Scholarship & Research
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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 Anthropomorphic expression in first-person natural history documentary(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2021) Harvey, Colleen Ruth; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Cindy StillwellThis paper argues a case for the first-person mode of address in natural history documentaries to better frame anthropomorphic interpretations by the viewer and enhance the filmmaker's creative potential. Four documentaries are analyzed to illustrate how forms of narration can influence anthropomorphic effect. I will evaluate 'March of the Penguins' (United States release) and discuss how the filmmaker's use of third-person, expository narration conceals a human bias in the documentary's rhetorical construction. This narration forces anthropocentric moments onto the non-human beings that often result in 'crude anthropomorphism,' while at the same time over-generalizing the non-human animal experience and scientific knowledge. I will also discuss how first-person narration in documentaries is able to highlight the human bias of the author by allowing her or his subjective preoccupations to drive the storyline. In this manner, the first-person author brings emotional complexity to the documentary through the human subject, rather than uncontextualized human emotions projected onto the non-human animal. I will investigate the ways in which a first-person narration allows for different techniques to move between objective and subjective viewpoints to reveal current scientific knowledge about and behavioral understandings of the non-human animal. To this end, I will examine three first-person natural history works: 'Of Penguins and Men', 'My Life as a Turkey', and my documentary film 'In the Land of Sea Turtles'. I argue that the first-person authors demonstrate greater conscientiousness to truth in the storylines chosen, values asserted, and scientific claims about non-human animals than the expository authors of 'March of the Penguins'.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 The essay film(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2015) Moore, John David; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Dennis AigThis paper discusses the essay film and its practice. Criteria are established for the form: It should be less than feature length. It must have text. The text must represent a single voice, and the speakers attempt to work out some reasoned line of discourse on a problem. The text must have a strong personal point of view. The text's language should be as eloquent and interesting as possible. Three films are analyzed that illustrate the essay film form: Chris Marker's 'Letter from Siberia', Cindy Stillwell's 'Mating For Life', and Werner Herzog's 'Grizzly Man'. I conclude that the essay film form is a viable alternative to traditional documentary filmmaking styles. It is particularly useful in specific historical, social, and political contexts as a means of influencing public opinion and advocating for change.