Slackers, slashers and sticklers : Hollywood films and audience reception /

This thesis examines the processes through which identity is acquired and the processes that Hollywood :films employ to facilitate audience identification in order to determine the extent to which individuality is possible within postmodem society. Opposing views of identity formation are considered: on the one hand, that of the Frankfurt School which envisions the mass audience controlled by the culture industry and on the other, that of John Fiske which places control in the hands of the individual. The thesis takes a mediating approach, conceding that while the mass media do provide and influence identity formation, individuals can and do decode a variety of meanings from the material made available to them in accordance with the text's use-value in relation to the individual's circumstances. The analysis conducted in this thesis operates on the assumption that audiences acquire identity components in exchange for paying to see a particular film. Reality Bites (Ben Stiller 1994) and Scream (Wes Craven 1996) are analyzed as examples of mainstream 1990s films whose material circumstances encourage audience identification and whose popularity suggest that audiences did indeed identify with them. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson 2001) is considered for its art film sensibilities and is examined in order to determine to what extent this film can be considered a counter example. The analysis consists of a combination of textual analysis and reception study in an attempt to avoid the problems associated with each approach when employed alone. My interpretation of the filmmakers' and marketers' messages will be compared with online reviews posted by film viewers to determine how audiences received and made use of the material available to them. Viewer-posted reviews, both unsolicited and unrestricted, as found online, will be consulted and will represent a segment of the popular audience for the three films to be analyzed.

Study of colossal magnetoresistance and pressure effects in La2/3Ca1/3MnO2 thin films /

The main purpose of this thesis is to study properties of La2/3Cai/3Mn03, both polycrystalline ceramics and thin films. This material has striking related electrical and magnetic properties. Thin films show colossal negative magnetoresistance (CMR) near transition from an insulating to a metallic state accompanied closely by transition from a paramagnetic to a ferromagnetic state. The double exchange mechanism (DE) and the Jahn-Teller deformations play an important role in CMR effect. Applied pressure has a very similar effect as does an applied magnetic field, except, at low temperatures (Tfilms by pulsed laser deposition was successfully developed. The films grown on (100) SrTiOs substrate are c-axis oriented and exhibit negative magnetoresistance Ap/p(H) of over 400% at 245°C and 4200% at 90 K.

Systematic studies of the effect of pressure on magnetic and electronic properties of La2/3Ca1/3MnO3 thin films with various thicknesses /

Interest in mixed-valent perovskite manganese oxides of La\-xAxMnO^ (v4-divalent alkaline earth Ca, Sr or Ba), whose unusual properties were discovered nearly a half century ago, has recently been revived. The discovery of the colossal magnetoresistance and pressure effects introduced new questions concerning the complex interplay between lattice structure, magnetism and transport in doped perovskite manganites. In this study, we report our experimental investigations of pressure and magnetic field dependencies of La-i/sCai/sMnOs (LCMO) epitaxial films with various thickness on SrTiO$ substrate. An analysis of film thickness dependency of the resistivity of LCMO epitaxial films under pressure and magnetic field has been performed by taking into account substrate contributions. This verifies the correlation of lattice distortion with magnetic and transport properties. Strong dependencies of Mn — O — Mn bond bending and Mn — O bond stretching with pressure as well as Mn spin alignment with magnetic field, and the lattice distortion induced by the substrate are discussed.

Infrared spectroscopy of Mg-doped SrRuO3 thin films /

The reflectance of thin films of magnesium doped SrRu03(Mg-SR0) produced by pulsed laser deposition on SrTiOa (100) substrates has been measured at room temperature between 100 and 7500 cm~^. The films were chosen to have wide range of thickness, stoichiometry and electrical properties. As the films were very thin (less than 300 nm), and some were insulating the reflectance data shows structures due to both the film and the substrate. Hence, the data was analyzed using Kramers-Kronig constrained variational fitting (VDF) method to extract the real optical conductivity of the Mg-SRO films. Although the VDF technique is flexible enough to fit all features of the reflectance spectra, it seems that VDF could not eliminate the substrate's contribution from fllm conductivity results. Also the comparison of the two different programs implementing VDF fltting shows that this technique has a uniqueness problem. The optical properties are discussed in light of the measured structural and transport properties of the fllms which vary with preparation conditions and can be correlated with differences in stoichiometry. This investigation was aimed at checking the VDF technique and also getting answer to the question whether Mg^"*" substitutes in to Ru or Sr site. Analysis of our data suggests that Mg^+ goes to Ru site.

Composition analysis of high-Tc superconducting thin films by quantitative x-ray fluorescence

A method is presented for determining the composition of thin films containing the elements Bi, Sr, Br, Cu, and Ca. Quantitative x-ray fluorescence (XRF) consisting of radioactive sources (secondary foil excitor 241Am-Mo source and 55Pe source), a Si(Li) detector, and a multichannel analyzer were employed. The XRF system was calibrated by using sol gel thin films of known element composition and also by sputtered thin films analyzed by the conventional Rutherford Back Scattering (RBS). The XRF system has been used to assist and optimize the sputter target composition required to produce high-Tc BiSrCaCuO films with the desired metal composition.

Exchange reactions of organic halides and organo-silicon compounds with boron tribromide and boron triiodide

Reactions of the boron halides with organic halides and organo-silicon compounds have been investigated. The results show exchange of halogens between the BX3 (X = Br# 1) and the organic halidef exchange of the halogen of the C-X bond being proved. The rates of halogen exchange vary. Reaction of the heavier halides with organo-silicon compounds indicated that the silicon-carbon bonds ruptured in the absence of electronegative atom attached to the silicon. The presence of an electronegative atom (halogen or oxygen) attached to the silicon causes the bond between the silicon and the electronegative atom to be preferentially broken. Products of exchange reactions of the boron halides and the organic halides or the organo-silicon compounds were studied by use of 1H NMR and GC/MS. From these results some possible mechanisms for the exchange reactions are postulated, but further work is indicated to prove the real courses of the reactions

Low frequency Raman scattering in amorphous materials: fused quartz, "pyrex" boro-silicate glass and soda-lime silicate glass

Raman scattering in the region 20 to 100 cm -1 for fused quartz, "pyrex" boro-silicate glass, and soft soda-lime silicate glass was investigated. The Raman spectra for the fused quartz and the pyrex glass were obtained at room temperature using the 488 nm exciting line of a Coherent Radiation argon-ion laser at powers up to 550 mW. For the soft soda-lime glass the 514.5 nm exciting line at powers up to 660 mW was used because of a weak fluorescence which masked the Stokes Raman spectrum. In addition it is demonstrated that the low-frequency Raman coupling constant can be described by a model proposed by Martin and Brenig (MB). By fitting the predicted spectra based on the model with a Gaussian, Poisson, and Lorentzian forms of the correlation function, the structural correlation radius (SCR) was determined for each glass. It was found that to achieve the best possible fit· from each of the three correlation functions a value of the SCR between 0.80 and 0.90 nm was required for both quartz and pyrex glass but for the soft soda-lime silicate glass the required value of the SCR. was between 0.50 and 0.60 nm .. Our results support the claim of Malinovsky and Sokolov (1986) that the MB model based on a Poisson correlation function provides a universal fit to the experimental VH (vertical and horizontal polarizations) spectrum for any glass regardless of its chemical composition. The only deficiency of the MB model is its failure to fit the experimental depolarization spectra.

Polytypism and Silicon carbide : a solid state nuclear magnetic resonance study

A survey of predominantly industrial silicon carbide has been carried out using Magic Angle Spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS nmr); a solid state technique. Three silicon carbide polytypes were studied; 3C, 6H, and 15R. The 13C and 29 Si MAS nmr spectra of the bulk SiC sample was identified on the basis of silicon (carbon) site type in the d iff ere n t pol Y t Y pes • Out to 5.00 A fro mac en t r a lsi 1 i con (0 r carbon) atom four types of sites were characterized using symmetry based calculations. This method of polytype analysis was also considered, in the prelminary stages, for applications with other polytypic material; CdBr 2 , CdI 2 , and PbI 2 " In an attempt to understand the minor components of silicon carbide, such as its surface, some samples were hydrofluoric acid washed and heated to extreme temperatures. Basically, an HF removable species which absorbs at -110 ppm (Si0 2 ) in the 29 Si MAS nmr spectrum is found in silicon carbide after heating. Other unidentified peaks observed at short recycle delays in some 29 Si MAS nmr spectra are considered to be impurities that may be within the lattice. These components comprise less than 5% of the observable silicon. A Tl study was carried out for 29 Si nuclei in a 3C ii polytype sample, using the Driven Equilibrium Single-Pulse Observation of T1 (DESPOT) technique. It appears as though there are a number of nuclei that have the same chemical shift but different T1 relaxation times. The T1 values range from 30 seconds to 11 minutes. Caution has to be kept when interpreting these results because this is the first time that DESPOT has been used for solid samples and it is not likely in full working order. MAS nmr indicates that the 13C and 29 Si ~sotropic chemical shifts of silicon carbide appear to have a reciprocal type of relationship_ Single crystal nmr analysis of a 6H sample is accordance with this finding when only the resultant isotropic shift is considered. However, single crystal nmr also shows that the actual response of the silicon and carbon nuclear environment to the applied magnetic field at various angles is not at all reciprocal. Such results show that much more single crystal nmr work is required to determine the actual behavior of the local magnetic environment of the SiC nuclei.

Preparation of SrMgx-Ru1-xO3 thin films by pulsed laser deposition /

SrMg^Rui-iOa thin films were made by using pulsed laser deposition on SrTiOa (100) substrates in either O2 or Ar atmosphere. The thin films were characterized by x-ray diffraction, energy dispersive x-ray microanalysis, dc resistivity measurement, and dc magnetization measurement. The effect of Mg doping was observed. As soon as the amount of Mg increased in SrMg-cRui-iOa thin films, the magnetization decreased, and the resistivity increased. It had little effect on the Curie temperature (transition temperature). The magnetization states of SrMgiRui-iOa thin films, for x < 0.15, are similar to SrRuOs films. X-ray diffraction results for SrMga-Rui-iOa thin films made in oxygen showed that the films are epitaxial. The thin films could not be well made in Ar atmosphere during laser ablation as there was no clear peak of SrMg^Rui-iOa in x-ray diffraction results. Substrate temperatures had an effect on the resistivity of the films. The residual resistivity ratios were increased by increasing substrate temperature. It was observed that the thickness of thin films are another factor for film quality: Thin films were epitaxial, but thicker films were not epitaxial.

Buddy films and gender identity : representing the bonds of masculinity /

The study examines the buddy film genre and the representation of masculinity in relation to the homosocial and the homoerotic. As a genre, the buddy films focus on male relationships, thematically seeking to mediate the boundaries surrounding the homosocial continuum and the intimacy and eroticism implicit in male bonding. Theories of genre, gender and identity are used to analyze the construction of masculine identity within the films. By providing a qualitative analysis of films from the 1960s to contemporary times, the research establishes a relationship between social changes, attitudes toward men and depictions of men. The buddy films adapt to address changes in the representation of masculinity, embodied in the difference between the male couple in the films. The early films of the 1960s served as templates that deconstructed traditional representations of male identity through articulating the tension within homosocial relationships. However, in the later films this tension became a refle~ive convention, acting to undermine the eroticism onto a displaced Other. The buddy film genre highlights the tension inherent to the male masquerade. This tension is situated in the need to represent the protagonist's homosocial relationship, while disavowing the eroticism that surrounds homosocial bonding. The structure of the buddy film genre, which focuses on the exploration of masculinity and representing the bonds of homosocial intimacy, makes these films a significant site for investigating the cultural construction of masculine identities.

Pressure dependence of superconductivity in amorphous Ni x Zr 100-x alloys

Pressure variations of the superconducting transition temperature Ic of a series of amorphous NixZr 1 OO-x alloys have been studied under quasmydrostatic pressures upto 8 G Pa. For amorphous samples having Ni-concentration less than 40%, i)Tc/dP is positive in sign and it decreases non linearly with increase in I. whereasdTcldP is negative in sign for Ni concentration of 45%. Comparison with the Hall coefficient (I) and the thermoelectric power (2) results for the same amorphous alloys leads to the conclusion that s-d hybridization nature of the d-band (Nil plays a central role in the sign reversal behaviour. Application of pressures greater than 2 G Pa to Ni20ZrgO led to the formation of a new phase, w-Zr. which retains its form after the pressure is released.

The Bond Girl phenomenon: defining the female protagonists of the James Bond films

Please consult the paper edition of this thesis to read. It is available on the 5th Floor of the Library at Call Number: Z 9999 C65 F86 2005

Blood, Sweat and Cheers: Absurdist Crime Films and Contemporary Society

Within the crime film tradition there is a plethora of sub-genres all of which relate to crime and its consequences. However, directors Joel and Ethan Coen, Quentin Tarantino and David Lynch, all of whom create plots around crime and criminality, have been difficult to pin down and attribute to any given sub-genre. This thesis demonstrates that an absurdist philosophy can be used to effectively examine the content of the previously mentioned filmmakers. Through an analysis of these filmmakers and their better known works compelling evidence is revealed suggesting that these filmmakers may all belong to the emerging crime film sub-genre known as absurdist crime films.