Caravaggio and his painting of St John Baptist execution

The painting in question is the beheading of St John the baptist by Caravaggio.

Here we see two things in conflict(as always have and will remain) evil represented by darkness and the good represented by light.  

In this ciaroscuro painting, at the back on the right hand side, we see two prisoners jailed, looking through the window bar with heads within a slightly fading spot of light and their background in complete darkness this could easily represent the position a human being find himself after an act of evil, putting oneself into isolation or finding one self into isolation as distant oneself from goodness.  Caravaggio could easily be identified by this mentioned isolation as after a quarrel and seriously injery reaching the death of a police officer, he fled Milan in direction to Rome to find protection from authorities in mid 1952.  A phrase from his biography says he arrived to Rome 'naked and extremely needy...without fixed address and without provision...short of money'.

His friend Longhi introduced him to the world of Roman street brawls, and most of the time he got into serious trouble which lead him to move from a place to another in Italy.

His attitude started  to becoming bizarre sometimes sleeping fully armed and with his clothes, ripping up a painting at a slight word of criticism, mocking local painters and fleaing from a state to another when he got in serious trouble.

The two figures in the painting the executor and his victim in this case St John are lighten up from a dark background putting them in focus of the composition.

The executor can easily be identified with the force of evil and St John representing rightousness, but the light. 

available at: http://www.caravaggio-foundation.org/[Accessed 22nd December 2012]

available at: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Michelangelo-Caravaggio_021_Beheading-of-St-John-the-Baptist_cropped.jpg[Accessed 22nd December 2012]

Film - The Karate Kid Part 1

In this trilogy film the first from a series of three we see a young boy named Daniel Larusso of around 16 years being fatherless living only with his mum in New Jersey.  His mother, finding finding a new job with a computer company, had to leave with Daniel to a new state, that of Los Angeles.

Daniel leaving his own friends behind, an inner conflict developes in him, that of adapting to a new way of life and having to make new friends against wanting to remain  safe as part of his previous life.

This development of inner conflict is shown throughout the film by portraying Daniel always alone with no one of his age around.  Only once we see Daniel meeting a new neighbour of his age who invited him to a beach BBQ.  This invitation develops into an outer conflict as well, as Daniel tries to get himself noticed by a group of girls of his age who were present.  One in particular named Ali. whose he got her attention and by the evening had gotten into a conversation by the beach.  It happened that Ali was an ex-girlfriend of a leader of a gang of karate students, known as the Cobras.

By night these guys came to the beach with motorbikes.   The leader came for Ali and he started shouting at her.   At this point the producer used a heavy rock music signifiying a sense of war.
Daniel intervened and this caused a fight between Daniel and the leader, ending in Daniel being kicked in his stomach and falling down with pain.  He felt miserable and wanted to stay alone, again the inner conflict between making or not making new friends.

Time went by, Daniel kept contact with Ali at school and in her presence he felt important and in touch to himself.  In her he saw the essence presence of fulfilled friendship, and things showed a sign of change, making us more aware of the innner conflict in himself.

By time throughout the film the bullying episodes kept repeating themselves.  Daniel sought a revnge on them, he wanted Miyagi, a Japanese old person working as a handymanin, at the court of apartments, to teach him karate but Miyagi understood that he wanted revenge.  Many times he told him that karate is a last resort to a problem.  Only when Daniel was badly beaten on a particular night and did Miyagi intervene, kicking them back and taking Daniel to care for him in his flat.

Miyagi, who believed Karate should not be used for revenge, however, felt he needed to help Daniel, another inner conflict.  That was the point when Miyagi accepted to help Daniel.
This started at first by Miyagi giving Daniel some home duties like waxing the car, phrase "wax on wax off",  painting a fence up and down strokes.  Daniel felt angry and his inner conflict was transformed lastly in Daniel by his agressive in his tone to Miyagi and wanting to leave.
Seeing this Miyagi shouted and asked Daniel to come in front of him. Miyagi made some punching moves and asked Daniel make the moves of "wax on wax off", and by this movement showed Daniel that these duties were a form of learning karate moves but at the same time developing a sense of internal control through discipline, the key to growth and control of the internal self, leaving one able to deal better with inner conflict.

Lastly his outer conflict is settled by taking part in a karate competition, which although the gang cheated on the rules in order to hurt and humilate him.  Through Miyage's advice about certain moves.
Daniel not only settled the outer conflict with the gang, by winning the tournament, but also his inner conflict by winning the friendship of his bullies and being accepted in society, shown through the applause, showing he became quite known and not just that lonly guy who no one knew.

Double Identity - Peter Parker versus Spider-man

One conflict which creators Stan Lee(writer-editor) and Steve Ditko(writer artist) conceived into this true character of Peter Parker and which made him a comic superhero, is the double role he had to play in his life, the first and true identity of an ordinary normal but very shy school college teenager and the second the American superhero he became on wearing his masked costume of the Spidy better known as Spider-Man.

Steve Ditko - writer-artist

The conflict in Peter Parker which many times shows and is never to be resolved is that while he got through the stages of his life from an orphaned baby, as his parents were killed in a plane crash as they were US government spies, to a child raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben, to a teenage high school student self obsessed with rejection, inadequacy and loneliness.  He was nerdy scientific student being frequently bullied by students of his age at Midtown High school.  It was at this time of feeling rejected and bullied by mates, at age 15, that an experience happened to change his life forever.  While attending a public science exibition, he was bitten on his hand by a spider that had been radioactively hit by a beam source, and this caused changes to his human body.

Stan Lee - writer-editor

In contrast to his weak human body, he was empowered with an arachnid's ability of super strength, agility, ability to cling to most surfaces, shoot spider-webs from web-shooters and also gained, of a sixth sense which made him aware of any incoming danger.

This experience made him with emotionally strength, as over time it was conceived as a change of role into social life from a rejected, unaccepted and inadequate guy to a superhero to both teens and people of New York.

available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man[Accessed 2nd November 2012]

DC Comics super hero - The Batman

The creation of the American comic superhero Batman was created by comic book artist and writer Bob Kane and comic strip and book writer Bill Finger.

available at: http://omegaie.com/gamepro-cover-batman-by-vegasmike-on-deviantart.html

All the stories of Batman deal with the conflict of good against evil.4
The superhero identity is Bruce Wayne, an American millionare playboy, industrialist and philanthropist living in a huge mansion named Waynor Manor, inheritance by Wayne's family from several generations, surrounded by vast country lands outside Gotham City.  This mansion was looked after by Wayne's servant Alfred Pennyworth.

There is an ongoing secondary conflict, because although Bruce wanted revenge against criminals for the killing of his parents he does not take it, but brings criminals to justice.

Most of, if not all, the stories of Batman's conflicts take place in a fictional city called Gotham City.
Witnessing the murder of his parents as a child and knowing that Gotham City was becoming corrupted, with high criminal offences which not even the police could control, he swore that one day, when grownup, he would take revenge on criminals and bring back Gotham City under law and order.

Bruce, at this point grownup as a man, created a Bat themed costume, consisting of a black hood with slits for eyes to look more mysterious, a cape looking like stiff bat wings which could transform him into a secret operational night detective to solve and fight criminal offences.

While wearing this bat costume, he trained himself physically and intellectually, acquiring detective skills.  Using hi-tech science and technology equipment he trained in martial art skills and become confident in managing his Will, Fear and intimidation and made his special abilities a form of superpower to fight any kind of conflict created by one of his criminal enemies who tries to control Gotham City.
Batman operated his strategies from the called Batcave, a cave system under the Wayne Manor house.   This cave was discovered by Bruce Wayne when he was a boy and access to it was from a hidden door in his house.

His criminal enemies were various, such as, to mention a few, the Joker who was his strongest enemy, the Riddler, Two-face, Scarecrow, Poison ivy and many more.

The artist, together with the comic strip writer, and other licensed creators, used the superhero Batman to create a conflict with one of his enemies in order that a comic book story is created, and with special artistic and writing skills gave each story a thrilling and exciting episode in Batman's life.

The Ridlder

The Joker 

available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman[Accessed 30th October 2012]

Alfa Romeo - The 4C Prototype model

This model, the 4C Alfa Romeo concept car, has an aggressive front, like most Alfa's.  The shape is like a bullet, which makes it better aerodynamical.

The design of cars always seems in conflict with it's surrounding environment because it has to fight air resistance and road friction to move but it's Lava Red Body emphasises such conflict anyway.
The process of such a creative concept started as most other sports car designs, from the designer's pencil sketches, done on the drawingboard.  These sketches show all emphases and enthusiasm on the dynamic body shape, showing the streamlined shape and each sketch improves on the one before.

Last final sketches integrate one's feelings and conviction for a successful design and for having a unique shape.  After all these sketches, the designer started a technical design.  These show the relevant precise details and measurements of this concept car in 2D.

Once the technical design is completed, the design is formed into a 3D concept by making it into a clay model.  This was done to a scale of 3/8 of the real final product.  The Alfa 4C, with its curves and smooth lines is taking shape.

An actual hard model looking like the final real concept car is made.  It is 4m long and has a wheel base of 2.4m.

The final real model is made of a carbon fibre chassis with a floor pan that includes space for seats.

Aluminium is used at the back and at crash boxes, to help make the car lighter.  This is like carbon fibre chassis and getting the best centre of gravity.

This bring again the conflict between the powerful agressive performance expected of the racing car with its light body and shape that hide "Maximum agility and road holding is achieved through sofisticated suspensions."

The strong and agressive performance is because of a turbo  concept car having strong volumes and cross sections at rears and at the front having to long muscles that give rise to two front wings and a ' V'shape on the bonnet ending in a distinctive badge.

Maximum agility and road holding is achieved through sofisticated suspensions.

The strong and agressive performance is because of a turbo petrol engine placed in the centre which can accelerate 0 to 100km in just under 5 seconds.

The designer's sketch becomes the powerful car, ready to take on the fight with the environment to be the fastest.

available at: http://www.alfaromeo.com/com/#/design/4c-concept [Accessed 10th November 2012]

Name of Film: The Last Samurai

This film, the Last Samurai, takes place in 1876 in Japan.

The main part of Nathan is played by Tom Cruise.  Nathan is an ex-cavalry officer engaged by the Emperor of Japan to train the Japanese Army.  During a battle with a samurai clan he was captured and taken prisoner.  He lived with them for 2 seasons.  Although he was a prisoner he discovered an inner peace by finding himself.
In a final battle, where many are killed, he vanishes through the mountains.

The inner conflict experienced by Nathan in this story is shown by __through flashbacks and guilty feelings about a Massacre of American Indians.  A bright blue colour in these scenes gives these flashbacks a unity and continuity to help the viewer.  At first Nathan tries to resolve this conflict by turning to alcohol, shown through the continued presence of a bottle of whisky.


When the inner conflict is resolved we do not see the bottle anymore.

During his time in command this inner conflict, was shown through the parts played by the other officers and his continued rebellion against authority and his agressive personality.

This inner conflict is also shown through a fast pace in filming and the use of dark colours.  When he is taken prisoner the pace of the film seems to change.

One scene as soon as he is taken prisoner shows a fight between him and his captor inthe rain and although he loses, this seems to be a turning point in the inner conflict.