Ok, folks, so here we are at the end of the term. Below are your instructions for the final project. Please feel free to post questions in the comments section. As discussed in class, a project proposal is due in class on Monday, 11/19.
Your final project will consist of two parts:
1) An individual OR group digital project (this can be video, or audio, or a wiki, a website, a gallery of images, or whatever else — we will generate some ideas in class) that somehow engages some of the ideas, concepts, or thinkers we’ve been discussing in class.
You might, for example, make a short movie that explains the Creative Commons, or a multimedia tutorial on Manovich’s theory of new media, a brief radio program around the idea of “the medium is the message.” Be creative. Take a chance. If you need to borrow audio/video equipment or need help with software, etc. please do not hesitate to let me know. I will do what I can to help you through this process. We’ll discuss all this in detail in class.
2) An individual (you only) 5-8pp essay that discusses, in detail, the process of creating your final project as well as on the ways in which it speaks to our readings and the broader themes of this class.
Consider the following in composing your essay: (You don’t need to address every single one of these, but use them in composing your essay).
Why did you choose to do approach your project the way you did? Was this a group or individual decision? In either case, describe the process of coming up with your project idea and with your initial plan. What role did your teammates play in the initial planning?
Which concepts or broader topics did you reference or address in your project? Why? Why did you choose your particular topic or concepts? How does your project speak to, draw on or engage them? What, in other words, does your project say about the ideas you chose to explain, satirize, revise, mock, etc.?
How does your project engage our readings? How did any of the assigned readings influence your thinking about your project and how you carried it out? Which readings were especially useful? How and why? Feel free to discuss, if briefly, any specific ideas from our readings that you feel influenced you.
Discuss the process of carrying out your project in as much detail as possible. What was the planning like? If you shot video, where did you shoot and when? Who was involved in the shoot? Why? What role did everyone play? What were some of the challenges you encountered? Did you have to deviate from your original plan? Why? How? How did that affect the end result? What happened after you shot your footage, made your images, recorded your audio, etc.? Who did what? What was the post-production process like? Did you encounter any snags along the way?
How and to what extent does the project you turned in resemble the one you had in mind when you first started working on it? Why do you think that is? Did you end up with something you did not expect to end up with? How might you explain that? Does it offer any insights for similar projects you might undertake in the future?
You get the idea. We will brainstorm some in class as well.
Both parts of this assignment are due at the start of our final exam session on Monday, December 17.
