GAP Analysis Essay Example for Free

GAP Analysis Essay My profession of interest is: _Energy Analyst_ Please visit the O*NET Web site, and research the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that are required for your desired profession. Complete the chart below to identify which of the KSAs you already have and which KSAs you need to acquire. KSA required in your desired job or profession Description of how you meet this requirement If you do not meet this requirement, how can you acquire it? Building and Construction Knowledege Past Work with Mario Sinicola Construction and Certified Electrician Customer Service and Personal Service Experience with Customers with CountryWide lending General Studies of Math, Physics, Design, and English Aquiring my Associates degree in general business and working on bachelors in Energy Deductive Reasoning Have basic understanding to apply general rules to help the answer make sense Near Vision I have two eyes with both of them having 18/20 vision System Analysis To obtain knowledge through work experience and also studies through school to gain the information needed. Part 2: Goal Setting Using your gap analysis and what you have learned in this phase, set 3 short-term goals to fill the gaps that you have in your KSAs and qualifications. Please make sure your goals are SMART: Specific Measurable Action-oriented (What action will you take?) Realistic Timed Gap in your KSA qualifications Short-term goal to fill the gap Time frame to be completed No degree in analysis or basic business Find a business and become an apprentice 1.5 years Obtain Business degree in data and Energy Analysis Use exiting work and also find others already working in the field and gain knowledge from there 2 years General Studies Continue education through college 6 months Part 3: Revised Elevator Speech My name is Gabriel Cheney; currently I am a student at Colorado Technical University. I have been in the U.S. Army and also sales man for multiple types of businesses. I am currently working on my associates degree in general business and looking to work towards a bachelor degree in Data Analysis. I currently am working at a small software company that develops and produces point of sale systems for salons across the world. I am looking to find a position in the company the will allow me to grow in this field that I wish to work in the future.

The Role Of Communicative Language Teaching

The Role Of Communicative Language Teaching Introduction Foreign languages play a very important role in our system of knowledge. They are not only an effective tool for us to exploit information to acquire scientific technology, to share experiences with or to learn experiences from others in specialized fields but also a useful means of improving peoples material and spiritual lives. In the sixteenth century English became known as a communication language for people around the world. Its popularity as a foreign language has been increasing since then and been developing into the second language of many countries (Richards and Rodgers, 2002). English is now the most popular foreign language in Vietnam and English competence is considered one of the most necessary characteristics for anyone who would like to integrate themslves into the global society and access the worlds knowlege to be sucessful in life. English gradually becoming the main communication language in parts of education, business, entertainment and culture exchanges with o ther cultures excitingly taking place in daily life in Vietnam require appropriate recognition of English speaking from Vietnamese learners, especially teachers and those who are working in education. Language teaching profession has experienced many changes and a number of different language teaching methods and approaches have been proposed and applied for the sake of teachers and learners benefits in their teaching and learning so far. However, which one is the most appropriate for teachers and their learners depending a lot in their teaching and learning context. Therefore, Communicative Language Teaching has been employed in most of Vietnamese classrooms, especially in PVMTC, for its advantages in improving the speaking skills though it is not the latest one. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND THE MAJOR TRENDS OF LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODS AND APPROACHES. Since the begining of the twentieth century, communication between people of different cultures in differrent parts of the world has became urgent request. Teaching and learning a foreign language became more and more popular. However, to teach a foreign language effectively requires a lot of effort from the teachers who have direct and significant impact on their students achievement which is controled by the methodology they choose to apply to their language teaching in different learning and teaching contexts. Understanding the importance of the matter , linguists and teachers themselves have been done a large number of studies on language teaching in order to find out and introduce more practical and effective language teaching methods and approaches that help teachers in performing well their job. The two recent centuries have witnessed ceaseless changes and innovation in language teaching in terms of teaching methods and approaches. These decide how the language is taught and what materials and activities are used in the classroom to help learners get the best achievement in their language learning. Thus, each approach shows its own view of the nature of the language and how the language is learnt. According to Richards and Rodgers (2002, p. 3), Latin was the dominant language of education, commerce, religion and government in the Western world until the sixteenth century when French, Italian and English gradually replaced it to become the languages of communication. However, the tremendous impact of Latin teaching and learning principles and procedures on the way of teaching and learning the newly emerging languages was still occuring until the nineteenth century. This language teaching method has been known as Grammar Translation Method (GMT). As the result, the language lessons occured mostly in students first language, heavily focused on grammar rules which were deductively taught to students in order to guide them to decoding written texts and producing correct writing in target languages (Prator Celce-Murcia, 1979). Translation activities with the assistant of billingual dictionaries were conducted to achieve the accuracy. Students were expected to memorize a number of w ords and their meanings and all grammar rules and then apply them to make sentences. They were also expected to read, comprehend literature and write sentences without errors. Listening skill and speaking skill were completely ignored (Larsen-Freeman, 1986) in GMT classrooms. However, the changes in the society at the time resulted in the change of learners goal of learning languages: learning languages to communicate. The Grammar Traditional Method then couldnt meet the requiement since it appeared to fail to equip learners with interaction and communication skills in the target language (Larsen-Freeman, 2000, p. 23). In 1880 Francois Gouin, a teacher of Latin in France introduced a famous book called Art of teaching and learning of languages to the public. His assumptions of how a foreign language could be taught together with those of Henry Sweet, an English philologist, came together on encouraging students to think in the target language in learning process (Nagaraj, 1996, p. 71-72). This shaped the early version of the Direct method, a revolution in foreign language teaching, which went against the current traditional one. The Direct Method (known as Natural Method) was first introduced in Germany and France and it was the strong response to the dra wbacks of the Grammar Translation Method. It then became popular in The United States in the late of nineteenth century. At the time, Lambert Sauveur, an extraordinary man and his colleage, Gottlied Henness, first applied object lesson technique to teach German and French in their classrooms and they enjoyed great success. Sauveur after that developed this teaching method to the one known as Natural Method and used it widely in his language schools (Howatt, 2004, p. 217). At the same time, Maximilian D Berlitz also used this teaching method in his language schools in the US but in another name: Berlitz Method. Basically, the Direct Method based on the assumption of using the target language to teach itself and that oral practice could help students assess the target language in terms of forms and meanings. It was also the advocacy for the natural language learning principles and teaching of oral skill. So all instructions in the classroom were in the target language. Pronunciation a nd speaking skill were strongly emphasized by conducting question-and-answer activities to motivate and encourage students in using the language confidently (Larsen-Freeman, 1986). Interaction between teacher and students in the target language was considerd a way to present it. Grammar, vocabulary and translation skills which were very important under the Grammar Translation method was now marginalized to guaratee the acquisition of oral proficiency because the proponents of the method had a strong belief that everyday vocabulary used in the classroom could be learnt effectively through visual presentations and that grammar rules could be worked out by students through the teachers inductive grammar teaching. By means of its innovation in language teaching, the Direct method, which negated the effectiveness of the Grammar Translation method, became the first and the most concerned language teaching method that marked the begining of the method era (Richards Rodgers, 2002, p. 14). However, apart from being a breakthrough in teaching interactive speaking skills, the Direct Method also showed its weaknesses in terms of applied linguistics which made the method not take well in public education where the constraints of budget, classroom size, time, and teacher background made such a method difficult to use (Brown, 1994, p. 54) or to Richards and Rodgers it was a dramatic alteration in language teaching which firmly focused on oral skill but lacked a systematic basic in applied linguistic theory and practice (2002, p. 38). In the 1920s and 1930s in Britain, British applied linguists led by Harole Palmer and A. S. Hornby exerted themselves to establish an approach called Oral Approach (or Situation Language Teaching) to language teaching based on more scientific foundation, in which sponken language was important, only general and useful vocabulary was introduced, grammar was graded strictly and all practice took place in situations. The approach also enjoyed the popularity in English for decades there and many textbooks and courses were designed under it principles (Richards and Rodgers, 2002, p. 36-41). Another method became known as the Army method fisrt and then Audio Lingual Method (ALM) as we know it now was a new creative trend in language teaching methodology in The US in the second World War. It was first applied in a special language training programs of Military of the United States. It was devised by an American linguist, Leonart Bloomfield for the servicemen who were going to work as translators, interpreters and quickly needed to have perfect communicative proficiency to perform their jobs in different parts of the world. The method was the combination of language teaching through intensive practice of speaking skills to develop communicative competence with the language learning method based on the disciplines of descriptive linguistics and behaviuor pychology (which considers language learning is a set of language). In this method, immitation, repetition, memorization and reinforcement were impressed within speaking practice with variety of drills. Limited vocabulary w as introduced. Grammar was important but was taught inductively and inexplicitly throughout the conversational dialogues that learners practised orally but no errors were accepted because according to them errors could become bad habits. It was Charles Fries, another American linguist advocating Audio Lingual Method applied the method widely in his English language center, who deserved credit for making this method popular in foreign language teaching in the United States particularly in the 1950s and 1960s (Wong, 2006) and the world. However, the effectiveness of Audio Lingual Method on oral proficiency got questioned in the 1960s. Many experiments were done and according to Scherer and Wertheimer (1964), this effectiveness was not significant. In the 1970s, the new method based on the wiew of language learning as active mental processes, which was advocated J.B. Carroll and K. Chastain in the 1960s, Cognitive-code-Method was born. As Carrol stated, this deductivist method was a modified, up- to-date grammar-translation theory (1966 cited in Stern, 1987, p. 469). It adopted generativist grammatial theory (Danesi, 2003) and focused on grammar structures and all four skills. Clear examples and grammar structure explanation to learners came first. Learners were then asked to pracise them in meaningful contexts. Despite the fact that the method did not win the teachers and linguists favour for long, it deserved merit in leaving contexttualized gramar tranning and the technique of Error Analysis to language teaching ( Danesi, 2003, p. 11). In the early 1980s, the Natural Approach was developed by Tracy Terrell and Stephen Krashen based on Krashens theory about second language acquisition. It looks at language as a set of messages which can be understood. Vocabulary and meaning are primary (Terrell Krashen, 1983 cited in Richards and Rodgers, 2002) and the principles for teaching a language are based on the five hypotheses in Krashens second language acquisition theory. The approach was widely welcomed in the US and around the world for its positive influence on forming more overall principles for effective language teaching that have been considered in the later approaches. In the 1970s, the need for communicative competence continued to increase in line with the changes of economic and political situation in Europe. But teachers and linguists did not satisfy with the current language teaching methods and approaches which were not effective in helping learners use the target language to interact or communicate in real life situations. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) or Communicative Approach to the teaching of foreign languages then emerged as the answer to the problem. It has didfferent features from those of the other approaches since one of the most characteristic features of Communicative Language Teaching is that it pays basic attention to functional as well as structural aspects of language (Littlewood, 1992, p. 1). To serve communicative goal of language learning, the Communicative Approach is based on the premise that what we do in the classroom should have some real life communicative values or it looks at what people do with language and how they responde to what they hear (Flowerdew Miller, 2005, p. 12). Therefore, all activities used in a CLT classroom are appropriately designed based on these principles. Teachers measures language learnerssuccess by looking at their development in communicative competence which is implied in their making use of any means of communication, verbal or nonverbal, within the limited knowledge of the language they have to. To some extent, CLT makes use of presenting and practising speaking and listening in real life situations to help students complete tasks and build their fluency and confidence. The last approach I would like to mention is Task-Based Approach popularized by Prabhu. The method has attracted teachers and linguists in recent years. It impresses on using authentic language in real life, classrooms are managed to take place in real world communicative context in form of tasks and the tasks outcome, not the accuracy of language forms, is used to evaluate students progress and competence. The activities in the classroom mainly focus on speaking and students are required to be highly active and cooperative. The approach is rather new and not very familiar to teachers and students in some Southeast Asian countries. However, nobody who concerns linguistics negates its state of the art in the field and it is considered the development of CLT. ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING IN VIETNAM: STATE OF THE ART In the last twenty years, the demand for communicating between people of different cultures has pushed English to its recent status as a popular global language. English has become an official languge in Singarpore, India, the Philipines, Hongkong and a popular foreign language in most Asian nations for economic and political reasons. English teaching profession in the region, as the result, receives more concern of teachers, educators and linguists. In line with the current language teaching trends of the world, English language teaching in Asia has also been inspired by a more effective alternative, Communicative approach which emerged in the ash of less effective approachs and methods of language teaching that had big impact on English language learning and teaching for a long time. The wind of changes prevails and results in a lot of other changes related to English language teaching. Teachers have been encouraged to employ CLT in their English classrooms to improve students spea king skill. However, in some Asian countries of ESL where CLT and other later approaches have been imployed in English classrooms and claimed for some success whilst in Asian EFL classrooms whether CLT has been really applied or not, and if it has, how effective it has been, is still questioned. So, what has been the problems? In his study, Hird (1995, cited in Lewis McCook, 2002) stated that the differences in cultures led to the differences in interpreting CLT. The Asian traditionally appreciate the perfection such as acurracy in learning, CLT to their understanding, however, emphasizes more on fluency, appropriateness and spontaneity, not acurracy. Therefore, teachers as well as students were dubious about the effectiveness of CLT. A study of Musthafa Personal author, compiler, or editor name(s); click on any author to run a new search on that name. (2001, p. 1-10) on CLT in Indonesian argued that the communicative approach has failed to help students become any more competent in the use of the English language for real-life purposes. Or Manajitt (2008, p. 83-87) pointed out, although most of the Thai EFL school teachers in Bangkok were very intersted in CLT, learnt about it in many ways and had clear CLT conceptualization, their teaching and their students learning was still a combination between trad itional and communicative approach or still stayed traditional because of difficulties they faced while organizing a CLT classroom. In Vietnam, English became one of the subjects at school in 1987 after Vietnam started Doi Moi in 1986. English appeared in classrooms in some parts of the country. The course books at the time focused on reading skills and grammar and the Grammar Translation Method was applied widely in English teaching in Vietnam (Denham, 1992) beacause the new approaches and methods of teaching English did not reach the country yet and the teachers who were trained before 1986 felt most confident using it (Pham, 1999). Speaking skills were overlooked. Students had to work very hard with grammar rules to past the examinations. Teachers taught to test and students studied to do tests. In 1996, English proficiency at different levels was required to high chool and university students when they finished their study. English joined the rank of major subjects at education institutions. However, teacher-centred or teacher-fronted classrooms remained typical ones in Vietnam (Sullivan, 2000). Students cont inued with their rote learning in teacher-centred classrooms and the English teaching methods of the teachers in Vietnam in the late of 1990s were out-of-date (Kennett Knight,1999). The fact that teaching and learning English in Vietnam for over a dacade was staying the same. Yet the social demands for English for communication purposes were increasing because more and more activities in different fields needing poeple with good communicative English competence urgently required a significient change in language teaching profession. In an attempt to improve the quality of teaching and learning English especially the speaking skill, a movement to transform curriculum, text books, and teaching methodologies (Kim, 2001, p.140) was launched. Now, CLT has been announced to be the best choice to replace Grammar Translation approach in Vietnam. Teachers are annually invited to attend workshops about CLT. The new versions of English text books for students at secondary and high schools have replaced the old ones. The new text books, however, include more every day dialogues as the only evidence for the change since long reading texts and grammar exercies which promise to be the most in typical tests that students are going to take still predominent these books. As a result, speaking skills are skipped in class. Teachers spend most of the time on explaining grammar rules and translating reading texts to students. Students have to work with reading and grammar even harder than ever to survive the exams which mainly compri se long reading texts and extremely complicated grammar points. So, CLT although is officially prefered in Vietnam but whether it is really applied in classrooms to enhance students communitive competence or not is still a big question to anyone who has ever taught English in Vietnam. These lead to far-reaching consequence. At universities and colleges, Communicative course books are also chosen for students like the Lifelines set (Hutchinson, 2001), International Express set (Taylor Lane, 2007). The course books cover four macro skills. However, no oral or listening tests but reading and writing tests are carried out during the course. Inconsistencies between teaching and examinations lead to serious consequence like speaking skills are inorged in such these test-oriented tertiary EFL classrooms, students dont even have oppotunities to use the language verbally inside their classrooms because Vietnamese is used by teachers and students most of the time (Bui, 2006). Under these con ditions, students suffer from the failure in communicating or interacting. In terms of applying effectively new methods to teach English to students to help them use English communicatively, teachers fail to teach their students how to speak or listen but read and write in the target language. According to Pham (1999), there are socio-cultural factors against success in tertiary English language training programs in Vietnam. He emphasizes the fact that not only students but also teachers who lack ability of communicating in the target language get so scared to be in CLT classrooms where speaking skills are focused. The new method required both teachers and students really work actively in class. However, they got used to learning and teaching passively with Grammar Translation Method and they have to struggle to overcome their inherent passiveness, shyness, inferiority and fear to deal with the lesson in the new method. To these teachers and students, their English class put them in a state of panic. These have resulted in the quality of teaching speaking skills at university in Vietnam is still poor. And the explanation of the poor quality speaking teaching in English language tertiary education in Vietnam which results in a large number of graduates who have difficulty with communicating English (Bui, 2006) must take into account the concrete factors such as teachers and students conceptualization and practice of CLT, teachers ability and enthusiasm for their badly paid jobs, budget for language education, syllabus design, material and assessment which are the same in most developing countries (Gorlach, 1995). PetroVietnam Manpower Traning College (PVMTC) belongs to the system of vocational schools in Vietnam but mainly funded by Petrovietnam. For nearly fifteen years, the Streamlines set was used as the main course books and Grammar Translation Method was applied in teaching English in our college. But since 2007, we have replaced the course books with the Lifelines and International Express set. CLT has hardly received any warm welcome from the senior teachers beause they do not want to change the method that they have used for such a long time and as for them, they do not believe in the effectiveness of the new method and they even do not exactly know what CLT is and how to apply it. However, it has enjoyed the popularity among the younger teachers like me. We have been sent to have training courses on CLT together with our colleagues from other schools and colleges. We have excitingly discorvered it and applied or adapted it to our classes when we teach thousands of both types of stude nts studying English there: regular students and project students. Most of the students in PVMTC now are project students who are recent graduates or experienced technicians and engineers from different parts of Vietnam recruited to work for projects of Petrovietnam. They are paid to take a special intensive English course at PVMTC to improve their English skills, especially speaking skills, to perform their job together with foreign experts in their field at industrial facilities or in offices. They are highly motivated because they are given test of four skills and they are expected to achieve at least 650 marks on TOIEC when they finish the training course. They already took a placement test before doing the course and their English proficiency is Pre-intermediate. These are also advantages to us to apply CLT in these classrooms. International Express set is chosen for the course for its characteristics which support teachers and students a lot in conducting a communicative approach classroom. Inductive approach to grammar employed to guide stude nts to work out rules and usage which is usually a foreseen failure to many regular classes for regular students can be acceptable in these classes although both teachers and students have to work extremely hard when dealing with complicated grammar points and occasional failures are inevitable. Students are offered oppotunities speak, to discuss to complete all the task given by the teacher or to solve the problems emerging in the lessons. They are encouraged to use their own experiences, limited language they have learnt and appropriate learning strategies to deal with the English language in particular situations together in pair and group work activities. They are encouraged to keep speaking English with their classmates and teachers as much as they can without caring much about making mistakes when speaking. Authentic materials such as video clips or articles from the internet or newspapers, or any sourses relating to the topics of the lessons can be taken into the classroom to link the language they learn in the cousre book and those in real life. Although English is used by teachers and students most of the time in class, most of the students, especially more advanced and senior ones, generally appear to be successful and get progressed in their learning in terms of using the language communicatively, fluently and confidently. With regard to applying CLT in teaching English speaking effectively in these kinds of classrooms, we proudly claim that both the teachers and students in PVMTC have worked increadibly hard to make it success. We, however, confess our less successful outcome when applying CLT to most of the classes for regular students who are young adults at college and are being trained as workers to work for PetroVietnams subsidiaries. Most of them have been studying English for at least three years at high school but their English proficiency level is still beginner only. They are required to pass an English reading and writing test after finishing 90 hours of learning English in the first semester. Then they are offered a free optional 200 hour course of English to get the A level certificate as the education policy of PetroVietnam. The impacts of the different learning context on English teaching and learning are obvious in this situation. Therefore, as motivated language teachers, we have been doing our best to adapt the most appropriate teaching methods we have known to teach our students to get them improved and to these classrooms, an adapted combination of Audio Lingual Method and CLT has appear ed to be the most appropriate. To a large extent, CLT has enjoyed the popularity in PVMTC for proving itself a more effective method in teaching and learning English speaking skills in PVMTC context in this stage. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION FOR FUTURE DIRECTIONS In conclusion, language teaching profession has undergone great changes. Teaching approaches and methods ranging from Grammar Translation to Task-based were born in different stages in teachers, linguists tireless attempts to improve quality of teaching and learning languages. The later coming into the world does not completely exclude of the previous ones but it maintains the quintessence and condemns the drawbacks of them and contributes innovation to the field ensuring its appropriateness for teaching and learning contexts in a particular period. A number of studies have been done for centeries on teaching approaches and methods reflecting increasingly concerns about speaking skills and the recognition of the importance of the the skills in teaching, learning and using the target language. Improving the quality of teaching and learning English are the main chalenges facing Vietnam educators and government beacause it has been considered part of its social, economic and political development strategies. The first step as access to expected success has been made. In Vietnam, CLT has just really been popularized and used in English classrooms to ameliorate learners English competence. A lot of objective and subjective factors impacting on the effectiveness of this communicative method are still existing in Vietnam education system. So CLT will be the most appropriate one to use in the next years in Vietnamese teaching and learning context before trying to exploit the later ones. PVMTC have become aware of the neccessary of choosing and applying CLT in teaching English to acheive the proposed objective of any English courses to satisfy our students need, to prepare them for their future jobs by getting students involved in using English communicatively effectively, And as I mentioned early, we have enjoyed remarkable success but sometimes our teaching ends in falures. In spite of those, I believe that no teaching methos or approaches are perfect to all types of learners and that depending on object of the courses, as asthusiastic language teachers and if we are creative enough in teaching art, we will know how to adapt the methods we have known for use in each of our particular teaching and learning contexts and we will be successful in preparing our students with communicative competence.

Production Management Of Movies

Production Management Of Movies Producers have overall control on every aspect of a films production, bringing together the Screenwriters, Director, cast, finances and production team. Their primary responsibility is to foster an environment in which the creative talents of the cast and crew can flourish Producers are therefore ultimately accountable for the success of the finished film. Producers many responsibilities span all four phases of production: Â · Development Producers are often responsible for coming up with the underlying premise of a production, or for selecting the screenplay. Producers secure the necessary rights, select the screenwriter and story editing team, raise the development financing, and supervise the development process. Â · Pre-production Producers typically bring together the key members of the creative team, including the Director, Cinematographer and principal cast. They assist the Executive Producers to raise finance for the production. Once this is in place, they select other key personnel, such as the Line Producer, Associate Producer and Production Manager, as well as the remaining Heads of Departments, such as Production Designer, Editor and Composer. Producers also participate in location scouting, and approve the final shooting script, production schedule and budget. Â · Production Producers are responsible for the day-to-day operations of the producing team, though many practical functions are delegated to the Line Producer and any Associate Producers. Producers are also in constant communication and consultation with the Director, and with other key creative personnel, on and off set. Producers approve all script changes and cost reports, and continue to serve as the primary point of contact for all production partners, investors and Distributors. Â · Post-production and marketing Producers are expected to liaise personally with post-production personnel, including the Editor, Composer, and Visual Effects staff. They then consult with all creative and financial personnel on the production of the answer (or final) print, and they are usually involved with the financial and distribution entities in planning the marketing and distribution of the finished film. It is rare to find one Producer who has the expertise and vision to exercise personal decision-making authority across all four phases of production. Producers normally delegate some of these functions to Executive Producers, Co-producers, Line Producers and Associate Producers. However, the Producer is responsible for the majority of the producing functions throughout all the processes of the film. Executive Producer The traditional role of the Executive Producer is to supervise the work of the Producer on behalf of the studio, the financiers or the distributors, and to ensure that the film is completed on time, and within budget, to agreed artistic and technical standards. The term often applies to a producer who has raised a significant proportion of a films finance, or who has secured the underlying rights to the project. Typically, Executive Producers are not involved in the technical aspects of the filmmaking process, but have played a crucial financial or creative role in ensuring that the project goes into production. Responsibilities As there may be several Executive Producers on a film, it is difficult to define their exact responsibilities. However, they usually fall into one or more of the following categories: Â · Development the Executive Producer secures the rights to a story and develops the screenplay, but then hands over to the lead Producer, and has no direct involvement in the physical production of the film. Â · Packaging the Executive Producer authorises and supervises the packaging of the film. Â · Financing the Executive Producer raises a significant proportion of funding for the film, assists with presales, or helps to secure distribution agreements. On smaller independent films, a well-known Producer, Director or star may also be accorded this title because their association with the project helps to facilitate contacts with financiers and Distributors. Â · Production the Executive Producer acts as a mentor to the Producer and supervises production for the financiers. This type of Executive Producer is almost always involved in short film production schemes, where they typically co-ordinate the films production from initial financing through to final distribution. Associate Producer or Assistant Producer Associate Producers carry out significant functions in the production or post-production process, which would otherwise be performed by the Producer, Executive Producer or Co-Producer. These responsibilities may range from helping to raise production finance at the beginning of the production process, to supervising the final stages of post-production. Associate Producers in Film are usually individuals within production companies who have played a particularly significant role in the development of the script or screenplay, or in the packaging process, or who have contributed important creative ideas to the production. They may be another producer; or a senior Script Editor who helps to shape the direction of the final drafts of the screenplay, and without whom the film may not be financed; or the Producers Assistant who supervises development or post production for the Producer in their absence. The term Associate Producer is also sometimes used to describe a Producer from a smalle r production company which is co-producing the film, who has typically raised a small amount of funding for the project, but not enough to warrant an Executive Producer or Co-Producer credit. Responsibilities Associate Producers contribute significantly to the production process, as they are responsible for specific elements delegated to them by the Producer. This diverse role may encompass development, packaging, raising production finance, supervising the production design team (sets, costumes, etc.), supervising post-production, or co-ordinating the work of the various visual effects companies. In fact, they may carry out any production work that the Producer is too busy to supervise personally, and which is not covered by one of the other production roles (e.g. Executive Producer, Co-producer, Line Producer). Whatever their exact role, Associate Producers must be able to troubleshoot any production difficulties or problems that come within their area of responsibility. Line Producer The Line Producer is one of the first people to be employed on a films production by the Producer and Executive Producers. Line Producers are rarely involved in the development of the project, but often play a crucial role in costing the production in order to provide investors with the confidence to invest in the project. As soon as the finance has been raised, the Line Producer supervises the preparation of the films budget, and the day-to-day planning and running of the production. Line Producers are usually employed on a freelance basis. They must expect to work long hours, though the role can be financially very rewarding. Career advancement is based on their experience and reputation. Where a Line Producer has a creative input to the production, he or she is often credited as a Co-producer. Responsibilities Line Producers are in charge of all the business aspects of the physical production of films. They are called Line Producers because they cannot start work until they know what the line is between the above-the-line costs, which relate to writers, producers, directors and cast, and the below-the-line costs which include everything else, e.g., crew salaries, equipment rentals, development costs, locations, set design and construction, insurance, etc. Line Producers are usually recruited onto the production team during the later stages of development. They are given the script and asked to assess the likely below the line cost of the production which involves breaking down the screenplay into a schedule a timetable for the film shoot that shows how long it will take to shoot each scene. From this schedule the Line Producer can accurately estimate the cost of each days shooting, and produce a provisional budget estimating the total amount of funding required. Once the Producer and Exec utive Producers have raised the required finance, the film can go into pre-production. During pre-production, Line Producers work closely with the Director, Production Manager, First Assistant Director, Art Director and other Heads of Department to prepare the production schedule and budget, and to set the shoot date. Line Producers oversee all other pre-production activities, including hiring the production team, setting up the production office, location scouting, ensuring compliance with regulations and codes of practice, sourcing equipment and suppliers, selecting crew, engaging supporting artistes and contributors, and monitoring the progress of the art department and other production departments. During production, Line Producers hand over control of the final budget to the Production Accountant, and delegate the day-to-day operation of the production office to the Production Manager and Production Co-ordinator. However, Line Producers are ultimately responsible for overseeing all activities, and for ensuring that the production is completed on time and within budget. This requires setting up and implementing financial monitoring systems, controlling production expenditure, controlling production materials, and monitoring and controlling the progress of productions. Line Producers usually allow a 10% contingency in the budget to cater for unforeseen circumstances, and spend much of their time juggling figures and resources. Line Producers are responsible for certain Health and Safety procedures, and for sorting out any insurance claims. At the end of the shoot, the Line Producer oversees the wrap, or winding down, of the production. Assistant Production Co-ordinator The Assistant Production Co-ordinator acts as a general assistant to the Production Co-ordinator, performing duties relating to the preparation, distribution and filing of paperwork, both within the production office and on set. Assistant Production Co-ordinators are almost always self-employed, and must be prepared to work long hours, particularly during the final week of pre-production. Most UK films employ one Assistant Production Co-ordinator; however, larger productions may employ two or more. Responsibilities Assistant Production Co-ordinators work under the direct supervision of a Production Co-ordinator. Their duties vary according to the production phase, and the daily requirements of the production office. Responsibilities may be spread across a number of related areas, including: Â · Production Office setting up, maintaining and closing down the Production Office, for example, ordering furniture, equipment and supplies. Â · Travel Accommodation helping to co-ordinate travel, accommodation, work permits, visas, medical examinations and any immunisations for principal crew and cast to conform with insurance and foreign travel requirements. Â · General production duties including typing, filing, answering the telephone, and other related office duties. Â · Transportation helping to organise the pick-up and delivery of equipment and personnel by the Unit Drivers. Â · Production paperwork assisting the Production Co-ordinator to prepare and distribute shooting schedules, crew and cast lists, call sheets, production reports, movement orders, scripts and script revisions. Production Runner or Production Assistant Production Runners are the foot soldiers of the production team, performing small but important tasks in the office, around the set and on location. Their duties may involve anything from office administration to crowd control, and from public relations to cleaning up locations. Production Runners are usually employed on a freelance basis, are not very well paid, and their hours are long and irregular. However, the work is usually extremely varied and provides a good entry-level role into the film industry. What is the job? Production Runners are deployed by the Producer and by other production staff, such as the Production Co-ordinator, to assist wherever they are needed on productions. Their responsibilities vary considerably depending on where Production Runners are assigned. In the Production Office duties typically include: assisting with answering telephones, filing paperwork and data entry, arranging lunches, dinners, and transportation reservations, photocopying, general office administration, and distributing production paperwork. On-set duties typically include: acting as a courier, helping to keep the set clean and tidy and distributing call sheets, Health and Safety notices, and other paperwork. On location shoots, Production Runners may also be required to help to co-ordinate the extras, and to perform crowd control duties, except where this work is dangerous, or performed by police officers or other official personnel. Co-producer A Co-producer is typically a Line Producer who has also performed a substantial portion of the creative producing function. Alternatively, they may be the lead Producer from another production company that is co-producing the film, or a partner or corporate officer from the production entity producing the film. In rare cases, a Co-producer may also be the person who optioned, developed or packaged the project. In all instances, Co-producers are subordinate to the Producer. Occasionally, the title Co-producer is accorded to a producer who finds, options, develops, or packages the project, but does not own the rights, and who plays a less significant role in the physical production of the film. For example, Co-producers may be relatively new Producers who need to work with a more senior Producer in order to package, finance and deliver the finished film. It should be noted that if a project has more than one Producer, it does not mean that these individuals are Co-producers in the tech nical sense of the term. Responsibilities Co-producers responsibilities vary enormously depending on which type of Co-producer they are. However, they always have less responsibility than the Producer for the completion of the film. Â · Where the Co-producer is also the Line Producer, he or she is responsible for all the business and logistical aspects during the main phase of film production. The key difference between this type of Co-producer and the Line Producer is that he or she also performs a significant part of the creative producing function, whether it be helping with casting, recruiting the Director, or hiring other key Heads of Department. Â · Where the Co-producer is a partner or corporate officer of the production entity producing the film, he or she plays a key role in the development of the film project, assists with the physical production, or supervises post-production to enable the Producer to move on to another production. Â · Where the Co-producer is the lead Producer from another production entity that is producing the film as part of an international co-production, he or she will usually raise a significant portion of the budget for the film, but have less creative input than the lead Producer. In some cases Co-producers choose to be credited as Co-producer rather than as Executive Producer, in order to indicate that they played an important part in the physical production of the film.

A Family in Turmoil in Today Will Be A Quiet Day :: Today Will Be a Quiet Day Essays

A Family in Turmoil in Today Will Be A Quiet Day  Ã‚     Ã‚   In Amy Hempel’s story, "Today Will Be A Quiet Day," a father takes the day off to spend time with his two children at a place called "Petaluma." The title suggests that this day was one of calmness and relaxation, but in reality the title should be " A Family in Turmoil." Throughout the trip, the children argue, complain, and bicker which seems to suggest that the day is rather depressing and quite humbling for the father (Baker 170). The father’s good intentions for quality family time failed. When I first read the story, I felt that their relationships were a little detached and never quite came together. Suffering from the death of a close friend, the boy tries to ignore his feelings and jokes on his sister. His friend was a mental patient who threw himself off a building. Being really young and unable to cope with this tragedy, the boy jokes to his sister about the bridge collapsing. "The mention of the suicide and of the bridge collapsing set a depressing tone for the rest of the story" (Baker 170). Arguments about Raisinettes force the father to settle it by saying, "you will both spoil your lunch." As their day continues, their arguments become more serious and present concern for the father who is trying to understand his children better. In complete agreement with Justin Oeltzes’ paper, "A Sad Story," I also feel that this dark foreshadowing of time to come is an indication of the author’s direct intention to write a sad story. At lunch the children are rowdy and need to be calmed down. The father says, "Maybe we could try a little quiet today." The girl replies, "You sound like your tombstone. Remember what you wanted it to say?" Her brother joins in by saying, "Today will be a quiet day. Because it never is around us." (Hempel 1204). Shortly after completing their meal, the girl asks about her dog. "Did anyone remember to feed him?" she asks (Hempel 1205). The boy again brings death into the picture by saying that he forgot to feed the dog and then proceeds to remind her about her previous dog. She was told the dog was taken to a sheep farm where, in reality, the dog was put to sleep. Naturally, the girl began to cry.

State of War :: essays research papers

Our Current State Of War   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A â€Å"State of War† is a period when two nations, parties, or even individuals are in open and armed conflict with each other. But how does this come about, and how would John Locke and President George W. Bush feel about how it is that a state of war originates? What actions must take place for war to exist? Is there a period of time that must be spent deliberating the possibility of entering into a state of war to determine its necessity? Is there even a choice in the mater, or is it born in all of human kind as a sort of character trait, which must at times be expressed. If a state of war is inevitable, should the support of others be established, and at what moment in this conflict does it become apparent that a state of war has just been entered into? Is this idea of â€Å"State of War† similar or different when comparing the writing of John Locke, with the actions of President Bush? To understand how it is that a state of war comes about we must know what it is. John Locke defines a state of war saying, â€Å"I should have a right to destroy that which threatens me with destruction†¦and one may destroy a man who makes war upon him.† (Ch 3 sec. 16, â€Å"Two Treatises of Government†) This gives a reasonable idea about what war is, when it is necessary to enter into a state of war, and how it is that it can be entered into. Locke is saying that war is a response to a threat. A threat can be a physical attack, or a verbal declaration to harm. The attack, or evidence of intent to harm is then reason enough for a state or war to be declared. With this understood and given the current state of war between Iraq and the United States can it be said, based on Locke’s statement, that George W. Bush had reason enough to enter into a state of war with Iraq? In a speech made to the American Enterprise Institute President Bush said, â€Å"In Iraq a dictator is building and hiding weapons that could enable him to dominate the Middle East and intimidate the civilized world – and we will not allow it.† The development of these weapons could be interpreted as a threat, and a threat against the civilized world would justify an interest in a state of war.

Essay about Curley’s wife -- English Literature

Essay about Curley’s wife Curley’s wife is the only female character in the novel Of Mice of Men; Curley’s wife is never given a name and is only referred to in reference to her husband. Like the other people on the ranch, she is very lonely and has dreams of a better life which never come true. The author John Steinbeck introduces Curley’s wife in a symbolic ness way, this is shown when George is talking to Lennie about the dream and when Curley’s wife first meets both the men. â€Å"Both men glanced up, for the rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off. A girl was standing there looking in.† The symbolic ness of the word sunshine is hope, freedom, happiness and dreams. This foreshadows that she may cause trouble or come in the way and could ruin it all for Lennie and George. Steinbeck also describes her as a ‘girl’, which tells us that she is very playful, childish and vulnerable. Curley’s wife is trying to make her self attractive by applying make up and dressing up as if she was going to a party. This is clear shown as Steinbeck describes her â€Å"She had full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes† This suggests she is trying to be provocative and incongruous. Curley’s wife also wears red, red gives the symbolic ness of danger and seductiveness. Curley’s wife is described â€Å"Heavily made up. Her fingernails were red. Her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages. She wore a cotton house dress and red mules, on the insteps of which were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers.† Again the red on her fingernails and the red mules are symbolic to danger. Steinbeck is again suggesting that women are trouble makers who ruin everything for the men. Curley’s wife is in a ranch and she dresses up as if... ...alk.† Steinbeck is clearly suggesting that not a single person would trust each other on the ranch. The presentation of Curley’s wife’s death was astonishing due to the way Steinbeck described her after the death. Steinbeck is suggesting that she was under pressure, trying to gain attention and she was mean. Steinbeck described her as she was â€Å"the meanness and the planning’s and the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face. She was very pretty and simple, and her face was sweet and young† This suggest that she was under pressure all the time but when she died everything was just normal. It also suggests that the entire ache for attention was just gone and a simple beautiful woman was lying dead. Overall Steinbeck is suggesting that all the characters are cruel because they’re powerless and they all want to exercise their power.

Humans & Errors Essay

Humans, by nature, are prone to errors. Most likely, its creation is close to errors as well. Since software is one of the many unique things man has made, it also has a high probability to fall into errors. Accordingly, the software that is used to write a Java programming language may contain errors, too. Programmers saw this problem, thus, created an error-handling system that could look in to the world of programming particularly the Java language and its runtime environment. The runtime errors found in Java are otherwise and collectively regarded as exceptions, and the procedure to uncover and deal with such errors is what we call exception handling (Cohn, Morgan, Morrison, Nygard, Joshi, & Trinko, 1996). This describes how closely runtime errors, exception, and exception handling are related to each other. Exception handling is a process. Its main purpose is to detect and take action to exceptions in the most trusted manner. Exception, on the other hand, is the term used as an alternative for errors. This is because exception stands for exceptional or abnormal forms that are not essentially considered errors. Since technology is growing so fast, exception handling becomes important in such a way that it is used as a tool to improve the management of errors as they grow together with technology. Exception handling is a standard approach to the growing number of errors. Precisely, it is important in managing runtime errors because it has an innate characteristic to separate error-handling code from its functional program code. Apart from that, it provides a certain method of call stack wherein the method used to resolve a higher level of error can be used for lower ones. References Cohn, C. , Morgan, B. , Morrison, M. , Nygard, M. , Joshi D. , and Trinko T. (1996). Java Developer’s Reference. Indianapolis: Sams. net Publishing