Arts and Humanities Commons^™

New Roots: A Transracial Adoption Story, Scarlett Kuang

Capstones

This is a documentary on transracial adoption. Transracial adoption is becoming more and more common in America. In 2011, 4 out of 10 adopted children were raised by families of a different race or ethnicity. Daniel and Lisa Conklins have 11 children. After giving birth to 6, the couple adopted another 5 children from 5 different countries. They live in Castile, a farm town in upstate New York. The then 6-year-old Ezra needs to adapt to a totally new environment and embrace his new family. For Elaina who was adopted as a baby, the challenge is to survive in a …

Rhetoric In Film: Three Explorations Of Influence In Documentaries And Digital Stories, Emily Knapp

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

This thesis is made up of three distinct articles, two written with the intention of publication while the third consists of a digital story and subsequent reflection on the process of creation. The first article serves to answer the question “Do documentary films inspire activism?” by analyzing data gained after surveying 266 members of the James Madison University community. The results suggest that viewers are moved to emotion when witnessing struggle but that they are moved to action when said action directly impacts their own life. The second article is a rhetorical analysis of the 2013 documentary film Blackfish. …

Guardians Of Virtue, Tamsen Maloy, Tasia Jensen

Capstones

Guardians of Virtue is a short documentary following Tamsen Maloy as she explores how the church of her upbringing--the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon church)--handles sexual assault. It is quickly revealed that the church does not have adequate resources for sexual assault survivors. On the contrary, the culture and system of the church enables assault and encourages survivors to feel they are to blame.

Link to capstone: https://tantproductions.wordpress.com/

Revival, Anya Van Wagtendonk

Capstones

My hometown, Great Barrington, MA, has one famous former resident: NAACP co-founder W.E.B. Du Bois. For generations, his legacy in the predominantly white town was hardly acknowledged. People actively protested the landmarking of his birth site in the 1960s. When I was a kid, plans to name a new middle school after him were scrapped after the uproar grew too loud. Even in this supposedly liberal enclave in western Massachusetts, people continued to object to his membership in the Communist Party. As former NAACP president Cornell Brooks said recently, this would be like Princeton, N.J., ignoring that Einstein had ever …

Making Summer Feature: A History Of Sfa Student Productions, Dudley Kyle May

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis will discuss the documentary film Summer Feature: A History of SFA Student Productions, which I filmed, directed and produced. It will discuss how this documentary came into existence and the process I went through to film and edit the interviews featured in the final film. It will also detail the process of discovering the theme of the film, from the initial concept through post-production.

In The Groove: A Documentary About Vinyl, Jared Endsley

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this thesis project, ‘In the Groove’ is to tell the story of why vinyl records, a music format written off as a casualty to the digital age is experiencing a cultural resurgence. In the last several years vinyl records have been the only musical format to record positive sales growth.

For many musicians today, pressing their music to vinyl records yields the greatest return on investment. However, vinyl remains a niche market, supported by a devoted fan base.

This film focuses on a group of artists and vinyl enthusiasts as they navigate this new marketplace.

Interfaces Of Nearness: Documentary Photography And The Representation Of Technology, Mark Kasumovic

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The central aim of this dissertation is to provide insights into the ways in which documentary photography, in theory and practice, can be employed in the representation of evolving and difficult to visualize technologies. Examining technology via its relationship to scientific inquiry offers a framework for considering the production of knowledge through instruments and their inscriptions. This relationship is examined from diverse perspectives, such as the philosophy of technology, social constructivism, the philosophy of science, and media studies. Considering the relationship between the function of instruments within the scientific laboratory and the camera as used within the visual arts can …

The Market, Claudia Zamora Valencia

Theses and Dissertations

The Market is a short science fiction essay film that explores ideas and values attached to the “local food” movement, and how they manifest themselves in the act of consumption at a farmers’ market in a gentrified neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York.

Instituting Protest (Film), Joshua Eisenberg

Theses and Dissertations

The road-trip story of one man looking at how first and fourteenth amendment rights have effected college campuses over time in the United States, while also looking at the possibility of revoking a diploma from a white nationalist for having different views than ones preferential to a certain college.

Study Abroad Blog: A Comprehensive Exploration Into Country And Culture, Kristin Zimney

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This writing serves as the reflective/contextual essay component of my creative thesis project. My creative project includes a detailed study abroad blog with photos, videos, and translated interviews I conducted with Salamanca locals regarding certain aspects of Spanish culture. This essay details the workings, text, and video content of my study abroad blog, and is intended to inform on a deeper basis with supporting research, the topics covered in the interviews.

Moulins: Down The Arctic Drain, Jonathon Nugent Carlson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This observation-style nonfiction documentary film follows a National Science Foundation expedition to the Greenland ice sheet. The bivouac lasted for 25 continuous days. University of Arkansas Professor of Geosciences Matt Covington, Ph.D. teamed up with University of South Florida Professor Jason Gulley, Ph.D. to plan, propose, and ultimately accomplish the research goals of the expedition with the assistance of Ph.D. student Celia Trunz, M.S., and experienced expeditionary team member Vickie Siegel. As an observational-style documentary film, all scientific background information imparted herein is taken directly from interviews conducted with Professor Covington, to minimize opining.

The film begins in mid-flight, as …

The Savannah Divide, Darrell Fullmer

Honors College Theses

The Savannah Divide is a documentary that defines what community policing is by following a highly proactive community policing unit in Savannah, Georgia called the Expanded Patrol Operation (EXPO). The film follows Kevin Grogan who discusses the unit’s past, how it ended and what he has done since his cop career ended. This paper discusses the development and production that went into the creation of the film as well as any ethical concerns the filmmaker had to deal with when creating the film.

17 Days: Cross-Country With Social Media, Zachary Alvarado

Senior Theses

"Austin Prescott and Zach Alvarado travel from South Carolina to California using social media to find and communicate with hosts throughout the country..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8k6EQnW5D4

Costs of investment were weighed against capital contributions throughout our campaign. While the film serves to inspire, entertain, and inform, the paper dives deeper into the brand-building, cost-savings, and logistics of the trip. In the end, we more than doubled our initial investment and had an awesome time while doing it.

Electronic Rhapsody: Theremin And Matryomin, Kayoko Nakamura

Theses and Dissertations

Electronic Rhapsody: Theremin and Matryomin is a short documentary film, which explores two magical musical instruments: the Theremin and the Matryomin. Both instruments represent innovations in the history of electronic music. The film depicts the world of these unique musical instruments, their inventors and performers who make up the community.

A Narrative Of Resilience: Margaret Morton's Photographs Of Homelessness In New York City, Sara Rappa

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.