Film Production Commons^™

Inheritance, Katherin Machalek

Theses and Dissertations

Inheritance is a feature documentary that investigates the concept of spiritual inheritance, that which is passed from parent to child. More precisely, it examines how the experiences and struggles of an individual may be transferred and reprocessed by their children. Life experience is studied not as personal, but rather a continuous process that transcends the parent and projects onto the children. The film is a hybrid composed of experimental sequences and false starts, which all bring attention to the nuances of a not-so-straightforward story. The film begins as an essay focusing on an investigation into my parents’ divorce with the …

Norm And The People, Jacqueline N. Wade

Theses and Dissertations

Norm and the People is a 90-minute hybrid film about the Minister and activist Norman Eddy and the work he and other activists did in Spanish Harlem from the 1940s through his death in 2013. The film is told through interviews, archival photos and videos, reenactments, and puppets.

Supernova, Prinsey M. Walker

University of New Orleans Thesis Films

Film making is the one of the only creative outlets that has the ability to encompass the past, present, and future. Supernova, specifically is a piece that is a reflection of the black community. The story is an analysis of the family structure, privilege, and colorism. Beyond the audience's interpretation of the story, film making is a gateway to spiritual enlightenment of the inner soul for artists. The product upon completion may not be critically acclaimed. However, it is the take away as an artist that has the most meaning for passion projects.

Dark Moon, Kate Mathews

Theses and Dissertations

Dark Moon is a short narrative film that follows Billie as she comes home for the weekend to look after her father, Jack, who has recently been diagnosed with early onset Dementia. The appearance of a mysterious woman shines a light on their changing power dynamic, threatening to throw their world out of orbit. Dark Moon is a rumination on an ailing man’s need for agency and a daughter’s misguided attempts to keep her father safe. Inspired by my own relationship with my father, the film explores loss and the ways we try, however foolishly, to fight against it.

Anamnesis: A Film About Forgetting, Neville Pullar Elder

Theses and Dissertations

In the film Anamnesis I bear witness to the injury and death of my childhood best friend Dominic, when I was 11. The film is a quest: A search for a visual memory that I have forgotten or perhaps, deliberately hidden from myself. Can remembering the events in their entirety and chronological order help me heal? Is searching for the lost memories nothing more than a smokescreen to avoid the steps I must take to deal/heal the trauma?

I communicate the relationship between the interplay of memory-making and sense-making and the reconstruction process that enables our past and present to …

At Home Among Strangers, Aleksandra Gorbacheva

Theses and Dissertations

At Home Among Strangers is a character-driven documentary that explores the price of freedom for a gay person in a society that lacks freedom and civil rights. It follows an asylum seeker from Russia, Sasha Smirnov, during a crucial moment of his life: starting over in New York City at 40 as a journalist without English language skills. The film reflects on the choices one makes and the consequences of staying true to oneself.

Gabriella: Gender Gap And Discrimination Experienced By Women Employees In The Filmmaking Sector, Janelle G. Gutierrez, Carla R. Isip

DLSU Senior High School Research Congress

The gender gap issue continues to be prevalent in varying sectors in the Philippines even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to highlight women’s experiences in the filmmaking sector of the art industry working in an online set-up and to also clearly show its effects to their target audience, which is the working-class sectors in the Philippines through a short mockumentary film. Data was collected from six participants, men and women who are between 20 to 50 years old and have worked part-time or full-time in the filmmaking industry in the last 10 years. The results …

A More Equitable Film Pedagogy: Including Media Literacy In Higher Education Film Classrooms To Result In Better Media Practitioners, Alexis Romero Walker

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This article explains the importance of including critical media literacy practices in skills-based classrooms in film education. Students continue to use methods of filmmaking that are inherently biased because they continue to be taught an age-old set of skills that do not engage in critical analysis. With the convergence of contemporary film theory in the classroom, educators can help students learn new methods of filmmaking that are representative for all communities and people. Through textual analysis of three films, this article shows why educators in higher education film programs must include critical media literacy in the skills course curriculum and …

Glass House S1:E1 “Sweet Temptations”, Taylor Middleton

Honors Theses

Sweet Temptations tells the story of the Price family navigating their new lives in Cape Huron. Enticed by the opportunity of a new job with great benefits, the Price family moves to Cape Huron, Maine, a small town with mysterious goings-on. While father, Paul, starts work at the factory in town, twins Seth and Samantha start their senior year of high school. Everything in the town is perfect at surface level, the houses are all the same cookie-cutter design with the exception of the different color palettes and furniture styles. The perfect All-American façade comes crashing down when Seth and …

Bodyverse, Colin B. Stilwell

Theses and Dissertations

This paper supports the MFA dance thesis film BodyVerse. Exploring the intertwining relationship of body systems with the natural world, it brings somatic principles such as Body Mind Centering and dance improvisation together with film legacies and digital platforms.

Slacking, Dazed And Rocking: A Study Of Richard Linklater, Parker D. Otto

Honors Capstones

The purpose of this capstone is to examine a filmmaker’s work to better understand the artist as well as look at an underappreciated filmmaker. Richard Linklater is that filmmaker. Several of his films are popular, others less so. By exploring his filmography, it can be determined whether he’s a true artist deserving of more attention from the filmmaking community as well as general audiences. After examining Linklater’s films, not only were there recurring thematic elements that cemented his artistic dominance, but there’s a feeling of evolution as he ages. The research of this project was conducted through watching Linklater’s films …

Reclamation: The Crown Of African American Identity, Lindsey Kellogg

English MA Theses

African American voices have been the main sources of influence on society and culture. For this reason, it is important that African Americans speak up and reclaim their voices. Not only are their voices important, but the stories that lie behind the voices are what need to be amplified. With the application of postcolonial theory, this thesis takes modern stories located in North America depicting racist behavior towards African Americans from the year 1970 to present-day New York City in order to fully amplify the process of social struggle. As these narratives are passed down through generations serving as a …

Meet And Run, Gia M. Binner

Theses and Dissertations

A defense for Gia Binner’s MFA Thesis, Meet and Run, argues that accessible art, known in this paper as commercial dance, is a meaningful vehicle for social change and that it has the ability to dismantle the outdated, European concert dance dominance by modeling the interdependency of both worlds.

A Boy Born On Wednesday, Charles Krampah

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My relocation to America has presented an unprecedented space for self-examination. The components of my identity and personality have been laid bare before me; My blackness in the face of racism and white hegemony, my African heritage in the face of post-colonialism and imperialism, and my faith in the face of an increasingly secular western culture.

Am I who thought I was? Am I more or less? Why do I feel like a different person, and what does this mean for my future?

My research and art practice serve as a form of introspection. I tell an internal story in …

..., Claire Alfonso

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Words are fickle, easily misunderstood, and often put us at a loss... but we all have so much we feel we need to express. This begs the question: Is there any safe way of communication? Can anything ever really be communicated how you mean it? Will you ever see the reflection of what you feel, think, and dream outside of yourself? In response to this existential dilemma, I imagine an alternative language of images, sounds, color, feelings, and non-identification. My thesis is a meditation on the issues with standard language and the idea of alternative language. In my argument I …

The Shape Of Things: A Theatrical Examination Of The Progression Of Emotional Manipulation, Kylee Lorio

Honors Projects

In Neil LaBute's work, The Shape of Things, graduate art student Evelyn Thompson meets security guard and future muse, Adam Sorenson, in an art museum during his late-night shift. Their meeting poses the question of just how far humans are willing to go for love. In less than two hours, LaBute’s insight regarding manipulation between intimate partners calls the integrity of our own interpersonal relationships into question. This project encapsulates the materials of Bridgewater College student Kylee Lorio while directing this production during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rewriting The Narrative That Surrounds Mental Illness, Ashley Johnson

All Theses

The focus of this work is to change the narrative that surrounds mental health issues by portraying mental battles through animation. Buddhism heavily influenced the crux of this project, which is the conscious decision to accept oneself and choose to work towards inner balance instead of battles. 3D animation is used to distill complex thoughts into simplified characters that drive the narrative through performance and choreographed fight scenes.

Neo's Cleaning Service, Yuka Saito, Mcfloyd Nguyen

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

As the modern working society of any global economy experiences exponential growth in work-centric culture, the integrity of communal and family values degrades as a result. Factors such as lack of leisure and human interaction directly correlate to the declining number of marriages, hence exposing an aging population with no reinforcement. Collectively, as a result, the number of elderly people who live alone continues to expand, and in places such as modern-day Japan, the phenomenon of "lonely death" or kodokushi - 孤独死, an occurrence of people dying alone and remaining undiscovered for a long time, has been a remarkable issue. …

Puppy, Cesar Henrique Gelli Ramos

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Throughout this submission, I will discuss the overall process of creating my short thesis film, Puppy. An overall summary of my production approach and a detailed account of the specifics of how each production element occurred will also be provided along with visuals from the set. I will also discuss my education and experiences from my time at the University of New Orleans.

Creation, Craft, And Covid-19: A Documentary, Joshua Stockstill

Honors Theses

Creation, Craft, and COVID-19 is a documentary film that looks into the creation and development of a small jewelry business called Novi Creations based in Laurel, Mississippi. This thesis interviews Shauna Stockstill, the owner of Novi Creations, and presents the history of the business, its daily processes, and its struggles through the COVID-19 pandemic. This thesis also covers the planning and pre-production of the film and the performative method of approach. It breaks down different styles of documentary filmmaking and addresses ethical dilemmas found commonly in documentaries. I express my reason for creating this film and desire to share Shauna’s …