Robotic Surgery Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Robotic Surgery - Research Paper Example drug administration for use in both pediatric and adult robotic surgery procedures in areas such as thoracoscopically-assited cardiotomy procedures, general non-cardiovuscular thoracosopic surgeries, general laparoscopic surgeries and urological surgeries (Lowes, 2014). The 1st federally approved robotic surgery was performed at a Virginia hospital, a day after the food and drug administration regulators approved the procedure. The approval of the 1st robotic surgery enabled the doctors to get rid of the gall bladder and conduct some other procedures through utilization of a laparoscope, which is a tube that in introduced into the abdomen through very tiny incisions. At the end of the tubes are miniature cameras and surgical instruments that permit surgeons to perform procedures after peering into the body. The AESOP system was approved in 1990 followed by the approval of da Vinci Surgery System in 2000. The approval of da Vinci surgical systems, a robotic system, by the Food and drug administration enabled doctors to use foot pedals on a console and hand grips to control three robotic arms that actually performs the laparoscopic surgery through utilization of a variety of tools. The approval was based on a review of clinical studies of effectivene ss and safety submitted by the manufacturers and on the recommendation of the plastic and general surgical devices panel of the Food and drug administration’s medical devices advisory committee. The food and drugs administration focused on various issues before approving the utilization of the robotic technology in surgery. Some of the obstacles faced by the robotic surgery in obtaining the approval of the FDAs included showing that the technology had more advantages than as compared to other forms of surgery. Other obstacles entailed ensuring that enough training was conducted to some of the physicians. Before approving the technology, the company that produced the da Vinci system had to sponsor sufficient testing

Ways of seeing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Ways of seeing - Essay Example Thus, seeing is not just an action verb it’s an adjective. Therefore, perceptions impact extensively on images under observation and these images depict diverse meaning and value to the viewer. Emotions and belief acknowledge how one should comprehend certain phenomena like lightning in rain can be viewed, but not fully described in words as to what impact it leaves on a viewer. Secondly, personal perception do play significant role in this seeing phenomena, as a person with pessimistic belief will consider lighting as a bad omen for him. Similarly, a naturalist will enjoy the moment of climatic fury and in the same manner a religious person will consider it as a sign of God’s wrath on his creation due to disobedience. Seeing is like truth, some part always remains concealed. On the same, line he describes that although as a process gaze comes first and later on it is interpreted by the the gazer, but gaze itself is surrounded by prior belief therefore, elaboration of gaze does come the way it has been perceived in a society. For instance, sacrificing animals on a religious event is acceptable in Islam and few other religions of the world. Hence, the sight of sacrificing animal does not induce painful sentiments in Muslims. Instead it brings a sense of obedience by performing a religious ritual. Simultaneously, a person from a different faith would not accept this explanation and will develop negative perception for this Islamic ritual, as for him the sight will be frightening and an unacceptable action. Perceptions are like planes; they fly and land in a certain domain. Berger also claims that seeing brings the object of speculation, close to individual’s proximity i.e. understanding of it. Many at times, one observes death, however, it does not make sense to loved ones and they do not accept it immediately, but through a rational point of view it is a fact which remains the

Causes for Japanese Film Remakes

Causes for Japanese Film Remakes Introduction Since the beginning of the 21st Century a new trend has become commonplace within the Hollywood horror genre, Japanese horror films are being purchased and remade for a new audience, removing the traditional underlying history and Americanising them for western viewers waiting for their next dose of fear and terror. In this dissertation I will explore the reasoning behind this influx of remakes, looking at the important roles people like Roy Lee and Vertigo Entertainment have played in their acceptance and successes. To do this I feel it is important to look at the state Hollywood horror was in before, and how films such as The Ring (2002) and The Grudge (2004) have changed things. As well as this I will look at the differences between J-Horror and its American counterpart, and how these have made them an appealing prospect for remaking. It will also be important for me to look at the academic theories behind remakes, and the different types of remake there are, using the work of Druxman, Leitch and Greenberg to try and help identify the different approaches used by Hollywood directors whilst tackling these projects. As well as investigating into why this has become so popular recently, and what examples there are in the past of similar situations arising, I’ll be attempting to predict how long this will last for, and the problems studios may encounter by doing it on a large scale. I will begin in Chapter One by introducing the work of Michael Druxman, Thomas Leitch and Harvey Roy Greenberg, summarising their writings on the topic of remakes and looking at how they each have different categories of them, depending on the new films style and the way it is released. I will look at Leitch’s theory of the â€Å"triangular relationship† (1990: 139) which helps to explain how remakes differ so much from other versions of adaptation. Along with these categories of remake I will attempt to give examples of different films which fit into the criteria, as well as relating them to the current trend of remaking J-Horror. In Chapter Two I will talk about the differences between Hollywood and Japanese horror styles, looking at both countries long histories in the genre, focussing on things such as folklore and local tradition, trying to discover why the two styles are so different. I will look at the origins and formation of the J-Horror style, along with the key films and directors associated with the movement. Before focussing on Hollywood’s history of remaking, and some of the reasons and thinking behind doing it, looking at films such as Yojimbo (1961) and Shichinin no samurai (Seven Samurai, 1954) as examples of this happening in the past. Chapter Three will be a case study based around Ringu (1998) and The Ring (2002), pointing out the differences and similarities between the two films. Through the use of illustrations I will identify important scenes where Gore Verbinski has either almost copied exactly or drastically altered the shot from Hideo Nakata’s original. I will try to relate my arguments and observations to other contemporary cases of J-Horror remakes, again talking about the cultural differences between the two countries and how in turn that has affected the look and feel of the two films. Finally I will conclude by looking at the future of remaking J-Horror, highlighting future films in development and how Hollywood is now exploiting new markets. I will summarise my findings from previous chapters and use them to try and predict how long this spell of remaking will last for and if it will continue to be as financially successful as it has been so far. Chapter One Categories of Remake Ever since the early days of Hollywood cinema films have been remade, reimagined and adapted for new, ever changing audiences. In most cases it has proven that if a film was successful the first time round a remake will be equally so. The producer or studio make the decision that the original story is still viable (Druxman: 1975: 13) and can once again make big money at the box office. This has led to this trend increasing rapidly over the last few decades, with fresh new material becoming harder to come by. Before I go into detail on the types of remakes and how they relate to the current trend of remaking Asian horror, I must clearly define what a remake actually is. A remake is much more than a film based on an earlier screenplay (Verevis: 2006: 1), as it can be broken down into even more definitions. The sequel/prequel, adaptation, homage, reimagining, film series and the retour aux sourced are all a type of remake (Delaney Potamitis: 2004: 1), with films falling under one of them. Leitch states that the reason remakes differ so much from other adaptations to a new media is due to the â€Å"triangular relationship† (Leitch: 1990: 139) they establish among themselves, the original film and the property in which both are based on. This has come about because typically producers of a remake pay no adaptation fees to the makers of the original film, but instead purchase adaptation rights from the authors of the based on property (Leitch: 1990: 139). This seems strange as it is the two films which will be competing against each other, often being found side by side on store shelves, and not the original property and the remade film (Leitch: 1990: 139). It is often the case that the original film benefits from the release of a remake, as it brings in a fresh audience who are often interested in watching the original film as well. In the case of Ringu, you can clearly see that the theatrical release of its remake caused its popularity to soar higher than ever before [fig 1.1] (pro.imdb.com). Many texts have been written regarding the subject of remaking film, and in particular looking at breaking the remake down into smaller more specific categories. The writings of Robert Eberwein, Michael Druxman, Harvey Roy Greenberg and Thomas Leitch, have defined multiple different types of remade film between them, from the wide and vague to the extremely specific. These books and essays can prove very helpful when comparing remade cinema, especially in trying to identify why the film in question has been remade, and the thinking behind it. I hope to use these definitions to help answer my own question of why there is such a high demand for westernising Japanese horror. In one of the first texts dedicated solely to the subject of the movie remake, Make It Again, Sam, Druxman sets out to answer three questions through the analysis of thirty three films and their remakes (1975: 9). These questions are â€Å"Why was the picture remade?†, â€Å"How was the remake different from the original as far as important story changes were concerned?† and â€Å"What was the critical reaction to the remake?† (Druxman: 1975: 9). When searching for a definition of a â€Å"remakeâ€Å" for his work Druxman decided that he would not take into account obvious sequels to films, and instead focus mainly on those that were based on a â€Å"common literary source† (1975: 9), such as an existing screenplay, novel, play, etc. Three major factors are described as driving â€Å"industry pragmatism† (Verevis: 2006: 5) in regards to Hollywood’s practice of remaking. Druxman argues that the first of these factors is that the studios’ decision to remake is a â€Å"voluntary one† (1975: 13) based on the fact that the script is still relevant today and could prove successful. However during the 1930s and 1940s, in the studio dominated era, they were forced to produce a certain amount of films every year (Druxman: 1975: 13). Producers found themselves with no alternative than to start using previously filmed movies as sources for new â€Å"B† and sometimes top-of-the-bill productions (Verevis: 2006: 6). These updated plots were essentially the same as their predecessor, with just the settings and characters being changed slightly. Druxman’s second point is that it was common practice for studios to purchase rights to plays, novels and stories, so that they could then produce multiple versions of these without giving the copyright holder additional payments (Verevis: 2006: 6). As Literary classics such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and The Three Musketeers where in the public domain, it meant that no initial payment would have to be paid for their dramatic rights (Verevis: 2006: 6). The final factor is simple economics; established films can be redone in order to exploit the ever changing production techniques and movie stars. That is why these old stories were, and will continue to be, constantly resurrected. If a studio has purchased the rights to something they will want to redo and release it as many times as possible in order to maximise their gain. Through Druxman’s definitions and in depth analysis of Hollywood remakes he comes up with three categories which he feels they can fall under; the direct, disguised and the non-remake (Druxman: 1975: 15). The direct remake category contains films that do not even attempt to hide the fact that they are based on earlier productions (Druxman: 1975: 15). Such productions may adopt a new title and make some changes to the narrative image (Verevis: 2006: 7), but it is basically the same film being remade, with not even the publicity campaigns hiding this fact (Druxman: 1975: 15). The main objective of these direct remakes is to draw in two types of cinema viewers. Those who have seen and enjoyed the original, and are curious about this new remake, and those who have heard good things about the original so want to view this version as the older is no longer in circulation (Druxman: 1975: 18). His second category, the disguised remake is a film which is either updated with little change, or completely retitled and then disguised, with the help of a new setting and original characters. (Verevis: 2006: 7). In either case though, the disguised remake doesn’t wish to draw attention to the fact that it’s not an original piece, instead just promoting itself as a normal film. Finally Druxman says there are non-remakes, films retaining the title of a well known story (Druxman: 1975: 15), as well as possibly referring to the name of a well known author, strictly for commercial purposes. Basically all the remake and the original share in common is the title, but the content is extremely different in each case (Verevis: 2006: 7). A perfect example of Druxman’s non-remake would be The Ring Two (2005) as the film shares the same name as its original (in its American release title at least), but that it pretty much where the similarities end. It is interesting to point out that the film is remade by Hideo Nakata, the director behind the original, clearly placing this remake within Robert Stams category of autocitation, in which a film maker remakes his/her own film (Verevis: 2006: 21). A further relevant example of this is Takashi Shimizu’s American film The Grudge a remake of his earlier Japanese language Ju-on: The Grudge (2003). In Harvey Roy Greenberg’s article â€Å"Raiders of the Lost Text: Remaking as Contested Homage in Always†he expands upon Druxman’s â€Å"commercially grounded† (Verevis: 2006: 8) groups and comes up with three categories which instead focus on the directors reasons for remaking a film. His categories center around the example of the romantic war fantasy A Guy Named Joe (1943) and its Steven Spielberg remake, Always (1989). Using this as an example of what Verevis translates as a â€Å"acknowledged, transformed remake† (2006: 9), with the film having huge changes made to the characters, location and general story telling. But still making sure to acknowledge the original, like in the case of Always a small mention is given in the credits. Much like Druxman he also names two other categories in which he feels remakes fall under. The acknowledged, close remake much like Druxman’s direct (1975:15) category, is when a remake completely replicates the original, with little to no change made to its narrative structure (Verevis: 2006: 9), and the unacknowledged, disguised remake is when both minor and major changes are made to the time, settings and characters. But the original version is not referred to and the audience are not informed of there even being one (Verevis: 2006: 9), similar to Druxman’s category of disguised remake. Thomas M. Leitch gives a much â€Å"more developed† (Verevis: 2006: 11) taxonomy of remakes. He claims that remakes seek to define themselves through either primary reference to the original film, or to the material both are adapted from, and there are four possible stances of remake that a film can fall under (Leitch: 1990: 142). The readaptation is the simplest of these stances, ignoring earlier cinematic adaptations in order to readapt an original literary property as faithfully as possible (Verevis: 2006: 12). The readaptations goal is â€Å"fidelity to the original text† (Leitch: 1990: 142), which it aims to translate as thoroughly as possible into the new film medium. Unlike the readaptation, the update competes directly with its literacy source, instead of seeking to subordinate itself to the essence of a literacy classic (Verevis: 2006: 12). They transform the original text through such ways as transposing it to a new setting, changing its values, or making the original seem dated, outmoded or irrelevant (Leitch: 1990: 143). Films such as these updates often display their â€Å"contradictory attitude towards the material† (Leitch: 1990: 143) through their titles and marketing, sometimes even using a tone which verges on parody. For perfect example of this would be Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet (1996), a film which takes an established screenplay and changes its meaning, updating it for a new generation. The homage is a type of remake whose primary objective is not to disrespect and put down the original film, but celebrate and pay tribute to it (Leitch: 1990: 144). Much like the readaptation which seeks to direct the audience’s attention to its literacy source (Verevis: 2006: 13), the homage situates itself as a secondary text, with its only value depending on its relation to the original text they pay tribute to (Leitch: 1990: 144). Therefore the homage renounces any claims that it is better than its original and attempts to reintroduce films that are in danger of being lost and forgotten (Leitch: 1990: 144). Leitch’s final category, the true remake is the complete opposite to the homage, claiming that it is better than its original (Verevis: 2006: 13). It focuses on a cinematic original with an accommodating stance and seeks to update the original, making its more relevant to a new modern audience (Leitch: 1990: 145). More than any of the other categories it borrows largely from the unacknowledged film, instead of being a reinvisioning of a literacy text (Leitch: 1990: 145). As well as these three major taxonomies on remakes from Leitch, Druxman and Greenberg, Robert Eberwein has published an elaborate list, proposing fifteen individual categories, each with many subdivisions (Verevis: 2006: 11). Ranging from the obvious such as a silent film remade as a sound film (Eberwein: 1998: 28) to the much more specific, â€Å"A remake that changes the race of the main characters† (Eberwein: 1998: 30). His taxonomy doesn’t address the issue of film adaptations, (Eberwein: 1998: 31) but regardless is a comprehensive and extremely specific list of categories which film can easily be slotted into. Chapter Two Different Styles of Horror It’s fairly clear to see, even to the most casual of audiences that Hollywood and Asia have extremely different styles of horror cinema, focussing on very different aspects and using different techniques to produce an element of fear. The west has a long history of horror cinema, starting with the early gothic in films such as Todd Browning’s Dracula (1931) and James Whales’ Frankenstein (1931), before going through a more paranoid stage focussing on unease and a sense that things are not right in the world, such as John Carpenters Science Fiction horror The Thing (1982). In recent times though â€Å"horror has become the domain of the slasher movie† (Maher: 2005: 14), with the likes of Friday the 13th(1980), Halloween (1978) and A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) giving rise to a new genre, one which would reshape the future of horror for almost 20 years. Towards the end of the 20th century it had become the norm for horror cinema to be all about multiple grotesque killings, limited back-story and a very formulaic approach to making the films. With the audience expecting certain key things when watching a horror film, such as, big jumpy moments, psycho-killers who never quite die and conventions such as the â€Å"Final Girl†. As Gore Verbinski, director of The Ring puts it â€Å"slasher films contextualise the horror so you watch it, eat your popcorn, go through a few jumps, and then go out for dinner† (O’Toole: 2003: 93), it was no longer fresh and exciting in the way it was in the early 1980s. Wes Craven changed all this in 1996 with the first of his Scream trilogy, the ironic slasher movie has run out of â€Å"nudge-nudge and wink wink† (O’Toole: 2003: 93) and it was now time for a smarter type of horror, one which was very aware of its audience knowing the key conventions, and which would use this to its advantage. The Scream films make use of the previously subtle and covert intertextual references and transform them into a very overt, discursive act. The movie characters knowledge of the horror genre rivals that of this new very aware target audience, and no longer tries to patronise them and act oblivious, with even the rules of horror sequels being discussed in detail in the following Scream 2 (1997) and Scream 3 (2000). The dismantling and parody riddled approach to the slasher genre continued with the Scary Movie (2000) franchise, this time not just giving a smart alternative to current horror cinema but completely mocking every aspect of it. Although these films and there sequels did very well at the box office, they had done serious damage to the American horror genre (Braundu: 2005: 118), the age of the slasher genre was over and Hollywood studios needed to find a way to invent horror for a new audience. In 1998 â€Å"Japanese suspense maestro† (Maher: 2005: 14) Hideo Nakata’s small budget Japanese horror film Ringu had revived a stagnant genre for the country, and had become a â€Å"cinematic phenomenon† (O’Toole: 2003: 93) across Asia, quickly becoming the most successful horror film franchise in Japan’s history. (Arnold: 2002:16) The story of a mysterious video tape which kills everyone who watches it exactly one week later became an underground cult classic within the west (Maher: 2005: 14), providing a kind of deep unsettling horror which had never been seen before. The film is based largely on the book of the same name by Koji Suzuki, who has been dubbed â€Å"the Stephen King of Japan† (O’Toole: 2003: 93), which was published in 1991. Suzuki’s downbeat, everyday settings have proven to translate well into film, (Donald: 2005: 9) with another one of his books, Honogurai mizu no soko kara (Dark Water, 2002) from 1996 also being adapted and remade for an American audience. Roy Lee, arguably the best known go-between in the world of remakes (Frater Kay: 2003: 10) and one half of the new Vertigo Entertainment, was one of the first big name American film producer to watch Ringu and it was this viewing that triggered the start of the Asian remake boom. On Lee’s recommendation the film was watched by Dreamworks Production Executive Walter Parkes and by 7pm that same day they had â€Å"paid $1m for the remake† rights (Frater Kay: 2003: 10). The history of the Japanese horror film is arguably as big as that of Hollywood and the West’s. With its roots firmly set in folklore, myth and urban legend (Langford: 2005: 175) it has progressed from woodblock carvings, to Kabuki theatre and finally to motion picture cinema. The main premise of the horror is based around the ghost story, at least up until the late 20th century. Story’s known as Kaidan (literally translated to â€Å"tail of a strange apparition†) originating from the Edo and Meiji period where passed down from generation to generation, retold in an ever changing medium (Stamou: 2007). The average Japanese person is more inclined to believe in ghosts than not, due to the culture and the way they are constantly exposed to these tales of terror. They believe that spirits inhabit absolutely everything (Rucka: 2005) and because of this don’t regard them as enemies, but as just another thing which co-exists within their world (Kermode: 2005). As Walter Salles, director of Dark Water (2005) puts it, â€Å"they don’t question it the way we question it, it’s much more a part of their world† (Kermode: 2005). Due to the unquestioning of the paranormal and the Buddhist and ShintÃ…Â  religious followings they are much more acceptant to the idea of life after death. This view of life, death and the afterlife is the fundamental difference between Japanese horror and its western counterpart, and where all the other differences stem from (Rucka: 2005). As Hideo Nakata says, â€Å"when making horror films, the methods of describing the spirit world and the expression of horror are totally different between Japan and the West† (Kermode: 2005). As is common within the Japanese language there are names for multiple different types of ghost and spirit. The ghosts and demons of the ancient period tales where known as the Yurei (lean ghost), the Zashiki-warashi is a dead child’s ghost, like the character of Toshio in Ju-on: The Grudge. One of the most common kinds of ghost though is the OnryÃ…Â  (resentful spirit), a spirit trapped at Yomi (Japanese purgatory) who comes back to earth looking for revenge (Stamou: 2007). Although not limited to being female, such as Rentaro Mikuni’s husband character in Kwaidan (1964) for example, the majority of them are (Wilks: 2006). It is this image of the OnryÃ…Â  which comes to mind when you think of Japanese horror, the female spirit gowned in snow-white, with its long black hair obscuring its face. This is mainly due to the new wave of Japanese directors such as, Takashi Miike (Ôdishon, 1999), Hideo Nakata (Ringu), Takashi Shimizu (Ju-on: The Grudge) and Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Kairo, 2001) using it at every opportunity, making it as â€Å"iconic in horror cinema as the projectile-vomiting, spinning head† (Wilks: 2006). 1964 saw the release of what many regard as one of Japans greatest horrors, Kaidan (Kwaidan, 1964). Directed by Masaki Kobayashi and based on four short stories by author Lafcadio Hearn, it uses abstract use of lighting and sound, creatively staged and shot in vibrant colours (Rucka: 2005). Keiko Kishi’s performance as Yuki The Ice Maiden sparked such terror within the Japanese population, that now only the passing glimpse of the likes of Sadako in Ringu and Kayako in Ju-on: The Grudge ignite utmost fright, due to the accumulated cultural knowledge of this character (Wilks: 2006). After years of Japanese horror plodding along in a stale state, influenced more by American slashers than its own rich heritage, a young director called Norio Tsurta decided he had had enough and it was time for a change. Japan was no longer the fantastically safe country it once was, and the Japanese people were starting to feel the ills of the outside world encroaching on them (Lovgren: 2004), and this was starting to be shown through their cinema. Tsurta’s Honto ni atta kowai hanashi (Scary True Stories, 1991) was the first of these, providing through low budget production, the look, mood and style which would later be known as J-Horror (Rucka: 2005). The term J-Horror was originally coined as a cult fan term (Rucka: 2005) for the post Ringu horror cinema which was coming out of Japan, although now it is often wrongly used to define Japanese horror as a whole. This revitalised horror scene fronted largely by Hideo Nakata after the phenomenal success of his film Ringu, completely revived the Japanese horror scene and caught the eye of film fans and studios all around the world. The common theme within J-Horror is once again ghosts, OnryÃ…Â  and the supernatural, but other more violent torture based films can also be included under the banner, for example Takashi Miike’s Ôdishon (Audition). For the most part though the films were very similar in style and overall theme to each other, with the following being the most notable examples; Nakata’s Ringu, Kaosu (Chaos, 1999), Ringu 2 (1999) and Honogurai mizu no soko kara. Takashi Shimizu’s Ju-on: The Curse (2000), Ju-on: The Curse 2 (2000), Ju-on: The Grudge, Ju-on: The Grudge 2 (2003), Marebito (2004) and Rinne (Reincarnation, 2005). Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Kyua (Cure, 1997), Kairo (Pulse, 2001) and Sakebi (Retribution, 2006), and Takashi Miike’s Chakushin ari (One Missed Call, 2004). The Japanese horror style has an â€Å"eerie ambient quality† (Maher: 14: 2005) about it which differs largely from its western counterpart. As noted previously, in the traditional Japanese horror movie the â€Å"past haunts the present, invariably taking the form of the supernatural† (Schneider and Williams: 6: 2005). Where, as director Rob Zombie (Halloween, 2007) points out, in American horror â€Å"you’ve gotta kill someone in the first five seconds† (Chaffin: 2005). J-Horror takes a very different approach to this, focussing on delivering heavy â€Å"atmosphere, nuance and ambiguity† (Chaffin: 2005), instead of raw grotesque gore, mainly due to the fact that the Japanese audience is much more tolerant of it (Phelan: 10: 2005). In Japanese horror films there’s much more of an acceptance towards the irrational and the unexplained (Lovgren: 2004). Nakata says that the ghost need do nothing more than â€Å"stand behind and stare at the main character† (Davies: 2005) to create fear amongst the audience, it all comes from sounds, shadows and suggestions, you don’t need â€Å"a 3D creature lopping people’s heads off† (Lovgren: 2004). Takashi Shimizu compares the current J-Horror style to films by American director John Carpenter, such as The Thing (1982) and Halloween. Saying that â€Å"just the suggestion of the presence of a ghost is frightening† (Dixon: 7: 2005), whereas Sarah Michelle-Gellar, star of The Grudge, describes Asian horror as being â€Å"much more beautiful, more poetic, leaving much more to the imagination† (Baughan: 78: 2005), a view which seems to be shared by many. Western horror plots normally evolve around the idea that the characters discover the cause of the horror and then destroy it, but J-Horror works very differently to this. As Stephen Susco, the writer in charge of translating Ju-on: The Grudge for the remake puts it, Asian horror is more â€Å"like a haunted house that follows you† (Kay: 7: 2004), there’s no limits or barriers to the horror. For example in Ringu where Sadako Yamamura climbs out of the television set, breaching any line which might keep you safe. In the west a ghost is often required to want something much more meaningful and have a deeper back-story, whereas â€Å"in Japan a ghost may simply want to terrify and destroy† (Phelan: 10: 2005). It’s the little differences like this which make these variations on the horror genre so different, where Hollywood mostly relies on over the top multiple sequences of death, Japan still has its roots firmly placed amongst the aesthetics of folklore, Japanese Noh and Kabuki theatre (McRoy: 214: 2006). Although history would suggest that Europe was the first stop of film makers and studio’s looking to remake a movie for a world audience, Japan has long been a â€Å"happy hunting ground for Hollywood remakers† (Shackleton Schilling: 2003: 17). First beginning in 1960 with The Magnificent Seven, John Sturges’ classic remake of the cult hit Shichinin no samurai, and then followed by Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars (1964), a remake of the Japanese film Yojimbo. In fact Yojimbo was remade once again in 1996 in the Bruce Willis lead crime drama Last Man Standing, a tribute to Akira Kurosawa’s screenplay that it was still deemed worthy of a remake over 30 years later. Literally the largest example of Hollywood remaking a Japanese movie though is Godzilla (1998), Roland Emmerich’s re-envisioning of the then twenty two film monster series, beginning in 1954 with Goijira (Godzilla). It was this film which became one of the first early examples of a foreign film becoming â€Å"Americanised†, even though it was given a (very limited) subtitled theatrical run it was still remade two years later as Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), with numerous new scenes shot and inserted into the original Japanese film, completely changing the plot and removing any real trace that it was a foreign made production (godzylla.com). As Mike Macari, Fine Line’s Creative Executive and avid Asian film fanatic, states Hollywood has always had the ability to â€Å"import foreign ideas and re-export them to a world market† (Frater Kay: 2003: 9), remakes have always been a very important part of American film making, but in the last ten years this is becoming even more so. As the mainstream Hollywood audiences’ become bored and overexposed to the current market the studios are forced to look elsewhere for inspiration, Walter Parkes says that Hollywood’s â€Å"voracious appetite† (Frater Kay: 2003: 9) will look wherever it can for new material and inspiration. American children have been â€Å"growing up on Pokemon, Japanese anime and manga† (Frater Kay: 2003: 9) for the past ten years, which has meant that as they become adults they’ve become more accustomed to the Japanese style, whereas fifteen years ago they wouldn’t be so open to it. Roy Lee states that he looks for â€Å"something new and fresh in the story that will appeal to a wider audience† (Paquet: 2003: 15), as long as it has an original concept and several strong scenes Hollywood can see potential in it for a remake. â€Å"Hollywood is a machine† (Maher: 2005: 14) and has proven that it can translate even the most cultural specific film into a box office success. Chapter Three Case Study As previously mentioned Hideo Nakata’s Ringu became the first film associated with the style of movie which would later be described as J-Horror. It came up with a fresh and exciting approach to its genre which would not only be used as a template for its western remakes, but the stream of replicas which would follow it in Japan. In this chapter I will be looking at the film in much more detail, comparing and contrasting it to Gore Verbinski’s Hollywood remake The Ring, in an attempt to identify how truthful it stays to the original, which parts are changed and westernised, and why this is the case. Although I am using Ringu/The Ring as my main example, mainly due to the fact that it was the first contemporary case of remaking Japanese horror, I will try to relate my arguments and observations to other films and Causes for Japanese Film Remakes Causes for Japanese Film Remakes Introduction Since the beginning of the 21st Century a new trend has become commonplace within the Hollywood horror genre, Japanese horror films are being purchased and remade for a new audience, removing the traditional underlying history and Americanising them for western viewers waiting for their next dose of fear and terror. In this dissertation I will explore the reasoning behind this influx of remakes, looking at the important roles people like Roy Lee and Vertigo Entertainment have played in their acceptance and successes. To do this I feel it is important to look at the state Hollywood horror was in before, and how films such as The Ring (2002) and The Grudge (2004) have changed things. As well as this I will look at the differences between J-Horror and its American counterpart, and how these have made them an appealing prospect for remaking. It will also be important for me to look at the academic theories behind remakes, and the different types of remake there are, using the work of Druxman, Leitch and Greenberg to try and help identify the different approaches used by Hollywood directors whilst tackling these projects. As well as investigating into why this has become so popular recently, and what examples there are in the past of similar situations arising, I’ll be attempting to predict how long this will last for, and the problems studios may encounter by doing it on a large scale. I will begin in Chapter One by introducing the work of Michael Druxman, Thomas Leitch and Harvey Roy Greenberg, summarising their writings on the topic of remakes and looking at how they each have different categories of them, depending on the new films style and the way it is released. I will look at Leitch’s theory of the â€Å"triangular relationship† (1990: 139) which helps to explain how remakes differ so much from other versions of adaptation. Along with these categories of remake I will attempt to give examples of different films which fit into the criteria, as well as relating them to the current trend of remaking J-Horror. In Chapter Two I will talk about the differences between Hollywood and Japanese horror styles, looking at both countries long histories in the genre, focussing on things such as folklore and local tradition, trying to discover why the two styles are so different. I will look at the origins and formation of the J-Horror style, along with the key films and directors associated with the movement. Before focussing on Hollywood’s history of remaking, and some of the reasons and thinking behind doing it, looking at films such as Yojimbo (1961) and Shichinin no samurai (Seven Samurai, 1954) as examples of this happening in the past. Chapter Three will be a case study based around Ringu (1998) and The Ring (2002), pointing out the differences and similarities between the two films. Through the use of illustrations I will identify important scenes where Gore Verbinski has either almost copied exactly or drastically altered the shot from Hideo Nakata’s original. I will try to relate my arguments and observations to other contemporary cases of J-Horror remakes, again talking about the cultural differences between the two countries and how in turn that has affected the look and feel of the two films. Finally I will conclude by looking at the future of remaking J-Horror, highlighting future films in development and how Hollywood is now exploiting new markets. I will summarise my findings from previous chapters and use them to try and predict how long this spell of remaking will last for and if it will continue to be as financially successful as it has been so far. Chapter One Categories of Remake Ever since the early days of Hollywood cinema films have been remade, reimagined and adapted for new, ever changing audiences. In most cases it has proven that if a film was successful the first time round a remake will be equally so. The producer or studio make the decision that the original story is still viable (Druxman: 1975: 13) and can once again make big money at the box office. This has led to this trend increasing rapidly over the last few decades, with fresh new material becoming harder to come by. Before I go into detail on the types of remakes and how they relate to the current trend of remaking Asian horror, I must clearly define what a remake actually is. A remake is much more than a film based on an earlier screenplay (Verevis: 2006: 1), as it can be broken down into even more definitions. The sequel/prequel, adaptation, homage, reimagining, film series and the retour aux sourced are all a type of remake (Delaney Potamitis: 2004: 1), with films falling under one of them. Leitch states that the reason remakes differ so much from other adaptations to a new media is due to the â€Å"triangular relationship† (Leitch: 1990: 139) they establish among themselves, the original film and the property in which both are based on. This has come about because typically producers of a remake pay no adaptation fees to the makers of the original film, but instead purchase adaptation rights from the authors of the based on property (Leitch: 1990: 139). This seems strange as it is the two films which will be competing against each other, often being found side by side on store shelves, and not the original property and the remade film (Leitch: 1990: 139). It is often the case that the original film benefits from the release of a remake, as it brings in a fresh audience who are often interested in watching the original film as well. In the case of Ringu, you can clearly see that the theatrical release of its remake caused its popularity to soar higher than ever before [fig 1.1] (pro.imdb.com). Many texts have been written regarding the subject of remaking film, and in particular looking at breaking the remake down into smaller more specific categories. The writings of Robert Eberwein, Michael Druxman, Harvey Roy Greenberg and Thomas Leitch, have defined multiple different types of remade film between them, from the wide and vague to the extremely specific. These books and essays can prove very helpful when comparing remade cinema, especially in trying to identify why the film in question has been remade, and the thinking behind it. I hope to use these definitions to help answer my own question of why there is such a high demand for westernising Japanese horror. In one of the first texts dedicated solely to the subject of the movie remake, Make It Again, Sam, Druxman sets out to answer three questions through the analysis of thirty three films and their remakes (1975: 9). These questions are â€Å"Why was the picture remade?†, â€Å"How was the remake different from the original as far as important story changes were concerned?† and â€Å"What was the critical reaction to the remake?† (Druxman: 1975: 9). When searching for a definition of a â€Å"remakeâ€Å" for his work Druxman decided that he would not take into account obvious sequels to films, and instead focus mainly on those that were based on a â€Å"common literary source† (1975: 9), such as an existing screenplay, novel, play, etc. Three major factors are described as driving â€Å"industry pragmatism† (Verevis: 2006: 5) in regards to Hollywood’s practice of remaking. Druxman argues that the first of these factors is that the studios’ decision to remake is a â€Å"voluntary one† (1975: 13) based on the fact that the script is still relevant today and could prove successful. However during the 1930s and 1940s, in the studio dominated era, they were forced to produce a certain amount of films every year (Druxman: 1975: 13). Producers found themselves with no alternative than to start using previously filmed movies as sources for new â€Å"B† and sometimes top-of-the-bill productions (Verevis: 2006: 6). These updated plots were essentially the same as their predecessor, with just the settings and characters being changed slightly. Druxman’s second point is that it was common practice for studios to purchase rights to plays, novels and stories, so that they could then produce multiple versions of these without giving the copyright holder additional payments (Verevis: 2006: 6). As Literary classics such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and The Three Musketeers where in the public domain, it meant that no initial payment would have to be paid for their dramatic rights (Verevis: 2006: 6). The final factor is simple economics; established films can be redone in order to exploit the ever changing production techniques and movie stars. That is why these old stories were, and will continue to be, constantly resurrected. If a studio has purchased the rights to something they will want to redo and release it as many times as possible in order to maximise their gain. Through Druxman’s definitions and in depth analysis of Hollywood remakes he comes up with three categories which he feels they can fall under; the direct, disguised and the non-remake (Druxman: 1975: 15). The direct remake category contains films that do not even attempt to hide the fact that they are based on earlier productions (Druxman: 1975: 15). Such productions may adopt a new title and make some changes to the narrative image (Verevis: 2006: 7), but it is basically the same film being remade, with not even the publicity campaigns hiding this fact (Druxman: 1975: 15). The main objective of these direct remakes is to draw in two types of cinema viewers. Those who have seen and enjoyed the original, and are curious about this new remake, and those who have heard good things about the original so want to view this version as the older is no longer in circulation (Druxman: 1975: 18). His second category, the disguised remake is a film which is either updated with little change, or completely retitled and then disguised, with the help of a new setting and original characters. (Verevis: 2006: 7). In either case though, the disguised remake doesn’t wish to draw attention to the fact that it’s not an original piece, instead just promoting itself as a normal film. Finally Druxman says there are non-remakes, films retaining the title of a well known story (Druxman: 1975: 15), as well as possibly referring to the name of a well known author, strictly for commercial purposes. Basically all the remake and the original share in common is the title, but the content is extremely different in each case (Verevis: 2006: 7). A perfect example of Druxman’s non-remake would be The Ring Two (2005) as the film shares the same name as its original (in its American release title at least), but that it pretty much where the similarities end. It is interesting to point out that the film is remade by Hideo Nakata, the director behind the original, clearly placing this remake within Robert Stams category of autocitation, in which a film maker remakes his/her own film (Verevis: 2006: 21). A further relevant example of this is Takashi Shimizu’s American film The Grudge a remake of his earlier Japanese language Ju-on: The Grudge (2003). In Harvey Roy Greenberg’s article â€Å"Raiders of the Lost Text: Remaking as Contested Homage in Always†he expands upon Druxman’s â€Å"commercially grounded† (Verevis: 2006: 8) groups and comes up with three categories which instead focus on the directors reasons for remaking a film. His categories center around the example of the romantic war fantasy A Guy Named Joe (1943) and its Steven Spielberg remake, Always (1989). Using this as an example of what Verevis translates as a â€Å"acknowledged, transformed remake† (2006: 9), with the film having huge changes made to the characters, location and general story telling. But still making sure to acknowledge the original, like in the case of Always a small mention is given in the credits. Much like Druxman he also names two other categories in which he feels remakes fall under. The acknowledged, close remake much like Druxman’s direct (1975:15) category, is when a remake completely replicates the original, with little to no change made to its narrative structure (Verevis: 2006: 9), and the unacknowledged, disguised remake is when both minor and major changes are made to the time, settings and characters. But the original version is not referred to and the audience are not informed of there even being one (Verevis: 2006: 9), similar to Druxman’s category of disguised remake. Thomas M. Leitch gives a much â€Å"more developed† (Verevis: 2006: 11) taxonomy of remakes. He claims that remakes seek to define themselves through either primary reference to the original film, or to the material both are adapted from, and there are four possible stances of remake that a film can fall under (Leitch: 1990: 142). The readaptation is the simplest of these stances, ignoring earlier cinematic adaptations in order to readapt an original literary property as faithfully as possible (Verevis: 2006: 12). The readaptations goal is â€Å"fidelity to the original text† (Leitch: 1990: 142), which it aims to translate as thoroughly as possible into the new film medium. Unlike the readaptation, the update competes directly with its literacy source, instead of seeking to subordinate itself to the essence of a literacy classic (Verevis: 2006: 12). They transform the original text through such ways as transposing it to a new setting, changing its values, or making the original seem dated, outmoded or irrelevant (Leitch: 1990: 143). Films such as these updates often display their â€Å"contradictory attitude towards the material† (Leitch: 1990: 143) through their titles and marketing, sometimes even using a tone which verges on parody. For perfect example of this would be Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet (1996), a film which takes an established screenplay and changes its meaning, updating it for a new generation. The homage is a type of remake whose primary objective is not to disrespect and put down the original film, but celebrate and pay tribute to it (Leitch: 1990: 144). Much like the readaptation which seeks to direct the audience’s attention to its literacy source (Verevis: 2006: 13), the homage situates itself as a secondary text, with its only value depending on its relation to the original text they pay tribute to (Leitch: 1990: 144). Therefore the homage renounces any claims that it is better than its original and attempts to reintroduce films that are in danger of being lost and forgotten (Leitch: 1990: 144). Leitch’s final category, the true remake is the complete opposite to the homage, claiming that it is better than its original (Verevis: 2006: 13). It focuses on a cinematic original with an accommodating stance and seeks to update the original, making its more relevant to a new modern audience (Leitch: 1990: 145). More than any of the other categories it borrows largely from the unacknowledged film, instead of being a reinvisioning of a literacy text (Leitch: 1990: 145). As well as these three major taxonomies on remakes from Leitch, Druxman and Greenberg, Robert Eberwein has published an elaborate list, proposing fifteen individual categories, each with many subdivisions (Verevis: 2006: 11). Ranging from the obvious such as a silent film remade as a sound film (Eberwein: 1998: 28) to the much more specific, â€Å"A remake that changes the race of the main characters† (Eberwein: 1998: 30). His taxonomy doesn’t address the issue of film adaptations, (Eberwein: 1998: 31) but regardless is a comprehensive and extremely specific list of categories which film can easily be slotted into. Chapter Two Different Styles of Horror It’s fairly clear to see, even to the most casual of audiences that Hollywood and Asia have extremely different styles of horror cinema, focussing on very different aspects and using different techniques to produce an element of fear. The west has a long history of horror cinema, starting with the early gothic in films such as Todd Browning’s Dracula (1931) and James Whales’ Frankenstein (1931), before going through a more paranoid stage focussing on unease and a sense that things are not right in the world, such as John Carpenters Science Fiction horror The Thing (1982). In recent times though â€Å"horror has become the domain of the slasher movie† (Maher: 2005: 14), with the likes of Friday the 13th(1980), Halloween (1978) and A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) giving rise to a new genre, one which would reshape the future of horror for almost 20 years. Towards the end of the 20th century it had become the norm for horror cinema to be all about multiple grotesque killings, limited back-story and a very formulaic approach to making the films. With the audience expecting certain key things when watching a horror film, such as, big jumpy moments, psycho-killers who never quite die and conventions such as the â€Å"Final Girl†. As Gore Verbinski, director of The Ring puts it â€Å"slasher films contextualise the horror so you watch it, eat your popcorn, go through a few jumps, and then go out for dinner† (O’Toole: 2003: 93), it was no longer fresh and exciting in the way it was in the early 1980s. Wes Craven changed all this in 1996 with the first of his Scream trilogy, the ironic slasher movie has run out of â€Å"nudge-nudge and wink wink† (O’Toole: 2003: 93) and it was now time for a smarter type of horror, one which was very aware of its audience knowing the key conventions, and which would use this to its advantage. The Scream films make use of the previously subtle and covert intertextual references and transform them into a very overt, discursive act. The movie characters knowledge of the horror genre rivals that of this new very aware target audience, and no longer tries to patronise them and act oblivious, with even the rules of horror sequels being discussed in detail in the following Scream 2 (1997) and Scream 3 (2000). The dismantling and parody riddled approach to the slasher genre continued with the Scary Movie (2000) franchise, this time not just giving a smart alternative to current horror cinema but completely mocking every aspect of it. Although these films and there sequels did very well at the box office, they had done serious damage to the American horror genre (Braundu: 2005: 118), the age of the slasher genre was over and Hollywood studios needed to find a way to invent horror for a new audience. In 1998 â€Å"Japanese suspense maestro† (Maher: 2005: 14) Hideo Nakata’s small budget Japanese horror film Ringu had revived a stagnant genre for the country, and had become a â€Å"cinematic phenomenon† (O’Toole: 2003: 93) across Asia, quickly becoming the most successful horror film franchise in Japan’s history. (Arnold: 2002:16) The story of a mysterious video tape which kills everyone who watches it exactly one week later became an underground cult classic within the west (Maher: 2005: 14), providing a kind of deep unsettling horror which had never been seen before. The film is based largely on the book of the same name by Koji Suzuki, who has been dubbed â€Å"the Stephen King of Japan† (O’Toole: 2003: 93), which was published in 1991. Suzuki’s downbeat, everyday settings have proven to translate well into film, (Donald: 2005: 9) with another one of his books, Honogurai mizu no soko kara (Dark Water, 2002) from 1996 also being adapted and remade for an American audience. Roy Lee, arguably the best known go-between in the world of remakes (Frater Kay: 2003: 10) and one half of the new Vertigo Entertainment, was one of the first big name American film producer to watch Ringu and it was this viewing that triggered the start of the Asian remake boom. On Lee’s recommendation the film was watched by Dreamworks Production Executive Walter Parkes and by 7pm that same day they had â€Å"paid $1m for the remake† rights (Frater Kay: 2003: 10). The history of the Japanese horror film is arguably as big as that of Hollywood and the West’s. With its roots firmly set in folklore, myth and urban legend (Langford: 2005: 175) it has progressed from woodblock carvings, to Kabuki theatre and finally to motion picture cinema. The main premise of the horror is based around the ghost story, at least up until the late 20th century. Story’s known as Kaidan (literally translated to â€Å"tail of a strange apparition†) originating from the Edo and Meiji period where passed down from generation to generation, retold in an ever changing medium (Stamou: 2007). The average Japanese person is more inclined to believe in ghosts than not, due to the culture and the way they are constantly exposed to these tales of terror. They believe that spirits inhabit absolutely everything (Rucka: 2005) and because of this don’t regard them as enemies, but as just another thing which co-exists within their world (Kermode: 2005). As Walter Salles, director of Dark Water (2005) puts it, â€Å"they don’t question it the way we question it, it’s much more a part of their world† (Kermode: 2005). Due to the unquestioning of the paranormal and the Buddhist and ShintÃ…Â  religious followings they are much more acceptant to the idea of life after death. This view of life, death and the afterlife is the fundamental difference between Japanese horror and its western counterpart, and where all the other differences stem from (Rucka: 2005). As Hideo Nakata says, â€Å"when making horror films, the methods of describing the spirit world and the expression of horror are totally different between Japan and the West† (Kermode: 2005). As is common within the Japanese language there are names for multiple different types of ghost and spirit. The ghosts and demons of the ancient period tales where known as the Yurei (lean ghost), the Zashiki-warashi is a dead child’s ghost, like the character of Toshio in Ju-on: The Grudge. One of the most common kinds of ghost though is the OnryÃ…Â  (resentful spirit), a spirit trapped at Yomi (Japanese purgatory) who comes back to earth looking for revenge (Stamou: 2007). Although not limited to being female, such as Rentaro Mikuni’s husband character in Kwaidan (1964) for example, the majority of them are (Wilks: 2006). It is this image of the OnryÃ…Â  which comes to mind when you think of Japanese horror, the female spirit gowned in snow-white, with its long black hair obscuring its face. This is mainly due to the new wave of Japanese directors such as, Takashi Miike (Ôdishon, 1999), Hideo Nakata (Ringu), Takashi Shimizu (Ju-on: The Grudge) and Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Kairo, 2001) using it at every opportunity, making it as â€Å"iconic in horror cinema as the projectile-vomiting, spinning head† (Wilks: 2006). 1964 saw the release of what many regard as one of Japans greatest horrors, Kaidan (Kwaidan, 1964). Directed by Masaki Kobayashi and based on four short stories by author Lafcadio Hearn, it uses abstract use of lighting and sound, creatively staged and shot in vibrant colours (Rucka: 2005). Keiko Kishi’s performance as Yuki The Ice Maiden sparked such terror within the Japanese population, that now only the passing glimpse of the likes of Sadako in Ringu and Kayako in Ju-on: The Grudge ignite utmost fright, due to the accumulated cultural knowledge of this character (Wilks: 2006). After years of Japanese horror plodding along in a stale state, influenced more by American slashers than its own rich heritage, a young director called Norio Tsurta decided he had had enough and it was time for a change. Japan was no longer the fantastically safe country it once was, and the Japanese people were starting to feel the ills of the outside world encroaching on them (Lovgren: 2004), and this was starting to be shown through their cinema. Tsurta’s Honto ni atta kowai hanashi (Scary True Stories, 1991) was the first of these, providing through low budget production, the look, mood and style which would later be known as J-Horror (Rucka: 2005). The term J-Horror was originally coined as a cult fan term (Rucka: 2005) for the post Ringu horror cinema which was coming out of Japan, although now it is often wrongly used to define Japanese horror as a whole. This revitalised horror scene fronted largely by Hideo Nakata after the phenomenal success of his film Ringu, completely revived the Japanese horror scene and caught the eye of film fans and studios all around the world. The common theme within J-Horror is once again ghosts, OnryÃ…Â  and the supernatural, but other more violent torture based films can also be included under the banner, for example Takashi Miike’s Ôdishon (Audition). For the most part though the films were very similar in style and overall theme to each other, with the following being the most notable examples; Nakata’s Ringu, Kaosu (Chaos, 1999), Ringu 2 (1999) and Honogurai mizu no soko kara. Takashi Shimizu’s Ju-on: The Curse (2000), Ju-on: The Curse 2 (2000), Ju-on: The Grudge, Ju-on: The Grudge 2 (2003), Marebito (2004) and Rinne (Reincarnation, 2005). Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Kyua (Cure, 1997), Kairo (Pulse, 2001) and Sakebi (Retribution, 2006), and Takashi Miike’s Chakushin ari (One Missed Call, 2004). The Japanese horror style has an â€Å"eerie ambient quality† (Maher: 14: 2005) about it which differs largely from its western counterpart. As noted previously, in the traditional Japanese horror movie the â€Å"past haunts the present, invariably taking the form of the supernatural† (Schneider and Williams: 6: 2005). Where, as director Rob Zombie (Halloween, 2007) points out, in American horror â€Å"you’ve gotta kill someone in the first five seconds† (Chaffin: 2005). J-Horror takes a very different approach to this, focussing on delivering heavy â€Å"atmosphere, nuance and ambiguity† (Chaffin: 2005), instead of raw grotesque gore, mainly due to the fact that the Japanese audience is much more tolerant of it (Phelan: 10: 2005). In Japanese horror films there’s much more of an acceptance towards the irrational and the unexplained (Lovgren: 2004). Nakata says that the ghost need do nothing more than â€Å"stand behind and stare at the main character† (Davies: 2005) to create fear amongst the audience, it all comes from sounds, shadows and suggestions, you don’t need â€Å"a 3D creature lopping people’s heads off† (Lovgren: 2004). Takashi Shimizu compares the current J-Horror style to films by American director John Carpenter, such as The Thing (1982) and Halloween. Saying that â€Å"just the suggestion of the presence of a ghost is frightening† (Dixon: 7: 2005), whereas Sarah Michelle-Gellar, star of The Grudge, describes Asian horror as being â€Å"much more beautiful, more poetic, leaving much more to the imagination† (Baughan: 78: 2005), a view which seems to be shared by many. Western horror plots normally evolve around the idea that the characters discover the cause of the horror and then destroy it, but J-Horror works very differently to this. As Stephen Susco, the writer in charge of translating Ju-on: The Grudge for the remake puts it, Asian horror is more â€Å"like a haunted house that follows you† (Kay: 7: 2004), there’s no limits or barriers to the horror. For example in Ringu where Sadako Yamamura climbs out of the television set, breaching any line which might keep you safe. In the west a ghost is often required to want something much more meaningful and have a deeper back-story, whereas â€Å"in Japan a ghost may simply want to terrify and destroy† (Phelan: 10: 2005). It’s the little differences like this which make these variations on the horror genre so different, where Hollywood mostly relies on over the top multiple sequences of death, Japan still has its roots firmly placed amongst the aesthetics of folklore, Japanese Noh and Kabuki theatre (McRoy: 214: 2006). Although history would suggest that Europe was the first stop of film makers and studio’s looking to remake a movie for a world audience, Japan has long been a â€Å"happy hunting ground for Hollywood remakers† (Shackleton Schilling: 2003: 17). First beginning in 1960 with The Magnificent Seven, John Sturges’ classic remake of the cult hit Shichinin no samurai, and then followed by Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars (1964), a remake of the Japanese film Yojimbo. In fact Yojimbo was remade once again in 1996 in the Bruce Willis lead crime drama Last Man Standing, a tribute to Akira Kurosawa’s screenplay that it was still deemed worthy of a remake over 30 years later. Literally the largest example of Hollywood remaking a Japanese movie though is Godzilla (1998), Roland Emmerich’s re-envisioning of the then twenty two film monster series, beginning in 1954 with Goijira (Godzilla). It was this film which became one of the first early examples of a foreign film becoming â€Å"Americanised†, even though it was given a (very limited) subtitled theatrical run it was still remade two years later as Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), with numerous new scenes shot and inserted into the original Japanese film, completely changing the plot and removing any real trace that it was a foreign made production (godzylla.com). As Mike Macari, Fine Line’s Creative Executive and avid Asian film fanatic, states Hollywood has always had the ability to â€Å"import foreign ideas and re-export them to a world market† (Frater Kay: 2003: 9), remakes have always been a very important part of American film making, but in the last ten years this is becoming even more so. As the mainstream Hollywood audiences’ become bored and overexposed to the current market the studios are forced to look elsewhere for inspiration, Walter Parkes says that Hollywood’s â€Å"voracious appetite† (Frater Kay: 2003: 9) will look wherever it can for new material and inspiration. American children have been â€Å"growing up on Pokemon, Japanese anime and manga† (Frater Kay: 2003: 9) for the past ten years, which has meant that as they become adults they’ve become more accustomed to the Japanese style, whereas fifteen years ago they wouldn’t be so open to it. Roy Lee states that he looks for â€Å"something new and fresh in the story that will appeal to a wider audience† (Paquet: 2003: 15), as long as it has an original concept and several strong scenes Hollywood can see potential in it for a remake. â€Å"Hollywood is a machine† (Maher: 2005: 14) and has proven that it can translate even the most cultural specific film into a box office success. Chapter Three Case Study As previously mentioned Hideo Nakata’s Ringu became the first film associated with the style of movie which would later be described as J-Horror. It came up with a fresh and exciting approach to its genre which would not only be used as a template for its western remakes, but the stream of replicas which would follow it in Japan. In this chapter I will be looking at the film in much more detail, comparing and contrasting it to Gore Verbinski’s Hollywood remake The Ring, in an attempt to identify how truthful it stays to the original, which parts are changed and westernised, and why this is the case. Although I am using Ringu/The Ring as my main example, mainly due to the fact that it was the first contemporary case of remaking Japanese horror, I will try to relate my arguments and observations to other films and

Mensch und Natur: Ein Beitrag zu der Theorie des :: German Essays

Mensch und Natur: Ein Beitrag zu der Theorie des "Homo Universus" ABSTRACT: The following discussion is centered on German romantic philosophy. The founder of philosophical romanticism, F.W.J. Schelling, speaks of the identity of all spheres of the universe. This view is echoed by other romantic philosophers, e.g., Novalis, Hà ¶lderlin, von Baader, and Schubert, as well as later neoromantics such as Scheler and Heidegger. I wish to show homo sapien as homo universus. Homo sapien is tied to the universe and must be aware of this oneness. Such knowledge will ameliorate his alienation from nature. Uralt ist die Frage: "Was ist der Mensch?" Uralt und à ¤ußerst schwer zugleich. Wir wissen nicht genau sowohl wann "der Mensch" erschienen ist als auch was sein eigenstes Wesen ausmacht. Soll man "den Menschen" mit der geraden Haltung, mit seiner Neigung zur kà ¼nstlerischen oder symbolischen Gestaltung, mit der Sprache oder vielleicht mit der Fà ¤higkeit sich seines Intellects zu bedienen und Abstracta zu schaffen, verbinden? Alle die (sowie auch zahlreichen anderen) Auffassungen beleuchten den Menschen von einer bestimmten Seite, und tragen damit zu einem besseren Verstehen seiner Eigentà ¼mlichkeit bei. Hier wollen wir noch eine Theorie hinzufà ¼gen, die ein zusà ¤tzliches Licht auf "den Menschen" werfen kann. Es geht um die Auffassung des Menschen in mannigfaltigsten Verflechtungen mit der Umwelt. Die Umwelt wird weit begriffen und bedeutet sowohl das unmittelbare Milieu des Menschen als auch den ganzen Kosmos. Der letzte soll nicht nur als das Materiell-Sichtbare verstanden werden, sondern als Etwas, was neben der Materie auch das beinhaltet, was wir "Geist" zu nennen pflegen. Den Menschen wollen wir also als innigst verbunden mit dem allumfassenden "Universum" verstehen, mit Dem, was erfahrungsmà ¤ÃƒÅ¸ig bekannt und erreichbar ist, aber auch mit Dem, was noch der heutigen Erfahrung entflieht und oft als "unnatà ¼rlich" oder "geheimnisvoll" bezeichnet wird. Es ist klar, daß eine solche Theorie des "homo universus" im Mißklang mit den aufklà ¤rerischen oder positivistischen Auffassungen steht. Alle die wollen den Menschen nicht nur von den "unerforschbaren" Weltereignissen "loslà ¶sen", die sie fà ¼r "metaphysisch" halten. Sie wollen auch den Menschen von der sonstigen Natur abgrenzen und ihn als den selbststà ¤ndigen und von der Umwelt wenig abhà ¤ngigen Subjekt ansehen. Erwà ¤hnen kà ¶nnen wir in diesem Zusammenhang I. Kant, der die Welt "entzweit" und sie in die dem Menschen gegenà ¼ber existierenden "Dinge an sich" und in die "Erscheinungen" (Dinge fà ¼r uns) teilt. Der Mensch gewinnt zwar à ¼ber die Noumena die Oberhand im Erkentnisprozeß indem er sie zur "Erscheinungen" macht, er steht aber letzen Endes ihnen gegenà ¼ber einsam und ratlos indem sie vor ihm fà ¼r ewig gechlossen bleiben.

Recount Starter Essay

I woke this morning just like every morning sprawled out on my old mattress on the floor. As I began to wake to what seemed like an ordinary hot summer day. As I was getting changed there was a loud urgent bang on the door of the little tin hut at the edge of the lake I called home. This was unusual as I live alone and don’t usually get any visitors apart from the odd lost hiker. I finished getting changed and opened to door to meet them. â€Å"Please I need your help!† a distressed teenager pleaded â€Å"My boyfriend and I were camping down the track and he’s missing!, there’s blood everywhere I, I just ran and ran and found a little track which lead me here†. Realising the extent of the situation I lead her inside and told her to tell me exactly what she remembered. The distressed girl said her name was Katie and that she and her boyfriend had come up to the mountains from the city for the weekend. â€Å"We set up camp yesterday and collected enough fire wood for a small fire to keep the mountain lions away†; â€Å"Did you notice anything strange whilst collecting the firewood?† I asked. Her blank facial expression showed that she was deep in thought, â€Å"I did come across a dead deer with its head decapitated, but what was strange is that it was still warm, I didn’t tell Blake as I didn’t want to freak him out, this was his first time camping† The girl sobbed as she began to cry. â€Å"It’s okay† I said, â€Å"you can stay here a while then we will drive up to your campsite if that is okay with you?†, â€Å"What if whatever took him is still around?† She wept â€Å"I have a rifle and a hunting dog whatever it was wouldn’t stand a chance† I said reassuringly. â€Å"Okay† she spluttered, clearly not wanting to go back there.

Life and work Essay

Brahmagupta is believed to have been born in 598 AD in Bhinmal city in the state of Rajasthan of Northwest India. In ancient times Bhillamala was the seat of power of the Gurjars. His father was Jisnugupta.[2] He likely lived most of his life in Bhillamala (modern Bhinmal in Rajasthan) during the reign (and possibly under the patronage) of King Vyaghramukha.[3] As a result, Brahmagupta is often referred to as Bhillamalacharya, that is, the teacher from Bhillamala. He was the head of the astronomical observatory at Ujjain, and during his tenure there wrote four texts on mathematics and astronomy: the Cadamekela in 624, the Brahmasphutasiddhanta in 628, the Khandakhadyaka in 665, and the Durkeamynarda in 672. The Brahmasphutasiddhanta (Corrected Treatise of Brahma) is arguably his most famous work. The historian al-Biruni (c. 1050) in his book Tariq al-Hind states that the Abbasid caliph al-Ma’mun had an embassy in India and from India a book was brought to Baghdad which was tra nslated into Arabic as Sindhind. It is generally presumed that Sindhind is none other than Brahmagupta’s Brahmasphuta-siddhanta.[4] Although Brahmagupta was familiar with the works of astronomers following the tradition of Aryabhatiya, it is not known if he was familiar with the work of Bhaskara I, a contemporary.[3]Brahmagupta had a plethora of criticism directed towards the work of rival astronomers, and in his Brahmasphutasiddhanta is found one of the earliest attested schisms among Indian mathematicians. The division was primarily about the application of mathematics to the physical world, rather than about the mathematics itself. In Brahmagupta’s case, the disagreements stemmed largely from the choice of astronomical parameters and theories.[3] Critiques of rival theories appear throughout the first ten astronomical chapters and the eleventh chapter is entirely devoted to criticism of these theories, although no criticisms appear in the twelfth and eighteenth chap ters.

How to Say Happy Halloween in Japanese

How to Say Happy Halloween in Japanese Happy Halloween translates into, Happii Harowin (ãÆ' Ã£Æ'Æ'ãÆ'ӋÆ' ¼Ã£Æ' Ã£Æ' ­Ã£â€š ¦Ã£â€š £Ã£Æ' ³) when phonetically copying the English expression. Happy ~ generally translated as ~ omdetou (㠁Šã‚ Ã£  §Ã£  ¨Ã£ â€ ) when saying Happy Birthday (Tanjoubi Omedetou) or Happy New Year (Akemashite Omedetou). However, phrases like, Happy Halloween, Happy Valentines or Happy Easter dont use this pattern. Halloween Vocabulary The following are common words associated with Halloween with how to pronounce and write them in Japanese: harowiin ãÆ' Ã£Æ' ­Ã£â€š ¦Ã£â€š £Ã£Æ' ³ - Halloweenjuu-gatsu Ã¥  Ã¦Å"ˆ - Octobermajo é ­â€Ã¥ ¥ ³ - a witchkumo ã‚ ¯Ã£Æ' ¢ - a spiderhouki 㠁 »Ã£ â€ Ã£   - a broomohaka 㠁Šå ¢â€œ - a graveobake 㠁Šã  °Ã£ â€˜ - ghostkyuuketsuki Ã¥  ¸Ã¨ ¡â‚¬Ã© ¬ ¼ - a vampirekuroneko é »â€™Ã§Å' « - a black catakuma æ‚ ªÃ© ­â€ - the Devil; Satanzonbi ã‚ ¾Ã£Æ' ³Ã£Æ'“ - a zombiemiira ãÆ'Ÿã‚ ¤Ã£Æ' © - a mummygaikotsu é ª ¸Ã© ª ¨ - a skeletonkoumori 㠁“㠁†ã‚‚ã‚Š - a batookami otoko ç‹ ¼Ã§â€ · - a werewolffurankenshutain ãÆ'•ãÆ' ©Ã£Æ' ³Ã£â€š ±Ã£Æ' ³Ã£â€š ·Ã£Æ' ¥Ã£â€š ¿Ã£â€š ¤Ã£Æ' ³ - Frankensteinkabocha 㠁‹ã  ¼Ã£  ¡Ã£â€šÆ' - pumpkinobake yashiki 㠁ŠåÅ'â€"㠁‘å ±â€¹Ã¦â€¢ · - a haunted housekosuchuumu ã‚ ³Ã£â€š ¹Ã£Æ' Ã£Æ' ¥Ã£Æ' ¼Ã£Æ'   - a costumerousoku ã‚ Ã£ â€ Ã£  Ã£   - a candleokashi 㠁Šè â€œÃ¥ ­  - candykowai æ€â€"㠁„ - scary Phrases for Halloween Kabocha o horu. 㠁‹ã  ¼Ã£  ¡Ã£â€šÆ'ã‚’å ½ «Ã£â€šâ€¹Ã£â‚¬â€š - I carve a pumpkin.Rousoku o tomosu. ã‚ Ã£ â€ Ã£  Ã£  Ã£â€šâ€™Ã£  ¨Ã£â€šâ€šÃ£ â„¢Ã£â‚¬â€š - I light candles.Kodomo ni okashi o ageru. Ã¥ ­ Ã¤ ¾â€ºÃ£  «Ã£ Å Ã¨ â€œÃ¥ ­ Ã£â€šâ€™Ã£ â€šÃ£ â€™Ã£â€šâ€¹Ã£â‚¬â€š - I give treats to the kids.Majo no kasou o suru. é ­â€Ã¥ ¥ ³Ã£  ®Ã¤ » ®Ã¨ £â€¦Ã£â€šâ€™Ã£ â„¢Ã£â€šâ€¹Ã£â‚¬â€š - I wear the witchs costume.Horaa eiga o miru. ãÆ'݋Æ' ©Ã£Æ' ¼Ã¦Ëœ  Ã§â€ »Ã£â€šâ€™Ã¨ ¦â€¹Ã£â€šâ€¹Ã£â‚¬â€š - I watch a horror movie.Akumu ni unasareru. æ‚ ªÃ¥ ¤ ¢Ã£  «Ã£ â€ Ã£  ªÃ£ â€¢Ã£â€šÅ'る。 - I have a nightmare. Ekaki Uta Ekaki uta is a type song that describes how to draw animals and/or favorite characters. Ekaki uta are supposed to help children remember how to draw something by incorporating drawing directions into the lyrics. Ekaki uta for, obake (a ghost) can be found and listened to on YouTube. If you are curious about the white triangular piece of cloth that the little obake wears  on his forehead in the video of the song, it is called, hitaikakushi, which is also often worn by Japanese ghosts. Urameshiya is a phrase said, in a sorrowful voice, by Japanese ghosts when they appear. It means, a curse on you. 㠁Šã Å Ã£  Ã£  ª 㠁 µÃ£  Ã£â€š Ã£  « 㠁Šã  ¿Ã£ Å¡Ã£â€šâ€™ 㠁„ã‚Å'㠁 ¦Ã£ Å¸Ã£  ­Ã£â€šâ€™ 㠁 ¾Ã£ â€žÃ£ Å¸Ã£â€šâ€° 㠁 ½Ã£  ¡Ã£â€šÆ'ん㠁 ¨ 㠁 ¯Ã£  ­Ã£ Å¸Ã£  ²Ã£  £Ã£  Ã£â€šÅ Ã£ â€¹Ã£ Ë†Ã£  £Ã£  ¦ 㠁‚㠁 £Ã£ â€¹Ã£â€šâ€œÃ£  ¹Ã£Æ' ¼Ã£ â€¢Ã£â€šâ€œÃ£ â€¹Ã£   㠁 ¤Ã£ â€˜Ã£ Å¸Ã£â€šâ€°Ã£ Å Ã£  °Ã£ â€˜Ã£ â€¢Ã£â€šâ€œÃ£ â€ Ã£â€šâ€°Ã£â€šâ€° 㠁†ã‚‰ã‚‰ 㠁†ã‚‰ã‚ Ã£ â€"や㠁†ã‚‰ã‚‰ 㠁†ã‚‰ã‚‰ 㠁†ã‚‰ã‚ Ã£ â€"ã‚„ Ookina fukuro ni omizu o ireteTane o maitara pochan to hanetaHikkuri kaette akkanbeeSankaku tsuketaraObake-san!Urara urara urameshiyaUrara urara urameshiya Obake Nante Naisa Here is a children song called Obake nante nai sa (There are no ghosts!): 㠁Šã  °Ã£ â€˜Ã£  ªÃ£â€šâ€œÃ£  ¦ 㠁 ªÃ£ â€žÃ£ â€¢Ã£ Å Ã£  °Ã£ â€˜Ã£  ªÃ£â€šâ€œÃ£  ¦ 㠁†ã  Ã£ â€¢Ã£  ­Ã£  ¼Ã£ â€˜Ã£ Å¸ 㠁 ²Ã£  ¨Ã£ Å'㠁 ¿Ã£  ¾Ã£  ¡Ã£ Å'㠁ˆã Å¸Ã£  ®Ã£ â€¢Ã£   Ã£ â€˜Ã£  © 㠁 ¡Ã£â€šâ€¡Ã£  £Ã£  ¨Ã‚  Ã£   Ã£ â€˜Ã£  © 㠁 ¡Ã£â€šâ€¡Ã£  £Ã£  ¨Ã£  ¼Ã£  Ã£   Ã£  £Ã£  ¦ 㠁“ã‚ Ã£ â€žÃ£  ªÃ£ Å Ã£  °Ã£ â€˜Ã£  ªÃ£â€šâ€œÃ£  ¦ 㠁 ªÃ£ â€žÃ£ â€¢Ã£ Å Ã£  °Ã£ â€˜Ã£  ªÃ£â€šâ€œÃ£  ¦ 㠁†ã  Ã£ â€¢ Obake nante nai saObake nante uso saNeboketa hito gaMimachigaeta no saDakedo chotto dakedo chottoBoku datte kowai naObake nante nai saObake nante uso sa 㠁 »Ã£â€šâ€œÃ£  ¨Ã£  « 㠁Šã  °Ã£ â€˜Ã£ Å'㠁 §Ã£  ¦Ã£  Ã£ Å¸Ã£â€šâ€° 㠁 ©Ã£ â€ Ã£ â€"よ㠁†ã‚Å'㠁„㠁žã â€ Ã£ â€œÃ£  « 㠁„ã‚Å'㠁 ¦Ã£â€š «Ã£Æ' Ã£â€š «Ã£Æ' Ã£  « 㠁â€"㠁 ¡Ã£â€šÆ'㠁Šã â€ Ã£   Ã£ â€˜Ã£  © 㠁 ¡Ã£â€šâ€¡Ã£  £Ã£  ¨ 㠁  Ã£ â€˜Ã£  © 㠁 ¡Ã£â€šâ€¡Ã£  £Ã£  ¨Ã£  ¼Ã£  Ã£   Ã£  £Ã£  ¦ 㠁“ã‚ Ã£ â€žÃ£  ªÃ£ Å Ã£  °Ã£ â€˜Ã£  ªÃ£â€šâ€œÃ£  ¦ 㠁 ªÃ£ â€žÃ£ â€¢Ã£ Å Ã£  °Ã£ â€˜Ã£  ªÃ£â€šâ€œÃ£  ¦ 㠁†ã  Ã£ â€¢ Honto ni obake gaDetekitara doushiyouReizouko ni ireteKachi kachi ni shichaouDakedo chotto dakedo chottoBoku datte kowai naObake nante nai saObake nante uso sa 㠁  Ã£ â€˜Ã£  © 㠁“㠁 ©Ã£â€šâ€šÃ£  ªÃ£â€šâ€°Ã£  ¨Ã£â€šâ€šÃ£   Ã£  ¡Ã£  « 㠁 ªÃ£â€š Ã£ â€ Ã£ â€šÃ£  Ã£ â€"ã‚…ã‚’ 㠁â€"㠁 ¦Ã£ â€¹Ã£â€šâ€°Ã£ Å Ã£â€šâ€žÃ£  ¤Ã£â€šâ€™ 㠁Ÿã  ¹Ã£â€šË†Ã£ â€ Ã£   Ã£ â€˜Ã£  © 㠁 ¡Ã£â€šâ€¡Ã£  £Ã£  ¨ 㠁  Ã£ â€˜Ã£  © 㠁 ¡Ã£â€šâ€¡Ã£  £Ã£  ¨Ã£  ¼Ã£  Ã£   Ã£  £Ã£  ¦ 㠁“ã‚ Ã£ â€žÃ£  ªÃ£ Å Ã£  °Ã£ â€˜Ã£  ªÃ£â€šâ€œÃ£  ¦ 㠁 ªÃ£ â€žÃ£ â€¢Ã£ Å Ã£  °Ã£ â€˜Ã£  ªÃ£â€šâ€œÃ£  ¦ 㠁†ã  Ã£ â€¢ Dakedo kodomo naraTomodachi ni narouAkushu o shite karaOyatsu o tabeyouDakedo chotto dakedo chottoBoku datte kowai naObake nante na isaObake nante uso sa 㠁Šã  °Ã£ â€˜Ã£  ® 㠁 ¨Ã£â€šâ€šÃ£   Ã£  ¡Ã£  ¤Ã£â€šÅ'㠁 ¦Ã£ â€šÃ£â€šâ€¹Ã£ â€žÃ£ Å¸Ã£â€šâ€°Ã£  Ã£ â€œÃ£â€šâ€°Ã£ ËœÃ£â€šâ€¦Ã£ â€ Ã£  ® 㠁 ²Ã£  ¨Ã£ Å'㠁 ³Ã£  £Ã£  Ã£â€šÅ  㠁™ã‚‹ã   Ã£â€š Ã£ â€ Ã£   Ã£ â€˜Ã£  © 㠁 ¡Ã£â€šâ€¡Ã£  £Ã£  ¨ 㠁  Ã£ â€˜Ã£  © 㠁 ¡Ã£â€šâ€¡Ã£  £Ã£  ¨Ã£  ¼Ã£  Ã£   Ã£  £Ã£  ¦ 㠁“ã‚ Ã£ â€žÃ£  ªÃ£ Å Ã£  °Ã£ â€˜Ã£  ªÃ£â€šâ€œÃ£  ¦ 㠁 ªÃ£ â€žÃ£ â€¢Ã£ Å Ã£  °Ã£ â€˜Ã£  ªÃ£â€šâ€œÃ£  ¦ 㠁†ã  Ã£ â€¢ Obake no tomodachiTsurete aruitaraSokora juu no hito gaBikkuri suru darouDakedo chotto dakedo chottoBoku datte kowai naObake nante nai saObake nante uso sa 㠁Šã  °Ã£ â€˜Ã£  ®Ã£  Ã£  «Ã£  §Ã£  ¯Ã£ Å Ã£  °Ã£ â€˜Ã£   Ã£â€šâ€°Ã£ â€˜ 㠁  Ã£  £Ã£  ¦Ã£ â€¢Ã£  Ã£â€šâ€œÃ£  ªÃ£  ¯Ã£  ªÃ£ â€" 㠁 Ã£ â€žÃ£  ¦Ã£ Å Ã£  µÃ£â€š Ã£  «Ã£  ¯Ã£ â€žÃ£â€š Ã£ â€ Ã£   Ã£ â€˜Ã£  © 㠁 ¡Ã£â€šâ€¡Ã£  £Ã£  ¨ 㠁  Ã£ â€˜Ã£  © 㠁 ¡Ã£â€šâ€¡Ã£  £Ã£  ¨Ã£  ¼Ã£  Ã£   Ã£  £Ã£  ¦ 㠁“ã‚ Ã£ â€žÃ£  ªÃ£ Å Ã£  °Ã£ â€˜Ã£  ªÃ£â€šâ€œÃ£  ¦ 㠁 ªÃ£ â€žÃ£ â€¢Ã£ Å Ã£  °Ã£ â€˜Ã£  ªÃ£â€šâ€œÃ£  ¦ 㠁†ã  Ã£ â€¢ Obake no kuni dewaObake darake datte saSonna hanashi kiiteOfuro ni hairouDakedo chotto dakedo chottoBoku datte kowai naObake nante nai saObake nante uso sa

Documentary films

Documentary films Free Online Research Papers A documentary film is a broad category of filmmaking practice that tries to document reality. It is a film genre that attempts to portray realism in the sense that it presents ‘actual’ people, places, activities and events. The fact that it documents ‘actual’ means that documentary films deal with fact and not fiction. A documentary film primarily ‘documents’ some aspect of life and usually involves narration, interviews, and facts and figures. This is in contrast to narrative (fictional) cinema comprising film genre such as action, comedy, adventure, horror, drama etc which creates the events, phenomenon, human behavior or conditions utilizing scripts. Encyclopedia Britannica defines a documentary as a ‘motion picture that shapes and interprets factual material for purposes of education or entertainment’. Documentary films are by nature not scripted, even though the scenes are selected and arranged through after-shoot editing. The ‘cast’ in a documentary film are not actors. These films may or may not have voice-over narration, depending on whether there is a need to describe what is happening in the film. A documentary will also include interviews with the people in the film. Another tenet is that a documentary must be objective and should not have a point of view although critics now argue that all forms of exposition do have a point of view. There is also no place for reenactments in a documentary film. The word ‘documentary’ was first coined in 1926 when documentarian John Grierson reviewed Robert Flaherty’s film ‘Moana’ and wrote that it had ‘documentary value’. Griersons view of documentary was that it provided a new way of observing life by way of casting ‘original’ actors and ‘original’ scenes vis-a-vis fictional films and considered that materials taken from the raw ‘actual’ footage were better than the acted ones. Grierson’s definition of documentary as a ‘creative treatment of actuality’ has generally formed the basis of depicting documentary films. In a nutshell, we can describe a documentary film as one that attempts to tell the truth realistically, by presenting factual evidence in its originality, with no reenactments and in an objective manner. Documentary films comprise a broad and diverse category of films. These include biographical films, expose films, a concert or rock festival, live performances, sports documentary, compilation films and ‘making of’ films of feature films. Documentary filmmaking has evolved over the decades. Early films such as Robert Flaherty’s Nanook of the North, used cumbersome equipment to produce rather imperfect images while today’s digital technology allows filmmakers to capture instant perfect images that objectively reveal the truth about subjects who may not be aware that they are being filmed. The cinema verite (literal French translation of ‘cinema truth’) or direct cinema (as it is known in the US) approach was the mode of documentary filmmaking in the late 1950s and 1960s. It took advantage of technological advances by using hand-held cameras and synchronized sound to capture their subjects and record events as they happened. It is a style of documentary filmmaking where there is no narration, and the filmmaker follows the happenings, shows authentic dialogues, natural action and minimum of rearrangements. It used the least directive approach to collecting film footage. The whole idea was to make the camera less of an intruder and allow the subject to behave more normally, though it must be borne in mind that the subject is aware of the recording. But really, the notion of documentary films has evolved since its inception to take many controversial facets. In the past 20 years, in particular, the nature of documentary films has extended upon the cinema verite or direct cinema tradition of the 1960s. Films incorporating reenactments as in The Thin Blue Line by Errol Morris and directorial manipulation by Michael Moore in Roger and Me has led critics to question whether they are truly documentaries although they are classified as one. The point of view has also become increasingly visible in documentaries as in Michael Moore’s controversial Fahrenheit 9/11. Don’t Look Back is a 1967 black and white documentary which covered Bob Dylan’s concert tour of England in April –May 1965. The subject is the man behind the music, one who was to become the father of modern folk rock. The film shows viewers a glimpse of Dylan, who has been labelled as an anarchist, poet, folk singer, and other names. It educates viewers as to the philosophy of Dylan, why he writes the songs the way he does, how he views the world. It also shows how his friends, colleagues, and even fans expose his personality. The author (auteur in French) of this acclaimed film was D. A. Pennebaker, who used his creative personal vision to direct and shoot the film in cinema verite style. Pennebaker had said that ‘nothing was staged or arranged for the purposes of the film’. It played out in hotel rooms, limousines, backstage rooms and concert halls. The film explored Dylan through public media interviews and concert footage, and private exchanges with his entourage. At the time of its production, Don’t Look Back was the first of its kind, an in-the-moment documentary rather than a constructed one. It was a ‘fly on the wall’ genre, a major tenet of cinema verite or direct cinema, utilizing hand-held camera, long takes, no lighting equipment, shaky camerawork and occasional loss of focus, thereby displaying authenticity and bringing to the viewer a picture of reality. This is especially so, as throughout the film, we see the camera frantically following the events as they happen. Some scenes show how the camera needs to refocus on an object of interest, be it Dylan, his manager Albert Grossman, Joan Baez or an adoring fan inviting him for a holiday. While other music films of the 1960s which dealt with fantasy have become irrelevant, Don’t Look Back still retains its sense of relevance into its fifth decade as it is considered to depict the most objective portrait of Bob Dylan ever made. The objective of the film, as with all documentaries, is to show truth. It is a raw presentation of press conferences and interviews, business negotiations, backstage and hotel room happenings. There was no narrator involved and no script. As Chris Buck said, ‘Shoot and discover the story within’. It filmed only what happened as it happened, reflecting objective truth. Pennebaker, the author himself remarked, ‘My first serious film†¦I felt in the end that I hadn’t had to compromise anything, that it was as rough and raw and mean as it had to be’. Essentially, Pennebaker and his camera followed Dylan across his tour of England to get the raw footage. Don’t Look Back is not a rock documentary. It is also not a concert documentary as there were only a few live numbers and more than half the film focused on the person. It is really an expose of a personality of the day. It is a portrayal of Dylan as an arrogant, intriguing person. Don’t Look Back captures the moment with spontaneity, in true cinema verite fashion. As Mark Nichols said, ‘Instead the camera acts solely as a fly on the wall and for 96 minutes the viewer watches Dylan’s ongoing evolution as performer and personality’. It is quite a revealing take on the mind of Dylan, to educate people about Dylan. It shows him being confrontational and direct and openly critical and aggressive. It justifiably laid claims to bringing to audiences a raw picture of reality backed by the style of filming by Pennebaker. It was an exploratory form of documentary with no script, just shoot and see the story as you see it. This is evident for instance in the relationship between Dylan and Joan Baez. With no text or commentary, their relationship is shown but not told. Hence, the viewer has to deduce the significance of Baez’s disappearance half way through the film that there was a strain in their relationship. While the highlights of the documentary were indeed the many press conferences and interviews, Pennebaker’s film shows the true self of Dylan – an angry, awkward, sarcastic, and confrontational man as when he asks, ‘Who threw the glass in the street? Who threw it?’ and his relentless heaping of scorn on the journalists. When a female reporter asked,’What is your real message?, Dylan responded awkwardly, ‘Keep a good head and always carry a light bulb’. That Don’t Look Back is a true documentary is attested to in this remark made by Michael Rowin, ‘Part of what makes Don’t Look Back so incredible is that it might be the first public record of a celebrity openly, and with full knowledge of how his behavior might be perceived, acting like a complete jerk even when a camera is right there documenting his every movement for the world’. This was the first time ever the cinema verite or direct cinema technique was employed to project a raw, revealing insight into a well-known musician’s mindset and backstage at that. As Michael Rowan put it, ‘†¦ Don’t Look Back remains the first and only essential one for keeping Dylan in its sights with an almost obsessive intensity and letting the man perform the truth†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢. But one can also question whether it is a documentary in the truest sense of the word. In a span of three-and-a-half weeks during Dylan’s concert tour of England, Pennebaker shot some 20 hours of film. But after editing, the ready for viewing footage was reduced to just 96 minutes. Also, virtually absent are the standard documentary rules of archival or interview footage. It appears as though Pennebaker was an unobtrusive observer, impartial and outside the happenings through the notion of ‘fly on the wall’, which has been considered as an ideal in documentary filmmaking. This was in keeping with the cinema verite goal of excluding the filmmaker from the film, the idea being that ‘the intrusions of the direct would detract from the reality of the subject’. However, some critics are of the view that impartial observation while filming is not achievable. Hence questions have been raised as to whether the mere presence of the filmaker will still make it possible to get a true picture of reality. Some are of the view that his presence means he cannot be an objective observer which is a key tenet of a documentary being perceived as an accurate portrayal of events. As Chris Buck says, â€Å"You have a set of values of ‘looking glasses’ the moment you interact with a subject and the selection of a subject is value laden†. But then there have been documentaries made, such as the Paul Anka biography, Lonely Boy (1962) where the film footage included Anka interacting with the filmmakers, which was acceptable to another school of thought as being part of the reality of filmmaking process. The direct cinema philosophy by which Don’t Look Back was produced drew plenty of flak. Critics Andrew Sarris and Pauline Kael touched on the notion of objectivity, specifically citing the performative elements of the film, the influence of the camera on the actions of the subjects and the impact of editing, montage and shooting decisions. Sarris viewed the film as contrived documentary. Although direct cinema professes objectivity, Don’t Look Back was edited and structured and combined an observational approach with a personal perspective and biased editing. Documentary directors select the shots they feel will tell the story, edit those that are not needed and build an entire film on his personal bias. Through editing, the director can latch on a single aspect such as frustration on the part of the subject and proceed to show how the subject behaves or acts in such a way. For instance, Pennebaker wanted to show Dylan’s frustrations about how he is protrayed in the news. He included Dylan’s encounter with the Time reporter and also showed how he questions the interpretation of the other journalists regarding his music and performance. For the most part, the Time reporter’s comments are omitted while Dylan’s is retained, ending with Dylan saying, ‘I know more about what you do, and you don’t have to ask me how or why or anything, just by looking, than you’ll ever know about me, ever’. Hence, we can argue that there is a presence of bias as in narrative cinema. The selection of content elements reflects the director’s personal choices, philosophy, logic and reasoning. As the author, the actual content will be determined by him. Also, if we analyze the infamous opening sequence showing Dylan displaying the cue cards as the song ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’ is played, with poet Allen Ginsberg lurking in the background, we can interpret this as staged and constructed with both of them clearly ‘acting’ the part. If we consider this as a ‘posed’ shot, we can question its true documentary status although the rest of the film can indeed pass off as a documentary. We can say that Don’t Look Back extended the category of documentary films to music and MTV videos as we know today. The opening simple sequence showing Dylan discarding a series of cue cards with phrases of some of the lyrics of the song , ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’ as though trying to put the message across, is certainly an early reflection of the more sophisticated music videos we see today of the sound, image and the performer synchronized. This is one of the most imitated sequences in the history of rock/music documentary. Although it was not intended to be broadcast as a music video, Subterranean Homesick Blues’ can be seen on MTV today as a video of a single album from Don’t Look Back. The opening sequence in Don’t Look Back and Pennebaker’s point-and-shoot handheld direction set the standard for future music documentaries to follow. All said, Don’t Look Back is an excellent documentary which has allowed us a peek into the life of Bob Dylan. Through it, we understand the motivation, frustrations and aspirations of Dylan. While he is aware of the filming and that viewers would be peeking into his life, he allows it. It also gives us a degree of comfort that Dylan does not know who we are, or why we are even interested in knowing what he thinks or does. (2366 words) Research Papers on Documentary filmsWhere Wild and West MeetHip-Hop is ArtRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenThe Project Managment Office SystemThree Concepts of PsychodynamicIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalThe Spring and AutumnBringing Democracy to Africa

Business Analysis Of HSBC

Business Analysis Of HSBC HSBC is public limited bank and it’s headquartered is located in London, England since 1993. HSBC bank was founded in 1865 in and it was started with name † The Hong kong and Shanghai Banking corporation â€Å".The bank has lots of branches throughout the world. HSBC bank offers wide range of banking, Investment and financial service to high and economic customers. It holds international network of 8000 properties in 88 countries and regions in Europe, Hong kong, Rest of Asia-Pacific, The Middle East, The Americas and Africa. Previously, the Middle East is known as part of ‘Rest of Asia -Pacific ‘. HSBC offers comprehensive range of financial service within these international network. Banking service such as Credit and debit accounts, bank loans (secured loans, loans, unsecured loans, car loans etc.), mortgages, overdraft facility, and insurance are being served by the bank. It also provides Internet banking and Offshore banking. HSBC is one of the worldâ €™s largest banking and financial service group with 8th rank, according to Forbes Magazine. It has market capitalisation of US$ 199 billion since 31st December 2009. It is listed on the so many stock exchanges like London, Hong kong, New York , Barmuda and Paris; it is also part of the FTSE 100 index and HangSeng index. HSBC is also world’s first bank which was opened internationally that means â€Å"World’s Local Bank† and it was financed various projects like Railroad Building due to mordenization in early 20th century. History of HSBC: The history of HSBC is as old as extremely intresting for the each and every person and organization who wants great deal with the bank around the globe. Furthermore, bank is offering large amount of service to an individuals and institutions. FOUNDATION AND GROWTH : HSBC originally stands from â€Å"The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation † which is established by Scot Thomas Sutherland in Hongkong ( 3rd marc h ) in 1865. Then and as now,1 Queen’s Road Central was bank’s headquartered in Hongkong , plus another was opened in Shanghai one month later in 3rdapril 1865 to finance growing trade between China and Europe. In addition, one year later the London office was opened. During the nineteenth and early twentieth century, the bank opened its more branches in China, Asia, Japan, Europe and North America to provide financial service for its clients. Throughout the Second war the bank closed its many branches due to an international financial crisis and the head office was temporarily moved from Hongkong to London. Then after, the bank played major roll in rebuilding of Hongkong economy and that was the time for geographical spread through acquisition and alliances . In 1959, the bank purchased two banks that was The British Bank of Middle East and The Mercantile Bank (based in India). The Bank moved to Canadian and Australian market to expand its business during 1981-1986. I n 1987 The Marine Midland Bank (Now HSBC Bank of USA) became a member of the group. In 1991, HSBC Holding PLC was established and it became parent company to The Hong kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, the shares were traded in both London Hong -kong stock exhanges.