FINAL PROJECTS DUE WEDNESDAY 4/27 BY 11:59PM
Upload your media component and reflection in your individual Box folder.
Week 1, 1/6 – Introductions
in-class
– Make a .gif for GIF IT UP. The site includes resources and tutorials, but if they seem daunting you’re welcome to use the user-friendly makeagif.com.
– Set up WordPress and Box accounts.
– Post your .gif to the class blog.
homework
read: Lessig, “Remixed: Media“, 68-76 (pdf pages)
write: Blog #1, ~300 words on one digital media object you’d call a remix. Prompt here. Due Sunday, 1/10 by 11:59PM.
collect: Video footage of a technology from several different sources, at least one with a Creative Commons license and one without. Bring the footage with you to class next week on your flashdrive. For information on Creative Commons, look here. For places to find video footage, check out resources.
Week 2, 1/13 – Video: Premiere
in class
– Activity: analogue remix
– Lenka Clayton’s Qaeda Quality Question Quickly Quickly Quiet|artist’s statement
– Premiere tutorial
homework
read: Manovich, “Alan Kay’s Universal Media Machine,” 64-74 (Box)
write: Blog #2, your video project proposal. ~300 words. Due Sunday, 1/17 by 11:59PM.
comment: Respond to two of your classmates’ proposals before class on Wednesday 1/20. These responses can be just a few sentences, but you should give substantive feedback in some way: ask a question, recommend a resource, talk about which parts of the idea you find most exciting. You can also give constructive criticism, but remember to be kind – no one’s initial idea is perfect.
watch: “The Digital Era Emerges,” a history of digital video editing
Week 3, 1/20 – Video
in-class
– Activity: comparing video editors
– Video proposal workshop
– Worktime
homework
collect: All the footage you’ll need for your remix. Bring it next week – you’ll have time to work on your video project in class
work on: Your video portfolio. Remember to take at least 3 screenshots as you compose – you’ll need them for your reflection.
explore: Public Record: Pittsburgh
BOMB Magazine|City Paper|Map & Liner Notes|Audio
Week 4, 1/27 – Video
in class
– Public Record: Pittsburgh
– Activity: composing instructions
– Worktime. This is the last time we’ll see each other before you turn in your video portfolios, so be sure to check in if you’re having problems.
homework
finish: Video portfolio
Your remix and reflection are due Sunday, 1/31 by 11:59PM posted in your individual Box folder. Your tutorial (prompt here) is due on the blog before class Wednesday, 2/3.
Week 5, 2/3 – Video/Audio
in-class
– Video wrap-up
– Audacity introduction
– Activity: creative reporting
homework
listen:
Limetown, “Episode 1: What We Know”
Radiolab, “I Don’t Have to Answer That”
write: Blog #3, ~300 words on one moment in Limetown or Radiolab when you noticed and appreciated the sound design. Due Sunday, 2/7 by 11:59PM
record: 3 sounds – these can be interior or exterior, quiet or loud. Post them in the class Box folder, in the subfolder “Collected Sounds,” before class Wednesday, 2/10.
bring: 3 objects that make a weird sound to class with you Wednesday, 2/10. (We’ll be making sound effects.)
Week 6, 2/10 – Audio
in-class
-Discuss Limetown and Radiolab
-Foley Artistry
homework
read: Bresland, “On Writing For the Ear”
write: Blog 4, ~300 words. Pick one sound a classmate has collected or created, and imagine a scene that it exists in. Where is this scene happening? Is someone speaking? What are they saying? Is there music? What other sounds can you hear? Use this blog to start thinking toward your soundscape. Due Sunday, 2/14 by 11:59PM.
ask: We have a guest coming next week who has worked as a voice actor. Come up with one question (about voice or any other sound-related thing) that you’d like him to answer. Write it in the document in our group Box folder titled “Questions” by 11:59PM Tuesday, 2/16.
Week 7, 2/17 – Audio
in-class
– Guest: Austin Nebbia on voice
– Diagramming stories: Basic Plot Diagram | Vonnegut’s Shapes of Stories
To diagram:
“Election,” J. Robert Lennon
“Don’t I Know You,” This American Life
– Revisiting Audacity & Worktime
homework
write: Your audio preview is due Sunday, 2/21 posted to the blog by 11:59PM. It should be ~300 words and tagged “audio preview.” Prompt here.
work on: Your soundscape. By next class, you should have at least 30 seconds of finished audio that you’re willing to share. (To clarify, this is 30 seconds of your soundscape, not 30 seconds of collected audio you plan to use.) Bring that 30 second clip (and all your other soundscape materials) to class 2/24 – we’ll be workshopping them.
consider: What issues local to Pittsburgh are you invested in? What problems or opportunities for improvement do you see with respect to the city or the university? Come to class 2/24 with two things written down.
Week 8, 2/24 – Audio
in-class
– Media design project
– Soundscape workshop
– Worktime
– Remember that your first opportunity for extra credit is this Thursday, 2/25 at 5PM. Full details here.
homework
finish: Audio portfolio
Your soundscape and reflection are due Sunday, 2/28 by 11:59PM posted in your individual Box folder. Your tutorial is due on the blog before class Wednesday, 3/2.
Week 9, 3/2 – Text
in-class
– Audio wrap-up
– Interactive narrative/text-based games
– Map out your own interactive narrative. If you already have a story in mind, feel free to use it. Otherwise I recommend picking a fairy tale since they’ve been told many times and so have a lot of variations. Wikipedia list of fairy tales.
homework
play: Twine games. You should all play The Uncle who Works for Nintendo through to several different endings, paying attention to the game’s overall structure and to the way it incorporates sounds and images. Also play (at least) one of these other games:
The Girl in the Haunted House
My Father’s Long, Long Legs
Depression Quest
Capri Toot
write: Blog 5, ~300 words on one or more moments in these games where something interesting is happening. Prompt here. Due Sunday, 3/13 by 11:59PM.
read: Anna Anthropy’s Twine Tutorial. We’ll be working with Twine next class, so start getting a sense of how it works (and what about it seems confusing).
Week 10, 3/9 – SPRING BREAK
Week 11, 3/16 – Text
in-class
– Discuss Twine games
– Twine tutorial. (Twine is available for download here. We’re using version 1.4.2)
– Worktime: Twine and group project. If you run into trouble with Twine, refer back to Anthropy’s tutorial.
homework
write: Blog 6, ~300 words. Start thinking about your group project. Prompt here, due Sunday 3/20 by 11:59PM.
map: Your Twine game. Now that you’ve seen Twine’s interface, imagine how the narrative you want to present might fit into it (where the branches happen, what text fits in each passage). Take a picture of your map, and post it in the subfolder titled “Twine maps” in our collective Box folder before class 3/23. Bring the map with you to class as well.
work on: Entering your game into Twine. Since class is cancelled 3/30, next week will be the last time we meet before your games are due. So, make sure you come to class knowing what skills you’d like to learn and where you might run into trouble with Twine – I won’t have another opportunity to troubleshoot in person.
Week 12, 3/23 – Text
in-class
-Playthrough set-up
-CSS for Twine overview
-Worktime
homework
write: Your text preview is due Sunday, 3/27 by 11:59PM. It should be ~300 words and tagged “text preview.” Prompt here.
play: Since class is cancelled next week, we won’t have the opportunity to do an in-person peer workshop of your Twine games. Instead, you’ll get in pairs and exchange games, writing down notes on the experience of playing your partner’s game and making suggestions for revision. Some questions to consider: What moments do you notice in playing and why? Do the design elements, writing style and narrative structure contribute to the story your partner is trying to tell? Are they ever confusing or distracting? What is already working well, and what might your partner want to do more work on? Playthrough notes should be at least 300 words; email them to me and to your partner by 11:59PM on Wednesday, 3/30. You’ll probably want to exchange a built HTML file for the playthrough, and you’re welcome to send Twine project files as well. Before you leave class today, exchange contact information with your partner and agree on when and how you’ll send each other games.
Week 13, 3/30 – CLASS CANCELLED
finish: Text portfolio. Your Twine game and reflection are due Sunday, 4/3 by 11:59PM in your individual Box folder. Remember to upload both the Twine file (.tws) and the built HTML file (.html).
Week 14, 4/6 – Text/Revision
in-class
– Text wrap-up
– Final project introduction
– Group project worktime
homework
write: Final project proposal. At least 300 words, due on the blog Sunday, 4/10 by 11:59 PM. Details in the final project assignment sheet here.
finish: Group project. You’ll be presenting your work next week, so come to class with a completed small media component and plan for scaling up. Put both the plan and media in our class box folder (in the subfolder titled “Group Project”) before class starts on 4/13.
Week 15, 4/13 – Group Presentations
in-class
– Presentations
– Worktime/final project check-in
homework
write/record: Your final tutorial. Due Sunday, 4/17 by 11:59PM, this is the last thing you’ll post to the blog. Show us a skill or trick you’re using for your final project (or, if you’d rather, something you used in making your Twine game). As usual, this can be a screencast or a list of steps with screenshots.
work on: Your final project. Next week we’ll workshop whatever you have done, so be sure to come to class with something. Remember that the project is due Sunday, 4/24 by 11:59PM.
Week 16, 4/20 – Last Day