Film and Media Studies Commons^™

Digital Action: An Exploratory Documentary Of Artistic Process, Dana Renee Potter

Honors Program Theses

Digital Action: An Exploratory Documentation of Artistic Process is a short documentary film of the creation of artwork for my Bachelor of Fine Arts Exhibition, titled Digital Action. In the exhibition titled Digital Action, I created visualizations of my daily computer use to explore how digital experiences are simultaneously overwhelming and wildly inspiring. The video presents video of the steps of my process in a linear fashion with my voice-order explaining the process and theory behind the artwork. The documentary was filmed from September 2015 to December 2015.

John Berger, Paris Hilton, And The Rich Kids Of Instagram: The Social And Economic Inequality Of Image Sharing And Production Of Power Through Self-Promotion, Meghan M. Gallagher

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis updates John Berger's work of critical visual theory, Ways of Seeing, to accommodate emerging web 2.0 technologies and new social media platforms. It analyzes the symbols of wealth and status encoded in both 15th century oil paintings and contemporary Instagram posts and attempts to dissect how American celebrity culture complicates methods of self-promotion and upscale emulation.

Explicit Content: A Discussion Of The Mpaa Film Rating System And The Nc-17 Rating, Caroline H. Miller

Scripps Senior Theses

The United States film industry is controlled by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and its six signatories--the major productions studios (Sony, Warner Brothers, Universal, Walt Disney, 20th Century Fox, Time Warner), and through this joint-partnership they have monopolized prime production, distribution, exhibition and classification of the U.S film market.

The objective of this project is to shed light on biases present in the MPAA rating system's treatment of sex and violence under the X/NC-17 rating in order to demonstrate the lack of viability of the system in today's world.

Pariah (2011): Coming Out In The Middle, Patricia White

Film & Media Studies Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

My Way Or The Highway And A Correspondence: Visual Representations Of The City, Larkin J. Sheldon

Scripps Senior Theses

This Capstone Project encompasses two videos, each representing different ways to visually structure the experience of “the city”.

The first video, "My Way or the Highway", is a 5 minute piece examining Los Angeles Transportation systems. Through observational footage and a poetic editing style, I compare and contrast the experience of traveling via public and private transportation. Through this video I aim to encourage the viewer to consider their own transportation options whether it is in Los Angeles or anywhere else around the world.

The second is a 12 minute video, titled "A Correspondence" structured as a …

The Representation Of Women And Gender In Warner Bros. Cartoons: A Performance Of Satire, Eliza Wells

Audre Lorde Prize

No abstract provided.

Moving Foward?: Problematic Ideologies In Twenty-First Century Fairy Tale Films, Alyson Kilmer

All Master's Theses

Fairy tales, as a reflection of our values and belief systems, are crucial in shaping and maintaining cultural ideologies. In the twenty-first century, cinematic fairy tales have the unique position of representing such values in an expansive and expeditious manner. Audiences must therefore be critically conscious of the messages promoted by these tales. An analysis of the five most popular contemporary fairy tale films, Disney’s Princess and the Frog (2009), Tangled (2010), Universal’s Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), and Disney’s Frozen (2013) and Maleficent (2014), revealed minimal attempts to propitiate critical audiences in regard to changing cultural values, but …

Philosophy's Rarified Air: On Peden's Spinoza Contra Phenomenology, Steven Swarbrick

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Being "Like A Girl" In The Twenty-First Century: Branding And Identity Through Cultural Conversation, Jane A. Condon

Scripps Senior Theses

Branding exists at the intersection of culture and economics and is an increasingly important tool in distinguishing commodities. Over the past few years, more and more companies have started to use discourses of female empowerment, celebrating femininity, womanhood, and all things “girly” to sell their products - spiking sales, racking up millions of online views, and starting important conversations in the process. Procter & Gamble's “Like A Girl” campaign for Always creates a productive tension and way of thinking about both brand and buyer. The “Like A Girl” campaign is unique because it presents a feminist message to and about …

Beneath Still Waters: An Exploration Of Transmedia Narratives And Twitter Fiction, Anjali Gupta

Scripps Senior Theses

Beneath Still Waters is an original transmedia mystery narrative that explores the possibilities of an interconnected media landscape as a unique platform for creative use and audience engagement. Transmedia storytelling refers to the building of a fictional world comprised of multiple parts across different platforms, where each component makes a valuable contribution to the whole. This project uses the tools and strategies of social media to tell a complex and interactive multi-platform story.

Hamlet #Princeofdenmark: Exploring Gender And Technology Through A Contemporary Feminist Re-Interpretation Of Hamlet, Allegra B. Breedlove

Scripps Senior Theses

Exploring the process of designing, producing, directing and starring in a multimedia feminist re-interpretation of Shakespeare's Hamlet set in a contemporary social media landscape.

Social Media & Audience Participation In Regard To Television, Jean Marie Mcbride

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Jean McBride

Major: Communications: Radio/TV Broadcasting & Mass Media Production

Project Sponsor: Dr. Sylvia White

Number of Project Credits: 3

Social Media & Audience Participation in Regard to Television

The purpose of my honors project was seeing if social media had an influence on television show ratings and popularity by incorporating audience participation. Especially in regards to television shows that have been around for years, I was interested to see if television ratings went up when using Twitter compared to when they did not use Twitter to increase viewers and audience participation. I surveyed forty-nine collegiate women between the ages …

Turning The Page: Fandoms, Multimodality, And The Transformation Of The 'Comic Book' Superhero, Matthew Alan Cicci

Wayne State University Dissertations

Superheroes are increasingly becoming more affiliated with film media than comic books. The amount of revenue generated, the formation of new fans, and the interests of comic publishers’ parent companies all suggest that superhero film adaptations are the medium most associated with the superhero character. Such a monumental shift in the distribution of superheroes—comic books were long the dominant medium of superhero characters—is indicative of ongoing media convergence practices; the success of these contemporary adaptations, from 1998 on, have not only caused the filmic superhero to eclipse the comic one, it has inevitably led to a rewriting of superhero comic …

I, Stereotype: Detained In The Uncanny Valley, Seo-Young J. Chu

Publications and Research

In "I, Stereotype," Seo-Young Chu applies Mori's theory of the uncanny valley not to robots but to a different species of humanoid artifact: stereotypes of the "yellow peril." Through analyses of stories by Sax Rohmer, World War Two propaganda, and films from the Bond franchise, Chu investigates ways in which the logic of the uncanny valley has interacted with and shaped Orientalist and techno-Orientalist stereotypes (as well as the stereotype-as-a-perceived-type-of-person more generally). In the process, Chu explores what it means to find one's ethnic group detained in the uncanny valley, what it means to use stereotyping as a time-saving technology …

Cumulative Index Of Clcweb: Comparative Literature And Culture (1999-), Steven Tötösy De Zepetnek

CLCWeb Library

No abstract provided.

Planet Trial And Error: A Student's Guide To Film Preproduction, Zach H. Varnum

Selected Honors Theses

This article highlights the importance of preproduction to the filmmaking process and provides a series of steps and guidelines meant to aid student filmmakers in the preproduction phase of their own films. The research was gathered from various filmmaking textbooks of note and from the personal experiences of the author during the making of his capstone film project.

This Is Not A Trend, Michael T. Workman

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

ABSTRACT

Workman, Michael, B.F.A., May 2015 Art

THIS IS NOT A TREND

Faculty Mentor: Elizabeth Dove

This is not a trend is a multi-media art installation that examines the valuation system of contemporary art by creating an absurd situation that mimics a real commercial experience. The manner in which value is placed on art is artificial. Both the monetary and intellectual value of art is decided mostly on the reputation of the artist, their fame, and how well their work is marketed to the public. These characteristics are marketed to art consumers in order to sell them an authentic “art” …

Violence, Wuxia, Migrants: Jia Zhangke’S Cinematic Discontent In A Touch Of Sin, Yanjie Wang

Asian and Asian American Studies Faculty Works

This article examines the representation of violence in Jia Zhangke's film A Touch of Sin (2013) in light of Žižek's theory of ‘objective violence’ and the wuxia tradition. Jia attempts to understand the rise of individual violent incidents during China's post-socialist transformations by laying out the social, historical and political milieus in which they take place. He unveils the Žižekian objective violence hidden in the realm of social normality, pinpointing the country's sins of collusion with the global capital to impose injustice on the poor and disadvantaged. Invoking the wuxia genre, Jia portrays the protagonists not so much as perpetrators …

Review Of Tu Casa Es Mi Casa, By Nylsa Martínez Morón, Traci Roberts-Camps

College of the Pacific Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

The Basque Big Boy? Basque Masculinities In Vaya Semanita, Iker González-Allende

Spanish Language and Literature Papers

This article argues that the television show Vaya semanita portrays a specific Basque masculinity, different from the Spanish or Mediterranean ones. The traditional Basque masculinity shares some values with the most accepted forms of Spanish masculinities –including manhood as a challenge to be overcome, physical strength, intemperate drinking, and gluttonous eating – but differs from them in the way men behave in relation to women and sex, and the way they maintain close friendships with each other. Basque men appear as dependent on their mothers and wives, making them look emasculated and infantile. Their male bonding is also interpreted as …

Long Live The Evil Queen: Once Upon A Time's Evolved Villain, Frank S. Lombari

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

Mirror on the wall, who's the fairest Queen of all? In today's pop culture, many traditional villains are beginning to be turned into antiheroes. ABC's television show Once Upon a Time has taken a number of fairy tale villains and provided them both a background and character growth. Specifically, the adaptation of the Evil Queen has shifted from primary antagonist to redeemed hero over the first three seasons. The show also displays her in the real-world rather than just a fairy tale universe. The author claims that this radical development occurs due three essential aspects: the Evil Queen and Snow …

Finding Treasure: The Story Of A Micro-Budget Digital Film, Christopher Williamson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Treasure is a feature-length narrative fictional film directed by Chris Williamson as part of the requirements for earning a Master of Fine Arts in Entrepreneurial Digital Cinema from the School of Visual Arts and Design at the University of Central Florida. This thesis is a documentary record of the film production from concept to completion. In this thesis the concerns of authorship are explored from the perspective of the author as the executive producer, writer, and director of the film.

The Crisis Of Images: A Reading Of Feed A Child’S Controversial 2014 Advertisement, Marcel Tchatchou

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

This work reads Feed A Child’s 2014 South African fund raising campaign advertisement (http://goo.gl/cRboV7) through Stuart Hall’s Encoding/Decoding model of communication. Utilizing concepts from Stuart Hall’s model this paper draws attention to racial questions raised by the commercial. Even though the commercial’s stated purpose is to raise awareness of unequal social conditions in South Africa, its visual elements are racially offensive. The turmoil generated by the commercial is the consequence of the complex structure of its message, and the fact that its meaning is not determined solely by the organization’s stated intentions. This work explores the way that the processes …

La Manzana Mordida: Sexo Y Religión En El Cine De Luis Buñuel, Micaela Downey

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

La extensa y variada obra fílmica de Luis Buñuel permite observar la repetición obsesiva de motivos, imágenes y objetos que constituyen lo que podría denominarse el universo personal de Buñuel. La proliferación de zapatos, pies, cajas misteriosas y armas de fuego (sin olvidar los tambores de Calanda, los insectos y las gallinas) ha atraído la atención de la crítica convirtiéndolos en objetos detallados de análisis. Este ensayo no intenta proponer una “obsesión” más, sino reparar en un motivo que, a pesar de su recurrencia (y, por lo tanto, de su importancia) ha pasado inadvertido: la reescritura de la historia bíblica …

Ode To Amiel: A Micro-Budget Experimental Essay Film, Phyllis Redman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ode to Amiel is a feature-length experimental essay film by Phyllis Redman, made as part of the requirements for earning a Master of Fine Arts in Film in the Entrepreneurial Digital Cinema track from the University of Central Florida. The film explores one woman's reaction to trauma and depersonalization disorder through the journal entries of 19th Century Swiss philosopher, Henri Frederic Amiel. Passages from Amiel's Journal Intime provide the narrative and voice over for the lead character, a grieving mother who finds herself locked behind an inescapable, invisible and immaterial barrier that separates her from the outside world. Following the …

Mia-Mi: Exploring The Affect Of Digital Cinema Through Micro-Budget Production Techniques, Yesenia Lima

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

MIA-mi is a feature-length, micro-budget, and digital motion picture, produced, written, and directed by Yesenia Lima in pursuit of the Master of Fine Arts in Entrepreneurial Digital Cinema from the University of Central Florida. The film is a satirical and naturalistic look at the standing global image of a city, Miami, FL, and its inhabitants. The guiding question behind the production is whether a portrayal of a city, outside of its stereotypical portrait in mass media, could spark and affect a dialogue on the global image of the city and its inhabitant's ability to adjust that image rather than conform …

Wise The Wizard: A Feature Documentary About The Late Harry Wise Of Sanford, Florida, Daisy Blakelock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Wise the Wizard is a feature-length documentary by Daisy Sara Blakelock, made as part of the requirements for earning a Master of Fine Arts in Entrepreneurial Digital Cinema from the University of Central Florida. The film focuses on the late Harry Wise, a magician from Sanford, Florida, as remembered by the people who knew him best. Interview subjects include the following: author and TV Producer Charlie Carlson, who wrote a biography about Harry Wise entitled A Wizard's Tux and Tales (Luthers Press, New Smyrna Beach: 2004); Brendan and Anna McWilliams, who accompanied Harry on countless adventures throughout Sanford and the …

Testament: Mastering And Transcending The Microbudget Model For A Feature Film, Timothy Ritter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Testament is a feature film serving as part of Tim Ritter's thesis requirements for earning a Master of Fine Arts in the Entrepreneurial Digital Cinema program at the University of Central Florida. The film follows a bitter former follower of a marginally popular social-justice movement who must keep the movement alive after its mysterious leader is killed violently and publicly. The drama, set in an fictional land known as The Commonwealth, presents a modern-day retelling of the life of St. Peter in the years after the death of Jesus, creating a new context for familiar Biblical tales and morals while …

Queer-Baiting On The Bbc’S Sherlock: Addressing The Invalidation Of Queer Experience Through Online Fan Fiction Communities, Cassidy Sheehan

UROP Posters

Fans of a particular media source often write fan fiction to build on, deviate from, and transform original source material. The BBC’s Sherlock is not exempt from this common practice; in fact, the homoerotic subtext which persistently endures within the show lends itself to the production of slash fan fiction. Many perceive this subtext as a method of queer-baiting, or an ultimately harmful tactic used by writers and producers to lure in queer viewers. In this paper, dialogue and scenes from the show itself are compared to excerpts from works of fan fiction in order to explore reactions to queer-baiting …

Creating Knowledge, Volume 8, 2015

Creating Knowledge

Dear reader,

I am delighted to introduce this eighth volume of Creating Knowledge: The LAS Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship. This volume features 19 essays and 14 art works, representing advanced coursework produced in twenty different departments and programs during the 2014-2015 academic year. Several of the essays have been honored with department awards and several draw on research supported by undergraduate research grants. Many were originally written in senior capstone seminars, research-intensive seminars, and independent studies, and many were presented in some form at one of the numerous conferences and showcases sponsored by departments and programs throughout the year. All …