6 POST: TIM BURTON a biography

Tim Burton

Fill in the gaps in this biography of Tim Burton

Tim Burton was born in 1958, in the city of Burbank, California.

He remains without question one of the most original film directors working in Hollywood today.

Indeed, his talent and originality have kept him at the top of the profession where he occupies a very special place, somewhere in the mainstream and the avant-garde, in that region of cinema occupied by artists where worldview is an unconventional that it attains popular appeal.

In 1989, Tim Burton directed the hugely successful Batman which, although his first personal film, was one of the most seen movies of all time and gave him unprecedented fame in Hollywood, considering the originality and adventurousness of his next films (for example Beetlejuice in 1988).

Edward Scissorhands (1990), another hit, saw him at the peak of his artistic powers and established a fruitful working period with the actor Johnny Depp who played in his 2005 film _____________of Roald Dahl’s book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and who became one of his most esteemed friend since their first film together.

In 1992, Batman Returns was a such more a darker film than the original, a reflection of how much the freedom Tim Burton had won ( as Warner Bros were reputedly unhappy with the final result).

And even for Ed Wood (1994), his loving tribute to the life and work of the legendary ‘Worst Director of All Time’ Edward D. Wood, Jr., was a box-office disaster, it got some of the best critics of Burton’s career.

In fact, Tim Burton is known  both for his dark, quirky-themed mood like Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, or Dark Shadows (2012) and for Blockbuster such as Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, Batman, Planet of the Apes, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Alice in Wonderland (2010), one of his most  criticised films, which became the fifth highest-grossing film of all List of highest grossing films.

Burton has directed 18 feature films as of 2014, and has got 12 as of 2012  (among which the very nice stop-motion tale called The  Nightmare Before Christmas in 1993).

All in all, Tim Burton’s films consistently challenge the spectator’s expectations, push forward the techniques of filmmaking and bring to life previously unthinkable characters  (like Edward Scissorhands).

Taken as a whole, his work is based on the confrontation between the fantastic and the realistique, and the consequences of these two worlds intermingling.

Big Fish, Burton’s 2003 effort, is no different. And even if, somehow, it is not really the best.

On the surface, it would appear to have all the characteristics of a classic Burton film: a magic screenplay, fairy-tale characters, flights of imagination, forces of nature ( as well as the supernatural), far-fetched situations and vastly imaginative visual style and imagery. The movie is, in fact, is packed with fanciful episodes that it begins to feel as a loose adaptation of The Odyssey, told from the mouth of an aging character named Ed Bloom, a story-writer  and dreamer who sees the world with beautiful eyes.

5 POST: An art exhibition review

The exhibition name is "Pop Art Myths", it was exhibited at the very famous Thyssen museum in Madrid. If you want to look up for the museum check-out the link: https://www.museothyssen.org/. Then if you want to see it for real this is the venue address: Paseo del Prado 8, 28014 Madrid. The exhibition took place from June 10  to September 14, 2014.

This exhibition, had a lot of different Pop art artists such as Richard Hamilton or Eduardo Paolozzi. The show was exposed for 4 months, but if you’ve missed it you can take a look to the Museo Thyssen's web and do a virtual visit. In this creative process the curator was involved, because he wanted to approche the Pop Art Myths so he recollected some paints in order to show and represent this interesting topic. Then we can say that this was a group show because there where a lot of different paintings from different artists. People from all age used to come to this exhibition, the venue was in a very well known museum. On this show was  showing different concepts of the Pop Art Myths with different categories for instance, collages advertising comics, emblems, myths, portraits, landscapes interiors still lives, urban eroticism...  

The exhibition has a great effect on the viewer, because it permits to discover old panting in a modern way. The younger generations are going to love seeing this modern style and I'm sure they will interest them self into this kind of art because they will be very interested to learn more about it. I thought myself that this exposition was really modern an interesting to see, I would had loved to see it in real because is not the same seeing it in real than with a virtual visit. This exhibition is very interesting I think it helps you to like more painting and it push you to go more to museums. Also it helps you to improve you’re culture knowledge in a funny and artistic way.

The works that I value the most are the historical paintings, because it's a different way to learn more about history, especially when you look at this paintings you want to learn more about it than if you look in a book without pictures. I think that there is nothing missing really but maybe more painting would be great painting from unknown artist to help them to improve their career.

Pop art was a revolutionary movement that broke from the elitism of the avant-garde that came before and knew how to bring art into the spirit of the times. This time was when all the cities were filled with images. On this time Hollywood was a myth-making machine, with all this stars that add been discovered like Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor... These actors quickly became idoles for the general public, many of them are represented on the work of Pop artists.

A lot of British artists where able to combine the media power of the great American idols with there own popular culture, they also created their own myths.  

For instance, Mimmo Rotella had transfigured Elizabeth Taylor in her role as the queen of the Nile, in a majestic décollage of the poster for the film Cleopatra. This décollage was design in 1963.

With this gorgeous poster we can see Elizabeth Taylor represented like the queen of the Nile. This criticizes the society of consumption. 

Therefore I think that this poster, is really pretty, the effect of décollage is really interesting and raise awareness on it. This décollage is an interesting way to criticize the society of consumption. I've choose this picture because I recognized Elizabeth Taylor and directly asked me why they have done that? So I search the reason why and it was really interesting.

  




























Mimmo Rotella, Cleopatra, 1963. Décollage sobre lienzo 134x137cm.
representation of Elizabeth Taylor as the Queen of the Nile. 
Valli art gallery Italy  

4 POST: The idea of progress: Quantity vs Quality

Quantity

Quality

Chinese Workers Should Work Less, Spend More, Report Says

Dec 3, 2014 12:06 pm HKT

Two Chinese men take a break outside an office on December 1, 2014 in Beijing.

 

GETTY IMAGES

Stop working long hours — it’s bad for your health and the country’s economic growth. That’s the message academics want to send to China’s 769 million workers.

The Chinese economy—the world’s second-largest– has long benefited from its hardworking factory workers who churn out everything from handbags to iPhones, as well as its many white-collar toilers who eat their dinner at the office to meet deadlines. The average Chinese worker works between 2,000-2,200 hours every year in China, Wang Qi, a researcher of the Beijing Normal University, told China Real Time. Such an estimate was based on data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics, industry groups and online questionnaires.

By contrast, the average worker residing in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries works some 1,770 hours, according to the Paris-based organization.

Though such a hardworking ethos may be praiseworthy, some economists say it is time for Chinese employers to cut down on their employees’ working hours. Doing so, they say, can help workers feel better-rested – boosting productivity – and also spur consumption, a key government objective, with more leisure hours that can be devoted to shopping.

Lai Desheng, a Beijing Normal University professor who led the study of Chinese working hours, said long working hours aren’t in China’s best interest, according to a transcript of the event.

“It may have been one of the secrets that help created the ‘China miracle’ but it has created a lot of problems,” Mr. Lai said, citing the frequency of workplace accidents, which tend to happen when workers are tired. “It is not sustainable.”

Shorter working hours will enhance innovation, he argues, with workers having more time to take up new skills and explore fresh ideas. It will also bolster employment, with employers forced to hire more workers, he said.

Among Chinese workers, the hardest-working are typically migrants. In 2013, the average migrant worker worked 8.8 hours each day, with nearly 85% of migrants working more than 44 hours every week, according to National Bureau of Statistics data. They earned an average monthly salary of 2,609 yuan ($424) last year, up almost 14% from a year earlier, official data showed.

The Beijing Normal study, which looks at different sectors, found that those employed in the hospitality and catering work an average 51.4 hours of work per week, the highest among all industries.

But studies tend to underestimate the population’s actual working hours, thanks to undercounting from official sources, said Beijing-based labor-rights researcher Wang Jiangsong, a professor at the China Institute of Industrial Relations.

“The problem is that the wages are still too low, so workers have no choice but to work extra hours to support their families, ” Mr. Wang said, adding that many workers would struggle to cover even their daily expenses if they only worked eight hours a day.

China’s policy makers have said they want to push economic restructuring by boosting consumption and reducing the economy’s reliance on exports and investment.

But Mr. Wang says that won’t happen without sufficient wage increases. “If the workers can barely make ends meet unless they work long hours, how do you expect them to spend?” Mr. Wang said.

Li Yuge, 60, cleans bathrooms at an office building in Beijing. The native of eastern Shandong province said she works from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. six days a week and earns 2,600 yuan per month.

But she said she doesn’t mind the long hours. “I just save all my money for retirement,” she said.

– Liyan Qi

Commentary

First of all, I would like to point out that in the United States, there is a lot of Sweatshops. What is a sweatshop ? A sweatshop is defined as a factory that breaks more than two labor laws. For example laws that are often broken are, unclean or unhealthy conditions, dangerous workplace, unlawful detainment and non-payed or overextended work hours. 

Today, however, it is a well-known fact that people in other countries than China used to employ, people from China because it is more cheaper. 

In fact, it is quite clear that the first document is an cartoon from Harley Schwadron, he wanted to criticizes the fact that in China people used to work too much. We can see that is written in the door « China sweatshop factory » and « Inhuman resources DEPT » it symbolizes that first the Chinese in this factory are working a lot and that if they want help they have to go to the inhuman resources whereas normally is human resources.

Yet, it seems to me that the second document is an article from the well known Newspaper, The Wall Street Journal. This article, was written by Liyan Qi a researcher at Beijing Normal University. He declares that Chinese have to stop working long hours because it is bad for their health. He also says that it is better working less to have a better product than working more to have a bad product. 

To put it in a nutshell, I will say that it is an cultural progress, which everybody have to be concerned. That in a stake it will be a dehumanization, social inequalities, economic opportunities and much more. The only advantages of this is that the boss of this industry is going to get more money that he supposed to. But there is more disadvantages, it is hanuman to let people of 5 to 90 years work as long as they are demanded, in the sweatshops factory the condition of life is horrible, could you imagine that there are people who works and then when they go to sleep there is a mattress just behind them. 

Finally we may hint at the simple thing that quality and quantity are two thing very related and that for this example is better less quantity for a better quality.  

3 POST: The idea of progress

THE IDEA OF PROGRESS

1. Read the definitions and fill in the gaps with suitable words.

PROGRESS

1. Forward movement, as toward a goal . Advance .  Development . Increase=

                                    =======>> Quantity

2. Gradual betterment . Steady / Progressive improvement of society / civilization / humankind.

                                    =======>> Quality

2. Brainstorming: Here is a list of questions you must ask yourself about the notion. Complete the blanks.

What type of progress?

technological / scientific / social / cultural/ educational/ medical/ ecological/ environmental / pharmaceutical/ political/ nutritional.

Who are the people concerned?

individuals / companies / governments / politicians/ students/ scientist / artists/ associations/ NGO’s charities/ trade unions/ labour unions/ religious institutions/ teachers.

Which period of time is concerned?

the past / the present / the future/ utopia/ uchronia/ dystopia.

What is at stake?

medical issues / physical performances / technical advances / innovations / dehumanization / domination / environmental issues / animal rights / place of women in society / race relations / social inequalities / economic opportunities / globalization / retrograde/ communication loss/ ethics and morals/ work and income.

What are the advantages and disadvantages (= drawbacks) / the pros  and cons / the upside and  downside?

Is it profitable (= beneficial, Positive, useful, healthy / rewarding, advantageous)  or is it potentially dangerous  (Unsafe, threatening, hazardous, useless, harmful / Alarming, risky, negative, unhealthy, detrimental)

for human beings? Why?

Is the impact positive or negative?  For whom?

Normally, we can say that for exemple one type of progress can be negative and positive. Progress is usually positive for humans but in some situation it can be negative.

Can we afford to reject progress  or can’t we do without it (nowadays & in future)?

We can't reject progress because if we did we will go back to the stone age, now and in the future.

Can’t we improve on the idea of progress  commonly accepted  in  our  modern world and consumer society? If so, how?

Yes, we can probably improve the idea of progress to improve our living and our future life. We have to reduce our consummation to create a better progressing world.

3. Build up your vocabulary

Complete the grid during the school-year with words and phrases suitable for the notion

UPSIDE / THE PROS	TYPES OF PROGRESS	DOWNSIDE / THE CONS
Enable  people to work  more efficiently  / improve our living standard  / ...	Technological progress	Cut people off from the real world /  lose touch with nature  / ...
Increase the knowledge  of  the world  / discover new materials  / ...	Scientific progress	Raise  ethical issues  /  create new inequalities  / DNA mutation / cloning / ...
Upgrade education  /  reduce gender and racial discrimination  / Same sex marriage / Improve international relations / Working conditions / ...	Social progress	Lose traditional values  /  disrupt conservative lifestyles  / Same sex marriage /  ...
Americanization of culture worldwide / Encourage new cultural movement and open up people's mind / Promote free or cheaper access to museums, operas... for people to spend less time in shopping Malls / ...	Cultural & Artistic	Lose of traditional national cultures and promote / Standardisation of culture some cultural movements are only hype = short, lived fashion / It requires public subsidies / Money which politicians are not necessarily ready to grant / ...
	Educational
	Ecological
	Political
	Medical