Writing Style 1: Draft 1

WITH COMPETITORS SUCH AS DREAMWORKS AND PIXAR, DOES THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY USE SUBLIMINAL MESSAGES AND SEXUAL STRATEGIES TO INCREASE RATINGS AND CONFORM WITH THE IDEA THAT SEX SELLS IN MOVIES?

The Walt Disney Company, founded in 1923 by brothers, Walt and Roy Disney, began as an animation studio and has since become one of the largest media conglomerates in the world. Due to the animated, fairytale nature of Disney films, the largest and most significant audience comprises of young children and families. There has been a lot of controversy about sexual innuendos and "hidden messages" in many of the movies and it is arguable that a lot of Disney's success comes with the company conforming to the idea that sex sells in the movie industry. Others may say however, that these "hidden messages" are purely products of the power of suggestion or people reading too deeply in to them.

An example of a suggested sexual reference is in, "The Lion King", just over half way into the film, when Pumba, Simba and Timone are lying on their backs looking up at the stars. Dust rolls and forms in a cloud which appears to spell out the letters "S-E-X" (see image below, left). According to: http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/lionking.asp it was infact a 4 year old boy who made the discovery and whose parents then reported this to the American Life League. Having researched the American Life League, it became apparant that this was not the only encounter they had had with Disney movies and had infact had many of their groups boycott Disney for various reasons, mainly in regards to religion. Although some may say that the appearance of the word "sex" in "The Lion King" may not have been intentional, it is both arguable and concerning for parents that if one 4 year old child can pick it out, any other young child could just as easily do so.

Another example is found in Aladdin. When Aladdin visits Jasmine at her castle, he is met by herguard tiger, Rajah and they 'wrestle' on the balcony. In a lightly sounded audio, you can clearly hear the words 'Come on, take off all your clothes'. The original audio was supposed to be 'Come on, good kitty', but the other version made it into the film. It has since been removed and replaced with, "Come on, down kitty'. Disney has stated that it is something that might have accidentally been grafted onto the soundtrack.

Having read various articles and forums on the topic of subliminal messages in Disney movies, I began to think that people were just reading far too deeply into things, however, having then completed a search on http://www.youtube.com/. I came to the conclusion that there were far to many appearances of sexual references for it to be conincidence. So we are left with the underlying questions, many of which may never be answered, but rely on personal judgement: If Disney have conciously included these subliminal messages in their children's and family movies, risking the scrutiny and consequent controversy, why have they? Or, are bored animators trying to see how much they can get away with? If indeed it is the case that Disney are purposefully including these innuendos perhaps it is for the benefit of the adult viewer so that they can enjoy the viewing from a different persepective, without their children and juveniles recognising the subliminal messages and images. It could be that Disney has indeed conformed to the idea that sex in movies sells and that they believe that by including sexual references, the apparant children's films appeal to a wider audience.

In my opinion, these are films aimed at a young audience and such sexual references as the ones I have mentioned and the others which have been pointed out in various youtube videos and internet articles, such not be mixed in to a childrens film, regardless of how subtle they may be. The instance of the 4 year old child pointing out the word "sex" in "The Lion King" highlights that no matter what the age of the viewer, the subliminal messages are there for all to see, whether looking purposefully for them or not.

Below is a video which highlights a number of subliminal messages found in Disney's, "The Lion King":

Bibliography:

Associated Press (January 1999). "Disney Recalls 'The Rescuers' Video."

http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/tcom/faculty/ha/tcom103fall2003/gp13/gp13.pdf (accessed 27th Dec 2009)

Barbara and David P. Mikkelson; Urban Ledgends Refernce Pages 1995-2009: http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/lionking.asp

(accessed 27th Dec 2009)

Copeland, Donny. (March 31, 2003). Discovering the Dirt behind Disney Movies. Available online: www.westhillweb.com/thewestword/documentsmarch03/discovering%20the%20dirt.limelight.html

(accessed 28th Dec 2009)

Various Authors; Student Room Forum, various dates: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=837123

(accessed 27th Dec 2009)

A COMMENT FOR GRACE HOY ON HER ACADEMIC WRITING STYLE

I, like Michelle, am having difficulty leaving comments on your blog so I have left some feedback for you in this post:

Hi Grace,Really enjoyed reading this and it has given me a much better understanding of the task as a whole. You have made it really clear that you are writing in academic style and have included a good number of interesting references. As far as I'm aware it doesnt make a difference whether you include the references in the text as you have done, or add them at the end in a bibliography. Upon reading, I didnt find any of the piece irrelevant or boring so I would say it is completely left with you which parts you cut out but maybe, as Nancy says, cut a few of the quotes rather than your own work.Hope you had a lovely christmas and have a happy new year.Sarah x

I LOVE THIS!

A LINK THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST TO SOME OF YOU

YMCA Fit may be of interest to anyone wishing to teach various fitness classes such as Aerobics or Pilates. The secondary school, which I currently work at, have been recommending the studio instructor and exercise to music courses to pupils over the age of 16 and this triggered me to consider some of their courses myself as a lot of dance, fitness and aerobics is taught here. They also offer courses of Kids Street dance and fitness games which may be of interest to anyone wishing to teach Primary aged children. The courses are quite expensive, however, there is a link on the website for information on funding available. I hope this helps some of you!

A QUESTION ABOUT THE WRITING TASKS

Please could someone help me!?

Do all of the writing tasks have to be based on the same subject? If so, does anyone have any ideas of what to write about that will conincide with the different tasks/writing styles?

Hope someone can help!

WRITING STYLES

As I was unable to attend the last campus session in which writing styles and the next tasks were discussed I have done some of my own research on the varyting styles and formats for writing. It has also been helpful for me to read from other peoples' blogs, so thank you guys!

Here is some of the information I found:

DESCRIPTIVE WRITING:
Descriptive writing vividly portrays a person, place, or thing in such a way that the reader can visualize the topic and enter into the writer’s experience.

The general characteristics of descriptive writing include:
elaborate use of sensory language
rich, vivid, and lively detail
figurative language such as simile, hyperbole, metaphor, symbolism and personification
showing, rather than telling through the use of active verbs and precise modifiers.

ANALYTICAL WRITING:
Analytical writing is a way to get technical information across, so that your readers immediately find out what's important and why -- without getting bogged down in a swamp of details and technical jargon. Analytical writing is simple, direct, concise, and to-the-point. It leaves out gobbledygook and avoids the stilted, impersonal style that clutters journal pages and clogs the machinery of government, corporations, and academia.

REFLECTIVE WRITING:
Introduction - reflection and reflective writing
Reflection lies somewhere around the notion of learning and thinking. We reflect in order to learn something, or we learn as a result of reflecting.
Reflective writing is the expression on paper/screen of some of the mental processes of reflection. Other forms of expressing reflection are in speech, in film, in graphic portrayal, music etc. The expression of reflection is not, however, a direct mirror of what happens in the head. It is a representation of that process within the chosen medium and reflection represented in writing, for example, will be different to that encompassed in a drawing. In other words, in making a representation of reflection, we shape and model the content of our reflection according to many influences. Factors that could shape your reflection into reflective writing might include:
the reason why you are writing reflectively (personal reasons – e.g. in a diary or for academic purposes etc)
whether others are going to see what you have written and who they are (e.g. no-one else; a tutor who will mark it; a tutor who will not mark it, friends etc.);
your emotional state at the time of writing, and emotional reaction to what you are writing (e.g. - a disturbing event that you do not want to think about or something you did well and want to enjoy in the rethinking process);
related to the above, how safe you feel about the material and anyone seeing it;
what you know about reflective writing and how able you are to engage in it.

SOME GOOD NEWS

The first bit of positive news is that I've now joined the blackberry phenomenon so I can access my blogger anytime, anywhere!...

But more importantly, tomorrow I start a full time assistant teaching job at a large secondary school, teaching english and PE! Another significant step up the ladder! All those hours of having my head stuck in applications has finally paid off! :)

KOLBS LEARNING CYCLE

KOLBS LEARNING CYCLE

Kolb’s cycle of learning suggests that there are four stages which follow on from each other and repeat in a cycle: Concrete Experience is followed by Reflection on that experience on a personal basis. This may then be followed by the derivation of general rules describing the experience, or the application of known theories to it (Abstract Conceptualisation), and hence to the construction of ways of modifying the next occurrence of the experience (Active Experimentation), leading in turn to the next Concrete Experience. All this may happen in a flash, or over days, weeks or months, depending on the topic, and there may be a "wheels within wheels" process at the same time.

I believe that the principles of Kolb’s Cycle of learning are an important thing to think about as a professional. In order to achieve and move forward it is vital that we reflect on our actions, learn from our mistakes, solve any problems and try again. In my opinion professional reflectivity is essential in becoming the best that you can be in your given profession.

Working as a teaching assistant in a secondary school, I come across many problems, major and minor on a day to day basis in regards to behavioural issues, learning difficulties and so on. This gives me the opportunity to gain considerable concrete experience. The school, Sir Thomas Boughey High School, has strict sanctions for ill behaved pupils, and a good reputation for discipline to enable children to achieve the best success for themselves as individuals. I, as a member of staff, am expected to uphold this reputation.

An example of concrete experience:
One day I was leading a dance class for a group of approximately thirty year 8, lower band children. Although I was being supervised by a qualified P.E teacher, I was pretty much left to my own devices and due to staff shortage I was, if you like, “thrown in at the deep end”. I found that being such a large group, with a number of disruptive children in the class, the noise levels were raising to a difficult level and most of the children were not paying attention to the instructions which I was giving to them. Excited at the prospect of doing street dance they were messing around and making silly and disruptive actions. They had already learnt the main section of the dance with another teacher and the next section was to be 32 counts choreographed themselves, in twos. I split them into groups of four for this session so that they had more people to share ideas with and gain ideas from and asked them to perform their work to the rest of the class at the end.

An example of reflection/observation:
Thinking about the lesson afterwards, I decided that the children did not gain all that they could have or were given the opportunity to gain from the session. Those that did want to learn new skills and put their ideas into practice were prevented from doing this by other disruptive members of their groups. Despite having explained instructions at the beginning of the lesson, when walking around the room to give guidance to the groups, many were not even sure what they were supposed to be doing because they hadn’t listened attentively to instructions provided. The work which was produced was very poor quality with the exception of one group which did work exceptionally well together, however some groups produced no work at all and had clearly spent their time arguing about ideas or messing about. I think part of the disruptive nature in the room was the fact that the pupils were used to being “spoon fed” and hadn’t ever really previously had the chance to come up with their own creative ideas. They seemed unable to be able to organise themselves due to always being organised by a teacher or leader.

An example of abstract conceptualisation:
I decided that I needed to think of a system to get the pupils to be quiet and attentive when I was giving instructions and help. A way to get them to be still would be to get them to sit down while I, as the session leader was talking. Whilst thinking about the problems of the previous lesson, I also came up with the idea of using one single word which would mean for them to sit down and be quiet as it was time to listen to instructions. Using one single word would grab their attention more than dictating a long sentence or phrase.
An example of active experiment:
A couple of days later, I took the same group again, this time splitting them into groups of two to produce their final 32 counts of choreography. At the start of the lesson I explained my new system to them, asking them to sit down on the floor in silence when I shout “Stop”, to listen for instructions, telling them that anyone who didn’t do this quietly and sensibly would do 10 press-ups in front of the rest of the class. I tried this at various points in the lesson to give guidance to the pupils and to get them back on task if I felt they were loosing concentration and although there were a few children still not behaving appropriately, having watched them perform press-ups in front of the group, others did not allow themselves to be drawn into the bad behaviour and get distracted from what they were supposed to be doing. I also think that working in groups of two rather than four helped as they were more willing to share and try each others ideas, rather than all competing to get their ideas heard. Upon reflection of this active experiment, the new system was successful and created a much more effective learning environment and I will be using this again in future physical activity sessions.

WORK AND PEOPLE THAT I ADMIRE

ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER
I first saw the work of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater whist training at Sadlers Wells Theatre, where i saw there performance of "Revelations". Alvin Ailey is not just a company but also has its own school in New York, "The Ailey School" which currently provides 86% of graduates to the Ailey company.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater was founded in 1958 when Ailey himself accompanied by a group of black dancers performed for the first time at New York's 92nd Street YM-YWHA.

"When Mr. Ailey began creating dance, he drew upon his "blood memories" of Texas, the blues, spirituals and gospel as inspiration, which resulted in the creation of his most popular and critically acclaimed work-Revelations."

Being an admirere of gospel music and the blues myself, I found "Revelations" inspiring and was prompted to choreograph my own piece for my A Level Dance project in a similar inspired style.

Below is a video clip of Ailey's "Revelations":

WORK AND PEOPLE THAT I ADMIRE

AKRAM KHAN- ZERO DEGREES
I first saw this piece whilst training in 2007 at Sadlers Wells theatre and instantly felt drawn to it. Here is a video clip of the piece:




Akram Kahn is renowned for developing his own "contemporary Kathak" style and has won numerous awards including a Time Out, Critics Circle and Southbank Show Award. In "Zero Degree", Akram Khan combines his own unique style with that of Moroccan- Flemish, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. "Zero Degrees" explores a theme of borders such as those between countries and cultures and more significantly, those between life and death. The story of the piece is recounted by two dancers in three spoken episondes, of their uncomfortable experience during the transition through an Indian border. The tell us of the panic of a lost passport, and the eventual discovery of a corpse sharing their train journey.

The piece begins with an open curtain, showing a simplistic set of white with only one wing upstage of each side. Also positioned either side are two remarkably lifelike, white, male figures, contributed by sculptor, Anthony Gormley. They could be the visual aid of the dead corpse and help to portray the contrast between life and death. Similarly this could be interpreted that the bodies represent how losing a passport could lead to the eventual loss of identity in foreign countries. These figures are befriended, mocked and even assaulted by the dancers throughout the piece. The icy whiteness of the stage and props create a very cold atmosphere, despite the story being about the passing of borders in hot climate countries, therefore creating a contrast between the visual environment and the plot and showing not the climate of the country but the cold harsh reality of the experiences there. These colour tones also relate to the title of the piece. The lighting, by Mikki Kunntu, mirrors this cool feeling using clear, white, or grey tones. Shadows are created giving the impression that there are more people on stage than there actually are and these shadows vary in shape and size, showing the influence and power that people can have over others or the fear of those vulnerable.

The music is written by Mercury Award winning composer, Nitin Sawhney. The score has traditional Bangladeshi and Indian infliences and is played by four musicians situated behind a gauze upstage. They cannot be seen all the way through the piece and are highlighted by spotlights at certain prominent moments.

The piece begins with Khan and Cherkaoui sitting cross-legged in central downstage, narrating the story behind the lost passport in perfect unity of voice and hand gesture which then leads to a hand and arm duet, blending the ethnic origins of both artists. They are wearing simple costume of plain coloured trousers and a t-shirt which could be worn on a visit to a hot country. Cherkaoui's "rubber-boned flexibility" is presented in an intensley fluid solo in which he covers the whole stage keeping his head of shoulders in contact with the floor at all times using rolls, somersaults and balances. Meanwhile, Khan sits on the chest of one of the dummies examinig body parts such as the hands, and comparing them with his own, as if comparing the differences between people from varying cultures or backgrounds. Towards the end of Cherkaoui's solo he begins to slap hiself with the hand of one of the foam dummies and later begins to abuse it by kicking and slapping it. Khan reacts to this violent abuse my mirroring the dummy simultaneously, making the audience feel uncomfortable. At this point there is no musical accompaniment so the only sounds are that of body parts being harshly banged and slapped against the stage surface. This only emphasizes the violence of the actions.

Not only is the story line full of contrasts an borders which are mirrored by set, props and lighting but there is also a significant variation in the physique of the two dancers, Khan having a more muscular controlled body compared to that of the paler, thinner Cherkaoui.

At the climax of "Zero Degrees", Cherkaoui cradles a broken dummy, while Khan dances a lament, showing the effect of the loss of a loved one. He then begins to shake vigorously as if fitting, before becoming still and lifeless as the dummies. Following this, Cherkaoui picks Khan up and carries him offstage, while the musicians softly play into silence on an otherwise empty stage. This section shows the transition of life into death.

This piece inspired me for the way that such a strong choice of subject matter is portrayed in such a clever and unique way. It is visually movin and very sentimental.

PEOPLE I ADMIRE- Kirsty Voltz

I first met Kirsty during my training at Tring Park. She started the course a term late and so was automatically the "new girl". Despite getting off on a bad footing with each other, by the time I left the school with my Certificate in July of this year, I knew I had found one of those unbreakable lifelong bonds.

Kirsty's journey through her training at Tring Park was never easy, firstly having started late and missed all of the first terms going-back-to-basics and thrashing out of old bad habits. But also I got closer to Kirsty and our friendship began to develop, I became aware of her history of eating problems. This all came to a head in the summer of upper sixth when the girl whom which she lived with decided to inform the school just how serious the problem had gotten.

In mine, and many others' opinions, the matter was dealt with entirely the wrong way by the school and it became common knowledge to everyone that she was "the bullimic girl". She was pulled out of classes and into the principals office and as a consequence of all this, she shut herself off from everyone. Everyone except me.

Kirsty is now in her third and final year of training at Tring Park and currently auditioning for jobs. Its not been an easy road for her for various reasons but no matter how bad things ever get or how low she ever feels, Kirsty always provides a positive outlook. Even when the moral all around her has hit rock bottom she comes up fighting bringing everyone with her.

Kirsty has been a fellow student and is a lifelong friend for me and in my opinion her positivity and her determination are truly inspirational. She is a lesson that to me that every cloud has a silver lining and no matter how bad things sometimes may seem there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.

WORD CLOUD

A FEW OF MY PERSONAL INTERESTS..

FASHION
Fashion has always had a significant influence on me throughout my life. I believe that it is an expression of an individual’s personality. I have previously considered courses at London College of Fashion and other such institutions to pursue a career or even second career within the fashion industry and chose to do my high school work experience placement at a lingerie and nightwear design company.

MAKE UP
Make up, like fashion is another route that I have considered as a career or second career, and would like, at some point, to complete a media, film and TV makeup course.

MUSIC
People have often criticized me for my “weird” taste in music. However, I would rather describe it as a varied and diverse spectrum of musical interest. I do not have a certain “type” of music that I listen, but rather appreciate each individual pieces quality whether this is in a piece of minimalist music, a classical symphony or the latest chart show number one. Inspiration can be drawn from music and sound not only for dance work but I believe it also has a major influence in general life issues and tasks.

LITERATURE

Ever since a young girl I have taken a great interest in both reading novels, and writing my own stories or descriptive writing. I have both read and studied a variety of different fiction genres from many different time periods, thoroughly enjoying the ones which make you think and consider life from another perspective. I particularly enjoy the work of Alison Weir who prompts me to consider social, and political values from a historical point of view and compare the way of life then, to the way of life now and how it has changed.

MY TOP 5 RESOURCES

MY TOP 5 RESOURCES:

1. SPOTLIGHT CONTACTS BOOK: In my opinion this is any performers bible, containing contact details for casting agencies, dance companies, photographers, theatres etc.
2. The Stage: Performing Arts newspaper containing all of the latest industry news plus auditions and jobs listings (on stage, backstage, teaching, technical, in between jobs)
3. http://www.dancerspro.com/ for auditions and jobs listings
4. http://www.ndta.org.uk/ information and guidance on teaching dance
5. http://www.pineapple.uk.com/: class timetables and descriptions, forum containing ads for accommodation, photographers, auditions etc.

A FEW USEFUL RESOURCES

Star Now (auditions and castings)
Dancers Pro (auditions and castings)
Spotlight
Pineapple Studios (auditions and castings, class timetables)
ITDA (IDTA website)
BBO (BBO website)
RAD (RAD website)
ISTD (ISTD website)
NDTA (National Dance Teachers Association website)
Dalcroze Eurythmics (Dalcroze Eurythmics website)
Disney (Disney Auditions calendar)

A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT ME...

I recently graduated in July of this year from Tring Park School of Performing Arts (formerly Arts Educational School) with a National Certificate in Professional Dance, having trained at the school for two years from the age of 16. I also left the school with A Levels in English Literature, Film Studies and Dance and an AS Level in Classical Civilisation. My time at the shcool not only provided me with excellent training and skills in terms of performing arts but also essential life skills. In many ways my time at Tring Park has shaped me as a person and taught me an excessive amount about both myself and others around me.

Prior to commencing my full time training at Tring Park, I trained for 4 years on the Pre Senior Associate Course at Central School of Ballet, London and 1 year as a Senior Associate at Birmingham Royal Ballet. It was at Central School of Ballet where I first found the inspiration to teach. This inspiration came in the form of my Prep 1 teacher, Larissa Bamber. Her gentle teaching nature along with her obvious passion to spill her knowledge out to the aspiring dancers in her class was what initially made me consider following the path of teaching. I decided to ask the principal of my dance school at home in Staffordshire if I could commence observing classes and even assisting with the teaching, allowing me to look at dance classes from a teaching point of view and learn the necessary skills of a good teacher.

As my passion for teaching grew and I gained more experience I began teaching both groups of children, as well as private and 1 to 1 lessons. It became ever apparent to me that teaching was not just something that could be learnt but something that had to come from deep inside, a burning desire to share.

At the age of 16, having impressed my local coucil with my classical performance at the Staffordshire Annual Arts and Sports Award, I was offfered a position as an assistant dance teacher in a leisure centre, teaching street dance to three age groups of children between the ages of 3 and 13.

Whilst I was training at Tring Park I regularly travelled home to help out with preparing children at my local dance school for dance examinations and assist in choreographing and staging productions, as although I was enjoying my training and performing experience at the school, I felt my need to teach.

Since graduating from Tring Park I have moved back home to Stoke-on-Trent as I was unsure whether I wanted to perform or whether to develop the love I found for teaching and pursue a career in education. I decided to apply for the Work Based Learning BAPP course to enable me to eventually gain qualified teacher status and was recently asked by my local high school to teach extra curricular dance classes in a variety of styles after school. Being so impressed with my classes, the physical education teacher from the school has offered to contact other high schools and primary feeder schools in the area to recommend me. So hopefully this will lead on to great things in my chosen path.

DANCE DAY AT ENDON HIGH SCHOOL

I went to observe a creative day of dance at my previous high school last week before I commenced my own extra curricular classes there. The lady who taught the sessions was part of a group called "Afrocats" (www.afrocats.50seven.co.uk if any one is interested). The theme for the day was a multi cultural day of "Around the World" and she taught an African dance session, a carribbean dance session and a hip hop dance session. I thought this was a nice idea and the pupils (year 7) really seemed to enjoy it, especially the boys suprisingly! She discussed with them the big carnivals such as the Rio de Janiero carnival and taught a routine inspired by this. I have not come accross such dance troupes before and found it quite interesting.

Donyelle Jones- Contemporary Piece

I saw this video and really liked it so I thought I would share it with you all!

Can anyone help me?

Im trying to post videos from youtube, how do I do this?

WELCOME TO MY BLOG

Welcome to my blog.

I will do my best to make it as useful and interesting as possible, although I will admit that I am new to blogging so please bear with me!