Multimedia Criticism
University of Pennsylvania – Spring 2017 – Thursdays 1:30-4:30
CIMS202/ENGL292 – Van Pelt 113 (collaborative classroom)
Prof. Peter Decherney – 211 Fisher-Bennett Hall
ASSIGNMENTS
All course readings and viewing material is available through this course website.
Detailed assignments are below (after the syllabus).
Participation (20 points)
Curate Microfest (10 points)
60 Second Multimedia Essay (20 points)
Collaborative VR or 360 project (ungraded)
Final Project (50 points)
SYLLABUS
Jan 12 – Introduction
Jan 19 – Multimedia Criticism
Read: Timothy Corrigan, “Of the History of the Essay Film”
Conor Bateman, “The Video Essay as Art”
Explore before class:
Tony Zhou, Every Frame a Painting
Richard Brody, Movie of the Week, The New Yorker
Anatomy of a Scene, The New York Times
Matt Zoller Seitz, Moving Image Source
Fandom.com
Catherine Grant’s video essays
Jeremy Kaye (YouTube) curates video essays
The Organization for Transformative Works
bring laptops for editing workshop
Jan 26 – Art, Avant-Garde and Experimental Media Criticism
Peter Wollen, “Two Avant-Gardes”
Lessig, from Remix, chs 1&2
due: 60 sec clip analysis (group 1)
Feb 2 – Fans, Amateurs, and Participatory Culture
read: Jenkins, Ito, boyd, Particpatory Culture, intro
due: 60 sec clip analysis (group 2)
Feb 9 – Virtual Reality
explore: NYTimes VR app
in-class make a collaborative VR project
Feb 16 – Fair Use
read Cariou v Prince
Feb 23 – microfest (group 2) and final project proposal (group 1)
March 2 – project proposal (group2)
director Mike Figgis visiting class
Premiere Workshop (in Goldstein lab)
March 9 – spring break
March 16 – microfest (group 1), project updates (all)
March 23 – rough cuts (group 1)
March 30 – no class
April 6 – rough cuts (group 2)
April 13 – final cuts (group 1)
April 20 – final cuts (group 2)
April 22, 23, 24 (as schedules allow) — Tribeca Film Festival
DETAILED ASSIGNMENTS
Participation (20 points)
Come prepared. Be alert and engaged. Be courteous to your colleagues as they present their work and offer constructive feedback.
For production help visit the Vitale Digital Media Lab or consult the lab’s iMovie guides.