Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), Ohio University, 2024, Film

Due to increases in technological innovation and accessibility, more commercial filmmakers have adopted visual storytelling techniques used in narrative filmmaking. In today's highly saturated media landscape, consumers are bombarded by commercials and advertisers seeking to buy their attention. As a result, the amount of capital that is invested in advertising and marketing has skyrocketed in the last few decades as companies compete for the attention span of Americans already overloaded by hundreds of thousands of images daily. Cutting through the media onslaught of the modern world is difficult for the micro budget advertiser, however in the last twenty years technological advancements have given those micro budget advertisers the ability to compete with the higher budgets of established brands and companies. LED lights, affordable 4K cinema cameras, and advancing video editing software has contributed to this revolution in the visual commercial space. These technologies have allowed commercial filmmakers to apply techniques and visual storytelling methods previously unavailable to them because of resources, time, and budget. Cinematic technological improvements have simultaneously driven the costs of production down while providing higher quality content, making the advertising a much more competitive space. This thesis aims to elaborate on the advancing filmmaking technology, that has provided micro budget advertisers a competitive edge in an deafeningly saturated advertising world.

Master of Science (M.S.), University of Dayton, 2024, Aerospace Engineering

This research introduces an Origami-inspired dynamic spacecraft radiator, capable of adjusting heat rejection in response to orbital variations and extreme temperature fluctuations in lunar environments. The research centers around the square twist origami tessellation, an adaptable geometric structure with significant potential for revolutionizing radiative heat control in space. The investigative involves simulations of square twist origami tessellation panels using vector math and algebra. This study examines both a two-dimensional (2- D), infinitely thin tessellation, and a three-dimensional (3-D), rigidly-foldable tessellation, each characterized by an adjustable closure or actuation angle “φ”. Meticulously analyzed the heat loss characteristics of both the 2D and 3D radiators over a 180-degree range of actuation. Utilizing Monte Carlo Ray Tracing and the concept of “view factors”, the study quantifies radiative heat loss, exploring the interplay of emitted, interrupted, and escaped rays as the geometry adapts to various positions. This method allowed for an in-depth understanding of the changing radiative heat loss behavior as the tessellation actuates from fully closed to fully deployed. The findings reveal a significant divergence between the 2D and 3D square twist origami radiators. With an emissivity of 1, the 3D model demonstrated a slower decrease in the ratio of escaped to emitted rays (Ψ) as the closure/actuation angle increased, while the 2D model exhibited a more linear decline. This divergence underscores the superior radiative heat loss control capabilities of the 2D square twist origami geometry, offering a promising turndown ratio of 4.42, validating the model's efficiency and practicality for radiative heat loss control. Further exploration involved both non-rigidly and rigidly foldable radiator models. The non-rigidly foldable geometry, initially a theoretical concept, is realized through 3D modeling and physica (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science in Chemistry, Youngstown State University, 2023, Department of Biological Sciences and Chemistry

The research study included in the thesis aims to create novel Fenofibrate congeners that are simple to synthesize and are effective against hyperlipidemia. The research work carried out during the course of study is related to the development of synthetic methodology and characterization of new metabolites of fenofibrate. The synthesis of the new derivatives was achieved by late-stage derivatization strategy which yielded the desired novel derivatives by simple chemistry as well as shorter route of synthesis as compared to the traditional multi-step organic synthesis. New drug discovery is one of the major applications of the modern organic synthesis and with advancement new synthetic methods, the difficult task for the development of new chemical entities are progressing. Therefore, there is need to take actions for the evolution of new modes, catalysts, and strategies for the fast and economically viable routes for the new drugs and new drug molecules. The present work is related to the discovery of new chemical entities for the control and management of hyperlipidemia a major disorder in the human population. The present effort comprises late-stage modification of the fibrate class of drugs, viz fenofibrate with the objective to develop molecules with improved therapeutic and pharmacokinetic profiles. The work embodied in the thesis is divided into three chapters for the sake of clarity of understanding.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, French and Italian

In the last thirty years, Italy has experienced an unprecedented demographic revolution. Today, about 10% of the Italian population, five million, are of foreign origins. Migrants living in Italy come from more than one hundred countries. Nevertheless, Italian mass media and political discourses have increasingly depicted the arrival of these persons as a crisis menacing Italy's political stability, an emergency threatening Italian society, identity, and future. In contrast, contemporary Italian documentary has produced a significant body of work that can be defined as "of migration”: documentaries that narrate contemporary migrations moving to, across, and within Italy, which engage with the complexity of human mobility. This dissertation investigates non-fiction films' audiovisual language, production, and distribution practices in Italy by showing how Italian emigration and colonial pasts influence contemporary perceptions of migration phenomena and the Italian national identity. Exploring documentaries produced between 2006 and 2019, I analyze their nuanced representations and narratives. Within the corpus of non-fiction films I discuss, a strain of non-fiction films embraces a poetics of emergency that focuses on the dramatic spectacle of the endangered bodies of the migrants and promotes a humanitarian approach to the migration ‘problem' but, in so doing, reinforces the obsession for the space of the border and the primacy of images in sense-making. The privileged space to investigate the reality of human mobility is the Central Mediterranean Route that connects sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, East African, and North Africa to Europe. Thousands of migrants cross the Mediterranean to reach the Italian (and European) shores whenever possible. Every year, thousands die during the attempt. These documentaries show you the unfolding of the humanitarian crises at sea. A second strain of documentaries embraces what I call poetics of urgency: a filmmaking approach t (open full item for complete abstract)

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2022, Leadership and Change

Because of the gatekeeping practices of the Hollywood film industry, and the high cost of both filmmaking and distribution in general, Afro-American filmmakers have struggled to produce films with “global reach.” This study visits the possibility of Afro-American filmmakers using alternative technologies and infrastructures to produce high-quality films, thereby bypassing the high cost and exclusionary practices of Hollywood studios. Using new 21st-century digital technology, this study involved the creation of a small geographically dispersed virtual film production team. The study's foundational framework was a constructivist qualitative research paradigm, using Action Research, and supported by 24 months of triangulated data from field notes and a Likert-type end-of-study survey, both of which were then addressed in an end-of- research online group discussion using the Zoom platform. The research question was, What are the most effective leadership and team-building practices/processes for creating a virtual geographically dispersed Afro-American film production team, with the intent of producing digital films, using new digital technology, social media, and the default global infrastructure of the Internet? The major conclusion of the study was that it is possible for a small virtual team to produce broadcast quality digital film using only consumer-level computers and cameras, audio and lighting equipment, and readily available software. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

Bachelor of Science of Media Arts and Studies (BSC), Ohio University, 2019, Media Arts and Studies

The purpose of this paper is to understand the influences of art style in the development of animated film. By observing animated films with period settings, we can draw comparisons between their art direction and the art styles of their time. By understanding the historical era and its culture, a creator can then begin to build a world that uses these elements as inspiration. For my animated short film, I use the history and culture of 19th century Paris to illustrate the story. By using influences of period artists such as Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Pissarro I must understand their techniques and incorporate their stylistic choices into the film using visual storytelling techniques.

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2019, French, Italian, and Classical Studies

This thesis, written in French, tackles the emergence of banlieue cinema in France and the groundbreaking eye that it brings to bear on the complex social fabric in the liminal territory of the banlieue. The media coverage in France on the banlieues, due to very problematic filming techniques, perpetuates certain cliches. Banlieue cinema, including documentary films and fictional films, while denouncing it, tries to remedy it. Through their films, the filmmakers condemn the media's approach to these underprivileged territories in France and respond to it by estimating the sufficient distance, as phenomenologists would do it, to properly represent the banlieues. They also answer it by using colors very well, portraying classical binaries or by completely immersing their camera and offering us a wide-scope view of the banlieue. Analyzing the cinematography of these films will help us recognize the insightful perception that banlieue cinema has brought to the topic. However, it also shows us that there is still a long way to go because the stereotypes that these films try to erase die hard in the collective unconscious.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2019, Spanish and Portuguese

This dissertation examines the intertwining of colonial and gender discourses produced by 21st century Spanish mass media. In nations with a history of major racial and sexual discrimination derived from colonialism like Spain, national identity is still produced through the persistence of colonial discourses. Surprisingly enough, very scant scholarly attention has been paid to how Spain as a former colonizing nation is still using colonial narratives to construct contemporary gender and national identity. The wave of right-wing nationalistic politics worldwide including Spain, the waves of immigration from Latin America and Africa to Spain since the 90s, the economic recession of 2008, and the fragmentation of the Spanish State in the last decade with the constant tensions with the Catalan Government, among the most significant factors, are producing a traditionalist backlash in Spanish visual representations. My dissertation aims to bring light to a new line of visual works (especially TV series and movies) that are representing a distorted and non-critical perspective of the violent Spanish (neo)colonizing past in order to promote Spanish national heroism. My hypothesis will demonstrate, through the analysis of 21th century films and TV series, how a new star system of hyper masculine actors is reestablishing former models of hegemonic Spanish masculinities based on the conquest of the Other, especially people from former colonies like Equatorial Guinea, the Philippines, and Northern Africa, but also the national peripheries of Spain (Catalonia and the Basque Country). The millennial obsession with the exhibition of masculine bodies as a marketing strategy creates a relationship of admiration and desire on the part of the spectator for the texts' male heroes that helps foster a racial and gender national imaginary based on (neo)colonial dynamics. Spanish national identity is thus being defined by the perpetuation of colonial discourses that mobilize a colonial im (open full item for complete abstract)

Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), Ohio University, 2019, Film

An examination of romantic depictions in western cinema from the pre-code era into the 21st century compared to cultural perceptions of romantic relationships in society throughout this period of history. How do we perceive romance and how has media and entertainment played a role in that? How does the vice versa happen? How have romantic depictions evolved over time? What responsibility do filmmakers have when it comes to depicting romantic relationships in their work?

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2019, Spanish

En esta tesis analizo como la primera serie espanola original de Netflix, Las chicas del cable representa las tensiones sociopoliticas de la primera mitad del siglo XX a traves de sus protagonistas femeninas. Durante esta epoca, las mujeres eran oprimidas por la sociedad patriarcal por lo que les faltaban varias libertades otorgadas a los hombres. Propongo que esta serie representa las injusticias sufridas por las mujeres por medio del melodrama. Mas especificamente, utilizo los argumentos de Herman Herlinghaus y Jesus Martin-Barbero para explicar que la serie reduce las tensiones sociopoliticas a un conflicto personal e intimo para presentarlas al espectador de una manera cercana y a traves de un lenguaje universal, o sea, el lenguaje del amor y de lo sentimental. De esta manera, tambien sostengo que Netflix sirve como el folletin digitalizado del siglo XXI debido a su forma de distribucion por entregas y su uso de la estetica melodramatica en esta serie en particular. Ademas, destaco varias dinamicas entre las protagonistas y como cada una representa un conflicto de la epoca como, por ejemplo, las tensiones entre la clase media/obrera y la burguesia o la marginacion de la mujer en la vida politica y en la esfera domestica. Debido al uso del melodrama, estas tensiones son presentadas a traves de una manera que le permite al espectador adentrarse en la trama e identificarse con las protagonistas y sus luchas. Mas aun, los elementos melodramaticos en la serie la convierten en una serie transhistorica y transcultural. Asi, la representacion de la epoca de Las chicas del cable puede llegar a una gama de personas de otras sociedades y culturas que tambien pueden identificarse con las protagonistas y entender los conflictos de la epoca pese a no ser espanoles.

Master of Fine Arts, The Ohio State University, 2017, Art

The purpose of my research is to examine and gain an understanding of the space between knowing and not knowing as it relates to methods of serious play, repetition, failure, chance, and documenting lived experiences. This occurs through explorations of photography, especially focusing on the camera as vehicle for documenting experience, as well as my impulsive and reactionary studio practice. I am interested in the boundary where science meets poetics. I loosely model my studio experiments on the scientific method. I set up a problem centered on these aforementioned subjects and explore it through designing camera obscuras, of small and large scale, which are used in performance. These often absurd or makeshift pinhole cameras become the documentarians of a performed trajectory. Through the use of specially made analog cameras, and the structures that carry or propel them, I have discovered that futility, failure, and active engagement with materials are means that produce unexpected, compelling results. These results are sculptural, photographic, performative, and experiential art pieces, which could have never been pre-determined. The work in `Thesis' is a culmination of three years of the prolific fumbling and fervor of this process.

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2016, American Culture Studies

While popular movies are often overlooked in film studies, the action-adventure genre in the 1980s has drawn considerable academic attention. The consensus among the literature is that a conservative backlash (spurred on by Ronald Reagan's two terms in office) against a resurgent equality movement gave rise to hypermasculine movies like First Blood and Predator and hypermasculine stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. While this still holds true, a closer look at the movies and the era reveals a much more nuanced picture. A thorough examination of the culture, the movies, and the male bodies on-screen in the 1980s—through the lens of affect theory, cinematography, and spectacle, among others—uncovers a number of significant cultural phenomena that have the potential to shape future academic work. This study not only elucidates and reconstructs the conception of filmic spectacle to include the male body on-screen, it also identifies two types of male bodies on-screen in the 1980s—the muscle-bound, aesthetically spectacular body and the lithe, kinesthetically spectacular body. Additionally, this study argues that filmic spectacle (as experienced by viewers) is actually made up of two discrete dimensions, a physical dimension composed of massive scale and explosions and a physiological one composed of affect and emotion. Unpacking spectacle in this way ultimately produces a number of new tools for film scholars while reimagining, in a significant way, American culture in the 1980s, the action-adventure movies of the decade, and the greater cultural currents in the Reagan era.

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2016, English/Literature

The Gothic has become a mode of transforming reality according to the writers' and the audiences' imagination through the reproduction of hellish landscapes and nightmarish characters and occurrences. It has also been used though to address concerns and criticize authoritarian and power relations between citizens and the State. Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking Glass are stories written during the second part of the 19th century and use distinct Gothic elements to comment on the political situation in England as well as the power of language from a child's perspective. Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth on the other hand uses Gothic horror and escapism to demonstrate the monstrosities of fascism and underline the importance of revolt and resistance against State oppression. This thesis will be primarily concerned with Alice and Ofelia as Gothic protagonists that become agents of revolt against their respective states of oppression through the lens of Giorgio Agamben and Hannah Arendt. I will examine how language and escapism are used as tools by the literary creators to depict resistance against the Law and societal pressure; I also aim to demonstrate how the young protagonists themselves refuse to comply with the authoritarian methods used against them by the adult representatives of Power.

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2014, English

Speaking of Sri Lanka's civil war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Ananda Abeysekara observes an authorization of a power dynamic between Buddhism, the state head, and the nation. The official end of the war on May 19, 2009 has reaffirmed this religionational power grid. Correspondingly, the religious fervor has become an indispensable ingredient in post-war memory culture. This thesis concentrates on state-sanctioned memory work and the ways in which it is resisted by artists who draw from memories of trauma. Using Sarath Weerasekara's Gamani (2011), the thesis explores the “uses and abuses” of memory (Jelin) in the state–sponsored post–war cinema. It also examines how the hegemonic memory narrative is deconstructed, through a close reading of Sanjeewa Pushpakumara's Flying Fish (2011). The thesis furthermore engages with the work of artists Thamotharapillai Sanaathanan and Bandu Manamperi, and shows how memories are merged with a quest for justice.

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2014, Media and Communication

This qualitative study explores the relationship between Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Hollywood's cross-border film productions by examining the strategies that these islands use to facilitate the filming of big-budget foreign films within their borders. The dissertation also analyzes the inherent implications of transnational film production practices from the perspective of the host location and reviews extant theories of international film production to explore whether they adequately explain the peculiar dynamics and experiences of filmmaking in SIDS countries by heavily financed, non-resident film producers. The study blends relevant strands of political economy of media and critical cultural studies to construct a customized theoretical backbone. From this critical standpoint, it engages theories of globalization, development, cultural industries, post-colonialism, and policymaking to analyze the interaction between SIDS nations and international satellite film productions. Adopting a grounded theory methodological framework, it uses interviewees, focus groups, participant observation and document analysis to collect data from the island of Dominica in the Caribbean, which hosted two films in Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. The study found that these foreign film producers received unprecedented levels of concessions and amassed huge savings from their ability to manipulate governmental authorities and local elites and exploit the weak institutional capacity of the state and its poor systems of accountability. It also revealed the relative incapacity of the host location to extend the inherent benefits of accommodating these big-budget film products from temporary economic activities to more lasting and sustainable development projects.

Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Toledo, 2010, English

In this paper, I discuss the success which Kenneth Branagh achieved by his approach to updating the play Much Ado About Nothing onto film in 1993. Modern audiences are often uncomfortable with the Shakespearean portrayal of male and female relations and their inequalities. Thus, some directors, in an attempt to avoid completely changing Shakespeare's text or narrative, use the old-fashioned dynamic between men and women on purpose. Branagh's reading of the play urged him to highlight these gender dynamics by specific characterization. He purposefully uses a contrast of presentational and representational acting in his two major couples (Claudio and Hero, Benedick and Beatrice) to guide the audience from feeling uncomfortable, towards viewing the inherent violence in the play as comedy. Benedick and Beatrice represent relatable characters as they stubbornly pretend hatred and then later, let their insecurities down and realize their love for one another. In contrast, Claudio constantly acts foolishly, doubting everything and becoming ruled by his temper (which results in serious violence), and Hero is insanely quiet, without an opinion, and apparently, unable to defend herself in the face of public repudiation. As viewers come to understand these aspects of characterization, they view the entire Hero-Claudio dynamic as theatrical and comedic, and rely on Beatrice and Benedick for the true representation of love.

Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), Ohio University, 2011, Dance

Madeline Schrock uses her experiences as a choreographer and improviser to inform her decisions while video recording, editing footage, and authoring DVDs. This thesis explores how the interrelatedness of the disciplines influenced her creative process while producing an informational and promotional DVD about Ohio University's School of Dance. Schrock examines the processes involved in video production, choreography, and improvisational dance performance, and she then makes comparisons between the three disciplines. Cross-discipline comparisons include the ratio of material created to that used in the final product, the uses of space, time, and energy, the multiple roles required in each discipline, and the use of editing that is inherent in each practice. The thesis concludes with a reflection on the art of the live shot and the live dance. To view a copy of the School of Dance promotional and informational DVD discussed in this thesis, please contact Ohio University's School of Dance or the Honors Tutorial College.

Master of Fine Arts, The Ohio State University, 2012, Industrial, Interior Visual Communication Design

Previsualization (previs) is a pre-production process that uses 3D animation tools to generate preliminary versions of shot or sequences. This process is quickly gaining popularity in live action film, and is beginning to be used in animation production as well. This is because it fosters creativity by allowing for designers and artists to experiment more freely and intuitively with visual design choices, and insures efficiency in production and post-production. Previs is also able to provide a means to communicate and test plans visually in the pre-production stage which enhances clarity and understanding. The intention of this thesis is to make available information about previs that is, for the most part, unpublished or unknown by all but those already deeply involved in the process, and to explore and document the application of a previs process of my own in the production my first short film. To begin I will describe the previs process from several perspectives. Previs will be presented in historical context in order to provide insight into its development. Next I will present the results of an industry professionals survey conducted in late 2011 and early 2012 as a way of revealing an insider's viewpoint on the use of previs in commercial computer animation production. A major element of my study in previsualization has been the production of a short film. Following the industry survey results I present an analysis and reflection of my own experiences in making my short film, Wonder. By comparing my process to the process as described by the surveyed professionals, I write in depth about the process of making Wonder, and how previs was used in this context. The concluding chapter is used to present the analysis and to summarize the information I have gathered through interviews and practice. From my experiences, I will present my observations and describe new ideas that have since been developed in the course of this work. It is my intention that this i (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Fine Arts, The Ohio State University, 2011, Industrial, Interior Visual Communication Design

This thesis gives an overview of the concepts and design processes for the making of the animation project “The Surgeon's Son”. Using practice to support my inquiries into the theories of the avant-garde, this short experimental animation is intent on showing how these influences can be used in the creation of a short animation. This thesis examines how critical theories in contemporary avant-garde and experimental filmmaking can be applied to the design process in computer animation. An analysis is conducted of related concepts in experimental filmmaking such as Jean Baudrillard's discourse on simulation, and Jaques Derrida's theories of deconstruction. These topics are then discussed through examples of films and art works that demonstrate these concepts. During this research, a practice-based, discovery-led process was used to develop a visual interpretation of these ideas into a 3D computer animation. The topic was a book of memoirs written by a late relative, which presented an additional challenge of combining experimental techniques with historical facts and story structure. The conclusion discusses how the resulting animation reflects the interpretative process of bringing influential theoretical discourse, often considered outside the scope of current computer animation practice into the design process.

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2012, Film (Fine Arts)

This thesis argues for technological development in CGI as a partial explanation for the resurgence of 3D films in mainstream Hollywood cinema after the year 2000. It defines and differentiates between “immersive” and “gimmick” 3D, describes formal aspects of CGI-heavy 2D films from the past two decades, and argues how they created an expectation/desire for 3D cinema.