Scholarship & Research
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Item Get one million views overnight!: How YouTube influences the creation and reception of documentary film(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2019) Hockett, Marcus Andrew; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Theo LipfertTrends in media creation, distribution and consumption have led YouTube to become a platform where masses of creators and consumers come together to tell stories, entertain and share information. Documentary filmmakers have begun to utilize YouTube for the distribution of films and develop content specifically for the platform. YouTube culture has influenced creators to produce content with an aesthetic distinct to the platform. The indiscriminate nature of the platform allows for nearly any creator to produce content. A participatory culture is created where viewers can critique and share additional information in a comment section and influence future content creation. YouTube is assisting filmmakers in accomplishing their objectives by linking them with an audience that desires their content. My film, Scumbag Hunters, was influenced by what I call the YouTube niche. Creating this film designed for the YouTube niche and distributing on the platform may be a favorable avenue compared to traditional distribution methods in accomplishing the objectives of entertaining, inspiring and educating the audience.Item Fiber optic vines on the third wall : cultivating natural media in the digital age(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2009) Bendick, Eric Louis; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ronald Tobias.Twenty-thousand years ago, the earliest known depictions of natural forms were inscribed by primitive man onto the surface of the "third wall" . . . be it cave, grotto, overhang, or alcove. Today the myriad representations of our natural world, along with the expanding cosmic narratives of 'natural history' that animate and describe such characters within an ornate epistemological framework (part-science: evolution, thermodynamics, ecology, and part-social criticism: environmental justice, sustainability, conservation) proliferate in ever-increasing mobile permutations; not only in our textbooks and living rooms, but also in our cars, on billboards, Jumbotrons, laptops, cell phones, and portable media players. Throughout history, changes in representational 'mode' (across and through new technical mediums) have ushered in significant narrative metamorphoses, formal innovations, and accompanied revolutionary transitions in symbolic language. The focus of this paper is to assess the implications of recent technological shifts, especially those characterized by the widespread contemporary adoption of digital technologies and the emergence of vast, interconnected networks of computing power, on the representation, production, and distribution of 'natural world' (both science and social) new media content. Through a detailed survey of popular case-studies, analytical research, and data trends, this paper will analyze new media models both from within and without as they relate to digital publishing, non-linear content creation, social networking, and the increasingly permeable interface between consumer and producer in our contemporary mediascape. Finally, this paper applies formative research to prescribe a more general use of 'best practices' in new technology which may facilitate a more progressive and participatory moment in post-industrial 'natural world' media-making, in concert with peers and fans, corporations and collectives, and open to interpretation, cross-pollination, and synergistic hybridity. It is no exaggeration to remark that this technological transformation will forever change the way we learn, evaluate, and participate in a global dialogue whose subject is none other than the globe itself. As our ancestors surely harnessed the power of the 'third wall' to communicate in both personal and broad strokes, so this essay seeks to re-imagine the 'digital third wall' as a place of increasing ubiquity, intimacy, contention, and epistemological power throughout the evolving realms of scientific and social natural representation.Item Networked empowerment : the internet as medium for environmental filmmaking(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2007) Shoemaker, Jennifer Anne; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: William NeffWhether the Internet represents a true revolution in human communication or is merely a much-hyped relative to existing media is the subject of much debate. However, regardless of whether the Internet represents revolution or just evolution, it does provide a unique and unprecedented opportunity for environmental filmmakers to engage viewers in a thoughtful dialogue about how to improve the quality of our natural environment and the health of its inhabitants. This thesis examines how the Internet's capacity for nonmarket individual production and peer collaboration provides the basis for a new Internet film aesthetic that filmmakers can use to share stories of environmental crisis and hope. Specifically, the essay explores three storytelling techniques that work well within the medium of the Internet - the use of personal voice, the encouragement of community participation, and an embrace of a nonlinear structure. The thesis concludes by arguing that, rather than abandoning traditional, market-based media and relying exclusively on the Internet, environmental filmmakers have the most potential to affect change by creating films that can be adapted to work in a variety of media. The Internet may not be a revolution in itself, but it can be used as a tool for environmental filmmakers who seek to revolutionize our society's views about the environment and our place within it.Item New media and transmedia for documentary storytelling : a comprehensive approach(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2011) Pardo, Federico; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ian van Coller.New media and transmedia are two phenomena that are currently changing the way in which media is produced, distributed and experienced. Although media scholars have proposed working definitions for these terms, their application for documentary storytelling is still scarce. Using the foundations offered by Henry Jenkins and Martin Lister and collaborators, I examine the consequences that new media and transmedia may have for documentary storytellers that are using them as production and distribution tools. This work is the result of a personal desire to explore new ways to document and tell stories while experimenting with different media formats and their interaction: photography, video, audio and the internet. New media and transmedia have resulted not only in new production technologies but also in a shift from passive media consumers to active media users. As a consequence, audiences now play a major role as interactive agents that are transforming the uses of media. By acknowledging the current state of how media is being produced, distributed and experienced, documentary storytellers may shed new lights when creating non-fiction media experiences.Item Reflexive filmmaking for wildlife and nature films(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2009) Hiemenz, Vanessa Serrao; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ronald Tobias.Historically, wildlife and nature filmmakers have embraced the expository mode of filmmaking and a realistic style, attempting to influence their audience with compelling arguments. However, while their scripts may call for activism, their expository, realistic style, with hidden production methods, an authoritative tone, and pristine visuals, instead encourages voyeurism. In addition, standard theater and television distribution methods offer no outlet for action to viewers who do feel inspired. I offer a different model for influence in my wildlife series Nature Break: reflexive filmmaking. In this series I use such reflexive strategies to critique the voyeuristic way in which spectators consume wildlife and nature films. However, critiquing passive spectators with reflexivity is not the same as creating active spectators. Therefore, with Nature Break I go beyond simply making and distributing a film. Additionally, I will create a related website on the Internet as a platform for viewers to post their own films, discuss issues inspired by films on the site, and coordinate activism efforts. Through Internet distribution, the Nature Break series can finally live up to the reflexive filmmaker's goal of creating an art that leads to activism.