Due April 24 when class begins

Overview

For this project, you will work in groups of 4-5 to research one of the eight significant Hollywood studios of the studio system era, using archival materials from the Media History Digital Library and the Margaret Herrick Digital Library. Each group will create a portfolio that demonstrates the ability to conduct, organize, and communicate historical archival research. Groups will present this research in a gallery-style presentation.

Your group will need to define the scope of your research. Between 1929 and 1948, one studio would have put out hundreds of films, not to mention the scripts that never got made and the films that fell through before production began. Thanks to digital technology, we have access to millions of documents regarding the film industry in the studio era—so you will need to narrow down what you are looking for.

To do this, you’ll want to decide as a group on a research question that will guide your project. A well-formulated research question typically identifies the issue or topic under investigation and specifies what aspect of it will be explored. It should be answerable through empirical investigation, in this case, through primary source documents in the digital archives.

Your research question will definitely focus on one specific studio, but it might further focus on one year, one genre, one actor or director, or even just one film. This further focus will likely develop as your group conducts the research, based on what you find.

Portfolio checklist

Your group’s portfolio should be one PDF document containing:

• Research Essay - An essay that explains both your research question and your answer to the question based on what you found in the archives. This should include a narrative of your group’s research process that explains what archives you used, how you found your artifacts, etc. It may include descriptions of research dead-ends or unanswered questions that arose.
• 8-10 archival research artifacts (these could be documents, magazine articles, a page of advertisements, etc) with full citation information and a brief description for each.

Criteria

A successful group research project will:

• Communicate your group’s research question, findings, and process in a well-written essay of about 1000-1500 words
• Use your group’s chosen archival research artifacts to answer to your research question, with specific evidence from the artifacts quoted in the essay
• Present 8-10 archival research artifacts with full citation information and a brief description that provides context for the artifact
• Use document design to help the reader navigate your portfolio easily

Tasks

1. Define your research question.
2. Begin your research using the provided digital archives.
3. Discuss your initial findings as a group and, if needed, further narrow down your focus.
4. Finish researching and compile your selected artifacts. Write down their citations and a brief description of each.
5. Draft your research essay.
6. Revise and edit your essay and proofread your portfolio before turning it in.
7. Turn your portfolio in as one PDF document to TCU Online.
8. Present your portfolio to your instructor and peers in class in a poster session-style presentation.