...La planète des singes to Planet of the Apes: The Evolution of a Franchise The 1960's saw a rise in the popularity of science fiction novels, television shows and movies being produced around the world. In France, Pierre Boulle, a former engineer and secret agent with the French army, published La planète des singes, a satirical novel that found nearly immediate success in the science fiction community. Less than five years after publication, the novel had been translated into English, and the first of many films in the American Planet of the Apes media franchise debuted as "loose adaptations" of Boulle's work. Today, this science fiction powerhouse continues to create popular film adaptations, however as time continues, the derivation from Boulle's original French novel escalates. By looking at a handful of the many films, one can see how each of the different versions distances further from the original intent of the novel, becoming nearly unrecognizable from the 1963 French novel. Despite Boulle willingly signing over the rights to his work, having been credited and compensated accordingly, and even writing new material for a movie sequel, the Planet of the Apes franchise's continual derivation from the original work is a disservice to Boulle's creation and legacy, leaving the author almost forgotten. On the contrary, the modifications to the original allowed Boulle's creative thoughts to reach entire audiences that he never thought possible. The author himself spoke minimal...
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...survived a deadly virus that wiped out much of earth's human population hunker down amidst the ruins of San Francisco; meanwhile, a growing ape population has built a lovely and thriving community outside of San Francisco in Muir Woods. The tension between the two societies drives the action-packed Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the sequel to the 2011 Rise of the Planet the Apes that starred James Franco. As this sequel begins, Franco's character has been dead for a decade, and the apes have had plenty of time to create their version of civilization. But in real time, it's been just three years since the Rise movie. In the world of motion picture technology, though, that's an eternity. Long enough to create computer graphics gear robust enough to take out of the studio and deep into a real forest. And long enough that moviemakers no longer need to give a recognizable Hollywood star top billing to bring in audiences. In fact, if you passed the leading man of Dawn—Andy Serkis—on the street, you wouldn't recognize his face at all, for you never see it on the screen. That's because his performance in the woods (actually, forests near Vancouver, not San Francisco) wasn't fillmed traditionally, it was motion captured, and used as a framework for a computer-created realistic digital ape, Caesar. And, for the first time in my knowledge, it's the performances of the motion capture actors, not the regular actors portraying humans, that are getting all the good reviews from critics; there...
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...16. Will they be Friendly? One question that has plagued the minds of many an educated mind while living on planet earth is the existence of alien life. The earth, which is often referred to as ‘the world’, is the third planet from the Sun and the fifth largest of the eight planets in our Solar System. The earth is only a tiny part of our universe, which is made up of many planets, galaxies, clusters and super clusters. With such an enormous universe, it would be outrageous to even contemplate that there is no extraterrestrial life out there. With this question being so prominent, another question arises and that is ‘if there is other species of life out there, will they be friendly?’ From this question, we can make an assessment on whether we should be advertising our presence by sending messages to stars or just staying quiet. Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from earth. ‘Referred to as alien life, or simply aliens these hypothetical forms of life range from simple bacteria-like organisms to beings far more complex than humans’1. Earth is moderately young compared to the rest of the universe, so therefore one can only assume these extra-terrestrials would be far more advanced and complex then ourselves. Although many scientists consider extra-terrestrial life to be plausible, no direct evidence has yet been found. If they do exist, we come back to our will they be friendly question, and we can use certain theories to explore this. A phrase that...
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...War for the Planet of the Apes directed by Matt Reeves is a difficult movie to evaluate. The trailer, poster, and even the title presented the idea of a full scale conflict between the apes and the humans that will determine the fate of nature, but this film only contains two action sequences. This advertisement created a misleading expectation that the film did not present at all; this makes the film difficult to review because after viewing the movie, I was conflicted on whether the movie was enjoyable or not. But after analyzing the film once more with toned down expectations, War for the Planet of the Apes delivers a story that will appeal to those that enjoyed the two previous films, Rise and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. If movies...
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...Darwinian evolution to strictly religious thoughts of God or gods. Personally, I saw the black monolith as some sort of super-advanced alien technology that served multiple purposes. The first purpose, which was seen in the “Dawn of Man” section of the movie, was to assist in the advancement of an intelligent race. The monolith first appeared to the primates, before some of the early Homo species had arose. Shortly after contact with the monolith, one group of primates began to use a bone as a weapon. With the newly found weapons, one group was able to defend the water hole from another group. This suggests that the monolith had somehow inspired, whether through some sort of telepathic thought transmission or simply through touching it, the apes to begin using tools. The monolith had instantly advanced the primates towards further evolution. This was seen again in the closing scene of the film as well. The sole surviving astronaut, Bowman, is shown in a mysterious room. The scene keeps advancing and he keeps aging. Finally, in his deathbed, the monolith appears again. This is where the film went from weird/vague, to WEIRDER/VAGUER (probably not proper English). It...
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...Abstract Within the pages of a book, authors are able to create great visual images of locations and landscapes by using elaborate and descriptive words. Sometimes these images are transferred into an actual visual by the subsequent creation of films based upon these great works. “2001: A Space Odyssey” by Stanley Kubrick is an example of such as it is based upon the literary short story, “The Sentinel” by Arthur C. Clarke. Kubrick has done an astounding job at developing the original short story by combining music with visual images way before it’s time. The film allows its viewers to see the original short story told by Clarke, creatively expanded and elaborated upon in comparison with great detail. Table of Contents Introduction The Sentinel (Arthur C. Clarke), 1951 • Descriptive Elements • Theme – First contact 2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick, 1968 • Style, Visual and Music Elements • Theme – Evolution Conclusion References The Sentinel and 2001: A Space Odyssey Introduction “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968) has been called, “The most spectacular vision of the future,” and “Eerily accurate and wild with suspense” (Nashawaty, 2011). It is an epic science fiction film based on the short story, “The Sentinel” (1951), written by Arthur C Clarke. Comparing the literary work from Clarke, to the fully elaborated film by Kubrick, it can be said that there is very little similarities. Kubrick has managed to develop Clark’s ideas into an epic movie that must...
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...Thomas Hobbes Leviathan. Although not forwardly represented, District 9 displays many underlying concepts through its scenes. When studying and analyzing the plot and characters, these concepts then become more translucent to the viewer. District 9 is a flashback film that opens with a series of interviews introducing the basis of the film; an extraterrestrial ship hovering above Johannesburg, South Africa. As explained in the interviews, 20 years prior, the alien ship was making no contact with the humans on Earth so humans decide to cut into the vessel, only to discover severely malnourished aliens. It was decided that the aliens, now referred to as ‘prawns,’ were to live on Earth in government restricted camps, formally known as District 9. As the opening of the movie continues, it is explained how the prawns may never be able to go home due to an inoperable ship and have to live in unity with humans. Unfortunately, there was peaceful living among the two species and as humans began to riot, District 9 had no choice but to move the prawn’s location under the guidance of MNU, Multi-National United. The operation was overseen by an MNU field operative named Wikus vander Merwe. As the eviction notices began to take place, some of prawns did not react well the mission became chaotic. As Wikus filmed his journey through District 9, he talked about things he saw in the prawn’s homes, including many weapons, hanging cows for nourishment, and in one particular house, a canister...
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...Clarke. Through the beginning of the movie it was very hard to understand so I had to watch it twice to make sure I wasn’t missing any resemblance to the stories. But the result to that it didn’t make any changes and still didn’t understand. The second part of the movie started to have similar scenarios of the stories. The similarities that I found was in the beginning of the movie after watching it for the second time was why the apes had anything to do with space.. It his was a very long and weird scene but it came clear to me it was about survival and how they learn to adapt in their lifestyle. The ape learns to kill and hunt with a bone. They learned to be territorial and protect their own. The second story leads us to space” Encounter in the Dawn.” It was a spaceship and human on a mission to another planet. They learn to find out that there was primitive life and some kind of village in this planet. They were worried of the dangers to the resistance of the life in this planet. In the story”Bertrond” one of the men had earned his trust the planets occupants by giving Yaan a carcass every day. Towards the end he was trusted; he gave Yaan a blade and flashlight to help them out to fight and to survive. The last similarity to this movie was towards the end. This part was about Dave and Frank. They were on a spaceship with other people...
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...In my short life on this planet I have come to question things that many take upon blind faith. We all know that we must some day die; yet we continuously deny the forces at work inside ourselves, which want to search out the answers of what may or may not come after. It is far easier for humanity to accept that they will go to a safe haven and be rewarded for their lives with pleasures and fantasies of an unfathomable scale than to question the existence of a supposed omnipotent being. Yet, there are a few of us humans who tend to question the why’s and wherefore’s that society puts forth to us. We question the existence of God, or the creation of mankind rather than blindly accepting faith-filled beliefs we may received from our parents as children. Perhaps it is because we live in a nation filled with many peoples of different beliefs whose Gods are all so varied and different that it is difficult to fathom that they are all the same divine being. It is also plausible that we just have a desire to quench the thirst for knowledge that lies deep within ourselves. As for myself, I cannot believe in a being which created a universe and a multitude of worlds in a rather short period of time then deigns to lower itself into becoming a puppet-master and "pulling the strings" of the Earth and all of the people therein. Since this paper touches upon many scientific terms, I feel that in order for the reader to correctly grasp the...
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...As humans, we find ourselves greatly outnumbered by many animals. We share many characteristics with these creatures such as our senses, strength, and agility; however, some of these animals are far more remarkable. Birds have better eyesight, dogs have a greater sense of smell, and bats have a higher quality of hearing. There are; however, many other characteristics animals share with humans. To start with, human culture is very similar to animal culture. Initially, culture is comprised of all styles and actions that are not genetically given, but shared throughout a particular place. Around the world, there is a wide variety of human cultures. However, not all cultures are directly linked to humans. Human culture is more likely...
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...plain text). Essay Topics — Choose one of the following 1. History of Radio Telescopes Describe the development of single dish radio telescopes and advantages of radio interferometers. Discuss major discoveries that were possible after detection of radio waves from space and how they changed our understanding of Universe. 2. The Earliest Evidence for Life Review the earliest evidence for life on Earth. What form does the evidence take and where is it found. Discuss the controversies relating to some of this evidence and give your conclusion on the earliest date at which we can be confident that life was present on Earth. 3. Atmosphere Evolution on Rocky Planets Compare evolution of atmosphere on Earth, Venus and Mars, and explain differences in current atmospheric conditions on these planets. Describe how the Earth’s atmosphere helped life to originate, survive and develop, and how has life affected the atmosphere over time. 4. Life in Extreme Conditions Explain what extremophile life forms are and where they are found on Earth. In view of what we have learnt about extremophiles discuss the possibility of extraterrestrial life in different places of our Solar system. 5. Key Space Missions Choose ONE of the following space missions and give an account of the mission describing the challenges it had to overcome and the mission’s achievements. Describe in particular how it has influenced our understanding of the possibilities of past or present life...
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...Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is set in San Francisco, ten years after the simian flu has wiped out most of the humans on Earth. A group of “genetically enhanced” apes encounters a group of human survivors looking for a new source of energy from the nearby dam. Their leader, Caesar, struggles to find a balance between protecting his people and re-establishing a relationship with humanity, the latter of which is his own personal goal. The movie has some great acting, accompanied with strong special effects, and comments on issues of species supremacy and distrust between groups. Warning - spoilers to follow. With a cast including Jason Clarke, Keri Russell, and Gary Oldman, it’s hard for the acting to go south. Clarke and Russell play Malcolm...
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...state of what I call violent peace.” (Admiral James D. Watkins). It is a leader’s obligation to place the safety of his people no matter the cost. Many will agree that prioritizing the greater good over the well-being of few individuals, for in the end, the most expensive price is the cost of life. While many people think that the film, “Planet of the Apes” by Franklin J. Schaffner, was about, Taylor, a lost American space explorer, trying to figure out where he landed and how to get home. Yet through the simian leader continually trying to kill and tame Taylor shows that Dr. Zaius rightfully places the security of his people...
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...WHAT IS A HUMAN BEING? WHAT IS OUR REASON FOR BEING? What is a human being? What is our reason for being? One can have various answers to the question of what humans are depending on what aspect of a human is being referred. Science has categorized us as primates, same class as the Apes. Our differentiating characteristics are our erect feature and our highly functioning brain resulting in our ability to express what we feel using articulate speech and to provide logical reason for everything that we encounter. Charles Darwin had theorized how we evolved from apes, shedding our ape-liked appearance gradually, simultaneous with further development of our brain. Are we really just another living thing in this planet who is a product of evolution as most creatures are, except for a few like cockroach? As we have observed, all animals have the capability to adapt to the environment where they belong. This is a robust evidence that all animals, within the capacity of their brain, can think of ways to survive. They can group themselves to form a community, where they developed a way of life unique to their species, such as taking care of their young. If this can be considered culture, then we are no difference from other animals except for a bigger brain. I think that the spiritual aspect of a human being is what make us distinct from the rest. I do not believe in the theory of evolution. To date, all discoveries point to the fact that man had existed even at the earliest time. ...
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...question in many minds considering we as human always thought we were the only creature walking-life form and there was no only type, but could there be completely other forms of living human beings unlike us swimming “under the sea” as it is said in the Disney’s television show the “The Little Mermaid.” As many social media stated such animal planet you don’t know what to believe it or not to believe. Because they said aquatic humanoids the half- human, half- fish being are clearly still remaining open to debating, because there are said to be some vivid imaginations. Because of a mermaid remains being found by American tourists whom were in Israel which they happen to catch footage of a mermaid. But if you were one of those tourist and went up someone walking in the streets now they probably would not believe what they were hearing and that it was coming from another person mouth. But there are also many people whom might believe it. Because you know if there were such things as gods and goddess, I think Neptune was a god and he happen to be a half-human but also half-fish which made him a mermaid. But this kind of topic has logical reasoning behind it. But that was a time long before us, and to come back to animal planet sources say that the mermaid’s story was all a show act. As stated in this statement “Mermaids were probably a lot more rooted in lonely sailors’ imaginations than the physical world.” A critical look at the Animal Planet ‘docudrama’ reveals abominable (excuse...
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