Plot? What Is Structure?
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New Media and Narratology in Cinematic Art James Anthony Ricci University of South Florida, [email protected]
University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 11-15-2015 Now, We Hear Through a Voice Darkly: New Media and Narratology in Cinematic Art James Anthony Ricci University of South Florida, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the Film and Media Studies Commons Scholar Commons Citation Ricci, James Anthony, "Now, We Hear Through a Voice Darkly: New Media and Narratology in Cinematic Art" (2015). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/6021 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Now, We Hear Through a Voice Darkly: New Media and Narratology in Cinematic Art by James A. Ricci A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of English College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Major Professor: Phillip Sipiora, Ph.D. Margit Grieb, Ph.D. Hunt Hawkins, Ph.D. Victor Peppard, Ph.D. Date of Approval: November 13, 2015 Keywords: New Media, Narratology, Manovich, Bakhtin, Cinema Copyright © 2015, James A. Ricci DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my wife, Ashlea Renée Ricci. Without her unending support, love, and optimism I would have gotten lost during the journey. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I owe many individuals much gratitude for their support and advice throughout the pursuit of my degree. -
Myth, Metatext, Continuity and Cataclysm in Dc Comics’ Crisis on Infinite Earths
WORLDS WILL LIVE, WORLDS WILL DIE: MYTH, METATEXT, CONTINUITY AND CATACLYSM IN DC COMICS’ CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS Adam C. Murdough A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS August 2006 Committee: Angela Nelson, Advisor Marilyn Motz Jeremy Wallach ii ABSTRACT Angela Nelson, Advisor In 1985-86, DC Comics launched an extensive campaign to revamp and revise its most important superhero characters for a new era. In many cases, this involved streamlining, retouching, or completely overhauling the characters’ fictional back-stories, while similarly renovating the shared fictional context in which their adventures take place, “the DC Universe.” To accomplish this act of revisionist history, DC resorted to a text-based performative gesture, Crisis on Infinite Earths. This thesis analyzes the impact of this singular text and the phenomena it inspired on the comic-book industry and the DC Comics fan community. The first chapter explains the nature and importance of the convention of “continuity” (i.e., intertextual diegetic storytelling, unfolding progressively over time) in superhero comics, identifying superhero fans’ attachment to continuity as a source of reading pleasure and cultural expressivity as the key factor informing the creation of the Crisis on Infinite Earths text. The second chapter consists of an eschatological reading of the text itself, in which it is argued that Crisis on Infinite Earths combines self-reflexive metafiction with the ideologically inflected symbolic language of apocalypse myth to provide DC Comics fans with a textual "rite of transition," to win their acceptance for DC’s mid-1980s project of self- rehistoricization and renewal. -
Write Yourself As the Antihero
Write yourself as the Antihero What is an Antihero and why do we love them? The best way to define an Antihero is to define what an anti-hero isn’t. An Antihero is not the traditional hero. A hero often has no flaws. Yes, Superman has his kryptonite, but if it were not for that, nothing would stop him. Antiheroes are more flawed than heroes simply because they are malleable and human. And, typically, their greatest flaw is what makes them relatable to readers and fun to write. Is an Antihero a Villain? Often people confuse the Antihero with the villain. Because Antiheroes might lie, cheat, murder, and steal, some say the line between the two and distinction might be subjective. Experts say that the stark difference between the Antihero and the villain is their end goal. Villains often just want to watch the world burn, or they are only out for themselves. Antiheroes usually have a justification for their choices or a noble objective that the reader can get on board with. You can make your character (YOU) both likeable and unlikeable by presenting a story that generates empathy and justifies their/your choices. Examples of Antiheroes The three types: Morally Grey Is Jack Sparrow a protagonist? (Why or why not?) Choices not favored by reader. Still likeable in his own right. Can be humorous if done right. Nonthreatening Character arc of Tyrian Lannister Low expectations from other characters. Little desire to be effectual. This changes over the course of the story arc. Villainous Walter White vs Lisbeth Salander Someone who does things what we cannot/ would not/might not do. -
Benefits of Nonlinear Storytelling in Film and Television
BENEFITS OF NONLINEAR STORYTELLING IN FILM AND TELEVISION A THESIS Presented to the University Honors Program California State University, Long Beach In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the University Honors Program Certificate Joshua Seemann Spring 2017 I, THE UNDERSIGNED MEMBER OF THE COMMITTEE, HAVE APPROVED THIS THESIS BENEFITS OF NONLINEAR STORYTELLING IN FILM AND TELEVISION BY Joshua Seemann ______________________________________________________________ Adam Moore, MFA Film and Electronic Arts California State University, Long Beach Spring 2017 Running Head: BENEFITS OF NONLINEAR STORYTELLING Abstract Screenwriters strive to create narratives that are emotionally compelling and engaging to audiences. This research explores the technique of nonlinear storytelling, focusing on what makes a film nonlinear, as well as discussing what benefits nonlinear storytelling provides to the screenwriting process. Through the analysis of three films and one television show that utilize aspects of nonlinear story structure, this study argues that linearity should be thought of as a spectrum rather than something that is categorical. In addition, this work argues that nonlinear story structure makes it easier for films to cover larger spans of time, allows screenwriters to achieve effects that would be impossible in fully linear stories, and helps writers enhance the audience’s emotional connection to scenes through implicit storytelling. This research suggests that by taking advantage of these benefits, screenwriters can create films that lend audiences an emotionally powerful viewing experience. 1 BENEFITS OF NONLINEAR STORYTELLING Benefits of Nonlinear Storytelling In Film and Television Nonlinear storytelling is a narrative technique in which the events of a story are told out of chronological order. Better understanding nonlinear story structure will help screenwriters create scripts that are more emotionally compelling than traditional linear films. -
Character Arcs—What About ‗Em?
Photo by Riccardo Romano Contents Character arcs—what about ‗em? .................................................................... 3 Starting and ending the character arc .............................................................. 3 Finding the character arc .................................................................................. 4 Shaping character arcs—the middle ................................................................ 6 Micro character arcs in scenes ......................................................................... 7 Micro character arcs in sequels ....................................................................... 8 Are character arcs necessary? .......................................................................... 9 Character arcs and gender .............................................................................. 10 Everything you ever wanted to know about character arcs .......................... 11 Why characters should arc ............................................................................. 11 Finding your character arc ............................................................................. 12 Developing the character arc ......................................................................... 13 Testing out your character arc beginning ....................................................... 14 The middle of the character arc ...................................................................... 14 Ending the character arc ............................................................................... -
Tenth Lecture Flashback: Significance of Flashback in Literature the Flashback in the Old Man and the Sea
Tenth Lecture Flashback: A flashback is defined as an interruption in the present of a vivid memory set in the past. There are a variety of things that can cause a flashback to occur, which include songs, food, people, places, or similar events to those in the past. Through flashbacks, we are able to reflect upon experiences we have had in life, both positive and negative, and apply them to the present. Flashback is one of the most popular literary devices used in writing . A flashback typically is implemented by: The narrator tells another character about past events The narrator has a dream about past events The narrator thinks back to past events, revealing the information only to the reader The narrator reads a letter that prompts back to an earlier time Significance of Flashback in Literature Authors use flashbacks in their works for many different reasons. One key reason is to fill in elements of one or more characters’ backstories. Flashbacks can help the reader understand certain motivations that were otherwise unclear, or provide characterization in other ways. Flashbacks can also create suspense or add structure to a story. Some authors have chosen to tell their stories entirely in flashback, such as in Homer’s Odyssey, in which Odysseus tells his story to a listener, or Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, in which the character Marlow tells his fellow sailors about a journey he once took up the Congo River. Other authors, like Kurt Vonnegut in Slaughterhouse Five and Julio Cortázar in Rayuela, choose to tell their stories completely out of chronological order. -
Crossmedia Adaptation and the Development of Continuity in the Dc Animated Universe
“INFINITE EARTHS”: CROSSMEDIA ADAPTATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONTINUITY IN THE DC ANIMATED UNIVERSE Alex Nader A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS May 2015 Committee: Jeff Brown, Advisor Becca Cragin © 2015 Alexander Nader All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Jeff Brown, Advisor This thesis examines the process of adapting comic book properties into other visual media. I focus on the DC Animated Universe, the popular adaptation of DC Comics characters and concepts into all-ages programming. This adapted universe started with Batman: The Animated Series and comprised several shows on multiple networks, all of which fit into a shared universe based on their comic book counterparts. The adaptation of these properties is heavily reliant to intertextuality across DC Comics media. The shared universe developed within the television medium acted as an early example of comic book media adapting the idea of shared universes, a process that has been replicated with extreme financial success by DC and Marvel (in various stages of fruition). I address the process of adapting DC Comics properties in television, dividing it into “strict” or “loose” adaptations, as well as derivative adaptations that add new material to the comic book canon. This process was initially slow, exploding after the first series (Batman: The Animated Series) changed networks and Saturday morning cartoons flourished, allowing for more opportunities for producers to create content. References, crossover episodes, and the later series Justice League Unlimited allowed producers to utilize this shared universe to develop otherwise impossible adaptations that often became lasting additions to DC Comics publishing. -
Reverse Backstory Tool
REVERSE BACKSTORY TOOL Filling in this Reverse Backstory Tool for your characters will help you understand the big picture: what they want and need, what motivates them, what their backstories might be. Planning out their wounds and the lies they tell themselves will also help you choose what traits might help them succeed and which will get in the way. Plotting this information in the brainstorming stage (or even as you revise, to add depth to your character) will help you determine what sensitive areas to target, creating challenges for your hero. © Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi, 2013 1 http://writershelpingwriters.net PRAISE FOR THE EMOTION THESAURUS “One of the challenges a fiction writer faces, especially when prolific, is coming up with fresh ways to describe emotions. This handy compendium fills that need. It is both a reference and a brainstorming tool, and one of the resources I'll be turning to most often as I write my own books.” ~ James Scott Bell, best-selling author of Deceived and Plot & Structure PRAISE FOR THE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE TRAIT THESAURUS BOOKS “In these brilliantly conceived, superbly organized and astonishingly thorough volumes, Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi have created an invaluable resource for writers and storytellers. Whether you are searching for new and unique ways to add and define characters, or brainstorming methods for revealing those characters without resorting to clichés, it is hard to imagine two more powerful tools for adding depth and dimension to your screenplays, novels or plays.” ~ Michael Hauge, Hollywood script consultant and story expert, author of Writing Screenplays That Sell and Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds: The Guaranteed Way to Get Your Screenplay or Novel Read © Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi, 2013 2 http://writershelpingwriters.net. -
Amanda Schmitt in Conversation with Loretta Fahreholz, Madeline Hollander, and Monica Mirabile”, Texte Zur Kunst, December, 2019
Schmitt, Amanda. “Supernature: Amanda Schmitt in Conversation with Loretta Fahreholz, Madeline Hollander, and Monica Mirabile”, Texte Zur Kunst, December, 2019. [online] [ill.] Supernature: Amanda Schmitt in Conversation with Loretta Fahrenholz, Madeline Hollander, and Monica Mirabile Jordan Peele, Us, 2019, film still Evil forms the background of much in the world of horror films, which have become ever more elaborate in recent years, involving complex choreography as a means to animate the undead or possessed. One unavoidable fact is that this genre has always relied on a certain chauvinism for its spectacles – from slasher flicks to supernatural horror – where the female body is frequently put under extreme physical duress, including torture and mutilation. Recently, several new horror features have been released that showcase forms of bodily dysmorphia, also featuring women. Amanda Schmitt sat down with two choreographers, and an experimental filmmaker who works with dance, to discuss these new horror films and their significance for the history of female corporeal torture in film. The discussion provides a unique behind-the-scenes look at how gesture and movement become translated into intricate arrangements for the screen. This roundtable brings together three artists – Loretta Fahrenholz, Madeline Hollander, and Monica Mirabile – to discuss two films that both debuted in the last year: Luca Guadagnino’s remake of the cult classicSuspiria (originally inspired by the 1845 Thomas de Quincey essay and rewritten for release as a feature film directed by Dario Argento in 1977) and Jordan Peele’s original Hollywood blockbuster Us (2019). The two films have something in common: their use of choreography as both a theme and technique to depict the (often female) body in states of despicable horror. -
Short Story Structure Lesson 1 Finding Your Reader and Their Emotional
Short Story Structure Jodi Henley from Concept to Upload October 2012 Short story Structure Lesson 1 Finding your reader and their emotional triggers Good morning! This has rapidly grown to become my favorite workshop because I actually use it. While I firmly believe you should follow your heart and write your passion—I believe in getting paid or if you're not interested in the money, increasing your readership. Because you're here, I've made a few assumptions. 1. You're open to connecting with your reader. Some writers produce wonderful stories that make them happy, get across a message they're passionate about, or explore variations on theme, but aren't particularly concerned about audience. I'm not saying that you need to compromise your vision, but to connect with a greater number of readers you need to know who your readers are, what they want, and how to tie that into what you're writing. Writing stories without taking your reader into consideration will still get you readers, but the sheer number of viewers who will watch a summer blockbuster hit, or see something playing in their neighborhood movie theater are on a different scale from the people who will find an indie theater and see an art flick from the Sundance Festival. It works that way in stories, too. You need to be accessible to the people you're targeting. The bad word—target. Why do you have to target? Why can't you just write? Where are the five easy pieces you need to know to get your story the readers it deserves? Whether you consciously think about it or not, targeting is already part of your writing. -
University Microfilms, a XERQ\Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan
72- 15,293 SHARP, Nicholas Andrew, 1944- SHAKESPEARE'S BAROQUE COMEDY: THE WINTER'S TALE. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1971 Language and Literature, modern University Microfilms, A XERQ\Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED SHAKESPEARE'S BAROQUE CŒEDY: THE V/INTER'S TALE DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Nicholas Andrew Sharp, B,A., M,A, ***** The Ohio State University 1971 Approved by Id^iser Department of English PLEASE NOTE: Some pages have indistinct print. Filmed as received. University Microfilms, A Xerox Education Company Acknowledgraent I am extremely grateful to my adviser, Professor Rolf Soellner, for his advice, suggestions, and constant encouragement. ii VITA January 24, 1944 . Born— Kansas City, Missouri 1966 ......... B.A., The University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 1966-1970........... NDEA Fellow, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1968-1969, 1971-1972 . Teaching Associate, Department of English, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1968 .......... M.A., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENT..................................... ii VITA ..................................... .•.......... iii INTRODUCTION: BAROQUE AS AN HISTORICAL CONCEPT .... 1 Chapter I. THE JACOBEAN SETTING AND THE BAROQUE AESTHETIC 16 II. THE THEME OF SKEPTICAL FIDEISM............... 45 III. THE STRUCTURE............................... -
PC Is Back in South Park: Framing Social Issues Through Satire
Colloquy Vol. 12, Fall 2016, pp. 101-114 PC Is Back in South Park: Framing Social Issues through Satire Alex Dejean Abstract This study takes an extensive look at the television program South Park episode “Stunning and Brave.” There is limited research that explores the use of satire to create social discourse on concepts related to political correctness. I use framing theory as a primary variable to understand the messages “Stunning and Brave” attempts to convey. Framing theory originated from the theory of agenda setting. Agenda setting explains how media depictions affect how people think about the world. Framing is an aspect of agenda setting that details the organization and structure of a narrative or story. Framing is such an important variable to agenda setting that research on framing has become its own field of study. Existing literature of framing theory, comedy, and television has shown how audiences perceive issues once they have been exposed to media messages. The purpose of this research will review relevant literature explored in this area to examine satirical criticism on the social issue of political correctness. It seems almost unnecessary to point out the effect media has on us every day. Media is a broad term for the collective entities and structures through which messages are created and transmitted to an audience. As noted by Semmel (1983), “Almost everyone agrees that the mass media shape the world around us” (p. 718). The media tells us what life is or what we need for a better life. We have been bombarded with messages about what is better.