Old course schedule

For your reference, here are the past days from the Course Schedule:

Aug 21	Introduction to course (syllabus, schedule, policies)	Set up Blogger page; email your url to Ryan; download Google Chrome
Aug 23	Media Ecology and Visual Culture	Read: McLuhan, first half Blog post: Compare McLuhan’s claims about television to your own thoughts about current digital technology. (300 words)
Aug 28	Looking more closely at TV and its digital impact	Finish reading McLuhan Watch “The Machine is Us/ing Us” Watch Wesch, “An Anthropological Intro to YouTube.” Blog post: How do Wesch’s ideas stack up against McLuhan’s? What are their differences? (300 words)
Aug 30	How is film produced? Introduction to auteurism and collaborative artforms	Read Film Production Theory chapter 1 (I'm working on a full pdf, but here's the amazon preview) Read “The Myth of Photographic Truth” (in Niihka) Explore this website (set aside about 30 minutes): http://films.nfb.ca/capturing-reality/ Watch 14 actors act Blog post: Is film/video ever free of commercialism? Can a director’s vision come to the screen purely? (200 words)

Sep 4	Cinematic views: Formalist and verite film	Watch Maya Deren’s “Meshes of the Afternoon” Watch Filmmaking Techniques Blog post: How much of what comes across in the visual media is   a product of the director? What about the actor? How much of what we feel and think is a product of the media? (500 words) Blog post: Post a favorite (appropriate) picture to you blog with a sentence or two about why you think this is a good picture.  Read Assignment Sheet for Media Project 1
Sep 6	How to read film/video Watch key scenes from movies Some genres of assemblages	Watch Beaton’s “Media’s hidden codes” Read McCannon, “Boycott Bud!” Blog post: After discussing how film is read in class, how do you read “Meshes”? Remember, there is no “right” answer—but you must use the techniques we discussed in class for your analysis. (250 words) Draft a proposal for Media Project 1 and turn it on Tuesday, Sep. 11 in class

Sep 11	Proposals-Audience, genre, topic, potential film clips. Genres of assemblages Media influence on youth, mainstream culture, and the critical response.  Critical gazes and values in film/video	Read this brief review of GMES Assignment: Watch some video/TV and briefly summarize (or link) what you watched. Then discuss what values/gazes might be represented in the media. Using the six questions about media will help you tremendously. (500 words)
Sep 13	Identifying audiences Watch clips from “The Greatest Movie Ever Sold” in class Proposal for Media Project 1 due	Interact with “The Wilderness Downtown” Blog post: What is your response to Spurlock's documentary? Is advertising as pervasive as he makes it seem? What did you notice about the documentary itself? (200 words) --Make sure you respond to your peers! (100 words each)

Sep 18	Space/place in new media Watch First 45 minutes of The Truman Show (application of active viewing)	Assignment: Begin composing a short political commercial usinglivingroomcandidate.org
Sep 20	Finish and discuss The Truman Show How media is constructed—looking at your political ads	Read Rice, “Juxtaposition” and Foucault, "Panopticon" (both in Niikha) Blog post: What are your reactions to the Truman Show? Is this movie completely off-base or is there some truth in it? Pick out a specific moment to showcase your point. Bring your catalog of videos and outline of paper for Media Project 1 to class on Tue. Sep 25
Sep 25	Montage theory and Kuleshov effect Watch Odessa Steps sequence Watch behind the scenes of “Rear Window” How to use create montages in iMovie and a how-to on screen capture	Begin reading Player Piano Start editing your video for Media Project 1
Sep 27	Constructed communities Revisit the Wilderness Downtown, Rear Window, and The Truman Show	Read: Ito, “HOMAGO” (in Niikha) Bring draft of video (as an iMovie file) and paper for MP1 to class on Tuesday.

Oct 2	Peer workshop	Continue working on editing your video!
Oct 4	Interactive Communities Play Energyville Watch #shellfail See the Website & game. icivic	Interact with: http://testtube.nfb.ca/ and Welcome to Pine Point Blog post: Define your role in Welcome to Pine Point and Test Tube in Ito’s terms. What could you do to move to the next level of interactivity? (300 words) Media Project 1 due by midnight on Oct. 9!

Oct 9	Gaming Communities and identity Media Project 1 due by midnight (or 11:59 pm if that helps)!	Read Nakamura's article (in Niihka) Read study guide for exam (to be posted Wed. night)
Oct 11	Representations of self in online communities Play Atari games	Read Gee, "What Videos Games Have to Teach Us" (ch. 7) (in Niihka) Blog post: List out three things you want to talk about in Player Piano. They can be questions, thoughts, observations, connections to other texts or themes from this course. You name it!
Oct 16	Discuss Player Piano in depth Discuss exam	Finish reading Player Piano if you haven't already...
Oct 18	EXAM	Read Vonnegut, "I used to be a luddite... " (in Niihka)