This thesis examines how madness has been used in post-Yugoslav cinemas to facilitate thinking about experiences of the break-up of the SFRY throughout the 1990s and 2000s, its consequences and implications for the future. The study conceptualises post-Yugoslav film cultures as public spheres in which artistic and industrial practices are often combined to create meaning around the core themes of trauma and identity in post-Yugoslav cultures. Working with seven feature-length titles from a range of post-Yugoslav successor states (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia and Kosovo) I illustrate how images of madness have been essential in the cultural processing of events of the 1990s. Whilst featuring individuals suffering mental instabilities and disturbances, and sometimes asylums or mental health institutions, I contend such films are not ultimately concerned – on a thematic level – with mental health, but instead focus on the use of such characters in a metaphoric capacity for engaging core themes of Yugoslav break-up, conflicts, and difficulties of subsequent transition. Using the semantic/syntactic approach to genre, I identify two common ways in which madness is used on a textual level to engage these core themes. The first of these, the ‘inside-out asylum trope of madness’, is concerned with the use of the asylum in films which assess critically the dominant political ideologies of the successor states in question at a time when political pluralism was not yet established by the transition process. Films discussed include Burlesque Tragedy (Marković, 1995), Marshall Tito’s Spirit (Brešan, 1999), and Kukumi (Qosja, 2005). The second trope is the ‘multiple realities trope of madness’ in which the presentation of diegetic reality on screen is adapted to reflect various conceptualisations of trauma and loss arising from Yugoslav break-up and transition. Here the films include Loving Glances (Karanović, 2003), Fuse (Žalica, 2003), Mirage (Ristovski, 2004) and Land of Truth, Love and Freedom (Petrović, 2000). Across the films selected, it is madness which ultimately provides a diverse pool of metaphors and images for an assessment of Yugoslavia’s traumatic demise and the ensuing process of picking through the debris of its ideology, cultural practices, values and ways of living for precisely what might be salvageable and what should be discarded.

This thesis is a rhetorical analysis of the movie Easy Rider. It explores how auteurs Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern's use of road, regional, and cowboy mythology creates a text that simultaneously exposes and is dominated by the ironies inherent in American culture and breathes new life into the cowboy myth, reaffirming the cowboy's place as one of America's most enduring cultural icons.

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This thesis introduces an obscure storytelling device, The Unsung Hero character, as one way of examining how movies function as stories. This character is often overlooked, as it frequently cloaks its idiosyncrasies, thus it lacks any apparent signs of internal conflict. This analysis foregrounds the character’s overall functionality, found only in rare instances and typically in the story of a movie. With effective implementation in a story, as a functional harbinger device, brief appearances of The Unsung Hero character demonstrate flashpoints or disclosures of a forthcoming misfortune in the story. This movie analysis shows how The Unsung Hero character functions effectively as a harbinger device in stories.

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Denna studie undersöker med hjälp av en fallstudie hos två filmproduktionsbolag, King Edward och Cinematik hur co-design som metod hade kunnat användas inom postproduktionsprocessen av reklamfilm. Med en teoretisk djupdykning i filmproduktionens fyra processer; förproduktion, produktion, postproduktion, distribution och metoden co-design har det legat som grund för undersökningen. Även teori kring filmens historia och reklamfilm har undersökts för att ge en bättre grund och tyngd till resultatet.Med kvalitativa intervjuer på båda företagen har information samlats in kring hur deras arbetsprocess ser ut och vad deras tidigare kunskap kring co-design var och om de själva hade ansett att det hade varit användbart. Genom en jämförelse av den insamlade teorin och resultatet från företagen har en prototyp skapats som visar vart i en postproduktionsprocess inom reklamfilm som implementering av co-design hade varit möjligt. Det sammansatta resultatet visar att co-design som det används inom produktdesign inte hade varit möjligt inom film, men att vissa delar av metoden, nämligen att låta kunden vara med tidigt i postproduktionsprocessen och dela med sig av sina erfarenheter beroende på vilken kund reklamen riktas åt hade varit möjligt att implementera. Genom att ha kunden med i det tidiga skedet av postproduktionen hos produktionsbolag hade färre revideringar gjorts i processen och färre möten med kund som tvingat fram ändringar i filmerna hade undvikits. / This thesis explores through a case study with two film production firms, King Edward and Cinematik how co-design as a method would be applicable in post-production of commercials. With a theoretical deep dive into the film production’s four phases; pre-production, production, post production, distribution and the method of co-design it has been the foundation of this thesis. Further information has been gathered for film history and commercials to give a better understanding and weight for the analysis. By doing qualitative interviews on both firms, information has been gathered regarding their production process, and their previous knowledge of co-design and if they themselves believe that it would be a useful method. By comparing the gathered theory with the results from the interviews, a prototype has been created showing where in a post-production process, in commercials, co-design as a method could be implemented. The combined result proves that the way co-design is used in production design would not be viable in film production, but that some parts of the method could be implemented depending on the client and the commercial, for example if the client has specific experiences needed for the film. By having the client be a part of the early stages of the post production process at a film production firm, less revisions would be needed and less meetings would be needed for fixes.

abstract: Utilizing visual semiotics and performance theories as a backdrop to inform a discussion regarding entertainment education and community dialogue, this study explores a unique case of compassionate communication being enacted at the most crucial moment – facing a school shooter at the height of a critical juncture. Through narrative film techniques and dramatism, a recreation of the real-life event was re-framed and distilled into a documentary-style film to showcase to general audiences for the purpose of dialogue catalyzation and elicitation. The film acts as a provocative statement for the process of conducting a Civil Dialogue® with the viewing audience. Qualitative analysis of 12 dialogue groups and 15 individual interviews (primarily college students) explores the impact film has on viewers’ perceptions, their participation in dialogue, and the role of affect when it comes to communicating with others. Findings suggest a positive correlation between film, emotional engagement, and dialogue participation, with significant impact on viewer’s perceptions and indications of influencing anticipated future behavior. Additional findings and analysis reveal a cultural master narrative of “fight or flight” syndrome, and a tendency toward spectacle or doing things “for show.” Novel concepts such as visual capital and performative cognition emerge to inform a new arts-based method and the development of a theory referred to as the Tuff-Hill Phenomenon. / Dissertation/Thesis / Documentary Film - "A Way Out" / Doctoral Dissertation Communication Studies 2019

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