Scholarship & Research
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Item Documentary and the pursuit of truth(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2020) Savage, Ariel Lee; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Cindy StillwellDeveloped as a genre in the 1920s, documentary film has long been considered a bastion for truth and knowledge. With this assumed integrity, however, came an enduring discourse on the deeper complexities of truth and the authorial power of the documentarian. As poststructuralist theory states it is impossible to recognize a universal truth. While it has long been understood that objectivity in documentary is impossible, I argue that documentary can be used instead to understand people. Comparing 'Grey Gardens', 'Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer', and 'Behind the Curve', I analyze the historical context of each film, as well as the subjective techniques utilized to avow the documentarian's construct framing each documentary experience. I apply similar techniques to my documentary, 'Bigfoot and the Citizen Scientist' and further argue that truth is subjective and often murky, and therefore, our documentaries should reflect that.Item Assaying the essay: science documentary and self-portrait(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2015) Williams, Richard Glenn; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Dennis AigDocumentaries about science have long relied on expository and observational modes of filmmaking to perpetuate a pretense of objectivity and authenticity. I contend that these claims on objectivity are false, and that other modes, specifically the self-portrait essay, can more authentically communicate scientific principles. This paper examines case studies of science-related self-portrait films that foreground subjectivity and reflexivity to varying degrees, and analyzes their effectiveness. I argue that the self-portrait essay film and its rejection of objectivity is a compelling alternative to conventional science documentary.Item Film and the illusion of experience(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2010) Gordon, Stephani Rae; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Dennis Aig.Documentary filmmakers, especially those in the science and natural history genre, commonly rely on film's capacity to communicate information, but there is also the possibility of utilizing film's ability to communicate experience. As a subjective medium rather than a representation of objective reality, film creates a convincing illusion of experience that can translate into an opportunity for vicarious learning. I examine four documentaries by directors that demonstrate an uncanny ability to communicate an experience through film, and I apply their techniques and methods to my own film on field research on tundra swans in northwestern Alaska. Filming in an empathic mode, embracing subjectivity, and giving precedence to how the film subjects' perceive their world offer the filmmaker the ability to harness the illusion of experience that film can provide.Item The private lives of scientists : revealing the human-side of science film(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2008) Misztal, Stefanie Snioszek; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Walter Metz.As a genre, science films have routinely dehumanized the scientists who appear in them, portraying these characters as simple, one-dimensional encyclopedias of knowledge, whose sole purpose is to relay facts and provide expert testimony in support of the filmmaker's agenda. These films fall short of their true potential when they neglect to present their subjects as complex, multidimensional human beings with fascinating stories, opinions, tragedies and comedies to share about their lives. As science filmmakers we should attempt to re-humanize the way science is portrayed on film by looking to examples like standpoint feminist theory, which advocates owning our particular, incomplete subjective-viewpoints, or 'standpoints' as a form of empowerment. Championed by scientist and feminist scholar Donna Haraway, these partial perspectives allow filmmakers to create a place where the public and private lives of scientists can not only co-exist, but also strengthen one another. By exploring the complex world in the private lives of scientists, we can give greater respect to scientists themselves as well as to the intelligence and emotional needs of the greater public. To treat science and the people involved in its construction with more ethical responsibility, to build a more empowered and enlightened public, we as filmmakers need to introduce the personal values of willing scientists into the public sphere. If we can reinvent the science film as an endeavor steeped in humanity, it may become a more ethical and effective communication tool to fill these growing needs.Item The truth in selling science, and the drama of adapting it for television(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2008) Watkins, Edward Matthew; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Theo Lipfert; Walter Metz (co-chair)The path from science text to science television show is a rocky one. The fragmentation of the television market place with the growth of cable television has pushed science documentaries into a headlong pursuit for higher viewer ratings in a medium dominated by works of fiction. In response to this, science documentary has steadily been pushed to alter the techniques it uses, and adapt its content to become more dramatic. Varying market pressures have led to the rise of two dominant methods of dramatization; narrative imposition and visual spectacle (typically CGI). However, in addition to making science shows more dramatic these two techniques have acted to create a hybridized format, blending subjective speculation with traditional expositional documentary techniques. The result of such hybridization has been to blur the lines between fact and fiction and to allow for the creation of dubious subjunctive documentaries, and almost entirely fictive narrative documentaries. This has acted to uphold the cultural practice of misinterpreting science in order to support fantasy and fiction, and has led to a rise in pseudoscience, which could be potentially very damaging to society. The growth in the public misinterpretation of science could leave our societies woefully unprepared to make informed decisions about the future. To avoid this, I suggest that we find ways to adapt science for television that are more accurate in showing the true nature of science. Instead of bending science to conform to preconceived, linear dramatic narratives, I suggest we look at alternative narratives such as those seen in discursive 'essay' films. And, instead of stretching spectacle and visualization so far as to create fantastical dramatic fictional worlds, I believe we should focus on creating shows that use metaphor and analogy to help us visualize the real, hidden nature of science. By utilizing scientists as guides and peers rather than as heroes and elitists, by choosing discourse over teleology, and by incorporating visually rich metaphors and analogies into science shows, we can render the strange and unfamiliar understandable and engaging.Item The pose of neutrality in social documentary films(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2010) Van Laanen, Michael Whitney; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ronald Tobias.From the outset, documentary filmmakers have sought to achieve the unobtainable goal of re-presenting reality in a purely objective manner. What began with an attempt to document a dying/evolving culture in Flaherty's Nanook of the North led to a century of debate about how closely documentary film could come to achieving the ultimate goal of representing our historical and social world accurately, objectively, and truthfully. The stem cell research debate has produced three documentaries that illustrate two models of filmmaking process: engaged filmmaking and non-engaged filmmaking. Within these two models, the filmmaker may utilize certain aesthetic techniques of vision and voice that reveal subjective manipulation. I intend to show how the rhetoric of the filmmaker presides over the content even when he presumes to maintain an objective stance.