Fascinating patriarchy: an analysis of family roles in Chinese films in a patriarchal society : how do Chinese films represent patriarchy?

In recent years, there has been a growing body of research and works focusing on Chinese family films. These works cover multiple domains and dimensions, including patriarchal culture, female perspectives, and emotional expression. However, due to subjective and objective factors, traditional patriarchal culture persists in Chinese family films. The media's portrayal of family members tends to be stereotypical, one-sided, and influenced by the male gaze. I believes that this phenomenon needs to be addressed. The shot is a crucial carrier of visual information and serves as the fundamental unit in the composition of a film. Montage, on the other hand, constitutes an essential element in cinematic narration and expression. The analysis of film language allows audiences to better understand the thoughts and emotions expressed in a film, as well as the creator's style and structure. This provides an excellent means for audiences to comprehend the cultural context, background and themes. Therefore, this study aims to conduct a comprehensive analysis of Chinese family films and film characters through the film language, focusing on both shots and montage. The goal is to explore how Chinese family films represent patriarchy. Through this research, I hope to provide insights for future Chinese family film, to break the limitations of Chinese family films and to raise societal awareness of issues related to patriarchal family rights and women's rights

Songs from the Front Lawn by the Front Lawn

The Front Lawn was a multi-award-winning and much-loved New Zealand duo-turned-trio made up of Don McGlashan, Harry Sinclair and, eventually, Jennifer Te Atamira Ward-Lealand. All three have continued with exceptional artistic careers in the years since (and before) The Front Lawn. A 1980s variety act, The Front Lawn was part of an Aotearoa/New Zealand alternative tradition of duos that combine music, comedy, theatre and film. Their debut album Songs From The Front Lawn (1989) distilled McGlashan and Sinclair's stage shows and groundbreaking short films – Walkshort and The Lounge Bar – while also thrusting the band into the burgeoning New Zealand indie music scene. The Songs From The Front Lawn album is a snapshot of '80s New Zealand, a turbulent, creative period for indie music, film and musical theatre, celebrating local identity in new ways

Exploring a strategy for managing on-farm surplus nutrients: aiming for mutual benefits to dairy farmers and the environment

In this thesis, the problem of surplus nutrients from dairy farming and food waste was investigated and the potential of an enterprise based around using black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) to process dairy manure and food waste was considered as a means of mitigating part of this problem whilst promoting additional environmental improvements and benefiting other stakeholders, particularly dairy farmers. A transdisciplinary approach with a pragmatic action research methodology was employed due to the wicked nature of this problem. This approach provided the flexibility to follow up insights and explore the problem and potential innovation in depth and width

Pukekura en plein air: the paintings of Amanda Watson, in the environment and in context

Edward Hanfling talks about Amanda Watson's painting practice in the context of site-specificity and the dance between the artist, materials and environments

The value of graphic novels in conveying historical events: how do graphic novels represent history?

This dissertation investigates how the graphic novel has been used to represent major historical events. Through the analysis of graphic novels such as: Li Kunwu’s (2012) A Chinese Life, Liu Jing’s (2011, 2016) Understanding China through Comics, Art Spiegelman’s (1980) Maus and Marjane Satrapi’s (2003, 2004) Persepolis, this dissertation explores the format and conventions of graphic novels and shows how the combination of text, panels, and images powerfully represent major historical events. The research reveals that graphic novels provide an accessible way for readers to understand complex and conflict-ridden events in history

That Bloody Woman

That Bloody Woman, dir. Kyle Chuen and Courteney Mayall, music dir. Nick Braae The Meteor Theatre 26 Aug - 3 Sep 202

Sampling and the performance of knowledge - one bird at a time

Our submission includes documentation of a multimedia artwork with an accompanying commentary that explores overlaps between bird calls and human music genres. A characteristic of our current relation to birds is their growing unavailability due to the degradation of ecosystems and threats from predators. Taking our cue from birds inhabiting the coast of Aotearoa/New Zealand, musician Matthew Bannister and I ask how we might communicate and cooperate with these precious taonga. Bird vocalisation is a performed negotiation that effectively says “Come here” or “Go away”, which arguably can be true of music – marking a social space and time to invite or repel. Rather than limiting bird calls to functionalist categories of explanation, we use the technique of granular time-stretching, to analyse/experience the inner timbre of bird vocalisation and the rhythmic patterns of their calls. As a result sound samples are composed through the voice of the bird, becoming a human response to the ‘other’ in jointly formed compositions, reflecting an evolving relationship between composer and the bird. We also apply an electroacoustic composition technique (granular synthesis), to a video portrait of performer/composer and bird. Granular synthesis is a sampling method by which sounds are broken into tiny grains, redistributed and reorganised to form other sounds. Normally applied only to audio signals, this technique can be used to reshape video signals into video grains – repositioning time and space within the video sequence. As tiny units of image and sound, performer and bird are stretched, pushed, pulled and held, articulating the limits of space/territory, while finding a way to be heard within it

Literature review

Recognising that every PhD is different, the authors discuss three ways to find one’s voice when constructing a literature review. Ryan adopted an interdisciplinary stance, where he compared and contrasted the meanings of key concepts across a range of academic disciplines before arriving at his own definitions. By contrast, Wang began by reading deeply within the specific topic of her thesis, and attempting to find her own critical voice. Lin suggests a reflexive approach in which the candidate and their supervisors share and enrich each other’s cultural capital; this should lead to the candidate finding their own voice and eventually becoming a legitimate participant in the academic community of practice

Integrating an electronic compass for position tracking on a wheeled tricycle mobile robot

Dead-reckoning via encoders on wheeled-mobile robots is a simple but inaccurate method to estimate position. The major drawback of encoders is wheel slippage errors that accumulate over time. This problem is often addressed by using additional sensors such as compass, gyroscope, or GPS. This paper details the integration and effectiveness of a relatively low-cost solution using an electronic compass to reduce positioning error on a wheeled tricycle mobile robot. A customised Visual Studio program has been developed to adjust the settings of the electronic compass and integrate it with the Visual Studio based robot control system. The electronic compass heading data is fused with the encoder odometry heading data in three different ways: simple fusion, linear weighted fusion, and Kalman filter fusion. Simple fusion and linear weighted fusion rely on parameters determined from angular acceleration and angular velocity, respectively. The Kalman filter uses variance data for the encoders and electronic compass to determine an optimal heading. Experiments have been conducted in an indoor corridor environment to evaluate and compare the various fusion methods. Position error is successfully reduced and is sufficient to locate the robot within the corridor

Te Pūkenga libraries: A transdisciplinary design of the library of the future - an insider approach

This TDR inquiry examines the future of ITP libraries in Aotearoa as it joins the national network known as Te Pūkenga. The questions were asked ‘What will ITP libraries look like in ten years with the introduction of 4.0 technologies’ and ‘what makes a distinctly Aotearoa-based library service’? The inquiry was conducted over the first two years of Te Pūkenga creation. It evolved and moved with the disruptive and unpredictable waves that creating a new network produces. It was also conducted during the two years of the pandemic, COVID-19. It examines the possibility of a new and innovative library system that fits seamlessly into the structure developed by Te Pūkenga, incorporating Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles, decolonisation practices and equity of service models into the very makeup of the structure. It examines the complex nature of academic library service within its parent institution. Incorporating evidence from secondary information, surveys, interviews, and personal professional reflections. This inquiry demonstrates a TDR framework by incorporating as many voices as possible from many different stakeholder groups. The surveys and interviews asked questions of the library kaimahi within and external to Te Pūkenga to see what was important in academic library services and what is needed in the next ten years. It also asked the ākonga and general Te Pūkenga kaimahi their thoughts on library services and what they would like to see. The inquiry proposes a national library structure and service that will keep up to date with changing trends, 4.0 technology and disruptions that will arise over the next ten years and how an academic library service can remain relevant in the life of ākonga. It also discusses the need to have a foundation of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and a focus on equity of service to support ākonga success