Film and Media Studies Commons^™

Hopeful Oscillation: Metamodernism, Barbenheimer, And Our New Cultural Undercurrent, Jewel T. Miller

Capstone Showcase

Recent societal changes have pushed artwork and media away from postmodernism as a dominant cultural philosophy. In its place has risen a new theoretical approach, titled Metamodernism, which attempts to discover the meaning behind present day art and media’s strengthening affective qualities, and provide a possible label for this new post-postmodernist state. This is not only an important attempt at understanding the society we live in today but also its broader impact on how we communicate through media. This paper explores the rise of Metamodernism as a theoretical approach within media studies and philosophy, including the term’s inception and growing …

So It Goes: Hauntology, Lost Futures, And Mac Miller, Ryan Hiemenz

Capstone Showcase

Hauntology is a relatively new concept born out of the current state of late capitalism, wherein it has become increasingly common for new releases of popular culture, art, and media to appease the societal desire to return to the past. First coined by Jacques Derrida in his book Specters of Marx, the term “Hauntology” was used to describe the phenomenon of the “death” of communism and how the capitalist powers that “killed” it essentially made the idea of communism immortal. They made it a specter, and ghosts cannot die. This concept was then altered by the late Mark Fisher, …

Women Play Football Too: Feminist Theory And Uk Football, Mikayla Kummer

Capstone Showcase

Women's Football in the UK has constantly overshadowed by Men's Football and with the popularity of social media it may have complicated the issue. The way women have been treated in the media has always been different to how men were treated. Gender can be considered a performance and how women are treated by the press demands a performance from them. Through Offside, a play by Hollie Poetry and Sabrina Mahfouz, this essay explores the relationship between feminist theory, women's football and social media. Women athletes have consistently been asked about their personal lives, bodies, relationships and anything besides the …

This Is Not An Exit: Abjection And Identity In American Psycho, Danita Mapes

Capstone Showcase

This paper delves into the multifaceted exploration of Patrick Bateman's psyche in the film 'American Psycho' (2000) through the lens of the gaze. By dissecting the cinematic representation of Bateman's abjection, dejection, and his insatiable desire to possess the abject, this analysis reveals how the movie employs visual and thematic elements to exemplify his abject status. Furthermore, it underscores the film's portrayal of Bateman's quest to transcend the constraints of his privileged position, which ultimately destabilizes him due to his lack of a coherent identity.

Throughout the film, Patrick Bateman emerges as a character who is both eroticized and humiliated. …

The Manipulation Of Female Participants: Onision And Participatory Culture Theory, Isabelle Manetta

Capstone Showcase

With the rise of the Internet and constant sharing comes new ways of interacting with people both as audience members and content creators. Because of this, it has now become increasingly easier to connect with and manipulate people through a screen, especially if one is in a position of power of the other—such as a creator and an audience participant. This paper takes a look into a content creator and his manipulation of certain audience members and the ways in which these audience members were made vulnerable. To do this, first there must be a breakdown of the theory in …

(Re)Constructing National Memory In Neoliberal Chile Through Patricio Guzman's The Cordillera Of Dreams (2019), Mica Barrett

Scripps Senior Theses

One of the most renowned Chilean exile filmmakers is Patricio Guzmán. Best known for his documentary work regarding the Allende years, Guzmán has continued to make films regarding his homeland in the decades following his initial exile.

The Cordillera of Dreams is the concluding film in a trilogy exploring the natural lands of Chile and their relationship to physical remnants of the human past. The initial and most renowned film in the series, Nostalgia for the Light, centers the Atacama Desert and Chileans’ relationship to the geography as a gateway to revealing artifacts of Chile’s recent history of genocide …

菠蘿包(Pineapple Bun): Exploring Memory And Language Through Animation, Elaine Yang

Scripps Senior Theses

菠蘿包(Pineapple Bun) explores the themes of reconstruction, evocation, and memory through my childhood in Taiwan. Inspired by other Asian American animators, I aim to tell a simple story of connection through my grandfather and I's daily swimming ritual. The film is a 3-minute animated short film following our language barrier and how we engage with each other's differing backgrounds.

Hearth And Homefluencers: Aesthetics Of Digital And Domestic Labor In #Slowliving Content, Lena Kohls

Scripps Senior Theses

Slow Living is a philosophy that has grown in popularity as a social media “aesthetic” in recent years due to the growth of TikTok as a global platform and the increase of home-based content during the Covid-19 pandemic. Female creators following the trend, which promotes the rejection of high-speed capitalist life in favor of a slow, minimalist lifestyle, have documented their transition from career to homestead through highly aestheticized and romanticized content. This paper analyzes the slow living trend with focus on the gendered dynamics of both digital and domestic labor. It observes the ways in which “feminine” labor is …

The Narrative Composer: Hector Berlioz’S Impact On The Evolution Of Film Scoring In The Twenty-First Century, Enrique Alberti

Honors Program Theses

Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, whose literary and musical works have an undeniable effect on the history of Western music. Specifically, Berlioz’s most famous orchestral work, the Symphonie Fantastique, transformed how music could be utilized in an orchestral setting because it was the first programmatic symphony, which is a symphony with music set to a written narrative. The Symphonie would inspire German composer Richard Wagner to create what is now recognized as the leitmotif, a musical phrase used to identify an idea. In modern Hollywood film music, Wagner is credited with establishing the techniques that have become staples …

How Bollywood Has Influenced Cinema And Viewers Both Locally And Globally, Bhumi Patel

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The evolution and impact of Bollywood cinema follows its journey from silent films to contemporary masterpieces. Bollywood reflects India's rich cultural heritage while adapting to societal shifts and embracing progressive themes. From timeless tales of romance to modern explorations of feminism, LGBTQ+ rights, and mental health, Bollywood has evolved into a dynamic force for social commentary and cultural expression. Through integration of deep emotions and universally enjoyable music and dance, Bollywood transcends language and cultural barriers, captivating audiences worldwide. While facing setbacks such as lack of diversity, Bollywood is gradually embracing inclusivity and evolving with the times. By addressing taboo …

The Code^Shift Model: A Data Justice Framework For Collective Impact And Social Transformation, Srividya Ramasubramanian, Mohan Dutta

Media Studies - Open-Access Faculty Scholarship

In this article, we present an alternative framework that resists hegemonic social sciences within data-driven communication theorizing through a culture-centered approach (CCA). Building on the CCA in co-creating voice infrastructures at the margins, we argue that data justice requires transforming interpretive data framings, disrupting the hegemonic registers of knowledge production constituted around data, and working with/through data to challenge the structures of capitalism and colonialism that circulate the practices of exploitation and extraction. We build upon community-engaged projects emergent from the CCA in/with/from the Global South to propose the CODE^SHIFT Model, grounded in principles of equity-mindedness, collective impact, purposiveness, and …

It's All Personal - A Study On Consumer Attitudes Towards Data Collection And Usage, Publishers Clearing House, Tiffany Johnson, Daniela Molta, Evan Shapiro

Media Studies - Open-Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Queer Performance, Owen Coldsnow

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

For my project, I decided to make a documentary focusing on the experiences of queer, University of Akron students appropriately called, “The Queer Performance.” As a member of the LGBTQ+ community myself, it was particularly important to me to document the unique challenges that queer students have to face. One specific challenge that rings true for me is putting on many different personas in different situations, and I wanted to see how this compared and contrasted with other members of the community. According to Goffman’s Dramaturgical Theory, everyone puts on an act when they are around people, but each of …

Constance After Dark, Connor Vanmaele

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Constance After Dark is an episodic screenplay, outlining the beginning, middle and end of a television comedy pilot. Set in Ohio, the story follows Brooks Riegler in his first semester at the fictional “Constance College” as he navigates the ups and downs of university life at the lowest ranked school in the state. Due to a class taught by the eccentric and nefarious Dr. Mars, Brooks learns to open up to hyperactive athletes, obsessive overachievers, and even strange, mysterious men urinating on the side of the road. Brooks, Cassidy, Jenny and Guy form a tight-knit and unlikely bond in a …

Magic Show: Themed Experiences Utilizing Animation, Emma Cuitino

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Magic Show is an animated short film created in the Unity game engine that follows a mischievous fairy named Faye, who attempts to deceive her human audience, the viewer, into believing she can do magic. My goal in the program was to create a themed entertainment experience. I created a point-of-view animated film as an alternative to traditional theme park 3D/4D attractions that typically take place in a theatrical setting with large audiences. This allows for a more intimate experience and accessibility in the absence of a physical theater. The storyline itself is a study of imposter syndrome. Instead of …

Tooth Farmer: Exploring 3d Printed Replacement Heads For Stop-Motion Animated Films, Jamie Lachnicht

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Tooth Farmer is a 2-minute hybrid animated short film combining stop-motion puppetry with a 3D environment. Tooth Farmer is a vital story as it was developed over four years and getting closer to the artist's goal of creating a successful stop-motion armature puppet that is durable for an entire stop-motion short. The story is a different take on the Tooth Fairy mythology that varies from culture to culture. This story offers an alternative to the world of the Tooth Fairy folklore. In Tooth Farmer, a little mouse lives inside a person's mouth to help maintain tooth hygiene. The film focuses …

Blood And Oil: How Vampiric Literature Bolsters Big Oil’S Power, Sarah Marie Demond

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis examines the relationship between blood and oil, that is, the multitude of ways in which the petromodernity industries harvests and threatens vitality. The introduction of this thesis is concerned tracking how petromodernity is a byproduct, offspring, or extension of colonialism. In this way, petromodernity can be thought about as “petro-colonialism.” Ursula K. LeGuin’s “Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction” informs the argument that the way thay petro-colonialism came to be and also maintains itself is by utilizing the “killer story.” This thesis also employs autorheoretical techniques informed by Lauren Fournier to show how petro-colonialism or “oiliness” sticks to its …

For Everyone's Eyes Only: Digital Art As Public Art (Agency, Accessibility, And Aura), Linda Dai

Pomona Senior Theses

Should digital art qualify as public art? This thesis aims to explore the significance of this question in a contemporary context by cross-examining the two genres in terms of creative agency, accessibility, and aura. Through various interviews and case studies with global artists, I examine similarities and differences in materiality and engagement in public and digital art and the implications of my findings under broader, theoretical frameworks. I further seek to understand how the relationship between technology, art, and society has shifted over time. Ultimately, I argue that the fluidity of digital art allows to exist in public and private …

Inhumanity Restored: Digital Play & Poetic Drama, Ali Emir Dağlar

Comparative Literature M.A. Essays

This essay addresses the relationship of digital games to absurdism through a comparison of the 2011 video game Dark Souls with Samuel Beckett’s absurdist play Waiting for Godot. Staked in this comparison is the rhetoric not only of Dark Souls but of the contemporary digital game as a medium; establishing an analogy that speaks to the broader genealogy of modern media, my argument implicates the underemphasized yet critically meaningful kinship of computer games and poetic theater. I argue that understanding the digital game vis-a-vis absurdism means explicating how the 20th century stage, particularly that of Beckett, prefigures contemporary digital worlds …

การสร้างแนวคิดใหม่ให้จังหวัดเชียงใหม่เป็นเมืองภาพยนตร์ดิจิทัล : การใช้วิถีนิเวศวัฒนธรรมเพื่อพัฒนาแผนยุทธศาสตร์การเป็นเมืองภาพยนตร์ที่ยั่งยืน, เทพฤทธิ์ มณีกุล

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

งานวิจัยนี้ได้ดำเนินการในสามส่วนหลัก ๆ ได้แก่ การวิเคราะห์กิจกรรมต่าง ๆ ในการผลิตภาพยนตร์ในจังหวัดเชียงใหม่ในฐานะระบบนิเวศทางวัฒนธรรม โดยการวิเคราะห์อุตสาหกรรมภาพยนตร์และโครงสร้างพื้นฐานของจังหวัดเชียงใหม่ในฐานะระบบวัฒนธรรมที่พึ่งพาอาศัยกันของผู้คนที่เชื่อมโยงกับองค์กร สถาบัน ธุรกิจ ระบบเทคโนโลยี และปฏิบัติการเชิงสร้างสรรค์ในการผลิตภาพยนตร์ดิจิทัล ส่วนต่อมา คือ การรวบรวมข้อมูลและประเมินทรรศนะของกลุ่มผู้มีส่วนได้ส่วนเสียในระบบนิเวศทางวัฒนธรรมเกี่ยวกับสภาพการณ์ปัจจุบัน ปัญหาสำคัญ และความต้องการในอนาคต เพื่อรักษาและเสริมสร้างระบบในงานด้านภาพยนตร์ดิจิทัลของจังหวัดเชียงใหม่ และส่วนสุดท้าย คือ การออกแบบแผนยุทธศาสตร์เพื่อพัฒนาและปรับปรุงระบบนิเวศของอุตสาหกรรมภาพยนตร์ดิจิทัลของจังหวัดเชียงใหม่ตามวิถีของความยั่งยืน แผนยุทธศาสตร์ดังกล่าวนี้ได้ระบุถึงโอกาสสำหรับจังหวัดเชียงใหม่ในการพัฒนาโครงสร้างพื้นฐานและทรัพยากรบุคคลในอุตสาหกรรมภาพยนตร์ดิจิทัลผ่านการดำเนินการสองระยะ ได้แก่ ระยะแรกเป็นการมุ่งเน้นและเสริมจุดแข็งเพื่อการเป็น “เมืองที่เป็นมิตรกับภาพยนตร์” ผ่านการจัดงานและกิจกรรมต่าง ๆ และระยะหลังเป็นการพัฒนาคุณลักษณะเฉพาะของระบบนิเวศในงานด้านภาพยนตร์ดิจิทัลของจังหวัดเชียงใหม่ไปสู่ความเป็นเมืองภาพยนตร์ที่ยั่งยืนผ่านโครงการและแผนงานที่มีขนาดใหญ่ขึ้นผู้วิจัยได้ใช้วิธีดำเนินการวิจัยแบบผสานวิธี คือใช้ทั้งการวิจัยเชิงปริมาณและการวิจัยเชิงคุณภาพ ด้วยการสำรวจความคิดเห็นจากประชาชนในท้องถิ่น การสัมภาษณ์เชิงลึก การสังเกตการณ์แบบมีส่วนร่วม ตลอดจนการวิเคราะห์ข้อมูลจากหนังสือ วารสาร เอกสาร และงานวิจัยที่เกี่ยวข้องผลการศึกษาพบว่า คุณลักษณะเฉพาะของระบบนิเวศของจังหวัดเชียงใหม่ที่ส่งผลต่อการพัฒนาอุตสาหกรรมภาพยนตร์ดิจิทัล และนับเป็นจุดแข็งที่ชัดเจน ได้แก่ ทรัพยากรบุคคลที่มีความรู้และความคิดสร้างสรรค์ โดยเฉพาะบุคลากรที่มีมากขึ้นในอุตสาหกรรมนี้ ทั้งในเชิงปริมาณและคุณภาพ และรองลงมาคือสภาพการณ์ปัจจุบันของพื้นที่ซึ่งมีความโดดเด่นและเป็นเอกลักษณ์ไม่เหมือนจังหวัดอื่น ๆ ทั้งด้านคุณภาพชีวิต โครงสร้างพื้นฐานทางเทคโนโลยีที่ทันสมัย ความพร้อมในธุรกิจภาพยนตร์ดิจิทัล สถานที่ถ่ายทำที่หลากหลาย และเครือข่ายระดับนานาชาติ อีกทั้งประชาชนในท้องถิ่นยังมีความต้องการให้มุ่งเน้นการพัฒนาคนรวมถึงการสร้างเสริมโอกาสงานเป็นอันดับแรก เพื่อให้คนเป็นกำลังสำคัญในการขับเคลื่อนการพัฒนาในมิติอื่น ๆ ต่อไปส่วนประเด็นสำคัญในการสร้างแผนยุทธศาสตร์นี้มี 3 ประเด็นหลัก ได้แก่ 1) การกำหนดแนวทางแผนปฏิบัติการเร่งรัดสำหรับการจัดกิจกรรมทางภาพยนตร์ในพื้นที่เพื่อสร้างความตื่นตัวและการมีส่วนร่วมภาคประชาชนให้แก่ผู้คนในท้องถิ่นตามวิถีนิเวศวัฒนธรรม 2) การจัดตั้งหน่วยงานเฉพาะ องค์กร หรือเครือข่ายขึ้นเพื่อดูแลรับผิดชอบงานด้านภาพยนตร์ในพื้นที่ ตลอดจนการอัปเดตข้อมูลข่าวสารและกิจกรรมต่าง ๆ ที่เกี่ยวข้อง 3) ความสอดคล้องกับแผนพัฒนาจังหวัดและเชื่อมต่อกับนโยบายภาครัฐที่เกี่ยวข้อง โดยอาศัยโอกาสในการพัฒนาทรัพยากรบุคคลและโครงสร้างพื้นฐานของพื้นที่จากอุตสาหกรรมท่องเที่ยวและอุตสาหกรรมไมซ์ ซึ่งสามารถช่วยสร้างเสริมอัตลักษณ์ของจังหวัดเชียงใหม่ให้มีเสน่ห์และความโดดเด่นยิ่งขึ้นในฐานะ “เมืองที่เป็นมิตรกับภาพยนตร์” ด้วยระบบนิเวศทางวัฒนธรรมที่สร้างสรรค์สำหรับงานด้านภาพยนตร์ดิจิทัลดังนั้น ผู้วิจัยจึงได้กำหนดประเด็นพัฒนาในแผนยุทธศาสตร์การพัฒนาอุตสาหกรรมภาพยนตร์ดิจิทัลจังหวัดเชียงใหม่ตามวิถีนิเวศวัฒนธรรมไว้ 4 ด้านด้วยกัน ได้แก่ ด้านศักยภาพของคน ศักยภาพของพื้นที่ การจัดการ และการมีส่วนร่วม โดยมีเป้าหมายในระยะสั้นไปสู่การเป็นเมืองที่เป็นมิตรกับภาพยนตร์ และปูทางไปสู่เป้าหมายระยะยาวในการเป็นเมืองภาพยนตร์ที่ยั่งยืนต่อไป

You're Gonna Lose That Girl, Wilmont True

Screenwriting and Film Studies Theses (MA/MFA)

In the feature screenplay, You're Gonna Lose That Girl, by Bill True, fifty-something Jason Kite blames his failed life on getting dumped twenty-five years ago during a slow-dance cover of the iconic Beatles song. Then Paul McCartney, who is actually a wizard of space and time, shows up and sends Jason back in time to the fateful weekend to play wingman to his younger self in order to stop the breakup from happening and, in the process, fix Jason’s life.

African American Youth-Identity, Invisible Powers & Hypnotic Blaxploitation-Themed Film Tropes: From Superfly & Drug Culture To Black Panther & Wakanda, Daniel Mitchell

Screenwriting and Film Studies Theses (MA/MFA)

This thesis project explores the most influential effect of the blaxploitation era. It is during a time shortly after the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, where black youth are still enduring identity issues. The point of departure for central discussion of this work revolves around the mesmerizing Hollywood blaxploitation film, Superfly. It arrived on the big screen in 1972. The hit movie and its soundtrack seemingly hypnotized countless young African American youth in urban areas to become drug dealers and users. This coincided with Nixon’s War on Drugs collusion with government agencies, and the secret COINTELPRO operation. They …

Slaughterville, Kristjan Kay

Screenwriting and Film Studies Theses (MA/MFA)

Jim Reaper has it made. He's one of the best employees at Afterlife Incorporated and has gotten his work down pat. But when he's given a new employee to mentor he finds his secret is at risk: Jim pretends to be mortal in the small town of Slaughterville, Oklahoma, and has a mortal wife!

Irene Cox, Lindsey Arturo

Theses and Dissertations

This document explores the question of “Who is Irene Cox?” as a jumping off point for creating an artwork which navigates online information landscapes and their logics circa 2023. By using thirteen unique but similar found paintings of the same floral still life by an artist named “Irene Cox” I create a visually meandering, absurd, haunting, and comical pathway for thinking through who exactly is Irene Cox via the internet. How such a question is even asked becomes the art in which a myriad of visual techniques are used to explore the nature of the question. Included in this paper …

Rooted In Between, Manavi Singh

Theses and Dissertations

Rooted in Between is a personal project that explores the complexities of belonging and the emotions that come with navigating between spaces that we call home. This written thesis is in support of the carefully curated video based and photographic work presented at an exhibition of the same title. The project's primary objective is to delve into the physical and emotional baggage that we carry with us as we move from one place to another. The project highlights the coping mechanisms adopted by the different generations in my family while struggling to find a place where we truly belong.

To, From: Of Time, Of Distance, Of Body And Mind, Fanxi Sun

Theses and Dissertations

This paper introduces the concepts, theories, and techniques associated with my thesis project “To, From.” The paper consists of three parts: Time as Structure, Distance as Premise, and Body and Mind. Each chapter is written in a mixture of personal narration and a general introduction to materials that are directly or implicatively relevant and important to the creation of my project. In this experimental narrative comprises film screening and live performance with multi-channel sound, I tell a story of non-story. Words and the exchange of words, movements and non- movements, objects that are being handled and subjects that are handling... …

Princes, Princesses, And Socialites: Feminism And Class Transgression In Hollywood Romantic Comedies, Justina Marie Clayburn

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation explored how characters in romantic comedies negotiate and transgress class boundaries as the films conform to and challenge genre and social expectations, focusing primarily through a feminist lens. Specifically, it addresses the different ways the films negotiate ideas about American identity and economic systems, simultaneously trying to acknowledge problematic elements while upholding social and nationalistic ideals. Feminism has a complicated relationship with Hollywood romantic comedies. While the genre often focuses on issues of interest to women and forefronts female characters and their professional and personal experiences, the denouement generally reinforces heteronormative monogamous relationships above others and the traditional …

Bibliography, Kristi Branham

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Bibliography of publications by Kristi Branham.

The Iconography Of An All-American Icon: Sailors, Homoeroticism, And Mid-Century Queer Cultural Politics, Kel R. Karpinski

Publications and Research

Through a new critical reading of the relevant images found in The Young Physique and Physique Pictorial, I explore how the sailor has become a homoerotic icon and how the sailor has become an object of gay fetishization and fantasy. Through media (in this instance: magazines), I focus on the time period between World War II through Gay Liberation in the 1970s, showing how the culture of the port cities of New York City and Los Angeles helped to create this homoerotic image of the sailor. Through a reading of three images that demonstrate the homoeroticism of sailor imagery from …

Editor’S Note, Deepak Shimkhada

Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal

This special issue of Monsoon is dedicated to the studies honoring the goddess traditions in South Asia. The onset of the Monsoon Season in South Asia typically commences in June and continues until late August and early September. The publication of this issue, therefore, has been strategically timed to coincide with that season, which is a vital source of sustenance for millions of individuals in this part of the world. This anthology consisting of five papers—written by scholars with expertise in the field of goddess and women studies—speak unequivocally about the goddesses or women for their strength, beauty, wisdom, and …