• Journal of Engineering Education Research
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.41-48
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• 2020

In light of the 4th industrial revolution, this research identifies critical thinking education as the key component of cultivating a new pool of integrative talents. It seeks to find ways to incorporate artificial intelligence, one of the biggest upcoming innovations, into critical thinking education. This paper aims to propose an education model that raises awareness on related issues of AI and set a healthy direction for its development through debates on topics raised by the film, Ex Machina, which depicts the dangerous implications of AI technology.

• Journal of Popular Narrative
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.233-257
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to reveal the changing aspects of the Promethean motif in SF movies by examining the use of this motif on the three layers of Promethean myth, Frankenstein motif, and contemporary SF movies in the film Ex Machina (2015). First, the greatest change of Ex Machina on the layer of the Promethean myth (creation of a living being) is that the character square of Prometheus - Epimetheus - Pandora - Zeus has been turned into a triangle of Nathan - Caleb - Ava. This means that there is a lack of the being whose role is to solve the problems caused by the development of science and technology and to bring a happy ending through the human's usurpation of God and eventual replacement as Creator. Second, on the layer of the Frankenstein motif (taste of forbidden knowledge, hybris, and creature's hatred towards the Creator), this film maintains the narrative centered around Dr. Frankenstein and his monster (Nathan and Ava) by making Caleb an eyewitness to the story of the Creator and the creature. Caleb's role is similar to that of Captain Robert Walton of the novel Frankenstein, but the film differentiates itself from the novel through the emphasis of Ava's 'mechanicality.' Third, on the layer of contemporary SF movies, unlike other such films, the revolt of the machine in Ex Machina is not quelled. The machine wins, and its power surpasses that of human beings. This requires the establishment of a new relationship between man and machine, suggesting the 'emergence of a new species' that does not belong to humans. The handling of the Promethean motif by Ex Machina through these various layers serves to enrich the narrative by compounding numerous classics into one motif and going further to introduce fresh elements by diverging from the common storyline. The significance of this study is to demonstrate the use of such multilayered motifs and, through this, the expansion of narrative through it in specific cases.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.351-365
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• 2017

Illness has long been an important plot device in Korean dramas. In earlier years, the device typically was supposed to be in the form of a terminal bodily disease occurring for the female main character toward the end of the story. On the other hand, the latest trend is to situate a mental illness for the male lead character at the earlier part, and use it as a tool to build characters, construct causal relations and set the intense tone for the overall story. The mental illness as a plot device helps to provide a series of reversals, revelations and turnarounds, giving viewers a stronger sense of intensity, empathy and identification. While the illness used to play the role of a deus ex machina to make a big emotional finish, the latest adoption of the mental illness as a main plot device has enhanced the flexibility of the plot and the effect of versimilitude in dramas. These noticeable changes make one suspect that the focus of Korea's drama contents might have already begun to grow out of the conventional soap operas into different genres.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.19 no.7
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• pp.211-219
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• 2019

This study analyzed the conflict plots of the top 5 most watched TV series during the 2000-2005 period. It was observed that those popular series typically took love and success as main subject matters to actually aim for such a sensitive social issue as the widening gap between the rich and the poor as well as audience's desire for higher status. They even dared to describe our lives at home and the job as power relationships to heighten the intensity of the conflict. On the other hand, the resolution took a wide variety of both positive and negative endings - ranging from marriages and conciliations to death and arrests - as a way to have the antagonists punished. The deus-ex-machina was often used. A chronological view of the change in the conflict plots of successful dramas should deserve further academic interests.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.51-67
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• 2024

Recently, as the "Kidult" culture has become the culture of life, the vintage fashion doll market is rapidly emerging. This change, coupled with a tendency to cherish childhood memories among adults, shows a phenomenon that vintage dolls are gaining popularity. This study explored the possibility of creative fashion doll clothing design, aiming to satisfy consumers' more diverse and unique emotional needs and provide new perspectives and inspiration to the doll fashion industry and the fashion doll industry. Therefore, this study attempted to propose a fashion doll costume design using the Y2K fashion style that is currently popular. Based on publications and prior research considerations, the Y2K fashion style could be categorized into four main styles: 'Future Technology', 'The Matrix', 'Millennium Spice Girl', and 'Harajuku'. Based on characteristics of these four styles, this study designed and produced eight stylish doll costumes incorporating the Y2K style under themes of 'Ex Machina', 'Digital Warrior', 'Rebelious Sugar', and 'Harajuku Dopamine'. This can inspire fashion doll costume design and production based on trendy styles. This study can be a useful foundation for presenting more diverse directions for fashion doll costume design.