Critical Analysis of a Film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Critical Analysis of a Film - Essay Example ted nuclear warfare against Russia through a fleet of B-52 bombers each carrying 40 megatons of nuclear warheads directed strategically to Russia’s centers of military activity. The plot thickens as Russian Ambassador Alexi de Sadesky informs U.S. President Merkin Muffley that his country has the Doomsday Device that when triggered would produce a set of nuclear explosions that will eventually lead to the annihilation of all living creatures on earth. Even more alarming is the fact that the device, once triggered, cannot be recalled. The intense subject of the film, especially at a time right after the Cold War, was treated in a different light by its director. No one would have probably expected a political about this topic but this was exactly what Kubrick did. The film shows, in all its legitimate comedic value, the political and social stereotypes that would prevail as a matter of human nature and despite surrounding circumstances. The juxtaposition in the film is an important element to consider in its overall theme. The catchphrase â€Å"Peace is our Profession† is a re-appearing visual that comes out a number of times. In the opening scenes, the audience sees Gen. Ripper on the phone with Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake giving the instructions to implement Plan R and that his order is not a drill. We see him serious on the phone and smoking a cigar intently. On his back is a poster with the phrase and an illustration inside a plaque shape with a clenched fist holding thunderbolts and leaves together with clouds on the background. The same words were not seen immediately on Capt. Mandrake’s background. But as soon as Gen. Ripper can be heard signaling Plan R, the camera changes angles and one can see on his side the same phrase but on a different poster. Instead of the clenched fist, the phrase is unassumingly placed on top of a map with different coordinates around it. This is shown to create the contrast between upholding of peace and starting a war. In

Quantitative Techniques for Business Project Essay

Quantitative Techniques for Business Project - Essay Example This assignment studies behavior of stock prices at daily interval for the period from July 20, 1988 to July 20, 2009. Figure 1, 2 and 3 illustrate the dynamic character of stock prices respectively of companies Microsoft, Intel, and H&P. The graphical views tell us that these three stocks exhibited exponential growth from the beginning until the middle of 2000. All three stocks later dropped in prices by 30%-% 40% in about 24 moths. They never achieved the previous peak. Microsoft maintained stable prices for the rest of the period while Intel and Hewlett & Packard went through bumpy roads. The dynamic character of Apple stock was different from that of previously mentioned stocks. Figure 4 shows the asymptotic behavior of Apple stock prices from the beginning of the observation period until the middle of 1999. In the latter period, Apple stock price exhibited exponential growth until was hit by the global financial crisis of 2008. Apple’s sudden growth after the mid-1999 can be associated with the release of new products and services. The exponential growth of Microsoft, Intel and H&P stock prices from 1988 until 2000 should be contributed to the development of digital technology of that time. Thus, we can conclude that the innovation and new products influence the rise in stock prices. At the same time, irrespective of innovation, the overall market condition also causes influence on the stock prices. Figure 5 depicts S&P 500 index values from September 26, 2008 to November 21, 2008. In 41 days, the index dropped by 34%. This incident is named as the Global Financial Crisis of 2008. It caused a drop in prices of Microsoft, Apple, Intel and H&P stocks respectively by 27.69%, 35.61%, 31.13%, and 27.55%. This assignment is using time-series data of stock prices. Let Pt be the price of an asset at a time index t and P t-1 at a time t-1. We assume