Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
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Item The role of curation and evidence in documentary film(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2018) Berent, Jared David; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Dennis AigAs I produced a documentary film about tigers in captivity in the state of Texas, The Legend of the Texas Tiger, I learned that my legal background plays a central part in the way that I structure a filmic argument and think about filmmaking. I found that the metaphor of legal advocacy was particularly revealing in the examination of other filmmakers as well. In my discussion of Errol Morris' Gates of Heaven, Frederick Wiseman's Primate, and Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man, I examine the role of documentary filmmakers as curators of reality who present an argument to a metaphorical jury: the audience. This version of the truth that is presented to the audience often tells us just as much about the filmmaker as it does the film's subject.Item Jumping at the sun : the social construction of myself as nature filmmaker(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2014) Smith, Sarah Maigin; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ronald TobiasIn this essay I deconstruct myself as a science and nature filmmaker by 1) interrogating the historical forces behind my understanding of nature; 2) coming to terms with what I've learned about the subjectivity of textual experience and the constructed "objective realities" of science driven knowledge, and 3) by showing how I travel between the two in my own filmic style through a textual analysis of my thesis film 'Lucky Star'. Within this analysis I look at two films that I studied and used for inspiration - Agnes Vardas' 'Les Glaneurs et La Glaneuse', 'The Gleaners and I', (2000), and Cindy Stillwell's 'Mating For Life' (2012).Item Messaging between the lines : a case for multiple, respectfully-handled perspectives in the essay film(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2013) Schlosberg, Deia Lisabeth; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Cindy StillwellIn the non-fiction film, and particularly the essay film, directors sometimes use multiple story lines, or perspectives, to approach an argument from several different angles. Out of this synthesis, a separate overarching thesis emerges which, I argue, is an effective method of conveying the filmmaker's voice. However, it is not only the use of these multiple perspectives that contributes to a greater meaning between the lines, it is also the filmmaker's treatment of the subjects that provide those accounts and viewpoints. This paper examines several case studies of essay films to investigate the efficacy of multiple perspectives and the subject treatment thereof in communicating the film's thesis. I find that, provided the subjects are treated with respect and given space to tell their own stories, the use of multiple voices can make a film's statement much more powerful than by using the filmmaker's voice alone.Item A triangular approach to science filmmaking(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2010) Devereux, Anne Catherine; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Dennis Aig.The discipline of film studies is often limited by its own obsessions. Approaches designed to illuminate how we view films, and make films, often limit our thinking, instead. It is not surprising that the analysis of such an extraordinary medium presents endless arguments, debate and inspires the critic or theorist to narrow the field of view in order to make it manageable. Recent work in the fields of cognitive psychology and neuroscience which, when applied to our critical analyses of film, is changing the discipline of film studies. In conjunction with traditional narratology, this interdisciplinary approach enables us to reconfigure the relationship between narrative and spectacle, creating a triangular relationship that draws attention to discourse. This triangular approach affords a more nuanced and comprehensive analysis of how science documentaries affect viewers. In turn, these analyses encourage science filmmakers to recognize discourse as a means of creating more emotionally powerful, aesthetically coherent, and memorable science films. Like a great mind, the discipline of film studies flourishes most when it remains open. The creation of this triangular analytical relationship is merely one way of enhancing our ability to study the effects films have on an audience, on the future of the medium, and on aesthetics as a whole. In seeking an academic and theoretical basis for the gut level notion that films affect us both emotionally and intellectually, it is critical to chart an interdisciplinary course.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 On delivering messages of dire need for action on precipitating problems before the storms come(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2011) Shapiro, Spartacus; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Theo Lipfert.Blue chip and conservation filmmaking are the two styles most commonly applied to Natural History documentaries. The numerous threats to our oceans are among the most pressing problems of our time, and certainly these are Natural History stories. Yet neither of the established models of filmmaking has been able to effectively tell the story of our oceans in crisis. A "revolution" is in order. After contextualizing and analyzing exemplars, I will propose a new model which draws on the strengths of both blue chip and conservation filmmaking, but which would fit neither category as is. This new model, green chip filmmaking, holds my hope for filmmaking, my hope for oceans, my hope for our children, my hope for humankind.Item Filmmaking and science : who has the right?(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2011) Spadola, Quinn Acelia; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Cindy Stillwell; Theo Lipfert (co-chair)This paper examines the relative lack of female filmmakers and physical scientists through the lens of authority. I argue that authority comes from other's confidence in one's ability to be a scientist or filmmaker. This confidence is, in part, related to how well a person fits a stereotype and belongs to the social group deemed to own the knowledge needed. Due to their analogous histories of development, the stereotypes of a scientist and a filmmaker are remarkably similar and designed to exclude women. As a result, women are not granted authority in these fields as readily as men. Some women have found ways to co-opt authority and become successful. However, until they are deemed rightful owners of the knowledge of scientists and filmmakers, women will be underrepresented in these fields.