Lexi Baird- Vertiginous Memories: Traces of Hitchcock in La Jetée and Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Winner, Best Undergraduate Essay in English and Comparative Literature, 2020-21 Vertiginous Memories: Traces of Hitchcock in La Jetée and Portrait of a Lady on Fire Lexi Baird A Vertigo-inspired lap dissolve in Chris Marker’s La Jetée “Nothing sorts out … Read more
Reanna Brooks- Matriarchy in The Birds: A Feminine Power Struggle between Melanie and Lydia
Matriarchy in The Birds: A Feminine Power Struggle between Melanie and Lydia Reanna Brooks A frightened Lydia (Jessica Tandy, middle) reacts to an avian assault in The Birds In 1963, Alfred Hitchcock released one of his eeriest and most … Read more
Barbara Blaschke – Gender Performance as Sacrifice in Stella Dallas
Excerpted from the author’s 2021 honors thesis Gender Performance as Sacrifice in Stella Dallas Barbara Blaschke Before the mirror, Stella (Barbara Stanwyck) engages in class-conscious gender performance in King Vidor’s melodrama Likely the most remembered scene of King Vidor’s … Read more
Tyler Kwok- Jia Zhangke’s Emotional Questioning of Contemporary China
Excerpted from the author’s 2021 honors thesis Jia Zhangke’s Emotional Questioning of Contemporary China Tyler Kwok Tao (Zhao Tao), a performer at Beijing World Park, moves solo through an uncertain and shifting Chinese cultural landscape China’s tumultuous 20th century … Read more
Ryan Wilcox- Drama in the Dull: Journalistic Process and Moral Ambiguity in All the President’s Men
Drama in the Dull: Journalistic Process and Moral Ambiguity in All the President’s Men Ryan Wilcox Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) and Woodward (Robert Redford) tirelessly hover over the typewriter, a weapon that brings down the highest office in the land … Read more
Veronica Chandler- Funneling Out: The Ever-Present Constriction on Black Filmmakers in Hollywood
Excerpted from the author’s 2021 honors thesis Funneling Out: The Ever-Present Constriction on Black Filmmakers in Hollywood Veronica Chandler Returning the gaze and rewriting Black representation in HBO’s series Lovecraft Country Finding Power and Agency You need executive producers … Read more
Macy Meyer- From Hurdanos to Hauka Cults: On Ethnographic Surrealism in Buñuel and Rouch Films
Excerpted from the author’s 2021 honors thesis From Hurdanos to Hauka Cults: On Ethnographic Surrealism in Buñuel and Rouch Films Macy Meyer Why doesn’t the documentary crew intervene to help suffering subjects in Las Hurdes? Surrealism has never been … Read more
Josh Martin- Hanging Out at the Movies: Nostalgia, Spectatorship, and Slowness in Tsai Ming-liang’s Goodbye, Dragon Inn
Excerpted from the author’s 2020 honors thesis Hanging Out at the Movies: Nostalgia, Spectatorship, and Slowness in Tsai Ming-liang’s Goodbye, Dragon Inn Josh Martin An (in)attentive audience from a bygone era watches King Hu’s film in Tsai Ming-liang’s Goodbye, … Read more
Ben Van Welzen- Infectious Atmospheres: The Horror of Japanese New Media in Ring
Infectious Atmospheres: The Horror of Japanese New Media in Ring Ben Van Welzen Viewing scenes of viewing: an estranged couple studies a mysterious and apparently lethal videotape When Sadako (Rie Inō) emerges from the television screen in Nakata Hideo’s … Read more
Halynna Snyder – The Portrait Looks Back: Revising Hitchcockian Tradition in Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Winner, Best Undergraduate Essay in Film Studies, 2020-21)
Winner, Best Undergraduate Essay in Film Studies, 2020-21 The Portrait Looks Back: Revising Hitchcockian Tradition in Portrait of a Lady on Fire Halynna Snyder Hëloise (Adèle Haenel) eyes the rolling waves in one of Sciamma’s painterly compositions Upon first … Read more