Film and Media Studies Commons^™

In Another Person’S Skin: Adaptations Of To Kill A Mockingbird And The Characterization Of Scout Finch, Eric A. Pitz

Conspectus Borealis

No abstract provided.

Blackkklansman, William L. Blizek

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of BlacKkKlansman (2018), directed by Spike Lee.

In The Loop: Fall 2018

In The Loop

Letter from the Dean; Laugh Out Loud; Reel Rewind; Computer Science for All; The Truth Value Project; Seen and Heard; Bravo! Bravo!; Checkmate Cybercrimes; The Trendy Designer

Mediated Merchandise, Merchandisable Media: An Introduction, Elizabeth Affuso, Avi Santo

Communication & Theatre Arts Faculty Publications

There are many reasons why film and media scholars ought to take merchandise seriously. That filmrelated merchandise is a lucrative part of the film business is only a starting point, but still a good place to start. In 2018, character and entertainment licensing accounted for 44.7% of retail sales of licensed merchandise, generating $121.53 billion in sales. [1] [#N1] This earned entertainment companies approximately $6.2 billion in royalties. [2] [#N2] Not surprisingly, five of the top ten licensors are entertainment companies, with Disney positioned at the top with $53 billion in merchandise sales. Universal Studios is ranked 4th ($7.3 billion), …

Framing The Syrian Refugee Crisis: A Comparative Analysis Of Arabic And English News Sources, Srividya Ramasubramanian, Caitlin Miles

Media Studies - All Scholarship

The mass exodus of millions of Syrians from their country due to worsening war conditions has become a serious global humanitarian crisis. As the number of displaced refugees rises, so does the number of those living in inhuman conditions. This content analysis examines how popular news discourses shape the geopolitics of the Syrian refugee crisis. We use framing theory to explore the main frames that emerged in a comparison of 10 Arabic news sources with seven English news sources in their coverage of the crisis. Based on a systematic random sample, 278 Arabic news stories and 210 English news stories …

Diasporadical: In Ryan Coogler's 'Black Panther,' Family Secrets, Cultural Alienation And Black Love, Terri P. Bowles

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

This is a review of the film Black Panther (2018) by Ryan Coogler, which traces the arc of the comic book hero as he faces an unanticipated challenge to his power by a man who threatens not just his throne but also the future of his nation. The review explores the ways in which the legacy of slavery and colonialism inform the distinct political and philosophical ideologies of the two main characters, and how inequality drives political thought.

Black Panther: Thrills, Postcolonial Discourse, And Blacktopia, Giana M. Eckhardt

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

Black Panther challenges traditional depictions of African nations in film by showcasing the fictional African country of Wakanda as a global technological leader, its citizens as being comfortable in global settings, and by having Wakanda deliver social aid to the US, reversing the typical global flow of assistance. Wakanda is depicted as a Blacktopia, where societies thrive beyond the reach of white supremacy as they have not been subject to colonization.

Reason (Vivek), J. Barton Scott

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Reason (Vivek) (2018), directed by Anand Patwardhan.

Ad Vitam, J. Barton Scott

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Ad Vitam (2018), directed by Thomas Calley.

A Star Is Born, Sherry Coman

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of A Star is Born (2018), directed by Bradley Cooper.

Myth And Ritual In Moonrise Kingdom, Sarah F. Haynes

Journal of Religion & Film

This essay examines religious themes in Wes Anderson's film Moonrise Kingdom. An analysis of the film reveals the characters utilize ritual and myth as a means of creating knowledge and as the catalyst for a transformation of self. This essay argues that Anderson’s characters construct and interpret their reality, of self and world, by engaging with ritual, myth, and community.

Terrence Malick Beyond Nature And Grace: Song To Song And The Experience Of Forgiveness, Elisa Zocchi

Journal of Religion & Film

In The Tree of Life Terrence Malick poses the question of the relation between the order of grace and the order of nature in the cosmos and in human existence, a question presented through the relation of mother and father in the O'Brien family. The aim of this article is to analyze this issue and to present the role of glory in The Tree of Life as the transfiguration of nature operated by grace. Specifically, the example of forgiveness as one strand of this glory seems to be an helpful tool to understand the movie. Forgiveness, already present in The …

An Old Film In A New Light: Lighting As The Key To Johannine Identity In "Ordet", Richard V. Goodwin

Journal of Religion & Film

In his essay on Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Ordet, P. Adams Sitney draws a parallel between the protagonist, Johannes, and John the Evangelist, author of the fourth gospel. He suggests that the delusional Johannes’s sanity returns upon the recovery of his own name, turning on the invocation of his biblical namesake, John the Evangelist. Compelling as Sitney’s is, however, I argue that we arrive at a more helpful interpretation by attending to an aspect that has been largely overlooked in critical discussion of the film: lighting. Careful analysis of the lighting yields a perspective in which Johannes is understood to …

Musical “Covers” And The Culture Industry: From Antiquity To The Age Of Digital Reproducibility, Babette Babich

Articles and Chapters in Academic Book Collections

This essay foregrounds “covers” of popular recorded songs as well as male and female desire, in addition to Nietzsche’s interest in composition, together with his rhythmic analysis of Ancient Greek as the basis of what he called the “spirit of music” with respect to tragedy. The language of “sonic branding” allows a discussion of what Günther Anders described as the self-creation of the mass consumer but also a reflection on the ghostly time-space of music in the broadcast world. A brief allusion to Rilke complements a similarly brief reference to Jankelevitch’s “ineffable.”

Providence College Department Of Theatre, Dance & Film 2018-2019 Season Poster, Department Of Theatre, Dance & Film

Promotional Materials

Providence College Department of Theatre, Dance & Film

2018-2019 Season

Providence College Department Of Theatre, Dance & Film 2018-2019 Season Program, Department Of Theatre, Dance & Film

Promotional Materials

Providence College Department of Theatre, Dance & Film

2018-2019 Season

Animals Don't Hate: A Social Commentary On The Political Climate In America, Lane Lewis

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

My CE/T Project revolves around the pre-production work for a short film that explores the current political climate in the United States of America. The project was a very rewarding experience, as it better prepared me for professional life within the film industry. The reason that I chose the particular topic that I did is that I wanted to create a project that would serve as a positive message to the people of this country as well as other people all around the world. The message that I wanted to convey with this project is that we can get along …

Video Essay, Patricia White

Digital Humanities Curricular Development

This assignment asks you to work in pairs to produce a critical argument about the material from the week you facilitated using the video essay format. The aim is to bring critical questions in queer media studies to bear on the media text screened for class in a way that would interest and inform someone who did not take the class. The video should be no more than 5 minutes long.

Queer Media (Fmst 046) Syllabus, Patricia White

Digital Humanities Curricular Development

This class examines LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) representation (political and aesthetic) across various media practices: narrative, documentary, avant-garde and art cinema, activist video, remix, and networked media.

Bonding Images: Photography And Film As Acts Of Perpetration, Christophe Busch

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Historical and contemporary cases of collective violence show an incremental use of photography and film to capture and disseminate violent acts. Recording cruelty during conflict seems to be a highly ritualised practice that urges the question what communicative and psychological functions these acts have? Why and how does perpetrator photography shape a binding moral world that divides 'us' versus 'them'? These visualising acts are commonly seen as proof of power that desensitises the perpetrators and dehumanises the victims. This contribution focuses on the imagery of the Holocaust, looks into the functions that capturing and sharing cruelty has on the evolution …

Film Review: L’Insulte (The Insult), Renee Michelle Ragin

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Though the civil war (1975-1990) has long since ended, Ziad Doueiri’s contemporary Lebanon remains embroiled in conflict. In The Insult, a personal dispute between two individuals on either side of an ethno-political divide threatens to reignite national conflict. Under normal circumstances, such a storyline might seem improbable, but the realities of the post-war environment in Lebanon render it plausible. With a series of provocative, if difficult to answer questions, The Insult joins a robust corpus of post-1990 Lebanese films meditating on what, if anything, it means to be “post-war” in Lebanon.

Filter Wars: The Fight To Determine Filtering Rights Under The Family Movie Act And The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Amanda Garcia

Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review

The development of filtering and streaming technology over the last twenty years has put in to question the purpose and intent of legislation meant to encompass those technologies. This Comment considers the exclusive rights of copyright owners in their protected works, and the circumvention of the encryptions placed on DVD and Blu-Ray discs to prevent the unauthorized decryption, filtering, and streaming of those works. This Comment will weigh the rights of creators of expressive works, such as films and television shows, against the rights of the purchasers to filter the works. A new defense to circumvention liability will be raised …

Fighting The Good Fight: Transforming Expectations Of Women In Front Of And Behind The Camera, Victoria Mills

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The film industry is a male dominated field. This is not new information. Directing, cinematography, and musical composition are the most heavily male governed above-the line crew positions, with women only making up 12% of directors as of 2018 (Quick, “The data…”). There is an unfortunate hesitation in support for female filmmakers from the part of studios. Melissa Silverstein of “Women and Hollywood” writes that there are quite specific visual expectations of a director to be a “white male with greying hair,” as this is what people are used to (Smith, “Female trouble…”). To go along with this, only 35% …

Hear No Evil, See No Evil: How Technology Influences The Ethics Of Life Inside The Womb, Abigael B. Hawthorne

Senior Honors Theses

Abortion is a very prevalent occurrence in the U.S. and for some time has even been encouraged as emergency birth control. However, many women are not educated about the life they are terminating when deciding to have an abortion. In fact, many women are even lied to in order to persuade them to have an abortion because abortion clinics are looking to profit. Technology like ultrasounds help women see, hear, and understand the physical life that is growing in them, and can help them make an informed decision. This documentary takes a closer look into how advanced technology can impact …

Pathos, Fall 2018, Portland State University. Student Publications Board

Pathos

Editor: Sadie Jordan

Reflections On The Significance Of Images In Genocide Studies: Some Methodological Considerations, Lior Zylberman, Vicente Sánchez-Biosca

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This is the editors' introduction to the special issue: "Images And Collective Violence: Function, Use And Memory."

“You Could See Rage”: Visual Testimony In Post-Genocide Guatemala, Lacey M. Schauwecker

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Since the Guatemalan genocide against Maya populations (1981-1983), domestic and international human rights groups have organized truth commissions, forensic exhumations, and legal cases. These efforts to secure justice have achieved minimal success, prompting a reconsideration of the relationship among narrative testimony, visual testimony, and institutional standards of truth. Engaging the ideas of visual studies scholar, Nicholas Mirzoeff, I argue for the political importance of testimony that is critical of such standards, including those enforced by human rights’ legal paradigm. Following Mirzoeff’s understandings of “visuality” and “countervisuality,” I analyze “visual testimony” as that which acknowledges the dynamic interplay between word and …

Memory And Distance: On Nobuhiro Suwa's A Letter From Hiroshima, Jessica Fernanda Conejo Muñoz

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

A Letter from Hiroshima is the second production directed by Nobuhiro Suwa on the Japanese city that was ravaged by the atomic bombings, by the United States, in 1945. The short film is a reflective game which approach to the past is based on distancing effects. The distance, understood in the sense of Brecht and counter cinema, is part of an experimental process that becomes a political technique of construction and decipherment of memory. Suwa’s work is opposed to the belief that history is something that can be narrated, since the approximation to the past is not carried out through …

Challenging Old And New Images Representing The Cambodian Genocide: The Missing Picture (Rithy Panh, 2013), Vicente Sánchez-Biosca

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This article focuses on the images used over four decades to represent the Cambodian genocide in photography, cinema, visual arts and the media as the basis for analyzing the documentary-memoir directed by Rithy Panh, The Missing Picture. First, there is a paucity of images which depict, evoke or allude to the crimes perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge (1975-1979); second, scholars raise objections about whether any image can adequately depict a catastrophic event such as genocide. This article begins by categorizing the Cambodian genocide iconography according to the modality of the visual production. After briefly classifying this visual output in four …

Trapped In The Mouse House: How Disney Has Portrayed Racism And Sexism In Its Princess Films, Jessica L. Laemle

Student Publications

This paper analyzes the history of one of the most popular entertainment companies in the world, Disney. Through the discussion of multiple princess films, from the beginning of Disney to the more current films, I analyze the ongoing racism and sexism that is presented in these timeless Disney films. I will discuss the implications that this racism and sexism has on the children who view these films and what responsibility Disney has as a worldwide company in terms of what it displays to its audience.