Film and Media Studies Commons^™

Remembering Virtual Worlds: Painting And Video Games, Nathaniel M. St. Amour

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Video games create the feeling of great achievement and place the player into a role that turns them into a great hero. These experiences feel significant because they require great time and emotional investment. The monumentality of these experiences, however, are at odds with the transience of the electrical virtual worlds. The medium of oil painting helps overcome the sense of transience because of oil painting’s durable permanent way of image making and stillness. Painting’s inherent nod to history also creates a dissonance between the newness of the video game medium and the antiquity of painting, a contrast exacerbated by …

Material Poetics, Ellen G. Reid

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

quench: /kwen(t)SH/

a : put out, extinguish

b : to put out the light or fire

c : to cool suddenly by immersion

d : to cause to lose heat or warmth

e : to bring to an end typically by satisfying, damping, cooling, or

decreasing

f : to relieve or satisfy with liquid

This is often how projects begin, a haunting idea, word, or experience inundates my consciousness and sub-consciousness. How could the body directly relate to an experience of quenching? This provoked the idea of the extreme sport: freediving. To adequately depict the definition of quenching, any …

Student Film Festival 2017 Poster, Providence College

Playbill and Promotion

Student Film Festival 2017

Providence College Department of Theatre, Dance & Film

Angell Blackfriars Theatre

May 4, 2017, 7:00PM

Films by Providence College Students

Student Film Festival 2017 Playbill, Providence College

Playbill and Promotion

Student Film Festival 2017

Providence College Department of Theatre, Dance & Film

Angell Blackfriars Theatre

May 4, 2017, 7:00PM

Films by Providence College Students

Introductory Remarks – Rev. Kenneth Gumbert, O.P.

Competing Films

John Chatfield ’19 & Alex Poch ’19 – Time to Kill

Veronica Murphy ’17 – The Most Forgettable Birthday

Kyron Cartwright ’18 - Divine Providence

Jackson Gany ’19 - Runner Boy

Jessica Wilson ’17 - Code Like a Girl

Manya Glassman ’19 - La Vita é Bella

Conor Holway ’18 - The Adventures of Adderall Boy

Jury Deliberations (The following film will be screened while jury members …

What You See Is What You Get, Kevin Kempisty

Graduate Theses

This thesis statement describes and comments on the four videos that compose my thesis exhibition, "What you See is What You Get." Together, they constitute a self-portrait. Videos require multiple mediums and software, each with their own purpose and aesthetic. The three key ingredients these four videos make use of are recorded performances, 2D animation and narrative. This statement will detail the visuals and purpose of each one, the technology and editing process, and the inspirations that have led to the thesis exhibition. The statement describes the choice of color, movement and rhythm to carry the narrative, which is not …

Basic Knowledge Training For Vfx Production Assistants And Coordinators, Sharon Anne Roberts

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

Visual Effects (VFX) is a part of the film-making process that takes place during the broader phase of film-making known as post-production. There are two broad groups of individuals who are responsible for the outcome of the VFX project - artists and production. The groups work in conjunction to achieve the team goals. At present, there is no formalized training available for production individuals and much of the required learning is done on the job. This projects explores a basic training course for individuals looking to increase their basic knowledge of VFX production. Grounded in industry research conducted by the …

The Golden Girls: Addressing Issues Of Gender, Stigma, And Illness On Network Television, Miles Martin

Senior Honors Projects

Over thirty years after its 1985 premiere, The Golden Girls remains an alluring and nostalgic presence in the cultural consciousness of America. In this work, I investigate exactly what it is about this magical show that has caused it to endure across generations, and in so doing, illuminate how television in general can transcend incidental popularity and have a lasting impact on those who view it. I frame this examination within the topic of disenfranchised illness, a subject that, given events such as the rise of HIV/AIDS, the emergence of crack-cocaine addiction, and the discovery of chronic fatigue syndrome in …

Student Film Fest - Join Us! Promotional Email, Department Of Theatre, Dance & Film

Playbill and Promotion

Providence College Department of Theatre, Dance & Film

Student Film Fest - Join Us! promotional email

Monday, May 1, 2017

Standing Rock, Markus Hoeckner

Media and Cultural Studies Honors Projects

The documentary film Standing Rock is the culmination of a long-term project exploring contemporary Native American life and the continuing oppression Native peoples face in American society today. Following my previous video work with indigenous people and their efforts to preserve water and sacred sites in Minneapolis and St. Paul, I decided to travel to North Dakota to observe and document Native resistance to the latest transgressions against their land and sacred sites at the Standing Rock Reservation. Over several months of participant-observation and five trips to the sites of ongoing protests in North Dakota I attempted to learn more …

The Severity And Lack Of Awareness Of Dermatomyositis, Alexander Lorenzo Perez Herrera

Senior Theses

Dermatomyositis is a rare autoimmune disease that affects a very small percentage of the population, close to 10 cases per million, according to the National Organization of Rare Disorders (NORD). The amount of men that are diagnosed with this disease are even smaller. However, hardly anyone knows what Dermatomyositis is, let alone what its side effects are. The purpose of this research paper is to exploit the severity of Dermatomyositis for those who are unaware of its existence, characteristics and significance within the health community. In doing so, I hope to create awareness throughout society by also telling my father’s …

Reality Meets Fiction, Nicholas M. Balcells

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The development of a film rooted in family conflicts and an exploration of the nature of authorship.

Film Review: Concerning Violence - Nine Scenes From The Anti-Imperialistic Self-Defense (2014), Piotr Cieplak

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This is a review of Göran Olsson’s Concerning Violence - Nine Scenes From the Anti-imperialistic Self-Defense (2014) - an unusual documentary, which, formally and thematically, probes the complex relationship between image, voice and history.

"All I Ask Of You": A Feature Film, Margaret Siciliano

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

All I Ask of You is a dramatic feature film script that showcases the dynamics between people who struggle with types of dementia and their friends and family. Although most stories that cover dementia focus on the victim, this story chooses to focus on the people closest to those victims. The story takes on tough decisions that those closest to the disease have to make due to the debilitating affect it has on victim. The medical community doesn’t know very much about dementia. We know there is a particular dementia gene that is hereditary, but we don’t know how to …

How Comedy Television Is Written And Developed., Douglas Holloway

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

In this analysis, I plan to describe how I developed and wrote three episodes of a comedy web series. In the beginning of my paper, I will discuss the importance of my cultural background and how it shaped my appreciation of a wide variety of artistic expression. I then will discuss the contrast of art I experienced in my academic compared to my domestic life. I will then focus on the importance of television and film in my life. Specifically, I will discuss how I was influenced by popular television at a young age. I will discuss viewing sinister films …

Osiris: A Short Film, Kathryn Ferentchak

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Osiris is a narrative short film which emphasizes renewable energy as Earth’s one Hail Mary, placing the power of science and engineering into the hands of a female protagonist. Directed and produced by the up and coming filmmaker, Kathryn Ferentchak, Osiris is unique among student films for its incredible production value. The independent film industry is often hampered by an incomplete or poor understanding of how to successfully plan for and execute the five essential steps of filmmaking. Analyzing Osiris will demonstrate how a successful film can move from Development to Distribution. There is never only one way to make …

Media Erotics & Adaptation: A Comparative Textual Analysis Of Carmilla, Rebecca Wait

Honors Projects

This project is concerned with understanding the different ways in which Carmilla (1872), a gothic novella, and it’s 2014 web series adaptation differently approach the same basic narrative, especially with regards to their respective representations of individuals who identify as sexual and gender minorities. One of the major functions of importance in this study was to understand the temporality and cultural conditions, which lead to the perceived need for a postmodern adaptation of a pre-modernist text. Through textual analysis, the author compared J. Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla (1872) to Jordan Hall's adaptation (2014). In this analysis, significant differences existed between …

Man/Boy., Nick Hartman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Verisimilitude, or the appearance of being true, is a concept I turn upside down; relating it to a guise I wear as a contemporary male in a society dictated by learned social behavior and gender norms. Cultural iconography and expected gender norms are tropes I confront within my artwork. Drawings of seemingly everyday objects act as meditations or a fetishized repetition of supposed unobtainable objects and ideals that deal with masculine societal norms. Manliness, machismo, masculinity… it is all a culturally learned and expected pose placed on all men. Coming to the realization that I do not necessarily fit …

Re::Humanity, Paisley Summer Ford

Senior Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Beacon, Samantha Eroche

Senior Honors Theses

Beacon is a short, relatively low production value screenplay about two people coming to know each other better, about them coming to know themselves better and to grow as human beings. When Kate Clarence realizes she’s discovered the journal of her favorite pen-named author from childhood—“C. Rimes”—she embarks on a journey to return it to him, whoever he is. She’s delinquent on her rent, her bookshop’s failing, she’s far from her landlocked Midwest home and family, and she’s single; the obligation to return the journal is a welcomed adventure and reprieve. However, when she comes to the conclusion that C. …

After The Fact: The Holocaust In Twenty-First Century Documentary Film By Brad Prager (Review), Margarete Landwehr

Languages & Cultures Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Cli-Fi Cinema: An Epideictic Rhetoric Of Blame, Chloe Louise Powell

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis analyzes the symbolic mechanisms of guilt-redemption as developed by Kenneth Burke within two climate fiction (cli-fi) films: The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008), and Interstellar (2014). In doing so, this thesis offers an account of: (1) each film’s role in providing their audience temporary assuagement of climate change related guilt, and (2) each film’s role in transmitting values and “attitudes” to build and strengthen communities. Because cli-fi films begin from a dystopic vision of a possible future, it fulfills the "blame" function of epideictic discourse to provoke and inspire the "ecological imagination." Through this provocation, the audience …

Modern Palestinian Filmmaking In A Global World, Sarah Frances Hudson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation employs a comprehensive approach to analyze the cinematic accent of feature length, fictional Palestinian cinema and offers concrete criteria to define the genre of Palestinian fictional film that go beyond traditional, nation-centered approaches to defining films. Employing Arjun Appardurai’s concepts of financescapes, technoscapes, mediascapes, ethnoscapes, and ideoscapes, I analyze the filmic accent of six Palestinian filmmakers: Michel Khleifi, Rashid Masharawi, Ali Nassar, Elia Suleiman, Hany Abu Assad, and Annemarie Jacir. After a detailed examination of each filmmaker’s body of work, I examine the trends that occur across the genre that have the greatest impact on the Palestinian filmic …

The Gender Wage Gap In The Film Industry: A Review Of Literature, Christine Pires

Senior Theses

The gender wage gap is defined as the difference between the amounts of money paid to women and men, often for doing the same work (Cambridge, 2017). The gender wage gap is a reoccurring financial issue in all aspects of the business world. Most all career paths have had a wage gap between men and women. Having equal pay for equal work should be a thing of the past. However, women today are still fighting to close the wage gap and work equally in all fields. The film industry is one of the largest entertainment industries in America and still, …

Social Justice Through Storytelling: Sugar Land, Alexa Garster

Honors Thesis

This thesis project (i.e. feature screenplay) was inspired first and foremost by an interest in the function of capital punishment in today’s society; and secondly, by the significant absence of female protagonists across the majority of contemporary film narratives. As such, this script focuses on a female anesthesiologist who, through a series of unanticipated events, comes to accept the job of executioner at a Texas state prison.

This narrative thus addresses the role of the executioner—as well as the political, social, cultural, and psychological consequences that come from such a position—against the larger backdrop of capital punishment. It is a …

“The Imaginary Dragons” A Short Film., Christina Mcdonagh

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

It’s mid September of 2001 and Fawn, a sheltered yet curious girl living in Manhattan, begins to feel as if everyone is keeping a secret from her…

– A Short Film Based on a True Story –

My Story.

Think back to the day of September 11^th, 2001. Do you remember where you were and what you were doing when the tragic news broke? Most Americans do, but what if it was kept from you? What if your world was so sheltered you didn’t realize the city you lived in was falling apart around you? That was the …

Kat & Lily: An Original Screenplay, Isabella Engelhard

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

In Kat & Lily, my screenplay focuses on the strained relationship between two sisters and their approach to love, life, and self-actualization. Kat, the older sister, is a wild child and Lily, the youngest, has a much more practical approach to life. Their parents divorced when they were young, thus causing both sisters to approach love in different ways. On one hand, Kat uses her sexuality to gain power over men, and on the other hand, Lily feels that her brain is more important than her body. My screenplay is very much a romantic comedy trope, however, I wanted to …

Story Problem Solving, Brian D. Kalina

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This project paper will explore and define the relationship between the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) and the timeless concept of storytelling. Since the beginning of time, people have been sharing stories to relate their experiences and their solutions to overcome challenges and obstacles. CPS is a more modern methodology that aids people in their approach and their ability to generate plans and solutions to overcome challenges and obstacles. Therefore, the premise of this project is to seek answers to the questions; (1) How might we look to stories as frameworks for solving our problems? and (2) How might we marry …

Indoctrination Over Objectivity? Examining Breitbart's Framing Of Candidates And Social Issues In The 2016 Election, Marrissa S. Ballard

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

During the 2016 election, Breitbart News became a key conservative source in reporting on the candidates and social issues. Drawing on scholars who have studied news media and politics, this paper uses content analysis to dissect what specific frames appear in Breitbart's coverage. The study finds that Breitbart departs from typical journalistic standards, reinforces problematic gender and racial stereotypes, and utilizes propaganda tactics to spread conservative ideologies. Though it was once considered a fringe source, Breitbart's growing and highly engaged audience demonstrates the platform's potential to shape political discourse and even influence election outcomes.

Gender In Black And White: Examining Interracial Relationships In Shondaland, Caitlin V. Downing

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

Shonda Rhimes has been credited for crafting progressive television dramas that attract millions of viewers. Scholars have found that through the use of tactics like colorblind casting, Rhimes unintentionally creates problematic relationships between characters. Focusing on production techniques and dialogue, this paper examines episodes from two of her most popular shows, How To Get Away With Murder and Scandal. This paper argues that while the shows pursue progressive material, the shows present African-American female characters that require partners. Further, both white male characters negatively influence the women s independence. Through media representations, Shonda Rhimes shows reinforce inequality of race and …

Poor Little Rich Girl, What Does She Know About Misery? : The Significance And Symbolism Of Rose In James Cameron's Titanic, Matthew Levine

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

This thesis draws attention to and analyzes the various choices made by James Cameron for the characterization of Rose in Titanic, which is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary. While many scholars have defined the hidden meaning behind other directorial aspects, this thesis will take a more interpretive approach in connecting Rose's character journey to her changing appearance on screen, her character defining actions and words, and her overall relationship with Jack. Rose reveals herself as a strong, modern woman throughout the film, and serves as an example of how costume design and dialogue and action mirrors the personal growth of …