ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction The film making industry produces a huge number of movies every year. It goes without saying that each of them has its own plot presenting the main idea and the moral. The aim of this report is to analyze three films: Late Spring by Yasujiro Ozu, Sicko by Michael Moore, and The Aviator by Martin Scorsese. Late Spring by Yasujiro Ozu Late Spring is the film of the Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu. The film encompasses the traditions of the Japanese film-making and has rather symbolic meaning. The author of the film masterly depicts the complicated relationship in the Japanese family and touches upon the issues of loneliness, care for children, and family values. Noriko and her father are the central characters of the film. The traditional Japanese family relationships have been perfectly presented by the actors. “Despite Noriko’s self-reliance—an Ozu earmark from the thirties that became an axiom in Late Spring —the acquiescent, ever-smiling heroine’s desires are never considered; she explicitly asks why her contented life cannot just go on as it has been” (Atkinson 2013, par. 6) The shooting techniques used in the film are the following: the static camera, “false” eyeline-matches and the use of 360-degree shooting space (Wood 1998). All of them are considered to be the typical features of Yasujiro Ozu’s movie making. The discussion of the black-and-white films can be found in the Chapter I of the Film Art: an Introduction. “On a black-and-white film strip the emulsion contains grains of silver halide” (Bordwell & Thompson 2003, p.5). I think the film Late Spring is interesting from several points of view. First, it depicts the traditions of the Japanese culture and the family relationships, in particular. Second, it is unique in context of the shooting techniques applied. And finally, its meaning is not straightforward and the plot of the film makes us thinking about the message which the author tried to send us. Sicko by Michael Moore Sicko is the documentary film made by the American director Michael Moore who is famous for his bold and provocative films depicting the realities of the American society and politics. Moore uncovers the weaknesses of the medical insurance system in the US. He clearly shows that the system requires changes as it does not achieve its purpose of taking care of nation’s health. “Narration is the process by which the plot presents the story information to the spectator”(Bordwell & Thompson 2003, Chapter 3, p.74). Moore uses the interviews with people to uncover the plot. Essentially the interviewed are the narrators in the film. In Sicko , Moore touched upon the problems of the healthcare system in the US criticizing it for its inefficiency creating the inequality in the access to healthcare. “Even if you disagree with Moore, this film is worth watching for its chilling and disturbingly accurate portrayal of the failings of healthcare in America” (Montgomery 2007, par.2). I think the
The film A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: Cinderella (1994) is a fantasy-driven story, starring Stephen Chow and directed by Jeff Lau. Through the film’s plot, several elements help the audience to comprehend the story and characters’ development. A Chinese Odyssey Part Two demonstrates different cinematic aspects that contribute to the nature of each character, and functions as a guide to the story’s emotional rollercoaster. Through lighting, the self discovery of the characters progress from the beginning, the middle, and the end. This creates a chronological narrative so that the viewers can understand the plot. Director Jeff Lau uses the element of light and framing to guide the viewers to understand the story, through the development of angles and photographic techniques. This paper will unravel various factors of cinematography, concentrating on lighting, framing, angles and photography. The film was shot in Xi’an Film Studios, making the film to have a stylized and more visually exaggerated appeal. This also allowed the director to have more controlled lighting around the scenes and facial expressions of characters in the film. Lau used a well known star Stephen Chow to play the role of Joker, the protagonist. Chow’s character was used to symbolize romance making the film to be a love story. The audience is made to believe that the story is authentic in order to relate with characters in the story. Joker’s (Chow) cause is to save his lover (Zixia), the cause is based on love, the romantic aspect masks over the storyline so that the viewers can relate with the story. Joker sacrifices himself to become a monkey king in order to save the love of his life. He also sacrifices his love by ignoring Zixia for a better ending. Joker and Zixia are used by the director to show that pain is an inherent aspect of human love. Lau succeeds to show the agony associated with strong human desires. Lighting technique is used in adventure and action films to form artificial scenes. It is used to highlight exaggerated actions associated with these genres of films. An intense contrast is created between light and dark, making incredibly mysterious shots. In production of A Chinese Odyssey Part Two , an essential component was the cinematography. The cinematographer’s duty was to merge essentials including velocity of movement, perspective and framing to capture the attention of the audience. These aspects aid the audience to understand the message being communicated by the film. These elements were also applied to highlight the importance of the protagonist and other support characters in the film. The lighting technique evokes curiosity in viewers, and plays a significant role in determining how the story is told. The movie takes on a transition from light to dark and clarity to complexity so that the viewer is visually engaged in the story. The changes in light intensity add t
In the case, UHS agreed to acquire Ascend Health at an approximate value of $517 million. UHS and Ascend Health own an acute inpatient psychiatric facility. The facility provides diagnosis, treatment, and care of patient suffering from psychiatric condition. In the view of Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the psychiatric care facility is a discrete necessary product that cannot be substituted with other levels of care. Therefore, “the merger would create a virtual monopoly in the provision of acute inpatient psychiatric services to insured patients in the El Paso/Santo Teresa area” (Federal Trade Commission, 2012). The FTC investigated this merger that aimed at eliminating competition in the market between UHS and Ascend. The FTC considers this competition valuable to the community since it provides lower health care costs, high quality of care, and improved services (Federal Trade Commission, 2012). Costs associated with antitrust behavior FTC fines firms which engage in antitrust behaviors. The fines can either be pecuniary (monetary) or non pecuniary (non momentary). In the case, the FTC required UHS to sell an acute inpatient psychiatric facility to settle the complaint. In addition, the commission will acquire a second facility from the group. Therefore, if the group goes into merger, they are likely to lose two leading facilities. The UHS case was investigated under Celler-Kefauver Act. The Act deals with outlawed asset-purchase mergers that can significantly reduce competition (Meier, Albert, & Brau, 2012). Monopolies and oligopolies A monopolist market structure is characterized by a single firm. The market offers products which does not have a close substitute. It does not allow free entry and exit into the industry. A monopolist demand curve is downward sloping. This implies that as price increases, the monopolist sells less. Therefore, elasticity of demand is necessary for a monopolist. Monopolist pricing is not always at equilibrium. The market clears at the point where marginal revenue equals marginal cost. Monopolists carry out price fixing with an aim of gaining
Overview In the recent past, Fairfax has made several changes affecting administrative and production techniques. Rumors are rife on the planned closure of the company’s Chullora and Tullamarine printing plants. Also, the Sydney Morning Herald and Age are to be converted into compact formats. The company has made attempts to reestablish itself as a major player in the industry. The company has engaged in cost cutting measures such as the planned job cuts that will see approximately 1900 people lose their jobs. The company also plans to sell some of its assets such as the 15% ownership of New Zealand Trade Me website. All this has been in a bid to put the company in a position where “…..it is within the market operating level” (Byron, 1991: p.23). This is as illustrated by Byron (1991) in his analysis of competitive marketing strategy. External Environment While it has generally taken Fairfax a longer time than expected to identify and adapt to the shift brought about by the rise of technology in market- specifically the internet and social media- the company is taking the right steps in the right direction. The performance of all distributors of information products is currently dictated by technology. Consumption of information has changed both in design and in character. Effective marketing as illustrated by Kotler & Armstrong (2001) relies on a simple principle. This is the reinforcement of market perception, expansion of the market while at the same time protecting the current market and finally increasing market share ( Kotler & Armstrong, 2001). Fairfax is known to hire the best journalists in the market. Within the organization, these journalists have thrived to give the readers the best in journalism. However, as good as the journalists are, Fairfax has to realize that the change in consumption patterns has changed the type of information consumed in the market. While the type of information may not be different from that which catapulted the company to fame, the method of presentation has experienced some kind of revolu
No universal paradigm can explain the nature of the crime. However, some underlying drivers can motivate people to commit it. Their nature can be biological, sociological, or psychological. It does not mean that it can be only one of them making people criminals. Sometimes it can include two or all three. An example of the primary biological cause can be schizophrenia. People with schizophrenia can harm or even kill other people believing that they are invaders from another world or for another reason born out of their confused brain. This mental disorder is mostly caused by malformations in some brain regions resulting from genetic factors (Ripke et al., 2014). Sociological factors paired with biological ones can also be a reason for committing a crime. For instance, poor people may shoplift food out of necessity. Often in such cases, these people understand the moral unacceptability of their deed. Nonetheless, their hunger can supersede the moral code. According to Hollin (2013), psychological factors can become a reason for unlawful behavior provided there is a fertile social environment. For example, the person’s mind can become unstable due to stress or depression induced by social factors like family or work, which may involve him or her in criminal activities like using narcotics or even killing. There can also be cases when biological, psychological, and sociological theories intertwine (Hollin, 2013). Inborn impairments of the brain can be dormant until environmental issues like the lack of parental supervision, school bullying or other factors cause these inner malfunctions to alter a person’s perception, resulting in the lack of guilt or remorse. This can lead to criminal behavior. The three agents can all shed some light on the nature of the crime, but there is an apparent need to view them in connection to each other.
Introduction The bible in the book of Genesis describes the origin of heaven and earth and everything that is in it; God created everything. However, scientist have come up with a theory suggesting that all living creatures came from a common ancestor as opposed to the story of creation. This essay is a summary of what the bible says about the beginning of the world; a personal opinion is given on whether Christians should oppose what the science claims or not. The beginning of the universe as described in the bible In the book of Genesis, God created heaven and earth and everything that is in it. The story of creation is found in the book of Genesis chapters one and two: “The earth was then formless and void, darkness was all over and the spirit of God hovered all over” (The Bible 1). God went on and separated light and darkness and he called light a day and darkness a night. He also separated water and dry land after which He commanded land to produce seed bearing plants and trees and just by that word, there were seed bearing plants and trees. Living creatures were also created. Lastly, God created man in his own image and blessed him; he gave him power to rule over all his creation and commanded him to fill the world (Mueller 41). Adam and Eve were later placed in the Garden of Eden and God gave them access to all fruits except fruits from the tree of knowledge of good and evil which was at the middle of the garden. Adam and Eve went against God’s command and ate the fruit they were commanded not to eat. This signified the fall of humanity and a new beginning for the human race (Mueller 40). Christians believe in the story of creation because, according to their faith, this Supreme Being (God) is able to perform things beyond their understanding. They believe in supernatural things that God can perform and no man can explain. To Christians, the bible is a very important book as it helps them to know who they are, what they ought to do, the right choices that they ought to make and the consequences of those choices. In addition, the teachings in the bible on the right choices that one should make have been proven to be the best choices since better consequences have been experienced. Christians believe in the bible because many prophecies that were prophesied long time ago have come to pass. Compatib
Introduction The health of adolescents in the United States has become a major issue among the stakeholders in the health sector. While some of them are increasingly becoming obese, others suffer from malnutrition as they try to ape the lifestyle of the top models. This problem is very common among adolescent girls who are willing to do anything to remain slim. Food Safety Millions of Americans are suffering from food-related diseases. The increasing popularity of fast foods in this country is posing a serious challenge to the health care sector as the number of people suffering from food-related complications has increased (Feldstein, 2012). Healthy Weight Society needs to understand the standard weight that is considered healthy. This should be determined by the body mass index. Maintaining a healthy weight is the best way of fighting some the lifestyle diseases such as obesity and coronary diseases. Vaccination and Immunization Some of the common diseases that affected Americans in the past such as polio have been successfully eliminated through vaccination. It is the responsibility of all the parents to ensure that their children are immunized against all the diseases that have vaccines (Penner, 2004). World Health Organization Essential Health Technologies The data shows that increasing the relevance of health technologies, especially those used in fighting complex health problems such as cancer, has forced the stakeholders in the health sector to invest a lot in this area (Jones, 2011). It is the only sure way of fighting some of the emerging health problems in developed nations. Essential medicines The data indicates that in the United States and other developed countries around the world low income earners still struggle to get the best healthcare services because they are always forced to use public facilities. Governance and Aid Effectiveness It is clear from the data that most government, including WHO, have been increasing their expenditure on the health sector as a way of helping the stakeholders fight some of the emerging health problems. A good part of this income goes to research and development. Health Financing Although the developed countries have managed to solve
The profession of social work is a difficult and delicate one. Social workers have their own beliefs and values and these often differ from those of their clients. In order to have an organized system of doing social work, there is a code of ethics that governs how clients are treated to avoid chaos and to ensure that all parties involved get their rights. Some of the core values that guide the social workers are service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, integrity, importance of human relationships, and competence (NASW 1). In social work, we learn that we should always leave our personal views behind and embrace professional ones. For example, as a social worker, I am expected to respect client’s right to self-determination. Every client has a goal in life and as a social worker, one should strive to identify that goal and help the client to achieve it. There are times when this proves to be difficult especially with regard to religion. My personal values on religion and how it is followed may conflict with professional work values or ethical standards. Following the code of ethics means that I do not agree with abortion, homosexuality or certain religious activities. I have to let go of my personal opinions and view the client objectively. It is disturbing when I come across a client who desperately need medical attention but cannot accept treatment due to religious beliefs. There are times when would like to help but find it difficult to cross that religious barrier. This conflict may prevent me from seeing clearly and trying to find alternative solutions. My personal values are that religion cannot be followed blindly. Any religion that allows my clients to remain on hallucinogens, fast for days while suffering bad health or avoid hospital is wrong. It does not mean that my values are the ‘right’ values and they may come in conflict with the values that I should adhere to. To me, any religion that preaches poverty as a way of life is wrong. I fail to understand why some religious groups would encourage poverty as penance or as a gateway to another realm. It is difficult to deal with such clients because they may not understand that their actions are costing other people their tax money in social work. I may not be in a position to make them understand that for their own wellbeing and that of their families, they have to drop this religion. This is a personal view and I cannot judge them based on their religion. With time I have come to learn that we all have different personal values and what makes us good or bad social workers is what we do with them. The best social worker is one who is aware of their values. They put them aside and focus wholly on the client. The secret also lies in knowing when to apply these personal val
Introduction Private defense firms employ defense personnel or guards to safeguard property and the citizens of a given region or country. Opposed to police officers, private security personnel are civilians who are formally employed to prevent illegal activities or actions that are inappropriate on the property through high visibility observation, conducting patrols, checking various alarm systems installed within an organization, and/or through direct checks on people and belongings including baggage. The primary function of the security personnel is to “detect, observe, deter, and report” acts of crime (Van Steden & Nalla, 2010, p. 215). They are not mandated to execute the arrest. However, they are given authority to arrest citizens or execute any activity that fulfills their functions as agents of law enforcement when requested by sheriffs and/or police officers (Wakefield, 2007, p.13). The increasing importance of the roles of security personnel in enhancing law and order has forced many states and nations to set legal guidelines for training security personnel. The purpose of this paper is to discuss various legal issues in the process of training security personnel. The emergence of Training Concerns among Security Personnel Tantamount to the police professional training approaches, training of personnel serving in private security companies have been evolving as time progresses. Van Steden and Sarre (2007) reveal how security personnel receives poor payment and training (p.227) perhaps because private security companies are paid poorly for the security services that are provided by their security guards. According to Wackenhut Training Institute (2004), initially, contracts to offer security services were given from the basis of cost competitiveness as opposed to levels of professionalism and experience in the industry showcased by the bidding companies (p.13). However, this trend was altered radically in the US following September 11 2001 revolutionary assault. Organizations began taking security issues seriously. They began altering their methodologies for evaluating bids for private security organizations based on professionalism and experience as the chief factors for winning contracts. In response to the new trend of the private security industry, private security firms began to pump more money to fund training programs for their employees. Different states also started initiating legislation on the training of security personnel. Button (2007) amplifies this argument by asserting, “the term security professionalism began to surface, with large private security firms such as Blackwater, USA beginning to offer training services for the private security industry that approached the level of training provided by the military” (p.23). Emphasis on professionalism in private security sectors made security firms offe