Charbonneau, Stephen

The animated screendance presents a meaningful experience through the medium of cinema as seen emerging from Mickey Mouse’s early cartoons, Silly Symphony’s experiments, and Fantasia (1940). The core focus of this research investigates the emotional and affective identifications of the audience engendered through the qualities of animation and the screendance. Drawing from the theories of the animated screendance, a term that shows how cinema can construct affective characters across the artistry of their inherent dance, I argue that these films elicit new understandings of the choreographed body. This is derived through the lens of artistic cartoon animation along with the emotional experience of the spectator by examining the critical body, dance, and film practices that form these bonds. Taking a qualitative approach by analyzing the many films in question through robust textual analysis while including theory on mythological narrative and physiognomy brings us to associate the elements of the body and screendance that influence culture and society. The reason for this approach leads us to recognize the importance of the animated dancing body as an imaginative form that can be controlled and manipulated by the pre-conceived ideas of the animators and human labor dictating these images. The screendance also provides additional layers of signification by including the construction of narrative and psychology through the processes of cinematography and editing, which is further placed onto these characters to increase their believability and emotional connection. All the bodies in question have similar elements that refer back to the human referent and focus on the choreographies that create meaning for these beings. The findings indicate that audiences are emotionally connected to the animated dancing characters on the screen through the importance placed on the representation of human form and cinematic structure to create memories and magic.

This thesis presents an analysis of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws and the film’s depiction of nature. This analysis will show that the film derives horror from the depiction of nature encroaching on human spaces. Through the film’s depictions of shark attacks, it forces viewers to confront their own edibility. The filmmaking techniques place humans on the other side of the eater/eaten binary, and present humans a prey. Similarly, the depictions of environments show the presence of nature as a disruption to the film’s established visual style. This thesis asserts film analysis as a necessary tool in understanding the nature/culture binary and how film narratives can contribute to this division.

Realism, defined by its most influential theorist André Bazin has been, and continues to be, a dominant and defining cinematic discourse. However, the lack of regard for animation is in need of retrospection. No genre of film adheres more to the original principles of cinema’s intention than animation, yet it is discredited because of its derivative form. The purpose of this paper is to propose a redefinition of the
impression of reality in cinema to create inclusion and space for animation and new, emerging technologies. This reality, redefined, is divided into two categories: the carbon and the constructed. Analyzed through three key identifiers of film—photography, motion, and physical mechanisms—animation is a modern example of early filmmakers’ intent, demonstrated by my short film, Libby.

With the short film, Jugular Region, I intended to cross over to the narrative world of filmmaking by developing an idea in sync with experimental filmmaking, special effect makeup and the body-horror genre. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to expose how, by using an original body-horror genre screenplay as a platform to gather imagery, I was able to fully develop the verisimilitude of the film through SFX makeup and a surrealist editing style. This paper is also dedicated to the step-by-step thought process and my artistic practice that led to the creation of this unique filmic universe.

This study investigates the phenomenon of intersectionality between race and
gender on the lived experiences of African American female broadcast journalists in the
state of Florida. Seven in-depth interviews were conducted and compared to determine
reoccurring themes taking place throughout each participant’s experience in broadcast
journalism as a result of their race and gender. Race, appearance, racial mentoring, and
professional advancement were the common themes that emerged in each interview.
Although there is a significant amount of research on African American women in the
workplace, there is a greater need to focus on the field of broadcast journalism and the
African American women who work in this field. Previous research on African American
women in the workplace shows that women of color experience different work
environments and treatment. The findings suggest African American female broadcast
journalists experience a different work environment compared to their colleagues due to
the intersection of race and gender.
This study investigates the phenomenon of intersectionality between race and
gender on the lived experiences of African American female broadcast journalists in the
state of Florida. Seven in-depth interviews were conducted and compared to determine
reoccurring themes taking place throughout each participant’s experience in broadcast
journalism as a result of their race and gender. Race, appearance, racial mentoring, and
professional advancement were the common themes that emerged in each interview.
Although there is a significant amount of research on African American women in the
workplace, there is a greater need to focus on the field of broadcast journalism and the
African American women who work in this field. Previous research on African American
women in the workplace shows that women of color experience different work
environments and treatment. The findings suggest African American female broadcast
journalists experience a different work environment compared to their colleagues due to
the intersection of race and gender.
This study investigates the phenomenon of intersectionality between race and
gender on the lived experiences of African American female broadcast journalists in the
state of Florida. Seven in-depth interviews were conducted and compared to determine
reoccurring themes taking place throughout each participant’s experience in broadcast
journalism as a result of their race and gender. Race, appearance, racial mentoring, and
professional advancement were the common themes that emerged in each interview.
Although there is a significant amount of research on African American women in the
workplace, there is a greater need to focus on the field of broadcast journalism and the
African American women who work in this field. Previous research on African American
women in the workplace shows that women of color experience different work
environments and treatment. The findings suggest African American female broadcast
journalists experience a different work environment compared to their colleagues due to
the intersection of race and gender.

Despite efforts to mitigate texting and driving in the United States, accidents as a
result of distracted driving continue to increase, especially within the 16-24 age group.
Considering the traits of the members of this age group, as well as the attributes of the
various means that are utilized to mitigate such behavior, I hypothesize that the
employment of filmed narratives in public service announcements is more effective than
any other established approach. Testing the validity of this hypothesis, contributing to a
lack of research, three methods of analysis were employed in this project: a textual
analysis of a filmed narrative; an audience analysis of the comments accompanying the
filmed narrative; and a video session followed by a self-administered questionnaire. The
results of this study indicate that while the filmed narrative is more effective than the
spoken narrative, more intensive analyses are necessary for further speculation.

Within the past thirty years, privacy concerns among American citizens are rising
with counter-terrorist surveillance going beyond targeting people of interest. These
concerns are reflected in American cinema where many contemporary films have
explored surveillance in society. The textual analyses presented in the thesis will focus on
three such films, Strange Days (1995), Southland Tales (2005), and Nightcrawler (2014).
Throughout this thesis, I examine how each of these films offers a unique, reflexive take
on surveillance, adhering to generative mechanisms that evoke differing attitudes about
surveillance through their form. My analysis draws on Laura Mulvey and Patricia Pisters’
theories on the gaze to understand the politics of looking in contemporary surveillance
cinema and highlight how cinematic scopophilia evolved into a networked perspective.
My analysis suggests that the politics of surveillance cinema is reflected in these films as
their differences mirror the changing perception of surveillance and the gaze over time.

This dissertation examines how the Global Peace Film Festival of Orlando, Florida, facilitates the construction of cosmopolitan identities within the context of humanitarianism and activism. An expansion of the notion of "peace"to include multiple levels of meaning is crucial to the identity of the festival, as it allows the screening of an array of films that appeal to the broad range of spectators and community organizations that interact with the event. Within the context of the Global Peace Film Festival, various discourses surrounding peace participate in the process of cognitively mapping the world and situating the self within it as a cosmopolitan citizen. The centrality of the self is key to understanding how audiences create solidarity with the other, and how they might choose to respond to appeals for humanitarian aid. The contemporary humanitarian imaginary builds solidarity between the viewer and the other-in-need in a manner that is rooted in self-reflection, creating an ironic spectator of vulnerable others and setting the stage for solutions to humanitarian problems that fit into personal lifestyle choices. This study examines the complexity inherent to the articulation between producers, audiences and films, and how meaning is negotiated on a local level. Witnessing and testimonial are key practices for engaging spectators, and the testimonial encounter has a transformative power for audiences that may be channeled into various responses to calls for action. An emerging practice is significant as well, a new situatedness of the documentary filmmaker as a central figure in the promotion of both films and humanitarian causes. This practice provides a role for the filmmaker as both entrepreneur and activist, easing the tension between the goals of humanitarianism and capitalistic concerns, while positioning the film as a tool rather than an aesthetic object and echoing the preeminence of self in our contemporary society. The Global Peace Film festival takes an innovative approach to promoting change, moving from a traditional exhibition model to an "engagement" model that focuses on the involvement of the local community.

The superhero film genre has recently witnessed a reinvention of the girl sidekick.
Instead of falling back on the perpetuated and well-known stereotypes of female
heroines, recent offerings have allowed for several strong and innovative female
characters to emerge. This close textual analysis of specific feminist examples from the
films, Kick-Ass (2010), Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010), and X-Men: First Class
(2012), examines young heroines as having feminist tendencies in a postfeminist
moment. This analysis employs aspects of film theory, feminist theory, and also focuses
on adaptation as a potentially powerful and problematic tenant of the films. Through this
thesis, I contend that while none of these characters are positioned or marketed as
specifically feminist, their collective resistance to hegemonic ideals underscores a
movement towards articulating the failings of postfeminism in contemporary girlhood.