…though still under development. Syllabus.
Category Archives: about
NOT Covered in this Course
Graphic Novels
Animation
Visualization
Game Design
Balancing Conceptual and Hands-On, Basic and Advanced
In this course, we are trying to do two somewhat different things: read key literature and think critically about what we are doing; and develop your hands-on skills.
Students will vary in their prior experience and in what they need.
Each week we will engage in some reading/conceptual work, and some hands-on work. I will provide lots of links to information elsewhere, especially about technical aspects of photography, so that people who are less experienced will have resources to help them without our spending excessive class time on basics.
Similarly with software: there exists a wide range of software, from basic to advanced, and participants will vary in which they are familiar with and how skilled they are.
Each time I have taught this class, the needs have been different. We’ll adapt as needed, and add “lab” sessions if needed.
Technology for this course
What we will be using:
Media capture
You don’t need to own anything. However, it is likely that most students will have mobile phones with camera and audio and video recording. These can be quite useful.
Many students will have point and shoot cameras. Some will have dSLRs. Some have digital recording devices. I have some video cameras available for loan.
I have a lot of experience with dSLRs, including dSLR video, and digital audio recording in the field.
Typically, students in this class range from those with no skills in these technologies to those with advanced skills.
Software
For most purposes, iPhoto, iMovie, or the Windows equivalents (e.g., Windows Live Movie Maker) will suffice. (I use Final Cut Pro; I haven’t tried Final Cut Pro X yet.)
Free or low-cost software for audio editing and for putting images and audio together are available. These include Audacity, Soundslides, and Hindenburg (my favorite audio editor; free trial available).
Currently (Spring, 2012), the campus has a contract with Adobe that makes Adobe Creative Suite Design Premium , which includes Photoshop (but not Premiere Pro), available to students for free.
About this course
Multimedia Narrative for Professional Practice and Field Research
Prof. Nancy Van House
School of Information
290. Multimedia Narrative (Sec 2) (3 units)
TuTh 11-12:30
205 South Hall
CCN: 42623
Visual and other media are central to professional practice and research in many fields. Data collection, reports and presentations, face-to-face and distant, online and off, often rely heavily on video, audio, and photography.
Because we are a media-literate society, with accessible hardware and software plus easy online distribution, it seems that everyone “knows” how to make and critique such media. However, our knowledge about how to effectively make, use, and present these media trails far behind our ability to create hours and gigabytes of content.
In this seminar, we will address both theoretical and practical issues of capturing and creating narratives with video, audio, and photography. We will draw on photojournalism, visual narrative, visual anthropology, visual studies, and related areas. We will get hands-on experience creating and editing our own media, while we reflect on them with the help of theoreticians and scholars in relevant areas. We will also consider how accessible media production and presentation are changing professional and research practice.
This course is relevant to students in professional schools and to doctoral students interested in and qualitative research, including user experience research; technology designers who produce video scenarios and concept videos; and anyone concerned with collecting and presenting information via multiple media. It is particularly suitable for people doing field work, using audio, video, and still images to record and summarize their research.
No prior experience is necessary, but students are already grappling with visual (and audio) media will find this course especially useful. We will use entry- and intermediate-level hardware and software; even smart phones and beginning-level are now capable of producing goo-quality output.
I School students are likely to find this course useful for the doing and presenting of final projects. PhD students doing fieldwork in a variety of fields will find this course useful, as well.
This blog will be updated periodically.