The Cinema of Hong Kong - Essay Example

Section One - Context: Industry and Organization: The cinema of Hong Kong is ified as commercial cinema. In past, the industry was not providedwith the Governmental support in shape of subsidies or import quotas but in the recent years the trend has been changed. The Government of Hong Kong is taking different steps which will eke the process of revival of cinema. The film production in the Hong Kong Cinema heavily relies on crowd-pleasing genres like comedy and action, and on formulas, sequels and remakes. Film producing has not remained a very lucrative business in Hong Kong. In order to maximize the returns from different ventures and minimize the risks involved, movie companies in Hong Kong tend to partner with movie companies in Mainland China. They are able to share the costs and expenses, as well as able to gain large market coverage in Mainland China The contents of a film have mixture of elements from the Hollywood and elements from traditional Chinese drama and art, particularly a penchant for stylization and a disregard for Western standards of realism (Wikipedia, 2008). Successfully surviving and competing in the industry since about fifty years, Shaw Brothers is one of the most famous production companies in Hong Kong having more than 80 films to their credit. Shaw Brothers (HK) Ltd. is the biggest movie production company of Hong Kong movies. The company focuses on investment holding and investments in media and entertainment industries. Activities mainly consist of distributing films and the provision of filming facilities and services. Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) Ltd. is a Public Limited Company listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. The company was founded in Hong Kong in 1958. Sir Run Run Shaw, Chairman of Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) Ltd., has said "In the film industry, one walks a tightrope, with all its thrills, satisfactions and dangers. That is perhaps why the business of making movies has given me the pleasure, the excitement and the fulfilment which I have always craved" (Sir Run Run Shaw, Movie/TV Marketing, Eighth issue, 1977). Sir Run Run Shaw started Shaw Studios with his vision to produce quality Chinese movies in Hong Kong. This information was found in the company website of Singapore (www.shaw.sg). Section Two - Informal Learning - 500 words An important approach to managing the creation and exchange of tacit knowledge is the creation of a shared workspace, or environment, for the elicitation and sharing of knowledge (Smith, 2001). I shared the space with Mr. Wong and his secretary Miranda. By sharing the space I was provided with a chance to undertake knowledge creation. According to Nonaka, there are two dimensions to tacit knowledge. The first is the technical dimension, which encompasses the kind of informal personal skills often referred to as "know-how." The second dimension is cognitive. The cognitive dimension consists of beliefs, ideals, values, and mental models, which are often taken for granted (Nonaka and Konno, 1998, p. 42). But in my placement case I not only focused at the technical dimension of learning but also gave importance to the cognitive aspect. Section Three Placement Analysis: As the production assistant of Mr. Lawrence Wong, my general duties were to assist in some projects he was working on. My work involved assisting Mr. Wong in different stages of film and movie production, from early preparations to finalizing the film. I participated I each step with him from the negotiation of the contract to the final step of shooting and editing the films. My learning process at Shaw Brothers was undertaken according to the theory Y assumptions being presented by McGregor. According to these assumptions: "The expenditure of physical effort and mental effort in work is as natural as play or rest". I found it as entertaining and pleasant to gain knowledge at Shaw Brothers as I could have at any other leisure activity. "External control and the threat of punishment are not the only means for producing effort toward organisational objectives. People will exercise self-direction and self-control in the service of objectives to which they are committed". Although I was not a formal employee of the company but I found my self motivated due to the objective of implementing me theoretical knowledge practically and even enhancing and upgrading that knowledge with the practical experience. "The degree of commitment to objectives is in proportion to the size of the rewards associated with their achievement". Maybe the experience would not be very precious for the experienced workers at the Shaw Brothers that's why I found some of the workers taking least experience in the work but for a potential new comer in the industry like me it was like experiencing the final step of the knowledge gaining process. This feeling multiplied my commitment to learn and not to miss any minute detail. "Average human beings learn, under proper conditions, not only to accept responsibility but also to seek it". The conditions at Shaw Brothers was highly professional and more than proper which taught me the meaning of accepting responsibility and sharing it with others to achieve the common goals and objectives of the organization. "The capacity to exercise a relatively high degree of imagination, ingenuity, and creativity in the solution of organisational problems is widely, not narrowly, distributed in the population". The opportunity provided by my placement at Shaw Brothers provided me a chance to be imaginative, creative and to utilise my skills and expertise to find out the solutions to the organisational problems. Theory Y is optimistic, dynamic and flexible, with an emphasis on self-direction and the integration of individual needs with organisational demands. There is little doubt that each set of assumptions will affect the way an individual carries out his functions and activities. (Koontz & Weihrich, 1994) Any patterns in information behaviour and attitudes across the organisation (and groups within the organisation) help define what is called the information culture (and subcultures). The information culture practised at the Shaw Brothers was very open in a sense that each and every individual in the company was free to express his ideas and to question. Davenport argued strongly for the need to manage information behaviour, whereby the information culture would better support organisational objectives: "Some widely publicised technologies ...can help capture and disseminate organisational knowledge, but they're of little help if the people involved aren't already predisposed to use information effectively." (Davenport, 1997: 85) He goes on to identify "three critical types of information behaviour that improve a company's information environment": [p.87] a. Sharing information: "...the voluntary act of making information available to others." [p.87] often this involves hierarchically horizontal information transfer (peer-to-peer), as opposed to the involuntary information reporting structures based on vertical information transfer. b. Handling information overload: filtering an overabundance of available information so that attention (limited as it is) can be directed to that which is most useful. c. Dealing with multiple meanings: recognising the fact that business-relevant information items may have different meanings across different functional groups within the organisation. In a preliminary study that classified types of information behaviour within an organisational context, Bonner et al. (1996) raise some interesting questions. Is it possible to identify the relative combination of strengths of type for individual (and group) information behaviour Would it be possible to establish combinations of information behaviour type as being more suitable to certain types of work Can training programmes be developed to strengthen desirable information behaviour types Bonner et al. defined an individual's information behaviour in terms of their behaviour at a point in time in dealing with information within a given information environment (or context). It includes the person's behaviour with respect to: determining the existence of, and locating needed information related to a specific problem or issue; Recognising new potential uses to which particular information may be put. Section Four - Objectives and aims evaluation: As mentioned by Fuller and Unwin (2003) researching the lived reality of apprenticeship in contemporary workplaces provides a useful resource through which workplace learning can be maximized. My placement at Shaw studios helped me a lot in achieving the predetermined aims and objectives discussed in my proposal. I discovered that the way the Hong Kong movie industry operates has changed a lot in recent years. Nowadays, Hong Kong filmmakers have to be very concerned with the market in mainland China. With a huge population that is fascinated by Hong Kong movies, Mainland China provides the Hong Kong filmmakers with a lot of opportunities in their market. Thus, Hong Kong filmmakers must take mainland China into account when considering the storyline, casts, and shooting locations. I also observed how Mr. Wong deals with his many responsibilities in the company successfully. Being involved in the purchasing department, as well as investing and producing films he had many departments to look after. He had to attend at least three meetings per week, and also had to meet with filmmakers to discuss movie productions. With all these engagements he also managed to take care of the minute details on the shooting locations. As a well-experienced investor and executive producer, one of Mr. Wong's important roles is to analyze movie scripts. If he believes that a particular script is qualified to be made into a movie, he would then organize a meeting with the scriptwriter for further discussions. If the discussions go well, Mr. Wong would make the decision for Shaw Brothers (H.K.) Ltd to invest in the movie. The experience at Shaw brothers also helped me to improve my skills in problem solving. While attending to the discussions regarding the problems I unintentionally used to start thinking about the solutions to those problems. One important thing which I learnt from my placement experience is that every thing in the working environment cannot be perfect one has to put up with all the odds and keep on planning to cope up with them. An important aim of my placement was to undertake the analysis of movie scripts. According to the directions of Mr Wong, I analysed the story outline that was called "A love letter for the filmmakers". Based on what I have learnt from my scriptwriting class in the Academy of Art University (AAU) and marketing class in QUT, I wrote the analysis and gave a short presentation about my thoughts. I explained that the storyline was too simple and not dramatic enough, and gave suggestions on how I think could improve the story. Mr. Wong seemed to be quite satisfied with my response, and also gave me some advice on how to analyse story outlines. He mentioned that the audiences in Hong Kong are mostly teenagers and young adults; therefore, it is very important for movies to connect with their tastes and interests. Discussions with the potential customers regarding the future projects involved the discussion about all the important points in the project in order to avoid misunderstanding and conflict in future. Mr. Wong used to present the pros and cons of the project to the customer very honestly. In my opinion, by mentioning all the possibilities, including success and failure, Mr. Wong not only gained one movie project with these two producers but also created a good reputation of him for more projects in the future. Casting Strategies: Filmmakers in Hong Kong and Mainland China would choose their main cast by considering the most famous stars first. They would want whoever is the most famous at the moment to be in their movie. Important Trends in Hong Kong Film Making: Hong Kong filmmakers want to enter the market in Mainland China; most of them would choose to partner with the Mainland China companies. Usually, the production cost is equally divided, and therefore each company would be paying 50% of the cost. The movie company from Mainland China usually would have location rights to all areas of Mainland China, while the movie company from Hong Kong would have location rights to all other places, such as Malaysia and Singapore. However, some companies from Mainland China would be willing to pay more in the production cost, for instance, 70% of the total production cost, in exchange for additional location rights to other countries. Mr. Wong also mentioned that the movie must be very careful regarding the censorship rules in Mainland China I noticed that giving "face" is essential in our Chinese community. One of my main objectives which are still needed to be worked on is to learn how different departments work and co-ordinate with each other. Research the experience and background of the people who are in charge of these departments. I will do this by reading the company's handbooks and talking to the staff from various departments. Section Five - Ethics: I would like to provide my response to the Ethics scenario #1: managing difficult volunteer staff. The first and foremost ethical obligation of a manger is to take care of the organisational interest keeping a side his/her personal preferences. The ages of can vary between 18 - 90, with different back grounds and experiences, beliefs, and standards to the organization. Younger volunteers may not have a mature sense of ethics, on the other hand older and experienced volunteers may have well-developed morals. It is necessary for the organization to provide all the volunteers with straightforward guidelines and a code of ethics which needs to be followed by all personnel in the organization. The ethical values of a volunteer include: Honesty and integrity Respect and equal treatment Adherence of laws and regulations Loyalty to the company, fellow employees, clients, volunteers. Principles of fair business dealings As mentioned in the scenario that the volunteer was not a good worker s/he did not do a good job, did not turn up at the right time, was rude to the visitors and was not doing the job s/he was supposed to do, I would reject her application and will inform her that her past performance as a volunteer was not up to the mark. This will be a lesson for other volunteers and they will also perform according to the ethical values but if s/he will be given another chance there are ample chances that s/he will continue his/her formal behaviour. Section Six - Professional Advice: I would like to advice to the new comers to take the placement or internship very seriously as it can be a future opportunity to kick start one's career. Be very dutiful and punctual in performing the tasks assigned to you although you are not a formal employee of the organization. This will enhance the day to day problem solving skills in an individual by providing the opportunity to deal practically with these problems. It is also important to have workplace mentor especially in the creative work environment such as film production. As in my case Mr Shaw provided me valuable information which will be helpful in my future job experience. On the other hand his constructive criticism on my progress also helped me in the correction of my mistakes. Mentors like Mr Shaw can also become excellent references as you seek fulltime employment because they can report their observations of your work. References Alison Fuller, Lorna Unwin, (2003). Fostering Workplace Learning: looking through the lens of apprenticeship, European Educational Research Journal, 2(1), pp. 41-55 http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/eerj.2003.2.1.9 Grace, D., and S. Cohen. 1988. Ethical Reasoning in Business. In Business Ethics Australian Problems and Cases, Second Edition. 1-34. Melbourne: Oxford University Press (held on CMD) Koontz, H., & Weihrich, H., (1994). Management: A Global Perspective, Tenth Edition, Mc Graw- Hill International Editions, pp. 466-467 Kochan, T., Orlikowski, W., & Gershenfeld, G., C., (2002). Beyond McGregor's Theory Y: Human Capital and Knowledge-Based Work in the 21st Century Organisation, Prepared for the Sloan School 50th Anniversary Session on October 11, 2002, Available: Smith Elizabeth A. (2001). The role of tacit and explicit knowledge in the workplace, Journal of Knowledge Management; 2001; 5, 4; ABI/INFORM Global pg. 311 Shaw Brothers, (2008). Shaw Brothers Hong Kong Limited, available at http://www.shawbrothers.com.hk/ Walsh, M. 2003. "Doing the right thing." http://www.domanvaughan.com/articles1ethical.html. Wikipedia, (2008). Cinema of Hong Kong, available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_Hong_Kong Read More