My Featured Movie

The Harry Potter Series

1. About Harry Potter

Harry Potter is a series of fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the life of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The main story arc concerns Harry's struggle against Lord Voldemort, the Dark wizard who intends to become immortal, overthrow the Ministry of Magic, subjugate non-magic people (Muggles) and destroy anyone who stands in his way.

Since the release of the first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, on 30 June 1997, the books have found immense popularity, critical acclaim and commercial success worldwide. They have attracted a wide adult audience as well as younger readers, and are often considered cornerstones of modern young adult literature. The series has also had its share of criticism, including concern about the increasingly dark tone as the series progressed, as well as the often gruesome and graphic violence it depicts. As of July 2013, the books have sold more than 450 million copies worldwide, making them the best-selling book series in history, and have been translated into seventy-three languages. The last four books consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books in history, with the final instalment selling roughly eleven million copies in the United States within twenty-four hours of its release.

The series was originally published in English by two major publishers, Bloomsbury in the United Kingdom and Scholastic Press in the United States. A play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, based on a story by Rowling, is set to première in London on 30 July 2016 at the Palace Theatre, and its script will subsequently be published by Little, Brown as the eighth book in the series. The original seven books were adapted into an eight-part film series by Warner Bros. Pictures, which has become the second highest-grossing film series of all time as of August 2015. The franchise has also generated much tie-in merchandise, making the Harry Potter brand worth in excess of $15 billion.

A series of many genres, including fantasy, drama, coming of age and the British school story (which includes elements of mystery, thriller, adventure, horror and romance), the world of Harry Potter explores numerous themes and includes many cultural meanings and references. According to Rowling, the main theme is death. Other major themes in the series include prejudice, corruption, and madness.

The success of the books and films has ensured that the Harry Potter franchise continues to expand, with numerous derivative works, a travelling exhibition that premièred in Chicago in 2009, a studio tour in London that opened in 2012, a digital platform on which J.K. Rowling updates the series with new information and insight, and a trilogy of spin-off films premièring in November 2016, among many other developments. Most recently, themed attractions, collectively known as The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, have been built at several Universal Parks & Resorts amusement parks around the world.

2. Characters

Harry Potter(Daniel Radcliffe)                  Hermione Granger(Emma Watson)          

                              
                             

Ron Weasley(Rupert Grint)                        Severus Snape(Alan Rickman)

                 

Albus Dumbledore
1＆2(Richard Harris)                                          3～8  (Michael Gambon)

 






Lord　Voldemort
(Richard Bremmer)                                               (Christian Coulson)
                     

(Ralph Fiennes)

   

3. Story Outline

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone begins with Harry Potter, a shy and self-doubting boy wizard being brought up by his awful aunt Petunia and uncle Vernon along with his fat cousin Dudley. Dudley lived a life of king, whereas Harry was more like a servant. He has a lightening shaped scar on his forehead when his parents died in a car crush when he was a baby. But ,the real fact was that he received the scar after an attack by the evil and powerful wizard Voldemort known as "You-Know-Who" who even killed Harry's Parents. This truth is only known to the the Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft who left Harry with his uncle after this awful incident and awaited to get him back until he is of age to attend the Hogwarts school. Days went by when he receives a mail to enter into the Hogwarts school of wizards, the best wizard school in the world at the age of 11.

After, a little struggle with his uncle and aunt, he entered the school with the help of the Half-giant Rubeus where he learnt the pros and cons of Witchcraft and Wizardry along with his new friends Hermione and Ron Weasley. The first year at the school, Harry begins to explore the magical world where at the end he goes in quest for the Philosopher stone which can be used to brew an elixir that can make the drinker immortal with Lord Voldemort following Harry.

The series continues with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ,a sequel to Harry's second year at school. Ron's younger sister Ginny finds a book belonging to Lord Voldemort's school days in which she reads out a chapter about 'Chamber of secrets' which in turn proves a gateway for an ancient monster out. He (monster) disturbs the children in Hogwarts school. The novel delves into the history of Hogwarts and the tale of the Chamber. Harry comes to know more about his world, his ability to speak the language of the snakes (a rare dark art) and also learns few secrets about Lord Voldemort. The book ends with Harry fighting the monster saving Ginny and unknowingly destroys a piece of a soul (horcrux) hidden by Lord Voldemort in the dairy (book) .

Following the series is the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban elaborating Harry's third year in his magical school. In this series, Harry comes to know about Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, friends of his father. The former teaches him the defensive measures against the dark creatures with the power to devour a human soul (dementors) and the latter happens to be an escaped murderer believed to have assisted in the deaths of Harry's parents.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire starts with Harry's fourth year at his magical school. Here, Harry was misguided by Professor Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody (Voldemort's supporter) who made Harry participate in a dangerous Triwizard Tournament to bring Harry to Voldemort succeeds. But, Harry escapes his plans making Voldemort to reenter as mortal in the wizarding world .

The fifth book marking the fifth year "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", Harry encounters a secret society called the Order of the Phoenix which was reactivated due to the arrival of Voldemort to protect Harry and to defeat Voldemort's supporters. With so many happenings, the school was transformed under the authority of Dolores Umbridge, the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts where she banned the students to learn the defense art against dark magic. So, Harry forms a secret study group known as "Dumbledore's army" in order to teach his classmates the higher skills of defense against the dark arts he has learned. In the end, Harry discovers Voldemort's actions telepathically (through past connections), fights Voldemort's Death Eaters along with his friends thereby saving Hogwarts once again.

The sixth year at school deals with Voldemort open war and Harry's adolescence. Harry begins dating Ginny Weasley. He also stumbles upon an old potions textbook filled with annotations and recommendations signed by a mysterious writer, the Half-Blood Prince marking another book "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince". He also learns from Albus Dumbledore that Voldemort's soul is splintered into a series of horcruxes, an evil enchanted items hidden in various locations. Harry's adversary Darco Malfoy attempts to attack Dumbledore at various times and finally Professor Snape kills Dumbledore towards the end of the book.

The final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is divided into two parts where Voldemort has completed his ascension to power and gains control of the Ministry of Magic. Harry and his friends drop out of the school to find and destroy the remaining horcruxes of Voldemort. As they search the horcruxes, they come to know more about the Professor Snape who always disliked Harry from the beginning of the novel and the past of Mr.Dumbledore. As the world would have seen as on July 15, 2011, the book/movie  concludes with Harry discovering himself as one of the horcruxes and so surrenders himself to Voldemort who cast a Killing curse on Harry. But soon Dumbledore explains that the Horcrux inside Harry has been destroyed when Voldemort used Harry's blood to regain his full strength. Finally towards the end, Harry returns and defeats Voldemort and his supporters with the help of his friends (Ron and Hermione) along with the members of the Order of the Phoenix, his teachers and students thus saving the world of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

参考文献

"Harry Potter - a Brief Summary on the Books." - Momscribe. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 July 2016.

3.About J.K.Rowling

Born in Yate, England, on July 31, 1965, J.K. Rowling came from humble economic means before writing Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, a children's fantasy novel. The work was an international hit and Rowling wrote six more books in the series, which sold hundreds of millions of copies and was adapted into a blockbuster film franchise. In 2012, Rowling released the novel The Casual Vacancy.

After 'Harry Potter'

Although J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series is finished, the author continues to work on more written works. The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a collection of five fables mentioned in the Harry Potter book series, was released on November 4, 2008—at a tea party for 200 schoolchildren at the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh. Rowling donated all royalties from the book to the Children's High Level Group (which has been renamed Lumos), a charity that Rowling co-founded to support institutionalized children in Eastern Europe.

Rowling's first book aimed at adults, The Casual Vacancy, was published in September 2012. The novel, a dark comedy about a local election in the small English town of Pagford, received mixed reviews. A book review in The New York Times called the novel "disappointing" and "dull." A review in The Telegraph, however, gave the book three out of five stars, stating that the novel is " . . .Jane Austen herself would admire the way [Rowling] shows the news of Barry’s death spreading like a virus round Pagford."

In 2013, Rowling broke into a new genre: crime fiction. But this new work involved a mystery all of its own. She published the mystery novel Cuckoo Calling that April under the pen name Robert Galbraith. In its first few months of release, the novel had modest sales and received positive reviews. Sales for the work skyrocketed in July when its author's identity was discovered. According to Bloomberg News, Rowling said that "I had hoped to keep this secret a little longer, because being Robert Galbraith has been such a liberating experience. It has been wonderful to publish without hype or expectation, and pure pleasure to get feedback under a different name."

Later that year, Rowling announced a new film series with Warner Bros. The first film in the series, which is set for release in November 2016, will be based on Rowling's Hogwarts textbook Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and stars Eddie Redmayne. According to Entertainment Weekly, Rowling explained that the movies draw from "the worldwide community of witches and wizards where I was so happy for 17 years," but "is neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series, but an extension of the wizarding world."

Rowling is also reportedly working on a new Harry Potter-related book. On her website, she announced that she will write "an encyclopedia of Harry's world" and the royalties from this volume will be donated to charity.

In 2014, Rowling published a short story about grown-up Harry Potter and a Hogwarts school reunion on her website Pottermore. Since the site launched, she’s added more stories and information about all things Harry Potter.

In June 2016, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, a two-part play written by by Jack Thorne and director John Tiffany and based on Rowling’s story, debuted on the London stage to a sold-out audience. Although she had originally stated Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows would be the final book in the series, the play features an adult Harry Potter and has been officially touted as the eight installment of the series. The play’s cast differs from that of the original films. 

参考文献
Biography.com Editors. "J.K. Rowling Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 21 July 2016.

4.Reaction Points

A.Reaction Point - soundtrack

• Voice, music and sound effects that are used in a movie.
• For example, "Hedwig's theme". This music is known all over the world.

• I thought why this music is well known. Because that may be easy to remember for people, and use this music as back ground music well.

B.Reaction Point - message

• the central idea or statement of a story 
• For example, Harry is bravery.

• The Harry Potter series are thrilling. Harry faces up squarely to a danger. I thought that this movie push their back in their life.

C.Reaction Point - special effect

• Any computer generated or special effects in the film. e.g. fades, wipes and superimposition
• For example, a fight scene which a ray of light is emitted from a music wand.
• I thought that Harry Potter is edited by special effect very well. It's cool. We can feel presence.

D. My General Opinion

I like The Harry Potter Series very much. I came to like this movies even more. 
The reason that Harry Potter is loved all over the world is characters, special effect and story are very very nice. Really looking forward to seeing new series.

Max Mara Fall Winter 2015-16 Fashion Show

Max Mara Fall Winter 2015-16 Fashion Show

I. About the Clothing Brand

　

Max Mara is a luxury Italian fashion house belonging to the group of companies under the Max Mara Fashion Group holding.

History

Achille Maramotti began designing couture clothing in 1947, but officially established the Max Mara fashion house in 1951. The word "Mara" comes from a diminutive of his surname, while "Max" is a superlative chosen to strengthen the brand's name and give it a more international feel. Maramotti was one of the first men to envision that industrial processes could support the production of high quality designer clothing, in a period in which fashion was imagined solely as an artisanal activity, thus becoming the precursor of the current concept of ready-to-wear. Over the years, designers for the Max Mara brand included some amongst the most important future names, such as Karl Lagerfeld, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Dolce & Gabbana, Narciso Rodriguez, Luciano Soprani, Anne-Marie Beretta and Guy Paulin. The company is still owned by the Maramotti family and currently has about 2250 stores in 90 countries.

Max Mara includes 23 collections. The Max Mara womenswear main line remains the core of the company. Other labels include Sportmax, Sportmax Code, Weekend Max Mara, 'S Max Mara, Marella, Pennyblack, iBlues and Marina Rinaldi. The latter was named after Achille Maramotti's great grandmother, who in the 1800s owned an haute couture atelier in the heart of Reggio Emilia, their home town. Max&Co is a retail project by Max Mara Fashion Group founded in 1986.

Since 2004 the brand started producing and selling perfumes and cosmetics, in collaboration with Cosmopolitan Cosmetics (company of the Wellagroup) and, subsequently, with the company Selective Beauty.

Works Cited （参考文献）

"Max Mara." N.p., 8 June 2016. Web. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Mara>.

II. About the Designer

Achille Maramotti was born on January 7, 1927 in Reggio Emilia, Italy. Maramotti was educated in Rome and received a law degree from University of Parma. In 1983 he was awarded the title of Knight within the Order of Merit for Labour. He died in Albinea, Italy, on 12 January 2005. His sons Luigi and Ignazio and his daughter Ludovica currently run the family business. Achille Maramotti was a great patron of the arts; his important collection of contemporary art from Europe and America is open to the public.

Works Cited （参考文献）

"Max Mara." N.p., 8 June 2016. Web. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Mara>.

III. My Reaction

A. Reaction Point - fabric texture(生地)

• How a fabric feels or looks
• For example,there are the T-shirts that dress material stretch.
  

  
• I think that the design is simple but dress material is top quality. Better fabric texture can be used for long time.

B. Reaction Point - coiffure(髪型)

• The arrangement of the hair (especially a woman's hair)
• For example,that coiffure is simple set clothes apart.
  

  
• The Max Mara's design is very simple , so coiffure is more simpler.

C. Reaction Point - fashion design(色、テクスチャ、および重みの生地を使用)

• Using fabrics of different colors, textures, and weights to create garments that people wear
• For example, The Max Mara's design is very very simple.
  
• I thought that whole body unify the color.

D. My General Opinion
I thought that there are different various devise to set clothes apart. I guess that Max Mara's designer think that "simple is the best."That's why Max Mara is loved all over the world , and then I love Max Mara,too.

The Most Beautiful Thing

The Most Beautiful Thing

I. About the Film

　

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, heard or even touched, they must be felt with the heart.

- A famous quote from Helen Killer.

What a beautiful film to portray the above words.

The film is written, directed and edited by Cameron Covell, starring Nick Lopez and Analisa Gutierrez, is a love story between two unlikely people.

It was Shot with Canon 60d and was edited in Final Cut Pro 6.

The film is crafted so nicely that it will touch your heart and the actors did a wonderful job to carry the right emotion that each scene requires, resulting which, you will get totally engrossed right from the 1st scene of the film, there are hardly any dialogues in the film and that what makes the film more engrossing. The director did a wonderful job, there is not a single point in the film that will give you a feeling of dragging it unnecessarily.

Content

The film involves a teenager who thinks that a girl he likes a school is ignoring his attempts to talk to her, only to find out later that she is deaf. After this the begin communicating by writing in their own special notepad whenever they see each other. As they grow closer together the films main character encourages his girlfriend to talk for the first time in public. 

Works Cited （参考文献）

JBFFilms. "The Most Beautiful Thing (Short Film) by Cameron Covell."BitLanders. N.p., 2 May 2014. Web. 21 June 2016.

II. Versions of the Film

This is the most famous.↓

These are this film of imitation.↓

Works Cited （参考文献）

nothing

III. About the Writer / Director

(Author / Writer / Director / Lead Actorの中から、一つを選ぶこと）

Director:

 Cameron Covell

Writer:

 Cameron Covell

Stars:

 Analisa Gutierrez, Nick Lopez, William A. Rodriguez

Cameron Covell's parents are Karen and James Covell, and his brother is Christopher Covell.

He started his acting career in the 1st grade where he played the "Wolf" in a production of Little Red Riding Hood. He went on to Millikan Middle School, where he played an active part in the Drama Production program. For high school, he attended the Los Angeles County high school for the Arts, where he majored in Theater.

Along with being an avid actor, Cameron also loves to make films. He has written and directed 5 of his own 30 minute short films, and continues to make them in his free time.

He appeared on Meet the Robinsons(ルイスと未来泥棒).

Works Cited （参考文献）

"Biography." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 21 June 2016.

IV. My Reaction

A. Reaction Point - special effect(特殊効果)

• Any computer generated or special effects in the film. e.g. fades, wipes and superimposition
• For example, 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　when a date is changed in this film, the special effect that becomes black gradually is used in this film.
• I was easy to understand the changes of time by special effects.

B. Reaction Point - soundtrack(音声、効果音)

• Voice, music and sound effects which are used in a film
• For example, when the boy who is hero encounters the girl who is deaf, the song with a bright atmosphere is used in this film.
• I think that soundtracks are very important things. If the song with a sad atmosphere was used in happy scenes, they will be confused.

C. Reaction Point - cinematography(カメラワーク)

• the camerawork in a film
• For example, when the boy speak, he took by camera from the viewpoints of the girl
• I was easy to understand who is speaking.

D. My General Opinion

When I watched this film for the first, I was really surprised that I was impressed by "short"film.