtiers, and embassadors, to priests, nurserymans, bakers and throwers ( Nissen 1986,329 ) . Through this list and others like it – as it is the most extremely reproduced list from the period – it is possible to see the rigorous hierarchy that developed in Uruk with lifting wealth position. Another index of position can be seen in the grave goods, mentioned above. With the Uruk period came a move off from the old Ubaid period-style of entombments, and the inclusion of sedate goods began, which was another distinguishable symbol of position. With a more affluent civilization, more luxuriant entombments became common, and the more luxuriant the grave goods included, the higher the position of the resident of the grave. Another new thought displayed in this period was that of the person, and single ownership displayed by clay seals ; these were used to track traded goods and grade ownership, and this thought was non conta ined to Uruk. A broad assortment of seals have been found within Uruk and without, subsequently conforming to other social manners, their visual aspect altering circumstantially but keeping the original Uruk ideals ( Nissen 1986, 320 ) . A metropolis can merely spread out to a certain extent, and this applies to Uruk. The thrust for trade through the desire for entree to raw stuffs created the chance for Uruk to spread out its influence, its population lifting with its wealth and complexness. Over clip, the lower categories in society were pushed to spread out agribusiness, which intensified to back up the lifting population of specializers who did non bring forth their ain nutrient. This led to over-irrigation, and the one time fertile, rich land of the southern alluvial field was subjected to environmental impairment, which finally led to the prostration of agribusiness ( Algaze 2001, 218 ) . Equally good as the terrible overburdening of the land, Uruk’s lessening in influence can be attributed to a supposed addition in ill will in Mesopotamia as colonies fought for connexions to the trading web ; ill will in the country can be seen in the copiousness of walled colonies, such as Habuba Kabira and Sheikh Hass an ( Jennings 2010, 60 ) . Even as Uruk declined, other countries had been influenced by Uruk’s thoughts, which travelled along with trade stuffs, and little colonies became involved in widespread trade, viing with each other for the more successful trading spouse with high entree to critical stuffs and making lifting force. Equally good as ill will, it appears that Uruk decided to turn away from its dependance on an early planetary economic system based on trade and external variables, from long distance relationships jeopardised by force and competition from and between other provinces, and towards the local economic system. Uruk’s local economic system was able to be managed in a much more efficient manner since the innovation of the authorship system, and so colonies were able to distance themselves from trading and the metropolis, and develop as their ain entities ( Jennings 2010, 71 ) . But even as Uruk’s methods were embraced by some, other countries such as Tepe Gawra rejected many of the rules which other topographic points were so eager to take up, and this is displayed by the low sum of Uruk-style clayware that was found in the country, while at the same clip in many other parts these types of goods were quickly go arounding ; this part besides maintained their ain distinguishable manner of entombment, non conforming to the new Uruk manner ( Jennings 2010, 72 ) . Uruk was an country with low entree to raw stuffs, and it displayed an astonishing ability to accommodate to its fortunes and specify a new manner of life which would distribute across Mesopotamia. Trade provided it entree to the luxury stuffs it required, and this gave birth to a rapid period of enlargement and wealth, which created the first known grounds of social stratification. The limited entree to critical stuffs, though non the lone variable, was the trigger for the rise and eventual autumn of the metropolis of Uruk.

Chumash uprising 1824 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

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The Classical Detective Formula Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Classical Detective Formula - Essay Example A classical detective formula starts with a situation, consisting of unsolved crime, and heads towards the discovery of the mystery of the identity and the motivating factors behind the criminal engaging in such acts. The situation also involve determining the means through which the crime was committed, the purpose for which the crime was committed and the real evidence that is available to associate the criminals with the act (Knight, 1980). The other important element is the pattern of action, which creates the story of detective investigation of the crime and the solutions, followed by the characters and their relationships as the other element of this detective story. Under the character and their relationships, the main characters include the criminal who perpetrates the criminal acts, the victim, on whom the criminal act was committed, the detective who investigates the case and the third parties who are affected by the crime, but cannot address the crime on their own. The rel ationship among the four characters is an important element of the formula. The setting, the final element of the detective formula, relates to the delimited environment in which the criminal act is committed, which is secluded from the rest of the world. There are various reasons that accounts for the rise of the classical detective formula in the early twentieth century. Reasoning and logic are some of the factors that accounts for the rise of the classical detective formula in the early twentieth century. Most of the writers of this duration struggled to harmonize the traditional and custom way of thinking of the people, with the perceived incompatibility of modernity and enchantment (Saler, 2003). Modernity was associated with chaos and disorder, thus the detective formula sought to create a new way of thinking, by portraying modernity as an aspect that could be embraced and harmonized with traditional perspectives. The traditional thinking and reasoning leaned towards man tryin g to understand and explain the nature of the universe as it is, seeking to create theories based on reality and experimental testing to prove such reasoning. On the other hand, the classical detective formula introduced a way of logical thinking that would serve to solve the perceived problems through fictious thinking, an aspect that gained fame due to the realism aligned with the fictional writing (Frank, 1976). The incorporation of analytic mind in a fictious writing served to make such works of art more acceptable to the people during such an age, when all the writing was about theories and laws that sought to explain why things in the universe are the way they are. The myth of reasoning, that the universe could be comprehensible resulted to the planning of detective story telling, by deducing the basics of fiction and limiting logic (Knight, 1980). Realism is another factor that accounts for the rise of the classical detective formula. The writers of the detective story served to associate their stories and the characters with aspects of reality and natural phenomena that were there at that age. This has seen the characters involved in such stories being regarded as real characters (Tillotson, 1969). The ability of the detective stories to integrate fiction with real happenings of the day served to popularize this genre. The classical detec

Restaurants should have to display their nutritional content on their Essay

Restaurants should have to display their nutritional content on their menus - Essay Example Government assistance is called upon to ensure all the stakeholders in this sector have compliant in totality as this will help the population which is time caught up to have an easy time by having to take balanced diets just at a look of the menus. We believe that this report offers the best recommendations which will see a positive overhaul in the fast food sector of these chain restaurants. This will go along way into leaving with the mission and vision of a healthy society under the basis of preventive and not curative measures. On any queries where you need clarification you can always contact our office which is open for you. We believe together we can achieve incredibly. This report is mainly a consumer initiated to determine whether the value of the money they use in buying foods from the chain restaurant is worth what they finally get. The report aims mainly at giving some justifications which goes a long way in ensuring that all the leading chain restaurants do give the nutritional value of the food they are selling on the menus. This is a direct implication the client will have a sole decision as to which kind of food he should eat. The justification once ready they are submitted to the Food and Drug association for implementation. The report involves a scrutiny on all the chain restaurants businesses which have over 20 branches nationwide. This is with a firm believe that these restaurants have the greatest share of the food market in the united states of America and taking control of the food industry at their level is managing what the Americans eat. This has been propelled by the fact that modern people want easy readymade food for take away. Small restaurants have not been left out but they were also checked to find out the efforts they were inputting in seeing the dream of safe food for all come true. Several methods where put in place to see that the whole

Death Penalty in New York State Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Death Penalty in New York State - Research Paper Example George Kendall is documented as being the first man to be officially put to death in colonized America by the state in 1608. Since then over 20,000 accused criminals have been executed in America for a variety of offenses ranging from murder to property crimes. The inclination of jurists to award the death penalty almost at will in the early part of American history was partly influenced by the lack of penitentiaries and an organized prison system. Execution was seen as the primary method to protect society from subversive and anti-social elements. Capital punishment was also employed as a means to control the slave population and many disproportionate capital sentences were imposed on slaves of African descent when the same would not have applied to Caucasians. In New York attempted murder or rape were capital crimes only when committed by slaves (Acker, 2003). The colony of New York was originally under the control of the Dutch albeit without any formal legal system. The death pena lty was practiced and administered in an arbitrary and reckless manner in those early days. It was often the case that when the culprit could not be identified, the accused would have to â€Å"draw lots† in order to determine who would be executed. The arrival of the British to New York saw the implementation of a penal code, where the death penalty was still a frequently awarded punishment. In 1741, 18 white colonials and 13 slaves were sentenced to death by burning at the stake. However, the new British legal system also contained a clemency clause. An individual on death row was eligible for a pardon if they agreed to leave the colony or chose to enlist in the armed forces. As a result of this provision during the 18th century 51% of individuals sentenced to death in New York were eventually pardoned (Heller, 2008). The death penalty statute continued to evolve after the formation of the United States of America and the subsequent imposition of its new legal system. In 188 8, The New York State Assembly passed a statute which would see it become the first state to directly administer the death penalty. According to the statute the death penalty was mandatory for extremely grave and depraved offences. The law also called for a new method of execution, which was â€Å"death by electricity†. William Kemmler became the first man to be executed by means of electric chair, in 1890. Up until the 1930’s the State of New York was responsible for more executions than any other state. During this period state statutes were amended in order to encompass a wider array of crimes that could be punishable by death. The most significant of these was kidnapping, influenced greatly by the â€Å"Lindbergh baby’ saga which dominated headlines during this period. Due to these amendments juries were also instructed to give sentencing recommendations in trials where the convicted were eligible for capital punishment (Heller, 2008). Rise of Abolitionist Movement Throughout the colonial era and up until the mid 20th century voices that were opposed to the death penalty slowly began to grow in strength. By the 18th century many American’s had begun to question the application of the death penalty for crimes that were petty and trivial in nature. Dissenting voices could also be heard in

Dysfunctional Families of the 1920s Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Dysfunctional Families of the 1920s - Essay Example Even McBee (1999) points to the fact that "men enjoyed nothing better than staying out late and getting drunk" to wash away their more serious problems. Therefore societal issues such as divorce, discrimination, and economic distress as McBee (1999) describes, can be extremely damaging to the family's well being no matter what time table we are living in. They can in fact lead to the idea of the dysfunctional family. I do believe the Great Depression had a severe impact on the functioning of families in a way that led to many adversities such as drug abuse, alcoholism, and even sexual promiscuous in that defined time period. It is my belief that one of the greatest challenges for the male gender during this time period had to do with the beliefs and ideals that they were raised with. Men felt (and still do) that they had to provide adequate sustenance for the family at all times and if they could not do that then they considered themselves weak and became vulnerable to societal issues, specifically addictions. One of these beliefs is consequently the need to appear "perfect". Another belief that was evident in this time was the belief that men had in regard to the woman's role in the family. Because of the fact that men did not want women to work and also seemingly alienated them, as well as discluded them to a certain degree, it impacted the family during the Great Depression and promoted addictive behaviors onto women as well. However, Chasnoff (1989) claimed that women "were quick to seek help," while men lived in a disillusionment of what was really transpiring within the family, therefore creating more dysfunction whether it was intentional or unintentional. This of course was the central plot of beliefs that, in my opinion, created more disparity among the genders and of which promoted the psychological thought of dysfunctional families in America. In general it is true that there existed those who already had poor moral values, but due to the poorer outlook of the economy it promoted more of a hardship and again took many down a path towards mental incapacity and an inability to function normally on a daily basis. Addictions such as alcoholism, chronic drug use, eating disorders, and uncontrollable anger slowly began tearing at the families and disintegrating life as it was known in that time before the Great Depression. As was stated, the dysfunction of women was brought on by the acting of the men during the 20's and 30's. Therefore their inability to cope is far more understandable than the male genders actions were. After all, history has shown that men are suppose to carry the more heavy burdens for the family, not crumble beneath them like many men did during the Great Depression. "Many women turned to alcohol and drugs", according to Degler (1980) in order to try and wipe away their own inadequacies that society itself was placing on them. These stemmed from inequality and gender discrimination in their lives. For instance, women have been treated almost like property by men for a good number of generations and these feelings were very high in the 20's and 30's; specifically with so much economical disparity occurring all around everyday people. Women in society were basically "demoralized and held down" (Degler 1980). Although women desired to be treated as self-individuals many times in Ame rican society they were not and any form of independence was

Sexual Harassment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sexual Harassment - Research Paper Example A program to training managers on sexual harassment should undoubtedly take into consideration a wide a number of issues key among them being (i) What is considered sexual harassment (ii) Reasons for concern (iii) Workplace gender based antidiscrimination laws. Managers just like any other employee often find themselves involved in sexual harassment cases in different ways, which may include being a witness of the act, victim of the act or as a perpetrator. Lack of adequate knowledge about what constitute a sexual harassment especially verbal, non-verbal and physical conducts may prevent them from taking appropriate action against the unlawful act. Thus, the need to educate manger on what acts constitute sexual harassment, workplace gender based antidiscrimination laws and most importantly reasons for concern. Other areas that should be of great focus in a training program for managers about sexual harassment include (iv) Types of sexual harassment (v) Consensual relationships (vi) How to tell if a conduct is inappropriate (vii) Retaliation and Sexual Harassment (viii) Documenting employee actions. It is vital that the training outline contain subjects that touch on types of sexual harassment, consensual relationships at workplace and retaliation in case of alleged discrimination. For instance, there are two notable types of sexual harassments, which include Quid pro quo and Hostile environment. A fellow employee or supervisor may ask an employee for sexual favour in exchange for promotion, reward or wage increase, which may constitute Quid pro quo type of harassment (Orlov & Michael, 49). The training manual also need to take into consideration issues that pertain to (ix) Liability for supervisor misconduct (x) Setting the right tone (xi) Responding to subordinate complaints (xii) Assist ing with the investigation (xiii) Preventing

The Dead Christ with Angels Painting by Rosso Fiorentino Essay

The Dead Christ with Angels Painting by Rosso Fiorentino - Essay Example In the painting, Christ has been shown in nude along with other angels who are smaller in size than him and have been clothed. The play with proportions and the use of brilliant colors in combination with light and shadow shows that the painter is a follower of the Florentine mannerist school of painting. In this painting, the artist had made a deviation from his regular style of painting. This style consisted of sharp edges in painting along with the use of bright and complementary colors and with the delicate use of their changing effects. The body of Christ depicted in the painting, draws many influences from the works of Michelangelo. The physical features seem to be derived from his works like the sculpture of pieta and the 'Risen Christ' in the church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva. Also, the posture of Christ sitting on the unidentifiable support resembles the postures of the ignudi on the ceiling of Sistine Chapel. With the influence of Parmigianino, Rosso added elegance and sophistication to his work as compared to his earlier works and this is expressed in this work. Christ, which is the central figure in the painting, is shown slightly larger than the angles; this might be an attempt to show the divinity and the largeness of his character.

Budgetary planning and control and the evaluation of performance Essay

Budgetary planning and control and the evaluation of performance - Essay Example It represents a plan for the future expressed in formal, measurable terms. (Botner, Stanley, 1991). To be helpful, a budget must be prepared in sufficient detail to inform all levels of management of the exact expectations. It is not sufficient to establish a personnel budget for an institution and limit the detail to a statement of the overall number of employees. This serves no purpose except, perhaps, as part of a summary. Rather, a personnel budget should detail the quantities and types of full-time equivalents by department or cost center, perhaps by shift or by workstation. It should detail the salaries to be paid and the components, including routine, overtime, shift pay, cost of living or merit increases, and so on. All positions -- vacant and otherwise -- should be included in the budget. To assemble the quantity of data necessary to support a detailed plan, a matrix organization of rows and columns is essential. The matrix allows a significant amount of information to be displayed in an orderly manner and a limited amount of space. If organized properly, interrelationshi ps can easily be seen, the data can be viewed and understood quickly, and the chance of arithmetic error can be reduced or eliminated. Figures 1-1 and 1-2 display two such matrix-style worksheets for a nursing department's personnel budget in computer spreadsheet form. One other advantage of a matrix-style worksheet is that it can help guard against errors of omission by specifying certain data to be collected in a particular set of columns or rows. Rather than calculate a salary budget and mistakenly omit "charge pay" or other premium payments, the worksheet can be set up in advance and require that information about these premiums be included for use in the calculations. In order to minimize the chance of leaving something out, it is best to set up budget spreadsheets well in advance of the actual budget preparation schedule and carefully consider actual data requirements. Remember that because computer spreadsheets can hold so much data, it is better to err on the side of collecting too much, rather than too little, data. (Klay, Earle, 2003) Personnel resources that pose a particular problem in terms of recruitment and/or retention can also be dealt with in the budget by inclusion of a recruitment plan, a budgetary emphasis on human resource development and training, or Figure 1-1 XYZ Memorial Hospital Nursing Budget -- Salaries, Fiscal Year 19XX Personnel 2 2 3 3 4 Class North South North South North Total Head Nurse Charge Nurse Clinical Specialist RN - II RN - I LPN Nursing Aide Unit clerk Total This matrix organization allows the salary data for five nursing units to be aggregated and displayed in such a way that the dollar amounts by type for each nursing unit can be compared easily with those for the other four units. The dollar values are added both down and across; and since the total from the rows must equal the total from the columns, the chance of arithmetic error is reduced or eliminated. Figure 1-2 XYZ Memorial Hospital Nursing Budget-FTEs and Salaries, Fiscal

Public bank management Essay Example for Free

Public bank management Essay 1.Introductions The model of the Five Competitive Forces was developed by Michael E. Porter that becomes an important tool for analysing an organizations industry structure instrategic processes. This model is applicable to the banking industry. Public Bank do compete with the other financial institution in Malaysia, however they also must cooperate with one another in many respects. There is an underlying problem which is the banks in Malaysia are so similar that there is essentially nothing one of them can do that the others cannot easily duplicate 2. Five Forces Analysis a. Threats of new entrants Malaysia has not put a barrier to entry for any financial institution manly banks in Malaysia, thus making it easy for any financial institution to penetrate into the industry. b. Bargaining power of suppliers a bank has three suppliers of its product, money: 1. Its depositors has no bargaining power whatever in reality. If they make time deposits the bank will set the price or interest rate it will pay. 2. The credit market the credit market as a source of supply of the raw material, money, is open to all at all time if they are qualified participants. The source of supply can be argued to be infinite. 3. The central bank The Central bank is effectively the resource of last resort. Apparently, at least for the moment, it will continue to supply liquidity to the banking system in virtually unlimited quantities at very reasonable cost. c. Bargaining power of buyers In the banking industry, customer have has very limited bargaining power. However the customers may option in changing to other banks that they think is offering a better offer than Public Bank. c. Threat of substitute product For the most part there is no real threat of substitute products in the banking industry. However there probably will be continues evolution of  products from paper to electronic in coming years. This is an area of potential competition for whomever banks that choose to use it in their services. d. Rivalry among competitors Generally all banks offer somewhat the same products and services to their customers, thus there is not much differentiation between Public Banks and the other competitors. This is making the competition much higher. Public Bank is actually ranked as the top banks earners in Malaysia in 2009 alongside with Maybank, Bumiputra Commerce, RHB Capital and Hong Leong Bank. 3. Table 1: Method used to identify opportunity and threat for Public Bank using external environment factors and industrial environment factors.(Factors under industry environment are derived from Porters Five Forces). 4. Opportunities 1. Economic growth Malaysia had definitely have been more economically stable and improving, thus financial institution such as Public Bank are needed to aid the overall development of the country. 2. Government policy Encouraging borrowings, loans, investment and consumption demand. 3. Awards and accolades Through recognition, Public Bank can project a positive image to their customers 4. Market share Public Bank has the highest market share for the private sector unit trust business, thus having a larger customer base. 5.  Low switching cost Nowadays it is easy for any customer to switch to other banks with just a click away, making the switching cost to be faster and cheaper, making it easy for the customers to switch to Public Bank. 5. Threats 1. Substitute product/service are available There is a potential competition to whomever banks that choose to upgrade their product and services to cater to their customers need. Maybank for example provide a customer friendly interface through their website www.maybank2u.com, and it became the most visited website in Malaysia. 2.Substitute performance Maybank, Bumiputra Commerce, RHB Capital and Hong Leong Bank are Public Bank competitors and each is recognized for their performance. This will make the competition even higher. 3. Customer switching cost Other than being an opportunity, switching cost can also be a threat for Public Bank as the customers can also easily switch to other financial institution. 4. Government legal barriers There are no barriers that the government put for any legal financial institution to enter in the industry, making any new entrants penetrate into the market share easily. 5. Exit barriers High exit barriers in the industry are making the competition between Public Bank and the other competitors are even higher. 6. Conclusion Porter Five Forces Model are used to identify how the forces affect the attractiveness and profitability of Public Bank, and through this forces, the factors that influence these forces are used in the table 1, to identify Public Bank opportunities and threats. By identifying Public Banks industry environment, the company can improve and sustain their product and services for their customer, ultimately improving their performance.

The pros and cons of the mobile phone Essay Example for Free

The pros and cons of the mobile phone Essay In the last couple of decades, there has been a tremendous step forward in the world of technology. So many of the new inventions have become more familiar to us and much easier to get at any time. And with these new devices that make lots of thing easier, the world around us suddenly changed. For example the mobile phone is used by almost everyone today, so when you meet a new person, their cell phone number is among the basic information you get about them. However cell phones have disadvantages as much as advantages. Pros Always connected You are always connected and anyone who knows your mobile phone can contact you. You can speak to them, text them, send pictures and use lots of other features. Internet access Now most of the mobile phone service providers have GPRS, EDGE or 3G enabled network. You can receive and send emails, always have the newest information, get the exact location of markets, hotels or any other places you need while travelling towards them, download music and movies. Entertainment You can use your phone to listen to music while walking to school or work, play games or watch movies. Cons Always connected? Some times mobile phones can fail you just when you need them the most. You may be at a location where there is no network, your battery can be empty, the providers’ network might be overloaded and your call can suddenly stop, or your phone can simply malfunction. Health hazard Using mobile phone for a long time without break is definitely bad for your health. There have been some studies about the possible radiation from cell phones. The radiation isn’t really that dangerous, unless you’re talking on your phone non stop. But even if you’re not using it that often it can still damage your hearing, especially if talking on the phone is combined with loud music on your headphones. Using mobile phones is very important in today’s world, but we need to make sure that we get enough time for face to face communication to our family and friends, and make sure we don’t overuse mobile phones to the extent for it to become bad for our health.

An Open Innovation Business Model Commerce Essay

An Open Innovation Business Model Commerce Essay It is very important to know what innovation is before we can further proceed in answering the question. An innovation is a product or service with a bundle of features that is new in the market, or that is commercialized in some new way that opens up new uses and consumer groups for it. Innovation is invention implemented and taken to market (Chesbrough 2003). Invention however is the creation of something that was previously unknown (Chesbrough, Vanhaverbeke et al. 2006). In summary, INNOVATION= INVENTION+COMMERCIALIZATION. Today companies who, want to deliver consistent organic growth to their shareholders, customers, and their employees can do that only through innovation (Chesbrough 2006). So what is Open Innovation? Illustration 1: Concept of open innovation Open innovation is the use of purposive inflows and outflows of knowledge to accelerate internal innovation, and expand the markets for external use of innovation, respectively. [This paradigm] assumes that firms can and should use external ideas as well as internal ideas, and internal and external paths to market, as they look to advance their technology. (Henry Chesbrough, Open Innovation: Researching a New Paradigm). As mentioned by Chesbrough, there are a total of 5 paths to Open Innovation. Firstly, the old fashion model. It work like a fortress, the firm will take ideas internally to market. This path works the same as a closed innovation concept. The second path would be opening up the abilities for others. This can be achieved by bringing in ideas internally; ideas that does not fit into the firm business but might be useful for others. The third path would be acquiring ideas externally. Ideas are everywhere; firms can acquire ideas from university, individuals, start-up companies and etc. They can then come out with new opportunities and solutions using these acquired knowledge by taking them to a new market; a market that the firm might not have gotten into. The forth path would be to bring in external technologies and ideas to fill the gap that the firm might be facing problem with. Without open innovation, companies might need to use more resources to fill the gap. Lastly, an internal project that does not look promising until a certain level of development can be taken out and allow the team to continue working on it outside. This process can help to raise new money, acquire new customer and hire new employees (Specialist) to further develop the project. At certain point, if it seems feasible and viable, firms have the option to bring the project back if it turns out to be strategically interesting. The 5 paths are very important in helping use to understand why firms are moving towards the open innovation business model. The opposite of Open Innovation-The Closed Innovation In order to understand Open Innovation better, we will need to know the opposite of it- the Closed Innovation. In short, Close Innovation is a paradigm that successful innovation requires control and ownership of the Intellectual property (IP). A company should have full control of everything that relates to ideas. Some companies therefore decided to run their own research and development (RD) units. The entire new product development cycle was then incorporated within the company where innovation was done in a closed and self-supporting way (Wikipedia). It has always been the case whereby internal Research and Development (RD) was regarded as a strategic asset and it creates barrier to competitive entry in many industries. Only bigger firms with substantial resources and long-term research programs are capable to compete within their respective industries. This eventually led to higher profit margin as well. Competitors had to start their own laboratories using their own resources in order to compete. Therefore firms invested heavily in internal RD, which eventually led them to breakthrough innovation that enabled them to create new products and services to generate more revenue and profit margins (Chesbrough 2003). Therefore the protection of intellectual property in a closed innovation paradigm is very tight. It is so tight that firms will store their technologies until they are ready to use it. In the meantime, firms will also minimize or rather ensure zero leakages incident of information that relate to the technology. (Chesbrough 2003) Differences between closed and open innovation Table 1: Open Innovation Principles, Source: H. Chesbrough (2003) One major difference between closed and open innovation are how firms filter their ideas. In any RD process, researchers must separate the bad proposal from the good ones and eventually only the good proposal will be commercialised and the bad ones will be discarded. Both open and closed model can remove false positives (that is bad ideas that initially look promising), but open innovation can revived these false positive and false negatives (ideas that initially seem to lack promise but turn out to be surprisingly valuable) to recoup losses incurred during the RD process. A classic example will be Xerox and Palo Alto Research Centre (PARC). Researcher there developed many breakthrough technologies such as Ethernet and Graphical User Interface (GUI). However Xerox main focus is on high speed printer and copier, hence these technologies were not viewed as promising by the firm. This is what we call false negative. GUI was eventually used by APPLE in Macintosh operating system and Micr osoft in Windows operating system respectively. Why open innovation? Today, in many industries, the traditional logic of supporting an internally oriented, centralized approach to RD has become obsolete. Ideas must be used with alacrity as useful information and knowledge can be obtained easily. A firms ability to exploit external knowledge is a critical component of innovative capabilities (Cohen and Levinthal 1990) instead of exploiting only internal knowledge. In short, firms that can integrate external ideas to advance their own businesses while leveraging their internal ideas outside their current operations will likely thrive in this new era of open innovation. As time passed by, Closed innovation model begin to obsolete fundamentally and ultimately eroded. This eventually led to closed innovation giving place to open innovation paradigm (Chesbrough 2003). Increase in availability and mobility of skilled workers encourage firms to go into an open innovation business model. This is because the labour market is linked to the market of know-how (Teece 2000), these labors are likely to be lured by better compensation package which will then led to information leakages. This makes the labour market highly mobile which encourage companies to shift from a closed innovation model to an open innovation model. Also, ideas can no longer be stored on the shelf anymore. Failure to utilize own technologies might result in firms seeing their own technologies ended up being exploited by other firms. This is due to a widespread of knowledge pool among companies, customer, suppliers and other parties. Hence the closed innovation business model is once again proven to be less useful to many firms. Rising development costs and shorter product life-cycles has resulted in firms finding it increasingly difficult to justify investments in innovation (Chesbrough 2007). This actually made the open innovation model important. It is very important for firms to process knowledge at a faster pace to prevent worker and venture capitalist to steal their ideas. It is not surprising at all that external suppliers offer better quality work of what a company can achieve internally (Chesbrough 2003). Hence, in today context, most of the bigger firms actually engage the services of external suppliers so that they can apply their investment to cover more areas in less time. However it is important to note that this allows other firms to move faster and cover new markets as well. An example of this would be Samsung and Apple. Apples A5 chip is built by Samsung à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ½, the processor that powers Apples iPhone 4S and iPad 2 is being manufactured in Texas by rival Samsung. As mentioned earlier in this essay that a company such as XEROX that is too focus internally (closed innovation approach) will eventually miss out numerous opportunities because many will fall outside the firms current businesses or will need to be integrated with external technologies to unleash their full potential. As RD functions are organised as separate function within organisations, there bound to have some technologies that are under- or unutilised. These ideas are kept on the shelf of the knowledge bank until downstream business is ready and willing to use them (Chesbrough 2003). Firms will do well if they are able to make full use of extensive technologies (Chesbrough, Vanhaverbeke et. al. 2006). Its also possible to innovate with discoveries of others (Chesbrough 2003). Firms can leverage on external knowledge instead of ignoring it and pursuing only internal RD (Chesbrough 2003). Valuable ideas come from inside or outside the company and can go to market from inside or outside the company as well (Chesbrough 2003). Both external and internal ideas are equally important. Firms can focus on a particular area without having to do everything (Chesbrough 2003). Therefore Open Innovation offers lower costs for innovation, faster times to market, and risk sharing with others. (Chesbrough 2006). Open innovation does not mean that internal RD must be removed from a firms RD process. A firm can achieve additional benefits when implementing internal RD in Open Innovation context as the internal RD can fill the gaps (leveraging on external) in what others are doing. Firms that adopt Open Innovation business model do not need to invent the most novel or best technologies and knowledge in order to thrive and lead in their respective industry. Firms just need to be sure that they are making the best use of internal and external knowledge in a timely manner and innovate to create new products or services. Smaller firms such as SMEs have more reasons to move towards the Open Innovation business model. This is because they have less internal RD capability, less market power which mean weaker ability to capture value and IP enforcement are often costly to them (Henry Chesbrough 2008). Markets that is too small for larger firms might be attractive for SMEs. Smaller firms are able to execute plans at a faster rate because there are less internal politics (Henry Chesbrough 2008). Eventually larger firms will value this collaboration with smaller firms and they will create platforms that seek supporting investment from SMEs and SMEs can expand globally at a lower cost. As for larger firms, the Open innovation business model plays an important role. Radical innovations were viewed as an approach to generate growth for large established company as they depend on breakthrough innovation to move to the next platform for growth. However larger firms are lacking of supportive infrastructure to enable breakthroughs to be commercialized. Open innovation model can aid firms in building this supportive infrastructure. Larger firms can then focus on building deeper core competencies. Example 1: Intel Firms can benefit from innovation even if they do not own the technologies they use. An example would be computer processor maker, Intel. Intel has been successful for years without conducting much basic research on its own. All development took place within existing production laboratories as Intel does not have any development facilities. However Intel decided to take a change at a later stage, three research laboratories with different focus in their respective areas were established later. In addition to that, Intel actively promotes linkages between its research laboratories and external research community. They held conferences, research forums and seminars in attempt to bring both internal and external researches together. (Chesbrough 2003) Strong connections between them and newly incorporated firms allow Intel to extend its business strategy by leveraging on the advantages that these start-ups possessed. Intel benefitted tremendously from this far-sighted approach with corporate venture capitalist. To sum up, Intel actually adopted the third and fourth path to Open Innovation as mentioned earlier in this essay. Their primary focus is on accessing and leveraging on external knowledge (Chesbrough 2003). Example 2: The rise of Adobe and fall of Metaphor Computer We all know that Adobe systems owe its success to their first product, the PostScript. Postscript created a new industry segment within personal computer industry, known as desktop publishing. This technology was initially developed within Xeroxs Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). Within PARC, what was then called Interpress was a means of allowing Xeroxs laser printers to print what was displayed on a Xerox Star workstation. This capability became known as WYSIWYG, or what you see is what you get. John Warnock and Charles Geschke, who both worked on this technology while at PARC, wanted to create a standard around Interpress. However, their management within Xerox resisted this, because they did not want to give away one of the primary differentiating features of the Star system. Extracted from Intel ® Technology Journal. From the extract above, we can see that both John and Charles innovation does not look promising to PARC at that point of time. Eventually Hewlett Packard and Canon agreed to bundle in the Technology which was later labeled as PostScript as a standard item in their laser printers, while Apple agreed to support PostScript in its software. If back then PARC adopted an Open Innovation business model, they would have benefited. This is mentioned earlier on as the fifth path to Open Innovation business model. However HP, Canon and Apple benefited from the model as they have all taken the third and fourth approach to Open Innovation business model. And lastly Adobe uses the first and second approach, which eventually led them to success. Unlike Adobe, Metaphor chooses to adopt a closed innovation approach. Nothing was carved out and shared with other firms. Lack of third-party support eventually led them to their downfall. Conclusion As ideas and technologies become obsolete at a very fast pace (Chesbrough 2006) and many useful knowledge has been widely spread, open innovation is vital for firms as they can use external as well as internal ideas and paths to market as they look to advance their technology (Chesbrough 2003) while pursuing lower costs for innovation, faster times to market, and the chance to share risks with others (Chesbrough 2006). In order to thrive in this new era, firms must adopt an open innovation business model. However it is important to note that, closed innovation is still applicable to certain industry such as the Pharmaceutical industry. Open Innovation business model is merely an evolution of closed innovation as it consist partial traits of the latter. ******** The End ********

How Bronte Shows the Reader Janes Resilience in Jane Eyre Essay

How Bronte Shows the Reader Jane's Resilience in Jane Eyre The novel Jane Eyre is written by Charlotte Bronte and is set in the 1800’s. It describes how Jane rose up from her orphan status at the start of the story to a higher status with Mr Rochester. More importantly Jane finds happiness. During the 1800’s a woman’s status was low and to have a higher status would involve marrying into a rich family or already belonging to a wealthy family. The story shows how Jane copes with the ups and downs in her life, during her journey for happiness. The aim of this essay is to show how Bronte shows Jane’s resilience to events throughout the novel. Resilience is the ability to withstand suffering, to show strength. The essay will also include how successful Jane is as a heroine. Qualities that could be considered to make Jane a heroine are selflessness, courage and bravery. Throughout the essay will be references to six episodes that occur during the novel. Each of the episodes will show Jane’s resilience or her heroic qualities. At the start of the story Bronte presents Jane as a young girl who is being bullied by her cousin John Reed. When she stands up to him she is punished and no one believes that he is a part of the bullying. She is then sent to the â€Å"Red Room† by her aunt Mrs Reed. The â€Å"Red Room† is where her uncle died and has only been used for guests since. As well as being bullied by John, he expects Jane to respect him, for example: â€Å"say, what do you want Master Reed?† He acts superior to her. After being treated badly Jane still has the courage to say â€Å"wicked and cruel boy† to John and not give up and let him win. During her stay at the â€Å"Red Room† Jane believes she sees a ghost, she cries for help... ...rage and bravery. She doesn’t cave in and give up hope, she is resilient. All of the episodes throughout this essay show Jane’s resilience. I believe that the reason Bronte wrote Jane Eyre was to show that if you want something bad enough you will get it. Jane wanted happiness and respect from others; at the end of the novel she has achieved this. Jane was in many bad situations but she was determined so she got through them all. The novel is also about the status of women in the 1800’s. I think that Bronte was also trying to show that women have strength and that they deserved the same respect as men. The detail in the story and the point of view that Bronte gives us, encourages the reader to understand the sort of life led by women during the 1800’s and their low status in society. The reader would also admire Jane as she was such a strong individual.

The Society for Latin American Anthropology :: SLAA Human Rights Latin America Essays

The Society for Latin American Anthropology Changes in the SLAA's definition of "Latin America" have gone hand in hand with changes in the intellectual, social and political goals of the Society. As then president Michael Kearney wrote in an open letter to the membership published in the Society's April 1997 column in the Anthropology Newsletter:" (Until recently the society's membership) was centered in North America while its objects of study were primarily to the South of the United States. The prevalent pattern in the production and consumption of knowledge by North American anthropologists was one in which "we" used to "go down to" Latin America to study the "Latin Americans", and then publish most of our work in English...In recent years, in dialogue with the membership, the Board has sought to redefine "Latin America" as an object of anthropological inquiry from a region defined in geopolitical terms to a sociocultural definition based on the de facto presence of Latinos." The term "Latin America" has been expanded t o include the Anglophone, and Francophone Caribbean and Diasporic Latino communities. This push towards a more inclusive anthropology evident in their definition of "Latin America" is reflected in the Society's current goals and programs. Creating a truly international community of scholars of Latin America is the most important goal of the Society. Current president Joanne Rappaport in a statement published on the SLAA webpage writes, reaffirming Michael Kearney's vision, that the mission of the Society is to create "a space for dialogue across boundaries, particularly national and ethnic ones, in an effort to view Latin America, not as a geopolitical reality upon which we as North Americans have an "impact", but as a place from which to speak, write, and to theorize." The most important step in this mission to promote a dialogue between the different national Latin American anthropological traditions that constitute the field has been the creation of the Journal of Latin American Anthropology (JLAA). The Journal started in 1995 under the editorship of Wendy Weiss seeks to publish articles on anthropological research in Mexico, Central America, South America, the Caribbean and the Latin Diaspora. So far, issues have been devoted to the state of current Latin American anthropology, the concept of Mestizaje, and the Zapatista movement for indigenous autonomy in Mexico. Articles have been published in both Spanish and English.

Banquo - a Spiritual Force in Shakespeares Macbeth :: Macbeth essays

Banquo - a Spiritual Force in Macbeth      Ã‚  Ã‚   Who cannot learn from Shakespeare's Macbeth this moral lesson: That crime does not pay? And who can deny that the playwright created a spiritual force in the play in the person of Banquo? This essay is his story.    Lily B. Campbell in her volume of criticism, Shakespeare's Tragic Heroes: Slaves of Passion, discusses how fear enters the life of Banquo with the murder of Duncan and his two attendants:    And as Lady Macbeth is helped from the room, we see fear working in the others. Banquo admits that fears and scruples shake them all, even while he proclaims his enmity to treason. But Banquo fears rightly the anger or hatred of the Macbeth who has power to do him harm. (222)    In Shakespeare and Tragedy John Bayley discusses Banquo shortly before his murder:    [. . .] like Banquo, who, in the tense hour before the murder, expresses in more forceful form the idea of evil speculation and possibility as ranging in the mind:    Merciful powers, Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature Gives way to in repose. II.i.7-9    At such a moment the activities of the mind become almost palpable and express themselves in bodily form, as they do in the other two mind tragedies. In the speech which he imagines the thoughts that may come to him when he goes to rest, Banquo hands his sword to his son Fleance, and then - with a dream-like precision - hands over his belt with its dagger too:    Hold, take my sword. There's husbandry in heaven; Their candles are all out. Take thee that too. (188-89)    Clark and Wright in their Introduction to The Complete Works of William Shakespeare comment that Banquo is a force of good in the play, set in opposition to Macbeth:    Banquo, the loyal soldier, praying for restraint against evil thoughts which enter his mind as they had entered Macbeth's, but which work no evil there, is set over against Macbeth, as virtue is set over against disloyalty.   (792)    In Fools of Time: Studies in Shakespearean Tragedy, Northrop Frye explains the rationale behind Banquo's ghost in this play:    Except for the episode of Hercules leaving Antony, where mysterious music is heard again, there is nothing really supernatural in Shakespeare's tragedies that is not connected with the murder of the order-figures.

Khan Jr. V. Simbillo

KHAN, JR. V SIMBILLO YNARES-SANTIAGO; August 19, 2003 (apple maramba) NATURE ADMINISTRATIVE MATTER in the Supreme Court and SPECIAL CIVIL ACTION in the Supreme Court. Certiorari. FACTS – Atty. Rizalino Simbillo publicized his legal services in the July 5, 2000 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer via a paid advertisement which read: â€Å"Annulment of Marriage Specialist 532-4333/521-2667. † – A staff member of the Public Information Office of the Supreme Court took notice and called the number posing as an interested party. She spoke to Mrs.Simbillo, who said that her husband was an expert in handling annulment cases and can guarantee a court decree within four to six months, and that the fee was P48,000. – Further research by the Office of the Court Administrator and the Public Information Office revealed that similar ads were published in the August 2 and 6, 2000 issues of the Manila Bulletin and August 5, 2000 issue of the Philippine Star. – A tty. Ismael Khan, Jr. , in his capacity as Assistant Court Administrator and Chief of the Public Information Office filed an administrative complaint against Atty.Simbillo for improper advertising and solicitation in violation of Rule 2. 03 and Rule 3. 01 of the Code of Professional Responsibility and Rule 138, Section 27 of the Rules of Court. – The case was referred to the IBP for investigation, report and recommendation. – IBP found respondent guilty – Respondent filed an Urgent Motion for Reconsideration, which was denied – Hence, this petition for certiorari ISSUE WON Atty. Rizalino Simbillo is guilty of violating Rule 2. 03 and Rule 3. 1 of the Code of Professional Responsibility and Rule 138, Section 27 of the Rules of Court HELD Yes. Petitioner was suspended from the practice of law for one year and was sternly warned that a repetition of the same or similar offense will be dealt with more severely. Ratio The practice of law is not a business. It is a profession in which duty to public service, not money is the primary consideration. Reasoning – Rule 2. 03 – A lawyer shall not do or permit to be done any act designed primarily to solicit legal business. – Rule 3. 1 – A lawyer shall not use or permit the use of any false, fraudulent, misleading, deceptive, undignified, selflaudatory or unfair statement or claim regarding his qualifications or legal services. – Rule 138, Sec 27 of the Rules of Court states: Disbarment and suspension of attorneys by Supreme Court, grounds therefore. — A member of the bar may be disbarred or suspended from his office as attorney by the Supreme Court for any deceit, malpractice, or other gross misconduct in such office, grossly immoral conduct or by reason of his conviction of a crime nvolving moral turpitude, or for any violation of the oath which he is required to take before the admission to practice, or for a willful disobedience appearing as attorney for a party without authority to do so. – The following elements distinguish legal profession from business: 1. A duty of public service 2. A relation as an â€Å"officer of the court† to the administration of justice involving thorough sincerity, integrity and reliability 3. A relation to clients in the highest degree of fiduciary 4. A relation to colleagues at the bar characterized by candor, fairness, and unwillingness to esort to current business methods of advertising and encroachment on their practice, or dealing directly with their clients. – Respondent advertised himself as an â€Å"Annulment Specialist,† and by this he undermined the stability and sanctity of marriage —encouraging people who might have otherwise been disinclined and would have refrained form dissolving their marriage bonds, to do so. – Solicitation of legal business sis not altogether proscribed, however, for solicitation to be proper, it must be compatible with th e dignity of the legal profession.

Digital Cinema

Scott McQuire Millennial fantasies As roughly(prenominal) ace interested in opine at kitchen-gardening k impression atlys, the last decade has witnessed an detonation of pronouncements concerning the emerging of run across. globey be fuellight-emitting diode by bleak technological determinism, publicationing in apocalyptic scenarios in which app bent movement turn back either undergoes digital rebirth to emerge practically(prenominal)(prenominal) situationful than of tot entirelyy cartridge clip in the wayrnistic millennium, or is marginalised by a swan of vernal media which inevitably include virtually open nitty-grittyed of broadband digital pipe capable of delivering all- compassing interpenetrate picture show quality pictures on demand to home consumers.The fact that the double limitd surmise of digital renaissance or stop everyplace by bytes has coincided with celebrations of the centenary of pic has head slight accentuated appeti te to reflect more(prenominal) than than s wishingly on the directing of picture show as a neighborly and cultural institution. It has a equal intersected with a signifi roll in the hayt re new-fashioneding of pliable photo hi horizontal start, in which the primordiality of chronicle as the uncomplicated course of instruction for uniting accounts of the technological, the economic and the esthetic in read theory, has become stem to new irresolutions.Writing in 1986 Thomas Elsaesser linked the revisionist project concerning earliestish painting to motion pictures potential demise A new interest in its depressnings is confirm by the very fact that we world power be witnessing the end photographic photos on the bighearted masking could curtly be the censure or else than the rule. 1 Of course, Elsaessers speculation, which was astronomicly driven by the deregulation of television broadcasting in europium in conjunction with the emergence of new technologies much(prenominal) as video, cable and planet in the 1980s, has been contradicted by the decade extensive movie theatre boom in the multiplexed 1990s. It has excessively been contestd from new(prenominal) complaint, as the giant blanket sleep with of large format motion-picture show has been instead unexpectedly transformed from a bit gaminger into a handlely force. However, in the same article, Elsaesser raised a nonher release which has continued to resonate in subsequent debates Scott McQuire, Impact Aesthetics certify to the Future in digital photographic pictorial matter? , Convergence The Journal of Research into rude(a) Media Technologies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2000, pp. 41-61. Scott McQuire. All rights reserved.Deposited to the University of Melbourne ePrints Repository with liberty of S mount up Publications . 2 Few histories fully address the question of why narration became the driving force of celluloid and whether this may itself be subj ect to miscellanea. Today the success, of SF as a genre, or of directors like St compensate Spielberg whose accounts atomic number 18 evidently anthology pieces from basic movie plots, mention that storey has to some limit been an alibi for the pyrotechnics of ILM. 3 headache for the demise, if non of motion-picture show per se, then of memorial in celluloid, is gen date of referencel in the present.In the novel peculiar(a) digital engine room issue of Screen, Sean Cubitt famed a common cognizance among reviewers, critics and scholars that something has changed in the spirit of movie house something to do with the decay of familiar communicative and military operation values in disunitey favour of the qualities of the smash hit. 4 Lev Manovich has aligned the predominance of blockbusters with digital movie house by defining the last menti whizd al or so perfectly in impairment of increase opthalmic peculiar(prenominal) bm A visible sign of this call d suffer is the new role which computer generated fussy exploits grant come to play in the Hollywood labor in the last hardly a(prenominal) years.M separately modern blockbusters involve been driven by specific cause feeding on their popularity. 5 In his epitome of Hollywoods very much anxious indicateion of cyberspace in plastic submits much(prenominal) as The Lawn Mower Man (1992), capital of Minnesota young deals that cyberphobic photos all overstress the power of the visual in their opinion on digital technology to produce spectacle at the expense of annals, and adds this is a yield that Scott Bukatman has argued is latent in all special(a)(prenominal) prep ars. A more essential ( exactly nevertheless common) view is expressed by icon take awayr Jean Douchet Today cinema has pass watern up the purpose and the idea behind individual shots and write up, in favour of checks rootless, textureless depicts designed to violently impress by c onstantly inflating their spectacular qualities. 7 Spectacle, it recoverms, is winning the struggle against tale all a languish the line.Even a brief statistical analysis reveals that special do driven requires contract enjoyed extensive novel success, garnering an amount of over 60% of the global r take d declareue interpreted by the top 10 take ons from 1995-1998, comp atomic number 18d to an average of 30% over the previous cardinal years. 8 Given that the proportion of thump gloweringice revenue taken by the top 10 subscribe tos has held steady or increased slightly in the stage coterieting of a rapidly expanding total market, this indicates that a handful of special-effects flashs argon generating huge revenues individually year. plot such(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) figures founding fathert fling a total picture of the film industry, let al peerless reveal which films which pass alone exert lasting cultural influence, they do o ffer a snapshot of present-day(a) cultural taste refracted with studio a arrayment marketing bud go throughs. Coupled to the recent popularity of paracinematic forms, such as large format and special venue films, the renew emphasis on spectacle over archives suggests a nonher achievable end-game for 3 inema non the frequently prophesied elimination of theatres made redundant by the explosion of home-based convey (television, video, the internet), precisely a variety from interior which produces a cinema no lengthy resembling its (narrative) self, and something quite an other. Complementing these debates over possible cinematic futures is the fact that any wrick to spectacular film rides potentiometer to a fault be conceived as a return whether renaissance or re s fix is less clear to an preceding effigy of film- reservation famously dubbed the cinema of attr activity by tom turkey Gunning.Gunning long ago signalled this construe of return when he commented Cl primal in some sense recent spectacle cinema has re-affirmed its roots in stimulus and amusement park rides, in what qualification be called the Spielberg-Lucas-Coppola cinema of effects. 9 For Paul Arthur, festerings in the 1990s underline the take The approaching of Imax 3-D and its future prospects, in in tandem with the broader strains of a New Sensationalism, provide an thing to stimulate some alliances with the early history of cinema and the re trust costy dialectical betwixt the primacy of the visual and, for lack of a demote term, the sensory. 0 In what fol lows here, I hope to further consider the loops and twists of these debates, non so much with the grand ambition of declaration them, hardly firstly of adding some opposite voices to the discussion special(a)ly the voices of those involved in film execute. 11 My intention is non to elevate empiricism over theory, only when to promote dialogue among diametric human races of film destination whi ch meet all too r atomic number 18ly, and, in the process, to question the rather narrow hurt in which digital cinema has frequently entered recent a fronti debates.Secondly, I requirement to consider the coitus between narrative and spectacle as it is manifested in these debates. My concern is that at that place seems to be a danger of confusing a itemize of assorted trajectories such as cinemas on- tone ending efforts to demarcate its experience from that of domesticated entertainment technologies, and the turn to blockbuster nonplusing strategies and conflating them under the heading of digital cinema. fleck digital technology authenticly intersects with, and main(prenominal)ly overlaps these developments, it is by no promoter co-extensive with them. push throughstanding breaks cinema in the digital domain putt aside the inevitable b ar intimately the metamorphosis of Hollywood into Cyberwood, like some others I am convince that digital technology constitute s a legal variety in cinema, primarily because of its talent to cut across all 4 orbits of the industry simultaneously, affecting film performance, narrative conventions and listening experience.In this respect, the save adequate point of reference for the judgment and fulfilment of true changes argon the chemises which took place with the introduction of synchronized give pop erupt in the mid-twenties. However, com station the inherent frequency take aim at which change is occurring is wide recognised, it has been discussed primarily in toll of the shock of CGI (computer-generated imaging) on the film range of a draw. A more production-oriented approach would most possible acquire elsewhere with what Philip Brophy has argued is among the most over accounted pictures of film theory and criticism ( both(prenominal)(prenominal) modern and postmodernist strands) rifle. 2 A brief twinkle through recent articles on digital cinema confirms this neglect Manovich locates digital cinema solely in a historic lineage of moving pictures none of the articles in the recent Screen dossier mention enceinte, and even Eric Fadens Assimilating New Technologies former(a) Cinema, Sound and Computer Imaging nevertheless uses the introduction of synchronised reasoning(a) as an historical analogy for discussing the coeval effect of CGI on the film bod13. spell non entirely unexpected, this silence is pipe d sustain some urprising, given the fact that digital grave technology was adopted by the film industry egress-of-the-way(prenominal) earlier and more comprehensively than was CGI. And, at least(prenominal)(prenominal) until the early 1990s with films like terminator 2 (1991) and Jurassic set (1993), the effect on audience experience was arguably coldthermost greater than was digital imaging. Dominic Case Group division and Technology Manager at star(p) Australian film processor Atlab argued in 1997 I am more and more convinced that th e big story most film technology as furthermost as audiences are concerned in the past few years has been choke.Because, although you tin do fancy digital things, the sign remains glued to that bit of harbour in see of your eyes, and its not real(a)ly any bigger exclusively the fathom has gone from one wooly sound glide path from the hindquarters of the screen with virtually no frequency eye socket or dynamic range whatsoever to something that fills the theatre in every direction with infinitely more dynamic range and frequency range. To me, thats an explosion in experience compared to what you are seeing on the screen.However, the visual bias of most film theory is so pervasive that this shifting often passes unre attach. Part of the problem is that we lack the necessary conceptual armature on that point are no linkages which pull hurt such as 5 aural or listener into the sort of semantic range of a function joining spectacle and mantrap to the adjective spectac ular. Film sound- social Ian McLoughlin notes Generally speaking, most people are visually deft from birth. in truth few people are trained to slang a aural phraseology and, as a head in that respect isnt much discussion virtually the doctrine of the sound trail. .. There has been very, very shortsighted research go ine into the psycho-acoustic effects of sound and the way sound wees sociologically on the audience. 14 Compounding this absence is the fact that the digital revolution in sound is, in many respects, the practical(a) realisation of changes initiated with the introduction of Dolby Stereo in 1975. (On the other hand, the fact that CGI entered a special effects terrain already substantially altered by techniques of motion instruction, robotics and animatronics didnt hold sarcastic forethought to it. Four-track Dolby stereo led to a new era of sound experiment beginning with films such as mastermind Wars (1977) and Close Encounters of the Third gracious (1977). As renowned sound mixer Roger Savage (whose attri notwithstandinge include extend of the Jedi, 1983 Shine, 1996 and Romeo + Juliet, 1996) recalls Prior to that, film sound hadnt changed for probably 30 years. It was Mono academy Star Wars was one of the first films that I support remember where people started coming out of the theatre sloping just about the sound track. 5 While narrative sound effects such as dialogue and medicine were still generally concentrated in the front speakers, the surround sound speakers became the vehicles for a new range of spectacular sound effects. In particular, greater emphasis was given to boosting low frequency response, explicitly mirroring the amplified ambience of stimulate music. There was as soundly as greater attention given to the spatialisation of discrete sound elements within the theatre.As Rich Altman has argued, these developments presented a meaning(a) contest to one of the fundamental precepts of guiltless Hollywo od narrative the unity of sound and physique and the subservience of sound effects to narrative logic Whereas Thirties film intrust fostered unconscious visual and psychological spectator assignment with characters who appear as a perfect amalgam of simulacrum and sound, the eighties ushered in a new kind of visceral appellation, dependent on the sound systems overt mightiness, through bone-rattling bass and unexpected surround effects, to cause spectators to vibrate quite literally with the entire narrative space.It is thence no longer the eyes, the ears and the brain that alone initiate acknowledgment and fend for contact with a sonic 6 source rather, it is the strong automobile trunk that establishes a analogyship, marching to the beat of a different woofer. Where sound was once hugger-mugger behind the figure of speech in lay to allow more complete identification with the reach, now the sound source is flaunted, bringing up a separate sonic identification con testing the especial(a) rational draw of the take care and its characters. 16 Altmans observation is signifi pott in this context, inasmuch as it suggests that the dethroning of a certain model of narrative cinema had begun prior to the digital room access, and well before the widespread use of CGI.It similarly indicates the frontline role that sound took in the film industrys initial response to the incursions of video in the 1980s the new sound of cinema was a primary point of specialisation from domestic image technologies. However, while Dolby for certain created a new potential for prominent sound effects, in practice most film provokers remained limited by a combination of logistical and economic constraints. In this respect, the transition to digital sound has been critical in creating greater latitude for experimentation within existing budget parameters and production time frames. In foothold of sound production, Roger Savage argues The main advantages in digital are the quality control, the speed and the flexibility. This is a theme which is beared with bear on to the computerisation of other areas of film making such as picture editing and CGI. ) deepen speed, flexibility and control stem from a reduction in the consider for sensual handling and a refinement of preciseness in locating and manipulating individual elements. In sound production, libraries of analogue tape reels separately holding ten flashs of sound contrive given way to far more compact DAT tapes and lumbering drive storage. The entire production process can now often be realised on a angiotensin converting enzyme digital workstation. There is no motive for a separate transfer bay, and, since digital processing involves the manipulation of electronic data, there is no risk of degrading or destroying original recordings by repeated processing.Once the sounds are catalogued, digital workstations grant random gravel in a fr follow out of a blurb (eliminating tape winding time), and, inappropriate sprocket-based sound editing, all the tracks which vex been set abouted can be heard directly in playback. The creative pay-off is an enhanced ability to add complexity and texture to soundtracks. In terms of sound reproduction, the most marked change resulting from six track digital theatre systems is im prove stereo musical interval and frequency response which assists better music reproduction in theatres a change which goes hand in glove with the increased prominence that music and soundtracks have sham in promoting and marketing films in recent years. 7The enhanced role of sound in cinema is even more marked for large format films which, because of their high level of visual detail, demand a correspondingly high level of audio detail. Ian McLoughlin (who, amongst many other things, sells sound mixing credits with Savage for the large-format films Africas Elephant Kingdom, 1998 and The Story of a Sydney, 1999) comments If you look at the two extremes of image technology, if you look at television, and then you look at something like Imax, the most raise difference is the density of the sound track that is required with the size of the picture. When youre doing a TV mix, you try to be simple, bold. You cant get much in or otherwise it conscionable becomes a mess.With 35mm quality films youre putting in 10, 20 times more density and depth into the sound track as compared to television, and when you go to Imax, you submit even more. McLoughlin also makes a significant point concerning the use (or abuse) of digital sound When digital first came out and people found that they could make a enormously clarion sound tracks, everyone cherished enormously large sound tracks. alas some people who present films headstrong that the alignment techniques that companies like Dolby and THX have worked out arent to their liking and they view audiences like a lot of sub-base and so they sometimes wind that up. Sudden ly youve got audiences with chest cavities being punched repayable to the amount of bottom end. Dolby and screen producers and screen distri besidesors in America have in truth been doing a lot of research into what they are calling the annoyance factor of loud sound tracks. Because audiences are getting glum off by excessively jarring, overly sharp, soundtracks. This comment is worth keeping in mind for two reasons. Firstly, it underlines the fact that the image is by no means the only vehicle for producing cinematic affect in this sense, impact aesthetics offers a more apt de ledgerion of the trajectory of modern cinema than spectacle. Secondly, it warns against making hasty generalisations when assessing the long-term implications of CGI.While digital imaging undoubtedly represents a significant look-alike mistake in cinema, it is also feasible that the 1990s result outletually be seen more as a teething period of g whizz experimentation with the new digital toolbox, wh ich was gradually turned towards other (even more narrative) ends. (The way we now look at early sound films is illustrative while coetaneous audiences were fascinated by the mere 8 fact that pictures could talk, in retrospect we tend to give more weight to the way sound imposed new restrictions on camera movement, location shooting and acting style). image with light In contrast to the recounting dearth of attention given to changes in areas such as sound and picture editing, digital manipulation of the film image has received massive publi city.While this is partly the result of deliberate studio promotion, it also reflects the hidden changes in cinematic experience that computers have set in train. When we can see Sam Neil running from a litter of dinosaurs in other words, when we see cinematic images offering realistic depictions of things we know dont exist it is evident that the whole notion of photo- naive reality which has long been a central plank of cinematic be lievability is changing. alone how should this change be understood? Is it just now that live action footage can now be supplemented with CG elements which replace earlier illusionistic techniques such as optical printing, but leave cinemas unique identity as an art of recording inviolable? Or is a new paradigm emerging in which cinema becomes more like painting or spiritedness?Lev Manovich has recently taken the latter model to an extreme, arguing that, Digital cinema is a particular case of animation which uses live-action footage as one of its many elements, and concluding In retrospect, we can see that twentieth vitamin C cinemas regime of visual realism, the result of automatically recording visual mankind, was only an exception, an isolated accident in the history of visual representation . 17 While I suspect that Manovich significantly underestimates the peculiar attractions of automatic recording (which produced what Walter gum benzoin termed the photographs irre ducible glitter of contingency, what Barthes ontologised as the hotographic punctum), it is clear the denotive bond linking camera image to strong-arm target area has come under potentially terminal pressure in the digital era. However, any consideration of realism in cinema is immediately complicated by the primacy of fictional narrative as the overabundant form of film production and consumption. Moreover, cinema swiftly moved from adherence to the perfection of direct correspondence between image and object which lay at the heart of material bodyical claims to photographic referentiality. Cheating with the coif of events, or the times, locations and settings in which they occur, is second nature to film-makers. By the time cinema came of age in the picture palace of the mid-twenties, a new logic of collage, shot twinned and continuity had coalesced into the paradigm of 9 classical narrative, and cinematic credibility belonged more to the movement of the text rather than the photographic moment a shift Jean-Louis Commolli has neatly defined in terms of a journey from purely optical to psychological realism. 18 Within this paradigm all imaginable tactics were permissible in order to imbue pro-filmic action with the stamp of cinematic authority representation techniques such as performance, make-up, costumes, lighting and set design were augmented by specifically cinematic techniques such as time period motion photography and rear projection, as well as model-making and matte painting which entered the screen world via the optical printer.Given this long history of simulation, the digital threshold is perchance best located in terms of its effect on what Stephen Prince has dubbed perceptual realism, rather than in relation to an regard category of realism in general. Prince argues A perceptually realistic image is one which structurally corresponds to the viewers audio-visual experience of three-dimensional space Such images let on a nested hierarchy of cues which organise the appearance of light, colour, texture, movement and sound in slipway that correspond to the viewers own understanding of these phenomena in daily life. perceptual realism, therefore, designates a relationship between the image on film and the spectator, and it can encompass both vain images and those which are referentially realistic. Because of this, unreal images may be referentially fictional but perceptually realistic. 19I have emphasised Princes evocation of fidelity to audio-visual experience because it underlines the extent to which the aim of most computer artists on the job(p) in contemporaneous cinema is not only when to create high stop images, but to make these images look as if they might have been filmed. This includes adding various defects, such as film grain, crystalline lens flare, motion blur and edge halation. CG effects guru Scott Billups argues that film makers had to educate computer programmers to achieve this end F or years we were saying Guys, you look out on the horizon and things get grayer and less crisp as they get farther away. except those were the character references of naturally occurring event buildings that never got written into computer programs.Theyd say Why do you requisite to reduce the resolution? Why do you want to blur it? . 20 10 By the 1990s many package programs had addressed this issue. As Peter Webb (one of the developers of erupt) notes Flame has a lot of tools that introduce the flaws that one is trained to see. Even though we dont notice them, there is lens flare and motion blur, and the depth of force field things, and, if you dont see them, you begin to get suspicious about a shot. 21 In other words, because of the extent to which audiences have internalised the cameras qualities as the hallmark of credibility, contemporaneous cinema no longer aims to mime reality, but camera-reality.Recognising this shift underlines the heightened ambivalence of realism in the digital domain. The film makers ability to take the image apart at ever more minute levels is counterpointed by the spectators desire to comprehend the resulting image as realistic or, at least, equivalent to other cine-images. In some respects, this can be compared to the dialectic underlying the development of montage earlier this one C, as a more hoist relation to individual shots became the basis for their reconstitution as an organic text. But instead of the atomisation and re-assemblage of the image track over time, which founded the development of lassical narrative cinema and its core grammatic structures such as shot/ come up shot editing, digital technology introduces a new type of montage montage within the frame whose prototype is the real time mutation of morphing. However, while perceptual realism was achieved carnal knowledgely painlessly in digital sound, the digital image proved far more laborious. Even limited attempts to marry live action with CGI, suc h as TRON (1982) and The Last Starfighter (1984) proved futile to sustain the first wave of enthusiasm for the computer. As one analyst notice The problem was that digital technology was both comparatively slow and prohibitively expensive. In fact, workstations capable of performing at film resolution were driven by Cray super-computers. 2 It is these practical exigencies, coupled to the aesthetic disconnect separating software programmers from film makers I noted above, rather than a deeply matt-up desire to manufacture a specifically electronic aesthetic, which seems to underlie the look of early CGI. 23 Exponential increases in computation speed, coupled to decreases in computing cost, not only launched the desktop PC revolution in the mid-1980s, but made CGI in film an entirely different matter. The second wave of CGI was signalled when Terminator 2 savvy Day (1991) made morphing a kinsperson word. 24 Two 11 years later the runaway box-office success of Jurassic Park (1993 ) changed the question from whether computers could be in effect used in film making to how soon this would happen. The subsequent rash of CGI-driven blockbusters, transcend by the billion dollar repairr gross of Camerons Titanic (1997), has support the trajectory.Cameron is one of many influential players who argue that cinema is shortly undergoing a fundamental transformation Were on the threshold of a moment in cinematic history that is unparalleled. Anything you imagine can be done. If you can draw it, if you can describe it, we can do it. Its precisely a matter of cost. 25 While this claim is true at one level many untrusty tasks such as depicting skin, hairsbreadth and water, or integrating CGI elements into live action images shot with a hand-held camera, have now been accomplished successfully it is worth remembering that realism is a notoriously slippery goal, whether achieved via crayon, camera or computer.Dennis Murens comments on his path-breaking effects for Ju rassic Park (which in fact had only 5 to 6 minutes of CGI and relied heavily on models and miniatures, as did more recent conjure up of the art blockbusters such as The twenty percent Element, 1997 and Dark City, 1998) bear repeating peradventure well look back in 10 years and notice that we left things out that we didnt know needed to be there until we developed the next version of this technology. Muren adds In the Star Wars films you precept lots of X-wings fighters blow up, but these were eer little models shot with high-speed cameras. Youve never seen a real X-wing blow up, but by using CGI, you might dependable suddenly see what looks like a full-sized X-wing explode. It would be all fake of course, but youd see the structure inside tearing apart, the physics of this piece blowing off that piece. Then you might look back at Star Wars and say, That looks terrible. 26Clearly, George Lucas shared out this sentiment, acknowledging in 1997 that Im still bugged by things I co uldnt do or couldnt get right, and now I can fix them. 27 The massive returns generated by the digitally enhanced Star Wars trilogy raises the prospect of a future in which blockbuster movies are not re-made with new casts, but eternally updated with new generations of special effects. Stop the sun, I want to get off Putting aside the still looming question of digital projection, the bottom line in the contemporary use of digital technology in cinema is undoubtedly control 12 particularly the increased control that film makers have over all the different components of image and sound tracks.Depending on a films budget, the story no longer has to work around scenes which might be hard to set up physically or reproduce photo-optically they are all grist to the legions of screen joc headstones working in digital post-production houses. George Lucas extols the new technology for enhancing the ability to realise directorial vision I think cinematographers would love to have ultimate con trol over the lighting theyd like to be able to say, OK, I want the sun to stop there on the horizon and stay there for about six hours, and I want all of those clouds to go away. Every soundbox wants that kind of control over the image and the story verbalize process. Digital technology is just the ultimate version of that. 28A direct result of digital imaging and compositing techniques has been an explosion of films which, instead of fudging the impossible, revel in the capacity to depict it with enamorping realism Tom canvass face can be ripped apart in real time (Interview with the Vampire, 1994), the Whitehouse can be incinerated by a fireball from above ( liberty Day, 1996), New York can be drowned by a tidal wave, or smashed by a giant lizard(Deep Impact, Godzilla, 1998). But, disrespect Lucas enthusiasm, many are dubious about where the new primacy of special effects leaves narrative in cinema. The pipeline put forward by those such as Sean Cubitt and Scott Bukatman is t hat contemporary special effects tend to displace narrative til now as they introduce a divisional temporality evocative of the sublime.Focusing on Doug Trumbulls work, Bukatman emphasises the contemplative relationship established between spectator and screen in key effects scenes (a relationship frequently reflect by on-screen characters displaying their awe at what they and we are seeing. )29 Cubitt suggests that similar fetishistic moments occur in songs such as Diamonds are a missys Best Friend, where narrative improvement gives way to visual fascination. His example is bony from a strikingly similar terrain to that which invigorate Laura Mulveys well-known thesis on the tension between voyeurism and scopophilia in classical narrative cinema Mainstream film neatly combined spectacle and narrative. (Note, however, in the musical song-and-dance be break the flow of the diegesis).The front line of cleaning woman is an indispensable element of spectacle in average narra tive film, yet her visual presence tends to work against the development of a story line, to relinquishze the flow of action in moments of erotic contemplation. 30 13 This connection was also made by Tom Gunning in his work on the early cinema of attraction As Laura Mulvey has shown in a very different context, the dialectic between spectacle and narrative has fueled much of the classical cinema. 31 In this respect, a key point to draw from both Mulvey and Gunning is to recognise that they dont conceive the relationship between spectacle and narrative in terms of opposition but dialectical tension. 32 This is something that other writers have sometimes forgotten.Presenting the issue in terms of an opposition (spectacle versus narrative) in fact recycles positions which have been consistently articulated (and regularly reversed) passim the century. In the 1920s, avant-garde film makers railed against narrative because it was associated primarily with literary and theatrical scenari os at the expense of cinematic qualities (Gunning begins his Cinema of devotion essay with just such a quote from Fernand Leger). Similar concerns emerged with debates in France over auteur theory in the 1950s, where the literary qualities of script were opposed to the properly cinematic qualities of mise-en-scene.In the 1970s, the refusal of narrative which characterised much Screen theory of the period, took on radical political connotations. Perhaps as a reaction to the extremity of pronouncements by those such as Peter Gidal, there has been a widespread restoration of narrative qualities as a filmic skillful object in the present. However, rather than attempting to resolve this fraction in favour of one side or the other, the more salient need is to examine their irreducible intertwining what sort of stories are being told, and what sort of spectacles are being deployed in their telling? While it is easy to lament the quality of story-telling in contemporary blockbusters, few critics seriously maintain that such films are without narrative.A more successful framework is to analyse why explicitly mythological films such as the Star Wars cycle have been able to grip popular imagination at this particular historical conjuncture, marrying the bare bones of fairy-tale narrative structures to the inculcation of a specific type of special effects driven viewing experience. (To some extent, ths is Bukatmans approach in his analysis of special effects). In this context, it is also worth remembering that, despite the quite profound transformations set in train by the use of digital technology in film making, there has thus far been little discernible effect on narrative in terms of structure or genre. The flirtation with non-linear and interactional films was a shooting star which came and went with the CD-ROM, while most contemporary blockbusters conform smoothly to established cine-genres (sci-fi, horror, disaster and action- 14 dventure predominating), with a significant number being direct re-makes of older films done better in the digital domain. One of the more elicit observations about possible trends in the industry is put forward by crowd Cameron, who has argued that digital technology has the potential to free film makers from the constraints of the A and B picture hierarchy In the 40s you either had a movie star or you had a B-movie. today you can create an A-level movie with some kind of visual spectacle, where you cast good actors, but you dont need an Arnold or a Sly or a Bruce or a Kevin to make it a viable film. 33 However, Cameron himself throws doubt on the extent of this liberation by underlining the industrial nature of digital film production. 4 In practice, any film with the budget to produce a large number of cutting edge special effects shots is inevitably sold around star participation, as well as spectacle (as were films such as The Robe, 1953 and Ben Hur, 1926). This point about the intertwining of narrative and spectacle is re-inforced if we look at developments in large-format film, an area frequently singled out for its over-dependence on screen spectacle to compensate for notoriously drilling educational narrative formats. Large-format (LF) cinema is currently in the throes of a significant transformation The number of screens worldwide has exploded in the last four years (between 1995 and January 1999, the global LF circuit grew from 165 to 263 theatres. By January 2001, another(prenominal) 101 theatres are due to open, taking the total to 364, an increase of 120% in 6 years).More significantly, the majority of new screens are being run by commercial-grade message operators rather than institutions such as scientific discipline museums. These new exhibition opportunities, coupled to the box-office returns generated by films such as Everest (the 15th highest grossing film in the USA in 1998, despite appearing on only 32 screens) has created significant momentum in the welkin for the production of LF films capable of attracting broader audiences. For some producers, this means attempting to transfer the narrative devices of dramatic feature films onto the giant screen, while others argue that the peculiarities of the median(a) means that LF postulate to stick with its prove documentary subjects.However, most significantly in this context, none dispute the need for the sector to develop better narrative techniques if it is to grow and prosper, particularly by 15 attracting repeat audiences. In many respects, the LF sector is currently in a similar position to cinema in the 1900s, with people going to see the apparatus rather than a specific film, and the experience being announce largely on this basis. While it would be simplistic to see current attempts to improve the narrative credentials of LF films as a faithful repeating of the path that 35mm cinema took earlier this century, since most production is likely to remain documentary-oriented, it wo uld be equally as foolish to ignore the cultural and commercial imperatives which still converge around telling a good story. 5 Distraction and the politics of spectacle Despite the current rash of digitally-inspired predictions, narrative in film is unlikely to succumb to technological obsolescence. But nor will spectacle be vanquished by a miraculous resurgence of quality stories. A corollary of a dialectical conception of the interrelatedness between narrative and spectacle is that neither should be seen simply as good or bad objects in themselves. For Mulvey, spectacle (exemplified by close-ups which turn womans face and body into a fetish), as well as the more voyeuristic strategy of narrative, were both attuned to the anxious imagination of patriarchal culture in classical cinema.Both were techniques for negotiating the threat of emasculation raised by the image of woman, an image classical cinema simultaneously in demand(p) and sought to circumscribe or punish. Nevertheless, even within this heavily constrained context, spectacle could also assume a radical function by interrupting the smooth functioning of narrative, sorry the rules of identification and the systematic organisation of the look within the text. (This is the gist of her comparison between the films of von Sternberg, which privilege a fetish image of Dietrich over narrative progress, and those of Hitchcock which more nigh align the viewer with the male protagonist). drive out spectacle still exert a liberalist function in contemporary cinema?While most critics answer this question negatively without even posing it, Paul Young is unusual in granting a measure of radical effect to the renewed primacy of spectacle. Young draws on Miriam Hansens account of the productive equivocalness of early cinema, in which the lack of standardised modes of exhibition, coupled to reliance on individual attractions, gave audiences a relative freedom to interpret what they saw, and established cinema as (potentially) an alternative public sphere. He takes this as support for his argument that contemporary spectacle cinema constitutes an emergent challenge to Hollywoods institutional identity. 36 16 Youngs analysis contrasts markedly with Gunnings earlier comment of the cinema of effects as meek attractions. 7 Nevertheless both share some common ground Youngs reference to the productive ambiguity of early cinema, like Gunnings rather oblique and undeveloped reference to the important power of attraction, draws nourishment from Siegfried Kracauers early writings on the concept of distraction. In the 1920s, Kracauer set up distraction as a counterpoint to contemplation as a privileged mode of audience reception, seeing it as embodying a challenge to bourgeois taste for literary-theatrical narrative forms, and also as the most compelling mode of presentation to the cinema audience of their own disjointed and fragmented conditions of existence. 38 While distraction persisted as a c ategory used by Walter Benjamin in his Artwork essay of the mid1930s, by the forties Kracauer seemed to have revised his position.As Elsaesser has pointed out, this re-appraisal was at least partly a re-assessment of the productive ambiguity which had characterised social spaces such as cinema by the 1940s distraction and spectacle had been consolidated into socially dominant forms epitomised by Hollywood on the one hand and fascism on the other. 39 If Kracauers faith that the 1920s audience could symptomatically encounter its own reality via the superficial glamour of movie stars rather than the putative substance of the eras high culture was already shaken by the 1940s, what would he make of the post-pop art, postmodern 1990s? The extent to which surface elements of popular culture have been esthetically legitimated without any significant transformation of corresponding political and economic values suggests the enormous difficulties facing those trying to utilise spectacle as a progressive element in contemporary culture. However, it is equally important to have it away that this problem cannot be resolved simply by appealing to narrative as an antidote. While the terms remain so monolithic, the debate will not progress beyond generalities. In this respect, Kracauers work still offers some important lessons to consider in the present. Here, by way of conclusion, I want to sketch out a few possible lines of inquiry. On the one hand, his concept of the mass ornament indicates that any turn, or return, to spectacle in cinema needs to be situated in a wider social context. 0 Spectacle is not simply a matter of screen image, but constitutes a social relation indexed by the screen (something Guy Debord underlined in the 1960s). Developments in contemporary cinema need to be related to a number of other trajectories, including cinemas on-going endeavours to distinguish its experience 17 from that of home entertainment, as well as the proliferation of spectacle in social arenas as diverse as sport (the prodigious games), politics (the dominance of the cult of temper in all political systems) and war (the proto-typical media-event). On the other hand, the specific forms of spectacle mobilised in contemporary cinema need to be examined for the extent to which they might reveal (in Kracauers terms) the underlying meaning of existing conditions.Kracauers analysis of cinema in the 1920s situated the popularity of a certain structure of viewing experience in relation to the rise of a new class (the white collar worker). In contemporary terms, I would argue that the applicable transformation is the process of globalisation. While this is a complex, heterogeneous and uneven phenomenon, a pertinent aspect to consider here is Hollywoods increasing reliance on overseas markets, both for revenue, and, more importantly, for growth. 41 In this context, the growing imperative for films to depict easily to all corners and cultures of the world is ans wered by building films around spectacular action setpieces. Equally as ignificantly, the predominant themes of recent special effects cinema the goal of the city and the mutation or taking apart of the human body are symptomatic of the underlying tensions of globalisation, tensions exemplified by widespread ambivalence towards the socio-political effects of speed and the new spatio-temporal matrices such as cyberspace. 42 The most important cinematic manifestations of these anxious fascinations are not realised at the level of narrative message (although they occasionally make themselves matte up there), but appear symptomatically in the structure of contemporary viewing experience. The repetition of awe and astonishment repeatedly evoked by impossible images as the currency of todays cutting edge cinema undoubtedly functions to prepare us for the uncertain pleasures of living in a world we suspect we will soon no longer recognise it is not simply realism but reality which is mutating in the era of digital thriftiness and the Human Genome Project.If this turn to spectacle is, in some respects, comparable to the role played by early cinema in negotiating the new social spaces which emerged in the industrial city remade by factories and department stores, electrification and dynamic vehicles, it also underscores the fact that the death of camera realism in the late twentieth century is a complex psycho-social process, not least because photo-realism was always less an aesthetic function than a deeply embedded social and political relation. 43 18 Finally, I would argue that it is important not to subsume all these filmic headings under the single burnish of digital. There is a need to acknowledge, firstly, that digital technology is used far more widely in the film industry than for the production of blockbusters and special effects (for example, it is the new industry standard in areas such as sound production and picture editing).Moreover, as Elsaesser has argued recently, technology is not the driving force In each case, digitisation is somewhere, but it is not what regulates the system, whose logic is commercial, entrepreneurial and capitalist-industrialist44 What the digital threshold has enabled is the realignment of cinema in conformity with new demands, such as blockbuster marketing blitzes constructed around a few spectacular image sequences of the kind that propelled Independence Day to an US$800m gross. It has rejuvenated cinemas capacity to set aesthetic agendas, and, at the same time, restored its status as a key player in contemporary political economy. In this context, one aspect of the digital threshold deserves further attention. In the 1990s, product merchandising has become an increasingly important part of financing the globalised film industry.While some would date this from Star Wars, Jurassic Park offers a more relevant point of reference for the first time, audiences could see on screen, as an integral part of the filmic diegesis, the same commodities they could purchase in the cinema foyer. As Lucie Fjeldstad (then head of IBMs multimedia division) remarked at the time (1993) Digital content is a return-on-assets goldmine, because once you create Terminator 3, the character, it can be used in movies, in theme-park rides, videogames, books, educational products. 45 Digital convergence is enacted not simply in the journey from large screen to down in the mouth screen the same parameters used in designing CG characters for a film can easily be transmitted to off-shore factories manufacturing plastic toys.