Mr. Hassell: The TV Engineer (open access)

Mr. Hassell: The TV Engineer

This thesis project is about a television engineer in the Department of Radio, Television and Film at the University of North Texas. This project records the engineer's activities in the Department and interviews him about his career path. An accompanying written production report describes the pre-production, production and post-production processes of this project.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Chiu, Wen-Chi
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Soul of it: A Video Documentary on Texas Sculptor John Thomas Campbell (open access)

The Soul of it: A Video Documentary on Texas Sculptor John Thomas Campbell

This thesis includes a video and a production report . The video documents a Denton artist, John Thomas Campbell who was working on a project for the Texas State Fair during the filming period. This documentary follows Campbell through his production on sculptures, using a biographical style to explore his life and his art work. The accompanying paper reports on the production background, pre-production process, and includes discussion of the problems encountered from production through post production stages.
Date: December 1994
Creator: Chou, Wei-Tung
System: The UNT Digital Library
India Vaale in the United States (open access)

India Vaale in the United States

This documentary reveals the thoughts and feelings of seven Indian students at the University of North Texas, Denton, Texas. It portrays that better material comforts in the U.S. condition the decision of Indian students in not returning to India even after the completion of their studies. It also shows their feelings of nostalgia for the social and cultural milieu of their home country, India. For this project 18 Indian students at the University of North Texas were interviewed and seven of them became part of the final documentary.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Bhatia, Parul
System: The UNT Digital Library
Primarily Thai (open access)

Primarily Thai

This thesis is a production report that describes the research process, pre-production and post-production stages of making a documentary about the Thai language school in the Thai temple in Dallas County. The film documents the teachers from Chulalongkorn University who volunteered to teach Thai-American students in the United States, and explores Thai-American students' attitudes toward the school and their heritage.
Date: May 1998
Creator: Phatthanodom, Fahmui
System: The UNT Digital Library
Job Rating and Satisfaction of Radio Station General Managers in the Institutional Climate of Deregulation (open access)

Job Rating and Satisfaction of Radio Station General Managers in the Institutional Climate of Deregulation

This study tested the job satisfaction of major market radio station general managers in the aftermath of deregulation. The study consisted of two phases, a quantitative, anonymous, mail survey utilizing the nationally recognized Job Descriptive Index (JDI); and a qualitative follow-up telephone interview. Of 246 general managers solicited, 144 returned usable JDI surveys. The JDI consisted of six separate scales, each measuring satisfaction on a different aspect of the job. The followup telephone interview comprised seven questions designed specifically to explore the effects of broadcast deregulation on the respondents. Two hypotheses were tested. The hypotheses tested for differences in job satisfaction scores between radio station general managers and the normative scores of individuals of similar education and job tenure in other industries. In most of the subscales tested there was no significant difference between the two groups. The qualitative telephone survey found widespread dissatisfaction with the effects of deregulation on the broadcast medium.
Date: May 1991
Creator: Loomis, Kenneth D. (Kenneth Dwight)
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Survey on Student Uses of and Attitudes Toward Broadcast Television News and "Tabloid" Television (open access)

A Survey on Student Uses of and Attitudes Toward Broadcast Television News and "Tabloid" Television

A survey testing student uses of and attitudes towards traditional broadcast television news and eleven "tabloid" programs was conducted using 300 students enrolled at the University of North Texas. The 10:00 p.m. newscast was most watched by the students. The most watched weekly news magazine was "60 Minutes." The Oprah Winfrey Show" was the daily "tabloid" leader. "America's Most Wanted" led the weekly "tabloid" shows. Students perceived daily newscasts as important sources of information. "USA Today," the weekly news magazines "60 Minutes" and "20/20,1" and "America's Most Wanted" were also cited by students as being "important" information programming. However, the survey showed "tabloid television" was not a major source of informational programming for college students.
Date: August 1990
Creator: McDonnell, Rafael C. (Rafael Charles)
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Historical/Critical Analysis of the TV Series The Fugitive (open access)

A Historical/Critical Analysis of the TV Series The Fugitive

In many respects, the popular 1960's television series, The Fugitive perfectly captured the swelling disillusionment with authority, alienation, and discontent that soon encompassed American society. This historical/critical study provides a broad overview of the economic, social, and political climate that surrounded the creation of The Fugitive. The primary focus of this study is the analysis of five discursive topics (individualism, marriage, justice & authority, professionalism, science and technology) within selected episodes and to show how they relate to broader cultural debates which occurred at that time. Finally, this study argues that The Fugitive is a part of a television adventure subgenre which we may classify as the contemporary "wanderer-hero" narrative and traces its evolution through selected television series from the last three decades.
Date: May 1993
Creator: Pierson, David P. (David Paul)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Vivarium Program: An Ethnographic Video Documentary Exploring the Role of the Visual Anthropologist and the Subject at the Open School in Los Angeles (open access)

The Vivarium Program: An Ethnographic Video Documentary Exploring the Role of the Visual Anthropologist and the Subject at the Open School in Los Angeles

This is a reflexive documentary on the Open School in Los Angeles, an elementary school which is a field research site for Apple Computer, Inc. This videotape explores filmmaker/subject relationships, media perception by children, and issues of representation. An accompanying production book describes the grantwriting process, the pre-production, production, and post-production stages, as well as theoretical implications of the documentary.
Date: August 1992
Creator: Levin, Carolyn Melinda
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Content Analysis of the Depiction of Women in Television Presidential Advertising from 1952 to 1976 (open access)

A Content Analysis of the Depiction of Women in Television Presidential Advertising from 1952 to 1976

From the television advertisements made by presidential candidates from 1952 to 1976, this study analyzed the 131 advertisements that contained women. The analysis used the following descriptors: Number of Women's Roles, Age, Occupation, Marital Status, Locale, Concerns, and Status Relative to the Candidate. The results indicate that women are most likely to be shown as physically present although not speaking, in the 18 to 30 age group, belonging to a non-business atmosphere yet outside the home, and of an unknown marital status, and will not be shown in the same frame as the candidate. Womens' images in these advertisements were most commonly associated with issues involving the cost of living, taxes, pro-Nixon, and social security.
Date: December 1991
Creator: Payne, Beth A. (Beth Ann)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Struggle of the Oppressed: Lino Brocka and the New Cinema of the Philippines (open access)

The Struggle of the Oppressed: Lino Brocka and the New Cinema of the Philippines

This study is an examination of Lino Brocka's development as a filmmaker of the New Cinema of the Philippines. It provides a close textual analysis of two recent Brocka films, Macho Dancer (1988) and Fight for Us (1989) using a sociocultural approach to the study of the representation of aspects of social reality and their relationship to contemporary Philippine society. The study is divided into six chapters: Chapter I contains the introduction to the study, Chapter II traces the development of Philippine cinema in relation to Philippine socio-political history, Chapter III describes the New Cinema film movement in the Philippines, Chapter IV provides a biographical sketch of Lino Brocka in which the development of his critical attitude, notions of social reality, and significant works are discussed, Chapter V contains the film analyses, and Chapter VI contains the conclusions to the study.
Date: August 1993
Creator: Santiago, Arminda V. (Arminda Vallejo)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Independent Feature Filmmaking: the Historical Development of Current Methods (open access)

Independent Feature Filmmaking: the Historical Development of Current Methods

The historical development of independent filmmaking has led to a situation in which an independent filmmaker must do two important things to achieve distribution and success. The filmmaker should continue study and mastery of the skills and methodologies needed in development, pre-production, production, post-production, and distribution. These skills and methods help the filmmaker to produce a quality film. The most important thing the filmmaker can do is to see that the film conforms to the Hollywood narrative standard. This standard is ingrained in a majority of the audience and deviation usually meets resistance. The standard not only includes story structure, but the use of name actors and some elements of physical action.
Date: August 1992
Creator: Watkins, Fred P.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Critical Analysis of Newspaper Development in Taiwan Since the Lifting of Martial Law (open access)

A Critical Analysis of Newspaper Development in Taiwan Since the Lifting of Martial Law

This study reviews the changes in Taiwan's newspaper industry during its current period of transition. Contemporary newspaper development in Taiwan after the lifting of martial law in July 1987 is evaluated in relation to transformations in the newspaper marketplace, journalistic practices, labor relations, and freedom of expression. This study concludes that changes in Taiwan's newspaper business are closely related to changes in the country's political atmosphere. The lifting of the Ban of Newspaper brought freedoms for which journalists had fought for decades; however, journalistic quality has not improved at the same speed. Changes will continue in the journalism industry; whether it grows in a healthy way is a topic for future study.
Date: August 1993
Creator: Chen, Yu-Jen, 1957-
System: The UNT Digital Library
China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan: The Convergence and Interaction of Chinese Film (open access)

China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan: The Convergence and Interaction of Chinese Film

This study focuses on the evolution of the movie industries in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with an emphasis on the interaction and cooperation in movie production among these three areas. The study consists of three sections: a general description of the development of Chinese cinema before 1949; an overview of the movie industries in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China after the civil war; and an intensive study of the recent changes, interactions, and connections among these industries. In the third section, three models are proposed to explain the changing practices in movie production in these three areas. Obstacles preventing further cooperation and the significance of the reconstruction and integration of Chinese cinema are discussed.
Date: May 1993
Creator: Yu, Gwo-chauo
System: The UNT Digital Library
First Encounter (open access)

First Encounter

The film is about a newly arrived Japanese student's initial period of adjustment at the University of North Texas. This observational documentary film follows the student and witnesses the student's first reactions to various social environments. The purpose of this creative thesis project was to depict the difficulties that international students encounter at the beginning of their stay in America. The initial goal of the video was to provide useful visual research material to people who are interested in the acculturation of foreign students. Because of its realistic character, the video can give its audiences a more immediate and vivid picture of foreign students than existing written literature. By giving an authentic portrait of the students' hardship and adjustments, the ultimate goal of this video was to increase the American people's appreciation of the difficulties encountered by foreign students who come to this country equipped with limited social assistance and resources. An accompanying production report describes the research process, the pre-production, production, and post-production stages.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Teng, Eric Ju-chung
System: The UNT Digital Library
Disturbing the Peace (open access)

Disturbing the Peace

Disturbing the Peace is a short, 16mm sync-sound fiction film. Alone one stormy night, a woman must contend with an intruder breaking into her home. The intruder turns out to be a teenage boy. He claims to have broken in only to retrieve a family heirloom he hid there when he and his parents lived in the same house years ago. When the boy finds the heirloom, the woman begins to believe his story, and soon realizes he doesn't have a good home life. The boy asks permission to stay until the storm breaks. She agrees. Should the boy be trusted, or is he telling one lie after another? The police arrive to witness the outcome of the story.
Date: December 1997
Creator: Hatton, William, 1972-
System: The UNT Digital Library
Bus Ride to Liberation: a Historical Video Documentary of the Acres Homes Transit Company in Houston, Texas (open access)

Bus Ride to Liberation: a Historical Video Documentary of the Acres Homes Transit Company in Houston, Texas

The Acres Homes Transit Company in Houston, Texas is Texas' first African American owned and operated bus company. Some say it is the first in the South. The company was developed during the height of the civil rights period. It serves as an establishment of economic empowerment during the oppressive civil rights era. The video is a historical visual documentation of the bus company from its beginning to its end. An accompanying written profile describes the research process, the pre-production, production and post-production stages, as well as future proposals for the documentary.
Date: May 1994
Creator: Childress, Doris (Doris Elaine)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Myths and Movies: a Mythographical Methodology of Motion Picture Analysis (open access)

Myths and Movies: a Mythographical Methodology of Motion Picture Analysis

Over the past decade, cinema studies scholars have begun to recognize the value of mythographical methodologies for motion picture analysis; however, most of the scholarly research in this field has focused either on mythic archetypal images or on monomythic narrative structure, rather than combining the two approaches into a unified theory. This essay addresses the problem by proposing a mythographical methodology of motion picture analysis based on Carl Jung's theory of archetypal images and Joseph Campbell's theories concerning the monomythic structure of heroic narratives. Combining the two approaches of myth interpretation results in a more comprehensive methodology for interpreting the mythic elements of motion pictures. This essay illustrates the application of this methodology through a detailed analysis of Terry Gilliam's film, The Fisher King.
Date: August 1996
Creator: Preston, Barry A. (Barry Alan)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Television as an Instrument for Bridging Cultures: A Study of Television's Effects on Taiwanese Students in the United States (open access)

Television as an Instrument for Bridging Cultures: A Study of Television's Effects on Taiwanese Students in the United States

This study tested American television effects on Taiwanese Students in uncertainty reduction and stereotype forming. The study consisted of a questionnaire analysis and a focus group discussion. Fifty-five subjects responded to the questionnaires and twenty of them joined two group discussions.
Date: August 1994
Creator: Lu, Ray C. (Ray Chun)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Iranian Access Television of Dallas: Cultural Issues, Preservation, and Community Formation (open access)

Iranian Access Television of Dallas: Cultural Issues, Preservation, and Community Formation

This study focused on the televisual and cultural practices of Iranians via public access television in Dallas, Texas. It includes analysis of format and content. It combines demographic, structural, and statistical information with a culturalist and interpretive viewpoint in examining the efforts of Iranians, via access television programs, in preserving their culture and the formation of a coherent and active community in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.
Date: August 1997
Creator: Karimi, Mohammad, 1959-
System: The UNT Digital Library
Local or Transnational Television Programming: Media Globalization in East Asia, with an Emphasis on Development in the People's Republic of China (open access)

Local or Transnational Television Programming: Media Globalization in East Asia, with an Emphasis on Development in the People's Republic of China

This study focuses on the relationship between Western transnational broadcasters and East Asian media. It analyzes 1) the processes through which Western media players are localized and 2) the impact of media globalization on local broadcasters in East Asia. Recent developments in the People's Republic of China are the primary focus in the discussion of local media.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Zha, Hongyan
System: The UNT Digital Library
Post Time (open access)

Post Time

Post Time is a non-fiction video program depicting some of the careers found at North American horse race tracks. Through the use of videotaped footage taken at eight race tracks and three training farms, the horse racing industry's trainers, jockeys, owners and grooms are profiled in the world they call the backstretch. The video begins with a brief history of horse racing and the origins of thoroughbred horses followed by closer examinations of the economic and social experiences faced by the owners, trainers, jockeys, and grooms as they attempt to prepare horses for racing every week.
Date: August 1997
Creator: Coates, Peter F. (Peter Francis)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Chinese Leftist Urban Films of the 1930s (open access)

Chinese Leftist Urban Films of the 1930s

This thesis explores the films produced by leftist filmmakers of the 1930s which reflect the contemporary urban life in Shanghai.
Date: August 1998
Creator: He, Xin, 1970-
System: The UNT Digital Library
Turnabout : A Screenplay (open access)

Turnabout : A Screenplay

Turnabout, a feature-length screenplay with an accompanying critical essay, is the story of Michael Houston, a successful stockbroker in his late twenties whose unlikely romantic rendezvous with a bohemian art dealer leads him to realize that finding love often begins with a soul-searching journey into oneself.
Date: December 1994
Creator: Watson, Todd Lincoln
System: The UNT Digital Library
A History of Contemporary Independent Film Marketing in the United States (1989-1998) (open access)

A History of Contemporary Independent Film Marketing in the United States (1989-1998)

This study explores the reasons for the rise in independent film's popularity, which have created a unique Hollywood phenomenon, the successful "mini-major" independent studio, dedicated to both art and commerce. Chapters cover the history of independent film, characteristics of both independent and mainstreamfilms with regards to financing, acquisition, distribution and marketing, trends within independent film in the late 1980s and 1990s, crucial distributors and landmark independent films, and key growth areas in the future for independent film.
Date: August 1998
Creator: Ahearn, John P. (John Patrick)
System: The UNT Digital Library