COGN 21: Methods of Media Production

Winter 2008 Tuesday & Thursday 3:30 - 4:50PM, Peterson 110 Associate Professor Brian Goldfarb Email: bgoldfarbucsd.edu Office Hours: Wed 10:30 AM- noon, MCC 205 TA's:           Lauren Berliner , laurenberlineryahoo.com           Katrina Boulding, kbouldinweber.ucsd.edu           Rachel Cody, rcodyucsd.edu           Terra Eggink, tegginkweber.ucsd.edu           Emma Johnson, ekjohnsoweber.ucsd.edu           Eduardo Santana , edsantanweber.ucsd.edu Chuk Moran, cwmoranweber.ucsd.edu TheTAs office hours and locations are posted at the Communication Department office. TA mailboxes are located in MCC 123. COGN 21 Sections: A01 609291 Tu 9:30 – 11:20 MCC 133 Terra A02 609292 Fri 10:00 – 11:50 MCC 221 Katrina A03 609293 Tues 12:30 – 2:20 MCC 133 Rachel A04 609294 Wed 9:00 – 10:50 MCC 201 Terra A05 609295 Thur 9:30 – 11:20 MCC 133 Katrina A06 609296 Thur 12:30 – 2:20 MCC 133 Chuk A07 609297 Tues 8:00 – 10:00 MCC 201 Rachel A08 609298 Tues 11:00 – 12:50 MCC 201 Chuk COGN 22 Sections: A01 609446 Tue 9:30 – 12:20 MCC 222 Eduardo A02 609447 Tue 12:30 – 3:20 MCC 222 Eduardo A03 609448 Wed 9:00 – 11:50 MCC 222 Emma A04 609449 Thur 9:30 – 12:30 MCC 222 Lauren A05 609450 Thur 12:30 – 3:20 MCC 222 Lauren A06 609451 Fri 9:00 – 11:50 MCC 222 Emma

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Course Description:

This course introduces you to the language and practice of media production. Through readings, lectures, and activities in section, you will acquire extensive knowledge of the art and practice of video production, film aesthetics, television studies, pre production planning, production management and editing aesthetics and practice. Creative process, issues of representation, and genre are also emphasized.

With the acquisition of this language, you will recognize the choices available to a media maker. This information is valuable if you literally will become a media producer in the future but, more generally, knowledge of these choices improves your analytical abilities as a student of communication and as a critic / viewer / auditor of media and cultural products which are forms of communication technology.

This class (COGN 21) is organized into a lecture that meets twice a week, and a discussion section that meets once a week. There is an optional production lab (COGN 22) which meets 3 hours each week for two credits. The production lab offers hands on training in audio video equipment, specifically shooting with a Digital Video Camera, recording sound, and editing. If you wish to take advanced methods courses (COMT 120, 121, 100 for example) you must pass COGN 22. It is strongly recommended that you enroll in COGN 22 concurrently with COGN 21. If you are only enrolled in COGN 21, you will not obtain hands on training in audio video production.

Course Requirements:

Reading and writing are integral to the course. Please purchase the text and access online readings immediately. Keep up with readings and expect to read at least 50 pages of text each week. It is recommend that you read each assignment twice. Attention to detail is imperative – pay attention to syllabus requirements for labs and lectures. Some of the work you do in discussion section will be conducted in groups. You have a responsibility to participate in your group work as efficiently and with as much energy as you would contribute to your own work.

Media clips and technical instruction are an important part of lecture. These clips and this technical information will not be repeated in discussion section and is not covered in the reading. You will be tested on this material during the mid term and final exam, therefore it is strongly recommend that you attend each lecture. Lecture materials will not be posted online.

Attendance is part of your grade. Absences and lateness in discussion sections are not acceptable. You must arrive to labs and lectures on time. No sleeping or emailing / im’ing / texting during sections or in lecture. If you are asleep, you will be marked absent. For every unexcused absence in discussion section, your grade will be reduced by ½ a letter grade. Each tardy will result in 2% off your final grade. Late submissions are not acceptable. For each day a project is late, the grade will be dropped by one letter grade. No incompletes will be given under any circumstances.

If you require accommodations for disabilities, please communicate with the Professor immediately and register with the Office of Students with Disabilities (OSD). This way we may make arrangements to fit your needs.

Required Reading: Complete reading assignments before the lecture / lab on the day assigned.

• Tom Schroeppel, The Bare Bones Camera Course for Film and Video, self published, © 1997-2000, $8.95 (Price Center Bookstore)
• David Bordwell and Kristen Thompson, Eds., Film Art, 8^th Edition (Price Center Bookstore) $
• Patricia Aufderheide, Documentary: A Very Short Introduction,
• Additional readings are available only as downloadable as PDF files via the UCSD Library e-reserves: http://reserves.ucsd.edu/. From this link, click on “Electronic Reserves and Reserve Pages” Handouts are available at COGN 21 listing on the course web page: http://communication.ucsd.edu/courses Note: If accessing e-reserves from off-campus, you will need to use the proxy server. For info on how to use the UCSD Library proxy server go to: http://scilib.ucsd.edu/sio/guide/proxy.html

Grading for COGN 21:

• Attendance and participation in discussion section: 10%
• Mid Term Exam: 30%
• Final Exam: 30%
• Photography Assignment: 5% Produce 5 images exploring different elements of composition
• Adaptation / Inspiration 5% Produce short film ideas inspired by non-narrative essay or article.
• Pre Production Notebook: 20% Craft a 5 page script and develop a storyboard demonstrating how you would visually and editorially construct this film. Other components on handout.

Linked files:
Photography
Preprontbk
Week One, 22 lab: DSR 200 pamphlet attached
Week Three: iMovie Handout - iMovieGuideSheet- iMovie Sound Handout - Dailies Log
Week Seven: Pre Production materials, Camera Report, Storyboards

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Meeting Schedule:

Note: Readings and weekly topics are subject to change by the instructor. The online version of the syllabus is the official version (http://communication.ucsd.edu/goldfarb/cogn21s07). You will be notified as early as possible of any changes. Readings are due before each class.

Week One: The Language of the Visual

• 1/8: Introduction and Course Overview, The Still Image Notes1

Read: Chpt 4 Mise-En-Scene in Film Art pp. 111-161 and Bare Bones pp. 1-42

• 1/10: Still Image Making

COGN 21
Section: American Beauty (Sam Mendes, 1999, 122 min.) & “How to Watch/Hear a Film”
COGN 22 Lab: Camera demonstration. Print and bring DSR 200 pamphlet to lab.

Week Two: Movement
Read: Chpt 2 & 3 “Film Form” and “Narrative as Formal System” pp. 54-96

• 1/15: Image and Motion Notes2a
• 1/17: Continuity, Narrative Film Form Notes2b

COGN 21 Section: watch La Jetee (Chris Marker 1973, 28 min) and Visualization of Ideas exercise Storyboard (due next week)
COGN 22 Lab: Project One: In Camera Exercise. Bring to 22 Lab: 1 DVCam tape (60 min, no chip!)

Week Three: Editing
Read: Bare Bones 46-89, & Chpt 6 “The Relation of Shot to Shot: Editing” in Film Art pp. 217-263

• 1/22: Editing Method Notes3a
• 1/24: Genre and Form Notes3b

COGN 21 Section: Photo Assignment
     COGN 22 Lab: iMovie Editing in Seq 142
     Read / Print for 22 Lab: iMovie handout

Week Four: Sound
Read: Rick Altman “Material Heterogeneity of Recorded Sound” on electronic Reserves

• 1/29: Sound and recording Notes4a

Read: Chpt 7 “Sound in the Cinema” in Film Art pp. 264-303

• 1/31: The Art of Sound

COGN 21 Section: Discussion and Review
COGN 22 Lab: Instruction in sound recording for Sound Assignment. Read for 22 Lab: S. Alten “Manually Produced Sound Effects” pp. 605-612 and H.Zettl “Audio and Sound Control” pp. 151-183 on on ereserves

Week Five: Mid term exam and Documentary Beginnings

• 2/5: Mid Term Exam (no make ups!)

Read: Documentary: A Very Short Introduction, Patricia Aufderheide pp. intro-55

• 2/7: Documentary Notes5

COGN 21: View Crisis (Rober Drew, Richard Leacock ; James Lipscomb, D.A. Pennebaker, Hope Ryden, 1963, 75 min.)
     COGN 22: Record sound project and import material (allow one hour for import alone.) For COGN 22 Lab: meet in groups to decide on premise of project and sound recording list. Make spotting sheet and photocopy. Turn in photocopy at beginning of section.

Week Six: Representing Reality?
Read: Documentary: A Very Short Introduction, Aufderheide pp. 56-136

• 2/12: Documentary modes

Read “Kill the Documentary as We Know It” by Jill Godmilow on ereserves (at bottom of list) and her manifesto

• 2/14: Documentary reflexivity in form and production

COGN 21: View Land Without Bread (Luis Buñuel, 1932, 27min.) discussion
     COGN 22 Lab: Edit and complete sound project

Week Seven: Experimental Film, and Scriptwriting
Read: Maya Deren “Film Medium as Muse and Means” on ereserves and Film Art (355-370)

• 2/19: Experimetal Film Notes7a

Read: Film Directing Shot by Shot excerpt by S. Katz on ereserves, Pre Production Mtls on Breakdown Sheet and Rushmore Breakdown Sheet

• 2/21: Screenplay format and process Notes7b

COGN 21: Watch Rear Window (Hitchcock, 1954. 114 min.) Group work on Script / Storyboard Project. Seq 142
     COGN 22: Turn in sound / image paper. Listen to sound projects. Learn lighting techniques. Discuss final project.

Week Eight: Issues of Representation
Read: Anneka Smelik "Feminist Film Theory"

• 2/26: Gazing and Glancing Notes8a

Read: bell hooks "The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators" (e-reserves)

• 2/28: Representation and oppositional spectatorship Notes8b
  
  COGN 21 Section: Discuss reading. Work on Preproduction Notebook
  Outside of COGN 22: Meet in groups of 5. Prepare script and shot list / sound list for documentary.
  COGN 22 Lab: Shoot documentary.
  

Week Nine: Indie, DIY, and Global Media

Read: Sean MacBride and Colleen Roach, "The New International Information Order" in The Globalization Reader, pp. 286-292;
        John Sinclair, et al., "Peripheral Vision," in The Globalization Reader, pp. 301-306;
        Arjun Appadurai, "Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy",in The Globalization Reader, pp. 322-330
        (all three are on e-resrves)

• 3/4: Media and Globalization Notes9a

COGN 21: Group work on scripts / storyboards
     Before COGN 22 lab: View dailies and create EDL.
     COGN 22 Lab:Edit documentary.

Read: Jenkins, Juul, Pearce, and Zimerman, “Game Theories” in First Person, ed. Noah Wardrip-Fruin, pp. 117-163

• 3/6: Games and Narrative Notes9b

Week Ten: Digital Media

Read: “Database as a symbolic form” by Lev Manovich (on Course Website) Notes10

• 3/11: Narrative and Arrays

Read:

• 3/13: Review for Final

COGN 21: Turn in scripts / storyboards and pre production notebook
     COGN 22: Complete documentary project and turn in at end of section with photocopies of Camera Report, Dailies Log and EDL.

FINAL EXAM: Tuesday, March 18, 3 – 6 p.m.

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How To Watch / Hear a Film

There is more to a film than plot, therefore as you watch and listen to films, you should consider the work as a text in which the sum of the parts contribute to the whole. Think of these six points when viewing any film and particularly when writing about them:

1. Who (what group) made this film and why? When did they make it? Was a studio involved? Was this film made independently?

2. What is the argument or message being presented by the maker(s)? Are there multiple arguments and various conflicting readings one may do of the text?

3. What is the visual design of the film – how does the film or video stock, lighting, color, shadow, focus, depth of field, and framing relate to content?

4. What is the sound design of the film? How does the maker use the following sound stems:
1. voice
2. music
3. sound effects / sound objects
4. wild / location sound / background sound
5. silence

5. What is the editing style of the film? How do images fit together? How do scenes fit together? What is the overall structure?

6. Why did the filmmaker choose to make this a fiction film rather than a documentary? Or why and how is this a documentary film and not a work of fiction?