School of Film and TV - Theses
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ItemDocumentary access: an examination of access in the production of the observational and participatory documentary in the commissioned environment (based on "Community Cop"[Gaynor 2009])( 2012)Documentary Access is a practice-based analysis of the issue of access in the observational and participatory documentary filmmaking modes (as proposed by documentary theorist Bill Nichols in Representing Reality [Nichols 1991]) and the meeting of stakeholder expectations. Nichols’ modes identify particular traits and conventions of different documentary styles. Access is central to the observational and participatory modes because content and narrative form is derived from the filmmaker’s direct and unscripted access to people, events and places. The analyses of what this access signifies in a formalised filmic sense, provides a key to understanding what the recorded content delivers in terms of the filmic narrative, stakeholder expectations and possible conflicts between these two elements. The study is based on methodologies developed and data gathered during the creation of a fifty-two minute broadcast documentary Community Cop (Gaynor 2009). The creative work follows the Community Liaison Officer at the Flemington Police station and members of the local African Australian community as they strive to resolve long term conflicts. The field study and dissertation reveal and analyse issues in the evaluation of access from both a filmic and stakeholder perspective that can have serious implications for filmmakers working in the observational and participatory modes. This dissertation proposes a set of references for analysing types and implications of access and proposes a set of responses to the often-inevitable clash between proposition and actuality in these modes.
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ItemTime sense: cultural difference and the creation, construction and reception of animated film( 2012)This dissertation explores cultural differences in animated film production, investigating the influence of the filmmaker and viewer in the creation, the construction and the sensibility of film. A notion of inter-subjective time is applied to the discussion of microscopic and macroscopic perception of animation movement via 20th century philosophers, such as Edmund Husserl (1859-1938), Henri Bergson (1859-1941), J.M.E. McTaggart (1866-1925), Martin Heidegger (1889-1976), Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961) and Gilles Deleuze (1925-1995). This is an exploration of scientific perspectives of time as well as an investigation of cultural differences in the intentionality and the direction of time to the discussion of international animation phenomena. Understanding animation as an intersection of human perception, cultural and social movement, the author introduces his theoretical notion, time-sense, which is a combination of subjective and inter-subjective time, giving rise to archetype and our awareness of the quality of slowness and fastness of movement and its tracked shape, this dissertation reconsiders the influence of complex phenomenon of hybridized time-sense, and its close relationship to the microscopic movement of Japanese animation film. Focusing on the temporal space or ma used in anime series Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011), the animated film Spirited Away (2001) and The Sky Crawlers (2008) as well as the movement of Hatsune Miku and Japanese video sharing website Nico Nico Dôga, this thesis identifies a cross-cultural/ intercultural time theory in search of more specific understanding of differences and similarities between cultures particularly as it relates to animation.
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Item“Kill Bigfoot”: constructing a cinematic relationship between character, the city and nature( 2012)The purpose of my research is to explore the relationship between representations of cinematic space and character in dramatic fiction film. Specifically, my focus is on representations of city dystopias and natural landscapes in dramas that investigate human nature. This dissertation is an examination of the issues encountered in drawing from this research during the writing of Kill Bigfoot, a scenario whose narrative takes place across these two worlds: the urban dystopia of a future New York, and the natural word of the Australian wilderness. It includes the motivation, influences, interests and methodology that guided my writing process, and a discussion of the core ideas that underpin my work. The qualitative, practice-led research undertaken during my masters consisted of analysing films that have used representations of the natural world and cities to explore the human condition, as well as the study of texts on film, philosophy, religion and myth. Picnic at Hanging Rock, Blade Runner, Brazil, Children of Men and Taxi Driver were focal points for my research, as were the films of Terrence Malick and Werner Herzog. My research regarding representations of dystopias on screen inevitably included work on cities and urbanity on screen, from both internal (the experience of the inhabitants of these spaces) and external (the design of these spaces) perspectives. Thomas Hobbes on human nature, and then George Simmel, Henri Lefebvre and Marc Augé on cities, urbanity, modernity and post-modernity, were critical to my research and to the development of Part One of Kill Bigfoot. Turning to the natural world of Part Two, the ideas of Martin Lefebvre were most influential. Friedrich Nietzsche and the various Vienna Schools of psychoanalysis shaped my understanding of my protagonist Bill’s driving need, which was the substantive link between the two parts of Kill Bigfoot, his inner world that is at the heart of the drama, and our own world. My study ultimately considers the interrelationship between the dramatisation of character, cinematic space and ideas of human nature in film dystopias. The research indicates that not all filmmakers explore this relationship in the development of their scripts or the use of settings in their films. However, for those filmmakers who do so through the use of dystopic cities, it often expresses a point of view on the competing forces within us that shape the world, and how the same world shapes us. Understanding our urban point of view (or “gaze”) required Bill to enter the counterpoint of his dystopic city – the natural landscape of Australia. My study therefore also involves observations about the representation of the natural world in cinema and its relationship to our inner nature.
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ItemLesbian film directors and their pursuit to successful film careers in a mainstream world( 2012)Over the past twenty years there has been an explosion of queer cinema and TV. Queer film festivals have multiplied, DVD distribution and online social networks have expanded, making queer films more accessible. However, lesbian filmmakers struggle to generate enough support to complete films that include lesbian content. This research investigates the social and historical barriers facing lesbian film directors and addresses the opportunities available through queer film festivals, queer audiences and online distribution pathways. It consists of two parts: a short animation film entitled The Confession of Father John Thomas (2011), and a written thesis. The Confession of Father John Thomas is a five-minute overtly queer animation film. The content and history of its trajectory through film festivals and the distribution process is directly linked to my key investigation. The written thesis investigates a perceived lack of social and economic support and recognition for lesbian directors who make films with discernible lesbian-themed content and asks what does it take for them to become successful in the mainstream film industry? To find answers to this central question, several local and international lesbian film directors were evaluated and interviewed. Their responses, writings and film work provide much useful anecdotal, personal and hard factual evidence of the perceived lack of social and economic support and recognition for lesbian directors. However this study affirms that in fact creating films authentic to the directors own beliefs and perspective are most likely to successfully break through these difficulties. Queer Film Festivals were found to have an essential and vital role in the support of filmmakers not only within this niche but also with mainstream markets. The thesis finds many useful ways in which digital production and distribution processes can assist lesbian film directors. These new avenues are explored, and address issues of audience access, recognition and new means of funding film productions.