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RTF Dixon Diss Revision May 5 Copyright by Laura Jean Dixon 2015 The Dissertation Committee for Laura Jean Dixon Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: The Influence of the World Wide Web on Documentary Form, Distribution, and Audience Relations: The Cases of Sin by Silence and This is Not a Conspiracy Theory Committee: Joseph Straubhaar, Supervisor Janet Staiger, Co-Supervisor John Downing Nancy Schiesari Laura Stein The Influence of the World Wide Web on Documentary Form, Distribution, and Audience Relations: The Cases of Sin by Silence and This is Not a Conspiracy Theory by Laura Jean Dixon, B.A., M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin May 2015 Acknowledgements This dissertation would not have been possible without the generous support from colleagues, family, and friends. I would like to thank my committee members for their individual roles. My advisors Janet Staiger and Joe Straubhaar have acted throughout my academic career as mentors guiding me through the intellectual process and much more. Laura Stein helped generate this project and provided attentive reading and editing throughout the entire process. John Downing served as an inspirational force reminding me of the reasons for thoughtful scholarship. Nancy Schiesari brought outside of the box thinking and the perspective of a true artist to my project. I would also like to thank Olivia Klaus and Kirby Ferguson, the two filmmakers interviewed for this project, for sharing insight that allowed this dissertation to flourish. Bill and Pansy Dixon have provided immense support for my academic career throughout many years and many universities. I hope they share in this achievement as if it were their own. Scott Ford has walked the final, most grueling laps with me and so deserves a graduation party of his own. Rudy and Irene have joined for the last hurrah, and this project, in the end, is dedicated to them, with love from Dr. Mom. To my friends—Daniel, Mitch, Jason, Patrick, Alex, Eliot, Vijay, Bharath, and many more from the heart of Texas—thank you for all your emotional support along the way. A piece of this project belongs to all of you. iv The Influence of the World Wide Web on Documentary Form, Distribution, and Audience Relations: The Cases of Sin by Silence and This is Not a Conspiracy Theory Laura Jean Dixon, PhD The University of Texas at Austin, 2015 Supervisor: Joseph Straubhaar Co-Supervisor: Janet Staiger My dissertation focuses on the research question: How is the Internet facilitating changes in social documentary practice? More specifically, how are documentary makers rethinking documentary form, distribution, and audience relations? To shine light on this question, the dissertation examines the cases Sin by Silence and This is Not a Conspiracy Theory. To form the backdrop for understanding the case studies, the project examines the dominant discourses the trade press is using to explain what is changing in terms of form, distribution, and audience relations, providing a brief historical survey. The chapter focused on Sin by Silence uses a content analysis of social media to understand how the director used Facebook and Twitter accounts for a multitude of purposes. It argues that social media can be used to extend the narratives of films beyond the boundaries of the feature-length film and argues that the key idea of expansion can v shed light on film form and audience relationships as well as the labor of the filmmaker. The case of This is Not a Conspiracy Theory demonstrates that participation and interaction can take place in the fields of distribution and funding as well as content generation, showing that an audience can be involved in a film from the very beginning throughout its life cycle. Both films demonstrate that a wide variety of media platforms can be used in the contemporary filmmaking landscape according to the requirements of the film project or energy and capabilities of the filmmakers. The rise of Internet culture and social media in particular has presented the opportunity for the audience to have a more active role in the pre-production, production, and post-production processes of filmmaking. vi Table of Contents List of Figures................................................................................................................... ix Introduction........................................................................................................................1 Main Research and Literature Review Questions............................................................3 Methods............................................................................................................................4 Chapter Organization.......................................................................................................8 Significance....................................................................................................................11 Chapter One: Literature Review of Key Theoretical Ideas.........................................14 Textual Modes of Studying Documentaries ..................................................................14 Traditional Documentary Theory on Representing Reality and Truth ..........................25 Contemporary Impact Studies Research........................................................................34 Technological Change and Documentaries ...................................................................38 Structuration...................................................................................................................39 Assemblages ..................................................................................................................44 Participation ...................................................................................................................45 Chapter Two: Historical Contexts for Changing Notions of Documentary Audience, Distribution, and Form..................................................................................61 Periodization of the Discussion .....................................................................................64 General Historical Themes ............................................................................................66 Audience ........................................................................................................................69 Distribution ....................................................................................................................80 Form...............................................................................................................................87 Chapter Three: The Case Study of Sin by Silence ......................................................101 The Websites and the Filmmakers...............................................................................105 Form.............................................................................................................................112 Distribution ..................................................................................................................117 Audience ......................................................................................................................119 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................126 Chapter Four: The Case Study of This is Not a Conspiracy Theory..........................132 Form.............................................................................................................................138 Distribution ..................................................................................................................146 Audience ......................................................................................................................149 Reception of This is Not a Conspiracy Theory............................................................156 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................163 Chapter Five: Cross-Case Analysis..............................................................................170 General Conclusions ....................................................................................................171 Form.............................................................................................................................177 Distribution ..................................................................................................................180 Audience ......................................................................................................................183 vii Conclusion ..................................................................................................................195 Theoretical Implications...........................................................................................195 Practitioner Recommendations.................................................................................200 Suggestions for Future Research..............................................................................203 Bibliography ...............................................................................................................207 viii List of Figures
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