Theatre and Performance Studies Commons^™

From Staged Reading To Fully Staged Models For Academic Production Of New Works, Preston Yates, Timothy Threllfall

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Last January at BYU, we had the incredible opportunity to work with one of Broadway’s best composures, Frank Wildhorn. This came about due to a master class that Frank was holding at BYU in October of 2013. He was very impressed with the level of talent the students that he worked with possessed. After the master class he talked to some of the staff including Tim Threlfall and thought that doing a new work at BYU would be a good idea. It allowed him not only to work on his new show, but it gave us students the opportunity to …

Culminating Project, Logan Mcgill, Nathan Balser

Journal of Undergraduate Research

During my time as a dance major at BYU I devoted countless hours to refining my technique, artistry, and performance quality in order to be the best dancer I could be. “Culminating Project” took those skills that I have spent so long refining and put them to the test in a five minute solo performance choreographed by the world renowned choreographer Stacey Tookey. This piece was meant to push me to my limits as a dancer, which is exactly what it did.

Resisting The Resistance: The Emancipation Of Students From The Hidden Curriculum Of Commodified Resistant Narratives In Young Adult Dystopian Film Through Open Pedagogical Space And Culture-Jamming, Robert B. Bauer

Theses and Dissertations

Young Adult Dystopian Film exercises an influence over young people of which they are not aware. As part of a structure of domination these films teach students to participate in their own oppression by the capitalist system. The film industry maintains a hidden curriculum like that utilized in school classrooms to conceal the oppression from the masses. One particularly effective means is the portrayal of resistance against oppression in the narratives of the YA Dystopian Film. Young people are drawn to that narrative and end up supporting the structure of domination financially and ideologically. Modes of resistance to this oppression …

Audience Participation In Blue Man Group: Success Through Authentic Character, Adaptable Narrative, And Accessible Space, Haley Lauren Flanders

Theses and Dissertations

The relationship between performer and spectator is a constant topic in theatre since audiences are essential to any performance. Some contemporary performances strive to blur the line between the two by allowing audiences to participate during the show. Often, audience participation is despised and therefore avoided by spectators and theatre practitioners. However, Blue Man Group thrives on it due to their authentic character, adaptable narrative, and accessible space. Through my examination of the show as an audience member, I theorize that these three elements control the audience's willingness to participate in the production and in turn make the entire experience …

Critiquing The Critic: A Case For Journalistic Criticism In The Theatre, Tara Nicole Haas

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis suggests that journalistic theatre criticism is a necessary and vital aspect of the theatre, promoting a healthy theatre community and culture. A healthy theatre community is supported by critics and artists alike, and is one where citizens are excited about the theatre, desiring to participate and engage with it often. It is one where artists and spectators listen, respect, and trust one another, being open to opinions and suggestions that may enhance and improve the theatre community. A healthy theatre community strives to provide theatre that may be multi-faceted in purpose, but allows for opportunities to challenge, uncover, …

Where Are Those Good Old Fashioned Values? Family And Satire In Family Guy, Reilly Judd Ryan

Theses and Dissertations

This paper explores the presentation of family in the controversial FOX Network television program Family Guy. Polarizing to audiences, the Griffin family of Family Guy is at once considered sophomoric and offensive to some and smart and satiric to others. Though neither judgment of the show is necessarily mutually exclusive, the intention of this study is to reconcile those disparate viewpoints in order to measure the show's purposefulness. After all, if Family Guy succeeds in its satire, it is full of social purpose, offensiveness notwithstanding. This thesis focuses on arguably the main point of contention in Family Guy: the family. …

Digital Identity And Performance:How Student Identity Construction Can Be Influenced Through Digital Social Media And Expressed Through Theatrical Performance, Mindy M. Nelsen

Theses and Dissertations

Adolescents and teens are surrounded by a myriad of influences that affect how they see and present themselves. Contemporary communication for these young people frequently happens in an online forum through digital social media. The primary purpose of this master's thesis is to examine the affect of digital social media on adolescent and teen identity construction and perception of self and other. Further research was performed to identify how that identity can be expressed through theatrical performance. The first chapter is a review of current literature, theory and practice of those within the educational paradigm who are trying to incorporate …

“Shepherd” A Documentary Film, Jared Jakins, Thomas Lefler

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The production of this documentary has been extensive, and in the process the project was renamed “Ghosts on the Mountain.” The film examines the isolated lifestyle of H-­‐2A guest workers in the American West by subtly exploring the emotions that come with their occupation. The film’s subjects leave family and native lands to work in the US on H-­‐2A work visas, or no visas at all. Surrounded by breathtaking vistas, these workers find themselves in solitude and loneliness. This isolation is heightened by language barriers and the remoteness of the sheep’s pasture lands. They become, in a sense, “ghosts” to …

Summer Dance Intensive Field Study, Amy Gunter, Nathan Balser

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Gaga, created by Isreal’s Ohad Naharin, is an innovative movement practice focused on enhancing sensations within the body through movement. It is used both as a training method for dancers, and a movement practice for the general public. Because the emphasis of Gaga is to explore sensation and availability for movement in a completely unique way, it is becoming increasingly popular in the dance world today. Gaga is also unique in that there are no expectations of what your body should look like while doing it. Each person must take the instructor’s cues and interpret them inside their own bodies; …

Details: Western American Fashion In The 20th Century, Chelsey Roberts, Mary Farahnakian

Journal of Undergraduate Research

As the lid of the first box was lifted off I became giddy. I couldn’t help but reach out and touch the golden yellow silk flapper dress. My fate to the BYU Historic Clothing Collection was sealed. It was the last week of classes of my first semester at BYU. Dr. Mary Farahnakian was showing us the study collection of historical clothing that was kept on campus for student use. Each piece held a story and I wanted to be a part of uncovering the story.

Voice Work And Dialects, Mackenzie Larson, Stephanie Breinholt

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of my Orca project was to learn more about Fitzmaurice Voice technique directly from Katherine Fitzmaurice at one of her workshops in New York and use the techniques I learned to team-teach a Voice and Diction class for the Theatre and Media Arts Department. I also helped collect dialect samplings for a book Stephanie Breinholt will be writing about dialects for the stage.

Project: Dancing In The Light, Charis Dexter, Shayla Bott

Journal of Undergraduate Research

There are many ways that light is perceived, it can be seen, felt, measured, ignored, blocked, and directed. The project I successfully completed was a tangible experiment with light. I choreographed a dance for the BYU Ballet Showcase company called “Dancing in the Light”, the light of Christ. The experiment was within the experience of creating a dance that could carry a message of light, that through the dancers the audience could literally feel something being communicated to them. What I aimed to learn from this project was to polish my execution in the delicate craft of choreography, in order …

The Nightingale Project, Julia Ashworth

Journal of Undergraduate Research

1. Evaluation of how well the academic objectives of the proposal were met

The purpose of this project was fourfold: 1. Perform both outreach and on-campus productions of The Nightingale that relay the messages of friendship, true voice, and a gentle heart.

Story In Technology Classrooms: Teaching "Why" To Learn "How", Jeffrey S. Hill

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative action research project examined the experiences of high school students in a technology education course as they were taught accepted technology education standards in conjunction with storytelling principles through writing and producing their own short films. The data from the project demonstrate that incorporating the principles of storytelling into technology education can be effective in helping students not only become skilled with the tools of technology, but also become media literate and articulate in creative expression.

Review And Analysis Of The Marketing Practices Of Independent Local Musicans, Michael Hammari, Dr. Paul Deurden

Journal of Undergraduate Research

It was the intent of this research to identify and analyze the current and possible marketing practices of independent, local musicians based in the Provo Area. In order to accomplish this objective three methods were employed. First, local musicians were interviewed to examine their current marketing practices. Second, a sample of the public was surveyed to gage their awareness of local music. Thirdly, music events were promoted with the intent of experimenting with different marketing strategies. Over the course of the research more effort was focused on the final aspect of this project.

The Greatdivorce: An Experience Together — How Relationships In A Company Affect The Relationship Between Actors And Audience In Performance, Isaac Walter, Rodger Sorensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Both Peter Brook1 and Jerzy Grotowski,2 two of the most important theatre directors and theoreticians of this century, have stated that the basis for all theatre is the actor/audience relationship. It is what makes theatre a unique art form. Without this relationship you may have another art form, such as film, but the real power of theatre comes from actors and audience communing with one another.

The Dinner Guest A Film Exploration Of Motherhood, Kenneth Merrill, Jeff Parkin

Journal of Undergraduate Research

This project began as a poorly-written draft of a script about a woman struggling against the strict social pressures of the 1950’s. I took on the task of turning it into a film because I liked the setting, the action, the tight dialogue, and I really thought that it could go some very interesting places. Of course, as the script got better, with the help of Martha Rallison (the writer), it breached the wall of generalities and evolved into a personal story about Hazel and her love for a wayward son, Allen, and the mad moments that every single one …

Children’S Expressions: Using The Creative Process Of Theatre To Instruct And Inspire Children In The Community, Danielle Peterson, Dr. Megan Sanborn Jones

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Most children’s theatre involves adults putting on plays for kids. Rarely are the children given the opportunity to sit in the creative seat. With this particular project, I attempted to shift the paradigm of “children’s theatre.” Working with the local Boys and Girls Club, I had the opportunity to allow children to design, plan and produce a brand new play. Children have vivid imaginations and are a vibrant sources of creativity. It is rare that they get this kind of opportunity but it is experiences like these that will always be cherished.

Reproduction Of An Original Edith Head Design, Rebekah Jackson, Dr. Mary Farahnakian

Journal of Undergraduate Research

This project has been an involved approach to studying the history of costume design both through conventional research and the more tactile, construction process. While Edith Head is a renowned costume designer with many books and articles on her life work, less has been done to understand how her designs functioned and evolved from idea to costume. This process is essential to understanding her career’s success and is exactly what my project is meant to explore. Studying how her design for The Great Race (1965) was changed from concept to construction gives valuable insight to how Head thought as a …

Martial Arts In Modern Dance, Kaitlin Fayles, Dr. Jiamin Huang

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of my ORCA project was to learn the history and basic techniques of Chinese martial arts and incorporate these movements into a modern dance piece that I, as a dance major (and martial arts student), would choreograph for my senior project.

Who Am I? Identification And Ideology Within Multimedia Games, Brian Hochhalter, April Haws

Journal of Undergraduate Research

John Steinbeck noted in Travels With Charley that “A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.”

So I have found in my research efforts. I originally embarked on a journey to investigate narrative cinema techniques that have been adopted by multimedia games, determine which of these techniques effectively engaged players, which don’t, and report my findings. Specifically, given the use of cinematic techniques in recent games, I sought to use theories of how films affect spectators to guide my investigation. As I have come to know the subject more deeply I …

Developing Film Processes, Ryan Little, Tom Lefler

Journal of Undergraduate Research

As a student of cinematography I have focused most of my studies on “Sensitometry,” the science of measuring the response of photographic emulsions to light. The way in which a film is exposed, processed and viewed can affect the degree to which the film=s sensito-metric and image structure potential is realized. Knowing what a film is designed to do is an absolute necessity for any serious cinematographer.

Creating A Pre-Inventive Film, David Paul Graham, Tom Lefler

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Traditionally, narrative films begin with a story to be told and every decision made in the film making process should take into account what would best in order to tell that story. I proposed to create a narrative film a very different way. I thought it should be possible to create a pre-inventive film where the pieces of the film exist before inventing the story.

Behold Your Little Ones: A Senior Project In Dance, Raquelle Madsen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

My assignment was to create a dance at least ten minutes in length. I decided to use this assignment as a way to inform people about the effects of child abuse. Because dance is abstract it can be used to combat things that are hard to face. I chose this topic because I have seen the effects of abuse on children and have had friends that were abused as children. Their lives can never be “normal.” By creating this dance I could help in the fight against abuse by showing people in Utah that child abuse is even common here. …

There Used To Be A Ballpark ••• A Portrait Of Derks Field, Brady Tuckett

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In early 1992, it was announced that Salt Lake City’s minor league ballpark, Derks Field, was going to be tom down. Soon after reading these headlines, I became interested in making a documentary about the history of baseball in Salt Lake City. As a child, I attended many baseball games in Derks Field with my grandfather, to whom I have dedicated this documentary.

8 Minutes At 325°, Todd Wahlquist

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The making of a film can be very taxing, both mentally and financially, and I appreciate very much the Office of Research and Creative Work helping to lessen both of those demands. The total budget for my film was approximately $5,000; therefore, the $1,000 provided by the Research and Creative Work Office was a significant factor in my being able to complete the final stages of post-production this past spring.

Awa Yio … (We Are Glad), Melanie Morrow

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The final product was everything I had hoped it to be! The piece was 10 minutes in length with two sections and was performed March 31st andAprillst, 1994. It involved approximately 60 past or present members of the BYU’s Men’s Chorus using only live percussion and voices. There were eight dancers, including myself. The lighting and visual effects completed the image of what I envisioned for the piece, with slight deviations from the original proposal. All in all, it seemed to be an edifying experience for those involved.

Progress Report On My Project Entitled “The Effects Of Editing On Emotion And Theme”, Merrill A. Page, Stan Ferguson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Editing in film is the act of joining two separate visual clips together to continue a film’s progress. Editing styles and the frequency of cuts can vary greatly from film to film, and in my project, I proposed to study in depth the actual effects that could be achieved solely by editing. The plan was to film a certain scene from a script, and then edit it in several different ways to see the things that could be accomplished through the editing alone.

The Hitchicker, Vance L. Mellen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

I am glad to report on my use of the Research and Creative Works Scholarship. I’ve had a fantastic last year at BYU, and thanks to the grant I received, I feel extremely well prepared to enter graduate schooL Due in part to the work funded by this grant, I have been accepted at the School of the Arts Institute of Chicago where I will continue my studies and experiments in performance art and film. I’m very excited about the future. More than anything, I feel this grant has helped me gain enormous confidence in my ability to conduct self-motivated …

Center Stage, Bryce Johnson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Thank you very much for the grant received from the Office of Research and Creative Work. I am writing to report on how that grant was used to finance my project, Center Stage, a thirty-minute documentary film on Ruth and Nathan Hale, founders of the oldest continuously-running center stage theater in the country.