Multimedia Report – 10 points
Length: 1500 – 2000 words (about 3-4 pages), double-spaced, 12 point font
Include Word Count at end of paper
Due Thursday, February 26th on Blackboard
Based on our readings, discussions, and screenings so far, prepare a report on an example of interactive cinematic multimedia you’ve encountered on your own. Part of your challenge will be to determine what “interactive” means, and how your selected work fits that definition.
THE EXAMPLE
In selecting your media example, consider whether the work meets the criteria of “new media” as outlined in The Language of New Media:
Numerical representation
Modularity
Automation
Variability
(Cultural) Transcoding
Sampling
Compositing
And consider whether it fits into any of the other notions we’ve covered:
- the shift from thinking about the “shot” as a basic building block of filmmaking (time) to one of layering and compositing (space)
- interactivity, whether it’s between elements in a single work, between the user and the work, between the user and the creator, or some other example.
THE PAPER
At the top of your paper, be sure to state:
- Title, creator, and year of work
- Location of work (URL, DVD, installation space, etc.)
- Sources/materials contained in work (if known)
- Genre/mode (narrative, documentary, experimental, animation, etc.)
- Short paragraph that describes the work
Then, in the following pages, address the following issues in assessing your chosen work:
- How would you define “interactivity” in thinking about new media? How does your chosen work in particular represent interactivity? In what ways is it interactive?
- What is the effect of this interactivity? In other words, how does an element of interactivity affect how you view the work, how it conveys a message, how it impacts a viewer emotionally or intellectually?
- What are the shortcomings of interactivity in this work? How does it limit the impact of the message, or alienate the viewer?
- How does this work expand what “cinema” means? How does it encourage us to rethink our traditional ideas of the moving image or moviemaking?
- Other observations about the significance of this work – innovations, limitations?
Lastly, be prepared to share your chosen work (if possible) and discuss it during class on the due date.