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Item Programming despair: post-9/11 American television show mirroring a too-familiar dark reality(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2024) Holthaus, Nicholas Edwin; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Daniel FloryThis work is an analysis of the phenomenon of wildly popular television shows airing since the 9/11 attacks, many of which appear to critique United States foreign and domestic policies and the morally and economically deprived environments those policies have created, all of which have led to correlative, disturbing psychological changes in US citizens. Television is a textual site, and, especially since 9/11, an indicator of national mood, temperament and consumption trends. "TV" is an increasingly important vehicle through which to examine how producers engage with consumers, as they sometimes "mirror," sometimes create, and occasionally criticize systemic ideologies and beliefs. Since 9/11 the qualitative content of shows has changed drastically, which poses new challenges for consuming viewers. Many of these shows reify the old critics' warnings, but some obliterate them with these new writers' critical examinations of cultural, economic and political problems we increasingly face. I look at what some show producers are telling us now that they've achieved that supposed "American Dream," that is, working toward and achieving some economic independence. They show a maturity in their earnest messages that the old dichotomies of "good guys and bad guys," are no longer believable. These shows in varying degrees to the discomfort and to the pleasure of a more discriminating and disenfranchised US public show this. I propose an approach to discern which shows are enlightening in many ways and those which only serve to obediently "take up consumers' time with meaningless entertainment" as pre-9/11 scholars had bemoaned. Not all TV shows are created arguably equal anymore, at least in regards to the agendas of the producers; some humanistic writers and producers have daringly scrutinized many institutional social governors and throttles inherent in the machinery of control over the public. Yet, no matter how enlightening some of these new visual vehicles are, some are not, and simply drain time. And with "bingewatching" also come new health problems. It is up to the individual reader/viewer to recognize the difference and to choose what benefits one's self, from how to choose their "leisure" time to becoming more active in eliminating the sources of their anxiety, alienation and dis-ease. This work hopefully offers a new way of looking at the changes we've encountered, especially those presented televisually the past twenty + years. Just as the creators of some of these new shows have heeded the old scholars' criticisms, so too is a need for new scholarship on television so that both can co-evolve, in the hopes that there grows enough consensus in how to pinpoint and then resolve the financial problems we've inherited.Item The ABCs of STEM in preschool television programming: a case-study analysis of the best methods to introduce scientific subject matter into preschool-aged television programming(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2022) Sauer, Christina Marie; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Dennis AigA child's natural inclination to explore the world around him/her has been a fundamental part of child development theory. From 2- to 5-years-old, or preschool-aged, children are 'tiny scientists' who are capable of understanding basic concepts of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Through the examination of child development studies and children's educational programming history with an analysis of three renowned educational television programs for the preschool audience, this paper creates a framework for developing preschool television programming with STEM content. A concluding discussion details how the Framework is then implemented in the creation of a film 'Discovery Camp: Busy Bees Make Honey'.Item The illusion of life: puppetry and its use in the documentary genre(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2017) Tormey, Patrick Michael; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Theo LipfertSports and puppetry are two forms of entertainment that use nonverbal communication to capture our imagination, bring tears of sadness and joy, and have evolved alongside human culture for thousands of years. With the shifting attitudes among modern audiences towards documentaries claim to present truth, puppetry an artistic medium that celebrates the subjectivity of documentaries and provides a fresh way to engage with a film. In this paper, I examine two well-known examples of motion pictures that feature puppets: 'Creature Comforts' and 'Sesame Street'. Puppetry gives filmmakers a unique opportunity to illuminate complex subjects in an understandable way, harness and take advantage of the humor and subtext within a story, and is an innovated way to represent reality in the documentary genre. My film, 'The Power of Play', is meant to engage audiences through the playful presence of puppets, and highlight why humans love watching other people play to the degree sports fandom has become in modern times. Puppetry and sports seem to have always been part of human culture, so we should take the time to enjoy, understand and celebrate their unique power and presence in the world.Item We are still talking the wrong language to 'tv babies'(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2008) Pieczenik, Sharon Rovner; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Walter Metz.In order to reach a young generation diagnosed with "nature deficit disorder" and flooded with mass media messages from a myriad of channels, non governmental organizations (NGOs) and environmental educators need to embrace musical videos as a tool for conservation education. Rare Conservation is one NGO that utilizes music videos as an innovative technique to reach a younger audience in order to foster a sense of pride and concern for the environment in which they live. In 1992, RARE Conservation produced a music video for the song "Quincy Rap" by Tony (The Obeah Man) McKay. The "Quincy Rap" music video was one environmental tool in the overall campaign to save the endangered and endemic Bahamian Parrot. By analyzing the "Quincy Rap" music video, a guideline for creating persuasive music videos can be constructed. In order to analyze a music video, like "Quincy Rap," it is best to take a multi-perspective approach, first dissecting the visual elements of the video then looking at the audio elements and then concluding with how the visual and audio elements intersect. By juxtaposing music video techniques with those found in other forms of video production, certain persuasive elements of music video production can be highlighted. This unique rhetoric of music videos can be utilized as persuasive environmental education.Item Technological divergence and the portrayal of nature in outdoors programming(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2011) Harrison, Henry Huntington; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Dennis Aig.The progression of film technology, both its production and distribution, has followed a steady path of greater diversity of distribution channels and lower minimum cost of production. This paper looks at the portrayal of Nature in outdoor programming (hunting and fishing programs) as a way of illustrating what this means for filmmakers. I survey the history of outdoor films and programming in terms of its portrayal of humans and nature following a Dominion model or a Stewardship model. I then analyze two main types of outdoor programming, hunting programs and fly fishing films, and their main channels of distribution and how they have come to diverge in their portrayal of nature. I conclude that the trend towards divergence will continue and that this means filmmakers have the opportunity and possibly the obligation to speak more directly to ever more specific demographics.Item A matter of life and death : rethinking evolution and the nature of science on television(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2006) Bard, Susanne Clara; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: David ScheererIn a world where antibiotic resistance can make bacterial infections deadly and the HIV virus constantly mutates inside the human body, an understanding of evolution and its mechanisms is increasingly important. Yet much of the public is still either hostile to or misunderstands evolution and its mechanisms. Television provides the bulk of the general public's exposure to science once formal education has ended. The rhetorical strategies employed by much of science and evolution programming, along with an emphasis on content over process, delivers the message that science is a search for absolute truths rather than a dynamic process relying on falsification and tentative knowledge. The way in which science and evolution is presented parallels failures in the educational system to teach science as more than just a collection of absolute truths and unassailable facts. In both science teaching and science television, critical thinking often loses out.Item The BBC Natural History Unit : publicly funded broadcasting in the United Kingdom and its advantages for the production of natural history films(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2009) Savoie, Philip Antoine; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ronald Tobias.The British Broadcasting Corporation's Natural History Unit (BBC NHU) is the most successful producer of nature television. Even though other public and independent organizations produce nature television the BBC NHU continues to dominate the genre and the global market. The public funding of the BBC and the NHU is the foundation for the NHU's consistent international success.Item Finding new representations in science and natural history film through a deconstruction of televised weather forecasting(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2008) Brown, Parker Brandt; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ronald Tobias.Broadcast television networks limit their representation of the weather by embedding weather forecasting with ideologies of science, capitalism, and patriarchy, thereby creating a dispassionate monolithic regime as the totalizing representation of weather in popular media. This is not to say that TV weather forecasting is not useful, but that it is a narrowly focused scientific representation of nature, and as such denies experiences of the weather beyond utilitarian prediction. Non-fiction film employs a set of representational tools that, when applied to the weather, can deconstruct the mainstream representation of the weather and create alternative representations that reconnect viewers with their personal experiences of the weather. Non-fiction film allows filmmakers the freedom to directly author messages and choose systems of signs that deconstruct the mainstream broadcast of the weather. It can restore an assumption of afilmic representation and allow viewers the ability to interpret the weather in their own contexts. These ideas led to the production of my own film, Weatherscape, which simultaneously re-contextualizes the weather to encourage the viewer to create his or her own weather experience and critiques the TV weather representation. Deconstruction through non-fiction film proves to be a robust tool for creating representations that rethink our portrayal of nature.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 Buffy at play : tricksters, deconstruction, and chaos at work in the whedonverse(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2007) Graham, Brita Marie; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Linda Karell; Michael Sexson (co-chair)The television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer - in its entirety - encompasses a collection of ideas, languages, semiotic representation, artistic expression, and even scientific curiosity that is not easily reducible and has few true parallels. The Whedonverse, as fans refer to it, has become a semiotic domain in much the same vein as Star Trek or Star Wars, reaching beyond its one-time niche market into the realm of pop culture iconography. The text's simultaneous admixture and denial of discrete genres, from comedy to action, from horror to melodrama, marks it as a truly unique creation. While textual vampires have always been important barometers of our society, we need an understanding not only of vampires, but of the trickster construct to more fully understand how Buffy works - and plays - and in what ways the myths and symbols of pre-colonial storytelling tie in to post-modernism, deconstruction, and even contemporary scientific inquiry, such as chaos theory.