Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/733
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Item An ecofeminist model for wildlife film(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2005) Graziano, Tracy Ann; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ronald Tobias.The most dominant form of wildlife film for broadcast currently upholds a dangerous separation between culture and nature with production practices, editing and film subtext. If wildlife films are to change and incorporate science, they must also relate that science to other discourses to present the subjectαs greater reality. Wildlife films have a duty to represent their subject fairly, and in that fairness propose a preservation ethic that will serve for many as a stepping-stone to environmental salvation. A look into ecofeminist discourse provides a new methodology for producing wildlife films.Item How documentaries can help shape how society copes with death(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2007) Garton, Katy-Robin; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ronald Tobias; Philip Savoie (co-chair)We live in a society that fears, denies, and attempts to conquer death. This dominant cultural attitude towards death is detrimental to everyone involved in the dying process. There is a collective of people comprised of doctors, therapists, parents, spouses, nurses, and children who believe in the human capacity to die well. This group of individuals has a vision for transforming how we die in our country. At the center of that vision is an effort to effectively communicate to the general public that there is a crisis surrounding end-of-life experiences. Moreover, this group of individuals discovered that the most effective way to communicate this message to the public is to share stories of those who have died in a manner that both informs and educates the public. Documentary films focused on death and dying stories that both inform and engage the viewer have the ability to greatly sway social constructs surrounding death and dying. Thus, the documentary, if done well, can be a powerful tool for helping people cope with the process of dying. By examining three death and dying documentaries, and isolating the techniques used by filmmakers to inform and engage the audience, I provide recommendations for making an effective death and dying documentary.Item Employing visitor studies and video media to better communicate science in National Parks(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2007) Koch, Alison Lindsey; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Dennis AigThe future of the National Park Service depends upon the agency's ability to educate the public to care for and preserve America's parks. In order to achieve this, parks must provide accurate, up-to-date scientific and preservation management information to visitors so that they gain a greater appreciation of parks by understanding what they protect. Although the Park Service has gone to great lengths to ensure scientific information is utilized in all management decision-making, no management documents or Park Service programs currently provide practical guidance or are adequately equipped to directly address communicating accurate and up-to-date scientific and preservation information to those who hold the future of parks in their hands: the public. Demands placed upon interpreters, who are the park staff primarily responsible for front lines visitor communication and services, are such that science communication can get lost in an array of other informational needs.Item The use of archival footage in documentary rhetoric(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2006) Grue, Amanda Michelle; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ronald Tobias.This thesis examines the ways in which archival footage are used in documentary rhetoric. Based upon Aristotle's Rhetoric, there are two types of proof: inartistic and artistic. I argue that there is an inherent truth claim to archival footage based on its indexical bond to the historical event it captures and suspends in time, which gives the footage merit as evidence. However, evidence alone is not absolute truth. All evidence is subject to interpretation and argument. Once archival footage is placed into the larger context of a documentary film to support or refute an argument about a particular historical event, it becomes artistic proof. I use examples such as the Zapruder and Holliday footage to demonstrate inartistic proof (the truth claim of footage), and the compilation films of Emile de Antonio and Esther Shub to demonstrate the use of Aristotle's three types of artistic proof: ethical, emotional, and demonstrative. The final section of this essay discusses my film, The Great Ocean of Truth, which is a compilation film, and its use of context to create meaning, and the importance of both inartistic and artistic proofs in documentary rhetoric.Item The depiction of indigenous African cultures as other in contemporary, Western natural history film(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2006) Shier, Sara Ann; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ronald TobiasImages of the indigenous other have always been used in accord with the imperialistic movements of the Western world. Filmmakers continue to use the basic model of depicting people of indigenous cultures as exotic and more primitive than people of Western cultures with the effect of validating Western values and reinforcing the perceived superiority/authority of Western values over other value systems. This form is readily apparent in the treatment of the indigenous people of Africa in natural history films from the inception of the medium to present day. I will examine films from the 1920s through the present day. If filmmakers are to create successful natural history films that incorporate people of indigenous cultures, they must critically study the histories and mythologies that inform these films in order to avoid making the same mistakes.Item The power and potential of performative documentary film(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2007) Little, John Arthur; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ronald TobiasIn this thesis, I argue the performative mode of documentary filmmaking is an emerging, intrinsically powerful and virtually unexplored weapon in the arsenal of science documentary. Through selected theoretical and academic writings, I examine origins and pathways of documentary film that ultimately lead to the performative documentary. I contrast the performative mode against a common paradigm that documentary, and particularly science documentary, demands a filmic text that embraces traditional conventions of narrative, realism, empiricism, causality and evidentiary truth claims. I then analyze the utility and application of common elements in performative documentary films including my performative science documentary, At the Risk of Being Smote.Item Mythologizing the history of Easter Island through documentary films(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2005) Boyd, Laura Jean; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Dennis Aig.Documentaries have the power to rewrite history and perpetuate myths in our society. In the case of Easter Island, documentary filmmakers have sensationalized the history of the Rapa Nui people, dwelling on dramatic concepts such as eco-disaster, cannibalism and mysteriously vanishing cultures. As a result of poor filmmaking, we have a mythologized history of Easter Island. In my attempt to create a science-based documentary about an issue affecting contemporary Easter Island society, this mythologizing of history became a major obstacle. It became apparent that I had to first inform audiences to the fact that they had been misinformed by previous documentaries about Easter Island and I had to change their interpretation of the alleged facts. In my thesis paper I examine the documentaries that created sensational statements about the island and reveal why documentary filmmakers rely on dramatic elements. I also examine my approach to the process of making my graduate thesis film, Caballo Loco on Easter Island, and review the methods I used to ensure the people of Rapa Nui were accurately represented.Item Bringing medicine to the masses : exploring the relationship between the medical documentary and the public(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2006) Backus, Alison Lorraine; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ronald TobiasThe medical documentary seeks to bridge the gap between the traditional imbalance of knowledge between the patient and her medical practitioner. This paper will examine the issue of the imbalance of the doctor and patient throughout the history of medicine, explore how the medical documentary seeks to solve this imbalance, and the methods by which it does so. By comparing three related medical documentaries and examining the strengths and weaknesses of each one in its attempt to educate and engage the viewer, I will seek to create a broad model for future medical documentaries and relate how my thesis film fits this new model.Item The romantic genius of Einstein and the science essay film(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2006) Radcliff, Matthew Robert; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Walter MetzThe image of Einstein as a scientific genius, a talent so elevated it can spill over the boundaries between science and art, requires the assumption that art and science are not simply different fields of knowledge, but are polar opposites. Despite two centuries of effort, the debate on the relationship of art and science is far from resolved; the notion that they are exclusive of each other is even less established. However, there remains a tendency to treat art and science as the two extremes of a linear scale of talent. Only an exceptional person, therefore, can straddle the line between them. The traditional science documentary aggravates this separation. Condensing the time and effort involved, through re-enactments of selected experiments, neglects the artisanal, hands-on nature of science. By spotlighting one (or at most a handful) of scientists as special, and condensing a large body of work into a small number of significant events, the documentaries give the impression that creativity in science is a rare occurrence. A new model of science film, based on the personal essay that is prominent in popular science writing (e.g., the essays of Alan Lightman), is proposed to ease the tension between art and science. The essay film, combining elements of the documentary and the personal art film, provides the opportunity to illustrate science as an inherently creative act relevant to all people.Item Ecstatic truth through fiction : re-framing the science film to engage a wider audience(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2007) Smith, Elizabeth Ann; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: William NeffAmericans obtain a majority of their information about science through science films, primarily in the form of documentaries on television. However, despite the recent proliferation of these films, there is much discussion in the science filmmaking community about how ineffective these films have been lately at informing the public about science and compelling viewers to act. It is time to look at the underlying definitions of the genre from a different perspective and determine whether the current standards are the best way to successfully convey messages about science to the widest audience. To explore the possibilities for increasing the effectiveness of science filmmaking, one needs to look at the basic assumptions that come into play during the process of producing science films by re-framing the major components of the science film: goals, subject matter, audience, and format. This new set of paradigms reveals the possibility of another avenue - fiction.