The Found Footage Phenomenon Film Studies Essay

The Found Footage Phenomenon Film Studies Essay The Blair Witch Project is a story of an attempt of three documentary film students to investigate the legends of the Blair Witch. Apparently skeptical, Heather, Joshua, and Michael enter the woods around Burkittsville, Maryland, with two cameras. Heather was determined to document everything in  «as straightforward way as possible ». As the documentarians go deeper, the friends become unsure of their whereabouts. Soon, they realize that they have lost their way. At night, the filmmakers hear bizarre noises, and in the morning, find three fresh rock mounds built outside their tent. The mood is charged with fear, frustration, and anger as the trio is trying to find their way out of the woods but seem to be entrapped and walk in circles. Their sense of doom is enhanced as one night, Joshua vanishes without a trace. Following his screams, Heather and Michael come to a deserted house in the woods. They go inside and search everywhere until Michael runs to the basement claiming that h e has heard Joshua there. The footage ends with Heather screaming and dropping the camera on the floor, the last image being of Michael with his face to a wall in the semi-dark basement. Being a mockumentary, The Blair Witch Project primarily draws on all the elements of the documentary genre to achieve its effects. While the movie was being created, the directors launched a marketing campaign by creating a website with fake reports of the three filmmakers missing and documents of the Blair Witch. Thus, as Emily Shaw points out, billed as a factual piece, the phenomenon quickly gained a cult following (386). It should be remembered that the impression produced by a documentary film is that of greater authenticity than made by a fictional film. According to Joseph H. Boggs and Dennis W. Petrie, even the first documentary productions emanated from what we could call the documentary urge of their creators, who wished, quite simply, to document life » (460). However, the implication of the genre from which found footage takes its roots is more complex as documentary pictures do not merely record objective reality. Like nonfiction literature, a nonfiction film inevitabl y presents the subjective vision of its maker as well (461). Therefore, it is the blend of grainy-film objectivity and the subjective first-person narration of the camera-holder that seems to make the found footage genre so appealing. The director of photography of The Blair Witch Project Neal Fredericks recalls that most of the video footage was shot by Donahue, which was designed to provide a more immediate, you-are-there feeling for their day-to-day behind-the-scenes experiences on this fictional class project. Ive had some experience transferring video to film, so I knew that when we eventually transferred all of the footage to a 35mm print, the aesthetic qualities of the 35mm film would take some of the edge off the video, making it a bit softer and more pleasing to the eye (Pizzello, 100). Film experts have applauded Myrick and Sanchez for the enticing rawness of their approach. For example, Melinda Corey and George Ochoa noted that the movie shot on 16mm black and white and color digital video, was commended for its documentary style, blurring the lines between reality and fiction (131). Another expert, Kevin Harley, called The Blair Witch Project a guerilla-indie hit that, while drawing on mockumentary self-consciousness, channeled raw edge-of-sight fear. Blairs ambiguities amplify its resonances (110). The effect of their first-person narration technique of The Blair Witch Project was fascinating at the time; however, Myrick and Sanchez successors have since considerably ameliorated their method. The use of mirrors, for example, in Chronicle (director: Josh Trank, screenplay: Max Landis, cinematographer: Matthew Jensen), a story of three high-school students who acquire telekinetic powers, or Paranormal Activity (written, directed and filmed by Oren Peli) was innovative for the genre. In Chronicle, the mirrors not only advance its protagonists Andrews characterization as a narcissistic teenager but also help to make the movie more visually sophisticated than the early specimens of the genre. In Paranormal Activity, mirrors hint at its protagonists Katies and Micahs double selves as well as their relationships gradual disintegration. Another improvement in the found footage genre has been its expansion from the domain of horror (i.e. witches, spirits and daemons) to the science fiction film as illustrated, for example, by Cloverfield (2008) and Chronicle. The critic of culture Bruce Kawin has made a distinction between the effects that horror and science fiction films produce on the viewer. According to him, one goes to the horror film in order to have a nightmare, a dream whose undercurrent of anxiety both presents and masks the desire to fulfill and be punished for certain unconventionally unacceptable impulses. Moreover, Kawin claims that science fiction appeals to consciousness, horror to the unconscious (qtd. in Boggs, Petrie, 422). Another cultural critic J.P. Telotte commenting on sci-fi filmmaking points out that the genre has obviously staked out as its special territory the latest possibilities of artifice through the very latest of technological development in cinema. Tellote goes on to compliment the creators of science fiction films for finally making this artifice seem to be less its end than its methodà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ simply a most effective wayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ for gauging the human (qtd. in Boggs, Petrie, 422). It is true that found footage films have progressively focused on exploring the human condition. One of the pervasive themes that unite The Blair Witch Project, Chronicle, and Paranormal Activity is their respective characters inability to cope with reality and isolation; besides, their handheld cameras play a vital role in this. One of the directors of The Blair Witch Project Eduardo Sanchez claims that he drew his inspiration for the movie from such movies as The Shining and The Exorcist. And just like in The Shining (produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick), a 1980 film about a janitor going insane in a snowbound hotel and taking it out on his wife and child, the pervasive theme of Myrick and Sanchezs mockumentary is psychological and physical isolation, which, acco rding to Sanchez, is the key to horror films (Fletcher, 29). While the three young filmmakers searching for the evidence of the Blair Witch find themselves cut off from the outside world, their leader Heather, perhaps, has always been so, for as Joshua half-jokingly remarks to her at one point in the movie: We see why you like this video camera so much. Its not quite reality. Its totally filtered reality. Its like you can pretend everythings not quite the way it is. Heather has no comment on this, but Joshuas banter is echoed in Chronicle, where Steven questions Andrew about always putting up a camera between himself and the world as a barrier, whereas in Paranormal Activity, Katie repeatedly blames Micah for preferring the camera to human communication. However, while no reasons are given for Heathers self-isolation behind her cameras eye, the subject is much better elaborated in more recent found-footage. In Chronicle, it is obviously Andrews abusive and alcoholic father and the terminal illness of his mother that drive him to conquer reality through the camera lens. In Paranormal Activity, Micahs camera plays a role of its own, initially used by him to identify the supernatural activity in the couples house but actually stimulates its outbursts and brings about his demise. It is noteworthy that modern home-video-look directors have detached the camera from the actor, thus defying the very notion of handheld and not without success. For instance, the telekinetic high-schoolers in Chronicle can make the camera float in the air, just like they do, or, like Micah in Paranormal Activity, leave it working on a tripod and review the footage later, thus creating a juxtaposition of the past and present-time planes in the narration something unimaginable in the early found-footage days. Moreover, unlike the late 20th-century hand-held cam fiction, the modern found-footage makers have increasingly been using conventional themes and narration techniques. Chronicle, for instance, is nothing but an account of a duel between good and evil, a subject common to dozens of Hollywood productions that even transcends the limitation of one plot line: the initially ambiguous but eventually fixed relationship of Matt and Casey is opposed to the chronicle of Andrews downfall. Furthermore, Chronicle appeals to its target audience by addressing the adolescent obsession with sex as well as the nerd-turned-Superhero theme, whereas the violent outbreaks of Paranormal Activity could be seen quite conventionally as an artistic metaphor for the love-hate relationship between Katie and Micah. The success of this hybrid approach has made even the forefathers of the found-footage genre redefine their priorities. According to one of the men behind The Blair Witch Project, Eduardo Sanchez, he has recently been frustrated by the idea of always having to have the camera on. This year, Sanchez has released Lovely Molly, a horror film shot partly with the help of handheld and partly with conventional camera. The director says, Whether its found footage or conventional filmmaking, a good idea will transcend (29+). Works Cited Leonard, Michael Williams. Artisan Entertainment, 1999 Boggs, Joseph H., Petrie, Dennis W. The Art of Watching Films. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company, 2000 Buzz Section. The Movie Book of Records. Total Film. Dec. 2007: 44-45 Corey, Melinda, and George Ochoa, Eds-in-Chief. The American Film Institute Desk Reference. New York: Dorling Kindersley Publishing, Inc. , 2002 Harley, Kevin,  «History of Horror. The 90s. » Total Film. Nov. 2007: 110+ Pizzello, Stephen. Rev of The Blair Witch Project by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez. American Cinematographer. Apr. 1999: 97-100. Sanchez, Eduardo. Director Interview: Lost and Found. Total Film. Issue 195 (2012): 29+ Shaw, Emily. Daniel Myrick. Contemporary North American Film Directors. A Wallflower Critical Guide. London and New York: Wallflower Press, 2002

Personal Trainer, Inc. Essay

Background You are enjoying your job as a student intern at Personal Trainer. Last week, Susan asked you to help her plan the new information system project. Susan knows that you have completed several information systems courses at the local college, and that you have studied project management tools and techniques. Specifically, she wants you to get ready for the next set of systems development tasks, which will be requirements modeling for the new system. Yesterday, Susan called you into her office to discuss the specific tasks she wants you to perform. After meeting with Susan, you sit down and review your notes. She wants you to treat the set of tasks as a project, and to use project management skills to plan the tasks. Here is what she suggested to you as a work breakdown structure, including the duration she estimated for each task: First, you need to meet with fitness center managers at other Personal Trainer locations (10 days). After these meetings, you can conduct a series of interviews (8 days). When the interviews are complete, two tasks can begin at the same time: you can review company records (2 days) and observe business operations (7 days). When you have reviewed the records and observed business operations, you can analyze the BumbleBee accounting software (3 days) and study a sample of sales and billing transactions (1 day). You are excited about the opportunity to practice your skills, and you start to work on the following list. Personal Trainer, Inc. Fact-Finding Summary A typical center has 300-500 members, with two membership levels: full and limited. Full members have access to all activities. Limited members are restricted to activities they have selected, but they can participate in other activities by paying a usage fee. All members have charge privileges. Charges for merchandise and services are recorded on a charge slip, which is signed by the member. At the end of each day, cash sales and charges are entered into the BumbleBee accounting software, which runs on a computer workstation at each location. Daily cash receipts are deposited in a local bank and credited to the corporate Personal Trainer account. The BumbleBee program produces a daily activity report with a listing of all sales transactions. At the end of the month, the local manager uses BumbleBee to transmit an accounts receivable summary to the Personal Trainer headquarters in Chicago, where member statements are prepared and mailed. Members mail their payments to the Personal Trainer headquarters, where the payment is applied to the member account. The BumbleBee program stores basic member information, but does not include information about member preferences, activities, and history. Currently, the BumbleBee program produces one local report (the daily activity report) and three reports that are prepared at the headquarters location: a monthly member sales report, an exception report for inactive members and late payers, and a quarterly profit-and-loss report that shows a breakdown of revenue and costs for each separate activity. Assignments 1. List the system requirements, with examples for each category. Review the information that Susan gathered, and assume that she will add her own ideas to achieve more effective outputs, inputs, processes, performance, and controls. The system requirements for the new Personal Trainer system can be identified by careful analysis of the fact-finding summary on page 184. The summary contains a number of â€Å"must† statements, and various items on the â€Å"wish list† that were suggested by local managers and staff members. Students should be able to identify, classify, and enumerate these items. Sample suggestions for outputs, inputs, processes, performance, and controls might include the following: Outputs: Report on delinquent payments, more frequent reports on trends and profitability, computerized activity and wellness log, more detailed exception reports, what-if scenarios that managers can use to plan promotions and discounts Inputs: More information about member preferences, activities and history, method to obtain member suggestions and e-mail messages Dr. Rafael Nieves Page 4 Processes: Automated process to scan key chain IDs or credit cards, process to manage part-time instructors and staff Performance: New design for sales slips, better information on members Controls: Standardized coding system to be used company wide, better  reconciliation of data, and creation of audit trails 2. Are there scalability issues that Susan should consider? What are they? Scalability refers to a system’s ability to handle increased business volume and transactions in the future. Because it will have a longer useful life, a scalable system offers a better return on the initial investment. To evaluate scalability, Susan will need information about projected future volume for all outputs, inputs, and processes. For example, she would need to know the estimated number of customers, transaction volume, peak periods, number and types of data items required for each transaction, and the method of accessing and updating customer files. 3. If Susan wants to conduct a survey of current or prospective members to obtain their input, what type of sampling should she use? Why? Students might suggest a stratified sample of former members and prospective members. It is relatively easy to identify former members from Personal Trainer’s records, but it might be more difficult to identify prospective members. Several options are available. Personal Trainer might request survey input from members who have recommended friends in the past. Were the new members happy, and did they remain as members? Why or why not? This might be quite valuable input in predicting future membership results.  Also, perhaps the company has a list of people who have requested information about Personal Trainer in the past, but never signed up for a class. That group might be an interesting sample. Finally, former students might be an interesting group to survey. 4. Draw an FDD that shows the main operations described in the fact statement. The fact-finding summary on page 184 identifies many of Personal Trainer’s activities, functions, and processes. Answers will vary based on different perceptions of Personal Trainer’s main operations.

Love in the Cornhusks

â€Å"LOVE IN THE CORNHUSKS† By: Aida Rivera Ford Setting:  The  story  happens  in  a  Barrio. Climax:  Tinang  discovers  after  reading  the  love  letter  from  her  first  love, Amado, that she is still loved by him. However, by then, she is already married to a Bagobo and has a son with him. REACTION Aida Rivera Ford, according to my research, has lived with her husband in their large farm in Davao, the place where I live as well. In connection to this, the short story of Love in the Cornhusks is somehow related with her life like its barrio-setting and the characteristics of  the Characters as well.Perhaps, the main character is a woman based on the fact that the writer of this short story is a woman too. The story is very simple, easy to understand and yet realistic. It begins in a situation where the main character, Tinang, starts her day as she visits her Senora with a good vibe that shifted to a different one lately. The author ma de the life of Tinang centered between two men. The Bagobo, her husband, and Amado do not speak in the story but they are characterized differently with each other.It appears that her husband, the Bagobo, is a simple man, whom is satisfied of being a farmer with the 2 hectares of land for his family. On one hand, Amado, the one she loved before her husband, is portrayed as a tractor driver, whom wears formal clothes every Saturday and a yet man who gives importance to his future as he wants to study mechanical engineering someday. I see in the story that in life, choices are given to us and yet what we have to do is to discern and stand in the decision we may select.Hence, marrying is not a joke and to marry the Bagobo is not just a coincidence in Tinang’s life but it is her decision when she did so, even if she did not know yet the reason why Amado had suddenly gone. The last part of the story has some symbolic figures. Tinang still loves Amado even after she got married to her husband. Reading the letter is a moment when Tinang’s feeling for Amado has reawakened. To cry is the first thing she does, then, she tries to recollect her first experiences with him. A snake comes in  the scene sneaking towards her baby.As I analyze it, I see that snake is the representation of such discovery and poses threat towards her relationship with her family. Why the snake is going to her baby? It is because that snake, if Tinang lets herself be taken by her emotion, can destroy her relationship with her Bagobo husband. Indeed, the snake is about to attack her son for he is the symbol and the fruit of the love that she and her husband shared together. In the end of the story, the author’s symbolisms are saying that Tinang chooses to accept the consequences in the decision she made in her life.First, she stands up from her sitting position–telling that life must go on; then she embraced the baby–telling that she has to embrace her own conse quences and situatedness and especially the people whom God has given to her; next, she prayed and beg the almighty not to punish her after thinking other things outside from her married life–saying that she realizes that her thoughts are wrong; afterwards, she checks the skin of the baby searching for some marks–showing the possible scars in her married life after reincarnating the feelings she once had with Amado; and the last one, the letter fell unnoticed among the cornhusk–  saying that she leaves that momentum without knowing that her very strong feeling and longing to Amado, if is not totally gone yet, is at least eased and is left among the cornhusks, which is meant to be consider as only a past of her life. REFLECTION â€Å"Destiny is not a matter of chance, but of choice. † This is a famous saying I have been hearing since my early teenage years. After reading the story, I am affirmed that a relationship tantamount to what Tinang and Amado had is not always certain. Life is full of twisting events and human beings have to understand that decisions done in every moment must be discerned well and its consequences should be accepted.If I were Tinang, I would surely find myself too thinking about the other possibilities that could happen in my life if I did not marry the Bagobo. However, though it is a little bit painful, I know that I cannot rewind anymore the time and what I have to is to accept that life is like that. We tend to experience the excruciating consequences of our hasty or even faulty decisions in order for us to become a better and mature person someday in making decisions once again in our life. Hence, love in the cornhusk, as it is portraying that life has to be dealt with acceptance, I learn that at the end of the day, I must reserve a part of myself a chance of being able to move on and cope with the excruciating moments I may face in the future.

Business Strategies and Financial Overview of VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System Free Essay Example, 3250 words

The organization s Statement of Change in the Financial Position reveals that the firm s position in its industry is not threatened; still, measures need to be taken so that losses in income are controlled. Indeed, in 2012, at the end of the period deterioration in the organization s financial position is reported; indeed, the net position of the organization at the end of the period is (1,725,452). At the beginning of the period, the net position of the organization was $ (1,502,346). These figures are negative, i.e. they reflect a minus and not a surplus in the organization s profits. After incorporating in the above figure the unexpected appropriations, a limitation in the losses of the organization has been achieved. The total net position of the organization for 2012 is improved, compared to the net position at the end of the period (Table 3). Indeed, the total net position of the organization for 2012 has been estimated to $ (1,721,321), compared to the $ (1,725,452) at the en d of the period. For the earmarked funds, i.e. those used for covering clearly specified organizational needs, a similar performance is reported. We will write a custom essay sample on Business Strategies and Financial Overview of VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page Between 2011 and 2012 the organization s Non-Entity Assets, especially the Fund Balance with Treasury, were reduced; this reduction did not affect the increase of the organization s Total Entity Assets, due to the significant increase of Entity Assets.