Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Tea Leaves And Other Stories: Expressing Themes Of Change And Loss Through The Magical Realist Style, Olivia Geist

University Honors Theses

"Tea Leaves and Other Stories" is a collection of "tiny" (1 - 2 page) film scripts and one longer, seven page script that study how themes of change and loss can be expressed through the magical realist style. Inspired by Isabel Allende's essay, "The Short Story", these scripts are both a study of magical realism in film as well as a reflection on the author's process as a writer and the themes present within her work.

Visions Of Inclusivity: A Screenplay Focusing On Women, Sexism And Film During The 1990s, Abigail Hayman

Master's Projects

In the 1990s film scene, Margaux Archambeau leaves for New York City to uncover the truth about her late mother. This research summary, "Visions of Inclusivity," acknowledges and carefully researches women's struggles and triumphs. This essay intends to share information about the film industry and the inappropriate treatment of women so that men and women in the film industry can support one another.

Smoke And Mirrors, Adara London

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

When a human trafficking ring comes to town, a grieving graduate student must choose between investigating on her own to save her sister or leaving the investigation to her impassive cop boyfriend.

Flm171.1 Introduction To Cinematography And Location Sound Example 2, Sae University College

Exemplars

FLM171.1 Introduction to Cinematography and Location Sound project 1.

Wronged Women: A Foray Into The Wronged Woman's Mind, Suzanna Poole

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

This capstone is about the wronged woman and how she is the the hated woman, the lonely woman, or the crazy woman. I have been a wronged woman and know countless women in my life that have been wronged in some sort of way; either by a lover, a friend, family, or even herself. This project was created to put a spotlight on these various women. My research covered various mental illnesses that occured after a woman was wronged and the ways these can affect women. I wrote four short screenplays about various women at different ages in their lives: …

“Screen Riders” An Exploration Of Breaking Away From The Norms Of Cinematic Storytelling, Jake Alexander Escamilla

Theses and Dissertations

Throughout my time in college, I would always hear people discussing how originality is dead and that everything has been done before. Though I do believe there is some air of truth to these statements, I hold tight to the idea that originality is not truly gone. My belief is that the entertainment industry is so set on playing it safe, they do not wish to break away and explore new ideas which have never been done before. I believe that if more creatives were given the freedom to try new combinations and had more fun doing what they love, …

How Do Stories Affect Careers?, Victoria Read

Honors Projects

Determining viable professional careers is one of the most important parts of going to college. Artistic careers, including those in film, are both competitive and dependent on the responses of critics and audiences. People in film careers take different paths; one of them is writing screenplays. Researching screenwriting and the careers of two professional women screenwriters, Diablo Cody and Nancy Meyers, I sought to answer three central questions: how does writing create career paths, what are those careers, and what is it like writing a story?

Through the research on screenwriting, I became familiar with story structures such Joseph Campbell’s …

"Real Women Have Bodies": A Study In Adaptation, Madison Ephlin

Honors Projects

The art of adaptation is a difficult process, and is often hard to please general audiences that have a connection to the source material. As a student who studies both English Literature and Film Production, the question asked through this study is what does it take to write a “successful” adaptation? What qualifies as “successful”? How does an adaptation balance the themes, characterization, and plot of a piece of literature with the continuous momentum and visual complexity that the medium of film requires, all in 120 pages or less? This study engages with these questions by actively practicing adaptation, adapting …

How A Balanced Christian Message In Film Can Inspire Christ-Like Transformation, Makayla Marrin Jacobs

Masters Theses

This thesis will attempt to examine the need for a balanced Christian message in film and how everyday acts of the Christian faith can inspire Christ-like transformation within society. This thesis will also explore the importance of developing faith and spiritual disciplines through the creative screenplay, All Hail the Hoodlums. Throughout history, living as a faithful Christian and practicing spiritual disciplines can appear to go directly against society’s natural flow as belief in a Creator oppose man’s selfishness and sinful nature. Seemingly, society at large currently projects that believing in a Monotheistic and Triune God and having a deep personal …

An Analysis Of The Episodic Writing Process, Megan Kanger

Honors Theses

Writing for an episodic series vastly differs from writing for a short film. This essay explores the major differences between writing a short film in contrast to writing an episodic series and how these differences impact the writing process. The essay examines the topic by breaking down my own experience writing an episodic series and the key findings I uncovered throughout that process. I describe my series, Scythe, and the central themes and characters that encompass the series. With a central theme of death, I describe how I worked to establish an emotional tonal balance between drama and humor within …

Christian Values Guide Generation Z To A Better Future In Post-Apocalyptic Screenplay, Charlotte Ashleigh Rice

Masters Theses

Echo’s Calling is a screenplay written with the intention to relate to modern teenagers and young adults (Generation Z) and teach them the Christian values of forgiveness, love, and acceptance. According to research, Generation Z relates to post-apocalyptic narratives because they feel as if they are currently living in the apocalypse. Their dismal worldview is perpetuated by negative news, “cancel culture,” and the media. Despite all this, Generation Z strives for a better future free from hate. In order to produce such a future, the Christian values of forgiveness, love, and acceptance need to be relatable and teachable to Generation …

With The Screenwriter's Pen: An Analysis Of The Representation Of Gifted Children In The Family Film, Sarah Williams

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

Family films are something that have been enjoyed for many decades. They often create a fantastic world that will enchant audiences and eventually become beloved stories. A big aspect often seen in these films is a protagonist that possesses some kind of gift. Where does this gift come from? How does it grow? Most importantly, how do the screenwriters who are responsible for bringing these gifted heroes to life go about it?

Using the screenplays of Kubo and the Two Strings, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Encanto, and Coraline, I take a deep dive into the portrayal of …

Stephen D. Geller Papers, Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections

Finding Aids

This collection includes the creative works of Stephen D. Geller and personal materials ranging from 1954-2007. Creative works include his completed screenplays, teleplays, scripts, manuscripts, novels, poems, research files, and other related materials. Personal bound copies of some of his works are handwritten while others are typed. Personal materials include family photographs, an astrology birth chart, correspondence, and materials related to Geller’s early education.

Find this collection in the University Libraries' catalog

The Screen And Development: Creative Writing And Liminality In Children’S Literature, Rebecca E. Glenn

All Theses

This creative thesis strives to research and implement the overlap of liminality found within Children’s Literature, especially those works that exist through the screen. The critical component of this thesis explores the ways in which childhood development and maturity, a theme commonly found within Children’s Literature, embodies its own “right of passage” associated with the liminal. The journey of the Children’s Literature protagonist is often wrought with this movement from familiar boundaries to a sense of new development. The critical analysis emphasizes the methods Children’s Literature genre uses emotion, familial connections, symbology, space, and even elements of the monstrous to …

Moira: A Star Wars Story, Sheila I. Richardson

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Moira: A Star Wars Story is a creative screenwriting project set in the Star Wars universe, with four characters introduced, and killed off, in the comic Star Wars: Republic #53, Blast Radius.

My final Capstone project includes a two-page treatment for the TV show, Moira: a Star Wars Story, the script of the first act, and the first scene of the second act, totaling eleven pages, from the Pilot episode which resides in the Archive of Our Own. The treatment and a link to the Archive of Our Own site are included here. Also included is fair use documentation for …

Dinner Service: Echoing The Value Of Philosophy Through Character And Story, India Li Harrison

Senior Projects Spring 2021

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

Giving Voice To Everyday Characters In Extraordinary Circumstances, Andrew D. Hasselbring

Theses and Dissertations

Giving voice to everyday characters in extraordinary circumstances -- Undesirable donor -- Blowfish -- Behind the lavender door

Uniting Cultures With Stories, Matthew S. Frey

Theses and Dissertations

Uniting cultures with stories -- Crystal City -- Love, integrity, and the military.

“Putting Out Fires”: An Original Situational Comedy Pilot Episode Examining Modern Motherhood, Keely Gonyea

Honors College

Even in an age of easily accessible and ever-changing digital content, television remains one of the most influential modes of media. Shows, on television and on streaming services, play key roles in informing their audiences of societal conventions. Situational comedies are an easily identifiable genre on television and their popularity has not wavered as seen by their steadfast presence during primetime viewing slots. This thesis explores and analyzes how situational comedies have created spaces for potentially harmful stereotypes for their female characters, specifically mothers. The creative work of this thesis offers an original situational comedy pilot episode that looks to …

Corporate Monster, Chelsea Adamczyk

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

Mara Brokowski never wanted to be an agent of the apocalypse. Before the end of the world, she was her bank's Primary Compliance officer. Everything changes after she finds something strange and nefarious in her bank's files. In this twisted world, she must learn to overcome a crippling drug habit, learn to trust herself and others, and navigate a strange world of conspiracy, celebrity mutants, and evil plastic surgeons. Along with the help from an underground opposition group, Mara just might learn to defeat the...

CORPORATE MONSTER.

Dee: A Feature Length Drama, Laura Angelyn Mccarter

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

“DEE” is a feature length drama about a young addict who pursues a career in music in an attempt to keep her brother’s memory alive after his untimely death tears her family apart. The story explores how the characters deal with drug abuse, loss, broken families, toxic relationships, and pursuing one’s dreams. The film will feature original indie rock music for several of the characters who write and perform their own songs. It’s A Star is Born meets Beautiful Boy.

H.E.L.P : A Creative Exercise In Feminism And The Buddy Comedy., Bayne M. Lutz

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

This screenplay attempts to reconcile the author's confusion on how to best enact social progress by examining and satirizing several competing feminist movements. Set in an off-kilter Los Angeles, the comedy tracks Alivia, a recent PhD grad who cannot leverage her education toward finding a job. In desperation, she joins a radical organization called the H.E.L.P. (Heroines for the Elimination of Loathsome Professors), which encourages her to take matters into her own hands.

Inverting tropes from buddy comedies, cop-shows, ghost stories, and Bond movies, the screenplay grapples with how women are meant to break the glass ceiling and it may …

Woman Standing, Allison Adams

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This is a feature-length screenplay following Farren Cane, a young woman living in a rural Appalachian town, as she struggles with the intersections of gender, class, and the tension between her own ambition and her familial obligation.

Voice In Screenwriting: Discovering/Recovering An Australian Voice, Rosemary Kaye Ferrell

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This creative practice research explores the concept of an identifiable screenwriter’s voice from the perspective of screenwriting as craft, proposing that voice can be understood and described based on its particular characteristics. Voice is understood to be the authorial presence of the screenwriter, whose mind shapes every aspect of the text. This presence is inscribed in the text through the many choices the screenwriter makes. More than this, the research argues that the choices made inflect the text with a cultural-national worldview. This occurs because of the close association between voice and personal (including cultural/national) identity, and because of the …

The Stars Of David, Eric B. Millman

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The Stars of David is based on the true story of a woman whose love of baseball stood above all. Set in the midst of the Great Depression, Jackie Austin, disgusted by the chauvinistic expectations of her impoverished father, sets off on her own to play for whatever team that will have her. That team proves to be the barnstorming House of David Baseball Club, an ascetic religious commune struggling to regain past glory after a decade of tragedy and shame. Outsiders and freaks to the rest of the world, these new "Stars" of David must learn to work together …

For Want Of: A Punk Rock Short Film, Jonathan P. Kieran

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In light of the specific challenges of assessing a thesis film—a project which contains artistic and academic components—the author examines his own short film For Want Of as a prototype for future work in film and as an opportunity for introspective investigation into the nature of filmmaking and personal artistic process. Reference is made to specific episodes during the film’s conception and production, as well as higher-level insight gained from following the film through an 18-month production cycle.

Lonely Monsters, Patricia Davis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lonely Monsters is a full-length feature screenplay that explores the ways in which a classic damsel narrative may be reconsidered. It offers ideas on how death and girlhood may find symmetry. The characters within Lonely Monsters deal with loss, identity of the self versus the world's ideas on self-identity, place, gender, and class. Utilizing the elements of a fairy tale, the narrative seeks to complicate the roles of gender in a cautionary tale. Set in the fictional Florida town of Puerto Palmera, an economic divide between the Estates and the Glades makes for a ripe, troublesome environment for a foul …

The Birth Of A Playwright Through The Evolution Of The One-Act Play Stripped, Bear; The Film Stripped, Bear; And The Full-Length Play American Bear, Larry Michael Mitchell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Birth of a Playwright through the Evolution of the One-act Play Stripped, Bear; the film Stripped, Bear; and the Full-Length Play American Bear follows the inception, birth, and evolution of a ten-minute, one-act, film, and full-length play: three major iterations of the same source material. Through this exploration, the reader will not only see how the work was changed through outside forces such as form and function but internal struggles within a young playwright as he struggles to find a final form for his first major work while attempting to establish himself as a playwright both within the field …

Mirrors And Vanities, Leslie Salas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mirrors and Vanities is a multi-modal collection which showcases the diversity of working in long and short storytelling forms. Featured in this thesis are fiction, nonfiction, graphic narrative, and screenplay. Using unconventional approaches to storytelling in order to achieve emotional resonance with the audience while maintaining high standards for craft, these stories and essays explore the costs inherent to the subtle nuances of interpersonal relationships. The fiction focuses on the complications of characters keeping secrets. A husband discovers the truth behind his wife’s miscarriage. A girl visits her fiancé in purgatory. A boy crosses a line and loses his best …

Script To Screen: "Wicked Like The Chaff", Robert J. Deignan

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

No abstract provided.