Browsing by Department "Radio-Television-Film"

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3D (embodied) projection mapping and sensing bodies : a study in interactive dance performance
(2016-12) Beira, Joao Filipe; Strover, Sharon; Pennycook, Bruce, 1949-; Sharir, Yacov; Coelho, António; Penha, Rui
This dissertation identifies the synergies between physical and virtual environments when designing for immersive experiences in interactive dance performances. The integration of virtual information in physical space is transforming our interactions and experiences with the world. By using the body and creative expression as the interface between real and virtual worlds, dance performance creates a privileged framework to research and design interactive mixed reality environments and immersive augmented architectures. The research is primarily situated in the fields of visual art and interaction design. It combines performance with transdisciplinary fields and intertwines practice with theory. The theoretical and conceptual implications involved in designing and experiencing immersive hybrid environments are analyzed using the reality–virtuality continuum. These theories helped frame the ways augmented reality architectures are achieved through the integration of dance performance with digital software and reception displays. They also helped identify the main artistic affordances and restrictions in the design of augmented reality and augmented virtuality environments for live performance. These pervasive media architectures were materialized in three field experiments, the live dance performances. Each performance was created in three different stages of conception, design and production. The first stage was to “digitize” the performer’s movement and brain activity to the virtual environment and our system. This was accomplished through the use of depth sensor cameras, 3D motion capture, and brain computer interfaces. The second stage was the creation of the computational architecture and software that aggregates the connections and mapping between the physical body and the spatial dynamics of the virtual environment. This process created real-time interactions between the performer’s behavior and motion and the real-time generative computer 3D graphics. Finally, the third stage consisted of the output modality: 3D projector based augmentation techniques were adopted in order to overlay the virtual environment onto physical space. This thesis proposes and lays out theoretical, technical, and artistic frameworks between 3D digital environments and moving bodies in dance performance. By sensing the body and the brain with the 3D virtual environments, new layers of augmentation and interactions are established, and ultimately this generates mixed reality environments for embodied improvisational self-expression.
501(c)Social video series : social media best practices for nonprofits in the digital age
(2012-12) Cool, Bailey Anne; Watkins, S. Craig (Samuel Craig)
This video series and report act as an educational tool to help small to mid-sized nonprofits use social media in the most beneficial way for their organization, by offering advice and tactics based on actual stories from nonprofits in Austin, Texas. As the landscape of marketing and media changes, nonprofits must be willing to utilize social media for their development strategies, event planning, volunteer recruitment and engagement, and have an up to date social media policy. Six nonprofit organizations tell their success stories and discuss the importance of integrating social media into their marketing strategies and campaigns.
8.BIT.BROS
(2011-08) Salinas, Rogelio Manuel; Garrison, Andrew; Howard, Donald W.; Kelban, Stuart D.; Berg, Charles E.; Stekler, Paul J.
The following report describes the pre-production, production, and post-production of the short film, 8.BIT.BROS, designed from its inception to fully exploit the years-developed, cumulative and varied skills of its director. The fantastical narrative focuses on the strained emotional dynamic between two adult brothers that have yet to come to terms with having witnessed their father’s death as children. Their trauma is dramatized and encapsulated in the videogame-themed psychotic hallucinations of the film’s protagonist. The director’s specialized skill-set was put to practical use in both the creation of animatronic creature effect, “Commander Gorgo,” and during the post-production phase of the film, wherein green screen compositing, animation, and motion graphics were used at length to bring the narrative life.
A boy and his dog story : writing Bowhouse
(2017-08-11) Scott, Jason Randall; Kelban, Stuart; McCreery, Cindy
The following report details the writing process of the feature script Bowhouse, involving but not limited to the project’s conception, outlining, writing, and rewriting stages.
A father’s love : an examination of how you can use your childhood trauma and turn it into a television pilot from idea to third draft
(2023-08) Ward, Chakadra Monaye; McCreery, Cindy
This comprehensive report chronicles the captivating journey of A Father’s Love, from its initial conception to the third draft of the pilot episode and show bible. Delving into the creative process, it sheds light on the writer’s remarkable growth during the enriching two years she spent at the University of Texas. Beyond charting the project’s development, this report includes notes from the writer’s committee, outlines from multiple drafts, and a character reference guide, the report illuminates the writer’s personal journey. With its vibrant exploration of the creative process and the writer’s transformative experience, the report stands as a testament to the dedication, resilience, and the pursuit of excellence in the realm of artistic expression.
A movie full of arsenic : evolving reception and canon formation through Sweet smell of success
(2019-05-09) Margolis, Katrina Gray; Fuller-Seeley, Kathryn
This thesis examines how and why a film’s reception can change over time, focusing on the case study of Hecht-Hill-Lancaster’s Sweet Smell of Success (1957). In investigating the film’s production, this project aims to demonstrate the shared and dispersed authorship of the film. Utilizing trade journals, popular press, archival materials, and biographies and memoirs, this project traces the reception of the film from its initial release to the present, focusing on the period of the Hollywood Renaissance when Sweet Smell of Success was re-evaluated by audiences. To this end, the project additionally investigates the notion of canon, interrogating how canons are made and the ways in which they evolve. Drawing from work in production studies and reception studies, this project aims to understand the importance of historical context and resonance in a film’s cultural placement, and the implications this has on film canonization.
"A singular fusion of taste and edge" : A24 and the indie sector in the 2010s
(2021-05-07) Briggs, Ryan David; Schatz, Thomas, 1948-
This thesis uses A24, an independent film and television company, as a case study to examine the American indie sector during the 2010s. Employing discursive analysis of trade and popular press outlets, industrial analysis of Conglomerate Hollywood, textual and genre analyses of individual films, and paratextual analysis of marketing and branding strategies, this study reveals continuities and changes in the indie sector during a decade of record global box office grosses and the continued consolidation of the media industries. This thesis lays out the state of the multi-tiered indie sector throughout the decade. This includes the mini-conglomerate Lionsgate, conglomerate-owned specialty divisions like Focus Features, and genuine independents like A24. I also argue that by cultivating a unique brand that catered to young Millennials, Generation Z-ers, and cinephiles, A24 became the leading tastemaker in the indie sector over the course of the 2010s. The company accomplished this by refining a house style that encompassed elevated genre films, prestigious realist dramas, and quirky dark comedies. This house style points to notable differences in indie film culture from the Sundance-Miramax era, when leading indie companies kept genre and prestige indie films under separate divisions. A24 also released a number of coming-of-age films that targeted young audiences. Finally, the company demonstrated a commitment to auteur filmmaking in order to create long lasting relationships with key talent and simultaneously appeal to cinephile audiences and indie film culture. Throughout this study I also track the evolving interdependent relationship between streaming platforms and indie cinema throughout the decade. A24’s production and licensing deals with companies like Amazon and Apple exemplify the ways in which the indie and streaming sectors have become deeply intertwined during the 2010s. The addition of the streaming giants to Conglomerate Hollywood and the indie sector underscores further fundamental changes to indie film culture from previous eras studied by scholars.
ABC and Shondaland : continuity and change in post-network broadcasting’s online audience strategies
(2022-07-13) McTiernan, Emily; Perren, Alisa; Scott, Suzanne
This thesis traces the evolution of broadcasting in the post-network era by looking at ABC and Shondaland’s online audience strategies in the mid-2000s and 2010s. Through this examination, I assess the diverse industry motivations driving how broadcasting dealt with a changing media landscape at different historical moments. This thesis demonstrates how broadcast television used new media strategies to encourage traditional broadcast modes of consumption during a time of dramatic upheaval for both the industry and its audiences. Broadcasters publicly framed their audience in ways that represented their desire to protect their legacy business model. Their online audience strategies, including online content distribution and second-screen engagement, were adopted incrementally and only when necessary to retain their audiences, while being used to support traditional practices and normative audience segments. Online content distribution was framed as a way to protect their industry relationships with advertisers and shareholders while second-screen experiences were used to direct audiences back to linear, live viewing. In doing so, these strategies ultimately revolved around promoting economically valuable viewing behaviors and “quality” audiences. This thesis enriches media industries and television studies scholarship by providing a larger historical context regarding how legacy broadcast networks continually repositioned their audience to sustain continuity of traditional broadcast practices and remain dominant in the larger media landscape for as long as possible.
Abu Ghraib and torture porn cinema : how the Saw, Hostel, and I Spit on Your Grave series manifested social fears of torture following the release of the Abu Ghraib photographs
(2015-05) Rico, Andrew Ryan; Schatz, Thomas, 1948-; Bock, Mary A
This qualitative study examines how the 'torture porn' film franchises Saw (2004-2010), Hostel (2006, 2007), and I Spit on Your Grave (2010, 2013) manifested societal fears of torture following the release of the Abu Ghraib photographs in April of 2004. These photos depicted U.S. soldiers torturing and sexually humiliating Iraqi prisoners and served as a flashpoint within a larger narrative on torture, morality, and the War on Terror. This study is divided into two main chapters: a textual analysis and a paratextual analysis. The textual analysis chapter examines the major thematic connections between the three torture porn series and the issues surrounding Abu Ghraib, and is supported by a study of the stylistic choices of each movie and how these choices supported key themes from Abu Ghraib by challenging viewers' identification with characters. The second chapter examines Abu Ghraib iconography present in torture porn to consider how symbolic imagery such as the Hooded Man photo manifested larger social issues of torture, as well as how this iconography permeated the public sphere via graphic movie posters and suggestive trailers that encouraged Western viewers to address the threat of torture at a paratextual level. Previous research has examined how the horror genre adapted to a post-9/11 society, though far fewer studies have directly connected these movies to the events at Abu Ghraib. This study contributes to existing literature by combining the two research methods to consider how the Saw, Hostel, and I Spit on Your Grave torture porn series not only continued the horror genre's tradition of tapping into social anxieties, but also how these movies pushed this relationship into a more direct place by exploiting fears of torture following Abu Ghraib.
Acquiring knowledge of digital video manipulation techniques and its effect on the perceived credibility of television news
(2007-12) Stavchansky, Arie L., 1977-; Strover, Sharon; Wilkins, Karin Gwinn, 1962-
The present research study investigated the perceived credibility of television news in relationship to the acquisition of knowledge of digital video compositing techniques. An experiment was carried out to verify if acquiring knowledge of digital video post-production techniques affected the perceived credibility of television news. Instrumentation for the experiment included a video stimulus produced with a readily available digital video compositing software package as well as an online post-test questionnaire. A scale for perceived credibility of television news was constructed based on a frequently used operationalization of the concept of credibility. Findings showed that after subjects acquired knowledge of digital video post production techniques, their perception of television news credibility was less than subjects who did not acquire knowledge of digital video post production techniques. Also, the amount of education a subject possessed played a significant role in how he or she perceived the credibility of television news. Frequency of television news consumption, familiarity with digital imaging software tools, and academic background were also examined in relationship to perceived credibility of television news. Implications are explained for improving media literacy education, protecting television news credibility, and designing media effects experiments.
Active citizen participation online : a typology for evaluating online civic participation projects
(2011-12) Hennigan, Sean Christopher; Stein, Laura Lynn, 1965-; Doty, Philip
Communications scholars recognize two related trends in twenty-first century politics: the rise of information and communications technologies promising major changes in civic participation and a growing disconnection between citizens and their governments. The coexistence of these trends raises some interesting questions about the role of ICTs for enabling new forms of civic participation. How can new technologies better enable civic participation? This report proposes a typology for evaluating online civic participation projects that allows researchers to analyze the goals, designs, and outcomes of particular projects. The typology also incorporates Arnstein’s (1969) ladder of citizen participation in order to enumerate the relationships between the project’s goals and its outcomes and to provide a flexible model for understanding the democratic conceptualizations manifested in particular projects. The report analyzes three online civic participation projects, highlighting their innovations and discussion their levels of citizen participation. The analyses suggest that a project’s goals, designs and outcomes are related to, and inform, its desired and realized levels of citizen participation. The review also suggests clarifications to Arnstein’s ladder for future use in understanding online civic participation. The report’s evaluative typology can aid in the interpretation of past online civic participation projects and guide the conceptualization and implementation of future projects in order to facilitate the development of more direct connections between citizens and governments and more open and transparent democratic governance structures.
Admen and the shaping of American commercial broadcasting, 1926-50
(2005) Meyers, Cynthia Barbara; Schatz, Thomas
The  advertising industry  made  significant  contributions  to the development  of  American  commercial  broadcasting during  the  “Golden  Age”  of radio, roughly  the  late  1920s through  the  1940s.  “Admen”  not  only  helped develop  broadcasting  as  an  advertisin g medium,  they  also  produced  the  majority of  prime‑time  network  programs,  such  as  Show  Boat, Town  Hall  Tonight,  and  The Jack  Benny  Program , and  day time  serials,  such  as  Stella  Dallas,  Ma Perkins,  and  Just Plain  Bill.   This  dissertation,  based  on  an  extensive  review  of  surviving  network and  agency  materials,  describes  the  complicated,  often conflicted,  activities  of admen  as  they  sought  to  develop  radio  as  an  entertainment  and  advertising medium  while  balancing  the  competing  demands  of  advertisers,  networks, performers,  and  audiences.   The  Depression  forced  broadcasters  to  seek  program financing  from  advertisers,  who  turned  to  advertising  agencies  to  over see  the complexities  of  integrating  their  advertising  into  entertainment.   Relationships between  networks  and  agencies  evolved  to  manage  the  ongoing  conflicts  over program  control  and  advertising  standards.   Meanwhile,  admen  struggled  to develop  new  techniques  fo r radio , focusing  on  “showmanship”  as  a  set  of strategies  to  be  applied  to  both  entertainment  and  advertising.   Some  advertising agencies,  such  as  Blackett‑Sample‑Hummert,  employed the  “hard sell,” emphasizing  product  claims  and  “reasons  why”  to  buy,  while  other  agencies, such  as  Young & Rubicam,  relied  on  humorous  and  indirect  appeals,  or  the “soft sell.”  These  advertising  strategies  carried  over  into the  agencies ’ programming. At  the  height  of  the  radio   era, advertising  agencies  expanded  into  Hollywood  to oversee  star‑studded  radio  entertainment  programs,  including  Lux  Radio  Theatre, Kraft  Music  Hall,  and  Hollywood  Playhouse.    Radio  revenues  and  audiences peaked  in  1948,  the  same  year  of  the  first  network television  broadcasts.   By  the end  of  the  1950s,  because  of  increased  production  costs,  the  networks  had  taken over  most  of  the  programming  functions  handled  by advertising  agencies  during the  radio  era.   However,  this dissertation  argues  that  the  influence  of  admen  and the  advertising  industry  in  shaping  broadcasting institutions  such  as  networks and  cultural  forms  such  as program  genres  has  left  a  deep  and  significant  legacy.
The advertising construction of identity in Lebanese television
(2010-08) Nasr, Assem; Wilkins, Karin Gwinn, 1962-; Straubhaar, Joseph D.; Kackman, Michael; Kraidy, Marwan M.; Kumar, Shanti
The Middle East saw much social change in recent tumultuous decades. On one hand, some communities embraced Westernness as part of the inevitable path to development and modernization. On the other hand, there were communities that resisted global trends that were mostly dominated by the West. The latter deemed these trends as a threat to native cultures, religious groups, and local traditions. This made the Arab world a ground for constant redefinition of the meaning of identity. Of the countries in the region undergoing a turbulent debate over what constitutes national identity, Lebanon serves as a good example. Ever since its independence, Lebanon was a nation-state with no sense of nationality to unite its people. As some communities saw themselves more francophone than Arab, others felt a close connection to a pan-Arab nation. Arguably, the Lebanese people found themselves amidst a tension between the two poles. Defining one’s identity required a negotiation between the two extremes. Not only did this negotiation demand a thorough investigation of one’s beliefs, social network, and history, but it also necessitated a diligent ‘performance’ of identity. An individual represented her identity by habits and expressions that she associated with that particular identity. The study at hand is an exploration of the relationship between identity and consumption in the Lebanese society. This project applies a unique approach in that it considers the producers’ agency in the construction of identity. Taking television advertising as a site for inquiry, the study explores how commercial advertisers utilize the tension between the local and the non-local to promote the consumption of the advertised products. Through exploring the values that educate advertising producers’ choices in creating text and meaning, this study applies theories of globalization, postcolonial studies, and consumer behavior through which advertisers manifest an ambivalence of identity. Therefore, by taking Lebanon as an example and focusing on advertising, this study contributes to the debates of globalization and the Arab world by invoking questions of producers’ agency in producing identity references through attitudes, behaviors, and social status associated with the featured products.
Agents of change : Enlightened, HBO and the crisis of brand identity in the post-network era
(2014-05) Swords, Collins David; Frick, Caroline
As a result of changing cultural, economic and technological factors, television always exists in a perpetual state of transformation. The fragmentation of the mass audience and the disintegration of the network oligarchy catalyzed the emergence of a multi-channel universe and niche cable markets in the post-network era. HBO, perhaps the most successful premium cable channel to emerge during the changing TV landscape, implemented a subscription-service economic model, enabling it to produce uncensored, commercial free content unavailable on broadcast television. HBO has since been labeled as the leading purveyors of quality, auteurist-centered TV. For this report, I analyze how HBO has been constructed in the realm of academic discourse. Using Enlightened and showrunner Mike White as a case study, I examine how the series conforms to and deviates from HBO's established brand and reflects the network's struggle to redefine itself in the post-network era. Ultimately, I aim to reveal the mythologized, idealized and manufactured culture of production at HBO and examine how journalistic discourse surrounding the series presents the HBO brand identity in a state of crisis and transition.
Agnieszka Holland : challenging Holocaust memory and representation in film
(2018-10-04) Thomas, Patrick Joseph; Lichtenstein, Tatjana
The following investigation into the Holocaust films of Polish-Jewish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland aims to identify the ways in which Holland both pushes the genre forward and challenges the traditional memory of the war in Poland. Rather than adhering to formalist conventions in portraying the Holocaust in cinema, Holland breaks the genre’s representational taboos, avoiding a binary narrative and instead engaging in a morally challenging confrontation with the past. Moreover, by focusing on the shared suffering of Poles and Jews during the war and occupation, Holland’s Holocaust films recast the memory of the war to better reflect its complex and at times ambiguous nature. This critical perspective offers a reconciliatory discourse in the competing national memories of both Catholic Poles and Jewish Poles. Specifically, this investigation examines Angry Harvest, Europa Europa, and In Darkness to conclude that the Holocaust films of Agnieszka Holland present a more complete and nuanced portrait of wartime conditions during World War II in Eastern Europe, and Poland in particular.
The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema : cultivating the cult experience
(2007-05) De Ville, Donna, 1969-; Schatz, Thomas, 1948-
Creating a cinematic spectacle, an event that goes beyond the mere screening of a film to include audience participation and exhibitionism, is one of the ways the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Austin, Texas, has chosen to compete with the proliferation of home movie viewing, multiplexes, and the complacency of the contemporary media consumer. In addition to serving quality food and drinks during screenings, the Alamo has built a far-reaching reputation and dedicated fan base by tapping into and modernizing retro-style movie-going experiences (e.g., promotional gimmickry and a drive-in theater atmosphere) and imbuing it with its own idiosyncratic personality. The significance of this project, beyond the case study of an unusual theater concept, is its attempt to examine the effect of exhibition practices, programming, and a theater's personality on the reception of texts, fan behavior, and the viewer's perception of self within the imagined community. Moreover, I examine the audience's interactions with one another and those who organize Alamo events to determine the nature of the relationship between the Alamo theater and its fans, which I argue is one based on cult fandom. I also consider the role of the theater in the socio-cultural lives of its patrons and the cultural economy of Austin.
Alice
(2015-12) Zhuang, Qian; Shea, Andrew Brendan; Lewis, Deb; Schatz, Thomas
This Master’s Report chronicles the process of inception, pre-production, production and post-production for Alice, a thesis film made as part of the MFA in Film Production at The University of Texas at Austin’s RTF Program, as well as the insights gained through these stages and the course of the entire program.
All the news that's fit to print? : how the global AIDS crisis is portrayed by the American news media
(2004-12-18) Plasencia, Alia Katherine; Wilkins, Karin Gwinn, 1962-
In recent years, AIDS has become an epidemic of dire proportions, and has hit the region of sub-Saharan Africa harder than anywhere else. This thesis is intended to study the American news media, to understand how they have been portraying H.I.V., with a special focus on the differences in portrayals across regions. The thesis is a study of one year’s worth of New York Times articles about H.I.V./AIDS, beginning August 1, 2003 and ending July 31, 2004. Every article published in the New York Times during this period containing the word “H.I.V.” either in the headline or lead-in paragraph was read and coded for details such as the geographic region, focus of the article, what words were used to describe H.I.V./AIDS, and who was identified as having H.I.V./AIDS. This study found an overall lack of coverage of the issue of H.I.V./AIDS, as well as a tendency to publish articles about North America, and to portray the impoverished of the Third World as the group most likely to have H.I.V./AIDS
All the world's a soundstage : investigating metacinema
(2016-05) Gregory, Nathan Harlow; Berg, Charles Ramirez, 1947-; Schatz, Thomas G.
This thesis begins work towards a complete understanding of narrative metacinema by categorizing films that qualify as metacinema and analyzing some sample films. The categories are parody, films about stories or storytelling, and films with heavy performative and dreaming elements. The discussion revolves around how each of these categories produces films that are self-aware, as well as how the tension between fiction and truth is central to all of metacinema in different ways.
All-around
(2016-08) Martinez, Tony Joe, III; Howard, Donald Wayne; Garrison, Andrew; Berg, Charles; Lews, Deborah
This report summarizes the development, production, and post-production process of the short documentary ALL-AROUND. Shot in 2014 and finished in 2016, the film was produced as my Graduate Thesis Film in the Department of Radio-TV-Film at the University of Texas at Austin in partial fulfillment of my Master of Fine Arts in Film Production degree.