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The Art Of Animation: How Animation Is Creating A Better Film Industry, Judah Cooper Nov 2023

The Art Of Animation: How Animation Is Creating A Better Film Industry, Judah Cooper

Senior Honors Theses

With the progression of streaming services in recent years, the art form of animation has gained traction, continuing to develop into exceedingly creative forms through the work of talented artists. Animation has developed alongside the film industry, achieving great success in the process. This thesis will define animation and its place within visual effects, critically analyze categories of character design, theme, and story while demonstrating their relationship with animation, and contrast animation with live action films to understand its strengths and differentiations. The research concludes that animation has great benefits to offer the film industry and should be continued to …


I Come Creeping: Remembering The Battle Of Blair Mountain In Graphic Narrative, Ellie James May 2023

I Come Creeping: Remembering The Battle Of Blair Mountain In Graphic Narrative, Ellie James

Senior Honors Theses

Between August 24 and September 4 of 1921, approximately 10,000 West Virginia coal miners marched to Blair Mountain in Logan County in a militant stand for their right to unionize. Despite its status as the largest labor uprising in United States history, few know or understand the impact of the Battle of Blair Mountain today, even within the borders of West Virginia. This creative project aims to contribute to ongoing efforts to memorialize this period of the West Virginia Mine Wars through the creation of a 10-page comic, titled I Come Creeping, which depicts and is informed by the …


The Role Of Story In The Creation And Life Of Man, Leah Ginion Apr 2023

The Role Of Story In The Creation And Life Of Man, Leah Ginion

Senior Honors Theses

Story was created by God as a vehicle for the revelation and glorification of Himself. Man, made in the image of God, was created as an innate storyteller. The world was created through story, and story is how it progresses and is sustained. As such, story is the foundation of all culture and the most natural and effective method of human communication. Research points to all of man’s stories being derivatives of the Great Story: the metanarrative of Scripture. Exploring man’s relationship with story reveals his place within the metanarrative and ultimately provides evidence for the existence and active presence …


The Female Heroine Of Action Films: A History And Exploration Of The Genre And Application To The Short Film Lois, Daniel Brunner Apr 2022

The Female Heroine Of Action Films: A History And Exploration Of The Genre And Application To The Short Film Lois, Daniel Brunner

Senior Honors Theses

The action genre is one of the oldest forms of filmmaking, beginning with some of the earliest short films with simple chases and heists. From then it has progressed into the genre we know today but still retains certain crucial aspects. One of sub-genres within these films can be seen in post-apocalyptic and dystopian films. All of these tend to follow the hero’s journey as described by Joseph Campbell. The representation of powerful female heroines within the action genre has increased since 1980s from its traditional male centric viewpoint. The screenplay for the short film Lois shows the convergence of …


An American Golem: Comic Books, Creation, And The Virtue Of Escape In Michael Chabon’S The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier & Clay, Mary Mcallister Jan 2018

An American Golem: Comic Books, Creation, And The Virtue Of Escape In Michael Chabon’S The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier & Clay, Mary Mcallister

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis examines Michael Chabon’s defense of escapist stories as manifested in his Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (2000). Through this work, Chabon traces the history of escapist stories and superheroes in Judaism through the anthropomorphic figure of Jewish folklore, the golem. Chabon explores the ways in which the creation of a golem overlaps with the creation of a comic book. Additionally, Chabon shows the ability of escapist stories—those that allow the reader to leave reality and enter into fantasy—to facilitate healing from deep emotional wounds. This healing is demonstrated through the journey …


Auctor In Fabula: Umberto Eco And The Intentio Of Foucault's Pendulum, Douglas Stephens Iv Apr 2015

Auctor In Fabula: Umberto Eco And The Intentio Of Foucault's Pendulum, Douglas Stephens Iv

Senior Honors Theses

Umberto Eco’s 1988 novel Foucault’s Pendulum weaves together a wide range of philosophical and literary threads. Many of these threads find their other ends in Eco’s nonfiction works, which focus primarily on the question of interpretation and the source of meaning. The novel, which follows three distinctly overinterpretive characters as they descend into ruin, has been read by some as a retraction or parody of Eco’s own position. However, if Foucault’s Pendulum is indeed polemical, it must be taken as an argument against the mindset which Eco has termed the “hermetic”. Through an examination of his larger theoretical body, including …


R. Crumb’S The Book Of Genesis Illustrated: Biblical Narrative And The Impact Of Illustration, Liza A. Borders Apr 2014

R. Crumb’S The Book Of Genesis Illustrated: Biblical Narrative And The Impact Of Illustration, Liza A. Borders

Senior Honors Theses

An artist known for his sexually charged, grotesque art joins with the sacred text of the Bible’s Genesis in R. Crumb’s The Book of Genesis Illustrated. An academic approach to the graphic novel recognizes the depth of meaning the art develops through the story. The intriguing facial expressions within Crumb’s book call into question the motives of the active participants within the narrative of Noah and the infamous floating zoo. Deviant from a Christian view of the Bible, Crumb disputes the honor of Scripture and perpetuates his typical social satire though he uses a biblical text. Reflecting upon a traditional …


Graphic Evangelism, Mark H. Cupp Apr 2013

Graphic Evangelism, Mark H. Cupp

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis explores the use of mainstream graphic novels as a means of Christian evangelism. Though not exclusively Christian, the graphic novel, The Beast Within, will educate its target audience by using attractive illustrations, relatable issues, and understandable morals in a fictional, biblically inspired story. This thesis will include character designs, artwork, chapter summaries, and a single chapter of a self-written, self-illustrated graphic novel along with a short summary of Christian references and symbols. The novel will follow six half-human, half-animal warriors on their adventure to restore the balance of their world, which has been disrupted by a powerful …


Discovering The Literary Relevancy Of Watchmen: A Review Of The Graphic Novel's Philosophical Themes, Tyler Flynn Apr 2012

Discovering The Literary Relevancy Of Watchmen: A Review Of The Graphic Novel's Philosophical Themes, Tyler Flynn

Senior Honors Theses

The American comic book, specifically those of the superhero genre, is a medium that has been associated with stagnant, morally upright characters and formulaic plots. However, author Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons changed said stigma with their groundbreaking series Watchmen. An analysis of the work’s storyline, as well as some of the main characters, will reveal the deep philosophical and psychological underpinnings of the graphic novel, and, more importantly, its literary merit. A Christian interpretation of the work will also be presented.