315 research outputs found
True Calling
No full textNo hiding from the true calling of your heart. A romantic drama with a sprinkling of politics and a mystical twist.
A feature film, True Calling (88 min.) is a contemporary tale of a successful young government minister who is faced with a moral and spiritual crisis as he heads into a national election. On the eve of a critical pre-election television debate that he is due to participate in, Josh Joseph, who is earmarked for continued ministerial success, decides, on impulse, to take a significant political risk. He disrupts his hectic electioneering schedule to leave London and drive to the north of England, in order to visit a female childhood friend, Maddy, whom he has not seen for 17 years. He has discovered that she is getting married on the day of the election and is sufficiently troubled by this news to feel the need to intervene in her decision. This inexplicably irrational action threatens his political career and leads to unsettling encounters with love, longing and regrets which will, inevitably, lead to profound changes in his personal and political life
The films of Chantal Akerman : a cinema of displacements
No full textThis thesis attempts to broaden the critical boundaries within which the films of
Chantal Akerman have been discussed. First, it extends analysis from Akerman's
70s to her 80s and 90s films. Second, it argues that as well as her gender and
aesthetic identities, Akerman's Belgian and Jewish identities should be
acknowledged. Finally, it suggests that each of these four identities: woman,
independent film-maker, Belgian and Jewish allow her a position of marginality,
figured in her films through the trope of 'displacement'.
The structure of the thesis is two-fold: it extends discussion of Akerman's cinema to
films not previously considered, and through this extension engages with
contemporary issues in film and cultural theory such as female authorship,
independent and national, and marginal cinemas. Chapter one `Woman' and chapter
two `Independent' extend the reading of gender and sexuality and formal and
aesthetic innovation in Akerman's cinema. In the first chapter this is done through
consideration of the films Golden Eighties (1986) and Nuit et jour (1990), while in
the second her short films, video work and work for television are examined.
My third and fourth chapters offer areas of Akerman's work which have not
previously been studied. Chapter three, `Belgian', considers the significance of
Akerman's nationality for her film-making while engaging with theories around
national cinema. It examines the possibility of a `Belgian national cinema' and the
intersections which arise between this and Akerman's cinema, especially around
Toute une nuit (1982). Finally, in my fourth chapter, `Jewish', I use Histoires
d'Amerigue (1989) and D'Est (1993) to argue that Akerman's is a `wandering'
cinema, in which she is constantly examining the homelessness and displacement
that her Jewishness engenders
'The Raven on the Jetty':Feature Film
No full textFeature Length Film, Drama.Published/Distribution:UK and International Cinema Release and International Streaming PlatformsSynopsis:In the midst of parental separation, one boy's silent longing has the power to change everything.My Credited Contribution: Visual Effects Department - Animation Visual Effects superviso
The Silent Accomplice
No full textSet in rural and urban Britain, The Silent Accomplice is a story seen through the perspective of water that flows from a spring to the sea. This ever-present silent protagonist engages with people in often intimate moments in their lives, giving us an unusual and intimate snap shot of contemporary living. Episodic and peripatetic in construction, and poetically blending fiction and documentary, the narrative weaves its way in and out of specific people's lives to reveal a Britain with hidden and unspoken disparities and aspirations.Using simple and rich visual and aural imagery, The Silent Accomplice embraces the notion of silence to drive a narrative that creates an unusual experiential journey. From the sublime to the mundane, the peaceful to the violent, we are presented with a view of contemporary British life not commonly seen.The film was shot over a period of months with a very small, documentary-sized team shooting 'Dogme'-like in settings and locations across rural and urban northern Britain. The cast consists of 'real' people playing themselves in a fictionalised story, often in their own living and working situations without working to a written script. One of the exciting things about this project was the contributions made by the cast and the way we worked with them
The Silent Accomplice
No full textSet in rural and urban Britain, The Silent Accomplice is a story seen through the perspective of water that flows from a spring to the sea. This ever-present silent protagonist engages with people in often intimate moments in their lives, giving us an unusual and intimate snap shot of contemporary living. Episodic and peripatetic in construction, and poetically blending fiction and documentary, the narrative weaves its way in and out of specific people's lives to reveal a Britain with hidden and unspoken disparities and aspirations.Using simple and rich visual and aural imagery, The Silent Accomplice embraces the notion of silence to drive a narrative that creates an unusual experiential journey. From the sublime to the mundane, the peaceful to the violent, we are presented with a view of contemporary British life not commonly seen.The film was shot over a period of months with a very small, documentary-sized team shooting 'Dogme'-like in settings and locations across rural and urban northern Britain. The cast consists of 'real' people playing themselves in a fictionalised story, often in their own living and working situations without working to a written script. One of the exciting things about this project was the contributions made by the cast and the way we worked with them
Study of Epithelial Cells on Polypyrrole based Conducting Polymers using Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy
No full textPhDPolypyrrole (PPy) is a conjugated polymer that displays special electronic properties
including conductivity. It may be electrogenerated with the incorporation of any anionic
species including negatively charged biological molecules such as proteins and
polysaccharides. For this thesis, variously loaded-PPy films were prepared on gold
sputter-coated coverslips. The growth and characteristics of epithelial cells, namely
keratinocytes, were studied on these films by microscopy, biochemical assay,
immunocytochemistry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.
Keratinocyte viability was found to be PPy-load dependent. For chloride, polyvinyl
sulphate, dermatan sulphate and collagen-loaded PPy films, polycarbonate and gold,
keratinocyte viability, as assessed by the AlamarBlueTM assay, was respectively 47%,
60%, 88% and 23%, 75% and 61% of tissue culture polystyrene controls after 5 days.
This was found to require a previously unreported polymer washing step prior to cell
seeding due to the observed toxicity of untreated films. Keratinocytes stained positive
for proliferation (PCNA), suprabasal differentiation (K10) and hyperproliferation (K16)
markers although cell morphology was poor for organotypical cultures on dermatanloaded
PPy compared with de-epidermalised dermis. Cell-induced impedance changes
were detected in a three-electrode format over PPy modified electrodes. Results
obtained showed the effects of cell density, cell type and monitoring frequencies. In
particular, it was seen that lower cell densities could be detected on PPy compared to
unmodified gold electrodes. Keratinocyte confluence as determined by impedimetric
analysis was reached more rapidly on PPy than bare gold in agreement with
AlamarBlueTM measurements. Electrical equivalent circuit analysis using parameters
whose contributions may be directly mapped to intracellular and intercellular spaces,
and membrane components suggested that the technique can be extended to cell
morphology discrimination.
This work shows that PPy biocomposites are attractive candidates for tissue engineering
applications since they may incorporate biomolecules and are electrically addressable
with the potential to both direct and report on cell activities
An investigation into how Chinese college students make sense of films and TV series from an intercultural perspective: Implications for English language teaching
No full textThis study investigates how Chinese College Students (CCSs) make sense of foreign films and TV series from an intercultural perspective, and then explores the theoretical and pedagogical implications of the findings on the use of foreign films and TV series in English language teaching, particularly for developing students’ intercultural communicative competence.
The study employed a questionnaire survey and multiple-stage semi-structured interviews. Research subjects were second-year or above CCSs with students from 15 Beijing universities participating.
The empirical findings suggest that:
• In the Chinese context, foreign films and TV series are the main resource Chinese college students use, and the one they prefer to use, to learn about the U.K. and the U.S.A.
• Making sense of foreign films and TV series is a highly complex and dynamic process which is culturally specific. Chinese college students’ undertake sense-making activities which fall into five main categories: 1) comprehending the plot; 2) compare: identifying differences; 3) compare: identifying similarities; 4) re-contextualizing; and 5) perceiving as realistic. These sense-making activities tend to be intertwined and occur on various levels.
• These sense-making activities affect Chinese college students’ understanding of and attitudes to foreign people and culture, as well as to local people and culture.
A Foreign Media Sense-Making (FMSM) model is developed based on the sense-making activities identified and the variables which influence them. This model provides a theoretical framework suggesting how foreign films and TV series can used to develop students’ intercultural communicative competence in the English language teaching classroom, and an intercultural approach to the use of foreign films and TV series in ELT is suggested.
The findings give valuable insights and have practical implications for those interested in using foreign films and TV series in ELT. The FMSM model provides a conceptual framework and useful resource for the development of future research and teaching programmes
Questioning modern time with Hannah Arendt and Walter Benjamin
No full textFour texts from Arendt and Benjamin are the scene of our thinking. We enact the question of time as a refusal to abide by the modern conception of time, where the present is the only ground of the real. We argue for a notion of time, in which all that-has-been is considered a site of real experience.
Firstly we discuss Arendt's book On Revolution. Through issues such as history, the eventful and revolt we show the usefulness of the question of time to further our understanding. Secondly in Arendt's 'What is Freedom', freedom is discussed beyond the private individual, as a matter of plurality, of living together. The question of time shows freedom grounded beyond the individual's present, in the historical time of plurality.
With Benjamin's essay 'On some motifs in Baudelaire' we show poetry as a challenge to the symbolic environment of the commodity world. Poetry appears as a keeper of our relation to the time of memory and language that precedes us. In Benjamin's 'The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility', we distinguish art from technology through the question of time. Art's experience
involves an active relation with what-has-been, with past generations; it challenges the technological way of relating to the world that destroys the depth of human expenence.
Finally, Arendt and Benjamin are presented together, stressing their use of history and tradition to address the problems of modernity. Their effort to think the eventful is related to their negation of historical progression. From the question of time, their thinking teaches us a form of critique that denies the preconception of presence as being the totality of the real. Under their gaze presence is revealed as a changing surface under the sway of history, of time
Fiction and film : the influence of cinema on writers from Trinidad and Jamaica 1950-1985
No full textThis thesis considers the relationship between film and novels that were published by writers from Trinidad and Jamaica between the years 1950 - 1985. Through close textual analysis and by utilising a combination of cinematic and literary theories, the thesis examines the extent to which filmic references have been absorbed into
fictional writing and reflects upon the implications for such cultural transformations. The thesis also provides a detailed, historical background to the development of cinema in both islands, with a further analysis of the specific role played by the Hindi film in Trinidad. The interdisciplinary nature of the literary analysis and the detailed historical data contained herein should be considered an original contribution to knowledge within the field of Caribbean studies
A necessary fiction: The ritualisation of stakeholder practices in New Zealand cinema
No full textThis thesis argues that stability of the concept ‘national cinema’ is located in the discursive positioning of individual films in such a way that they are connected to a national ‘common ground’, one which is ritually accessed via engagement with media such as cinema. This positioning, however, is not quantifiable and may not be identified as arising from any particular production practice, dimension of popularity, theme, style, characteristic of production personnel, and so on. By synthesising the work of several theorists and applying this synthesis to a selection of films, a framework of ideas (around the ritualised ‘flagging’ of the national via the expression of stakeholder interests) is applied to cinema in New Zealand. In particular, an ideoscape is ultimately mapped as a result of applying this framework of ideas. The normative assumptions of national cinema are examined in this way and found to be lacking despite the weight that the term ‘national cinema’ continues to have
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