Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Dennis AigGoode, Eliza Lily2016-01-032016-01-032015https://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/9146The smell of cedars steeped in rain: Olympic National Park is a film that is part of the student's thesis project.The national park system reflects a defining aspect of American identity: a fundamental connection to nature. In many ways the history of the national park system is a history of American attitudes toward wilderness and nature. Art and artists have played a crucial role in that history, particularly writers, photographers, and painters. However, the nonfiction films that portray the national parks are mostly educational in nature, and too often fall short of the joyful representations that celebrated painters, writers, and photographers have created for and in the parks. I propose a less interpretive, more immersive model for national park films.enNational parks and reservesNature filmsDocumentary filmsArtHistoryThesisCopyright 2015 by Eliza Lily Goode