188 stage Hero's Journey (Monomyth) - Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

FORWARD

The 188 stage Hero's Journey (Monomyth) is the template upon which the vast majority of successful stories and Hollywood blockbusters are based upon. In fact, ALL of the hundreds of Hollywood movies we have deconstructed (see URL below) are based on this 188+ stage template.

Understanding this template is a priority for story or screenwriters. This is the template you must master if you are to succeed in the craft.

[The terminology is most often metaphoric and applies to all successful stories and screenplays, from The Godfather (1972) to Brokeback Mountain (2006) to Annie Hall (1977) to Lord of the Rings (2003) to Drugstore Cowboy (1989) to Thelma and Louise (1991) to Apocaplyse Now (1979)].

THERE IS ONLY ONE STORY

THE 188 STAGE HERO'S JOURNEY:

a) Attempts to tap into unconscious expectations the audience has regarding what a story is and how it should be told.

b) Gives the writer more structural elements than simply three or four acts, plot points, mid point and so on.

c) Gives you a tangible process for building and releasing dissonance (establishing and achieving catharses, of which there are usually four).

d) Tells you what to write. For example, at a certain stage of the story, the focus should be on the Call to Adventure and the micro elements within.

ABRIDGED TIPS, EXCERPTS AND EXAMPLES:

(simply go to http://www.screenplay-structure.com/ or http://www.story-structure.org/ for full details)

*****Trial 3 Evolution*****

Trial 3 often shows the Hero evolving (becoming closer to his New Self), In Straw Dogs (1971), David enters the pub but this time is not afraid of Tom and buys them all a drink. Further, he is accepted - the Major invites him over.

*****Wolves Clothing*****

In entering the World of the Sword, the Hero and Allies again camouflage themselves in the Wolves Clothing. They become invisible on some level. In Harry Potter: Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Harry literarily puts on an invisible cloak. In Raging Bull (1980), Tommy has to speak to the mafia don and behave as though he was one of them. In Diamonds are Forever (1971), James Bond pretends to be a worker in the plan.

*****New World of the Transformation and Trials*****

Even though the Hero may be willing, he (or she) may not be happy with the way the progression is turning out. In Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Clyde is angry because they?ve committed murder.

*****Refusal of the Call*****

A staple of the Hero's Journey and Transformation. The Hero refuses psychologically for a number of reasons, is interdicted by the interdictor (punishments for following the Call) and blocked by Doves using a number of techniques. In Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Bonnie plays hard to get, she?s is going to work. She walks, Clyde follows.

Learn more?

WRITE THAT SCREENPLAY!

The Complete 188 stage Hero?s Journey and other story structure templates can be found at http://www.monomyth.info/

188 stages of the Hero's Journey can also be reached from http://www.heros-journey.info/

You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.

Kal Bishop, MBA

You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made, the author's name is retained and the link to our site URL remains active.

Comparison of Microsoft Office 2003 with Microsoft Office 2007

Lots of people have Microsoft Office 2003 and are interested in upgrading to Microsoft Office 2007. However, there are lots of differences between the two although they are the same program with different edition years. As a result, anyone with Microsoft Office 2003 should keep on reading to learn about some of the differences of Microsoft Office 2007.

One of the changes is the digital signature. For instance, if you are in Microsoft Office 2007 training you will learn that with this edition the digital signature is formatted with XMLDSig, which is different than what you learned in Microsoft Office 2003 training. Also, the Microsoft office training courses will teach you that in Office 2007 you will find the digital signature under File, Finalize Document, Signatures rather than in Tools, Options, Security, Digital Signatures. The digital signatures were changed to be more intuitive and easier to find.

Another change that you will learn about in all of your Microsoft office training programs is that the add in tool for Office 2003 was removed. It was replaced by a document inspector that can run multiple times at once which makes it easer to clean up documents.

In Microsoft Office 2007 there is now some versioning offered. Before in Microsoft Office 2003 you could only enable or disable versioning, but now versioning numbers are included and numbers such as 3.3 may be used as well as whole numbers like 3.

Another change that exists in Microsoft Office 2007 that is different from Microsoft Office 2003 is that Windows Rights Management Client v. 1.0 is no longer supported. A new client version of Windows Rights Management Client SP1 is used in Microsoft Office 2007 and the new version is easy to install and no change is seen when the new version is installed.

Yet another change that occurred is the Send for Review feature that could be found in Microsoft Office 2003 under File, Send to, Mail Recipient (for review). These entry points do not exist in Microsoft Office 2007.

There are of course many other changes that occur in Microsoft Office 2007 that Microsoft Office 2003 users must learn and get accustomed to. However, there are not so many that users who upgrade will have too difficult of a time converting.

Caitlina Fuller is a freelance writer. One of the changes is the digital signature. For instance, if you are in Microsoft Office 2007 training you will learn that with this edition the digital signature is formatted with XMLDSig, which is different than what you learned in Microsoft Office 2003 training. Also, the Microsoft office training courses will teach you that in Office 2007 you will find the digital signature under File, Finalize Document, Signatures rather than in Tools, Options, Security, Digital Signatures.

Hybrid Car Comparisons For 2007 - Buy A Hybrid Save The Planet?

For the past couple -three years, there has been much buzz going on about Hybrid Cars and the many benefits they seem to offer. It seems that Hybrid Cars may be the solution to both major problems we face in the United States today when it comes to transportation...

What are those two problems facing the United States when it comes to transportation?

1. Surging Oil Prices

2. Concern about the environment

So, how do you know which hybrid car to buy?

Compare your options and the benefits.

Owning a Hybrid car will offer you many, many benefits.

To name a few hybrid benefits:

1. Tax breaks by many states and Federal Government
2. Fuel cost savings - Hybrids use less fuel
3. Hybrid Cars are better for the environment producing less emissions

For these reasons and the never ending surge of gas pump prices, hybrid cars have experienced a sharp increase in sales.

More and more car manufacturers are joining the hybrid vehicle arena with their own versions. Both the old stand by companies that have been around for ever as well as many new "green car" companies are popping up to enter into the Hybrid Car Revolution. This is wonderful for those of you who are planning to buy a hybrid car, you now have so many choices it's almost unbelievable, that?s why you really need to compare hybrid cars to see which one would fit perfectly with your needs.

In this article we will only compare two of the worlds leading hybrid car manufactures, the Japanese giant's Toyota and Honda.

Toyota and Honda are credited with producing many top innovations of hybrid technology and their hybrid cars are the most popular, most awarded hybrid vehicles on the hybrid market today.

Here, in this article we will compare the hybrid cars they are offering for 2007 year, these will include the Honda Accord Hybrid, Honda Civic Hybrid, Lexus GS 450H, Toyota Camry Hybrid and the Toyota Prius.

Their fuel efficiency can be compared through their average consumption per mile in different situations, like; City Driving ? where the traffic is constantly stopping, Highway Driving ? where the engine can freely operate at maximum level and their combined average usage.

Miles Per Gallon and Average Used Per Gallon

• Honda Accord Hybrid ? 28 MPG (city), 35 MPG (Highway) and 31 MPG (Combined Average)
• Honda Civic - 49 MPG (city), 51 MPG (Highway) and 50 MPG (Combined Average)
• Lexus GS 450H - 25 MPG (city), 28 MPG (Highway) and 26 MPG (Combined Average)
• Toyota Camry Hybrid - 40 MPG (city), 38 MPG (Highway) and 39 MPG (Combined Average)
• Toyota Prius - 60 MPG (city), 51 MPG (Highway) and 55 MPG (Combined Average)

Before you just go out and pick the one with the highest MPG average, you need to consider something else.

Fuel type.

All of these vehicles use regular gasoline except for the Lexus which uses Premium Gasoline that is much pricier per gallon.

You also need to compare the size class of each hybrid car as well as the engine size and liters of the engine.

• Accord Hybrid is a midsize car with a 3 liter - 6 cylinder engine.
• Civic Hybrid is a compact car with a 1.3 liter ? 4 cylinder engine.
• Lexus GS 450H is another compact car with a 3.5 liter ? 6 cylinder engine.
• Toyota Camry Hybrid is a midsize sedan equipped with a 2.4 liter ? 4 cylinder engine
• Toyota Prius is a compact car with a 1.5 liter ? 4 cylinder engine.

The bigger the car and the more powerful the engine is, the more fuel will be consumed. Considering all these aspects and doing your homework can lead to a fantastic hybrid vehicle purchase.

You have to put all of the considerations on the table when searching for the best hybrid to buy.

So, before you rush right out an get that shiny new hybrid car, compare first and do your homework. Find the one that will suit your needs and fit your personality best and you will be on your way to helping save the environment as well as saving yourself some money on fuel.

Frederick Musser is the owner of e85 Tips. A site dedicated to informing the world about alternative fuels and energy and their many benefits.

For more information on e85 and alternative fuels please visit e85Tips.com

ISO 9000 AND SEI-CMM PROCESSES AND STANDARDS FOR OUTSOURCING

Companies seeking international outsourcing are increasingly expecting providers who can offer high quality services and work products, as defined by formal compliance with international standards such as ISO 9000 and SEI-CMM. Providers who offer high quality work but do not adhere to recognized ISO or SEI-CMM standards will surely lose out to those who do.

In fact, a growing number of companies who will use outsourcing already use ISO standards, which define the rules for selecting outsourcing providers. In this case, these companies MUST select outsourcing companies that use the same or similar standards. For example, Clause 7.4, "Purchasing," of the ISO handbook, "ISO 9001 for Small Businesses," deals in detail with the complex area of contracting out processes, products or services which is commonly referred to as " outsourcing " or " subcontracting ". It covers who is responsible, the relationship between outsourcing, the organization and customers, how to ensure that you get what is expected, plus how to select companies with the necessary capability to meet requirements.

About the Standards :

ISO 9000

- The International Organization for Standards (ISO 9000 series).
- International set of documents on quality assurance. Written by members of a worldwide delegation.
- 3 core quality systems documents.
- Models of quality assurance.

SEI-CMM Model

- SEI (Software Engineering Institute) established in 1984.
- The CMM (Capability Maturity Model) of SEI is a framework that describes the key elements of an effective software outsourcing process.
- CMM - composed of 5 maturity levels.
- Each level facilitates a layer in the foundation for continuous process improvement.

Achieving each level of the model institutionalizes a different component in the software process, resulting in an overall increase in the process capability of the organization.

For outsourcing providers, it is therefore critically necessary that you understand ISO 9000 and SEI-CMM processes and standards not only for your own purposes, but also so that you can better understand the requirements of the companies who will be your clients. Having certification in these standards will greatly improve your business profile and increase your potential for doing business in an increasingly quality-conscious world.

For further information on software outsourcing , offshore outsourcing and offshore software development , please visit http://www.a1technology.com .

How to Formulate your Quality Policy Statement and Quality Objectives in your ISO Quality Manual

When embarking on a new quality management system and writing a new quality manual for your organization, one of the most important decisions to make is how your quality policy statement should read. A quality policy statement is a requirement of an ISO9001:2000 quality management system, and can be regarded as the general guiding philosophy of your company or organization.

If you compare guiding a company to steering a ship, the nautical equivalent of a quality policy statement might be something like "We are going to sail to New York". This is a general statement of the overall goal. In your company's quality manual, you might say something like "Our goals are to achieve 100 percent customer satisfaction, constantly innovate in our products, and continually improve in all our activities". How can you steer the ship if you don't know where you want to go?

The quality objectives you choose to include in your quality manual, on the other hand, are the nuts-and-bolts, day-to-day objectives that will show how you are doing in regards to your overall goal. Quality objectives are also a requirement of an ISO9001:2000 quality management system, and must be included in your quality manual.

Depending on the size and complexity of your organization, I recommend that you have from 3 to 7 quality objectives in your quality manual. Any less than three is probably inadequate to accurately measure the improvement in your quality. Any more than 7 is probably too difficult to keep track of, and may start to become redundant.

Quality objectives must be measurable based on objective, numerical data. A vague statement in your quality manual such as "create the best product" is not measurable. The word "best" is a subjective evaluation, and can not be measured accurately. Your quality objectives should most likely contain some sort of numerical reference. Here are some examples:

 

• Customer Satisfaction Rating -- 97 percent or better.
• Customer Returns -- less than 10 per month
• Customer Returns -- less than .5 percent of sales.
• Final Inspection Rejection Rate -- less than .5 percent of units produced.

You must keep records of your organization's performance. You must keep track of how you do with respect to each of your quality objectives. These records will be reviewed by your third party auditor in the event you are audited to the ISO9001:2000 standard.

 

Whether or not you are ISO certified, it is definitely in your best interest to keep track of where you are in relation to where you want to be. In order to steer the ship accurately, not only do you need to know where you want to go, but you also need to know where you are currently.

I recommend that you compile statistics on your quality objective performance at least twice a year. Your performance measurements should be one of the inputs for your management review meeting, but you are free to compile and examine the statistics as often as you feel would be helpful.

Whether it be during the course of your management review, or at any other time, an analysis of your quality objective performance can be quite revealing. It can validate that you are on the right track, or can point out deficiencies. Hopefully a regular analysis of your quality objectives will keep you on track, and keep pointing you in right direction, in your quest for continually improving your quality system and your whole organization.

I always recommend that people keep their ISO quality manual as simple as possible, while covering the necessary requirements of ISO9001:2000. Keep your quality policy statement simple, but meaningful. Keep your quality objectives simple, meaningful, and measurable.

Timothy Macenroe
ISO Consultant and Quality Manager

My Blog about ISO Certification and Quality Manuals - QualityManualChat.com

ISO Quality Manual Sample and Templates - ISO-Quality-Manual.com
 

The Orphan Child Called ISO

ISO wasn't easy to change on early digital cameras.

First, here's a quick definition: ISO stands for the International Standards Organization. What it really indicates is a digital sensor's sensitivity to light.

A low ISO is less sensitive and a high ISO is very sensitive.

Further translated: a high ISO like 3200 means that the sensor can capture a clear photo, even in low-light conditions. A low ISO like 100 requires a lot of ambient light for clear shots.

So why is this setting so often ignored? It's harder to sell the benefits of ISO (which is pretty confusing to anyone who is not a camera junkie) versus something simpler like speed (2 photos per second or 5 photos per second...which one's faster?).

Well, I'm here today to try to illustrate the benefits of ISO. It is a prominent feature on all of the latest digital cameras, and is something that you should be aware of when you're trying to take photos in available light.

Benefit #1 - Clear hand-held photos

Here's the problem: you're taking photos indoors on an overcast day. The only way that you can get a proper exposure is to slow down the shutter speed to 1/30 of a second.

The camera's shutter needs to stay open 1/30 of a second to let in plenty of light. Unfortunately, the longer the shutter stays open, the more likely your photo will turn out blurry. The blur is caused by camera shake when you hold the camera in your hands.

While blur is sometimes desirable to illustrate motion, most ot the time it's not the effect you want.

You really want to get a clear photograph, but there isn't enough ambient light. You think you're stuck with two options: use a flash, or attach the camera to a tripod so it's stable.

But here comes ISO to offer up a third alternative: set your ISO to 800 or 1600.

This boosts the light sensitivity of the camera's sensor, so you're not forced to keep the shutter open so long. With a shutter speed of 1/125 or 1/250 you can now hold the camera in your hands and get perfectly clear available-light photographs.

Benefit #2 - Atmosphere

As you increase the ISO on your digital camera, you also increase the noise in the photograph. "Noise" is the appearance of dots and specks, typically in shadow areas of the image.

Digital camera manufacturers have gone to great lengths to minimize noise, even at high ISO settings. This is due to benefit #1 above.

But sometimes you might want that noise in your photograph. Let's say you're taking shots on a foggy day, and the mood of the scene could really use some noise, to give the photo an old-time look.

Boost the ISO as high as it will go (usually 3200) and that noise will appear in your photo. In black and white, it really adds to the atmosphere and the quality of the image.

Benefit #3 - Fast shutter speeds

One of the best uses of a really fast shutter speed is to freeze motion.

If you take a lot of photos of sporting events, you need to be using shutter speeds around 1/1000 of a second or faster. There are not many days where there is enough ambient light to use these super-fast shutter speeds.

The only way that you will be able to catch all the action is if you increase your ISO. If you don't want noise in the photo, just increase the ISO enough to get the shutter speed you want. If ISO 400 will get the job done, then use that.

Summary

I hope that this brief introduction has opened your eyes to the usefulness of ISO settings on digital cameras.

I think that the ability to change ISO on the fly is one of the biggest advantages that digital cameras have over film.

With film you'd have to shoot an entire roll at one ISO setting before you could switch to another (or you had to have 2 cameras with different ISO films).

With digital you can change the ISO anytime, anywhere. It gives you complete flexibility and control over the photos that you take.

Changing the ISO setting does take some getting used to, and it's still not easy to do on some digital camera models.

I am sure though that once you start using it, you'll find yourself saying "Please, sir, may I have some more?"

Chris Roberts purchased his first digital SLR camera 3 years ago, and hasn't looked back. He continues to learn and write about new and emerging digital SLRs to this day on his web sites, the Digital SLR Guide and the Digital SLR Guide Weblog

Steps to Build ISO 9001 Compliant Program

Implementing an ISO 9001 system represents a major effort. However, all of that effort can represent a significant shift for a business - from quantity to quality. And this could make sure your business gets the desired results.

Shift Policy and Procedures Focus to Performance

Developing, implementing and maintaining your ISO 9001 program can be crucial to the core issues of a business. The focus is designed to help:

• Satisfy customer requirements for compliance

• Increase profits with more contracts

• Save money through efficiency

But to do this you need to put a framework in place that spotlights performance and performance improvement.

Get Management System Support

To effectively build a program and meet the requirements, your organization should carry out a strong process:

• Management Decision and Commitment

• Adequate Training and Evaluation

• Compliance with Appropriate Standards

• Audit and Registration

Once you’ve identified your company’s need for compliance, it is essential for top management to get on board. Management can ensure that quality is documented, demonstrable, effective and maintained.

Quality Systems and Procedures

The appropriate personnel should then review the standards for their industry and work to meet those requirements with organized documentation. Personnel can then develop, implement and maintain a set of quality systems and procedures to satisfy the ISO 9001 requirements.

Operations Training and Well-defined Processes

To build a program and meet the requirements, your organization should begin with effective training for how to create well-defined processes. You will first want to learn how to identify the objectives necessary to deliver top results. And then you will be ready to put those processes to work.

Internal Auditor Training

After you’ve implemented the ISO program, you should monitor and measure the processes against your own objectives. You can build an effective management system that objectively shows what you’re doing right and wrong. To learn how, you can take advantage of an Internal Auditor skills class and learn how to bridge the gap and move toward continual performance improvement.

Improve Business Process Performance

With ISO 9001 compliance you can improve the overall process performance of your business. And this can save money while satisfying your customers and increasing profit.

Chris Anderson is currently the managing director of Bizmanualz, Inc. and co-author of policies and procedures manuals, producing the layout, process design and implementation to increase performance. To learn how to increase your business performance, visit: Bizmanualz, Inc.