A Great American Composer Essay Example for Free

A Great American Composer Essay Born in New York, John Williams moved to the city of angels with his family in the year 1948, where he attended the UCLA and the Los Angeles City College. He also privately studied composition with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco in Los Angeles. After working with the Air Force for a brief period of time, Williams came back to New York to attend the Juilliard University. There he took Madame Rosina Lhevinne as a teacher to learn the piano. Also in New York, Williams began to work as a jazz pianist on recordings and in clubs. He returned to Los Angeles afterwards to begin his career in the film industry. After working with renowned composers such as Alfred Newman, Bernard Herrmann, and Franz Waxman; Williams started to write music for television programs during the 1960s. He won four Emmy Awards for this work (â€Å"About: John Williams†). The highlights of Williams’ career in the entertainment industry may be briefly summarized as follows: Mr. Williams has composed the music and served as a music director for more than one hundred films, including, War of the Worlds, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Terminal, Catch Me If You Can, Harry. Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Minority Report, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone, A. I. Artificial Intelligence, The Patriot, Angelas Ashes, Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, Stepmom, Saving Private Ryan, Amistad, Seven Years in Tibet, The Lost World, Rosewood, Sleepers, Nixon, Sabrina, Schindlers List, Jurassic Park, Home Alone, Home Alone 2, Far and Away, JFK, Hook, Presumed Innocent, Born on the Fourth of July, the Indiana Jones trilogy, The Accidental Tourist, Empire of the Sun, The Witches of Eastwick, E. T. (the Extra-Terrestrial), Superman, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the Star Wars trilogy, Jaws, and Goodbye, Mr. Chips. He has received forty-five Academy Award nominations, most recently for his scores from Memoirs of a Geisha and Munich, making him the Academys most nominated living person. He has been awarded five Oscars, seven British Academy Awards (BAFTA), twenty Grammys, four Golden Globes, four Emmys and numerous gold and platinum records (â€Å"About: John Williams†). Needless to say, almost everybody who is acquainted with American television programs and Hollywood films has enjoyed the music composed by Williams. His music is based on the classical tradition. The influence of late Romantics, e. g. Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler, may easily be detected in his music. At the same time, however, Williams does not desist from blending the classical with the modern traditions. His music for Close Encounters of the Third Kind clearly illustrates that Williams is a composer of the times even though he is influenced by music of the past. On the whole, however, his music is truly enjoyable because it is filled with good old tunes that are mixed with â€Å"fanfares and fun marches (â€Å"John Williams: Composer Extraordinaire†). † Moreover, the man is highly regarded for his ability to construct tunes and sounds that flawlessly complement the mood of his films (â€Å"John Williams: Composer Extraordinaire†). Williams’ scores have been described as â€Å"invariably magnificent orchestral works, performed with force and gusto (â€Å"John Williams: Film Composer†). † Although the composer is able to produce great music for quieter as well as slower scenes with equal appropriateness, his work is generally considered â€Å"forceful and triumphal (â€Å"John Williams: Film Composer†). † Indeed, this is one of the main reasons why Williams’ music continues to be loved by people across the globe, who are acquainted with the famous Star Wars, if not Harry Potter. According to a BBC report: â€Å"His music always evokes a powerful sense of mood, placing the force of the entire orchestra behind an emotion and running with it. With his emphasis on orchestral energy and power, it is unsurprising that Williams is best known for his action themes (â€Å"John Williams: Film Composer†). † As Williams adapts well-known classical music for his own scores, listeners believe that his work is, at least in part, plagiaristic. Thus, his Oscar-winning composition for Star Wars is believed to carry echoes of a score from The Planet’s Suite; and his score for the Atlanta Olympic Games is said to borrow heavily from Fanfare for the Common Man by Copeland. Williams’s music has been understood to be derivative, which is probably the reason why there are similarities between the classical music he has been influenced by and his own compositions. On the whole, however, the man is highly regarded for his uniqueness (â€Å"John Williams: Film Composer†). Another characteristic of Williams’ music that allows him to be remain special among composers is that his work is iconic. He gives unique themes to the villains and heroes of the films and television programs that he composes for. He also gives unique musical themes to the different plots in addition to macguffins of his films and television shows. In scenes where the different elements of the film, or the villains and heroes interact, however, he intertwines the special musical themes. As an example, Williams used Raiders March for Indiana Jones in the Raiders of the Lost Ark at all times that Jones appeared to be winning. When Jones appeared to be losing, however, Williams replaced the Raiders March with the Nazi Theme (â€Å"John Williams: Film Composer†). Thus, the composer is special because he does not only produce great music but also possesses the intelligence to place different scores in appropriate scenes of the films or television programs he works for. One of the most memorable compositions of Williams is the theme from the film, Jaws. The score uses a â€Å"deep, two-note bassline,† which has managed to almost turn into a â€Å"universal code for impending shark attack (â€Å"John Williams: Film Composer†). † As a matter of fact, many documentaries on the subject of sharks have used music similar to the theme created by Williams. According to the BBC report, the power of the theme is its simplicity. The bassline is played very slowly and it is played at pretty long intervals, after which the remaining orchestra chimes in with the bassline staying dominant and â€Å"joined by a deep brass harmony (â€Å"John Williams: Film Composer†). † After this, the bass almost disappears while the lighter strings continue to play a panicky, almost desperate theme before the bass finally returns with full force in a mood of vengeance. At this point, the brass and the string play â€Å"an urgent refrain (â€Å"John Williams: Film Composer†). † Silence follows soon after (â€Å"John Williams: Film Composer†). Another truly memorable piece created by Williams is his score for Memoirs of a Geisha. Waldron describes this composition as a â€Å"marvelously textured score that defines and propels the story. † For this score, Williams made use of the traditional musical instruments of Japan. The cellist Yo-yo Ma and the violinist Itzhak Perlman gave life to the theme. Indeed, Williams’ theme for this film is expected to surprise many of his fans, as this theme had been created for the Japanese film setting rather than the usual Hollywood setting that the composer has been acquainted with for a long time (Waldron). What is more, this theme is truly unusual as it does not remind the listener to music of the past that the composer is known to derive his compositions from much of the time. Williams’ music for A. I. is an additional surprise for his fans. Mecha World, which is the opening track of the film, reminds the listener that, indeed, he or she is listening to Williams’ music. This expansive piece introduces a mechanical character that one could easily associate with machinery or robotics. The piece is set against a broad musical theme that allows the viewer of the film to infer that the mechanical character must be placed in an â€Å"imposing urban† or â€Å"industrial landscape (Lace). † Williams makes â€Å"savvy use of metrically fractured rhythmic writing† in addition to percussion instruments in A. I. (Tommasini). These features of his music allow the viewer of the film to easily enter the world of androids along with the androids themselves. Tommasini describes how the composer – after having been mocked by critics for the sameness of his compositions – reveals his uniqueness in the theme for A. I. : â€Å"The music during the films ‘Hide and Seek’ sequence, when the robot boy David plays games with his adoptive mother, who at this early stage of the story is still smitten with him, is especially ingenious. Built from gentle melodic riffs, including childrens piano-practice tunes, quizzical harmonies and asymmetrical phrases, the music is at once beguiling and unsettling. † Indeed, Williams seems to have come a long way. His music for Catch me if you can is especially jazzy. Identified as â€Å"elusive chamber music,† the score proves to the listeners that the composer is skillful at â€Å"the less-is-more approach (Tommasini). † Furthermore, although his fans can still recognize his distinctive brand of compositions, Williams continues to change his approach to try out new techniques to film scoring. He has not managed to bore his listeners, despite the fact that he has created music for a large number of popular films. Most importantly, perhaps, it is essential for him to remind the listeners with his expansive themes that it is his music that they are listening to. Experimenting with new approaches while keeping his unique style that his fans have adored for many years suits Williams best. In point of fact, this is the very reason why Williams is known as one of the greatest composers in American history. After all, America is all about newness that is blended with old traditions. The old traditions cannot be given up because they keep the people grounded. At the same time, however, newness is considered a necessity as Americans strive to achieve the American Dream – a dream of success that cannot be realized without modernity. Fortunately for Williams, he has realized the dream with a thorough comprehension of its nuances. Works Cited â€Å"About: John Williams. † John Williams Official Site (2007). 3 Dec 2007. http://www. johnwilliamscomposer. com/. â€Å"John Williams: Composer Extraordinaire. † My Files (2007). 3 Dec 2007. http://www. mfiles. co. uk/composers/John-Williams. htm. â€Å"John Williams: Film Composer. † BBC (22 May 2001). 3 Dec 2007. http://www. bbc. co. uk/dna/h2g2/A563942. Lace, Ian. â€Å"A. I. Artificial Intelligence. † April 2002 Film Music CD Reviews (Apr 2002). 3 Dec 2007. http://www. musicweb-international. com/film/2002/Apr02/AI. html. Tommasini, Anthony. â€Å"John Williams’ Surprising Score for ‘Sith. ’† International Herald Tribune (25 May 2005). 3 Dec 2007. http://www. iht. com/articles/2005/05/24/features/starwars. php

Three Stikes Law :: essays research papers

Is the â€Å"Three Strikes and You’re Out† law cruel and unusual punishment? The purpose of my research paper is to analize how the â€Å"Three Strikes Law† helps to support our Constitution or violates it. I will discuss where the law came from and why we have it. I will also write about the positive and negative aspects of the law as a whole. I hope to be able to analize the spirit of the law versus the letter of the law as it relates to this subject. â€Å"In 1994 California voters approved a ballot initiative known as "Three Strikes and You're Out." Basically what it means is that people who are convicted of three felonies may end up facing life in prison.† There are some limitations though on how this law is executed. Not any felony constitutes a strike. For the first and second strikes only serious and violent felonies can count as a strike. Also some juvinille crimes can count. For the third strike any felony can be the final blow. While for the first two strikes it takes crimes like rape, kiddnapping, and robbery; the third strike can be a crime as simple as carring brass knuckles. This law â€Å"was enacted in 1994 after Polly Klaas was kidnapped from a slumber party in her home and murderedby Richard Allen Davis, who had two prior kidnapping convictions. The jury recommended that Davis be sentenced to death, and the judge imposed that sentence.† â€Å"On March 7, 1994, Governor Wilson signed into law AB 971 (Ch 12/94, Jones) referred to as the Three Strikes and You're Out criminal sentencing measure. In November, the voters reaffirmed the measure by overwhelmingly approving Proposition 184, an initiative that is essentially identical to Chapter 12. The measure is the most significant change to the state criminal justice system in more than a generation.† Govenor Wilson passed this law as part of his goal to crack down on repeat offenders and dangerous felons. The case of Richard Allen Davis was the prime example of how the law could be effective.

Global Entry Strategy Essay

There are two types of exporting: passive and aggressive. A passive exporter waits for overseas orders to come in while an aggressive exporter develops market entry strategies. An example of successful implementation of passive exporting would be the â€Å"sellers† on eBay. They are able to advertise their products on eBay and wait for orders to come in. There are sellers and buyers from all over the world interacting. eBay has successfully used the information technology explosion to go global through e-commerce. Dell has also successfully implemented the globalization strategy by being fully integrated. Dell has factories in Ireland Brazil, China, Malaysia, Tennessee, and Texas and it has an assembly and delivery system from 47 locations around the world (Deresky, 2008, page 222). Regionalization, on the other hand is a global entry strategy in which business link their local markets to a particular region, thereby allowing more local responsiveness and specialization (Deresky, 2008, page 221). This strategy is more effective when your products or services need to be adjusted to adequately meet the needs of the local customers. A discussion of Wal-Marts failures (Deresky, 2008, page 203) clearly illustrates the need for some companies to fully understand and address the differences of cultures in different regions. For example, in Seoul, the typical housewife does not own her own car and takes the subway to shop. Therefore, Walmart’s American style of offering large amounts of goods packaged in bulk would not interest a housewife in Seoul. Also, the racks in Korea needed to be shortened so that shoppers there could shop without needing ladders to reach items that were too high. In regionalized companies top managers within each region run their subsidiaries as quasi-independent organizations, making them more responsive to the needs of their customers. A great example of a successful regionalization strategy are McDonald’s, which has restaurants in 119 different countries, and Yum! Brands (Brandau, 2011), including Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut. Yum! Brands is so successful, in fact, they are now developing new markets in India, Russia, and Africa. In 2010 60% of their new restaurants were in emerging markets (Yum! Brands RSC). It is more common for businesses to utilize some level of regionalization even when using predominantly a globalization strategy. Car makers may make almost the exact same car in different world markets, but they will still have to have the steering wheel on the left or right, depending on country they are serving. In advertising campaigns, some ads will not translate successfully from one language to another. Bibliography Brandau, M. (2011, September 9). China: A look at strategies from McDonal’s Yum! Brands. Retrieved January 23, 2012, from Nation’s Restaurant News: http://nrn. om/article/china-look-strategies-mcdonalds-yum-brands Deresky, H. (2008). International Management: Managing Across Borders and Cultures. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education. Toyota’s Globalization Strategies. (n. d. ). Retrieved January 23, 2012, from http://www. icmrindia. org/casestudies/catalogue/Business%20Strategy2/BSTR094. htm Yi, H. (2009, January 12). Crafting a Successful Glo balization Busienss Strategy. Retrieved January 23, 2012, from http://www. lingomedium. com/wordpress/crafting-a-successful-globalization-business-strategy-195

The Rise of Serial Killers in the 1980s - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1649 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2019/06/26 Category Society Essay Level High school Topics: Serial Killer Essay Did you like this example? The 1980s was a time of surprising and fearful events. A lot of these events really scared humanity. One of these events was the rise in serial killers in the U.S. The 1980s, a time of shoulder pads, leg warmers and jazzercise. In American politics, it was a decade of Ronald Reagan and his vision to change the nation. Reagan and his administration had the profound influence for the way on how the Americans thought about what was going on in the country. Him and his administration realized to be able to destroy all communism in the U.S. they had to build up the military. At this time communism was a very big subject. Even though communism has been around for many years it has made its way from Europe to the U.S. For years communism in Russia and in other countries has ruled and struck fear in its people living there. Even though communism is a type of government, religion and different types of culture also take on a huge part as to what or who people believe in. The main religions people believe in are mainly Catholic, Baptist, Methodist and many more. Some of those religions that people do know of are the types that they find weird or creep y, such as people who have joined cults or groups that all live together and worship their leader. Many people are fixated on one person who they believe in the most or aspire to be like. One religion that is probably the weirdest of them all are probably Satanism. Yes, people to this day even think that is weird. But people back then thought of it as some sort of fad or false that some teens and adults went through. Although some of them never stopped believing that the devil was their all mighty and powerful ruler. Just like people believed that god and jesus was their savior. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Rise of Serial Killers in the 1980s" essay for you Create order What is a Serial Killer? Many people do not know they are or what they do. Well if you can infer by the term killer, means that one, of female or male genders kill one more people. These type of people are power driven. The high and the power surge that the killings give off to these people gives them these power driven highs. Many serial killers also kill because they have gone through trauma with parents, siblings or other relatives. Many people who have gone through these traumas notice certain things their community or in other places. They start to notice things such as children cowering in fear because their parents beat them. They believe that they are doing the right thing and or adults suffering from PTSD because their father or mother were drunks and beat them. These people are susceptible to becoming mass murders or serial killers thinking that they are saving the people who are getting hurt but really whats happening is that they are the ones causing all of the damage on these peoples lives. Religion and culture also plays a big part in how people becoming or develop into serial killers. Some people who follow certain religions believe that they are Purifying the Earth such as the puritans did when they first came to the New World. The puritans wanted to purify the Catholic church with new ideas and new ways of spreading its religion. Many serial killers in the 1980s had many of these characteristics of becoming serial killers in their adult lives, such as Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy and Aileen Wuornos a few of the most famous serial killers during the 1980s. The Milwaukee Cannibal, The Milwaukee Monster, those are just a few of the names that the infamous Jeffrey Dahmer was called. Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer, was born on May 21, 1960 to Lionel and Joyce Dahmer, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As a young child Jeffrey began to feel these urges of something called Necrophilia. Necrophilia is a sexual attraction toward corpses and other dead things. Throughout the rest of his life he tortured many animals and soon escalated to young males. As his certain way of killing progressed he soon moved to cannibalism. Cannibalism is when someone or something eats its own kind. Such as humans eating humans, like Jeffrey Dahmer. John Wayne Gacy on the other hand was a cold killer. John Wayne Gacy was born on March 17, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois. He was an American serial killer and rapist who took the lives of at least 33 young males in Cook County, Illinois, burying most under his home. Gacy had a abusive childhood which took a toll on his emotional factors in the future. He also struggled with his sexual identity as a young male, in 1968 he was arrested for sexual assault and his murders were uncovered and he was immediately arrested for the murder of 33 men. He was then found guilty in 1980 then executed by lethal injection. Gacy was known as the Serial Killer Clown, he attended childrens birthday parties dressed up as clown. He had an alternative ego as Pogo the Clown. He would lure his victims in hope of construction work and later sexually assault them and later kill them by strangulation by a rope. As a child his drunk father would beat him and his siblings with a razor strap if they were perceived to have misbehaved; his father physically assaulted Gacys mother as well. He grew up with a heart condition as well as troubles with his sexuality. Aileen Wuornos one of the most notorious female serial killers. Born on February 29, 1956, in Rochester, Michigan, Aileen Wuornos was sexually abused and thrown out of her home as a teen. She made a little as a sex worker along highways and at truck stops. In 1989 she killed her first victim at a truck stop who had picked her up. She later went on the kill another five men. She was then caught and convicted. Even though her sanity was questioned she was still put on death row and executed by lethal injection in 2002. Wuornos had a very traumatizing childhood. Her father killed himself while serving prison time for child molestation, while her mother abandoned Aileen and older brother Keith, leaving them to be raised by their grandparents. Her grandmother was allegedly a very heavy alcohol drinker and her grandfather was a terrifying man who beat her. In her later year she would go on to state that she was sexually assaulted by her grandfather and had sexual relations with h er brother. In her early she became pregnant and carried to baby to full term, she later gave the infant up for adoption and soon began her work as a prostitute. After she was kicked out of her house she began to live in the woods, she would hitchhike and engage in sex work to make a living. There are many statistics for serial killers. Many male, female, and many in groups or pairs. For male serial killers a majority of these people kill because they are power-driven or they believe that they are getting rid of the evil. how many male serial killers kill because they have men in trauma as a young child or suffer from PTSD. Male serial killers are more likely to get caught rather than female serial killers. female serial killers on the other hand arent power driven or have suffered from a trauma,. They kill for revenge or a a vendetta for a child or a family member. female serial killers are less likely to get caught rather than male serial killers. Male serial killers tend to get attached to what or who theyre killing female serial killers become detached because they are only fixated on that revenge or that vendetta. Now if were talking about pair or group serial killers such as Fred and Rosemary West. Rosemary and Fred West were one of the most notorious coupl e serial killers in the 1980s. They killed over ten women in almost 30 years. They came from homes that had very traumatizing events. Fred claims that he came from a home with incest and that his father had taught him beastiality. In 1971, Fred was arrested and sent jail for theft. He later found out that Rosemary had killed his stepdaughter because she wouldnt cry while she was beating her. Once Fred was released, he convinced Rosemary to become prostitute and began to rape their daughters. They were both caught and convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Fred later committed suicide while he was custody pending trial. These people and events in the 1980s impacted the United States and its federal government agencies. The FBI, CIA, NSA and many other federal agencies were impacted after these people killed. They knew how they need to track them down. They knew how to create profiles for them and see what they saw and understand them. These agencies were able to use the information that was given to them in medical records, social media pages, and many other websites and records to understand where that person came from. What trauma they experience and what they went through as a child. They impacted the government so that can act fast in catching them before it causes mad hysteria. Yes during the 1980s it was a fearful time of communism and war but us as Americans pushed through. The Rise in Serial Killers was one of those events but it helped us in the long run. Serial Killers helped impact America because they helped the government agencies solves the murders and catch the killers. During the 1980s fearful and surprising events occurred. Many of these event was the rise in Serial Killers. And these events really scared humanity. All of the victims of these killers will forever be remembered and honored. The family can now rest easy knowing that their child, sibling, mother, father or, friends is no longer suffering.