Supernatural Drama Media Essay Essay Example for Free

Supernatural Drama Media Essay Essay Explore how far the Vampire Diaries/Being Human/Misfits DVD cover conforms to genre conventionsIn this essay, I will be analysing the DVD cover of the Vampire Diaries which is a television programme in the teen-supernatural hybrid drama genre. I will also be analysing the covers of Being Human and Misfits and I will compare and contrast them with the Vampire Diaries cover. The typical genre conventions of supernatural dramas are that there are supernatural beings such as ghosts. Werewolves and vampires, and ordinary setting, a trigger/event that leads to the creation of supernatural beings. Ordinary people becoming supernatural or finding out about supernatural beings, and the running theme which is good vs bad. On the front of the Vampire Diaries cover, the title is written in bold white writing. The red ribbon wrapped around the white writing could connote the red strangling the white, or rather the bad strangling the good. There is also a drop of blood that can be seen under the V. Blood is conventional of the vampire story. There is a girl in a red dress which could connote lust, blood, love and danger and she is lying in the middle of two men which could connote a love triangle. The bodies look lifeless but they are looking directly at the camera which could connote that they are the living dead. This contrasts to the drooping tree which looks like it has been drained of life which links to blood being drained. The logo on the Misfits cover is separated, and is tinged pink. The Being Human title is written in a plain, simple font. The Misfits title is the only one that uses an unconventional colour scheme. The Vampire Diaries follows the life of Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) who falls for a century old vampire Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley). Their lives grow more complicated as Stefans vicious brother Damon (Ian Somerhalder) returns to town with a vendetta against his brother. The series is set in the fictional town of Mystic Falls, Virginia, a town charged with supernatural history. This cover is the only one that uses conventional colours and gothic themes and the other covers, especially Misfits subvert the genre conventions. The narrative of the Vampire Diaries is very conventional of a supernatural and a teen drama. The elements are there, especially when a love triangle is introduced into the plot. Misfits is a British science-fiction drama television series based on a group of young offenders who obtain supernatural powers after a strange electric storm. The plots of Misfits and Being Human  follow a majority of the genre conventions, but some parts of the narrative completely subvert them. For instance, there is a lightning storm that leads the characters gaining supernatural powers, but they are a group of young offenders and they wouldnt usually be the kind of people to gain powers. On the back cover, there are profile images of each character which are comic-book like, which links with the idea of superheroes which is iconic, but the characters subvert the conventions of superheroes. There is a different colour behind each character which again suggest they are a team of superheroes. In Being Human all three supernatural characters share a flat together in Bristol. The darkness surrounding the characters with some light suggest they are fighting against something evil that is almost taking them in. The messy house suggests chaos and along with the simple font and location suggest the simple they want is not possible. Both programmes would be very ordinary if there was no supernatural element to it. The Vampire Diaires appeals to teenagers, as the characters in it are attractive and are supposed to be around the ages of 17 and onwards. The drama part of the series also deals with some of the social problems and worries teenagers face today. Misfits subverts genre conventions and appeals to its target audience as it contains things like sex, drugs, mystery and action which are endearing to people in this age range and uses the kind of language they would also use which makes the characters seem more realistic. All three programmes have a website where views can interact with each other and can be more involved and learn and watch more about what happens behind the scenes of the shows. The Vampire Diaries is the programme that fully follows the conventions of supernatural drama. The running theme of good vs bad, the colours used and gothic themes. There are lots of different types of supernatural beings involved. The convention of a small historic town is also used. Misfits and Being Human also subvert some of the conventions of supernatural genre. They have ordinary settings but although the narrative revolves around supernatural beings the background of it is quite normal.

The Ugly World of Competitive Figure Skating :: Exploratory Essays

The Ugly World of Competitive Figure Skating For every Olympic games, there always seems to be some type of scandal or drama. The 2002 Winter Olympic games in Salt Lake City proved itself to be full of this excitement and controversy. That year the scandal appeared in one of the most popular events, figure skating. The competition was between the Russian and Canadian figure skating pairs. The Russians showed a performance full of technical difficulty without pulling it off completely. Their performance was marred by simple mistakes. On the other hand, the Canadian pair performed a piece full of emotion, and while not as technically difficult as the Russians, more thorough and precise in their landings and jumps. After their performance the audience and the television commentators all believed they were the gold medallists. However after their score went up, they were sorely put in second place. As it turns out a French judge exchanged votes with a Russian judge so that the Russians would win the event. Since this happened, it h as opened up the doors to the world of figure skating and informed the public of its corruptness. What people need to notice is that judges exchanging votes is only one part of the problem and how well a person actually performs the techniques on the ice is only one part of the judging. In an article published in Newsweek right after the scandal was exposed the author states, "For ages figure skating has attracted ridicule for letting a competitor's nationality, make-up, costume, and choice of music seem to count as much as the athleticism and grace." (Begley 40) As it stands now in 2010, it looks as though no one has learned a lesson from this event or article. Judges who make deals before competitions and get caught do not suffer any harsh consequences. They continue to practice unsportsmanlike conduct while judging. In my movie (as yet to be titled) I hope to address not only the fact that judges make deals ahead of time, but that certain skaters are discriminated by their race a nd sexuality as well as for arbitrary reasons. The movie will be set in the United States, most likely in Connecticut, a common place for skaters to train. The main character, Kris is working on making it up the ladder of the amateur skating circuit. She comes from a lower middle class family that cannot support her hobby of skating.

Bernie Ebbers and Scott Sullivan

What power bases did Bernie Ebbers and Scott Sullivan rely on to get away with accounting fraud? The power bases are legitimate power, reward power, coercive power, expert power, referent power. Case Study Bernie Ebbers built WorldCom Inc into one of the largest telecommunication firms. Yet he and CFO Scott Sullivan have become better known for creating a massive corporate accouting fraud that led to the largest bankruptcy in US history. Two investigative reports and subsequent court cases concluded that WorldCom executoves were responsible for billions in fraudulent or unsupported accouting entries.How did this mammoth accouting scandal occur without anyone raising the alarm? Evidence suggests that Ebbers and Sullivan help considerable power and influence that prevented accouting staff from complaining, or even knowing, about the fraud. Ebber's inner circle held tight control over the flow of all financial information. The geographically dispersed accouting groups were discouraged f rom sharing information. Ebber's group also restricted distribution of company – level financial reports and prevented sensitive reports from being prepared at all.Accountants didn't even have access to the computer files in which some of the largest fraudulent entries were mde. As a result, employees had to rely on Ebber's executive team to justify the accounting entries that were requested. Another reason why employeees complied with questionable accoutong practices was that CFO Scott Sullivan wielded immense personal power. He was considered a "whiz kid" with impeccable integrity who had won the prestigious "CFO Excellence Award. quot; Thus, when Sullivan's office asked staff to make questionable entries, some accountants assumed Sullivan had found an innovative and legal accouunting loophole. If Sullivan's influence didn't work, other executives took a more coercive approach. Employees cited incidents where they were publicly berated for questioning headqua rters decisions and intimidated if they asked for more information. When one employer at a branch refused to alter an accouting entry , WorldCom's contoller threatened to fly in from WorldCom's Mississippi headquarters to make the change himself.The employ changed the entry. Ebber's has similar influence over WorldCom's board of directors. Sources indicate that his personal charisma and intolerance of dissention produced a passive board that rubber-stamped most of his recommendations. As one report concluded: ;The Board of Directord appears to have embraced suggestions by Mr. Ebbers without question or dissent, even under circumstances where its members now readily acknowledge they had significant misgivings regarding his recommendedd couse of action. ;

Essay about Criminal Law and The War on Drugs - 1701 Words

Criminal Law and The War on Drugs These records of wars, intrigues, factions, and revolutions, are so many collections of experiments, by which the politician or moral philosopher fixes the principles of his science, in the same manner as the physician or natural philosopher becomes acquainted with the nature of plants, minerals, and other external objects, by the experiments which he forms concerning them. (David Hume.)2 Our long armed and hairy ancestors had no idea of redress beyond vengeance, or of justice beyond mere individual reprisal.3 To determine what constitutes criminal law, is, as one learned judge has opined, a work of art, it is something that may be easier to recognize than define ...4†¦show more content†¦That effect may be in relation to social, economic or political interests; and the legislature has had in mind to suppress the evil or to safeguard the interest threatened.8 And further, it cannot be neither a static catalogue of offences nor order of sanctions. The evolving and transforming types and patterns of social and economic activities are constantly calling for new penal controls and limitations and that new modes of enforcement and punishment adapted to the changing conditions are not to be taken as being equally within the ambit of parliamentary power is, in my opinion, not seriously arguable.9 In the relatively recent case of RJR - Macdonald v. Canada (1995), the Supreme Court of Canada, it was determined that the exercise of the power to make an act a criminal one, a test is to be applied; one of substance, not form.10 To be fully fledged criminal law, the act prohibited must pose a significant, grave and serious risk of harm to public health, morality, safety or security ... And, so, how does this established judicial view apply to the business of keeping in check those substances which may prove to be harmful to the individuals who misuse them? As to the nature of the various illegitimate drugs and their effect on human beings -- well, I shall have to leave that to the medical doctors; but, I just simply wonder, what is so wrong withShow MoreRelatedThe War On Drugs And The United States1063 Words   |  5 PagesThe War on Drugs has become an epidemic today afflicting United States and the United Nations; which are swayed by global drug laws which preserve the criminal justice system. These new laws promote an ineffective policies on the war on drug. Therefore, communities are locked while the promotion of illicit drugs becomes the dominate framework to organized crimes. Today, the war on drugs continues to be an ongoing battle within our society. This paper will examine these issues focusing primarily onRead MoreThe War On Drugs And The United States1063 Words   |  5 PagesThe War on Drugs has become an epidemic today afflicting United States and the United Nations; which are swayed by global drug laws which preserve th e criminal justice system. These new laws promote an ineffective policy on the war on drug. Therefore, communities are locked while the promotion of illicit drugs becomes the dominate framework to organized crimes. Today, the war on drugs continues to be an ongoing battle within our society. This paper will examine these issues focusing primarily onRead MoreEssay on The Failure of the War on Drugs1025 Words   |  5 Pagespolicymakers and law enforcement officials stepped up efforts to combat the trafficking and use of illicit drugs. 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Another myth is that the War on Drugs is mainlyRead MoreThe War on Drugs Essay1507 Words   |  7 PagesDespite an estimated $1 trillion spent by the United States on the â€Å"War on Drugs†, statistics from the US Department of Justice (2010) has confirmed that the usage of drugs has not changed over the past 10 years. Approximately $350 billion is spent per year on the â€Å"war on drugs†, only $7 billion is spent on prevention programs by the federal government. The war on drugs is more heavily focused on how to fight crime, instead of how to prevent it. Crime prevention methods may not be immediate, butRead MoreThe War On Drugs And Drugs1486 Words   |  6 PagesThe War on Drugs Despite an estimated $1 trillion spent by the United States on the â€Å"War on Drugs†, statistics from the US Department of Justice (2010) has confirmed that the usage of drugs has not changed over the past 10 years. Approximately $350 billion is spent per year on the â€Å"war on drugs†, only $7 billion is spent on prevention programs by the federal government. The war on drugs is more heavily focused on how to control crime, instead of how to prevent it. Not only is the war on drugs costlyRead MoreLaw Enforcement : The United States Essay1595 Words   |  7 PagesWe the People Law enforcement was designed in the early 1800’s by a man named Robert Peal, which is why cops are sometimes referred to as Bobbies in England; designing an organization of law enforcement that would protect people from harming other people (Christ). This was the model that we based our western law enforcement agencies on, until prohibition became a federal task in the 1920’s. This is when the federal government decided to take up the task of protecting people from themselves. FastRead MoreMichelle Alexander Mass Incarceration1601 Words   |  7 PagesMichelle Alexander  who was born in 1968 is an associate professor of law at  Ohio State University also a civil rights  advocate and a writer. She is a highly acclaimed civil rights lawyer, advocate, and legal scholar. In recent years, she has taught at a number of universities, including Stanford Law School, where she was an associate professor of law and directed the Civil Rights Clinics. Alexander published the book  The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. In it, she arguesRead MoreThe New Jim Crow1697 Words   |  7 Pagesconvictions for drug offenses. Today there are half a million in prison or jail due to a drug offense, while in 1980 there were only 41,100. They have tripled since 1980. The war on drugs has contributed the most to the systematic mass incarceration of people of color, most of them African-Americans. 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