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Beyond the Image: Author: Bissell, Owen Edward; Date: 2006-05-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: Documentaries with Science and nature as their subject matter have a great, untapped potential for art virtually unexplored in the History of film. A look at the general trend of these films shows a steady progression attempting more subjective and reflexive treatments of material, but Science documentaries today are generally stuck in the classical expository mode. This lack of progression in films with scientific subject (including nature and wildlife) subject matter is largely due to producers unwillingness to break from the conventions of genre. In their attempts to create art instead of c...; Download File | View full details

Bringing Medicine to the Masses: Exploring the Relationship Between the Medical Documentary and the Public: Author: Backus, Alison Lorraine; Date: 2006-05-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: The medical documentary seeks to bridge the gap between the traditional imbalance of knowledge between the patient and her medical practitioner. This paper will examine the issue of the imbalance of the doctor and patient throughout the History of medicine, explore how the medical documentary seeks to solve this imbalance, and the methods by which it does so. By comparing three related medical documentaries and examining the strengths and weaknesses of each one in its attempt to educate and engage the viewer, I will seek to create a broad model for future medical documentaries and relate how m...; Download File | View full details

Building a Partnership Between Nature and Human Culture in Natural History Film: Author: Hillman, Paul Bishop; Date: 2005-05-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: The term "nature" can be defined in a variety of ways supporting very different views on how humans should interact with the Natural world. The ambiguity inherent in the definition of nature promotes a variety of different applications for the concept of nature, particularly in relation to Natural History films. Many Natural History films aim to promote awareness and respect for the Natural world. The majority of current nature documentaries, however, seem to define nature as an object and employ techniques that actually perpetuate a harmful dichotomy between nature and human cultu...; Download File | View full details

A Critique of the Portrayal of Grizzly Bears in Contemporary Natural History Films: Author: Shier, John Walter; Date: 2005-12-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: Natural History films and television programs are based on the perception that the grizzly bear is an animal that only lives, that only belongs in wilderness. These films and programs spread and strengthen this perception among audiences, compelling them to relegate grizzlies to the few parcels of land that still meet our society's definition of wilderness. The perception ensures that the grizzly's long-term survival in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is threatened; the regions wilderness areas simply don't provide enough habitat for the bears and many people are unwilling to tolerate the pr...; Download File | View full details

An Ecofeminist Model for Wildlife Film: Author: Graziano, Tracy Ann; Date: 2005-05-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: The most dominant form of wildlife film for broadcast currently upholds a dangerous separation between culture and nature with production practices, editing and film subtext. If wildlife films are to change and incorporate Science, they must also relate that Science to other discourses to present the subject's greater reality. Wildlife films have a duty to represent their subject fairly, and in that fairness propose a preservation ethic that will serve for many as a stepping-stone to environmental salvation. A look into ecofeminist discourse provides a new methodology for producing wildlife fi...; Download File | View full details

Mythologizing the History of Easter Island through Documentary Films: Author: Boyd, Laura Jean; Date: 2005-12-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: Documentaries have the power to rewrite History and perpetuate myths in our society. In the case of Easter Island, documentary filmmakers have sensationalized the History of the Rapa Nui people, dwelling on dramatic concepts such as eco-disaster, cannibalism and mysteriously vanishing cultures. As a result of poor Filmmaking, we have a mythologized History of Easter Island. In my attempt to create a Science-based documentary about an issue affecting contemporary Easter Island society, this mythologizing of History became a major obstacle. It became apparent that I had to first inform audiences...; Download File | View full details

Narrative in Wildlife Films: How it Shapes our Understanding of the Natural World and Influences Conservation Choices: Author: Singh, Praveen; Date: 2005-05-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: Storytelling is perhaps mankind's oldest tendencies. Their narratives give meaning to our everyday experiences and help us understand our world. Wildlife and Natural History films in telling stories about the nature help define, to some extent, our relationship with it. Following the historical development of the classical narrative model in wildlife and nature films, the paper explores its impact on conservation choices and argues for an alternative approach to narrative in these films in order to change the oppositional relationship that we currently share with the nature....; Download File | View full details

Science and Natural History Film and the Larger Media Environment: Author: Ruggiero, Colin Ross; Date: 2005-08-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to examine the ways in which Science and Natural History films are affected by the larger media environment and in particular, concentrated ownership structures. This first part of this examination is aimed at establishing that the corporate conglomerates that own the majority of mainstream media outlets and resources have sufficient control over the media environment to warrant speaking about specialized programming like Science and Natural History within the context of the larger corporate-owned environment. The remainder of the paper discusses the impacts this ...; Download File | View full details

The Use of Archival Footage in Documentary Rhetoric: Author: Grue, Amanda Michelle; Date: 2006-05-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: This thesis examines the ways in which archival footage are used in documentary rhetoric. Based upon Aristotle's Rhetoric, there are two types of proof: inartistic and artistic. I argue that there is an inherent truth claim to archival footage based on its indexical bond to the historical event it captures and suspends in time, which gives the footage merit as evidence. However, evidence alone is not absolute truth. All evidence is subject to interpretation and argument. Once archival footage is placed into the larger context of a documentary film to support or refute an argument about a parti...; Download File | View full details

Strange Bedfellows: Science and Storytelling for Broadcast Television: Author: Bell, andrew Wade; Date: 2006-08-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: Filmmakers exploring Natural Science subject matter that want to sell their work to broadcast television or theatrical outlets face a difficult challenge. They must somehow conflate two contradictory elements: Natural Science information and compelling storytelling. Looking at the roots of classical narrative, we can better understand why audiences have come to crave it. Broadcast television, in turn, caters to audience desire. This combination forces filmmakers to present Natural Science information in an exciting way, and has led filmmakers to employ time-honored narrative structures as orga...; Download File | View full details

Remote Outreach Cinema Campaign: (R.O.C.C.): Author: Kellett, Ian Alexander; Date: 2006-08-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: This thesis proposes strategies for the making and exhibition of films that amplify conservation values and efforts in rural communities. The films support and promote the missions of local leaders and the agendas of respected environmental agencies. The Filmmaking strategies entail identifying existing conservation values as experienced through broad themes such as quality of life, economics and community development. By focusing on the collaborative process of making and projecting a film, these strategies serve to inspire innovative solutions promoting responsible stewardship of the land an...; Download File | View full details

A Matter of Life and Death: Rethinking Evolution and the Nature of Science on Television: Author: Bard, Susanne Clara; Date: 2006-08-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: In a world where antibiotic resistance can make bacterial infections deadly and the HIV virus constantly mutates inside the human body, an understanding of evolution and its mechanisms is increasingly important. Yet much of the public is still either hostile to or misunderstands evolution and its mechanisms. Television provides the bulk of the general public's exposure to Science once formal education has ended. The rhetorical strategies employed by much of Science and evolution programming, along with an emphasis on content over process, delivers the message that Science is a search for absol...; Download File | View full details

Creating Space for Science and Celebrity in the Public Discussion of Climate Change: Author: DeWitt, Sarah Louise; Date: 2006-08-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: Climate change is one of the most prominent topics in news, politics, and popular culture today. For many years the topic has been presented as an unresolved debate between believers and skeptics, leading to a perpetual state of confusion and helplessness in the public eye. In the past eight months newspapers and magazines have begun to suggest that the climate change debate is over. The scientific consensus agrees that climate change is happening and it is the result of human influence on the Earth's atmosphere. Yet this consensus has not effectively translated into the public consciousness. ...; Download File | View full details

The Romantic Genius of Einstein and the Science Essay Film: Author: Radcliff, Matthew Robert; Date: 2006-12-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: The image of Einstein as a scientific genius, a talent so elevated it can spill over the boundaries between Science and art, requires the assumption that art and Science are not simply different fields of knowledge, but are polar opposites. Despite two centuries of effort, the debate on the relationship of art and Science is far from resolved; the notion that they are exclusive of each other is even less established. However, there remains a tendency to treat art and Science as the two extremes of a linear scale of talent. Only an exceptional person, therefore, can straddle the line between th...; Download File | View full details

The Role of Conservation Films within the Environmental Debate: Author: Duke, Tyler Norman; Date: 2006-12-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: In the environmental debate there is little middle ground. Many environmental issues become highly polarized, with neither side willing to compromise. Conservation films work as a catalyst fueling the fire. They create plot lines based on good and evil without fleshing out the grey area. Two different philosophies exist on the environment. One, ecocentrism, feels that the environment has value by itself . The other, anthropocentrism, believes that the environment's only value is what it provides humans. Conservation films fail to recognize the later belief. The Endangered Species Act has led t...; Download File | View full details

The Depiction of Indigenous African Cultures as Other in Contemporary, Western Natural History Film: Author: Shier, Sara Ann; Date: 2006-12-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: Images of the indigenous other have always been used in accord with the imperialistic movements of the Western world. Filmmakers continue to use the basic model of depicting people of indigenous cultures as exotic and more primitive than people of Western cultures with the effect of validating Western values and reinforcing the perceived superiority/authority of Western values over other value systems. This form is readily apparent in the treatment of the indigenous people of Africa in Natural History films from the inception of the medium to present day. I will examine films from the 1920s th...; Download File | View full details

An Assesment of Historic and Contemporary Models of Native Representation from Ethno-Entertainment Films to Experiential Education Films: Author: Chaikin, Eric Justin; Date: 2006-05-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: Ethno-entertainment is a term that makes apparent the merger of entertainment and Science in the depiction of the Native presence in film. This approach to Filmmaking is assessed and is determined to be defunct. Experiential-education Filmmaking is offered as an alternative approach. It is suggested that Native Science can inform this approach in a way that allows a contextual understanding of Native language and culture. My video thesis work, K'anecho'xdekdiigh- I'm Not Going to Teach You, is suggested as an example of how the prominence of Native Science may promote survivance rather than pe...; Download File | View full details

The Preference for the Exotic in Wildlife Broadcast Film: Author: Fitzgibbons, Ryan Patrick; Date: 2007-05-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: American wildlife broadcast film has exhibited a preference for exotic fauna, leaving much of North American wildlife underappreciated. The American preference for the exotic finds its roots in the early African hunting films of Cherry Kearton, John Hemment, and Martin Johnson. These films became manifestations of the Pristine, a conceptual realm of untouched wildness filled with aesthetically-pleasing megafauna. Since then, visions of the Pristine, through the exotic wildlife and landscape, have remained popular in American broadcast viewing, as seen in Animal Planet's programming. Exotic wil...; Download File | View full details

Coloring Science Outside the Lines: The Poetry and Passion of Jean Painleve: Author: Frostic, Maria Tucker; Date: 2007-05-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: The majority of current Science films for popular audiences follow a formula that can best be described as conventional journalism. Artistic Science films are rare, and historically they have generated outrage and distrust by the scientific community. In this paper, I explore the possibility that artful Science films are a valid method of conveying the wonders of Science to an audience. Underwater French filmmaker Jean Painlevé made films that strike a clever balance between art and Science, and this unique fusion of divergent parts results in moving vignettes on the astonishing surre...; Download File | View full details

Employing Visitor Studies and Video Media to Better Communicate Science in National Parks: Author: Koch, Alison Lindsey; Date: 2007-05-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: The future of the National Park Service depends upon the agency's ability to educate the public to care for and preserve America's parks. In order to achieve this, parks must provide accurate, up-to-date scientific and preservation management information to visitors so that they gain a greater appreciation of parks by understanding what they protect. Although the Park Service has gone to great lengths to ensure scientific information is utilized in all management decision-making, no management documents or Park Service programs currently provide practical guidance or are adequately equipped to...; Download File | View full details

A Paradigm Shift for the Science Documentary: Author: Kustusch, Christopher Michael; Date: 2007-05-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: The Science documentary exists within a very specific cultural space. It is not only separate from conventional fictional entertainment but it is also separate from the mainstream, or social documentary, tradition. The cross-blending of genres and the borrowing of technique and style from current "modern documentaries" should lead to a radical reinvention of the paradigm (i.e., a paradigm shift) of the Science/Natural History documentary. This essay will focus on three main areas of discussion: the rise of the modern documentary, a discussion exploring the characteristics of the curr...; Download File | View full details

The Power and Potential of Performative Documentary Film: Author: Little, John Arthur; Date: 2007-05-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: In this thesis, I argue the performative mode of documentary Filmmaking is an emerging, intrinsically powerful and virtually unexplored weapon in the arsenal of Science documentary. Through selected theoretical and academic writings, I examine origins and pathways of documentary film that ultimately lead to the performative documentary. I contrast the performative mode against a common paradigm that documentary, and particularly Science documentary, demands a filmic text that embraces traditional conventions of narrative, realism, empiricism, causality and evidentiary truth claims. I then anal...; Download File | View full details

Ecstatic Truth through Fiction: Re-framing the Science Film to Engage a Wider Audience: Author: Smith, Elizabeth Ann; Date: 2007-05-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: Americans obtain a majority of their information about Science through Science films, primarily in the form of documentaries on television. However, despite the recent proliferation of these films, there is much discussion in the Science Filmmaking community about how ineffective these films have been lately at informing the public about Science and compelling viewers to act. It is time to look at the underlying definitions of the genre from a different perspective and determine whether the current standards are the best way to successfully convey messages about Science to the widest audience....; Download File | View full details

Animal Viewing in Postmodern America: A Case Study of the Yellowstone Wolf Watchers: Author: Young, Jo Anne; Date: 2007-05-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to examine the American relationship with wildlife by way of a case study of the Yellowstone wolf watchers. The American relationship with nature and animals changed at a never before seen rate during the modern era because of capitalism and industrialization. Our relationship with animals is now idealized and distorted, and we constantly mourn their loss from our everyday lives. Although we keep the animal in a state of perpetual dying by representations in mass media globally, zoos, parks and pets, these actions are more to further enforce their marginalization ...; Download File | View full details

Beyond Words: The Use of the Non-Verbal Genre in Natural History Filmmaking: Author: Haywood, Keene McDonald; Date: 2007-08-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: Natural History Filmmaking has a History that begins with the advent of cinematography as a form of artistic and documentary expression. Natural History Filmmaking has increasingly used techniques of fiction, drama and anthropomorphizing to represent the Natural world in storytelling. This paper will examine the use of the nonverbal form of Filmmaking as an alternative style that can be used to effectively document Natural History using a more lyrical, poetic and often more thoughtful style. This work examines previous works in the non-verbal genre and discusses how this style compares with hi...; Download File | View full details

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