About Mediaworks
What does it mean to make moving images in an age described as digital, informational, postmodern and even post-postmodern? How do we critically engage with the history and traditions of media practices while testing the boundaries of established forms? What responsibilities do media artists and producers have to their subjects and audiences? In this program, students will engage with these and other questions as they gain skills in film/video history and theory, critical analysis, media production, collaboration and critique.
This is an intensive full-time, two-quarter program linking media theory with practice. We will explore a variety of media modes and communication strategies, emphasizing documentary and experimental forms the material properties of sound and moving image media, and the strategies artists and media producers have employed to challenge mainstream media forms. We will experiment with alternative approaches to production, including non-fiction, abstract film, video art, alternative scripting techniques, autobiography, essay films, installations and performance. Additionally students will develop skills in analysis and criticism through screenings, readings, seminars, research and critical writing. We will also spend significant time in critique sessions discussing our creative and critical work. This, like all program activities, is designed to emphasize the importance of collaboration in the production of media.
In fall quarter students should expect to complete both short skill-building exercises and short projects. These exercises and projects will have thematic and technical guidelines that are consistent with the program curriculum, and students should expect to work collaboratively on most of them. In winter quarter students will continue to work on skill-building exercises and will complete both collaborative and solo short projects, again with guidelines that are consistent with the program curriculum.