WSC Special Area Historical Distortion

Historical Accuracy

The degree to which a portrayal of a historical event or figure aligns with the actual historical records and evidence.

Abraham Lincoln

16th president of the US, known for ending slavery and leading the nation during the Civil War.

Nelson Mandela

Black activist and leader who fought against white supremacy in South Africa.

Princess Diana

Former princess of Wales, known for her charity work and tragic death in a car accident.

Characteristics of actors Playing Nelson Mandela

Black, Man

Color Blind Casting

A casting approach that does not take into account race or ethnicity. It allows for more inclusivity and breaks away from character stereotypes.

Color Conscious Casting

A casting approach that does take into account race and ethnicity when casting someone but also takes into account their relevance to the context of the film.

Hamilton

A musical created by Lin Manuel Miranda that features color blind casting, with actors of various races portraying historical figures from the founding era of the United States.

Criticism of Hamilton's Casting

The argument made by Harvard student Emi P. Cummings that casting black actors to portray historical figures who were historically oppressive, such as slave owners, is a form of racism or exploitation.

The Mountaintop

A play that explores a fictional encounter between Martin Luther King and a mysterious young woman, Camae, in room 306 at the Lorraine Motel on the night before his assassination in Memphis.

Michael Oatman

Director of the Kent State University production of The Mountaintop, who had a controversial vision of casting both black and white actors in the role of Martin Luther King to test the audience's response.

Katori Hall

The black playwright who originally created The Mountaintop and was upset by the director's casting choices, leading her to speak out in the media and advocate for a new law requiring her permission for non-black castings.

Joseph Nicephore

French scientist who created the first photograph in 1826 by exposing a plate covered with asphalt in a camera obscura.

Daguerreotype

The first public method of capturing images, invented by Louis Daguerre in 1839, which involved using polished silver plated copper and chemical treatments to create precise pictures.

Dry-plate (gelatin process)

Invented by Richard Leach Maddox in 1871, it was a photographic process that didn't require wet plates, making it easier to produce pictures.

Flexible roll film

Invented by George Eastman, it was a type of film that came in a roll, allowing for easier and more convenient photography. It was used in his other invention the Kodak camera four years later in 1888, which came with 100 of it pre-loaded.

Ansel Adams

A teenage photographer from San Francisco who captured beautiful views of the USA in 1916 and is considered one of the most skilled photographers of his time.

Leica

A camera invented by Oscar Barnack in 1925, known for being lighter and the first camera to use a 35mm film.

Kodachrome

The first color-reversal film invented by Kodak in 1935, enabling the capture of colored photos.

BIPOC

Acronym for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, referring to individuals from non-white racial and ethnic backgrounds.

AIs can’t color photos accurately

The main argument being that AIs can’t use too much logic to pinpoint different colors and that it steals the job of photo colorizers.

AI Colorization

The process of using artificial intelligence algorithms to add color to black and white photographs.

Autochrome

The first method for color photographs, invented by Auguste and Louis Lumiere in 1903, which involved covering a glass plate with potato starch grains dyed red, green, and blue to create a filter, and then exposing it to light to produce a transparency.

Palette

An Al developed by Emil Waller at Google that uses Dall E's text to image Al process to colorize black and white images.

Meryl Streep

An actress who portrayed UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the film "The Iron Lady" by listening to her old tapes and using makeup to mimic her.

Austin Butler

Actor who played Elvis in the movie "Elvis' and underwent vocal changes due to his dedication in achieving the Elvis Presley voice.

Bas Uterwijk

An Al that creates realistic photos of people originally depicted in paintings or sculptures using deep learning Al and 3D modeling. The creator is an artist from Amsterdam to whom it is named after.

Ötzi the Iceman

A mummy from the Copper Age, over 5300 years old, found in the Val Senales Valley in Italy, preserved naturally in ice. Discovered by Erika and Helmut Simon.

South Tyrol Museum of Archeology

The museum in Bolzano, Italy, where Ötzi the Iceman has been exhibited in a cold cell with a window since 1998.

For All Mankind

A television series created by Ronald D. Moore that presents an alternative reality where the USSR achieves significant milestones in the space race, including being the first to reach the moon, due to historical differences in the cold war.

Quality of verisimilitude

The extent to which a story feels like it could happen in a given context or alternative reality.