COM 367, Multimedia Production and Digital Culture.

thurs. 6pm-8:45pm.
Winston 201J.

 

 

 

 

On this site, you'll find the class syllabus, readings for the class, a demo site to study, and the links to all of your classmates' blogs and websites.

This class will be run as a combination production and discussion seminar. The goal is to give students an immersion in the complexities of producing “multimedia.” For this class, we will take the term “multimedia” broadly. Web and interactive technologies will be used and examined, but we will also look at, and produce, work that challenges traditional notions of the use of still and moving image media. This will include the looking at sampled and recontextualized audio and video, live VJ performance, digitally altered images, and DVD.

For this class, we will assume that “making” and “thinking” are not distinct, individual processes, but interrelated parts of a whole. We will read texts by scholars and makers, discuss the aesthetic, philosophical, cultural, and ethical implication of making and thinking about multimedia work. These texts will inform and influence the work produced.

Students can expect to have an introduction to the major multimedia technologies and processes, including Dreamweaver, Flash, and Photoshop; this will include HTML coding and use of CSS. Students will also be introduced to other multimedia tools, including video and audio editing software.

Through the texts, students can expect to be introduced to discussion of visual culture and analysis, audio culture, and examination of web tools as texts for critical reading. Students will also read manifestos by multimedia artists.

Grading.
You will be graded in two areas in this class:
1. On the effort you show to challenge yourself around new ideas and new technologies.
2. On your willingness to contribute to the community of the classroom. This includes your contribution to critiques of your classmates work, your presentation during reading feedback sessions, and your class attendance.

You are allowed 2 excused absences. At your third abscence, you will have 15pts. deducted off your final class grade, no exceptions. If you miss more than 4 classes, you will fail.