School of Film and TV - Theses
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ItemDumbstruck: lessons in silence( 2018)I write and make silent films – the kind where trees fall silently in the forest whether you are there or not. This practice-led thesis, DUMBSTRUCK: Lessons in Silence, examines the creative possibilities that this anachronistic practice offers contemporary filmmakers and screenwriters, arguing that taking away synchronous sound encourages authors to re-imagine cinematic story space as a physical, even sculptural place, not one driven by text-based tales alone. Through the presentation of a feature screenplay, a short film and an accompanying exegesis, DUMBSTRUCK: Lessons in Silence will investigate what it is to write ‘silence’, what it is to shoot ‘silence’ and what it is to critically consider ‘silence’. And how might the anachronistic practice of silent filmmaking offer contemporary filmmakers and screenwriters new ways to imagine cinematic story space and foster different ways of knowing?
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ItemChaos, order and uncertainty when writing narrative for animation( 2017)Advocating rules for inventing stories circumvents the complete experiences of writing. How can the writer best embrace uncertainty, draw on the known and expose their work to enlivening spontaneity? This research examines four animation projects written under different conditions using different approaches to making the narrative. Each work gradually leads to a direct approach, bringing the writing experience closer to the act of animating.
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ItemWhat makes a filmmaker make films? A theoretical model & analytical method for the interrogation of filmmaking practice( 2014)Scholarly research on filmmaking practice from a filmmaker’s point of view is rare, with existing studies mostly focusing on the making of feature films. The research presented in this thesis demonstrates that it is both possible and useful to systematically describe, structure, and assess the significance of some of the more notable factors that affect and shape a much broader range of filmmaking practices, the impulses that motivate them, and the films they generate. Part I of this thesis addresses the theoretically-based Research Question 1: "What is a theoretical model for the analysis of filmmaking practice that is: 1) from a filmmaker’s point of view; 2) comprehensive; and 3) structured and systematic?" After establishing that there are no existing models of filmmaking or any other creative practice that meet these three criteria, a new theoretical model called the Practice-Space Model of Filmmaking is proposed and described. This model is sited within a cross-disciplinary theoretical framework that draws on elements of existential phenomenology psychology, Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of the “sociology of power”, Storper and Salais’ economic theory of “worlds of production”, and the Hindu notion of purushartha or “goals of life”, as modernised by Mohandas Gandhi. Part II of this thesis addresses the empirically-based Research Question 2: "Can the Practice-Space Model of Filmmaking: 1) be operationalised; and 2) be useful in the analysis of Chris Warner’s filmmaking practice between January 1978 and December 1991?" Utilising an analytic autoethnographic case study method and cross-modal data collection, the operationalisation of the analytical method associated with the Practice-Space Model introduced in Part I is demonstrated by applying it to a 14-year period in the author’s own filmmaking practice in Australia, during which he was the sole or joint filmmaker of nine completed films and two uncompleted film projects. The results of this analysis of a limited section of Australian filmmaking practice demonstrate that the Practice-Space Model of Filmmaking is both practicable and useful, and suggest the basis for more broadly-applicable further iterations of the Model.