Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Reanimation Of The Zombie Genre, William Engel

Capstones

The following piece is an examination of the evolution of the zombie in popular media. It begins with a brief recap of the zombie’s history, beginning with its roots in 19th century Haitian folklore, followed by its usage in the format of film. The most notable and enduring entries in the zombie film genre served as scathing critiques of contemporary human issues, encapsulating all of the fears and insecurities of its audience. In recent years, however, due to the way the international film market has changed, the zombie film has lost its emotional power and edge. Contemporary zombie filmmakers are …

400 Meters, Luke Tress

Capstones

A short documentary on the closest Israeli village to the Gaza border, one year after the 2014 war.

Fathers And Sons: A Journey In Creating A Personal Work Of Cinematic Art, Samuel D. Hopson

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This document gives an account of my artistic efforts in creating my thesis film Fathers and Sons. This document includes sections that cover the writing, casting, production design, principal photography, and editing of my film. I give special attention to the writing process in Chapter 2, because of its personal significance to my growth as a filmmaker. This chapter details the evolution of my original story concept from a drama to a comedy. The ultimate goal of my film was to create a personal work of art. This document self-reflects on how well I was able to achieve this goal, …

Fat Boy Private Dance, Adam M. Schwartz

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

After spending a decade losing weight following a traumatic high school experience, Mark has a great life with a beautiful girlfriend, good job which he's passionate about, and a wonderful group of friends. Everything changes when his high school bully reenters his life and shakes his confidence to the point of developing a severe case of body dysmorphia at a time when it's crucial he's confident, as he promised to do a private dance for his girlfriend.

The Cobbler And The Diamond, Jacob M. Hoyson

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This paper will provide a comprehensive account of the making of the University of New Orleans Graduate Thesis film The Cobbler and the Diamond. The first part will cover the filmmaker’s intentions, the development of the story, and the screenwriting process. The second part will break down the preproduction and planning phase, with an emphasis on the collaborations between the director and other members of the film’s cast, crew, and other concerned parties. The third part will describe the seven-day shoot of The Cobbler and the Diamond, the fourth will cover post production, and the fifth and final …

Velocirapture, Katheryn Warzak

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

N/A

Are We Prepared For The Future? A Case Study On The Education Of Journalists, Victoria Black

Senior Theses

Throughout my college experience at the University of South Carolina as a journalism major, I heard about one thing for four years – senior semester. Senior semester for journalism majors is a set number of classes the student must take his or her senior year, either the last or second to last semester before graduation. It includes four specific classes on reporting, producing, writing and web management. But there is a catch. The four classes do not meet for specific class periods. Students in senior semester meet Monday through Friday from 8:45am to 6:00pm, producing a 4:00pm newscast every day. …

Honors College Recruitment Video, Michael Pirt

Honors Projects

My Honors project was delivered through the medium of video as I attempted to find out what the Honors College means to its members in hopes of using their answers to inspire incoming students to join the Honors College.

Second-Billed But Not Second-Rate: A Reappraisal Of Three Character Actors From Hollywood’S Golden Age, Candace M. Graham

Theses & Dissertations

Seventy-six years ago Hollywood experienced something never before nor since seen. The year, 1939, was Hollywood’s “Dream Year” for production of some of the most memorable films of all time. Today, the term used to describe films of this success level is blockbuster. Film scholars and fans call them classics. It was the culmination of films of Hollywood’s Golden Age starring every one of Hollywood’s A-Listers of this Golden Age of film, from Don Ameche to Loretta Young. However, lost in this maze of the top-billed or leading actors were the character actors who were also known as supporting cast …

Hollywood & Media Portrayals Of Veterans Who Suffer From Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Francesca C. Katafias

Senior Theses

According to the U.S Department of Veterans Affairs: National Center for PTSD, it’s recorded that, “approximately 11-20 out of every 100 Veterans (or between 11-20%) who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom have PTSD in a given year”. In my research study, my focus is to better understand Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, how prevalent it is in military veterans, and how the media (Hollywood) projects our veterans to be to the public. There are three important questions I have put together to further explore my topic without losing direction on my prime focus. The three questions I …

Retrograde Returns Of The American Housewife: Reimagining An Old Character In A New Millennium, Ruth Emelia Wollersheim

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the immensely popular return of the housewife character in the twenty-first century. From films like The Stepford Wives (2004), to television dramas like Desperate Housewives (2004-2012) and The Good Wife (2009- ), to reality shows like Wife Swap (2004- ), Bravo’s The Real Housewives franchise (2006- ), Basketball Wives (2010- ), Mob Wives (2011- ), and most recently on the blogosphere with personalities like The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, the housewife character has reentered our imaginations on a mass scale. This anachronistic character trend is in stark contrast to the urban, working superwoman ideal of the 1980s …

The Production Of Sticky Notes And Bible Quotes: Godly Answers For Sticky Situations A Children’S Musical As Directed By Julie Brinkman, Julie Elizabeth Brinkman

Honors College

This thesis reflects upon a director’s experience while directing her first production: Sticky Notes and Bible Quotes: Godly Answers for Sticky Situations by Dennis and Nan Allen. This children’s musical was produced in cooperation with Wylie United Methodist Church of Abilene, TX. Over forty children, with the help of ten adult volunteers, shared the importance of memorizing scripture and looking to God’s Word in times of trouble through song, skits, and the recitation of scripture. While reflecting upon the production process after each rehearsal, the director makes connections between her experiences as director, the content of her music education undergraduate …

Institutional Influence On Documentary Form: An Analysis Of Pbs And Hbo Documentary Programs, Mark Joseph Irving

Theses and Dissertations

INSTITUTIONAL INFLUENCE ON DOCUMENTARY FORM - A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF PBS and HBO DOCUMENTARY PROGRAMS

by Mark Irving

The University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, 2015

Under the Supervision of Professor Michael Z. Newman

Beginning in the 1980s, the documentary genre has undergone a transformation to accommodate modes of stylistic expression and subjective thematic exposition previously not evident in the genre. This deviation from the form’s traditional modes of expression typically associated with fact-based, journalistic pursuits can be attributed to the institutional underpinnings of media outlets that exhibit documentary programming. These institutional factors, a consequence of an evolving marketplace and shifts …

The Legends Of Bigfoot: Or How I Regained My Manhood, Blaine Mccarty

Master of Arts in American Studies Capstones

Masculinity is a culturally defined identity that exists with no single way to express it. However, the cultural politics police masculinity to appear natural and non-changing, but masculinity changes over history influenced by events and the culture from which it gets its definition. Because of this twofold influence on the identity, there is a constant struggle of the appropriate ways to express masculinity in its attempt to normalize itself by defining what is and is not masculine. This work examines how Bigfoot, the hairy fabled monster, embodies conversations about masculinity during a shift in the masculine identity in a constantly …

Resisting The Resistance: The Emancipation Of Students From The Hidden Curriculum Of Commodified Resistant Narratives In Young Adult Dystopian Film Through Open Pedagogical Space And Culture-Jamming, Robert B. Bauer

Theses and Dissertations

Young Adult Dystopian Film exercises an influence over young people of which they are not aware. As part of a structure of domination these films teach students to participate in their own oppression by the capitalist system. The film industry maintains a hidden curriculum like that utilized in school classrooms to conceal the oppression from the masses. One particularly effective means is the portrayal of resistance against oppression in the narratives of the YA Dystopian Film. Young people are drawn to that narrative and end up supporting the structure of domination financially and ideologically. Modes of resistance to this oppression …

Purkeys' 25 Year Journey, Ashleigh Brooke Galligan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The documentary film Purkeys’ 25 Year Journey takes an in-depth look at the Purkey’s family and the business they started in 1990. This 17 minute film focuses on Bruce Purkey and his daughter Robyn. They began Purkeys by supplying batteries, alternators and other parts of a heavy-duty vehicle’s electrical system to one customer, JB Hunt. As the company grew they began to be known across the nation for finding creative solutions to the electrical issues trucking fleets faced. Bruce led the team and received multiple patents for his innovations. In, 2010 Bruce’s son Justin Purkey joined the team and quickly …

La Imposible Serenidad De Michi Panero. Una Historia Y Análisis De El Desencanto, Documental Creativo En El Tiempo De La Transición, Albert Asuncion Benedito

Masters Theses

El Desencanto es una pelicula de tipo documental creativo dirigida por Jaime Chavarri en 1976 que retrata a la familia Panero. Por su tematica y estetica contrasta con la ideologia franquista, y fue leida como un simbolo de su tiempo. A traves del analisis de sus personajes y distintas obras de ese periodo historico, este trabajo trata de analizar este componente simbolico y ofrece una lectura politica de la obra.

Now, We Hear Through A Voice Darkly: New Media And Narratology In Cinematic Art, James Anthony Ricci

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the intersection of new media and narrative, as it is presented through a cinematic aesthetic. The narrative language of film is analyzed through the theoretical framework of Bakhtin’s concepts of Heteroglossia, Chronotope, and Dialogism. Bakhtin’s ideas of classifying language act as strong tools for demonstrating how cinematic narrative can inform and alter the perception of its spectators. Lev Manovich’s principles of New Media, specifically Variability, Modularity, and Automation are also utilized to demonstrate how cinema is a constantly evolving paradigm.

Chapter one focuses on the theoretical terminology, outlining the conceptual definitions and illustrating their relevance in precise …

Genre, Justice & Quentin Tarantino, Eric Michael Blake

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The films of Quentin Tarantino have held a significant influence on modern cinema, and therefore on cinema studies. As such, studies on the social and philosophical implications of his work have appeared over the years, mostly in regards to content. However, with the exception of references to his use of cinematic violence, studies of his technique—i.e., his cinematic style—have been rare, and rarer still have been studies of the social implications that arise from the patterns of his style as well as those his subject matter.

The following thesis seeks to use the concept of Auteur Theory—specifically, that Tarantino …

He_Rtland: The Violence Of Neoliberalism, Hector Sotomayor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Perhaps, under the consciousness of today, “neoliberalism” has defined our world during the previous and current centuries more than any other socioeconomic system. But the evolution of this ideology, which initially aimed to enhance, or rather, reinvent capitalism and individual freedom, has, in essence, induced an unrecognized problem. I argue that neoliberalism is the catalyst for much of the hostility in this globalized society where tensions and poverty are casualties of individual and corporate prosperity. Because of this revelation, I argue that neoliberalism inadvertently instills violence that is both unseen and gendered. In order to formulate my argument, I introduce …

Happiest People Alive: An Analysis Of Class And Gender In The Trinidad Carnival, Asha L. St. Bernard

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Many of the marketing strategies inherent to the modern version of the Trinidad Carnival include texts that represent Trinidadians as young, fit, bikini-wearing, party enthusiasts. In these advertisements, Trinidadians are often characterized as carefree and welcoming to anyone participating in the much-anticipated annual festival. However, dominant narratives highlight certain groups and cultural aspects of the island while frequently masking several inequalities. They cleverly conceal other narratives and therefore marginalize groups and individuals from the very festival that is understood by many as a national symbol. Through informal participant-observation, and an analysis of some of the main promotional material, in particular …

“Inhumanly Beautiful”: The Aesthetics Of The Nineteenth-Century Deathbed Scene, Margo Masur

English Theses

Death today is hidden from our everyday lives so it cannot intermingle with the general public. So when a family member dies, their body becomes an object in need of disposal; no longer can they be recognized as the familiar person they once were. To witness death is to force individuals to confront the truths of human existence, and for most of us seeing such a sight would fill us with an emotion of disgust. Yet during the nineteenth century, the burden of care towards the sick or dying was shared by a community of family, neighbors, and friends; the …

Impassioned Objects And Seething Absences: The Olympics In Canada, National Identity And Consumer Culture, Estee Fresco

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation critically analyzes the commercial practices and products of the 1976 Montreal, 1988 Calgary and 2010 Vancouver Olympics. The central questions I ask are: how did the Olympics in Canada become a platform for the intersection of patriotism and consumption? What were the key ideas about Canadian identity, history, and citizenship that Olympic organizers and corporate sponsors promoted? How did commodities symbolize these ideas? Finally, how do these ideas relate to political policies and practices?

This work contributes to an understanding of how branded commodities shape Canadian identity and citizenship norms by arguing that the objects sold during the …

Canada: Multiculturalism, Religion, And Accommodation, Brittainy R. Bonnis

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In this thesis I use Critical Discourse Analysis to examine discursive constructions of identity (individual, religious, and national) within the framework of Canadian multiculturalism as they are constructed in two Canadian newspapers (the Toronto Star and the Gazette) between 2003 and 2013. I am particularly interested in how understandings of multiculturalism delimit the boundaries of belonging for religious practitioners in Canada. In chapter one I establish the academic context of this thesis and give a brief outline of the history of Canadian multiculturalism. In chapter two I focus on definitions and assessments of Canadian multiculturalism and the integration of …

On The Convergence Of Cinema And Theme Parks: Developing A Predictable Model For Creative Design, Ryan Luke Terry

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this research study is to develop a model of information that will enable media conglomerates and other companies, with theme park investments, to make informed and effective decisions based on scholarly and empirical evidences. In order to do this, the following research study uses historic, scholarly, journalistic, and focus group evidences to consolidate the information necessary to create a model to support concepts and designs. The paper begins with establishing why it is important for media conglomerates, with theme park investments, to integrate cinema into the park’s design. Then it looks back through the history of cinema …

"More Or Less" Refugee?: Bengal Partition In Literature And Cinema, Sarbani Banerjee

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In this thesis, I problematize the dominance of East Bengali bhadralok immigrant’s memory in the context of literary-cultural discourses on the Partition of Bengal (1947). By studying post-Partition Bengali literature and cinema produced by upper-caste upper/middle-class East Bengali immigrant artists, such as Jyotirmoyee Devi’s novel The River Churning (Epar Ganga Opar Ganga 1967, Bengali) and Ritwik Ghatak’s film The Cloud-Capped Star (Meghe Dhaka Tara 1960, Bengali), I show how canonical artworks have propounded elitist truisms to the detriment of the non-bhadra refugees’ representations. To challenge these works, I compare them with perspectives available in Other refugee writers’ …

Imaging Her Selves: Black Women Artists, Resistance, Image And Representation, 1938-1956, Heather Zahra Caldwell

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation focuses specifically on dancer Katherine Dunham (1909-2006), pianist Hazel Scott (1920-1981), cartoonist Jackie Ormes (1911-1985), singer Lena Horne (1917-2010), and graphic artist, painter, and sculptor Elizabeth Catlett (1915-2012). It explores the artistic, performative, and political resistance deployed by these five African-American women activists, artists, and performers in the period between 1937 and 1957. The principal form of resistance employed by these women was cultural resistance. Using a mixture of archival research, first person interview, biography, as well as other primary and secondary sources, I explore how these women constructed personas, representations, and media images of African-American women to …

Transnational Monsters: Navigating Identity And Intertextuality In The Films Of Guillermo Del Toro, Sean M. Volk

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis examines representations of monstrosity in the films of Guillermo del Toro. Throughout his oeuvre, he has consistently explored the complex relationship between humans and monsters. Using the concepts of transnational cinema and intertextuality to frame the analysis, the monster will be read in relation to its engagement with references to other texts and the narrative and industrial implications of nations and borders. The eight films directed by del Toro will be analyzed to trace the evolving depiction of the monster while also considering the shifting national contexts of production. From the intimate narratives of his early films to …

The Rise Of Marvel And Dc's Transmedia Superheroes: Comic Book Adaptations, Fanboy Auteurs, And Guiding Fan Reception, Alex Brundige

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis highlights the industrial strategy of Marvel Studios and DC Entertainment in adapting their comic book properties to the screen, engaging in an analysis of how these studios appeal to a mainstream audience by harnessing the enthusiasm of comic book fans. It proposes that the studios’ branding strategies were based in establishing their products as authentic representations of the source texts, strategically employing what Suzanne Scott calls “fanboy auteurs” – filmmakers with strong connections to the comic material – in order to lend credibility to their franchises. Situating the comic book films of Joss Whedon and Christopher Nolan as …

Hand-Eye, Michael S. Pszczonak

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This integrated article thesis has two distinct chapters: The first chapter is a case study on a selection of works by German artist Sigmar Polke using Hal Fosters writing on the historical and neo-avant-gardes. The study traces the way Polke revisits the first avant-garde project and comprehends its attempted traumatic rift from dominant ideologies for the first time. The second chapter is a comprehensive artist statement which simultaneously outlines the theoretical underpinnings of my work as well as the process leading to the body of work on display at McIntosh Gallery. The research sets out to answer the following question: …