“HER NAME WAS” Sergio Almendariz Thesis Prepared for the Degree of MASTER OF FINE ARTS UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS August 2018 APPROVED: Tania Khalaf, Committee Chair Kathleen Hobson, Committee Member Eugene Martin, Committee Member and Chair of the Department of Media Arts David Holdeman, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Victor Prybutok, Dean of the Toulouse Graduate School Almendariz, Sergio. “Her Name Was.” Master of Fine Arts (Documentary Production and Studies), August 2018, 60 pp., references, 3 titles. Her Name Was is an examination of the oppression of transgender people in a society that is built on the nominalization of cisgender people, those who gender matchers their sex assigned at birth, and how this oppression lends itself to violence. In the summer of 2015, the body of Shade Schuler, an African American transgender woman, was found in a field outside of Dallas, Texas. Ms. Shade is part of an alarming epidemic of escalating levels of targeted violence against the transgender community. This documentary pulls back the curtain as it captures the feelings and struggles of the transgender community as they attempt to navigate and survive in a cis dominating society. Copyright 2018 By Sergio Almendariz ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PROSPECTUS ................................................................................................................................ 1 Introduction and Description .............................................................................................. 1 Purpose ................................................................................................................................ 4 Intended Audience .............................................................................................................. 4 Style and Approach ............................................................................................................. 5 Feasibility ............................................................................................................................ 8 Ethical Concerns ................................................................................................................. 9 Characters ........................................................................................................................... 9 Crew .................................................................................................................................. 10 Sergio Almendariz – Producer, Director, Writer, Editor ...................................... 10 Barry Thornburg – Director of Photography ........................................................ 10 Bokyung Choi – On Location Sound Mixer ......................................................... 10 Funding ............................................................................................................................. 11 Distribution ....................................................................................................................... 12 Research Summary ........................................................................................................... 15 Interviews .............................................................................................................. 16 Visual Media ......................................................................................................... 16 Audio Media ......................................................................................................... 17 Treatment .......................................................................................................................... 18 Opening Few Sequences Example ........................................................................ 18 Names of Murdered Transgender People ............................................................. 19 Schedule ............................................................................................................................ 21 Budget ............................................................................................................................... 23 RE-CONCEPTUALIZATION BEFORE PRODUCTION .......................................................... 24 Challenges Faced .............................................................................................................. 25 Characters Update ............................................................................................................. 29 PRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 31 Schedule ............................................................................................................................ 31 Crew Update ..................................................................................................................... 32 iii Equipment ......................................................................................................................... 33 Budget ............................................................................................................................... 34 Experience......................................................................................................................... 35 POST PRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 39 Structure ............................................................................................................................ 39 Narration and Script .......................................................................................................... 42 Intro Sequence ...................................................................................................... 42 Terminology Sequence ......................................................................................... 43 Cissexism Sequence .............................................................................................. 44 Briggle Sequence .................................................................................................. 44 Houston Sequence ................................................................................................. 44 Concluding Sequence............................................................................................ 45 Music................................................................................................................................. 46 Experience......................................................................................................................... 47 INTEGRATION OF THEORY AND PRACTICE ...................................................................... 48 Terminology and Queer Film Theory ............................................................................... 48 Production - Representation .............................................................................................. 49 Post Production – Archival ............................................................................................... 51 EVALUATION OF COMPLETED WORK ................................................................................ 53 Pre-Production .................................................................................................................. 53 Production ......................................................................................................................... 53 Post Production ................................................................................................................. 54 Exhibition and Distribution............................................................................................... 54 Summary of Experience .................................................................................................... 55 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 55 APPENDIX: SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS .......................................................................... 56 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 60 iv PROSPECTUS* Title: Her Name Was Length: 30 Minutes Medium: Hd Video Introduction and Description In Dallas, Texas during the scorching summer heat of 2015, a body was dumped in a field. Three days later, on July 29, the Dallas Police discovered the body which had been so severely decomposed that no identification was possible. Her name was Shade Schuler, a 22- year-old transgender woman of color, or Ms. Shade, as she was commonly known as in the LGBTQ community in Dallas, Texas. Despite being discovered in women’s clothing, a wig, and fingernail extensions with pink tips, she was identified by the police as male and was continuously misgendered throughout the initial investigation. It was through the investigative efforts of Nell Gaither, and several other members of the Trans Pride Initiative, that they were able to verify the gender identity of Shade Schuler and have local news outlets properly report it. Nell Gaither also spoke out about her being the 13th transgender woman of color murdered in the United States that year, already matching the total of 2014. Two years later, Ms. Shade’s case went cold and the number of transgender women of color being murdered has increased at a shockingly rapid