Francis Ford Coppola :: essays research papers

Following careful thought on which director to study, I chose Francis Ford Coppola. Although he has directed more films than I have had the opportunity to experience, I have viewed enough to understand his progression and style of his work. Over almost forty years of work, Coppola has directed about twenty-five films, produced near forty-five, composed two, and acted in eight. He is known predominantly for Apocalypse Now (1979) and The Godfather I (1972), II (1974), and III (1990). However, he has worked in other genres, such as Horror/Romance, Musical, and even Comedy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the few of his numerous films that I have seen, Coppola appears to use much of the same aesthetic techniques. Most of his works’ mise-en-scene, with some exceptions, seems to be very basic. When he is filming, Francis Ford Coppola does not put too many unnecessary items into the scene. When using a Wide-angle lens, the frames are very open and spacious. This allows the viewer to focus on what is happening, rather than distract their attention. This technique can also prove useful. For example, if he wanted to make a character seem alone, abandoned, and insignificant, this type of shot would work well. Opposite a number of his films, in Apocalypse Now, it was important to some of the frames full. However, they still were not completed with excess objects, instead they were lavishly filled with the natural, lush greens of the Philippines. Francis Ford Coppola also uses dissolves in his works. In The Cotton Club (1984), this technique was used a couple of t imes, when both dancing and singing was being performed. His editing style proved continuous. It was neither choppy, nor disruptive to the viewer, which allowed for a more pleasant experience.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Francis Ford Coppola uses sound in a rather conventional way, but at times adds a touch of his own creative style. The character that the audience is meant to empathize with may have their own particular motif, displayed through music. In The Conversation (1973), whenever Harry Caul, played by Gene Hackman, was intensely thinking about something, the same piano music would play.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  His direction of the actors was executed extremely well. He knew exactly what he wanted from them, and did not give up until it was as he had expected. Some of his setbacks in Apocalypse Now support this opinion. He wanted every part to be performed perfectly.

Intellect vs. Instinct in “To Build a Fire” by Jack London Essay

The ignorance of the main character in To Build a Fire by Jack London is what ultimately causes his failure. He has never experienced cold like that of the Yukon Trail but is confidant, regardless, that he will reach his goal of meeting his friends at the campsite. It is the man’s determination to follow his intellect rather than his instinct that reveals his ignorance. The man begins his journey relying on flawed intellect. He illogically treks through snow, wetting his boots and feet, and must dry them before they succumb to frostbite. When the dog’s feet get wet, it instinctively licks and bites at the ice that forms between its toes. The man helps the dog, briefly removing his mitten in the numbing cold. The man does not take the same precautions, he continuously ignores his instinct. The man’s second accident occurs when he proceeds to build a fire under a snow covered tree, which begins to melt and blots the fire out. Logic is eluding him and his confidence begins to dwindle, as his journey quickly turns to failure. The old man never learns from his mistakes, and his failures compound. London writes that this second mistake was his â€Å"own fault or, rather, his mistake.† Here London is showing his beliefs as a naturalist. Had this second problem been his â€Å"fault† the author would be condemning his protagonist much more strongly; however, he calls this a mistake, a much softer term, suggesting that the man should not be held liable for his actions. Had he anticipated that lighting a fire under a frost-covered tree would cause the heavy ice to melt and fall, yet still done it, only then would he be held liable. The man’s mind begins to run wild with thoughts of insecurity and death when the second fire fails. He recollects the story of a man who kills a steer to stay warm and envisions himself killing his dog and crawling into the carcass to warm up so he can build a fire to save himself. London writes, â€Å"a certain fear of death, dull and oppressive, came to him.† Had the man been following his instinct instead of attempting to survive on his (obviously flawed) intellect throughout the story, he may have survived. The dog â€Å"experienced a vague but menacing apprehension†(921) that the man coldly did not allow himself to also experience. The man’s dog uses his instincts to survive the cold. â€Å"The dog did not know anything about thermometers. Possibly in it’s brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the man’s brain. But the brute had it’s instincts† writes London. The dog, who has an innate understanding of the cold, tries to burrow under the snow for warmth. He even senses the danger of remaining with the man who would kill the dog in order to bury his hands in it’s warm carcass, and escapes him by snarling and growling. When the animal leaves for the campsite he is showing that animals are not afraid of injuring their pride. The dog knows he needs fire and food. The story is a struggle of nature versus man, and throughout the story nature succeeds. The frigid arctic environment will yield nothing to the man. The tone of the story is as frigid and frightening as the setting the man has found himself in, the reader is just as unaccustomed to the cold as the old man and London’s vivid and descriptive language serve as a tool to shock the reader into realizing just how dire the man’s situation is. The cold becomes a character, fighting the man and foiling him at every turn. London emphasizes the importance of having a respect and a knowledge of the world that was surrounding the man, writing that â€Å"the man did not know the cold. Possibly all the generations of his ancestry did not know the cold, of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point. But the Dog knew; all it’s ancestry knew, and it had inherited that knowledge.† (London, 924) Here we see London’s position as a naturalist taking shape in his writing. Ideally, in a successful naturalist story, the dire cold situation would have brought out the man’s most basic natural instincts. The story repeats that the man is not thinking of material things in the arctic â€Å"once in awhile the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and he had never experienced such cold.† This is probably to emphasize that when one is experiencing such extremes of nature, the extreme is what takes over, and the mind almost shuts down to anything except the nature around them. â€Å"Empty as the man’s mind was of thoughts, he was keenly observant, and he noticed changes in the creeks, the curves and bends and timbre jams, and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet. Here, the man is learning from his  prior mistakes and letting himself be led by the cold, earlier when he was thinking of his goal and not of his feet, he found himself with freezing toes. Now, after time in the Yukon, he has found a respect for the cold. Although, this respect is not enough to drive him to the next campsite, London is unforgiving of the man’s original eubrice in taking on the cold, and does not seem to want to allow him to succeed. Eventually the man’s focus had to turn from his own goal, reaching the riches of the Yukon Trail, to survival, and fighting the frostbite that is slowly overtaking his body. However, the man refuses to consider the consequences of his actions, even when his life is threatened by the accidents: â€Å"And all the time, in his consciousness, was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing. This thought tended to put him in a panic, but he fought against it and kept calm† (923). Had the man allowed his instinct to take over here, he may have succeeded, but his rationality is his greatest enemy. The man also lacks foresight, â€Å"He drove the thought of his freezing feet, and nose, and cheeks, out of his mind, devoting his whole soul to the matches† (922). He should not be focusing on the matches when frostbite is obviously overtaking his body because once he does light a fire, he still has these other obstacles to tackle. He never acknowledges, and perhap s never sees, that he should have been valuing survival over wealth from the very beginning. It is unclear whether the end of the story is a message fromt he author that the old man should not have given up, and allowed himself to die, or continued to fight the cold. It is only when he is certain of his death that he acknowledges the wise words of the man at the campsite who told him not to attempt the trek. â€Å"You were right, old hoss, you were right† he says to himself, drifting into a comfortable sleep that one can only interpret as death. The message seems to be that giving up was the correct thing to do, because in allowing himself to die he is finally escaping from his pride and ignorance, and praising the words of the wise traveler. His self realization allows himself to be seen as a simile, a chicken with it’s head cut off running around in vain trying to save himself. It is when he decides that all is lost, and realizes he was wrong to set out that he is finally  comfortable, the tragedy is that his comfort is in death. The traveler’s struggle with the tremendous cold is apparent, but he never admits that his plight is his own fault. â€Å"He cursed his luck aloud† (London, 923) notice he speaks of luck, and not of a lack-of-common sense. Repeatedly warned of the dangers, he still singularly set out to locate timber and travel to the next campsite. His stubbornness is foolish. His confidence, merely arrogance, draws attention to an even more concerning internal conflict: The story is a fatal example of the human inclination to sometimes allow determination to drown out our intuitive voice.

The Role of T Cells in the Body

T cells are a type of white blood cell known as a lymphocyte. Lymphocytes protect the body against cancerous cells and cells that have become infected by pathogens, such as bacteria and viruses. T cell lymphocytes develop from stem cells in bone marrow. These immature T cells migrate to the thymus via the blood. The thymus is a lymphatic system gland that functions mainly to promote the development of mature T cells. In fact, the T in T cell lymphocyte stands for thymus derived. T cell lymphocytes are necessary for cell mediated immunity, which is an immune response that involves the activation of immune cells to fight infection. T cells function to actively destroy infected cells, as well as to signal other immune cells to participate in the immune response. Key Takeaways: T Cells T cells are lymphocyte immune cells that protect the body from pathogens and cancer cells.T cells originate from bone marrow and mature in the thymus. They are important for cell mediated immunity and the activation of immune cells to fight infection.Cytotoxic T cells actively destroy infected cells through the use of granule sacs that contain digestive enzymes.Helper T cells activate cytotoxic T cells, macrophages, and stimulate antibody production by B cell lymphocytes.Regulatory T cells suppress the actions of B and T cells to decrease the immune response when a highly active response is no longer warranted.Natural Killer T cells distinguish infected or cancerous cells from normal body cells and attack cells that do not contain molecular markers that identify them as body cells. Memory T cells protect against previously encountered antigens and may provide lifetime protection against some pathogens. T Cell Types T cells are one of three main types of lymphocytes. The other types include B cells and natural killer cells. T cell lymphocytes are different from B cells and natural killer cells in that they have a protein called a T-cell receptor that populates their cell membrane. T-cell receptors are capable of recognizing various types of specific antigens (substances that provoke an immune response). Unlike B cells, T cells do not utilize antibodies to fight germs. This is a colored scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of resting T lymphocytes from a human blood sample. Steve Gschmeissner / Science Photo Library / Getty Images There are several types of T cell lymphocytes, each with specific functions in the immune system. Common T cell types include: Cytotoxic T cells (also called CD8 T cells)  - are involved in the direct destruction of cells that have become cancerous or are infected by a pathogen. Cytotoxic T cells contain granules (sacs containing digestive enzymes or other chemical substances) that they utilize to cause the target cell to burst open in a process called apoptosis. These T cells are also the cause of transplant organ rejection. The T cells attack the foreign organ tissue as the transplant organ is identified as infected tissue.Helper T cells  (also called CD4 T cells)  - precipitate the production of antibodies by B cells and also produce substances that activate cytotoxic T cells and white blood cells known as macrophages. CD4 cells are targeted by HIV. HIV infects helper T cells and destroys them by triggering signals that result in T cell death.Regulatory T cells  (also called suppressor T cells) - suppress the response of B cells and other T cells to antigens. This suppression is needed so that an immune response does not continue once it is no longer needed. Defects in regulatory T cells can lead to the development of an autoimmune disease. In this type of disease, immune cells attack the bodys own tissue.Natural Killer T (NKT) cells - have a similar name as a different type of lymphocyte called a natural killer cell. NKT cells are T cells and not natural killer cells. NKT cells have properties of both T cells and natural killer cells. Like all T cells, NKT cells have T-cell receptors. However, NKT cells also share several surface cell markers in common with natural killer cells. As such, NKT cells distinguish infected or cancerous cells from normal body cells and attack cells that do not contain molecular markers that identify them as body cells. One type of NKT cell known as an invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cell, protects the body against obesity by regulating inflammation in adipose tissue.Memory T cells  - help the immune system to recognize previously encountered antigens and respond to them more quickly and for a longer period of time. Helper T cells and cytotoxic T cells can become memory T cells. Memory T cells are stored in the lymph nodes and spleen and may provide lifetime protection against a specific antigen in some cases. T Cell Activation T-cells regulate immune responses, release the perforin and granzymes, and attack infected or cancerous cells. ttsz / iStock / Getty Images Plus T cells are activated by signals from antigens they encounter. Antigen-presenting white blood cells, such as macrophages, engulf and digest antigens. Antigen-presenting cells capture molecular information about the antigen and attach it to a major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecule. The MHC molecule is then transported to the cell membrane and presented on the surface of the antigen-presenting cell. Any T cell that recognizes the specific antigen will bind to the antigen-presenting cell via its T-cell receptor. Once the T-cell receptor binds to the MHC molecule, the antigen-presenting cell secretes cell signaling proteins called cytokines. Cytokines signal the T cell to destroy the specific antigen, thus activating the T cell. The activated T cell multiplies and differentiates into helper T cells. Helper T cells initiate the production of cytotoxic T cells, B cells, macrophages, and other immune cells to terminate the antigen.