MULTIMEDIA

OFFICE HOURS: WED – 1445 THU – 1240 – BY APPOINTMENT ROOM

Course outline Multimedia practices, whose cultural meaning, forms of production and of distribution have been for years trancending the scopes of traditional audio-visual media, have become a crucial form of participation in culture. Obviously, they have also gained an important status among forms of consumption of culture. Aquiring of practical competencies of (co)creating of culture by active participants (who previously could be described as passive recipients /consumers of culture), including amatour or grassroots multimedia practices, have become sgnificant markers of a concious participation in culture. This course aims, then, to address several theoretical approches to multimedia practices, their meaning and position in contemporary culture as well as to instruct students to design and create simple original multimedia forms. This course also aims to address some of the cultural and social contests of the early 21st century: how do new media impact them and how do they impact the media, in turn. Another issue to explore will be the status and future of creativity in media saturated societies; we will try to situate these in the context of the multimedia creative practices, as well as within the larger cultural and – by extension – political and legal framesets.

In this course you will  learn about some of the theoretical approaches to multimedia studies, in particular referring to media convergence and convergence culture  learn about theories concerning creativity and participatory culture  learn about contemporary multimedia practices  learn about competencies that transform passive consumers into active producers and participants in culture  learn about legal, political and social dilemmas around notions of crativity, multimedia practices, and other forms of participation in culture  learn about some basic multimedia techniques  learn to complete simple multimedia projects

Expectations and requirements  Students’ attendance is obligatory. Two absences are allowed.  Students put in their own work. Any forms of academic dishonesty will be prosecuted. This rule also applies to group projects – be sure to document your input to all group assignments.  To be given credit for this course students must complete all mid-term and final projects. These will include, but will not be limited to:  Mid-term test covering theoretical issues discussed in class  Final group multimedia project  The grade obtained for this course will reflect my assessment of students’ participation in class discussions and activities, as well as my evaluation of the quality of the completed projects and assignments.

You will need  to come prepared to class, having completed the assignments, including reading assignments  an open mind and a will to participate in class discussions  a working computer  some basic software installed (details will be given along the way)  a digital camera

Assignment for the next week  Read the Introduction to the book Convergence Culture by Henry Jenkins.  Think about what media convergence is.  What is the Black Box fallacy?  What are the forms of media consumption which can be considered active participation rather than passive reception?  Can you offer any critisism to Jenkins’ vision?