Scholarship & Research
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Item The role of reciprocity in documentary filmmaking(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2022) Larson, Daniel Jon; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Cindy StillwellFilmmakers are often required to navigate conflicts and difficult moral dilemmas with their participants. While some have proposed ethical guidelines to help filmmakers resolve these dilemmas, such normative codes are unable to account for the unique particularities of every situation. I argue Simone de Beauvoir provides a philosophy that is well suited to documentary filmmaking and can help filmmakers analyze the particularities of moral dilemmas too unique to be accounted for by normative guidelines. Beauvoir's philosophy has two primary advantages for documentary filmmakers: 1) it accounts for the sociopolitical context in which the filmmaker and participant exist and, 2) it advocates for an ethic of reciprocity that requires filmmakers to respect the alterity of their participants and foster equitable relationships with them. I apply Beauvoir's philosophy to the ways in which filmmakers build relationships with their participants and use this framework to discuss Michael Apted's 'Up!' series, as well as my own film, 'Middle America'.Item Patient-subject agency in sleep disorder documentaries : an analysis of three films(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2014) Narrow, Emily Rebecca; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Dennis AigA patient-subject in a sleep disorder documentary is particularly vulnerable to disenfranchisement and is often unable to govern her own portrayal. This is because the patient-subject of a sleep disorder documentary falls within a unique nexus of controlling power structures and gazes that are rooted in medical sociology, documentary filmmaking ethics, and the sociology of sleep. Relying on past scholarship on medical documentaries in general, I identify three themes that signal disenfranchisement of the patient-subject: when authority of knowledge rests with the doctor and/or the filmmaker, when the doctor is active while the patient-subject is passive, and when the patient-subject is exposed to voyeurism. I then analyze three sleep disorder documentaries for how well they maintain patient-subject agency.Item The art of war(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2014) Riter, Devon Deldon; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ronald TobiasToday, reality TV is a major player in television programming. Derided by some and praised by others, the genre takes many forms and continues to evolve. Since its modern inception, a debate has raged over the effects of reality TV on society. I continue this dialogue by exploring the ethics behind reality television production. I take a personal perspective, examining my own attempt to produce reality TV. I created 'The Art of War' as an experiment into ethically conscious reality TV production. 'The Art of War' specifically examines the choices I and other producers face in series design, casting, and pre-production. I investigate how my production differs from others in the industry, specifically Animal Planet's 'Call of the Wildman'. From this comparison, I draw an argument for including a wider variety of voices within the reality TV genre. I make a case for an alternative production format, based on personal responsibility for both reality TV producers and viewers. Reality TV wields cultural power and with that comes responsibility, not just for those viewing it, but also for those creating it.Item Sound design for non-fiction film and video : a discussion of methodology, perception, and ethics(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2007) Burge, Eric William; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Dennis AigTraditional documentary films, particularly science and natural history works, presume to authentically or legitimately convey accurate representations of historical events that actually occurred at a prior time. Factual and convincing representations are not necessarily congruent, and a film's merit of authenticity is often based on the perceived validity of the visual content represented. While visual imagery dominates a presentation's general delivery, a film's sound design is a fundamental structural element that is often overlooked or less scrutinized with regard to factual or accurate recounting of these same historical events. The purpose of this thesis is to examine methodologies of sound acquisition and reproduction and to discuss how various acoustic contents are perceived in relation to associated visual elements.Item Now and all are important : a post-structural critique of humanism, Aldo Leopold's "The Land Ethic," and Disney/Pixar's "Wall-E"(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2008) Dye, Charles Eugene; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Walter Metz.Feelings of hopelessness and meaninglessness have become hallmarks of American society. As a filmmaker and film educator it is clear I share a responsibility to address these defining issues. Using some of the ideas of Zygmunt Bauman, Jacques Derrida, Neil Evernden, Claude Levi-Strauss, Bill Nichols, Nell Noddings, José Ortega y Gasset, Edward Said, and Erwin Straus, I observe this problem to be a result of dispassionate humanism-a machineworld story considered appropriate in the current social construction. From this critical perspective, I then analyze Aldo Leopold's The Land Ethic and the Disney/Pixar film WALL-E. The former I show to be written in such a way as to leave its audience confused. The latter I demonstrate fosters unnecessary and immoral assumptions about the "imminent" collapse of our civilization. In conclusion, I make clear that it is how we relate to our current existence that is important. While the power of our ideas is truly humankind's greatest creation, that power is naught outside of time and the realities of our being Earth-bound. What we must learn to value in America alongside the power of ideas, are the responsibilities inherent in simply being.