Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
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Item Resilient: Norfolk's race against the rising seas(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2024) Hermsen, Erinn Catherine; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Cat DaleResilient is told in the expository mode of documentary filmmaking. The characters' stories are woven together through the use of talking-head characters who provide voice-of-authority commentary with their first-hand stories and expert testimony, as well as an omniscient narrator that provides additional context and information. The film presents a problem/solution structure (Nichols 22) supported by evidentiary editing. Resilient presents the problem of flooding due to climate change-induced sea level rise and introduces solutions. Norfolk's infrastructure adaptation projects aim to protect the city in the short-term while the city can solve the long-term issue of living along rising sea levels. The characters' stories serve to ultimately further the argument, which is in line with key characteristics of the expository mode (Nichols 121). Two relevant films I watched as research for my own had similar approaches to storytelling. "Sinking Cities: Miami" and "Climate Crisis: Flooding" also used the expository mode of documentary. The stories were also told through talking-head experts who provided voice-of-authority expert testimony, as well as an omniscient narrator. The characters' stories provided first-hand experience and knowledge that supported the films' problem/solution storylines.Item Sparks(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2024) Ratliff, Jacqueline Noel; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Hugo R. SindelarExploring a world unknown to some, the short documentary SPARKS invites viewers to view the world of welding through narrative and immersive storytelling. The short documentary demonstrates the impact of one's dream and highlights how even small acts of empowerment can lead to fulfilling endeavors. While making the film, this paper was written to help share specific research, thoughts, and ideas critical to creating the story. In the beginning phases, a detailed logistical outline provided insight into the filmmaker and crew. The research was a pivotal phase; deep diving into subjects and topics portrayed in the film and drawing insights from comparable films aid in illuminating overarching themes and editing styles. For SPARKS, the paper examines the industrial industry of welding and ironwork in the context of female labor. Thus, it identifies holes in employment for female workers in male-dominated careers. Understanding this key fact helped inform this film. The paper explores connections to the broader field of science and natural history documentary filmmaking, emphasizing observational/expository styles and immersive ethnographic experiences in contemporary documentaries. Films (not limited to) like Single Stream, Nuisance Bear, TOM, and Glass were examined. The latter part of the paper explains Brenda Stredwick's (protagonist) and filmmakers' connections while outlining distribution plans involving a festival circuit, educational showings, and free screenings. This paper offers insight into Stredwick's inspiring journey and its broader implications within documentary filmmaking and gender dynamics in the arts.Item Investigation of how poetic mode documentaries work as a catalyst for information in science and natural history filmmaking(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2022) Bach, Harrison; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Dennis AigPoetic mode storytelling comes in the form of a new, unusual, and abstract means of expressing information and conveying emotion in media narrative production. When used in the context of science and natural history filmmaking it is a double-edged sword; it can induce intrigue or instigate bewilderment. When the poetic mode elements are used in conjunction with science and natural history filmmaking, there is a defiance in the expectations of what both conventional cinema and experimental cinema are trying to convey. These differences come in the form of producing films that visually and emotionally express features of poetic mode storytelling techniques while still creating a film that is about a real process, person, and place. Through case studies of poetic mode science and natural history films Samsara, Sweet Grass, and my film 'Flourish,' this paper will examine how the use of poetic mode film techniques in science and natural history films are utilized, and the accolades and critiques that come as a result.Item Seeing in the dark: how to tell a subatomic story in science film(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2022) Koonce, Evangeline Rose; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Theo LipfertSince its inception in the early 20th century, science film has branched into a diverse phylogeny of methods and styles, informed by the subject matter it portrays as well as the technological advances of the day. Narrowing my focus to the science of quantum mechanics, I look specifically at the methods used for subatomic storytelling in documentary films. Unlike other scientific objects, the subatomic object cannot be easily observed with the naked eye or with research tools, preventing its direct capture by both scientist and filmmaker. Comparing the PBS series 'The Fabric of the Cosmos' with the documentary film 'Particle Fever', I investigate the consequences of superimposing a human narrative on the subatomic object as a method of science communication and as a filmic device. This analysis affirms the utility of varied narrative techniques in subatomic storytelling in science film. Expanding on this premise, I examine how the essay films functions within a subatomic story, specifically within my thesis film, 'Circumambulation', which revolves around the 2021 confirmation of the muon's anomalous magnetic moment at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. In closing, I connect science film to the practice of art and argue that not only is art necessary for subatomic storytelling, but the art of documentary filmmaking is particularly suited for this purpose.Item True tone: color grading's place in nonfiction filmmaking(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2022) Kenney, Nathaniel James; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Cindy StillwellNew technology has made color grading an accessible storytelling tool for nonfiction filmmakers. The rise of color manipulation for storytelling purposes allows nonfiction filmmakers to communicate with their audience at an emotional level. Color grading can be problematic because it is an intentional alteration of the image and can, therefore, work against the truth claim of documentary media. Three successful nonfiction films, The Imposter, Nsenene, and Chef's Table: Mashama Bailey, were examined. The methods and strategies of color grading used by these films were then applied to a series of short films produced by the author with the goal of using color to effectively engage an audience without departing from the reality-claim of the documentary genre.Item Systemic oppression of indigenous people and documentary film storytelling from an Absaalooge paradigm(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2020) del Duca, Camille Mona Höwitaawi, Alahuzha Itchish; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Lucia RicciardelliIn this paper, I propose that contemporary documentary films that depict Native American cultures should tell the story from that culture's perspective, centering relationality instead of perpetuating hierarchal thinking. My methodological approach to both this paper and my film 'The Roads of Healing' is based on the work of Indigenous Research Methodology scholar Shawn Wilson, whose work prioritizes relationality and aims to have the final product benefit the community. I have done my best to respect and follow the Absaalooge protocols taught to me by my relations. In this paper, I will discuss the colonial impact of Eurocentric documentary representations of Indigenous people on Native Americans through an analysis of 'Beyond Standing Rock' (2018) and 'What Was Ours' (2016). I will then demonstrate how aspects of the Indigenous worldview can be expressed in documentary filmmaking through an examination of 'Fast Horse' (2018) and 'Return to Foretop's Father' (2019), concluding my study with an analysis of my own film 'Roads of Healing', which I propose as a model for documentarians who are working to decolonize Eurocentric nonfiction filmmaking. In doing so, I will illustrate how systemic racism perpetuated by euro-centric documentary filmmaking practices can be challenged by embracing an Indigenous paradigm.Item The changing face of folkloric transmission: bigfoot and the American psyche(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2020) Davenport, Hannah Marie; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Robert RydellThe purpose of this research is to better articulate the role that podcasts play in the transmission of oral narratives within the world of modern folklore. The use of podcasting as a medium for folkloric transmission will be examined through the lens of the bigfoot stories in North America. The research will be primarily comprised of two separate studies. The first is an examination of the bigfoot stories found in North America beginning with the traditional narratives of the Native Americans and First Nations people, which shed light on the building blocks of the bigfoot archetype, and follow the stories as the become the modern narrative that we hear today. The second study is an examination of the role that podcasts play within our culture in relation to the dissemination of information on a mass scale. These analyses are followed by an assessment of how podcasting has become a popular medium for oral storytelling, and how this medium has facilitated the expansion of the bigfoot folklore. The research found that podcasts, combined with other social media platforms, have created digital folklore collections that may help push interdisciplinary research within the scientific community. The methodologies used for the research are a combination of textual literature, digital literature, and audio files (podcasts).Item Science communication and the advantages of the contextual model in documentaries(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2020) Portuondo, Jessica; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Cindy StillwellDocumentaries can be an effective method for informing the public on agricultural trends and policies. Incorporating the contextual model of science communication into these films is one way to improve public awareness and to explain the complexities of sustainable agricultural practices. A comparison of Food Inc. and the 'Dan Barber' episode of Chef's Table demonstrates how a reliance on the deficit model inhibits the propagation of knowledge about sustainable agriculture. This critique also highlights how a character-based story can function as an educational tool to teach audiences about the value of regenerative food production practices by emotionally connecting with the protagonist.Item Informing the construction of narrative-based risk communication(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 2019) King, Henry William; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Clemente IzurietaThe current communication of flood risk by government agencies and the scientific community to the citizens living in the floodplain is ineffective. Using the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF), this communication can be enhanced through the use of Hero, Victim, and Victim to Hero character-based narratives. This thesis describes the methods used to inform users of the NPF to construct and test narratives using computational methods. Four natural language processing tasks are described; topic modeling, sentiment analysis, classification, and term frequencies. It was found that using the difference of transformed relative term frequencies produced an adequate vocabulary for each style of narrative. The narratives constructed from these vocabularies were used in work that sought to formalize the narrative construction process and in focus group studies which found that narrative-based scientific messages increased affective response versus traditional scientific messaging.Item Locating the transgender other: alterity in 21st century America(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2018) Medicine Horse, Cassidy Anne; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Matthew HermanDiscussions directed toward amending past stigmatizations associated with transgender identity have expanded in the 21st-century. Contemporary debates concerning the sociocultural pariah of mid-20th-century America have swung wide the doors of denounced identity. As this has happened, a more extensive text has emerged concerning the notion of alterity. Designators of non-binary gender expanded during the middle of the last century and grew to include ideas of anti-nationalism, civil disruption, and sexual perversion. A plethora of politically motivated social agendas resulted in scholarship that did not keep up with contemporary realities. Perpetrated distortions of the 'trans-other' have disaffiliated more than 1.5 million American citizens. Dramatic increases in 'hate crimes' and a striking disparity in transgender suicide rates present a worrisome illustration of trans-alterity. This treatise centers on how the location of transgender Story has shifted and revealed new ways of discussing gender distinctiveness. There is an opportunity for a scholarship to develop that incorporates the history of trans-exclusion with contemporary advances in technology. Stories of the trans-subject are instantly communicated, and knowledge of the past acts to eliminate transgender alterity. The art of telling stories is an underutilized tool of scholarship. Trans-emergence is a story about contemporary reality and recording knowledge about the history of a marginalized culture. By looking back, it is possible to see a future that does not merely re-theorize or restate a call for inclusion but informs scholars that society is experiencing a 'Transgender Renaissance.'