Scholarship & Research
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Item An ecofeminist model for wildlife film(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2005) Graziano, Tracy Ann; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ronald Tobias.The most dominant form of wildlife film for broadcast currently upholds a dangerous separation between culture and nature with production practices, editing and film subtext. If wildlife films are to change and incorporate science, they must also relate that science to other discourses to present the subjectαs greater reality. Wildlife films have a duty to represent their subject fairly, and in that fairness propose a preservation ethic that will serve for many as a stepping-stone to environmental salvation. A look into ecofeminist discourse provides a new methodology for producing wildlife films.Item Perspective in wildlife films(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2007) Kasic, Kathryn Elizabeth; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Dennis AigDiscussions of perspective rarely occur in analyses of wildlife films perhaps because of the near neglect of the genre itself as well as the fact that most analysis focuses on content, rather than structure and style. Perspective has long been a part of narrative film criticism, however, and it is essential to a complete examination of a film genre. I define perspective here as the cognitive view of the mind that commands the subject. In documentary and wildlife films, credibility is vital and the film's perspective or point of view establishes this through the use of the camera apparatus and narration. The very use of these tools of perspective may add to a scientific perspective, but inevitably prevent an objectively scientific representation, the pivot of a fact-driven, wildlife film. Although credibility is established by evidence and facts, a tendency toward anthropomorphism can jeopardize claims of objectivity and scientific credibility.Item The preference for the exotic in wildlife broadcast film(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2007) Fitzgibbons, Ryan Patrick; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ronald Tobias; Paul Monaco (co-chair)American wildlife broadcast film has exhibited a preference for exotic fauna, leaving much of North American wildlife underappreciated. The American preference for the exotic finds its roots in the early African hunting films of Cherry Kearton, John Hemment, and Martin Johnson. These films became manifestations of the Pristine, a conceptual realm of untouched wildness filled with aesthetically-pleasing megafauna. Since then, visions of the Pristine, through the exotic wildlife and landscape, have remained popular in American broadcast viewing, as seen in Animal Planet's programming. Exotic wildlife broadcast film encourages viewers to engage in the roles of tourist, refugee, and conservationist. These roles, in turn, foster an understanding of nature that is dominated by seemingly plentiful megafauna, disconnected from humans and valued through a nature-importing model.