Undergraduate Research in Film

A Guide for Students

Lucia Ricciardelli, Jenny Olin Shanahan, Gregory Young

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781138599529
• eBook ISBN: 9780429939198
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Film & Video

Undergraduate Research in Film: A Guide for Students supplies tools for building research skills, with examples of undergraduate research activities and case studies on projects in the various areas in the study of film, film theory, film production, history of film, and interdisciplinary projects. Professors and students can use it as a text and/or a reference book. Essentially, what makes this volume unique is that it brings together examples of film projects and film studies courses within the framework of research skills.

Following an overview chapter, the next seven chapters cover research skills including writing literature reviews, choosing topics and formulating questions,working with human subjects, collecting and analyzing data, citing sources and disseminating results. A wide variety of sub-disciplines follow in chapters 9-16 with sample project ideas from each, as well as undergraduate research conference abstracts. The final chapter is an annotated guide to online resources. All chapters begin with inspiring quotations and end with relevant discussion questions.

1

OVERVIEW

I have a way of filming things and staging them and designing sets. There were times when I thought I should change my approach, but in fact, this is what I like to do. It’s sort of like my handwriting as a movie director. And somewhere along the way, I think I’ve made the decision: I’m going to write in my own handwriting.

Wes Anderson

Images are intrinsic to digital storytelling’s communicative possibilities. Students use images to construct arguments connecting theory, history and story in their projects.

Digital Storytelling Multimedia Archive

Summary

This chapter outlines the undergraduate research environment and where the study of film fits into it, reframing some of the excellent creative work already being done in college and university film schools as faculty-mentored scholarship. Within this context, ideas are shared as to the importance of undergraduate research, desired learning outcomes, and how knowledge and audiovisual storytelling are created in the field of film. As readers of this book will realize, conducting research is certainly not limited to the sciences and related fields. Selecting and exploring a film topic, whether for the production of a movie or for the writing of a paper, can in fact be linked to the scholarly process otherwise known as undergraduate research. Undergraduate research is an interactive pedagogy that has been shown to be more engaging and successful than traditional classroom lecture-style learning.

Where Film Fits into the Undergraduate Research Movement

As learning in college becomes more active, and students desire greater input into their own education, undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative activities (URSCA) have become more significant. Since search engines like Google can help students find a plethora of content, and video-sharing sites such as YouTube and Vimeo provide a great array of video clips, films, and instruction at our fingertips, learning how to actually create knowledge, how to tap into our creativity, and how to advance the discipline of film, should take center stage, so to speak.

An undergraduate film degree, therefore, would not be complete without a substantial exploration into the discovery of knowledge in any variety of topics, from the way films are produced to theoretical and historical revelations or rediscoveries in the field of film studies. Film majors should be engaged in innovative techniques, analyses, and practices throughout their degree programs. Although in-depth study is often undertaken in the latter part of an undergraduate program, ideally students should be exposed to the act of discovery and creation as often as possible through the whole film program. Early and frequent opportunities to think with creativity, imagination, and originality have been shown to influence further successful learning and study.

When students are asked about their vision for how they would like to learn, many say they want it to be exciting, applicable, social, and interactive. Doing group projects, working alongside professors, having input instead of passively listening, and helping to chart their own pathways, can all be components of undergraduate research in film. When employers are asked what kind of skills they want future employees to have, many list teamwork, creativity, problem-solving, critical thinking, as well as written and oral communication. All of these can be strengthened by a real academic experience in undergraduate research and creative activity.

There are many different terms for “research,” including inquiry, scholarship, creative activity, and creative scholarship. These terms are sometimes used interchangeably, though scholars in various disciplines often have preferences for the ways they describe their work. Many people involved in the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR), especially in its Arts and Humanities division, use the acronym URSCA: undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative activity. Whether you prefer one term over another, or your university has a program that uses certain terms, the term itself does not matter as much as what it indicates: scholarly work that is faculty-mentored, original, disciplinarily appropriate, and disseminated (Osborn & Karukstis, 2009). We generally avoid some of the specifically scientific terms such as hypothesis and methodology when producing a film, for example, using substitute terms such as background research, preproduction, production and postproduction stages, and stylistic techniques. Students of film or any other field also benefit from the cross-pollination that occurs when considering how undergraduate research is practiced in disciplines that are quite different from their own, and when they explore the different terminology.

Opportunities for Original Research in Film

How can students do something original when professors, scholars, filmmakers, theorists, and other media practitioners have already done so much research in the fields of film production and film studies? One way is to take an interdisciplinary approach, viewing film from the perspective of another discipline. For example, there has been little research published on the correlations between film and biology, film and engineering, and film and computer science. Also, the collaboration between film and education studies offers topics that are ripe for discovery, especially with new widespread interest and increase in the use of digital audiovisual storytelling by education faculty members and students. One example of this kind of interdisciplinarity began in 2014 when an education professor named Christine Rogers Stanton (Education Department, Montana State University (MSU)) approached me (Ricciardelli) and asked me for advice about filmmaking equipment she wanted to purchase for the Blackfeet Community College (BCC) in Browning, Montana. This led us to an ongoing interdisciplinary collaboration, The Digital Storywork Partnership that has engaged BCC, Buffalo Hide Academy (BHA), Plenty Coups High School (PCHS), and MSU students and faculty in the creation of audiovisual counter-narratives (2015–today). Our goal has been to promote intercultural partnership and mentorship while developing BCC, BHA and PCHS documentary filmmakers (Stanton, Hall & Ricciardelli, 2017; Stanton, Ricciardelli & Hall, 2017). Thinking about other possibilities for interdisciplinary collaborations, what subjects could be paired with film? Chapter 10 of this book is focused on interdisciplinarity.

Students do not have to follow such an interdisciplinary path, however. There are many standard activities in undergraduate film programs that students and professors have been engaged in for decades that have not been generally regarded as undergraduate research. An example would be analyzing a short film that was shot with analog technology and then using it as a model to create a digital interactive film. Almost every campus now has some sort of annual undergraduate student research symposium, and while they were formerly focused on scientific research, they are increasingly campus-wide events open to students of all majors. This change has been accompanied by a parallel movement towards greater involvement by students in independent research mentored by professors, as well as projects that assist in or complement faculty research. The symposia that feature student research presentations sometimes consist solely of posters, where film students have to try to fit their presentation into a science-based format. On some university campuses, a variety of delivery modes are available, including film screenings, oral presentations, and multimedia installations. Whatever the format, with a little creativity, film students should be able to present in a way that allows them to communicate the results of their work effectively. Many universities and colleges are now stressing the importance of undergraduate research campus wide, and students in most disciplines are doing research as a regular part of their education and presenting their findings publicly. Film majors, likewise, benefit from joining in. Campus-wide celebrations of undergraduate research are still dominated by the sciences and related fields. These symposia could be enhanced with greater contributions from the arts, including a variety of film projects. And directors of such events are often open to the idea of adding special venues for film-related projects and allowing different methods of delivery.

Can Undergraduate Research Benefit Both the Student and the Professor?

More and more, universities are emphasizing the integration of scholarship and teaching, linking student learning with the discovery of knowledge, and making active learning a hallmark experience of an undergraduate degree. One of the best ways to accomplish all of this is to have a professor carve out a small piece of his/her own larger research project, and assign it to a student. Examples abound in chemistry, where researchers can be much more productive in the laboratory with the help of undergraduate researchers, and the students learn the complex process of original research in their field. In the arts and humanities, and particularly in film, professors often view their research/creativity as individual scholarly pursuits, and published articles and film and multimedia productions are usually listed with only one author/filmmaker. However, with a little creativity, win-win situations can be created that increase productivity for the professors and that provide firsthand experience on the front lines of the creation of art or original research for the students. An example occurred when I (Ricciardelli) enrolled an undergraduate researcher in spring and summer 2018, Michael Peterson, to help design, implement, and co-lead two documentary filmmaking workshops at the Stone Child College (SCC) at the Chippewa-Cree Reservation in Box Elder, Montana. The workshops were meant to impart the basics of producing a documentary film to SCC students in order to give voice to the oral stories of the Chippewa-Cree community (Egan, 1989; Stanton, Ricciardelli & Hall, 2017). The resulting product was a documentary short about the spiritual purpose of reservation dogs (Rez Dogs, which is currently in postproduction). This would not have been possible without this teacher–student collaboration, and Michael was able to list these teaching and creative activities on his résumé (see Figure 1.1).

FIGURE 1.1 Michael Peterson and BCC students during one of the workshops at MSU-Bozeman (July 2018).

Upper-Division Film Seminars

University film curricula usually offer upper division film seminars in the junior and senior years, with titles such as Studies in Film (covering a wide variety of topics in the theory, history, and criticism of film), Documentary Production, Fiction Film Production, Theater Production, and Senior Production. Although not often referred to as undergraduate research, these most often are exactly that. For example, students writing a film script are required to perform background research, be knowledgeable about human behavior, and craft their own treatment; students studying direction and cinematography need to be able to write some kind of artist statement explaining their creative process; film studies majors have writing and analysis requirements; and the list goes on. Much of what we do in courses like this could be presented at campus, regional, national, or international conferences, because it represents the discovery of knowledge. See the upper-division film seminar FILM 301: Issues in Lens-Based Media and its learning outcomes in the preface. FILM 301 is one of the most challenging courses, both in terms of creative thinking and final product expectations, in the School of Film & Photography’s new BFA program in Integrated Lens-Based Media at MSU.

How to Use This Text

Although intended as a text for junior and senior film studies courses, this text can fulfill other functions. It should be an interesting read for all film majors, whatever their particular focus, and it can also be used as a reference for particular subject areas. The sample abstracts at the end of the topic chapters are just a beginning, there are many more online and in print. This text might also give students and faculty members ideas about other things they can organize to increase the visibility and activity on their own campuses with respect to undergraduate research in film.

Conclusion

As film majors increasingly participate in undergraduate research and become familiar with that term as an umbrella term for many of the creative and scholarly activities they pursue, film degrees will become more challenging yet more engaging and fun. The filmmaking process itself will be viewed more as a scholarly activity by people in other disciplines and less as mere entertainment.

Questions for Discussion

• What is the difference between creativity in science and creativity in film?
• How do the terms inquiry, creativity, scholarship, and research differ?
• Why do employers prefer students who have done undergraduate research?
• Do all film professors do research, and how much do they need to do?

References

Anderson, W. (2012). Creating a singular “kingdom” (May 29). NPR. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2012/05/29/153913922/wes-anderson-creating-a-singular-kingdom.

Council on Undergraduate Research. (2016). Learning through research. Retrieved from www.cur.org.

Digital Storytelling Multimedia Archive. (2012). Using images in digital storytelling. Retrieved from https://pilot.cndls.georgetown.edu/digitalstories/multimedia-distinctive/2/2/.

Egan, K. (1989). Teaching as storyte...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Series Foreword
• Preface
• 1. Overview
• 2. Literature Reviews
• 3. Choosing Film Topics and Formulating Appropriate Research Questions
• 4. Working with Human Subjects
• 5. Collecting Data
• 6. Analyzing and Synthesizing Data
• 7. Citing Sources
• 8. Dissemination of Results
• 9. The Process of Making a Film as Research
• 10. Interdisciplinary Ideas: The Path Less Taken
• 11. The Discovery of Knowledge in Film History
• 12. Integrating Film Theory with Film Production
• 13. Film Education in the Information Age
• 14. Film Technology in the Digital Age
• 15. Film as a Therapeutic Tool
• 16. Cinema, Culture, and Society
• 17. Online Resources
• Index