COURSE OUTLINE

Course Description

This course builds on knowledge and skills gained in Media Cultures 1.  It will enable students to develop an understanding of the theory and practice of time-based and digital media.

The course will explore the interrelation of art and technology by investigating the evolution of digital media from early base concepts and the parallel histories of other media forms. Historical and theoretical perspectives of digital and time-based media will be presented and, in particular, their relationship to games will be explored.

As a means of applying these theoretical and historical perspectives, this course will also explore the theory and practices of writing and conceptual development techniques to suit a range of media. Students will engage in research and practical tasks intended to give them a range of investigative, analytical, conceptual and creative skills.

Throughout the course, students will develop methodologies of storytelling and narrative structures for media. The students will build a solid foundation of ideas, methods and techniques as well as professional formats for presentation, which will have a deep and broad impact on the way they approach, work on and develop future multimedia projects.

Learning Activities

The learning approach in this course is student-centred and practically-based. Feedback will be ongoing during classes, and will be given in response to in-class exercises, presentations and other class activities.

You will be expected to use lateral, analytical and critical thinking processes, both at an individual and group level, through exercises, critiques, reviews and discussions. The exploration of existing models, theories and paradigms will be essential, allowing you to develop your knowledge base of creative strategies.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, the student should be able to:

1. Develop original content through heightened conceptual and idea generation processes suitable for media productions.
2. Refine their critical and analytical capacity to evaluate content and structure in linear narrative, interactive and networked publications.
3. Develop narrative storytelling techniques within interactive, animation and/or video works.
4. Develop a writing routine by regularly completing in-class exercises and assignments.
5. Develop skills to confidently interact with peers in group presentations and critiques.
6. Demonstrate critical and analytical abilities.
7. Understand the relationship and influences between art and technology.
8. Analyse the technological developments of the modern world and understand how they are linked to earlier media forms.
9. Acquire knowledge and critically evaluate major economic, aesthetic, technological, cultural and theoretical developments in world media.
10. Analyse different ways in which media practices have responded to moments in history of crisis and transformation as well as technological developments

Overview of Assessment

Assessment is based on progressive assessment briefs, and class exercises. A full detailed breakdown of weekly class exercises and objectives will be supplied on a week by week basis.

Assessment is ongoing and part of students’ participation in group and individual class exercises and class critique (formal and informal) sessions. Assignments may include script writing, storyboarding, visual/ textual narration, writing short and succinct film and game synopsis, analysis of plot and character development, development of game mechanics, investigation of historical media technologies and contemporary networked media potentials.

All assessment tasks will be provided in writing via briefs and verbal reinforcement.

Criteria include:

1. Productive participation in individual and group activities
2. Originality and appropriateness of ideas
3. Ability to present ideas and respond to critical analysis
4. Research skills
5. Completion of assessment tasks on time
6. Presentation standards (including spellcheck, grammar, proofread).

Students will need to complete the assignment and exercise tasks on time and to brief to receive an average (Credit) grade. Additional time, effort, and enthusiasm in and out of class are necessary for an above average grade. Students who listen, ask questions, work hard, take risks, explore concepts & media, and actively engage in constructive criticism and an exchange of ideas will benefit most from this class and earn an above average grade.

Assessment

REFERENCING

Remember to provide an in-text citation when you refer to any of the following in your work: video games, books, articles/papers, web pages, movies, images. The first time you mention the title of a game, book, article, web page or image, include an in-text citation for it:

video game
"…with the advent of the game Tomb Raider (1996), gaming had its first sex symbol, Lara Croft…"

book
"… defining computer game genre is discussed in the book Videogames (Newman 2004, p. 2-15)."

web page
"...in the article The New Games Journalism (Gillen 2004), this style of journalism was taken to task."

image (this goes underneath the image)
Figure 1: John Marston in Red Dead Redemption  (2010)

Remember to format the title of each work in italics.

At the end of your document you should have a References list in the following format:

References:

Gillen K 2004, The New Games Journalism, viewed 17 June, 2007: http://www.alwaysblack.com/blackbox/ngj.html

Newman J 2004, Videogames, Routledge, London and New York

Red Dead Redemption 2010, Rockstar Games, video game, New York (N.B. Rockstar Games is the publisher)

Tomb Raider 1996, Eidos Interactive, video game, Montreal