DIGITAL STORYTELLING

01:351:312

01  MTH2  CAC   35647  SEIDEL   MU-038

In this class, you will expand your written voice with the added dimensions of pictures and sounds. Your first assignment will be to write a story,  essay or poem that is meaningful to you. You will then collect images and sounds that you feel will enhance your writing.  Your moving images can come from scanned still photographs, magazine and newspaper clippings, or any material on the web that is available for fair use. You do not have to be a
filmmaker, but the course will provide you with access to digital video cameras if you wish to record you own visuals. Next, you will input your
audio (which will include a narrated version of your story) and your images into a Final Cut Pro editing system.

In this course, you will learn the basics of Final Cut Pro editing, which is state of the art today. You need not have prior knowledge of this software!  By the end of the course, you will have created a multimedia sequence of 2-5
minutes in length. During the editing process, you will experience how your words change and evolve as they are interwoven with moving and still images,  music, sound effects and natural sounds. Toward the end of the semester, you will write a five page paper reflecting on what you've
learned.

Each student will need to store his/her digital story on an external harddrive.  For those students who do not own external harddrives, the department will provide a few harddrives for students to share.  Strong computer skills are helpful.

NEW MEDIA FOR WRITERS
01:351:312

02  MW4  CAC  73924  MATIN    MU-038

This course explores writing in various digital formats such as websites, blogs, hypertext and online fiction, and graphic narratives.  We will both analyze and practice different genres of writing from fiction, journalism, essays, critical reviews, diary/memoir, to travelogue.  The uses of visual rhetoric, graphic design, non-linear and interactive structures in writing for new media will be addressed throughout the course.   We will pay particular attention to the relationships between text and image, public and private, and individual and community produced in each case. Coursework will involve the collaborative building of a website about writing, keeping a blog, writing a short graphic narrative or video script, a short paper (2-3 pages) and a final paper (5-7 pages).  You will have the opportunity to use programs such as Blogger, Dreamweaver 8, Comic Life, and Final Draft.  NO prior knowledge is necessary for this course. 

INTRODUCTION TO MULTIMEDIA COMPOSITION

01:351:312

03  MW5  CAC  73926  MATIN    MU-038

This course explores how to use visual media to construct dynamic essays and narratives. We will first consider the visual turn in culture brought about by the proliferation of digital technologies in order to contextualize our analysis of visual language.  Examples will be drawn from websites, advertisements, books, films, music videos, and paintings that illustrate possibilities for visual storytelling, statement, and persuasion.  In particular, the uses of visual argument, irony, and parody will be addressed.   Our knowledge will then be put into practice through a series of projects, testing out different strategies, techniques, and conventions for multimodal expression in digital media.  The work in this course involves the collaborative building of a website about visual culture, keeping a blog, and composing a digital collage or montage, one short paper (2-3 pages) and a final paper (5-7 pages).   You will have the opportunity to use programs such as Photoshop, Blogger, Dreamweaver 8, and iMovie.  NO prior experience is necessary for this course.

I

DEEP READING

01:351:312

04- Deep Reading

This course will investigate two Nineteenth Century novels—Emma and Jane Eyre; the particular focus of the investigation will be on the body as it is represented in those novels. The method of analysis will employ computer software that will allow us to see into the semantic webwork of the novels in ways that could not have been done prior to the personal computer and text reading software. The texts will be read in our ordinary way of reading, will be viewed by way of critical and theoretical essays, and they will be examined in a micro-analytic way that will show us how the narrative shows up in the smallest units of the text.  We will be concerned with the ideas about how we (as brains and minds) read–how do we go through a text and construct meaning–this question of reading will take us into cognitive literary theory and some neuroscience.  In addition to the literary texts, critical commentary and analysis, we will consider the ramifications of computer magnification of the text and the general issue of electronic texts and hyper-media.  The course work will involve informal weekly writing, and several longer (5-8 page) formal papers (depending on class size), and possibly work mounted on the web

DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING FOR WRITERS

01:351:312

05  TF2  CAC  73927  SEIDEL    MU-038

Does someone you know have a great real life story you would like to tell? In this course, you will first write that person's story, shaping your prose into a concise and dramatic narrative. Then, after learning basic documentary filmmaking techniques in class, you will develop a set of questions for your character. Using a digital video camera, you will then interview your subject. Next, you will input your videotaped interview into a Final Cut Pro editing system.

In this course, you will learn the basics of Final Cut Pro editing, which is state of the art today. You need not have prior knowledge of this software!  As you build your documentary, you can add images (such as still photos, newspaper clippings and/or video you have recorded), sounds (music, sound effects and /or natural sounds), narration and text to complete your 2-5 minute composition. Throughout the class, you will screen and analyze documentaries that interweave first person narration with interviews such as Born into Brothels and Nobody's
Business. Toward the end of the semester, you will write a five-page paper reflecting on the techniques or ethics of documentary filmmaking.

Each student will need to store his/her documentary on an external harddrive.  

For those students who do not own external harddrives, the department will provide a few for students to share.  Strong computer skills are helpful.