Radio Commons^™

Elsie: A Screenplay, Eileen M. Spath

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Elsie is a 57 page, one-hour screenplay. A modern adaptation of a true story, Elsie tells the tale of Elsie Whitman, a young housewife unhappy in her marriage and looking for a way out. When her estranged sister arrives, she finally finds the strength to do the unthinkable.

Our story opens with the arrival of Elsie's sister, Marianne, and the departure of her husband, John. Alone in the house together, the sisters relationship grows complex. Marianne begins to see Peter, a young man with a mysterious past. However, when Elsie is wronged by John, she jumps into bed with Peter. …

How To Be Alice: A Feature-Length Screenplay With Production Package, Alison Joy

Honors Capstone Projects - All

This Capstone consists of a feature-length dramatic screenplay of 110 pages along with a production package including schedule and budget. The production documents, created using Movie Magic software, detail a shooting schedule of 21 days and a budget of $890,979.

The film centers on a successful magazine editor who loses her job and her fiancé in the same day. Professionally disgraced, financially stunted, and unexpectedly hearbroken, she is forced to take on a “How To” blogging gig to pay the bills while she gets back on her feet. She begrudgingly accepts mentorship from an eccentric older neighbor to help her …

Anthony Jr., Allan Duso

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Video Editors are the unsung heroes that take every piece of media, shot in production, and spin it into a story that is entertaining from beginning to end. It is hard to spot a marvelous editor because the better they, are the less the audience notices. It is only the bad cuts or the mismatched shots that the audience points out. There is no way to show the amount of work and puzzle-solving editors put in to make a movie sparkle.

For my capstone project, I edited The Sopranos television series down into a feature length movie. The story focuses …

Syracuse University Los Angeles: A Promotional Video, Bradley Slavin

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Created in 2009, the Syracuse University Los Angeles Semester Program has allowed students interested in the media and entertainment world to spend a semester working, living, and playing in Los Angeles. Despite being a well-constructed and impressive experience, the SULA program is still very much in its infancy. The purpose of this Capstone was to film, edit, and distribute a short promotional video that may be used by the program for recruiting initiatives.

The target audience for this project is current Syracuse University students considering the Los Angeles Semester Program, prospective Syracuse University students seeking additional benefits of studying at …

The Evolution Of Comic Book Movies: An Exploration And Implementation Of Comic Books In Academia, Michael C. Rogers

Honors Capstone Projects - All

The following paper outlines my Capstone, which centers on the creation and implementation of a course focusing on the academic study and consumption of comic book movies and the comics they are based on. The study of this medium has been absent from classrooms for too long, and so, in the pages that follow, I have included a syllabus, sample lesson plans, and a detailed exploration of comic books and the films they inspire in an academic setting. This paper includes research, analysis, and insight detailing the exploits of the class I taught in Fall 2013, HNR 210: The Evolution …

Transmission - A Radio Series, Marc Sollinger

Honors Capstone Projects - All

‘Transmission’ is a serialized radio drama released via podcast. It consists of ten episodes, ranging from 8-30 minutes in length. It is fully voiced, with music and sound effects. The plot concerns a lone astronaut who finds himself stranded on an alien world. At first, he is completely alone, but soon discovers that the planet is both inhabited and post-apocalyptic, with tribes of nomadic, human-like creatures moving through the ruins of a once great civilization. The astronaut must uncover the mystery of what happened to this alien world, while also surviving the many dangers that lurk in the ruins. The …

The Lotus Flower, Meghan Couture

Honors Capstone Projects - All

“The Lotus Flower” is an animation based on the epic story of Shimchong, a girl who overcomes her poverty due to her devotion to her family and later marries into the royal family. This Cinderella story is a famous Korean tale that has been told and re-told for centuries. By bringing this story to an international audience, I hope to bring at least a small awareness of the cultural and historical value of Korea.

The script was adapted and written by me, taking various versions of the folktale into account as well as putting my own details and embellishments to …

Style Talk: A Collection Of Interviews On Personal Style, Lauren Dulay

Honors Capstone Projects - All

My concept for this creative Capstone project is to see how much of a correlation there is between culture and fashion. I wanted to speak to people from a variety of backgrounds to see how much a person’s family and culture impacts the way one regards fashion and affects the way one dresses. In order to have a diverse set of interviews, I chose to interview three American female students and three non-American female students who attend Syracuse University.

In the past, I have noticed that many style shows focus on the current trends and do profiles on celebrities and …

Living In Spring, Danielle Peck

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Music is universally recognized as a tool for transcending the natural and cultural boundaries that separate one individual from the next. Living in Spring, a short film built upon Beethoven’s Sonata No.5 in F Major, Op. 24, 1^st Movement (informally referred to as the “Spring” Sonata), introduces this idea as a violin teacher’s advice to his student: “Each of us, we are only inside ourselves, you can only move your own fingers… music is different,” Sasha explains. Eve, the violinist, faces a challenge for her final performance—one that cannot be found in the practice room, no matter how …

What We Dreamed To Become, Caroline Clark Moore

Honors Capstone Projects - All

For my honors thesis, I created a documentary film about my experience in India this past summer.

What We Dreamed To Become depicts the journey of two people of the same African heritage: Dr. Pashington Obeng, an African Studies Professor at Harvard, and a native of Ghana; and a young Siddi boy named Budhesab Hussein.

The Siddis are an Indian ethnic group descended from African slaves. Pash has worked extensively with the Siddis for more than a decade, and hopes to create self-sufficiency within the group.

The young Budhesab has severe vision problems, and happens to join Pash on a …

"Chance" Screenplay, Simone Laroche

Honors Capstone Projects - All

My Capstone Thesis is a creative screenplay pursuing the complexities of predestination and our innate obsession to control fate. I became intrigued with the idea that our decisions or actions dictate outcomes we may have had the ability to prevent or perpetuate. I recently found it difficult to accept my misfortunes for ineptitude or lack of preparation. Instead I called it “fate” or “destiny” that circumstances were not meant to work in my favor. In hindsight I realized I had allowed my passivity to compensate for my lack of commitment and courage to take risks. Granted, I do believe regardless …

Ctrl + Z, Andrew Golibersuch

Honors Capstone Projects - All

In Ctrl + Z, Amanda rides the train to work and tells her new employee the story of a particularly bizarre and life changing day from her early career. While working on her laptop at her favorite coffee shop, she discovers that her computer’s undo function, control + z, affects real life. At first she can’t believe what is happening, so she begins experimenting. Eventually she decides to use the power to her personal advantage, specifically to try to get a guy’s attention. Unfortunately she inadvertently causes some severe problems and is forced to choose between what she wants and …

A Self-Help Guide To Future Success, Naresh Vissa

Honors Capstone Projects - All

This dissertation takes the form of an eleven-part podcast series titled, “A Self-Help Guide to Future Success.” The radio series relates to the topic of personal success.

Success comes in all sorts of forms – financial, social, ethical, personal: it cannot be defined. In today’s environment, people find themselves confused more than ever before.

As a senior in college who is about to graduate in less than four weeks, I find it mind-boggling how little students have thought about their futures. Furthermore, it is a shame that so many people fail to recognize the current society and conditions surrounding them. …

Dengue Fever: Infectious Hope, Collin Shea

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Abstract Not Included

Float Your Boat, Jamian Shapiro

Honors Capstone Projects - All

For the past year, I have served as the Executive Producer for the sketch comedy television show Float Your Boat. Syracuse University students produce this show through the student run television station, Citrus TV. The show is a single camera show shot entirely out of studio and on location. Each episode is composed of several sketches that can range from thirty seconds to five minutes. Each individual sketch is also posted online through a variety of websites visited by college students. Additionally, the complete episode is posted online and screened at the end of each semester. The screening is …

Producing Sa Today, Lara Rolo

Honors Capstone Projects - All

After analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of last year’s production of SA Today, I developed a new structure for the show and its purpose. SA Today is a show produced by CitrusTV for the Syracuse University Student Association, (SA). It serves as a broadcast outlet for SA to better inform and maintain contact with Syracuse University and SUNY E.S.F. students. The show’s purpose has grown under my care. With changes in design, structure, writing style and content value, my team and I have been able to create a new product produced by CitrusTV to better serve our campus viewership. The …

Still Water, Louis Foglia

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Still Water is full-length feature screenplay with the driving premise that vengeance creates suffering. While the script might be characterized as a procedural in that relies heavily on the plot to create suspense and to sustain a dramatic momentum that keeps the audience engaged, I was also interested in adding a layer of provocative depth to the story. Consequently, Still Water explores the themes of guilt, redemption, vengeance, corruption, and Italian-American identity.

Still Water is the story of the Sippilini family. During his campaign for Manhattan District Attorney, the family’s patriarch, Richard, gets involved in a corruption scandal that ultimately …

Film Score, Jeff Peters

Honors Capstone Projects - All

My capstone project involves creating an original musical score to an independent film. As the music is so invested in the narrative of the film, all work leading up to the actual composition of the music was on the history of film scoring and possible technical and creative methods, learned in classes on the subject. This knowledge and hands-on practice provided me with some limited experience, but this film was the first practical application of my composing skills.

My extensive background in music allowed me to perform all of the parts heard in the score. It was my job to …

How A Work Changes In Response To The Work Itself: Researching Civil War Photography, A Case Study, Rose Margolis

Honors Capstone Projects - All

This piece combines my two passions of history and television/film. I have been able to combine these two passions by doing two years of research on Civil War photography and sketch artists.

My original intention was to create a documentary about this topic, but due to unanswered questions about copyright I quickly abandoned this idea. I then moved onto writing a screenplay after slightly narrowing my topic to focus on three photographers: Mathew Brady, Alexander Gardner, and Timothy H. O’Sullivan. My intent was to focus on how they made the photographs, their relationship to each other, and why Gardner and …

The Lovely Invader: A Documentary On Lonicera Research, Danielle S. Houghton

Honors Capstone Projects - All

For over a year a half, I followed Steve Maheux, a Biology major, throughout his journey to conduct a research study on honeysuckle, an invasive plant. He posed a question regarding the possibility of predicting the occurrence of an invasive plant based on certain environmental factors: soil depth, soil pH, neighboring plants and other aspects that would make up an ideal environment for this menacing plant. The focus of my documentary was to show what true research looks like in all of its tedious glory. Research isn’t fancy. It often doesn’t make for “sexy film,” but it is vital for …

Archbold Stadium The Story Of ‘78, Gordon Christopher Brookes

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Archbold Stadium, The Story of ’78, was inspired by an exhibit at the Syracuse University Admissions Office. The exhibit was a number of old postcards, and one of these was of Archbold Stadium. The stadium was home to Syracuse football from 1907 to 1978, and was home to such greats as Ernie Davis, Jim Brown, Floyd Little, and many others. The 1959 team that played there won Syracuse’s only national football championship, and was home to its only Heisman winner. When it was built in 1907 by John D. Archbold, it was the largest concrete stadium in the world, costing …

Pickle Jarred, Robert Hetzron

Honors Capstone Projects - All

The concept behind my capstone project was to creative a narrative in which a seemingly apathetic, appropriately disgruntled, teenager is propelled to social activity which will not only benefit himself personally, but his overall community. In order to do so, I set to develop a short-story narrative, entitled “The Pickle Jar,” and then adapt it into a screenplay.

In writing the short story, I set to narrate the drama and provide insight into Neil’s psyche through first-person dialogue. Neil would narrate the drama while allowing the reader to hear his inner-thoughts and opinions throughout the process. The plot would follow …

Sons Of Liberty, Scott Fluhler

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Abstract not Included

A Qualitative Assessment Of College-Students’ Functional Health Literacy: A Case-Study At Syracuse University, Thomas D. Wichman

Honors Capstone Projects - All

This case study of Syracuse University’s health promotion and student health behavior provides data that may be employed to understand and influence future, functional health literacy. Key components of functional health literacy—self efficacy, independence, institutional services, social influences, gender, etc.—rise to the surface, and are the focus of this analysis. This study was approved by the University’s Institutional Review Board for the Fall 2008 term, and received funding through the Crown Wise Scholarship. The research subjects include a convenience sample of 26 full-time, college seniors. The subjects were divided into four focus groups to provide qualitative data on 21 topics …

200 Days Of Innocence: An Original, Feature-Length Screenplay, Sarah Rois

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Abstract not Included

Immortal, Eddie Beeby

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Abstract not Inlcuded

A Director's Guide To The Galaxy: Navigating The Drama Of A Performance Organization, Shaina Rosenthal

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Abstract Not Included

Motherhood And The Political Project Of Queer Indian Cinema, Bryce J. Renninger

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Motherhood & the Political Project of Queer Indian Cinema is a thesis that works to understand the variety of ways the films of queer Indian cinema use the figure of the mother. The Indian mother has a long history at the fore of the Indian imagination. Popular narratives and public culture within India have a history of focusing on the mother as a key site of Indian tradition. Narratives and cultures of all religious traditions in India have consistently focused on the mother as a central character and agent of change. Queer Indian cinema, of the diaspora and made from …

Leaving Neverland, Jonathan Krieger

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Leaving Neverland is an adaptation of Peter Pan meant to take the classic story in an entirely new direction. The story is set in modern day and takes place ten years after the end of the original Peter Pan. Wendy is twenty years old and, when she returns to Neverland, Peter falls in love with her. He gives up his immortality for a chance at a love.

The story deals with the ensuing relational change between Peter and Wendy, between Peter and the Lost Boys, between Peter and Hook, and even between Peter and the Neverland universe.

As Peter grows …

Doozy Productions, Andrew Steier

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Doozy Productions is a project in producing songs performed and recorded in Sound Studio 3 at the S.I.NewhouseSchoolof Public Communications. The recordings range from a variety of musical genres, including rock, soul, and jazz. The purpose of the project was to produce the highest-quality music by using professional recording and mixing tools. Preparations for production included research on how sound functions and projects in an electronic medium, as well as listening to professional recordings across all genres. All music was recorded, mixed, and produced by Andrew Steier.*

* “Electric Waltz” was produced by Emily Osgood and Andrew Steier.