The Advanced Laboratory for Visual Anthropology (ALVA) is a new facility that puts the tools of digital cinema production into the hands of researchers. This project will utilize ALVA to further advances in anthropological imaging. This project will enable researchers to undertake visual anthropological projects in collaboration with planetarium science centers, textbook publishers and cultural resources managers. The ALVA facility has the potential to enhance research in visual anthropology through 4K cinema production. The project continues this enhancement, bringing anthropological content into full-dome planetarium environment.
If successfully completed, this project plans to translate the results of scientific research into the medium of digital cinema enabling transmission of these results across multiple platforms including streaming over the Internet and projection onto full-dome planetarium screens. It has the potential to create digital cinema resources for educators and students. The infrastructure and technologies enhanced through this project may enable further dissemination of the results of anthropological research through digital cinema and technological channels.
Under the auspices of the National Science Foundation, Innovation Corps grant, we established ALVA Studios. ALVA Studios is a film production entity dedicated to Cultural Resource Management, Historic Preservation and the improvement of relations between state and federal governments and the sovereign nations of Native Americans. Our goal is to disseminate the results of research done by anthropologists and archaeologists to the broadest possible audiences is using the tools of digital cinema production. A unique relationship between the personnel of ALVA studios and the Advanced Laboratory for Visual Anthropology at California State University, Chico allows us to combine anthropological expertise with the highest possible production values in digital cinema to create documentary films suitable for local, regional and nationwide television broadcast. In this way, we can convey the results of research that would otherwise languish in obscure reports, to students, educators and the general public. At the same time we provide research and professional training for undergraduate and graduate students, professional development opportunities for faculty members and employment for archaeologists and anthropologists trained in the techniques and technologies of documentary cinema production. Intellectual Merit The Advanced Laboratory for Visual Anthropology (ALVA) at CSU, Chico is a revolutionary facility that puts the tools of digital cinema production into the hands of researchers for the first time. This project translates our advances in anthropological imaging to the commercial sector. We collaborate with professionals in media production and we train our students in research methods that will allow them to pursue careers at the intersection of science and industry. This project advances knowledge as research crews trained at the ALVA facility undertake visual anthropological projects in collaboration with state and federal agencies, infrastructure companies and the sovereign tribal nations. Broader Impacts This project enhances scientific understanding among the general public by translating the results of scientific research into the medium of digital cinema and making these results available across multiple platforms. This project enhances teaching and learning by creating digital cinema resources for educators and their students. Graduate and undergraduate students are being trained in the theories and methods of anthropology and the techniques of professional digital cinema production. They will enter the workforce with an unmatched set of skills. This proposal broadens the participation of minorities in science as members of these groups are integrated into production teams and as they are exposed to anthropological content in multiple media. It enhances infrastructure for research and education by working in synergy with the world’s most technologically sophisticated laboratory for social scientific cinema production. It disseminates the results of anthropological research broadly, benefitting society by revealing the diversity of our nation’s cultural heritage.
