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Item An interpreter's guide to filmmaking(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2022) Andrus, Olivia Fay; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Dennis AigPolitically divisive topics like climate change are notoriously difficult to effectively communicate to the public. Using a different communication approach called interpretation within the filmmaking process, we can bridge the gap current climate change films have today with their audience. Interpretation means "a mission-based communication process that forges emotional and intellectual connections between the interests of the audience and the meanings inherent in the resource," according to the National Association of Interpretation (What is interpretation?). In this paper I will analyze the history behind interpretation and the methodology in implementing this communication style within films. Through the works of various filmmakers such as, My Octopus Teacher (2020), Ice on Fire (2019), and Ocean Souls (2020), my own experience creating an interpretive short film, The Dolphin Dilemma, this paper will discuss how specific interpretive communication methods can take politically divisive subjects, like climate change and more effectively communicate science within documentaries.Item Sowing the seeds of love: a look into non-conventional science documentary with a focus on audience entertainment(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2023) Young, Riley Ilyse; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Cindy StillwellThis paper explores the makings of the film Sowing the Seeds of Love and the stylistic choices made to produce a science documentary film focusing on audience entertainment. Sowing the Seeds of Love, a three-part short film starring an animal and a celebrity for each section bringing attention to the non-heteronormative mating behaviors of each animal species. The entire film is shot on 16mm film and uses animation and scripted scientific information representative of each celebrity host and their time of peek popularity to focus on the nostalgia of the audience. The goal of this film is to highlight a commentary on heteronormative roles in our society challenged by the mating behaviors of animals across our planet. This paper also explores three different documentaries that inspired the topic and style of Sowing the Seeds of Love and how the filmmaker came to the decisions of certain stylistic choices to create a non-traditional documentary in wildlife film.Item The historian, the philosopher, and the scientist: three approaches to science history filmmaking(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2023) Lea, Emily; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Dennis AigScience history films are an underutilized way to build public interest in science. Required. Science history portrays the genesis of a significant idea and is an ideal topic for documentaries that aim to improve science literacy in a low pressure, highly entertaining cinematic experience, without being overly rhetorical. When attitude towards science improves, understanding may follow. By analyzing three influential filmmakers in their different approaches to history films, Errol Morris's The Thin Blue Line, Agnes Varda's The Gleaners and I, and Carl Sagan's Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, I assemble a toolkit of helpful techniques for science history filmmakers to employ. I apply these conditions to my science history film "The Great French Wine Blight" in order to best present this history in a thoughtful and engaging way while remaining faithful to the science and ideally improving the audience's attitude towards science in general.Item Seeing in the dark: how to tell a subatomic story in science film(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2022) Koonce, Evangeline Rose; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Theo LipfertSince its inception in the early 20th century, science film has branched into a diverse phylogeny of methods and styles, informed by the subject matter it portrays as well as the technological advances of the day. Narrowing my focus to the science of quantum mechanics, I look specifically at the methods used for subatomic storytelling in documentary films. Unlike other scientific objects, the subatomic object cannot be easily observed with the naked eye or with research tools, preventing its direct capture by both scientist and filmmaker. Comparing the PBS series 'The Fabric of the Cosmos' with the documentary film 'Particle Fever', I investigate the consequences of superimposing a human narrative on the subatomic object as a method of science communication and as a filmic device. This analysis affirms the utility of varied narrative techniques in subatomic storytelling in science film. Expanding on this premise, I examine how the essay films functions within a subatomic story, specifically within my thesis film, 'Circumambulation', which revolves around the 2021 confirmation of the muon's anomalous magnetic moment at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. In closing, I connect science film to the practice of art and argue that not only is art necessary for subatomic storytelling, but the art of documentary filmmaking is particularly suited for this purpose.Item True tone: color grading's place in nonfiction filmmaking(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2022) Kenney, Nathaniel James; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Cindy StillwellNew technology has made color grading an accessible storytelling tool for nonfiction filmmakers. The rise of color manipulation for storytelling purposes allows nonfiction filmmakers to communicate with their audience at an emotional level. Color grading can be problematic because it is an intentional alteration of the image and can, therefore, work against the truth claim of documentary media. Three successful nonfiction films, The Imposter, Nsenene, and Chef's Table: Mashama Bailey, were examined. The methods and strategies of color grading used by these films were then applied to a series of short films produced by the author with the goal of using color to effectively engage an audience without departing from the reality-claim of the documentary genre.Item Ocean conservation films: connecting the viewer(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2020) Lanier, Sarah Elizabeth; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Dennis AigDocumentaries about ocean conservation have relied on the model of conventional environmental science documentaries with their use of expository film techniques. Ocean conservation films of this kind follow traditions of objectivity, authority, pressure for change, and placing the audience in the uncomfortable role of acting as an antagonist to aquatic life. By examining a new model for ocean conservation films in which audiences feel connected to the ocean instead of alienated from it, we can create more profound stories as well as emotional connections with the viewer. My film, 'The Crab Man of Kodiak' (2020), utilizes a localized portrait film format to engage the viewer in a discourse about ocean conservation without vilifying them, creating a balance between advocacy, science, and emotion.Item Framing science and conservation films for wider acceptance: using social science to engage audience through their worldview and cultural cognition(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2019) Smithee, Tara Pearl; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Theo LipfertUsing the work of Yale professor Dan Kahan, this thesis explores how his 'cultural cognition' theory demonstrates the ineffectiveness of communicating controversial environmental topics using the deficit model. It applies Valerie Reyna's Fuzzy Trace Theory, which demonstrates how communicators can use 'gist' and 'verbatim' in their messaging to connect to an audience's worldview and reduce polarization. This thesis uses these theories to analyze three documentary case studies, including my MFA thesis film, Deep Discoveries. Deep Discoveries documents the underwater ocean exploration of Marine National Monuments in the Pacific Ocean from 2014 to 2016 and utilizes the above tools to promote conservation of the ocean.Item Female scientists in film: embracing duality with the heroine's journey(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2019) Sagatov, Anna Irina; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Dennis AigThere is a dearth of women in science, technology, engineering, and math careers. Film and television reflects this reality, and women scientist characters are often depicted as lacking in complexity or subordinate to their male counterparts. This thesis examines the deficiencies of filmic depictions of women scientist characters in dramatic films of the past and suggests using Maureen Murdoch's Heroine's Journey story structure to create more independent and complex women scientist characters in film. Inspired by this approach , the paper then discusses the dramatic narrative thesis film Bar Flies , which challenges audiences to consider the social , professional , and personal dilemmas a young woman scientist character faces while navigating her career and personal life.Item Drawing it out : the form and function of animation in science documentary film(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2015) Kent, Abigail Elizabeth; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Theo LipfertAnimation offers many opportunities to filmmakers to deeply explore concepts and ideas in their films, sometimes with more resonance than live action footage. In science film, animation offers a particular strength in engaging audiences despite complicated and technical science subjects. This paper serves as an analysis of animation in science documentary, a survey of the history of animation in science film, an exploration of platform for these films, and a reflection on the production of my own short animated science documentary titled, "Transistors: Teeny Tech that Changed the World."Item Moving towards an evidence based approach to science filmmaking : using social science to communicate controversial science topics more effectively(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2014) Hudson, Hilary Ann; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Theo LipfertAs science continues to dive into subjects that may conflict with the ideology and moral values of American citizens, it is critical that science filmmakers begin to engage with these topics as social issues, rather than as purely scientific topics. Some science filmmakers have taken this approach, and address cultural and moral values in their film, however, this is typically done through an intuitive approach, which often leaves the filmmaker "preaching to the choir" and maybe even escalating the political polarization of the science topic. In order to create more effective science films about "controversial" topics, filmmakers need to inform their film through the social science field called science of science communication. Doing so will give the filmmaker a better chance of lessening the controversy over the science, thereby allowing our country a better chance of coming together to solve tough social issues, by seeing science as an ally to guide our decisions rather than as an enemy.