Friday, February 28, 2014

English: Conversation: Short Films

28/02/2014
English: Conversation: Short Films
Teacher: Audrey Ross

We discussed about these movies:
1.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBhjDgmGrXg
Comedic story of an eccentric Tokyo convenience store worker whose obsession for neatness leads to a sudden change

Film Analysis - Short Film "Right Place"

This is a short film which I decided to look into as research for my psychoanalytical study, it concerns a  young man with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) working at a small supermarket. The film focuses on his condition as it renders him unable to leave anything out of place or unordered and shows various quick shots of him constantly checking and rearranging shelves, even if customers are in his way. This also leads him to follow a few customers rearranging the shelves as they go along, such as making sure every item is facing outwards and is a set distance apart from each other and appears tidy. This continues until he comes across a female shoplifter in which he grabs the item she was about to try and steal and places it back on the shelf and sets about in rearranging the shelf it's on, then when he turns to reprimand the woman he notices the woman has socks that are uneven so without even thinking he kneels down to straighten them out to make them both the same height. This event leads him to be slammed against a wall by his supervisor in which even as he is being yelled at he cannot stop himself from straightening his bosses glasses as they are slipping down his face, which ends in him being fired and forced to look for work elsewhere, and he ends up seeing an advert for a bonesetter at a museum which could actually make use of his obsessive tendencies.


The film focuses heavily on the characters obsession to keep things ordered and perfect, his obsessive drive to try and control his environment and keep it in order. This is shown constantly thought he quickly edited close up shots of the man rearranging shelves and items within the supermarket, and shots of his face reveal his annoyance when things are taken out of place and are not properly replaced. His obsessive drive also leads him to perform actions that would be considered socially abnormal such as him almost instinctively reaching down to adjust someones socks if they were uneven, and also even when he is being punished his obsession takes over his actions as he adjust his bosses glasses for him. The film also uses a non diegetic music soundtrack that seems very rhythmic and is timed well with the quick close ups while the character indulges in his obsession, although the music does seem clunky and doesn't really fit well with the setting of the film even though it does fit with the character as the music seems very ordered and repeats itself.


2.)


This is an English translation of the lirics:


To have a good start
Into this jolly new day
And to wake myself up
I have a coffee


An arabica
Black and spicy
I get on my parka
Now I'm ready to go


Where are you going
My loved one cries
"Let's have a kava, I just got up"
Being ahead of time
And a bit rushed
I change my mind and have another coffee


At 8:15
One has to admit
The offices are empty and you get easily bored


But I stay calm
I know how to adapt
Before they get there
I have time to drink another coffee


The day starts
Everybody can work at least until
It's time for a coffee break


My secretary comes in
"I have made it the way you like it"
Damn, just had one
But now that you've prepared some


A business dinner
Not far from the road
The weather's great but I'm a bit stressed out
My colleagues have a great time
"You're so cool René!"
"Have another cigar and a coffee"


Once we're finished
My collegues worn out
I call a taxi
But I would like to jump
I run all over Paris
Then I see a coffee bar
I order a decaf
But re-caffeined


I arrive at the office
My secretary reproaches me
"You're a bit late; I was starting to get worried!"
Oh! I throw her out the window
She was asking for it
Anyway, I got to go home
But first a coffee


Waiting for the subway
I get mobbed
A small old woman says to me
"Do you know what time it is?"


Hey, I hit her in the face and push her onto the platform
I rush home and I get myself a ... can you guess?!


"Daddy, daddy,
I'm the best student in my class!"


Honey, what's up!!
Now stop annoying me!!
How stupid this kid is!!
And now he's starting to cry!!
I lock myself up in the kitchen!!
There's still a bit of coffee!!


It's been a while that I've locked myself up
I'm all alone in my kittchen and I drink coffee
I had better sleep
The police are going to arrest me
So I hide under a bank and I have another coffee


Thursday, February 27, 2014

English: Watching a Futuristic Film

27/02/2014
English: Watching a Futuristic Film





Published on Aug 1, 2012
Sight, a brilliant and disturbing short sci-fi film by Eran May-raz and Daniel Lazo, imagines a world in which Google Glass-inspired apps are everywhere.
This is their graduation project from Bezaleal academy of arts.


A new film called Sight successfully tackles the subject of augmented reality, commenting on the potential impact of this rising technology.


In the short futuristic film by Eran May-raz and Daniel Lazo, we find out what it means to live in a virtual reality, where everything from the art hanging on the walls to the reactions of the date sitting across the table are displayed in a contact lens-like device for our own eyes only.


We are introduced to protagonist Patrick, as he lies prone on the floor of his nearly barren apartment, playing a game only he can see. Next, we follow him into the kitchen, where he scores points for uniformly chopping cucumber slices in a virtual-reality version of Fruit Ninja.


The seven-minute film eventually shows us just how complicated virtual reality can get, as we watch Patrick struggle to relate to his date, Daphne, in the real world. We're taken from a computer-enhanced environment of convenience to more complicated and murkier reality, showing us what it might be like if apps and cellphones weren't just handheld devices, but embedded into our minds, bodies and culture.





And this is not a fiction now:
This is a video:
And this is an article about it:
http://innovation.uk.msn.com/tomorrow/space-glasses-offer-a-next-gen-vision-of-the-future

English: Story Time

English: Story Time
In this class, we will narrate a story together! I will give the students the start of a story, and each student will have to continue the story bit by bit. You will be the author and along with others in the class, we will complete a short story! This will be tons of fun, so make sure you join!



Characters: 2 People, 1 Doctor, 1 young helper (nurse)
Person 1: A pregnant woman (Maria)
Person 2: Maria Husband (Anthony)
Doctor: Dr. Who
Nurse: Peter


Location: Verbling Hospital


Time Period:  Present Day (2014) - Morning time


Plot (Storyline): Maria wants to have plastic surgery. Anthony doesn’t know about it. Dr. Who and Maria make a secret appointment to give Maria a facelift (cosmetic surgery). During the surgery, Anthony comes in and he is very angry.


Title: A Scary Surgery



Once upon a time...Maria was watching TV and she saw something interesting on TV. It an was advertisement about plastic surgery. After she watched the advertisement, she contacted the doctor in Verbling Hospital to make an appointment. She asked herself “Why did my husband say earlier that he loved me very much, but this time he only said that he loves me?”


Maria knew the doctor at Verbling Hospital from a class she had taken on Verbling earlier. She and Dr. Who had a good working relationship. She called up Dr. Who’s office and decided to make an appointment with him:


Maria: “Hello, I want to meet with Dr. Who if he is free.”


Peter: “Yes Maria. Why do you need to talk with Dr. Who?”


Maria: “I want to get a facelift.”


Peter: “ I wouldn’t recommend you get a facelift because in a previous case our patient lost his face.”


Maria: “Oh! I’m surprised to hear your recommendation because just this week I saw an advertisement that Dr. Who was an expert at facelift surgeries. So can you give me an appointment to meet with him directly because I really want to tell him about my concerns, please?”


Peter: “Okay, Dr. Who is free on Friday at 9:00am.”


Maria: “Yes, that’s good for me. Please do not call my house and tell anyone of my appointment, especially my husband.”
Peter: “Yes, your secret is safe with us.”


Chapter 2


Maria tells Anthony that she is going to her mom’s place. Anthony is a suspicious person and he had been checking Maria’s calls. When he heard about the secret appointment, he was very upset.


When Maria felt that her husband found out about her secret facelift appointment, she came back home and spoke to Anthony. She explained her reason for making the secret appointment. She said she didn’t want to tell her husband because she did not feel beautiful and that Anthony did not love her anymore, not like before.


Anthony accepted her explanation and he let her go to finalize the expenses for the surgery, without contributing his own money.  


Chapter 3


Maria is sitting in the waiting room at the hospital. She looks excited, and doesn’t look nervous. Meanwhile, Anthony is at home and getting angrier by the minute. He takes his gun and starts driving towards the hospital, and yelling at himself for letting his wife go.


It was a wonderful, sunny day for a tragic story.


Anthony meets Peter at the hospital and he angrily asks Peter “Did you advice my wife to get a facelift?!”


Peter says “Mr. Anthony, we didn’t give her any advice about getting a facelift. She came to us voluntarily because she believed what she saw about Dr. Who was that he is capable of doing a life-changing surgery on her.”


Anthony got angry and started a fight in the hospital. At this moment, Maria came in and wanted Anthony to stop fighting. Maria approached Anthony and reminded him that this surgery was for herself and special for Anthony so that she can maintain her beauty.


Anthony replies “I love you very much, Maria. Come home with me please.”


Maria says “I love you too. I don’t want the surgery anymore. You are the most important thing in my life. Let’s go home.”


The End

Anatoly, Hamit Ay, Nelson David Proaño Cevallos, xuĂ¢n trình nguyá»…n, Victor Kovynev, Dodi D, Nguyá»…n Ly
Typed by Teacher Hina


Monday, February 10, 2014

English Tea With Lemon! -- ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION---

10/02/2014
English Tea With Lemon!
-- ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION---

















Soft Embers @ VIRTLANTIS (Knowingly)Teleport Link (SLurl): http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Knowingly/30/198/22Activity Organizer(s): Alalina Resident
                      
   A recent medical survey in Britain revealed that 25 % of the population saw no hope for the future and one in ten felt that life was not worth living. Many teenagers were excessively worried about their weight and general appearance. Approximately 25% claimed they suffer from anxiety over their studies.
   
1. Are you surprised by these statistics?
2. Are you basically happy with your life?
3. When is the happiest you have ever been?
4. What is happiness?


Reading
Read through the article and answer this question - What exactly is this man's problem?


When I was married I thought I was miserable because of my wife. So, we got divorced, and then I thought things would change. But I was still depressed somehow. Friends used to invite me out, and though I had nothing else going on, l'd tell them that I was busy or that I had other plans, but l,d just stay at home and watch TV or vegetate. So, then I blamed it on my job. I used to fantasise about just leaving the place.


I started taking days off sick. My performance went downhill. But I couldn't quit. I was scared. I would wake up in the middle of the night, just lying there - thinking. Then a job opportunity came up at a different company, and for a few months I actually thought I was getting better. But then it came back- with a vengeance. I started crying - literally crying - for no reason at all, sometimes in the middle of the day. I started calling myself names like "stupid" and 'incompetent'.


I shut my friends out and I became generally useless. Sometimes I would go out to do a bit of shopping and I would see happy couples walking around - some of them with children - and then I would feel even worse. And so I thought, "That's it! l'm lonely. I need a girlfriend." And so I got on the internet to try and meet people. And I
did. And for a few weeks I actually thought I was getting better. But it got worse. I started thinking about old age and death. And pretty soon the things that used to make me happy, things like nice weather and a call from a friend, started to seem more like irritations. Life began feeling pretty pointless. I think I was on the verge of giving up on it all when I met Judy. The advice Judy gave me changed my life for the better, and probably forever. I can't believe the difference it has made.


1. What seemed to be the man's problem?
2. What aspects of the man's life did this problem affect?
3. Have you or anyone you know ever felt like him?
4. Who is Judy and what do you think she said to him?
5.'What advice would you have given him?


Language
Complete the sentences below with these words
low         down     usual       take    under      
hard      top        weather
l. Things are just getting me down
2. He's not his usual self at all.
3. I'm feeling a bit under the . .weather
4. I'm feeling a bit low at the moment.
5. Things are getting on top  of me.
6. I'm finding life hard at the moment.
7. I'm under a lot of pressure.
8. I'm not sure I can take much more.


Reading
Read these ten tips on how to be happy. Which do you think are genuinely helpful?


HAPPY HABITS
Ten proven ways to increase your happiness.
Most people are unhappy because they choose to be. All they have to do is change their minds and learn some new habits and their lives will change for ever. Here are ten habits of happy people. Try them and experience the results for yourself.


- Act happy - even if you don't feel it. A smiling face will get more smiles from others.
- Enjoy the moment. Happiness is not produced by great things happening, but by recognising all the little positive things that happen every day.
- Take control of your time. Happy people feel in control of their lives. Set yourself realistic goals for the day.
- Take regular exercise. Get your body producing those depression-busting chemicals.
- Get rest. We all need time on our own and enough sleep - make time to re-charge your batteries.
-  Sing. People who sing are happier. lt's the people who have to listen to them who are unhappy. Be a singer.
Get a pet. Stroking a cat or patting a dog has therapeutic effects, calming anxiety.


-Feed your soul. Studies show that actively religious people are happier. They cope better with crises and are part of a supportive, accepting community.
. Prioritise close relationships. Spending time in open communication with loved ones stops isolation and independence.
. Get out of town. Spend a few hours a week in the countryside. Smell the fresh air, touch the flowers and hug a tree.


1. Is this serious advice or just light-hearted?
2. Do you agree that to be happy you just need to 'change your mind'?
3. Couldthe tips above help someone who is seriously depressed? Are any unhelpful?
4. Have you ever had to help a friend who was depressed?