Mediaworks: Experiments with Light and Sound

Fall, Winter, Spring/Coordinated Study
Faculty: Ruth Hayes, Sally Cloninger
Enrollment: 48
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing; Core program or its equivalent and written application.
Faculty Signature: Yes. Students submit a written application plus copies of previous evaluations and self-evaluations or transcript. Applications will be available by mid-April and can be picked up from the program secretaries in COM 301 or at the Academic Advising Office. Written application is due Friday, May 12, 2000.
Special Expenses: $250 materials each quarter.
Internship Possibilities: Spring quarter only.
Travel Component: None

Mediaworks is the entry-level moving image program. It is designed to provide students with basic skills in 16mm and digital filmmaking, animation, video and audio production, as well as background in some aspects of film and video history and theory. All moving image programs emphasize the linkage of media theory and practice, focusing on the development of a critical and oppositional perspective for imagemaking and studying the politics of representation, especially with regard to race, class and gender.

In the 2000-01 version of Mediaworks we will focus our theoretical work on the historical, aesthetic and ideological approaches and issues that have influenced the work of experimental imagemakers. We will pay specific attention to media artists who deliberately mix styles, incorporate diverse aesthetic impulses in their work, move across disciplines, critique the dominant corporate media, explore autobiographical themes and attempt to broaden both film language and the perceptual sensibilities of their audience. We will also study seeing and listening. Texts may include: Technologies of Seeing, Brian Winston; Understanding Animation, Paul Wells; An Introduction to Film Studies, Jill Nelmes, ed.; Resolutions, Michael Renov and Erika Suderburg, eds.; and Audio-VisionÑSound on Screen, Michel Chion. Media artists may include: Germaine Dulac, Norman McLaren, Caroline Leaf, Sergei Eisenstein, Maya Deren, Pratibha Parmar, Robert Breer, Chick Strand, Man Ray, Bruce Conner, Peter Kubelka, Oskar Fishinger, Marjut Rimminen, Isaac Julien, John Cage, Nam June Paik, Michaela Pavlatova, Bill Viola, Ernie Kovaks and so forth.

During fall quarter, students in this program will be introduced to a variety of production skills, including cinematography, basic animation, video production, pre-production design processes, sound recording and editing. Students will be expected to complete a number of design problems in these media and to demonstrate a readiness to proceed to more advanced work in winter. They will also complete critical writing on media, learn and apply media research skills and participate in theoretical discussions and critique groups.

In winter students will continue skill-building in 16mm and digital filmmaking, sound design and animation. They also will be expected to complete their research on a contemporary media artist, design a lecture/presentation with a partner, and present their topic orally and in written form. Their design work will focus on the completion of projects in several media.

In spring students will have the opportunity to produce a short independent project in film, video or animation.

Students should expect to work collaboratively as well as individually, and to design projects consistent with the stated themes of the program. Considerable attention will be given to the process, as well as the product, of media production, with frequent screenings of work in progress and emphasis on group discussion and critique.

* Credit will be awarded in film, video and sound production, animation, media history and theory, visual research and independent film/video/animation projects.
* Total: 16 credits each quarter.
* Program is preparatory for career and future study in media art, visual art and communications.
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