Music is the world recognized language. There are many components which add to the overall sound and feel of a piece of music. As you start learning the music, chords, enharmonic, time signatures, tempo’s, pitches, time duration, major and minor keys are some of the things we come across while composing the music.

Does only Musician can compose songs? Those days have gone. Now any one, even a layman in music can compose songs of his own. With no guide‘s help but just only with the aid of a music composing software, personal computer and creativity any one can compose music. With uniquely designed composing software’s like cake walk, FlexiMusic Composer, music genesis, any one can compose music of their own.

The cake walk software is suitable for people who are much familiar in music composing. It suits best for professionals to create music professionally .There are Cakewalk products available at varying costs. Cakewalk sells many third-party extras to help you make the most of your Cakewalk product, including audio effects, virtual instruments, audio loops, more.

On the other hand the software like FlexiMusic and music genesis is best suited for beginners in composing music.The FlexiMusic Composer is a multi-track program for composing, editing and mixing of music using sampled instrumental sounds. With this comprehend list of musical instruments and their corresponding files you can select any number of instruments to compose a song. Just with one sample of sound, various sounds can be created. Using this software, songs can be edited in three different cycles namely Step cycle, Bar cycle, Single/file voice. The FlexiMusic composer possesses many effects like volume, pan, trim height, echo, equalizer, copy, paste with which a quality song can be composed.

MusicGenesis lets anyone create music on their personal computer. It works by adding randomly-generated notes to a song and letting you decide whether to keep or delete each one. By keeping what you like and deleting what you don’t like, you will quickly create a unique piece of music.

If you like music, you’ll love the experience of creating songs of your own with ease and creativity. These software not only provides fun but also invites to the eternal world of music.

Different styles of music have different “sounds.” We can all pretty much agree on that point. For example, Jazz uses seventh chords almost exclusively. This, and the kind of chord progressions used in Jazz gives it its unique flavor. But what about new age music? Does it have it’s own special ingredients? Yes it does.

Now, there are no hard and fast rules here but for the most part, new age music is a consonant music. That is, there is little or noharshness going on in the music. No Saxes wailing and what not. Having said that we can eliminate most of the tense jazz chords and their voicing. So what are we left with? Mostly Major and minor chords based on the regular scales and the modes. The chord progressions are simpler and usually start on the l chord. No ll-V-l progressions here.

What about melody? In jazz, we have a soloist who usually plays a lot of chromatic notes. This is rare in new age music because it would create dissonance. New age melodies tend to be softer and more on the spiritual side. Solos, if there are any, are not so much concerned with the expression of the self than they are with letting the music express itself. A subtle but very important distinction. Jazz players may have some ego invested in their performance. New age musicians learn to let the music play them. They learn to become a channel for the music itself allowing it to speak through them. Of course, I’m not saying that this can’t happen in Jazz, but, just watch a Jazz performer and you’ll see
what I mean.

Last but not least is rhythm. Let’s do a comparison/contrast between Jazz and New Age music. Jazz has a definite discernible rhythm. It is what makes Jazz Jazz. New age music can have a pattern or an underlying rhythm to the music. It can be used to create trance like states in the listener. Drums are usually a part of Jazz music. Percussion is mostly absent from the New Age sound simply because it would not add to the atmosphere most
New Age musicians create. Timing is very important to the Jazz musician. The soloist has the freedom to play whatever he wants as long as he maintains the meter and stays in time. New Age music is more elastic in that timing is there, but is not a master of
the player. The New Age player can disregard time altogether. Just listen to Zen flute music as a good example of this.

Now, what does all this mean for the aspiring New Age musician? A couple of good things. It means that there is a definite new age “sound” out there. That it is here to stay and that people like and need to hear it. And it means that there are some guidelines
out there for what defines the meaning of New Age music.

A music synthesizer makes sounds by using an electrical circuit as an oscillator to create and vary the frequency of sounds in order to produce different pitches. As long as the pitch is within the range of frequency that can be heard by a human ear, it’s known as a “musical pitch” (so a dog whistle wouldn’t count) as a musical pitch. You can use a keyboard to vary these pitches at discrete intervals that correspond to the notes on the musical scale. If you put several oscillators together, you can combine several pitches to create a “chord”.

OK, we’ve got pitch down (at least in a very simple sense). How do you vary the tone of a particular pitch? That is done by playing a given pitch with waveforms of different shapes (common waveforms include sine, square, sawtooth, and triangle waveforms). Since the harmonic structure of these waveforms differ, our ears interpret them as different tones. The sound you will hear can also be modified by voltage-controlled amplifiers (VCA) and voltage-controlled filters (VCF).

Synthesizers are able to only mimic the sounds of non-synthetic instruments, but also to create sounds that absolutely cannot be played by anything but a music synthesizer. That is because a music synthesizer is well-suited to delicate manipulations of its oscillators. Nevertheless, it’s a lot easier for a synthesizer to create entirely new sounds than to mimic the sounds of acoustic instruments because the waveforms of acoustic instruments are so complex. Interestingly, once complex sound that synthesizers so far have been very bad at reproducing is the human voice (although improvements are being made in this technology).

The entire electronic music scene would be virtually impossible without the use of synthesizers (no doubt some wish it were). Nevertheless, the number of sounds that a musician has to work with has been exponentially increasing in recent decades, and we have only scratched the surface of the creative possibilities. Imagine the consequences if a machine was invented that could generate 100,000 hitherto unknown colors?

In an effort to stay fit and healthy, people nowadays are becoming more and more conscious of their food and diet. They are also doing more exercise to maintain their health and. The benefits of the healthy food and exercise are well known. However, there is one more fact that people are not aware of. It is the positive impact of music on health. Young or old, music is an effective means of managing stress and hence can be an important and effective tool to facilitate healthy existence. Music can play an important role throughout our lives. Music is based on sound waves that lie between our voice and the meditative brain wavelengths and as a result it can be a medium that can connect us with our higher conscious thereby relieving us of anxiety and tension.

Educationists have long known the benefits of music. The ability to play a musical instrument and make music improves our analytical abilities. In the process of learning music, the reading of musical notes and musical notations works towards stimulating the processes linked with solving mathematical and analytical problems and do extremely well in sciences.

The minds of young people are filled with eternal hope, which reflects in their musical creations. This can be clearly seen while watching them learn to play musical instruments and when they are performing. The combination of young minds and music evokes joy and hope. Unlike the people who have earned gray hair, the music of young people serves as a reminder to the fact that nothing is impossible.

There have been a lot of studies conducted on the influence of music. In the elderly people, music has been shown to not only reduce tension and anxiety but also helps reduce the feeling of isolation and solitude. And a surprising revelation of this study was that the subjects enrolled for this study showed an increased production of human growth hormone, which has a positive effect on the side effects of aging like wrinkling, osteoporosis, general aches and pains and even sexual function.

Health practitioners can draw an important inference from this study. It shows that group activity and interaction with others is important for staying healthy and having a better standard of living. It proves the long held belief that music is a means to link with our higher selves and thereby help us lead a healthy life that can be enjoyed to the fullest.

The combination of young minds and the music evokes joy and hope. Unlike the people who have earned gray hair, the music of young people serves as a reminder to the fact that nothing is impossible.

You can have two individuals, with similar musical technical ability, play the same exact notes on a guitar and receive  completely different reaction from the audience. You can also  have musicians who train day in and day out and become  extremely good at technically manipulating their instrument but when you hear them play, they hardly evoke any emotional reaction in the audience. On the other hand, you have the
other kind of musicians, who may either be technically good or not, but their delivery always triggers a palpable emotional reaction in their audience. So what is the element
that makes the difference?

Maybe we can begin to answer that by following it with these questions. Does the great musician really need an instrument to become one?. Or, to phrase it another way, does the instrument have anything to do in creating a great musician? The answer is, as you might have guessed is, not really. The instrument is purely incidental, in fact, a great musician
can merely whistle and get a favorable audience reaction. Why? because they are born with the internal knowledge of the universal language of music, also know as, the gift of
music. The possession of that knowledge or talent is the critical difference between the great musician versus the instrumental player. The great musician usually has a clear
connection with the musical language within themselves, making it easy for them to express it. To the extent they can tap into that energy the greater they can reach the
audience. The not so great musician, on the other hand, has a blurred connection, if at all. You can play your instrument till you drop dead, if the notes are not connected to your
internal language of music you are merely playing notes, not music.

The unfortunate difference between the language of music and any other language is that, you cannot learn it. If you are born with it, you can learn how to better tap into it, if you
are not born with it however, you might as well take up Spanish. For those born with it, practicing your music should involve great attention to the connection of yourself to the
language of music as much as the time spent with your instrument developing your technique. By that I mean, in order to tap into the energy of music easily, you will have to spend a great deal of time taking care of your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health as opposed to just concentrating on your instrument. Ultimately, it is your usefulness, in terms of inspiring and touching your audience that makes you a great
musician.

Tom of ‘Last Chants for a Slow Dance’ (1977) is one of those statistics; married, father of two, on the verge of divorce, and unemployed. He is also a desperate human being, unable to cope with marriage, fatherhood, or steady employment, and, in the eyes of society, a misfit.

Here, for the first time, Jost has created a convincing character in a convincing situation. The direct communication between film-maker and audience has gone, or at least, taken a step back, and the film presents us with a narrative in more or less the same way that other films present us with a narrative. A deliberate hole, however, is left in the illusion; at the beginning of the film, before the ‘character’ speaks, we hear the actor say: “Shall I start now? You said thirty seconds.” In this, and other ways, Jost reminds us that we are sitting in a cinema watching a film, and therefore that any meanings we perceive have been deliberately put there as a means of communication between himself and us.

‘Last Chants for a Slow Dance’ works partly as a psychological study, in that Tom’s decline from restless young man to murderer can be seen as a function of his own maladjusted personality; we are even given an indication of the origin of his problems: “Everything goes so fast. I don’t remember anything. I don’t remember my childhood, except that my father was always beating me, and I was always running away.” Running away is all he learned to do as a child, and all he knows how to do as an adult. But at the same time, Jost makes it clear that, whatever the reasons for Tom’s maladjustment, it is cues from society which prompt him to take the action he does take.

Tom is already desperate when the film opens; in a society which places high value on employment, material wealth, and family life, he is unemployed, broke, and alienated from his wife and children. He resorts to the only way of life he can cope with; driving around in his truck from town to town, ostensibly looking for work, but really seeking the comfort of anonymity, casual sex, and escape from responsibilities.

When Tom does return home it is only to be harangued, and threatened with divorce, by his wife, who is now pregnant for the third time. She verbally attacks him for his long absences from home, his failure to find a job, and his lack of concern for her and the children. Her attack is justified, of course, and she probably shouldn’t have married him in the first place, but this is no help to Tom, who cannot help the way he is, and no consolation for the society upon which he will take out his frustration. It is Jost’s view, and his case is convincing, that Tom is society’s problem.

Having been finally rejected by his wife, Tom hits the road again. He stops at a cafe, and while eating comes across an amusing letter in a newspaper and reads it out to a man sitting next to him. The letter is a sexual joke, and the man says: “You don’t believe that’s really a letter do you? Those letters are made up by some guy sitting in a back room. The government puts out that trash to keep people’s minds off their real problems.” This is the nub of Jost’s argument; that the media floods society with stories which distract people from their real problems, and perpetuate dehumanised values, in this case that a wife exists as a sexual object for her husband, which encourage them to remain distracted even when the story is forgotten. It is Jost’s contention that Tom, with his lack of intellect, and lack of purpose in his life, is a helpless victim of such stories.

In a later scene Tom spends the night with a girl he meets in a bar. The camera is positioned so that, on the right of the screen, we see the couple’s legs through an open door, while on the left of the screen we see a TV showing a game show. The scene is in black and white, except, strangely, for the TV screen, which is in colour. Because of this the distribution of values within the frame is curiously and disturbingly balanced, and, being one of Jost’s long takes, we have ample time to consider why this should be. When Jost draws attention to colour, such as in his frequent shots of a girl applying make-up, it is nearly always to emphasise its artificiality, its capacity to distract and conceal. In this scene the TV and the rest of the screen vie for our attention. What is going on in the rest of the screen is really terribly bleak; Tom is having a meaningless one-night-stand with a girl he has just met and doesn’t care about, and in the morning he will be gone.

But what is happening on the TV screen is depressing too; an audience-participation game show, in which people’s lives literally become merged with TV, and which, broadcasting its phoney spirit of competitive bonhomie, is nothing less than a brain-washing exercise, designed to sedate its viewers while instilling values favourable to capitalism.

The whole scene is a depiction of emptiness disguised, and as such is a depiction of Tom’s world, in which the distribution of values is out of balance with the needs of reality. Later in the scene, when the girl walks in front of the TV, we see the coloured image of the screen superimposed on her body. This betrayal of the illusion is Jost’s way of ensuring that we are not merely fascinated and distracted by his trick photography.

The turning point for Tom comes after he has looked at a folder of criminal records. Each page has a photo of the criminal and a summary of his activities and characteristics, including (the detail which fascinates Tom the most) his tattoos. In Tom’s eyes these little ’stories’, which situate their subjects in a recognisable relationship to society, give meaning to their subjects’ lives. And so he has found a last chance to give meaning to his own life; by becoming a criminal he can become a story, in newspapers, on TV, and preserved for posterity in police records.

Jost only interpolates one ‘montage’ shot into the narrative, but it is one the viewer will never forget: suddenly we are watching, in merciless close up, a live rabbit having its head forced over a chopping-block. We see the helpless look in its eye as it struggles, then it is decapitated and we see the blood spurt. Then, one by one, its paws are chopped from its still-twitching body. That, Jost implies, is how much chance a man like Tom has against the coercive power of society and its media.

Tom’s final, irreversible act is even more disturbing than the slaughter of the rabbit. He comes across a man whose car has broken down in an isolated rural spot, and stops to help him. They chat, and it turns out that the man comes from the same town as Tom, and, like Tom, has a wife and children. They have something in common, but the man has kept all the things Tom has lost, and for the first time we seem to be seeing Tom engaging in a friendly conversation, talking for the pleasure of communicating.

But just when we begin to think he might be human after all, and that this new-found friendship might be the start of an upturn in his life, Tom casually gets a gun from his truck and robs the man. “I can’t get work,” he explains, “I’ve got no money, this (the gun) is all I got left.” Then he leads the man into the woods, and shoots him. The need to align himself with society’s media-perpetrated values has taken precedence over all human values.

The film ends with a long take of Tom’s face as he drives his truck, forcing us to contemplate the meaning of what we have just seen. And there is much to contemplate, for, in this film, Jost has produced a convincing account of how society engenders its own crime, and creates its own criminals.

The past 150 years has seen tremendous strides in technological and scientific research and invention. Who would have ever imagined that men would walk on the moon or that open heart surgery could be performed with robotic assistance? Still, with all of these advances man has consistently failed in one field of research: the creation of life from inanimate material.

This desire, coupled with an inborn need to find creative expression, has lead to some interesting discoveries. Man has developed the illusion of creating life from nothing. Spectators of this illusion are at times amazed and often carried away from reality, even if just for a few hours.

We are talking about the art of cartoon animation. Using various methods an artist has the ability to make his drawings move and speak. With modern computer technology, the artist?s drawings may even appear to interact with with the observer. Walt Disney, a monumental figure in the history of animated film once said, “Animation can explain whatever the mind of man can conceive.”

What is the history of this art form? What advances has it made in recent years?

A Brief History of Theatrical Animation

On December 28, 1895, the world of art and entertainment took a drastic turn. Upon invitation Georges Méliès, a well known Paris magician, attended the first public showing of the Cinématographe. Méliès never forgot that evening.

“The other guests and I found ourselves in front of a small screen…after a few minutes, a stationary photograph showing the Place Bellecour in Lyon was projected. A little surprised, I scarcely had time to say to my neighbor: ‘Is it just to have us see projections that he has brought us here? I’ve been doing them for ten years.’

“No sooner had I stopped speaking when a horse pulling a cart started to walk toward us, followed by other vehicles, then passerby - in short, the whole vitality of a street. We were open-mouthed, dumfounded, astonished beyond words in the face of this spectacle.”

How exciting it must have been for early pioneers of motion picture to learn and develop their art! Within a very short period of time, these individuals began experimenting with different forms of expression through this new and mysterious medium.

In 1896 J. Stuart Blackton, a native Englishman who emigrated to the United States, walked into a studio that would change his life and launch a new industry in the motion picture field. Blackton was a journalist and illustrator for the New York Evening World. He was sent to interview the inventor of the Vitascope, Thomas Edison.

Blackton immediately fell in love with the cinema. That same year he founded a production house called Vitagraph. Within a very short period, he discovered that by exposing film frame by frame and manipulating a scene between exposures, the illusion of motion could be produced with inanimate objects. At the time, a standard movie camera would expose eight frames per turn of a crank. Camera operators learned how to alter the camera to expose only one frame per crank, and the technique of animation became known as “one turn, one picture.”

In time, Blackton realized that he could bring drawings to life using this method. In 1906, Vitagraph released a short film entitled “Humorous Phases of Funny Faces.” Blackton?s hand draws a man and a woman on a blackboard. When his hand leaves the frame, the faces roll their eyes. The hand appears again and erases the emboldened animated characters.

In 1905, Winsor McCay, a cartoon illustrator for the New York Herald, created a strip called “Little Nemo in Slumberland.” This cartoon became so popular that it was developed into a Broadway musical. In 1911, McCay left the paper and began working for the New York American. During this time, he began experimenting with the idea of using animated pictures as part of a vaudeville act. His first project was a film adaptation of “Little Nemo.” With no story line, “Little Nemo” was a beautiful study in movement.

McCay?s second film was entitled “The Story of a Mosquito.” The film, a story of a mosquito?s encounter with a drunken man, was a hit. Some theatergoers felt that McCay was performing a trick with wires, not understanding the the nature of drawn animation.

To prove that his drawings were actually moving McCay responded by producing the film “Gertie the Dinosaur.” Ten thousand drawings inked on rice paper were used in creating this masterpiece. Gertie debuted February 1914 in Chicago as part of a vaudeville act. As the film was projected on screen McCay stood nearby and interacted with the animated dinosaur. Gertie laughed and cried. Audiences loved it. The film had a storyline and a star - the first of its kind in animation history.

As time passed, other artists became involved in the animation industry. In 1923, Walt and Roy Disney formed the Disney Brothers Studio and signed a contract with Margaret J. Winkler, a New York film distributor, to produce six short films based on the Lewis Carroll book “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” These films featured a mix of live action and drawn animation. The fifty-sixth and last Alice Comedy film was released on July 15, 1927.

In 1928, the Walt Disney Studio released “Steamboat Willie,” the first cartoon built around a soundtrack. This film featured Disney?s latest character, Mickey Mouse. It was a sensation.

In the years following “Steamboat Willie” Disney?s studio developed the novelty of animated film into an art form that could express emotion and personality. In December 1937, the studio released “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” the first full length animation feature. Skeptics called this project “Disney?s Folly,” stating that the public would not sit through a lengthy animated feature. They were wrong. Snow White was a smash hit and maintains an audience today.

Over a sixty-three year period, the Walt Disney Studio has produced 38 animated features and countless animated shorts. Other companies such as Warner Brothers, MGM and DreamWorks have also produced notable animated theatrical works.

Animation and the Television

Animation (usually made-for-theatre cartoons) hit the small screen as early as 1930, but due to high production costs and the fact that the television audience was minute, it was relegated to a non-commercial, experimental novelty.

On July 1, 1941 the U.S. Government allowed the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) to become a commercial entity. This meant that NBC could now charge for commercial advertising between and during broadcast entertainment. Botany Mills was the first company to produce animated commercials. These commercials (seven in all) featured the Botany Lamb plugging the company?s line of wool ties.

The production of “TVs” came to a stop at the end of 1941, when aluminum (required in TV production at the time) was rationed for war purposes. After the war, the TV manufacturing business exploded. In 1946, eight thousand TVs were produced. In the next year, over 38 million sets were sold in the United States.

The early days of commercial television created a problem for the advertising and publishing industry. Large corporations were not spending their money on print advertising, but opting instead to experiment with TV.

Animation lended itself to this new medium. A live person talking about a product worked, but a cute little animated character bouncing around the screen commanded attention! In 1949, Television Magazine indicated that four of the six most popular television ads were animated.

In 1957, MGM decided to get out of the animation business. Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera, creators of the successful Tom and Jerry theatrical cartoons, found themselves out of work. The two formed their own company and immediately began work on a made-for-television animated series called Ruff and Reddy. This series remained on the air until 1964, one hundred episodes later.

With the release of The Flintstones in 1960, the Hanna-Barbera studio became the premier production house for television animation. Acquired by cable mogul Ted Turner (founder of the Cartoon Network) in 1991 and then merged into Time-Warner in 1996, Hanna-Barbera cartoons are experiencing a new-found popularity.

Many other animation companies have produced television programming over the years. The Walt Disney Company, for example, has produced several programs, from animated segments of the Mickey Mouse Club (1955-59) to series such as PB&J Otter on the Disney cable network. The Nickelodeon network regularly produces several animated programs for children. The Fox and Comedy Central networks have promoted animated cartoons geared toward an adult demographic, such as The Simpsons, The Critic and South Park.

Animation and the Internet

The Internet, as it is currently known, is still a new medium. In 1993, a group of students at the National Center for Supercomputer Applications (NCSA) developed a computer program called “Mosaic.” This program, known as a “browser,” allowed text and graphics to be transferred via telephone lines from one computer to another and be assembled in a predesigned layout on a computer monitor. Mosaic?s page layout ability was very limited and was not a forum for any type of animation, however. Recognizing the limitations, the team of graduate students and trainee programmers who created the software left NSCA to form a new company: Netscape Communications.

In October 1995, Netscape released a new browser known as “Netscape Navigator 2.0.” This new browser had the ability to display small animated graphics known as “animated gif files.” These animations could be inserted on a Web page easily, but were limited in scope. Slow data transfer over telephone lines made it impossible to animate anything other than a few seconds of looped motion.

In 1996, Macromedia, Inc. developed a program called Flash. Macromedia Flash created animations based on vector information - mathematical instructions that are much smaller in file size than animated gif files, allowing longer animations. This program has revolutionized the art form. Flash is generally accepted as the only truly effective way of delivering animated entertainment online. Many companies are now producing made-for-Internet cartoons.

One notable Internet cartoon series is “The Pink Donkey and The Fly,” by a New York based design house called Funny Garbage. The Pink Donkey series features the artwork of Gary Panter, best known for creating the designs and characters for the children?s television program Pee-Wee?s Playhouse. Some of Funny Garbage?s work can be viewed at www.cartoonnetwork.com/wpt.

Other notable series include the Bulbo Toons by MishMash Media (http://www.bulbo.com) and Capital Ill by JibJab (http://www.jibjab.com).

Macromedia Flash animation is also being used to enhance e-business Web sites. One Long Island based Internet design and marketing firm, Exploded View, is dedicated to the integration of new technologies in the Internet marketplace. “No matter what technology is used in a Web site, there are basic psychological design principles that must be adhered to,” said Jake Gorst, Exploded View President. “Animation can be a great enhancement to an e-business site if it does not distract from the customer buying experience.”

These “psychological principles” include the proper use of color and vocabulary, object placement and navigation. For example, a Web site that features a large corporate logo and predominantly displays corporate news information could be frustrating to a customer looking for products. If the products are not clearly visible, sales will be low. If the Web site features a color that is not popular with the target audience (due to religious, political or other reasons), viewer attention will be minimal.

“Once these principles are in place, animations can be added that compliment the overall message of the site,” says Gorst. “Care must be given not to create a distraction, however.”

Richie Saccente of Troll Studios (http:/ rollstudios.com), an Exploded View customer, is very excited about the integration of animation in his company?s Web site. “We are using a small troll-like character to guide viewers through our site,” says Saccente. “To my knowledge this is the first time Internet animation has been used in conjunction with psychology in this manner. I love our site.”

In this day and age, the animation industry is so vast that a synopsis of every possible application could not be made in a single article. In addition to Internet applications, experiments in animation are also taking place in video games and virtual reality technology. What does the future hold for this art form? Only time will tell, but for the artist involved in the animation world, this is a good time to be alive.

Author Info:

-Jake Gorst is a writer, film maker, and president of Exploded View (http://www.explodedview.tv), a new media advertising and design company. He also is a frequent contributor to various trade publications on topics related to Web site and architectural design psychology and trends. Previously, Gorst served as Vice President and Chief Creative Officer for E-Media Publishing, Ltd. and as an Internet content developer for Citibank and other Long Island based corporations.

Once cinema was the ultimate treat, then TV and the Internet invaded the entertainment scene. Recently however, the pendulum has swung back with the advent of film festivals making the big screen more popular. People may be giving up the isolation of television to seek entertainment in the company of others.

Special events and parties are added to film offerings from other countries as the film festivals swing into action. Melbourne’s International Film Festival is something to look forward to with nineteen days of celebration as well as films showing in various cinemas.

The German Film Festival is right into the action with offerings in most major centres. Whether you’ve a taste for Pingpong, Emma’s Bliss, or Shoppen in NSW, or Yella, The Dresden – The Inferno or Summer ‘04 in WA you’ll be satisfied. Part of the film festival in Queensland will be showing Four Minutes and Valerie, while cinemas in Victoria will be presenting Short Cuts amongst others.

Cinemas across Sydney are happy to take part in the Sydney film festival during July and August. Little Big Shots will be shown in various cinemas throughout New South Wales. Be sure you treat yourself and your friends to a night or two out viewing the big screen offerings.

Tickets, find film festival tickets faster. This information has been generated on behalf of MyTickets.com.au. Find more film festival tickets in Sydney.

Many of us are fascinated by theatre and it’s easy to see why because the whole experience can be such a memorable and touching event.

Perhaps for some theatre is about the fun and excitement of a great musical, for others it’s the intriguing story brought to life or simply a way to escape from it all? Whatever the reason, there is no denying theatre has a place in many people’s hearts, and here are 7 reasons why the love of theatre will never die:

1. Watching a musical can be totally absorbing as you appreciate the skill and craft that goes into a mesmerising production. The show stopping tunes seem to sink into your mind as your left with songs that you can sing for years to come or new dance moves you can try out with your friends.

2. There’s something for everyone all year round as the appeal of theatre is diverse. It’s a place where great stories are brought to life - whether it’s through singing, dancing, riveting plot lines or fine acting delivered by a well rehearsed cast. With no one show being the same the chances are there is something unique being performed near you - whatever the time of year.

3. The ‘Play’ is an important part of our ancient history. From as far back as the ancient Greeks the play formed a key element of our community, from story telling through to providing an outlet for entertainment and escape. The ‘Play’ has always been a valued part of our culture.

4. Theatre performances are great places to go with friends and family. You’ll have fun enjoying the show and recount the scenes that moved you afterwards. You can chat about the actors you couldn’t take your eyes off as well as spend countless hours singing back all your favourite tunes from musicals.

5. Theatre is a great chance to see some of our favourite actors up close and in person. Having watched them for so many years from afar it can be a wonderful experience to take in a show and see your favourite stars take to the stage. From Richard Gere to Kim Basinger, from Sir Ian McKellan to Dame Judi Dench most great actors and actresses have graced the live stage.

6. It’s a truly live experience. There is a charm and ambience that comes from a live performance in front of a live audience. This dynamic delivers an almost electrifying presence that just isn’t possible in a cinema environment or on your wide screen TV at home [no matter how big it is].

7. Theatre offers convenient performance times. If you’re looking for an afternoon event, so you can go out in the evening, then you can catch a matinee. Or if you want to make the theatre your main entertainment at night, then you can see the evening show. This flexibility means you can fit in a performance for when it suits you. This differs a lot from many other arts and music shows that offer only one performance time a day - usually in the evening.

With all this talk of theatre, many of us can recall a time when we picked up some last minute tickets with a friend, dashed to the venue and found ourselves watching from the ‘Gods’ in the back of the theatre. Sure we still had a good time, but we couldn’t help feeling “If only we had those seats over there….”

But what if it was possible to have tickets to some of the finest seats in the house, a mouth-watering dinner and perhaps stay overnight at a luxurious hotel?

Imagine how your close friend or partner would feel if this year on your anniversary or perhaps on their birthday they were given such a gift. A gift where they could have fabulous tickets to a West End show, paint the town red and an have a luxurious overnight stay at a first class hotel in the heart of a UK city.

Originally this may have been the pastime of the wealthy and affluent, however, these wonderful weekend escapes are now in reach of all of us for that special celebration. There are a range of theatre break packages available where you an enjoy a night at a fabulous London theatre at a show of your choice with two first rate seats plus an overnight stay in a 4 star hotel in either the West End of London or pick from a selection of other UK cities.

With all the appeal it has there is no doubt that our love for theatre will never die. It offers so much, with such diversity. It’s easy to see why it makes for such a great escape and a perfect gift for that someone special this year. So what are you waiting for?

Author Info:

Janette Vince is managing director of the online company www.Thanksdarling.com For more information on a range of theatre breaks in London and across the UK simply visit http://www.thanksdarling.com/134-5.htm

Gypsy Caravan, a.k.a.: When the Road Bends…tales of a Gypsy Caravan, opens June 15 in New York City. Released by Shadow Distribution, Gypsy Caravan is an uplifting and moving documentary which explores the real lives of the Roma as we travel to their homes in Macedonia, Romania, India and Spain, meet their families and see what music brings to their lives ­ a link to an ancient culture, a common language, a traditional career ­ all of which is a stark and often painful contrast to life on the road. The CD soundtrack, Gypsy Caravan, released by World Village/Harmonia Mundi USA, is also available. The personal drama and stories of these characters are interwoven with their performances, reflecting the imagery and emotion of their music. We see love and death and tales of lives that are raw and rich. They make us laugh and cry and laugh again, allowing us to understand and expand on the riches of Romani music and history, and letting us enjoy knowing the people intimately.

Gypsy Caravan is a feature documentary by Jasmine Dellal (American Gypsy), shot by Albert Maysles. “It would be great if by experiencing the Romani people and their music, people can learn more about them and understand that - what you’ve believed about these people has been a lie your entire lives,” said movie star Johnny Depp who is interviewed in the film.

This musical journey takes place in the U.S. during the World Music Institute’s Gypsy Caravan concert tour and on location in Spain, Macedonia, Romania and India. Starring Macedonian diva and ‘Queen of the Gypsies’ Esma Redzepova; traditional Indian folk troupe Maharaja; Romanian brass band Fanfare Ciocarlia; Romanian superstars of violin wizardry Taraf de Haidouks, and Spain’s Antonio “El Pipa” Flamenco Company.

Gypsy Caravan is currently screening at festivals in Seattle, London and Transylvania. It launched at Tribeca and garnered festival awards from San Francisco to Nashville and Vancouver, and from Korea to the Czech Republic.

This film is dedicated to Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005 - 2015, an initiative of 8 governments, the UN, George Soros & the World Bank joining Roma communities to fight poverty and discrimination, prioritizing education, employment, health & housing.