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1 – 10 of over 12000The essay studies the introduction and use of audio-visual media in contemporary Swedish courtroom praxis and how this affects social interaction and the constitution of judicial…
Abstract
The essay studies the introduction and use of audio-visual media in contemporary Swedish courtroom praxis and how this affects social interaction and the constitution of judicial space. The background to the study is the increasing use of video technology in law courts during the last decennium, and in particular the reformed trial code regulating court proceedings introduced in Sweden in 2008. The reform is called A Modern Trial (En modernare rättegång, Proposition 2004/05:131). An important innovation is that testimonies in lower level court proceedings now are video recorded and, in case of an appeal trial, then are screened in the appellate court. The study of social interaction and the constitution of judicial space in the essay is based in part on an ethnographic study of the Stockholm appellate court (Svea hovrätt) conducted in the fall 2010; in part on a study of the preparatory works to the legal reform; and in part on research on how media technology affects social interaction and the constitution of space and place.
Rashmi Dyondi, Shishir Kumar Jha and Arunima Haldar
This paper aims to examine the strategic issues of risk for independent theatrical film distributors in the Hindi film industry in India.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the strategic issues of risk for independent theatrical film distributors in the Hindi film industry in India.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopted qualitative grounded theory approach to explore contextually relevant strategic issues of risk for independent theatrical film distributors. Semi-structured in-depth interviews with Hindi film distributors helped to gain explorative insights about the risk behaviour of film distributors operating in Mumbai “circuit”.
Findings
The findings suggest that risk faced by distributors is a function of product (film content) features, contractual terms, resources such as finance and strength of strategic alliances with the producers. The study develops a business risk model for the film distributors from a series of propositions.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the literature on motion picture industry by highlighting the importance of distribution risk in the film value chain.
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The purpose of this paper is to juxtapose different sources concerning educational experiments embarked on by an English primary school teacher, Muriel Pyrah. Pyrah taught at…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to juxtapose different sources concerning educational experiments embarked on by an English primary school teacher, Muriel Pyrah. Pyrah taught at Airedale School, Castleford, Yorkshire, UK, from the 1950s until 1972. Her approach was celebrated in the fields of oracy and arts education in the final years of her working life. Airedale was a Local Education Authority (LEA) school within the West Riding of Yorkshire, an LEA led by Alec Clegg, from 1945 to 1974.
Design/methodology/approach
Using film footage, sound recordings, artwork and topic books produced by her pupils, the paper entangles these archival sources with recent interviews from Pyrah’s former pupils and a former school inspector (HMI). Pyrah’s actual name has been used, as has that of the HMI. The names of pupils who contributed insights are anonymised.
Findings
The former pupils provide accounts that encourage a move away from a revisiting of progressivism that is predominantly anchored in studying the intentions and hopes of high profile educationalists postwar.
Research limitations/implications
The number of former pupils willing to discuss their memories was small, so no claims are made that their perspectives represent the dominant views of former pupils. However, these interviews reveal details that are absent in the other surviving archival sources.
Originality/value
The paper lays the foundation for further research on the voices of former pupils, inviting a focus on the way those participants reflect on the long-term impact of being involved in an educational experiment. Thus far, the representation of Pyrah’s pedagogy has been choreographed in print to build the legacy of the LEA. The pupils’ stories resonate differently.
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A scheduling and progress control system called Photo‐net is introduced where a digital movie of construction activities can be played back along with an animation of as‐built vs…
Abstract
A scheduling and progress control system called Photo‐net is introduced where a digital movie of construction activities can be played back along with an animation of as‐built vs. as‐planned performance of these activities. A technique to make time‐lapse digital films of construction activities is used. A method to store a digital film is developed allowing thousands of pictures to be stored and managed in a Windows environment. A program is developed that generates critical path method (CPM) derived bar‐charts. A recording system is devised enabling the user to specify the day‐by‐day progress achieved in construction activities, allowing the program to link the playback film with the progress observed on the construction site. A set of input screens are generated by the system that provide a friendly, intuitive and easy way to enter project data. A case study is presented where the system is used, the performance of the system is discussed and the results are analyzed.
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Elizabeth Yeager Washington and Travis Logan Seay
The authors describe an original unit plan that draws from local and national concerns for truthful history education about the history of racial violence in the United States…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors describe an original unit plan that draws from local and national concerns for truthful history education about the history of racial violence in the United States. The unit plan contextualizes one impetus for truth and reconciliation in a community with a history of anti-Black violence.
Design/methodology/approach
The participants partnered with the Equal Justice Initiative to pilot the unit in their district’s new African American History course. The unit drew on historical research and cultural memory to situate local history within a broader context of racism and violence.
Findings
The teachers identified eight goals for the unit so that students could understand racialized violence, acknowledge racism as the lived experience of many of their students, and participate in a collaborative learning environment with productive discussions. Speaking from their own experiences with racism, and creating opportunities for students to do the same, the teachers aided the community in voicing long-silenced memories.
Research limitations/implications
Besides bridging some of the gaps between local, regional, and national histories, more research is needed to further examine historical trauma and its implications for both the past and present, in order to amplify and humanize experiences of racism. Additional research is a critical step in developing more thoughtful, empathic and holistic discussions of history and racism at the local level.
Practical implications
In the wake of the recent past, the authors have learned that teaching about the history of racial violence can be enhanced and empowered by reference to relevant current events. The resurgence of racially charged language and violence over the past few years makes this goal more urgent than ever. This unit gives practical guidance to teachers who face this challenge.
Social implications
The sociopolitical reality of historical trauma and racism must be confronted, and proximity to key events is important in conveying the urgency of racial violence and the need for history education that addresses it. Teachers are making difficult decisions about their options for teaching about race, and they are understandably concerned about any perceived missteps. Nonetheless, inclusive, truthful history education is an appropriate and essential response to narratives of exclusion and silence as the authors help students to develop deliberative skills concerning difficult topics such as racial violence. Teachers and students, together, can do the crucial work of remembering.
Originality/value
The stripping away of narrative agency, identity and history can cover up stories about the stripping away of life and dignity. In the unit plan, the authors recognize truth and reconciliation—especially in the education of people who have relatively little exposure to topics of race and racism—as elemental to a restorative stance against racism.
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The purpose of this research has been to compile an up to date survey of the management methods of the film and television industries used by local and regional government…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research has been to compile an up to date survey of the management methods of the film and television industries used by local and regional government agencies in international production centres. It was intended that the results of the survey would clarify differences in mode of operation and governance and the factors that may contribute to their “attractiveness” from the point of view of the film production market.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology used a combination of written questions and telephone interviews to elicit responses from selected agencies in English‐speaking countries. A typology of different management approaches has been prepared on the basis of the survey data.
Findings
The main findings are that the primary government role is connected with film production management, yet very limited evidence has been found for proactive spatial/economic planning support for the industry by local or regional government.
Research limitations/implications
The limitations of the research relate to the smallness of the sample and the difficulty, in some cases, of eliciting meaningful responses. The implications of the findings are considered to be of considerable relevance to desirable modes of governance, the need for planning reform, and ways in which production management processes can be better streamlined. The potential role for local or regional government in adopting practices more in tune with market requirements has considerable implications for the creative and cultural economy, and the findings are of relevance to government decision makers and senior policy staff.
Social implications
The social implications are indirect and theoretical as they relate to improvements in the cultural landscape of spatial industry clusters. They have not been examined in this paper.
Originality/value
This research program is considered to have originality in that it bridges distinct areas of inquiry usually dealt with by separate professions or skill‐sets (film production, governance and management). Its originality is supported by the limited data discovered in the literature on this combination of topics.
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IN a previous article discussing ‘Boundary Lubrication’ we described this type of lubrication as of the greatest significance because it is the most frequently encountered…
Abstract
IN a previous article discussing ‘Boundary Lubrication’ we described this type of lubrication as of the greatest significance because it is the most frequently encountered condition in everyday machinery. The fact that ordinary bearings, bushes, and indeed reciprocating parts and gear teeth, depend so much on the materials of which they are composed can be taken as evidence that ‘Boundary Lubrication’ plays a predominant part in the functioning of these components.
Sonal Minocha and George Stonehouse
This paper aims to highlight the nature of strategic learning in Bollywood, India's Hindi Film Industry. Film making is an art that requires continuous learning as a prerequisite…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to highlight the nature of strategic learning in Bollywood, India's Hindi Film Industry. Film making is an art that requires continuous learning as a prerequisite to creativity and innovation. Improved competitive performance goes beyond operational organisational learning into strategic learning. This research investigates the extent to which strategic learning, as opposed to operational learning, is taking place within film making organisations operating in the Bollywood setting.
Design/methodology/approach
The research was conducted through two descriptive case studies of production houses in Bollywood using semi‐structured observations and interviews with producers and directors in the case study sites. Data are analysed using techniques of interpretive “illuminative evaluation”.
Findings
The research suggests that the current frame of film making at Bollywood is stuck in a learning trap, in that organisational learning tends to be adaptive not generative and leads only to technical innovation. There has been no change in the paradigm of film making from one rooted in the past and the present, in terms of India's history, social and political context, to one looking to the future. For this paradigm shift to take place a future vision is proposed in the form of strategic learning and innovation, allowing Bollywood to go beyond the domestic Indian market and make a contribution to world cinema by breaking away from its current formulaic approach to film making. These findings also have implications for other management learning and practice contexts.
Research limitations/implications
Although this research is limited to Bollywood, it has implications which potentially go beyond it in the form of a new frame as described above, and also for the organisational learning literature which has tended to focus on learning in general, rather than differentiating between operational learning and strategic learning; whereas operational learning can improve production processes, strategic learning depends upon creativity and innovation as the basis of improved competitive performance.
Practical implications
The paper concludes that the research site is trapped within its current frame of learning and, in order to break away from it, it must embrace strategic learning to move beyond the traditional loops of organisational learning. The practical implications of the paper lie in furthering the understanding of the nature of strategic learning in a creative industry, which may, in turn, shed new light on strategic learning within similar contexts.
Originality/value
The originality of the research stems from the focus on strategic learning and a new site for its exploration in the form of the Bollywood setting. Furthermore it extends understanding of the organisational factors affecting the status of strategic learning in organisations.
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In the 1988 film The Accused, a young woman named Sarah Tobias is gang raped on a pinball machine by three men while a crowded bar watches. The rapists cut a deal with the…
Abstract
In the 1988 film The Accused, a young woman named Sarah Tobias is gang raped on a pinball machine by three men while a crowded bar watches. The rapists cut a deal with the prosecutor. Sarah's outrage at the deal convinces the assistant district attorney to prosecute members of the crowd that cheered on and encouraged the rape. This film shows how Sarah Tobias, a woman with little means and less experience, intuits that according to the law rape victims are incredible witnesses to their own victimization. The film goes on to critique what the “right” kind of witness would be. The Accused, therefore, is also about the relationship between witnessing and testimony, between seeing and the representation of that which was seen. It is about the power and responsibility of being a witness in law – one who sees and credibly attests to the truth of their vision – as it is also about what it means to bear witness to film – what can we know from watching movies.
This paper reports on the analysis of the principalship as portrayed in a sample of 48 films. The analysis reveals that, unlike the timid, obsequious pastor in the Western and the…
Abstract
This paper reports on the analysis of the principalship as portrayed in a sample of 48 films. The analysis reveals that, unlike the timid, obsequious pastor in the Western and the bullying marine sergeant in a war movie, for example, there is little that is stereotypic about the role of the school principal and the types of leadership practised; there is no single model of the “successful” (or, for that matter, “unsuccessful”) principal. Success, however defined, has been achieved by some but it has eluded others. Admittedly, one can readily identify common themes associated with the principalship, for example, the vesting of authority, the exercise of power, relationships with teachers, students and community, and so on. And yet, against this common backdrop, countless scenes have been enacted in which the role of the principal has been one of great variation. Portrayals of roles are, of course, the outcome of the interaction of author, scriptwriter, actor, director ‐ to name but some of those involved in the production of a film. Nevertheless, they provide at times quite extraordinary insights into others’ perceptions of both the role and the exercise of leadership in schools and school communities. For those involved in programs designed to prepare educationists for the principalship, considerable satisfaction is to be found in the variety of representations of this office that are displayed per medium of film. Films provide a legitimate basis on which to analyse leadership behaviour and from which a greater sensitivity to the role may be developed.
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