Imagine the Ethical Dilemmas Faced by Student Filmmakers was originally part of a series of assignments about integrating ethics into an entry-level production course that I wrote about for the Journal of Media Education. Here, it has been adapted as a stand-alone exercise for EDIT Media’s teaching materials database. The guide to ethical decision making referenced in this article comes from the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University. This assignment was designed for entry-level production students who were preparing to embark on the production of their first documentary project.

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This informal presentation will include discussion with the filmmakers about the background and production of the film "Banjo Romantika," as well as sneak peeks at a selection of key scenes from the film. For more information, visit http://music.virginia.edu/colloquium-lee-bidgood-and-shara-lange-banjo-romantika

College of Public Health seminar faciliates real-world interdisciplinary collaboration with Radio/TV/Film students and ocuses documentary filmmakers on crucial issues for their communities.

Excerpt: Ethics has always been part of a Mass Communication core, but I wondered what rethinking production courses. What if instead of teaching ethics separately, we considered an educated media-maker as one who makes ethical decisions at each step of the process--before taking a camera out of the case, before hitting record, before posting a single frame online? What if we taught video production this way in order to emphasize the power, responsibility and risk inherent in each choice.

This study examined the influence of gender, the Big 5 personality factors, and self-esteem on virtual self-representation in the form of avatar-self discrepancy. To examine this, participants designed characters to play in a video game, spent 20 min playing the video game, and then had their actual pictures taken. Our results indicated that, consistent with predictions, men and women generally selected self-representations consistent with ideal male and female bodies. This finding was pronounced for men and women high in agreeableness. Conversely, some results contradicted the normative prescriptions often associated with self-presentation. For instance, men did not build taller avatars than did women. Men who were high in openness to new experiences were more likely to select avatars with skin tone variations. Introverts - both male and female - and women high in neuroticism were more likely to build attractive avatars. Moreover, those with low self-esteem were more likely to select lighter skin tones than those with high self-esteem. Thus, the effects of gender and personality have considerable implications for online self-presentation and self-representation.

Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. The authors conducted an experiment to determine the effects of gender, race, online video gaming experience, and the experimental context in which participants played the video game (online vs. offline vs. no information control) on avatar selection. The qualities of the avatar compared were based on eight objective differences between avatars and individuals: attractiveness, skin tone, height, girth chest size, waist size, hip size, and height. As predicted, those with online gaming experience selected avatars that were taller, thinner, and more attractive relative to their real selves than did participants with no prior online game experience. Non-white participants selected avatars with lighter skin-tones, whereas white participants selected avatars with darker skin-tones. Surprisingly, male participants selected shorter avatars than female counterparts did.

This research sought to understand the differences in framing used by alternative media outlets and traditional or mainstream media outlets. Researchers used a sampling of articles about the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks from alternative media publications and traditional media publications to conduct this study. Computer software analyzed these articles to determine themes and concepts within both data sets. The analysis revealed traditional media was less varied in themes than was alternative media, with the latter clearly showing an effort to be analytical of different aspects surrounding the Sept. 11 attacks. Traditional media largely provided routine coverage of commemorative services and very little critical analysis.