Barnes Method @ English Gcse Native English Exam

BARNES

METHOD

TM

ENGLISH GCSE Written by Dr Perry Barnes How to suddenly enjoy English, remember lots and find yourself completing the course comfortably Copyright Perry Barnes 2008 All Rights Reserved in All Media Copyright © 01/30/2009 Perry Barnes All Rights Reserved in All Media

Particularmente temos amizade com um ingles que esta com um projeto excelente direcionado para o mercado brasileiro, ele criou um novo metodo de ensinar ingles mais rapido que o metodo Callan, vale a pena conferir, eh um metodo de conexoes de palavras em ingles similares as palavras em portugues, metodo que ja esta fazendo ele mesmo quase falar portugues fluente. Particularly we have friendship with an English guy that is with a directed excellent project for the Brazilian market, he created new method to teach English quicker than method Callan, valley the penalty to confer, eh one method of connection of similar words in English to the words in Portuguese, method that already this making he himself almost to say Portuguese fluent. Darlene www.darlenejremlondres.com "Hi. How are you? I've got the cards you sent to me. Thank you so much. I'm happy to say to you I've passed my test. Thank you so much for your big help Aurea". Aurea was Successful with the Life in the UK test after 2 classes with me Maybe you do not want to be my friend that is ok I just want to thank you for your help in my Environmental research project I passed with 2 honours bachelor class. Thanks feel free to contact me when you want Cristiane Barnes English Class Experience, I have been taking English classes with the Barnes English Institution for three months. Hence, I had taken a lot of classes in the past: almost two years in my native country. However, experience in Barnes English is great. I have learned key fundamentals in my pronunciation. The most important thing is the practice of English language which is the main objective during the class. Having personal classes, face to face, is an excellent opportunity to improve and to have stable confidence. Thanks, Jorge Had you ever instantly know that you'd be totally fascinated by something you were reading. I’m saying, maybe as you continued to read it, and notice the form of the letters, the shadow of the ink, and the white of the page, it permitted you to GO INSIDE, and remember a time when learning was easier and more fun. Which people is this book for? This book is for people who want to create a positive, healthy relationship with their language skills, & increase their levels of knowledge & intelligence. No matter what your language situation, whether you're starting to learn or have perfect English already, I personally guarantee you'll learn new ways of thinking from this book which will improve your language situation and, more importantly, improve how you feel about this. Only read this book if you want to transform your relationship with English forever!

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Things which may help you get your A* grade: Add Speed Reading Photoreading (give credit Paul Scheele) Exam section: Reword the question Study the A grades: and include them or a version of them. Meta Model questions: to ask your teachers > how to get an A grade. Film Studies case study. English GCSE I did the English GCSE not that long ago. Primarily because I fancied the teacher. How lucky for you people reading this (are you aliens?) that this motivation was in place. Due to me already completing this course years ago, doing A-Levels and having other courses at the time; I got an A grade with minimal effort. & I did no work whilst in the class unless you count staring as work. Thus, with my unique perspective (hee hee) on the rump of the issue; I can present to you the simple guide to getting an A. There are lot's of different English courses, coursework & exams that make up this 1 English GCSE thing. Your course will be almost the same or identical to this explanation so listen up: 40% of the course is coursework & 60% is the exam. Coursework Includes Speaking & Listening (20%) plus Reading & Writing (20%) Speaking & Listening Includes Drama-Focused Activity (act), Group Discussion (talk) & an Individual Extended Contribution (presentation) Reading & Writing Includes Personal & Imaginative Writing plus Response to Media Texts as well as Work Based on a Play by Shakespere. Yes, the English GCSE is a bunch of complicated poop. & yes I am going to simplify it. If you are thinking about doing an English course then take the Barnes Institute equivalent of this which is far more simple & you will learn more ESOL & Literacy. My snazzy plan to make you pass this course is for you to use my work and the work of others. Oh no, isn't that against the sacred law of Geneva. I once asked my history teacher at school "if i'm looking stuff up in a book & writing in my own words how can it be my work". He told me that by doing this I was showing that I understood the subject/questions. He's one of the best teachers i've had & so I respect this opinion. This teacher was responsible for a number of memorable of comments & acts throughout school. Telling the class that the principal was a liar one day was cool, but the best one was in school assembly. He walked up in front of the school & said "she's a slag!". "Well how do you know that" he asked the male student who apparantly said it. "Because she is!" he stated. Bloomfield (the teacher) certainly got our half asleep attention that day.

Another day he walked up with a glass of water and asked "who wants to drink this?" Some guy walked up the front had a few sips & was asked "how does it taste?" "It tastes fine" the kid said wondering what's the deal here. Bloomfield smiling says "it's just that I heard on the news yesterday that they are putting sewage into the water". The kid walks off stage and that was that. On the news the day before the water companies had said they were putting 1% recycled sewage into the water. Bloomfield presented this news slighty differently.

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Anyway, I often make use of pre-made work to improve my own work. For example on this course I couldn't be bothered with Macbeth (the scottish play) as it had tired me senseless in the past & it's in 500 year old language. Why people's English is judged by Shakespere is beyond me. So I'd heard on the news about kids downloading essays from the Internet & thought i'd give it a go. I found one that matched the question set by the teacher & wrote the whole thing in my own words. I made it longer & used lots of fancy long words. The importance of long words is something for you to remember. With some people, say every long word you can and their faces light up plus they like you alot more. Test it. I decided to use this approach as one of the big things for getting a high grade is using quotes from the play. I would have had to read the book throughly to be able to quote it, so I thought bugger that. Also I grabbed some more quotes from English revision guides. I found places to fit them in there. The other teacher who drunk far too much tea or morphine (she was mental!) says that I have good understanding of the play. Very funny, as the main teacher standing there knew what i'd done. Also, when you write in your own words how the pineapple can anyone prove it? If you change it enough it will be alot better than the original work & contain your own input. I compared the play to a Pink Floyd song so that it really looked like my work. Make things easy for yourself. My Coursework The work I did for the course is all available here. I suggest you download this pdf & look at it as a guide of how to get an A-grade. If you want to you can write it in your own words & get an A-grade. Nah, you wouldn't be interested = ) How Important are the Witches Health & Safety - presentation Screenplay - final version

Web Pages Comparison Synopsis - final version Self-Evaluation of Screenplay

The Synopsis, Screenplay & Evaluation were from the Film Studies A-Level I did & got an A grade for that course. So I decided to use them. I handed them in together & I recommend you do the same if you use them. I used them for the Response to Media Texts section. The Exams (the fun bit) For this I just looked at a past paper to see what type of questions were going to be on it. However, I had already taken the level 3 Communication key skills test; which is very similar but has a shorter time limit (30 minutes less). So if that test is available then make use of it as preparation. if you want to be extremely prepared then get some past papers (3 is a nice number) & fill them in. You can just complete them or check them against the answer papers as well. I did this with my Engineering GCSE course. I downloaded & printed 4 sample/past papers and proceeded to fill them all in using my text books. I remember being a student & I find methods like this are very effective for learning your subject. Then any answers I couldn't find I asked the teacher for; thus covering almost every possibility. I then kept reading the exam papers when I have spare time e.g. the train or bus. Be prepared for your exam & do in the way which is best for you. At the Edexcel website they have specimen papers with the answers included or past exam papers. I suggest you use a specimen & a past paper as to be prepared for your exam. Click here for the web page: http://www.edexcel.com/Pages/home.aspx PS: edexcel has recently changed its website and I believe you will find the papers I in their website somewhere. I'm a bit busy now = ) Here are the exam papers with the answers, InJoy: http://www.pdfcoke.com/doc/11563126/English-Gcse-Exam-Papers-Answers-Barnes-Method-English-A Copyright © 01/30/2009 Perry Barnes All Rights Reserved in All Media

Coursework How Important are the Witches Web Pages Comparison Health & Safety - presentation Synopsis - final version Screenplay - final version Self-Evaluation of Screenplay

Response to Shakespeare How is the Play Structured and how Important are the Witches within that Structure? Things to include (to get an A* grade): Knowledge of events Characters in detail, The function/purpose of characters The main themes, messages and ideologies of the play Comment on the structure Comment on the historical context, mention how the play reflects the time it was written Give a personal and critical response How is meaning conveyed through language and action Paraphrase and quote sections of the text The witches in Macbeth are introduced at the start of the play. They tell Macbeth of three prophesies. Macbeth will be the Thane of Cawdor, the Thane of Glamis and finally end up as the King. The witches prophesies introduce Macbeth to his potential greatness. Macbeth succumbs to the desires placed inside him by the prophesies and kills king Duncan, therefore preventing his predicted path and following the principles later documented by Charles Darwin. At the time of the play’s release this book was not written and so Shakespeare may have been writing a social commentary of the world that he perceived. The play has contemporary relevance as Macbeth adheres to an ideology that was considered popular during the 1900s and still hold weight today. During the period that the play was written (sometime between 1603 & 1606) it was thought that witches had the ability to alter the natural placement of people and items. An interesting historical point is that William Shakespeare was an avid supporter of King James the sixth of Scotland who gained access to the English throne in 1603. James had previously written a book entitled Demonology which discusses many of the themes within the play e.g. witchcraft and ghosts. If this is true then the play may not reflect the social thoughts of the day’s people and instead it is actually a tribute for the purpose of impressing the king. Therefore, it may have been highly significant during that period as it promoted the values and thoughts of the king. Popular culture has been used by several people in positions of power during the 20th century to help improve their status e.g. J. Edgar Hoover and the G-Men films. If the play was written with this intention, Copyright © 01/30/2009 Perry Barnes All Rights Reserved in All Media

then it relevant to contemporary forms of popular entertainment as messages and values are indirectly communicated with the audience today. It is relevant today as it pre-empted the idea of using art/entertainment to influence the thoughts of the masses. If this was William Shakespeare’s intention then it raises issues regarding his moral standpoint/philosophical outlook. A deeper knowledge of the history of the period would be needed to analyse the possibility of this theory being correct or false and I do not posses the time or resources to conduct such research. Macbeth has contemporary relevance in that it deals with the issue of tyrants/dictators by using an underlying theme. The play does not directly state (post modern style) that this is a theme or that some kind of lesson should be learnt regarding the subject. At the level of connotation the tragedy reflects these issues and possibly how he feels they should be dealt with. Similarities can be observed (if looked for) between the tragedy and today’s political environment. Dictators who will kill anyone who threatens their position are in existence despite efforts to spread democracy (like a disease, using current methods). Macbeth is eventually removed from power and the mortal world, which suggests that the principles of action/reaction were in Shakespeare’s mind. Modern films such as the Exorcist explore themes of the supernatural and the fear humans have of the unknown. Unholy or anti-religious forces were particularly frightening to the audience of the time but clearly fascinating as well. Forces going against the moral/philosophical outlook of the church are still entertaining/interesting people hundreds of years later. Witches no longer seem to be popular but unholy creations such as zombies still attract contemporary cult audiences. The comparatively recent invasion of Iraq reflects the play in that a dictator/tyrant was removed as he supposedly could not be tolerated any longer. Although politics is never as simple as the last sentence, a synopsis of the play and a retrospect of the ongoing war are fairly similar. Macbeth could be useful in a contemporary learning environment for helping to promote a greater understanding of the world’s problems, whether they are actually problems and whether preventative measures can be implemented. The play suggests the theme of fate was considered important and taken seriously at the time. It is one of the main themes of the play. Whether Macbeth could have averted his path from that predicted by the witches is an issue to be considered. If fate was thought of as definite during that period then Macbeth may have considered the prophecies as unavoidable. Therefore the witches were very important in determining Macbeth’s actions. A more rational viewpoint is to think that Macbeth was solely responsible for his actions during the piece as it was himself who partook in the results of his decisions. Banquo comments in line 24, "The instruments of darkness tell us truths/Win us with honest trifles, to betray 's/In deepest consequence." He comments upon the darkness of the witches. Banquo names them as instruments of darkness and the devil. He may be suggesting that the prophecies can only bring harmful effects before anything predicted takes place. Therefore Macbeth is given a warning from his ally before he decides that the witches and their value systems are evil. The witches could predict the future within the constraints of the play. We are told that they can and so this should not be debated. They added an element of temptation to Macbeth’s mind and thus they influence Macbeth to a great extent. Macbeth was told he would be King and thus he became impatient due to fate being considered as definite at this point in history. The witches were important but they could not force his actions and neither did they attempt to. Macbeth manufactures his own misery and demise, as he is not able to rid himself of the guilt which is an after affect of the murder. This creates insecurity within him which may have led him to commit the other murders. The witches offer affects Macbeth’s disposition greatly, but an individuals decision is the most important factor in determining their own physical actions. The three aggravators are responsible for the beginnings of the thoughts and for the paths presented to Macbeth although they are not accountable for his activities during the play. Lady Macbeth is set up to the audience as a woman with a single purpose and goal. She possesses the Copyright © 01/30/2009 Perry Barnes All Rights Reserved in All Media

ability to manipulate Macbeth’s thoughts and actions. This is demonstrated in the line "That I may pour my spirits in thine ear". (I,V, 26). She is shown as a person who is selfless, selfish and one whom wants what is good for her husband. Her actions also benefit herself without her partaking in any risky activities. I believe this kind of behaviour speaks volumes against her character. Previous to the speech that Lady Macbeth makes in Act one Scene five, Macbeth is not shifting towards sin regarding the issue of killing the king. Lady Macbeth empties Macbeth’s esteem by insulting his worth as a man and his braveness. Macbeth decides to prove a point by commiting regicide. Lady Macbeth knows how to control Macbeth and acts according to her wishes. Macbeth has control in the final say of whether to go through with the killing, however he loves Lady Macbeth and wants to see her happiness continue. Lady Macbeth is the driving force behind their relationship, which is demonstrated during her soliloquy (speech to herself) in Act 1 Scene. She realises that she can make him do anything as long as she adopts a serious tone and is committed to her communications with him. (I, VII, 39) She questions Macbeth’s bravery in comparison to his love for her “ Art thou afeard/to be the same in thine own act and valour, as thou art in desire?” When Duncan is killed there is a return to a more traditional characterisation of the male with Macbeth becoming the dominating half of the relationship again. Lady Macbeth returns to a more expected role as well. She becomes a shadow of her former selfless ambitious persona. Ambition is a major theme expressed throughout the Scottish play. Both of the Macbeths possess this ambition. Lady Macbeth’s ambition drives her to force the mind of Macbeth. Macbeth possessed ambition before the witches predicted his rise to power. However it is unlikely he would have seriously thought of killing Duncan having not heard of himself doing so. The combined factors of his ambition and the first predictions, leads him to kill. Lady Macbeth points out "Thou wouldst be great/Art not without ambition." Macbeth comments that "his besetting sin: I have no spur/To prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition." Macbeth’s ambition is shown by his desire to have a succession of kings after himself. Macbeth’s ambition is a part of him and the witches/Lady Macbeth use this to their advantage. His strength is his weakness in that the quality which drives him to be a success also is a major factor in his downfall. After Macbeth kills, he feels obligated to continue to cover his tracks due to the possibility of losing his power. Another theme is that of being responsible for your own choices. Macbeth chose to take a risk and the resulting structure of his constrained world did not turn out in his favour. Some of his actions suggest that the results were down to him. For example in act IV he goes to the witches to find out the future. The witches were very important in relation to him at this point in the play. He no longer feels in control of his life as he relies on the witches to tell him what to do next.

The killing of Duncan is the beginning of a chain of events that finishes with Macbeth’s demise and Lady Macbeth taking her own life. Macbeth had qualities such as honour and could have chosen any path to follow. This potential is lost when his ambition becomes the most important thing to him and his morals become non-existent. Macbeth was warned not to listen to the witches prophesies, but he ignored the warnings from Banquo. When the second set of prophecies are riddled with inaccuracies, Macbeth becomes angry with the witches. While the witches are not solely accountable for Macbeth’s actions, they are the ones who set the ideas in Macbeth’s mind, which led in due course to Macbeth’s ambition taking him over and the violent chain of events that followed.

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The witches are important to the structure of the play as they mark major character changes within the central protagonist. Through attempting to think from the perspective of the artist I have developed the idea that Shakespeare used the witches to structure the play. Every time he caught writers block and he needed an act or a scene to ensure the narrative progressed Macbeth goes to see the witches who give him something to contemplate. Considering that fate was generally thought to be a definite course that your life would follow, the audience would have been intrigued and drawn into the narrative. The witches are a narrative device in that they interested the author to the point of finishing the play and they interest the audience by dealing with a popular theme that suggests the protagonist cannot avert his predicted path. I can think of several contemporary cinematic visions e.g. Memento that begin with the ending. I have found in my experience that the use of this idea grabs my attention for at least thirty minutes, as I have to know what occurs to lead the characters into the situation I have just witnessed. This idea is especially effective when the ending is dramatic. In the play Macbeth, the main character is told of his future greatness and various deaths that will occur, (due to fate) which was probably very dramatic at the time but a contemporary audience needs something more surprising than death/an original death. Other structural points of note include the use of a linear narrative rather than one with subplots as the use of these was popular with Shakespeare. The narrative focuses on the central protagonist throughout its duration and the themes of the play are magnified because of this. The play is divided into five acts which was a traditional/typical amount to have at the time. The play appears to follow a structure of the rise and fall of Macbeth’s character. This two-fold structure could also be interpreted as that of crime and punishment. During the first half of the play Macbeth faces little consequence as a result of his actions. However, in the second half he is rewarded with the fate he dealt to others “even-handed justice” (Act 1 scene 7 line 10). His actions in the first half return to haunt him literally and metaphorically. The play could also have been intended to follow the structure of Lady Macbeth’s strength mirroring Macbeth’s weakness. If this is the case then the roles are reversed during the second half. Good versus evil is a simplified theme or way of simplifying more complex themes present in various works of fiction. The play could be described as adhering to this theme but so could most other things. However Shakespeare intended the play to be structured I believe that a world consisting of opposites was central to it. The world within the play returned to a state of equilibrium through the removal of the main instigator of change. The play has a satisfactory closure. Ninety percent of contemporary stories end with satisfactory closure and so the play is relevant as it preceded the structural rules that are used today. The character of Macbeth undergoes several changes within the duration of the play. He begins it as an honourable man who defended his king. But he possessed the characteristic of being easily dominated by other people’s thoughts. He was also self-conscious of what others may think of him and therefore he was affected by Lady Macbeth’s comments “Too full o’the milk of human kindness. By the end of the piece he is considered undeserving of life due his lack of human qualities, Malcolm “This tyrant” (Act 4 scene 3 line 12), Macduff “Hellhound” (Act 5 scene 6 line 42) and “This dead butcher” (Act 5 scene 6 line 108). A process of change occurs so that becomes capable of such acts. He is of strong conscience and does not commit violent acts without a large quantity of continual persuasion. I believe that his initial characteristics lead to his final characteristics. Due to him allowing others to undermine his integrity he has to become a ruthless unforgiving hypocrite to maintain any kind of position in the world. When he decided on his path he stuck with it and I believe this demonstrates his determination to carry things out until their conclusion.

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Lady Macbeth is consistently portrayed as lacking in human kindness and being very purposeful. She wants her husband to achieve greatness and does not seem to care what stands in the way of this becoming a reality. The written and unwritten laws that stop others from committing such atrocities are a challenge to her. She is portrayed as strong-minded but she is not the one who kills the king, it is her husband. From this and her lack of passion in the second half of proceedings I could deduct that she is weak in spirit/morals “A little water clears us of this deed” (Act 2 scene 2 line 67). She needs Macbeth to commit the act, as she is not capable. However, she is cunning and practical, so it is these characteristics that she uses to ensure that her ambitions are achieved. In relation to her interactions with Macbeth she possesses an overpowering presence and is the dominant half of the relationship for a large section of the play. Overall she is not a pleasant character and she displays the worst human characteristics throughout the play. Her idea of love is to insult her husband until he murders, as it will improve her position, “fiend-like queen” (Act 5 scene 6 line 108). If this is how she behaves with the one she is closest to it raises questions of her characteristics regarding others. During the second half of the play she loses her almost frightening qualities and becomes coward like. Macbeth was a loyal servant of his monarch but was reduced to the level of his manipulative wife. Macbeth/Lady Macbeth are central to the play as he is the main protagonist in that the story revolves around him and she is the main antagonist in that she provokes the actions that are central to the play’s narrative progress. Shakespeare’s exploitation of language is one of the qualities that makes his body of work interesting hundreds of years after its initial creation. It causes difficulties for people at first due to his reliance upon theatrical effect. The plays he created as an auteur were meant to be performed thus my reading and analysis are both hampered by this as I am reading a textbook containing a screenplay. The language is of a different era/period but after careful repeated readings the barrier has been removed and I can enjoy the play on my own terms.

There are three types of language that are regularly used in Macbeth. They were generally implemented for theatrical effect and to produce a pleasant sounding flow of words. Blank verse (iambic pentameter) is used more than any other form of language in the play and so I will discuss this first. It is a type of verse written with rhythms of speech specifically in mind. It is usually implemented when characters have something important to say. It is used when rhyming is not needed to improve the text as it is already striking enough. It is used within Macbeth to improve the dialect between Macduff and Malcolm (Act 4 scene 3) and for Macbeth to reflect on the despair of life (Act 5 scene 5). Rhymed verse/verse couplets are passages of text that rhyme. There is no particular way that they are structured but the common link between them is that they contain rhyming words used to add dramatic effect. Duncan states that the “bell rings heaven or hell” (Act 2 scene 1 line 64) which I believe has more of an impact on the audience because of Shakespeare’s use of poetic rhyming for the purpose of theatrical effect.

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Prose is fairly regular language that is often used for comical exchanges of words between characters and plot progression among other things. It does appear to follow a pattern of being short and to the point. If the speech is longer than a few seconds it has regular pauses and breaks within it. It is suggested by various sources that prose is mainly used by those of lower classes or by those whose stature has recently fallen. This theory is given weight by the Porter who only ever uses prose and he is either drunk or an alcoholic. As the play progresses Macbeth uses it more frequently thus signifying his fall from nobility. Several words in the play are consistently repeated and from this I can deduce that these words were floating around in Shakespeare’s head more than others. If these were the main words going through his head then they may reflect the messages and values he was trying to communicate through the medium/the play. They may also give some indication of how the auteur thought whilst writing a play. Maybe the rest of the play is filler for the main points Shakespeare is attempting to convey? The words include done, won, lost, foul and fair. The continual use of won and lost suggests that Shakespeare thinks of the world as one big competition. He could himself be very competitive or he may think that everyone else competes and he is an observer. The use of foul and fair may indicate that he considers things either as wrong or right. He could have grouped things like this as he sees these two words as representative of all actions. Every action could be more bad/good than the opposite and so actions can be divided into just two groups. Other words that are frequently used include children, blood, dark and light. Running ideas like these are can be described as motifs. These are not always said as blatantly as I have written them. The use of imagery through similes and metaphors generally lead back to these words and the meaning that they convey. This exploitation of linguistic devices is used to firstly achieve theatrical effect, as it is fairly dull to continually repeat the same words/phrases no matter how important your message is. Secondly, linguistic devices such as this are used so that the messages and values contained within the text resonate with the audience. The motif of sleep is demonstrated by “Me thought I heard a voice cry, “sleep no more!”. Macbeth does murder sleep – the innocent sleep, sleep that knits up the ravelled sleave of care.” The most well intended thoughts in the world will not be taken in/understood unless the audience enjoys the format in which they are presented. If you consider music as a contemporary example, a hip hop artist may be reacting against the child like qualities of his president but people who grew up listening to Pink Floyd will not give his thoughts a second listen and probably not realise the significance of them the first time. Shakespeare appeared to understand this principle and his plays are being taught to school children four hundred years later.

The symbolism within Macbeth appears to function on a number of levels. The continual use of the word blood but with different intentions demonstrates this. Blood is shed literally through out the play but it is also used as a word to represent evil and anti Christian practices. The theatrical effect of mentioning something that is essential to our survival is one of creating queasy unnerving thoughts. I did not feel these emotions whilst reading the play but I did not have the benefit of a theatrical performance. Linguistic devices are exploited by Shakespeare to grab the audience’s attention and to make them think about his views over a period of time. He uses similes to compare people to objects that may represent their qualities. For example the witches say that in the future Macbeth’s condition will be “dry as hay” (Act 1 Copyright © 01/30/2009 Perry Barnes All Rights Reserved in All Media

scene 3 line 18). This could indicate a couple of things e.g. that he will be completely lacking in emotion but it probably means that he will be dead and dry out as corpse’s do. Metaphors are used within the play generally for theatrical effect but also to make the audience think about what is being suggested. Lady Macbeth comments to Macbeth that “Was the hope drunk/Wherein you dressed yourself?” (Act 1 scene 7 lines 35-6) suggesting that the hope of being royalty was stupid because Macbeth started thinking for himself. Shakespeare uses personification to indicate that a person has become an entire thing or that they represent only one action. During Act I Scene 7 Macbeth imagines himself as the personification of Murder itself thus he attempts to become at one with the terrible deed, as he is currently not the correct character for the action. Oxymorons are meant to confuse the characters and the audience or they can be used to convey an unnatural state of affairs. The witches mainly speak using this theatrical device, “Fair is foul and foul is fair”, “Lesser than Macbeth, and greater” and “not so happy, yet much happier” (Act 1 scene 3 lines 63-64). The play has implications for those who seek them. The play implies that evil must be punished and every action has a reaction. It implies that tyrants/dictators are incorrect in their philosophical outlook and that they must be dealt with if the world is to progress in a bearable fashion. Or maybe it is implying that tyrants are always punished, as this is what Shakespeare saw within his lifetime. The play implies that fate or destiny, is what you make of it. It implies that most people could tell you their own paths if all of the external factors were explained to them as definitive. However, your decisions will make these predictions irrelevant or prove them right. Within the dramatic genre there is a sub genre entitled the tragedy. A central theme to all tragedies is that of suffering. The causes of suffering are varied but the purpose of suffering within tragedies appears to be that of a person attaining wisdom. The chorus within the tragedy Agamemnon authored by Aeschylus encapsulates the ideal: "Zeus, whose will has marked for man the sole way where wisdom lies, ordered one eternal plan: Man must suffer to be wise". Plays that fit into this sub genre are supposedly structured using purpose, passion and perception. The central character seeks achievement; they therefore must confront opposing characters and go through a test to their present persona. The mainly uncomfortable process gives an insight into the character and their capabilities within their environment. From the final view of the character true knowledge is attained but often at the consequence of the protagonist’s death. Macbeth follows this convention of the dramatic genre. One of the defining achievements of the play is how Shakespeare uses and changes (to a point) typical dramatic conventions to document the downfall of an originally heroic character. The typical convention of the dramatic genre of plotting good against evil is explored on a deeper level than is typical of this time as Shakespeare explores the human weaknesses of the character. Macbeth is not just evil, he has weak psychology characteristics and they are used by others to their advantage. The witches do not appear to possess a motive but Lady Macbeth does. A defining achievement of the play is in its portrayal of women. Women at this point in history were considered inferior to men especially within the dramatic genre. This play suggests at the level of denotation and connotation that women have a large influence over how the world works. He did not suggest that they have a good influence but without the women in the play the horrific events would not have taken place. The witches are particularly important in given the narrative somewhere to progress to and for adding an interesting idea to the dramatic genre. An achievement of the play is that it represents form in terms of poetic language and also in terms of form representing meaning. The tragedy is appealing due to its reliance on theatrically which helps make every line interesting. This is combined with literal and deeper meaning to produce a well rounded piece of work that has stood the test of time. The defining achievement of the play in the dramatic form is that it takes the Copyright © 01/30/2009 Perry Barnes All Rights Reserved in All Media

theme of conflict, one which is present in all dramas and gives it broader significance without directly referencing its actual meaning or the sources which caused the auteur enough trouble as to write a play documenting them. My personal response to the play is that it contains interesting themes and has enough going on for me to sustain a thought process regarding it. My critical response is that it is well structured but quite typical of the dramatic genre. Things to include (to get an A* grade): Knowledge of events Characters in detail, The function/purpose of characters The main themes, messages and ideologies of the play Comment on the structure Comment on the historical context, mention how the play reflects the time it was written Give a personal and critical response How is meaning conveyed through language and action Paraphrase and quote sections of the text

Response to Media Assessment and Comparison of several Websites for the Purpose of Gaining an Insight into Recognised Design Criteria Websites are a relatively new medium (ten years ago) and they have enjoyed a great deal of publicity and controversy in their currently short history. I will in this document speak of several web pages, which have been considered trendsetters, innovators and more importantly survivors. Some examples of websites include: Yahoo Google Ask Jeeves IBM Compaq E-bay Multi-map Amazon Wall Street Journal (interactive edition) I will go into more detail on these sites but firstly it should be noted that although there are a potentially infinite number of websites available the recognised design criteria of most sites place them in specific genres/types of site. From the list above, Yahoo, Google and Ask Jeeves could be classified as Search Engines. IBM and Compaq are example of existing companies using the web to publicise their standard business practices and products through the medium of marketing. E-bay and Multi-map are sites, which use the benefits of the Copyright © 01/30/2009 Perry Barnes All Rights Reserved in All Media

web (primarily speed of communication and interactivity) to provide a unique product to consumers. Amazon is an example of a web site that sells an existing product (sold in retail stores) but exclusively on the Internet. The Wall Street Journal is a type of site that takes an existing product and digitizes it to provide remote access from any Internet enabled device. These are a range of useful purposes that sites could be used for but are not limited to.

 Search engines Search engines are a type of website that have become essential to the majority of Internet users. Their usage is so integral to the web experience that I recently heard someone describe a search engine as a browser (a browser being the actual program used for Internet surfing.) A search engine allows a person to enter keywords, that correspond to the subject matter which interests them and receive back a list of sites containing these keywords. Search engines operate by using spider programs, which search the web for keywords/phrases and then list this information. This feature is one of the reasons for the quick (roughly 1 second) response times given by searching sites. Examples of search engines include Google, Yahoo and Ask Jeeves (as seen below.)

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My first thought on these sites is that their whole purpose is to search the Internet for information and so that particular feature is central (and centred) to the design of the home page. Google and Ask Jeeves are particularly promoting their search facility over other services they offer. The simplicity of these two sites could be considered a strong point compared to the cluttered nature of Yahoo. If a person is new to the Internet the large amount of services offered by Yahoo could deter them from using that engine. Google is by far the most popular and well-known search engine and its user friendly nature could have been a major factor in contributing to that. Convergence and integration have been large factors in business operations in recent years (just look at mobile phones) so Yahoos “one stop shop” policy isn’t unusual. Yahoo offers daily news, horoscopes, (give me strength) e-mail, SMS messaging, chat rooms etc. A consumer of this digital information may enter this site for one thing and find everything else they need, thus integrating many different audiences into one large percentage of the demographic. If this is Yahoo’s strategy I believe it to be a good one for attracting a target audience of younger people but a bad one for attracting an older audience who may have come to the Copyright © 01/30/2009 Perry Barnes All Rights Reserved in All Media

site expecting to find results quickly as this is what was advertised. Also convergence in its current form is quite different from the old form of integrating several products of a similar nature i.e. HI-FI. Convergence today is about integrating different formats for the purpose of having one device that does everything. On the design side of things simplicity seems to be the ideal of both Google and Ask Jeeves. Google appears to have no framing whilst Ask Jeeves has two frames to help emphasise particular features. Yahoo has several frames for the purpose of differentiating between the services offered. Background colours are also used within Yahoo for differentiation whilst they are lacking in Google/Ask Jeeves. The recognised design criteria of a website appears to be that of including the search facility on the home page, generally keeping things simple, a simple search with links to a more advanced search. Sites such as Yahoo and Lycos (not shown here) break these recognised conventions in the pursuit of a different audience. These two sites may have been losing ground to Google and so offered more services (than Google) to survive or this could have been their business plan to begin with. The recognised design criteria could therefore be favoured towards integration or usability. Both ideals of design are recognised. My suggestions for improvement regarding these web sites are as follows: Google/Ask Jeeves could be improved by being more colourful and making more features accessible from the home page. Yahoo could improve it’s usability by removing many of it’s features and concentrating on it’s core purpose.  Existing companies using the Internet IBM and Compaq are examples of existing companies using the Internet to sell their existing products in a new medium. Their two home pages are shown below.

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The purpose of these two websites appears to be to advertise the products currently sold in actual stores and offer support to customers in a variety of ways. The general contents of these sites includes images of people being happy/content with their branded computers. The content also includes links to download drivers for the products of the company. This service takes advantage of the specific benefits that the web offers. The websites could be described as marketing sites because of their focus on product information rather than commerce. Both of these pages loaded in less than a second. They both make use of frames to separate images from information. Both sites have well organised structures which allow all important services to be accessed from the home page. The production values indicate that this is an established company’s website. It appears to me that the recognised design criteria for computer companies websites is to show consumers happy with their branded products, offer product information and offer product support. These websites could be improved firstly by filling the screen with the information rather than just using a small part of the screen. Having said that, it could because of my monitor’s pixel setting that this has happened. My suggestions for improvement regarding these web sites are as follows: I feel that these two companies should concentrate on their products rather than showing sickly happy people posing by their new image/financial statement. More image links to the product that people are trying to purchase and less subliminal thoughts please. The Internet is meant to be a fast way of doing things, so remove the reason that people change TV channels and I’ll be happy at least.  Web specific sites E-bay and Multimap are examples of sites which use the advantages of the Internet (over typical businesses) to create a unique service. E-bay and Multimap offer vastly different services but are linked by success due to their originality (See the following shots.)

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E-bays range of purpose covers the field of commerce. E-bays main function is as an online auction site where people bid for items that are shown/described for a set period of time. Multimap’s purpose is to provide maps for just about any area (worldwide) and of just about every type (world maps to road maps) in a few clicks. The general content of E-bay’s home page is bright/colourful and it’s not just a tart, it has a personality as well. The page has links nicely separated using frames to lots of specialist E-bay spin-offs and current products. The top section of the page contains links to buying/selling information and other important areas that keep the site going. The page contains two search engines the uppermost I believe to be a search engine in the Google sense of the phrase, whilst the lower of the two is an internal search engine used to locate products within E-bay’s pages.

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Multimap’s general design appears to reflect its audience. Fairly dull colours make up most of the page possibly reflecting it’s use as a tool rather than a toy. This isn’t to say that E-bay is a novelty site but rather that the audience for Multimap is older than the audience of E-bay. Multimap may, for example be used to help plan long car journeys. The type of person who would plan something instead of doing it and then learning from their mistakes would be older and possibly more intelligent. I deduce from this that this type of person would not be happy with gimmicks and would become irritated by their presence. All these educated guesses and assumptions are for the purpose of trying to understand why E-bay has fancy graphics and Mulimap doesn’t. Ultimately I don’t know for certain. The home page of Multimap gets straight to the point by including an image map of Britain, Europe and the whole world. If you know an area by name, you are also in luck as a search engine is included with two boxes. One for searching and one is a drop down box to help specify your search. I would consider E-bay as an e-commerce site and Multimap as a tool site. It should be noted that Multimap doesn’t really fit into the recognised genres of website and so I have called it a tool site as the site could be used as a tool in terms of being the only thing needed to complete the task at hand. I found Multimap in particular to be very user friendly, due mainly to the image maps that showed you what you were looking for. This meant that even if your spelling was incorrect for the area (using the internal search engine) then you could click on the pictures until you find something. Both of these sites are highly original (to an extent) and stand solely (in terms of popularity) in terms of what they offer. These two sites may both have been the first to experiment in their particular fields and so they are the recognised design criteria that others would have to follow. I believe there is no online auction site (at least in this country and America) to challenge E-bay’s position. Multimap is the only online map service I have used as well. E-bay could be improved by removing the external search engine feature thus concentrating on it’s own business. I wasn’t certain at first which search facility to use and so this confusion could be removed. Multimap could possibly be improved by including over ground train maps to add to the currently featured London Underground map.  Online exclusive commerce Amazon is an example of a site/company that is exclusive to the Internet (No actual retail stores are operated) although it’s products cover a wide range like in traditional stores such as Woolworths and more recently Tesco. The site could be called E-commercial but this term is slightly outdated.

The purpose of Amazon is to sell products from a wide range of areas in one place thus potentially negating Copyright © 01/30/2009 Perry Barnes All Rights Reserved in All Media

the use of traditional stores. Amazon has advantages and disadvantages over this type store. Amazon’s costs are lower than traditional stores as they don’t have to pay for floor space with it’s extra costs (sales staff, electricity bill.) Amazon will always have disadvantages in that customers like to see and try a product before handing over cash. Also many consumers don’t like entering their details over the Internet and prefer tried/tested systems (as in shops.) The general content of this site’s home page consists of framing to separate current products (Christmas stuff), links to specific sections of product and two different search engines at the top of the page (internal and external.) The style is interesting in that it isn’t too basic or over the top. The images are specific to current products and the search engine frame is topically based. The content is only used if suitable or essential. I like the design of this page. The home page is rather large and takes up several screens possibly indicating the range of products sold by this company. The amount of items sold by Amazon worldwide since the 1/12/05 is indicated on the home page (53,480,238.) For people who still don’t shop online this total could provide some comfort in the fact that so many others use the service without problems. Amazon follows the recognised design criteria of having a search engine on the first page you access, a frame on the left hand side containing links to other sections and the main content being centred in note form with links to more detailed versions. I believe the site could be improved by condensing its material into links that cover broader terms rather than the current system of several screens attempting to sell current products. I know that I hate scrolling for information in web sites and so I personally would prefer a set of links becoming more specific as I get closer to my intended target compared to the scrolling system currently in place.

Another example of an online exclusive commerce site that would fit into to the genre of e-commerce is Buy.com. The purpose of this site is the same as Amazon in that it sells a wide range of products through the medium of the Internet. I had never heard of this company until I found it in a search engine and now I know why. As you can see, none of the intended images have loaded. If the theory of “customers like to see and try a product” is considered as true then the fact that the consumer can’t even see an image of the product is extremely detrimental to the site and to the company. Thus the general content equals, not much. The site appears to copy the recognised design criteria of Amazon with a home page that spans a few screens, it also has its search engine and links in the same places as Amazon. I would improve this site by sorting out the loading problems associated with the images and by providing a different home page from Amazon’s.

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 Digitised existing products The Wall Street Journal and the Guardian Unlimited are examples of traditional institutions integrating their existing product into the digital medium that is the Internet.

The purpose of these two sites is to provide the type of service a newspaper does (informing readers of current events) but with the benefits of the digital medium (worldwide access, file adaptability etc.) The general content of the Wall Street Journal’s home page relies heavily on the use of dark blue colours. These colours possibly indicate a serious attitude within the page. If this is the case then it fits with the type of readership I assume that the Journal has. I found the page more upfront than others due to a larger font size and particular sentences being emphasised. The Guardian Unlimited content has a more relaxed but serious attitude. The Guardian seems to be exerting an attitude of being about important issues but not taking them too seriously. It appears to achieve this through use of a similar font size throughout the page and lots of white space.

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The Guardian has broken the convention of having hyperlinks framed on the left side of the home page by placing them in the center of the initial screen with lines separating the links rather than a table. The Guardian has an image missing but this does not deter from the quality of the site. Both sites cover many screens with stories in note form and links to more detailed versions of the articles. The Wall Street Journal follows recognised design criterion relevant to most web sites but includes its own style whilst the Guardian Unlimited breaks typical rules such as links on the left and a symmetrically balanced page. I very much like the contrasting messages given out by these two sites and the design employed to achieve them. Therefore I would suggest that the only improvements that could be made would be for each company to try the other one’s style system. If the Guardian suddenly wanted a more serious audience or if the Journal wanted to be more mainstream, then following a recognised design in the form of each other’s may be a suitable method of implementing this strategy.  Internal communications I have had trouble finding websites of this nature as they are generally used for the purpose of keeping important information within organisations. Therefore they are advertised within the organisation. Another purpose of internal communications websites is to inform members of an organisation/institution of current events etc from anywhere around the world. This could also probably be achieved through the sending of one e-mail to multiple addresses but that method raises privacy and “when does work end” issues. One website that I stumbled upon was that of The University of York. I believe I was looking for information on Microsoft Access and so I clicked the link (see next image) and was asked for a password. The general content of this website is not general at all. Every subject you could possibly think of seems to covered by this site in more comprehendible detail than even public service sites can manage. However, the general HTML structure/content of the pages does follow recognised design criteria. It has a banner that is separated from the rest of the page by a horizontal line. Hyperlinks to other major sections of the site are at the bottom of the page and are sectioned off with a horizontal line. This convention is used in my web site (see unit 13). The site utilises mainly black text on a white background, which is typical of word-processed documents but not usually web pages. I like this site as it follows recognised design criteria and conventions throughout. The site is also quite simple in its design which I also like as it only uses features that are useful and practical. The quality of the information contained in the pages is the focus of the site and due to the quantity of it, advanced features would not render advanced gains either for the designers or the end users. I believe that the site is excellent in its current state, so it is difficult to suggest improvements. I know from personal use that if I do not find what I am looking for quickly I will go to another site. Also the eight-second rule suggests that most users will switch off or go elsewhere if they do not get what they need. Without fancy features the download time of the pages has been reduced therefore adhering to the principles of the rule. A potential improvement could be to move the hyperlinks (to other parts of the site) into a frame on the left hand side so that they could be accessed without scrolling the page. Maybe screenshots or icons relating to the applications discussed would help aid visual communication, as not all users of software are aware of its greater significance.

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Internal communications sites are most suited to institutions such as colleges/universities who are expected to provide information for members of staff and students but must keep the two recipients separate. Health & Safety – presentation Download Open Office from openoffice.org to make presentations using Impress. If you are going to use this for your course, you could print it and use it which would be slightly risky but this part of the coursework is about your speaking and listening skills not your writing. So in theory you can just use this presentation. You could use it as a reference guide to give your presentation structure and your new A grade. Or rewrite it changing every sentence and maybe the pictures. Available for download as presentation pdf here: http://www.pdfcoke.com/doc/11560230/Health-and-Safety-Presentation

H e a lth a n d S a fe ty A g o o d o r a b a d th in g ? Designed, edited and presented By Perry Barnes Copyright © 01/30/2009 Perry Barnes All Rights Reserved in All Media

H e a lth a n d S a fe ty A healthy state of well-being & free from disease The state of being certain that adverse effects will not be caused by some agent under defined conditions Has always been important Modern meaning Legislation Effects Claims culture Problematic or helpful

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L e g isla tio n Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 Control of Substances Hazardous to Health 2002 (COSHH) Management of Health and Safety at Work 1999 Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) 1992 Personal Protective Equipment at Work 1992 Manual Handling Operations 1992 The Fire Precautions (Workplace) 1997 Health and Safety (First Aid) 1981 Reporting Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences (RIDDOR) 1995

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H e a lth a n d S a fe ty a t W o rk A ct 1 9 7 4 Individual responsibility Applies to people All employees & employers Other parties Self employed Manufacturers, suppliers and installers So far as is reasonably practicable Illegal to damage anything supplied for safety

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M a n a g e m e n t o f H e a lth a n d S a fe ty a t W o rk 1 9 9 9 Designated persons Information & Training Inform visitors Risk assessment: Assessment of hazards Likelihood of harm Controls: Eliminate Isolate Inform Record & Review

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R e p o rtin g In ju rie s, D ise a se s & D a n g e ro u s RIDDOR O ccu rre n ce s 1 9 9 5 Must report immediately when: A death occurs due to work Accident causing serious injury Any dangerous occurrences Report within 10 days: Off work for more than 3 days due to accident or work related disease Report to Incident Contact Center (ICC) Information used by: HSE & local authorities

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F irst A id 1 9 8 1 Appointed person/s First aid boxes containing: Information leaflet Wrapped plasters Eye pads Bandages Dressings Safety pins Latex gloves No tablets/medication

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P e rso n a l P ro te ctive E q u ip m e n t a t W o rk 1 9 9 2 Provided when risks cannot be removed E.g. goggles, steel toe capped boots, hard hats Employers must: Provide equipment free Maintain, look after & replace Instruct & train Employees must: Wear PPE Look after Ask for replacements

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T h e F ire P re ca u tio n s (W o rkp la ce ) 1 9 9 7 Fire needs fuel, oxygen & heat Preventative measures Fire exits must be provided Fire alarms (regular checks) Fire points & drills Fire extinguishers Signing in book

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C o n tro l o f S u b sta n ce s H a za rd o u s to H e a lth 2 0 0 2 Dangerous liquids, (C O S H H ) powders, gases & dusts: Explosive, irritant & corrosive COSHH assessment: Hazardous substances Risk who & likelihood Controls Inform Record & review

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M a n u a l H a n d lin g O p e ra tio n s 1 9 9 2 Carrying, pushing & lifting Use aids where practicable Repetition should be avoided Do not over stretch Inform & train No obstructions Use PPE Implement correct lifting procedure

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H e a lth a n d S a fe ty (D isp la y S cre e n E q u ip m e n t) 1 9 9 2 Desktop PCs can result in: Eyestrain, headaches & RSI Preventative measures: Fully adjustable seats Plan for breaks Reducing noise Desk layout Inform & train Free eye tests

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A H e lp fu l & G o o d T h in g Helps to prevent accidents before they happen Saves lives Saves money? Compliance with the law Help to prevent disabilities PPE is free Protects visitors Raises awareness Gives employees rights Shared responsibility First aid kits are compulsory

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A P ro b le m a tic & B a d T h in g 13 important sets of regulations 5 specific Too much Why bother Are people allowed to do their jobs? Time consuming Fear of consequences Claims culture Compulsory Costs money?

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O ve rvie w & E va lu a tio n Keep work areas tidy Use your initiative Report potential & active problems Use PPE (its free) Always aim to prevent, rather than deal with the results Effective communication can lead to improvements in safety There are too many regulations Health & safety can be easy to employ after an initial organisational time commitment Health & safety can save money through preventing lost working hours but money is lost through hours spent training Having a defense against “Claims, opportunist soulless americans, Direct” is important morally & financially

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A n y Q u e stio n s? The End Be safe!

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Synopsis, Screenplay and Self Evaluation When I was reading the mark schemes I notice that you can use plays or screenplays/scripts for part of the coursework. I already have these from a film studies course I did. You can quickly Learn how to write something Like this, using my coursework as a guide. This definitely helps you get an A as its more advanced than the other students are writing. The busy teacher looks at it, gives an impressed look then gives you an A. Through all my years in college and school I have noticed the scores students get are rarely about the quality of the work. Things which affect your grades include: does the teacher like you, do you do a lot of work/homework, do you make the teacher's job easy, do you agree with the teacher, does the teacher like your parents. Synopsis: Summary of the story, characters, something you show to someone so they can imagine the film before reading the script. Personal/Imaginative: Explore, Imagine, Entertain Synopsis of my imaginary film A group of three friends leave their town for one day and upon their return find their family and friends dead. The massacre was a result of the antagonist character Deathwood who was forced to leave the town when a group of individuals stood up to him. The group consisted of the three main protagonists (Clara, James and Jeff) two of which are brothers. Deathwood had been trying to create an anti-church movement in the town and he had broken up two marriages with his promiscuous nature. Deathwood knew that the friends were out of town because of his association with the local bartender. Clara Smit is a former girlfriend of James and she was also out of town staying with her husband. The three friends bury the villagers in the local cemetery and go to tell Clara the news. Clara decides to help her old friends. Clara realises that the local bartender had been acting suspiciously of late. The group rides to the next town where the bartender jointly runs a whisky bar. Jeff grabs the bartender. Deathwood shoots the bartender and Jeff from outside of the bar and rides off. After an emotional scene, a chase sequence across rugged terrain ensues. Clara is shot and she falls from her horse. As she is assumed dead (by the audience and the characters) James and Rod continue after Deathwood. The characters approach a cemetery and Deathwood's horse can't be heard anymore. James and Rod get off their horses and proceed quietly to the cemetery. They are both shot a few seconds apart. Whilst they twist in pain, Death wood appears and explains his motives. Before Death wood has a chance to shoot them Clara returns and shoots him. One month later they are still residents of the town which has returned to a state of equilibrium. Rod and Clara are now a couple as they realised through the experience that they weren't so different after all. The drama/film I propose is of the western genre and it bears similar ideas to (I have been influenced by) the film "The Searchers" (1956, John Ford.) Please note that a version of this work was used for an A-level Film course and so it relates to the characteristics of that genre of story telling. Also, please note that this medium uses different devices to draw in/communicate with its audience compared to those employed within traditional non-fiction.

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Italic text explains how the scene looks. (emotions are in brackets) CAPITALS ARE NAMES. PERRY. Change the words and keep the structure and you'll be good.

Screenplay 10.

EXT. FRONT AREA OF CLARA'S HOUSE. EVENING

The background is a dusty plane with mountains and an orange sunset. Thirty-five year-old CLARA SMIT stands within the doorframe. She is wearing clothes that suggest she is a girl who will get her hands dirty if necessary. She is wearing a pair of jeans, a creased shirt and typical cowboy boots. Her entire expression changes when she sees the group (From a blank stare into the distance to a smile of relief and happiness). The front of the house gives the impression that great expense has been used to achieve its current appearance. Rod notices that one of the windows has a hole in it that looks like it was caused by a stone being thrown through it. Due to the prestige condition of the house the hole stands out. A fade up to a close-up on Clara. Clara sees the group coming and runs towards them. Cut from Clara to her point of view of the group on horses. The group halts their horses’ forward movement. Cut to a long shot from a high angle of Clara. She is on the right side of the shot. CLARA (Happy) Boys! It's so good to see you! Cut to close-up of Clara's face. CLARA (Less enthusiastically) And you, Rod? ROD removes his hat. He is wearing expensive looking clothes that infer he is trying to prove something. Cut to mid shot of Rod. ROD Clara. James is fairly scruffy and is wearing a checked shirt with a whisky flask poking out of the pocket. Cut to close-up from a low angle of James. JAMES I'm afraid we've got some bad news for you Clara.

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Cut to an extreme close-up of Jeff's eyes. JEFF (Solemnly) Everyone who was in town yesterday is dead! Cut to close-up of Clara. She is dead center in the shot. CLARA What! Cut to long shot of Rod. ROD Afraid so. Cut to mid shot from a low angle of Jeff. JEFF We buried them up at the old cemetery. Cut to mid shot from a high angle of Clara. She is on the left side of the shot. CLARA (Angrily) Why? Why! Who would do such a thing? Cut to close-up of James. He is on the left of the shot. JAMES Deathwood! Cut to mid shot of Clara. CLARA That no good son of a bitch! Cut to over-the-shoulder shot of Jeff from Clara's shoulder. Low angle shot. JEFF Calm down Clara. We need to know if you've seen anything strange going on this week, in and around the town. Clara is crying, but she tries to regain her composure. Cut to close-up of Clara. CLARA (Distraught) Wait. Maybe. The bartender's behaviour has been strange this week, randomly appearing about town with his little eyes examining every tiny section of the place. Cut to medium close up of James. He's on the right side of the shot. JAMES That guy's got another bar not far from here. Cut to long two shot of James and Rod. ROD Well, what are we waiting for? Cut to long shot from a high angle. CLARA I can't just leave my husband. Copyright © 01/30/2009 Perry Barnes All Rights Reserved in All Media

Clara’s husband can be heard shouting from inside the house. Cut to long shot of the husband with him on the right side of the shot. HUSBAND Clara. Why isn't my dinner done yet? I'm beginning to wonder why I even married you. Cut to mid shot of Clara from a high angle. CLARA On second thoughts, can I ride with you Jeff? Cut to long shot from a low angle of Jeff. JEFF Sure. Clara climbs onto the back of Jeff's horse The group rides towards the sunset. Clara's husband runs to the front of the house whilst holding a whisky bottle and calls out. Cut to very long shot of the Husband. He is on the side of the shot. HUSBAND (Progressively louder) Clara, Clara. Cut to an extreme long shot of the husband HUSBAND (Desperately angry) Clara! Self-evaluation The hole in the window at the front of Clara's house was a representation of the fact that although Clara's marriage appeared good to others, however she had a void in her life and was just making do with what she had. The idea of caring more about aesthetics and possessions than people was the message I was trying to convey through the house. The house is an expensive looking house, which would make the hole more noticeable. This enigma is partially revealed when the Husband speaks, showing himself to be lazy and reliant on Clara. Clara instintively decides to help the group track down Deathwood. A general response to this scene from other students was that they knew something was wrong from this shot and that the device drew them (the audience) into the piece. The use of high and low angle shots was to show the difference between the characters perspectives because of the use of horses was understood by most students i.e. the potential audience. One student commented that the use of high and low angle shots gave the impression that the character in the shot was either weak or strong. This was not my intended effect, but the effect did fit in with the scene. The original group minus Clara was an all male group on horses who would be a stronger combined unit than a single female. So the effect was credible and logical as high angle shots do suggest that that the men were more powerful. Another student liked the use of an extreme close-up of Jeff's eyes when he delivers the line " Everyone who was in town yesterday is dead." The student commented that they could visualise the scene because of the cinematic device's dramatic impact. A criticism that more than one student levelled at my screenplay was that it was slightly cliché in places and quite typical of the western genre. My response to this was that a film can be original, but if it were too Copyright © 01/30/2009 Perry Barnes All Rights Reserved in All Media

original you would lose a section of the mainstream target audience. I tried to avoid this possibility. The tensions between convention and auteurism/the tensions between genre and individual expression are explored in every film. Depending on which side of the boundary the film lies, the film can vary both in its quality and its financial gain. A filmmaker must usually create a film within a genre whilst following specific rules, thus not to confuse the mainstream audience and ensure predictable profitability. At the same time a filmmaker should ensure their product has individual characteristics and can be identified as their own work. For example filmmakers such as Alfred Hitchcock and John Ford worked within specific genres (thrillers and westerns) for most of their careers. However, they lent these genres their own themes and ideologies that helped to ensure the films were identifiable as their own work. My own specific signature within my film is that Clara is the cause of the family breakup, which she causes by walking out on her husband. The antagonist (Deathwood) usually causes family breakup within a film. I haven't included a character that halts the group’s progress as this usually irritates me i.e. the audience. I feel that if a film needs this type of character then it is lacking in other qualities. Irritating someone until his or her attention is gained, is a sign of a poor communicator in life and the same applies for cinema. The romantic interest aids the group instead of hindering its progress and finally the romantic interest couples off with the character she least likes within the group (Rod,) instead of the hero, (James) which is what typically occurs. Clara is searching for her identity throughout the film but eventually realises that the answer is to own nothing but herself. If I had to create this screenplay again I would probably use less close-ups and change the characters positions within the scene to make the scene easier to comprehend.

Copyright © 01/30/2009 Perry Barnes All Rights Reserved in All Media