An exploration of the applicability of Linda Aronson's flashback theory as a framework for the practice of screenwriting. This practice-based PhD comprises an original screenplay for a biopic of the life and trial of 20th century Scottish medium Helen Duncan, entitled Hellish Nell, and a thesis which reflects the process of writing the script using Linda Aronson's flashback narrative structures. The central focus of this thesis is to explore the applicability of Aronson's theoretical frameworks first circulated in Screen writing Updated in 2000 through the various stages of script development. The Introduction examines what a flashback is and its uses. It sets out Linda Aronson's theoretical framework on flashback narrative structure, in particular her theory on case history and thwarted dream. It also reviews the historical sources of my screenplay and examines the creative practice of exploring through biographic drama a complex and unresolved historical figure. Chapter One investigates Aronson's flashback theory in more detail, how it is assessed and applied. It also explores the issues attendant upon writing biographical drama with specific reference to Aronson's framework. It also examines her three sub-sets and explains why they were excluded from my development work. Finally it covers what areas will be investigated in more detail in the rest of the thesis. Chapter Two sets up the background and story of Helen Duncan, the Scottish medium and psychic. It then focuses on Aronson's thwarted dream and case history narrative structures, and the results that arose from testing their applicability against my own writing practice. The first section deals with the examination of Aronson's thwarted dream narrative structure through the development of Surfacing for Air, my initial attempt at a screenplay. The results were of paramount importance as it was through this initial investigation that the significance of theme and genre were first identified. It also painted to the crucial role of point-of-view. This led to these areas of concern being explored further in the examination of Aronson's case history narrative structure, through the development of the final screenplay, Hellish Nell. The second section explores the development of this screenplay and also assesses the applicability of case history to my own script and writing practice. It illustrates the details of the amendments and the decisions involved in those changes and an analysis of the stages of my research development. It also investigates the impact of genre and theme in determining the content of the links between present and past stories. Chapter Three analyses four contemporary films which involve flashbacks in the light of Aronson's theoretical framework and tests the impact of genre and theme when deciding where the dramatic connections should be between past and present stories and in determining their content. The conclusion provides a modified version of Aronson's flashback theory in the light of the research and analysis undertaken. It also provides new additional questions based on the use of genre and theme when assessing the content of flashback sequences.

One of the most common questions of any artist is “Where did that idea come from?”— often closely followed by “What does it mean?” Like many of my films, Into the South started as a small inspiration but gradually attracted other ideas to it, changing and morphing and growing like a great snowball rolled down a hill, picking up sticks and dirt and grass along the way. This report is a reflection of my preparations and experiences making the 35mm short film Into the South. It is weighted more heavily toward development and pre-production, with a few memorable moments and musings interspersed, mostly for my own benefit. But I will do my best to explain to the University where this idea came from, and what does it mean. / text

The following report describes the process by which the thesis documentary film, Complicit, was made by Michelle Nehme. The film is about domestic sex trafficking in the United States and centers around the story of one American-born survivor. The film also includes testimony from anti-trafficking leaders in Austin, TX. The report discusses the issue at large, the process behind researching, pre-production, production and post-production of the film, and the creative choices made around the film. The original treatment is included, as well as the script written for the narrative strand. The report also discusses the struggles the filmmaker faced with the dark themes and the complexity of the issue during the course of making the film. / text

The following report describes the making of the short film Running Upside Down in its entirety from the genesis of the idea to pre-production, production, post-production, and finally reflections and musings of the whole process. Running Upside Down is a story about a father and son’s journey to reconciliation though oceans apart and also of a young girl’s dream to travel to America. Supplemental materials to the report include the original script, budget and shooting schedule. This short film was produced as my Graduate Thesis Film in the Department of Radio-Television-Film at the University of Texas at Austin in fulfillment of my MFA in Film Production. / text

My thesis film for the Master of Fine Arts degree is a 20-minute documentary entitled Urban Blackfellas, a film that explores various lived experiences and issues affecting urban Aboriginals predominantly in and around Sydney. The film engages with a set of characters as they navigate issues of Aboriginal identity within a dominant white Australian cultural landscape. This report traces the evolution of the filmmaking process for Urban Blackfellas, from its creation to completion. / text

The following report is a description of the pre-production, production and post-production of the short film “Formosa, TX”, made in Marfa and Coupland, Texas in 2012. The film is a study of living Asian American in small town Texas. / text

This report details the writing and revision process that went into my thesis feature screenplay, The Death of Us, a romantic comedy about a young man who fakes his mother’s death to try to keep his girlfriend from dumping him. I trace my steps from the idea’s conception to the completion of my thesis draft of the screenplay, using the outlines and beat-sheets I created at various stages along the way as examples. I explain the circumstances and inspirations behind The Death of Us, and finally, I attempt to reconcile the giant gap between my original intentions for this script and the final product. / text

The following report describes the pre-production, production, and post-production stages of the short film UNCANNY VALLEY, a film about a person trying to digitally resurrect his deceased mother. After his mother passes away from cancer, Anish finds a place where he can input data in order to breathe life into expired things. UNCANNY VALLEY touches on the subject of the proliferation of personal data and how it might be used to reconstruct an incomplete portrait of a given period of time. This report recounts the experience of producing the film as well as insights into the writing process and the pre-production process. Supplemental materials include a final draft of the script and storyboards. / text

This Master’s Report chronicles the process of inception, pre-production, production and post-production for Who Is Paloma Carter, a thesis film made as part of the MFA in Film Production at The University of Texas at Austin’s RTF Program, as well as the insights gained through these stages and the course of the entire program. / text

This thesis examines the nature of the relationship between documentary and social practices. In particular it seeks to develop and theorise a mode of documentary practice in which social practices in general are dialogised rather than represented. I characterise social practices as consisting of a largely tacit consensus in ways of acting and understanding. This consensus is, I argue however, inherently open to re-evaluation and re-articulation in practice itself; and it is as part of rather than as a representation of-such processes that dialogical documentary operates. In the written thesis, which discusses a number of specific documentaries in relation to their overall approach to practices, I argue for a mode of documentary based not in representational strategies of external observation and objective overview, but rather in the dialogising of moments of practice. An act that has been dialogised is revealed as involving a degree of ambiguity or heterogeneity-and hence the possibility of a re-evaluation, i. e., re-negotiation of practices themselves. For dialogical documentary objective representation is neither means nor goal; on the contrary tendential intervention becomes a legitimate and central method-both in the local situation, where the filmmaking process provokes behaviour and reflection rather than merely recording it; and on the level of public discourse, to which the documentary raises particular instances of practice by enunciating them, or allowing them to be enunciated, within a discursive field. These concerns are directly reflected in the main practice element of the thesis-a documentary project exploring the rehearsal of a piece of music by Christian Wolff called Changing the System (1973). This exploration is based around the score of the piece, which, offering different possibilities for its realisation, both on the macro and micro level, requires explicit dialogical interaction between the players.