Refocus

Forewords by David Hebel, Founder & CEO, Digital Juice, Inc. and Steve Weiss, Partner, Zacuto Do you want to stand out in today’s competitive wedding, corporate, and event video markets? To be paid what you’re worth for the creative work you produce? To find an extra two hours a day to pursue your passion? To get out from under the backlog of unfinished projects? If the answer is “yes,” then this book was written for you. Read a few pages and you’ll find the authors’ unique approach to the business of video production is unlike what you’ve heard or read before. With good humor, practical advice, and a healthy dose of reality, Ron and Tasra Dawson show you how to get your business on track and transform it into the one of your dreams. The result is increased creativity, financial gain, less stress, and more time and energy to pursue the projects you are truly passionate about. You’ll learn to: Reclaim 525 work hours per year with one simple strategy Implement action items you can use today to start getting paid what you’re worth Assess and transform your current sales and marketing Design a powerful brand experience to amaze your clients and turn them into company evangelists Supercharge your marketing with social media like Twitter, Facebook, and blogs Break into commercial video production for year-round profits You can also network and stay up-to-date at the companion Web site, bladeronner.com. Click the ReFocus link. ”Ron and Tasra will help you move mountains in your business.” —Lance Gray, CEO, PixelPops Design, LLC ”I know how busy we all can get, but if you read this book and apply the information, it will turn your world around.” —David Robin, David Robin Films

Written by Jim Daly, the compassionate leader of Focus on the Family, ReFocus inspires and motivates Christians to transcend political agendas and partisan battles and instead interact with others in a way that will consistently reveal the heart of God to a desperately hurting world. Our culture has become painfully polarized, often hindering relationships with neighbors, colleagues, and the very people who need to discover the love of Jesus Christ. Remembering that we are foremost citizens of heaven serving a loving Father, we who call ourselves followers of Christ can once again be known by our love. But how? In what context and through what means? How can we tear down the walls that divide our culture, our neighborhoods and workplaces and families, in this increasingly contentious world? Drawing on a rich variety of true stories and sources both historical and contemporary--from behind the scenes in today's halls of power, to moving accounts from church history, to powerful breakthrough's in Daly's own life and ministry--Daly challenges us to reclaim our responsibility, and our privilege, as God's sons and daughters. As followers of Jesus with His humility and compassion as our model, ReFocus: Living a Life that Reflects God's Heart demonstrates how Christians can show the world an inexplicable taste of grace with no agenda other than to reveal the heart of God as the loving Abba Father He is.

AcknowledgementsIntroductionPart I: "e;I'm making this up as I go"e;: Lawrence Kasdan and Raiders of the Lost ArkChapter 1. Smith and Jones: Discourse Analysis of the Raiders of the Lost Ark Story ConferenceChapter 2. Visual Language in the Raiders of the Lost Ark ScreenplayPart II: Kasdan the Director: Developing Style(s)Chapter 3. Body Heat: Heightened Style in the Neo-NoirChapter 4. Classical Structure in the "e;Perfect Ensemble"e; of The Big ChillPart III: Voice of the Largest GenerationChapter 5. Altruism and Otherness in The Big Chill, The Accidental Tourist, and Grand CanyonChapter 6. Cowboys, Aliens, and Sixtysomethings: Age and Nostalgia in Kasdan's Later FilmsPart IV: Influences, Without and WithinChapter 7. From Noir to Kurosawa: Allusion and Homage in Lawrence Kasdan's FilmsChapter 8. Kasdan's Collaborations: Creation and PerformancePart V: A Long Time in a Galaxy Far, Far AwayChapter 9. From Star Wars to Saga: Lawrence Kasdan and The Empire Strikes BackChapter 10. Revenge of the Monomyth: Reclaiming the Hero's Journey in Return of the JediChapter 11. A New Hope in The Force AwakensChapter 12. A Changed Man: Solo and BeyondChapter 13. An Interview with Lawrence KasdanLawrence Kasdan: Writing and Directing CreditsFilmographyBibliography

Offers the first comprehensive academic text to explore Paul Schrader's film career through analysis of his directing, screenwriting, and film criticismContains a chapter-length interview, in which Schrader examines the arc of his career for the first time and revises previous statements about filmmaking and film criticismProvides a valuable update to previous texts on SchraderConsiders Schrader's overlooked films and provides new insight into their connections with Schrader's better known filmsContains chapters on Schrader's work since 2008, the publication date of the last book on his filmmakingPaul Schrader's unique relationship to the role of the author (as screenwriter, director and critic) has long informed his cinema, and raises complicated questions about the definition of the auteur. This volume of essays - one of the first collections to assess Schrader's contributions to directing, screenwriting and criticism - includes the first original appraisals of his much-lauded masterpiece First Reformed (2017), as well as a chapter-length interview with Schrader himself, conducted by the editors. Providing a comprehensive exploration of his groundbreaking achievements in cinema, the book considers Schrader's more overlooked films and provides new insights to their connection with his celebrated work in direction and screenwriting such as Taxi Driver (1976), Cat People (1982) and The Comfort of Strangers (1990).

Examines the diverse oeuvre of internationally recognised French-Algerian director Rachid Bouchareb.

This book looks at Spike Jonze's ground-breaking work in both features and short forms, exploring the impact of his filmmaking across a range of philosophical and cultural discussions

Spanning from obscurity to notoriety, the films of director, screenwriter, actor and comic Elaine May have recently experienced a long-overdue renaissance. Although she made only four films - A New Leaf (1971), The Heartbreak Kid (1972), Mikey and Nicky (1976) and Ishtar (1987) - and never reached the level of acclaim of her frequent collaborator Mike Nichols, May's work is as enigmatic, sophisticated and unceasingly fascinating as her own complicated, reluctant star persona. This collection focuses both on the films she has directed, and also emphasises her work with other high profile collaborators such as John Cassavetes, Warren Beatty and Otto Preminger.

Assessing his work in the context of film aesthetics, philosophy, history, adaptation studies and cultural studies, this is the first book-length English-language anthology about this important director's cinema, offering a wide range of perspectives by a diverse range of international scholars.