multimedia  writing

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Short Assignment 1
Due 1/24. Write critiques of two web sites based on Tufte. Choose one from the following list and one of your own choice (preferably a popular commercial site, e.g. Yahoo, Amazon, CNN, etc.). Identify how the site does and does not follow Tufte. Analyse the sites in terms of their use of multimedia - what kind? how effective? - and in terms of its intended audience. Discuss how the site might be improved. The writing should be a minimum of two pages.

Test Pilot Collective (testpilotcollective.com)
Fork Design (fork.de)
Mike Cina (mikecina.com)
Entropy8 (entropy8.com/greatest_hits/index.html)
Archinect (archinect.com)
Trueistrue (trueistrue.com
Funny Garbage (funnygarbage.com/kipple)
Greyscale (greyscale.net)
Hoggorm (anart.no/~hoggorm)
Design Graphik (designgraphik.com)
Surfstation (surfstation.lu)
37signals (37signals.com
Future Farmers (futurefarmers.com)
Cyphen (cyphen.com)


Short Assignment 2
Due 2/7. Write critiques of two web sites based on the course so far. Choose both sites from those reviewed in the Condon, Fraser, and Sutherland book. Select from the Literature section, or another section if you wish. Analyse the sites in terms of their use of multimedia - what kind? how effective? - and in terms of its intended audience. Discuss how the site might be improved. The writing should be a minimum of two pages.

Short Assignment 3
Due 2/14. Write critiques of two web sites based on the course so far. Choose both sites from those reviewed in the Condon, Fraser, and Sutherland book. Select from the Literature section, or another section if you wish. Analyse the sites in terms of their use of multimedia - what kind? how effective? - and in terms of its intended audience. Discuss how the site might be improved. The writing should be a minimum of two pages.

Short Assignment 4
Due 2/28. Write critiques of two web sites based on the course so far. Choose one one site from those reviewed in the Condon, Fraser, and Sutherland book and one other site of your choice - it may be from the Digital Resources book or any other site you choose. Analyse the sites in terms of their use of multimedia - what kind? how effective? - and in terms of its intended audience. Discuss how the site might be improved. The writing should be a minimum of two pages.

Short Assignment 5
Due 4/9. Write critiques of two web sites based on the course so far. Choose one business/commercial site of your own choice, and one immersive or multiuser environment from the list below. Analyse the sites in terms of their use of multimedia - what kind? how effective? - and in terms of its intended audience. Discuss how the site might be improved. The writing should be a minimum of two pages.

Habbo Hotel (habbo.com)
Lingua MOO (lingua.utdallas.edu:7000)
Cybertown (http://www.cybertown.com/main_ieframes.html)
Banja (banja.com)


Photo/Story Project

• This is an ongoing project, combining visual and written materials into a complex narrative. You need to start work on the project right away. Begin a visual archive of what you see in the world. Take photos of whatever strikes you. Don't plan too much ahead of time. Bring a camera and be ready. You can do the same with text as well if you want - copy down interesting words, snippets of conversation, whatever. But the main thing is to start your camera eye. You might take a special image-collecting trip, say to the Mesaros Art Gallery or the PRT. Or you may want to try ultra close ups. Or something else. Begin thinking about what images and designs interest you and why. You'll be able to load the photos straight to the computer if you're using a digital camera; otherwise, remember that you'll need to get the film developed.
• Photo/Story 1, Due in Class on 1/31. Bring prints of your photos (and other materials, if any). Laser print copies are fine if you're using a digital camera. We'll work in class on organization and accompanying writing.
• Photo/Story 2, Due in Class on 2/12. A draft storyboard of the image archive, including a minimum of five images. Considerations include: guiding navigational concept (narrative, game, poem, instruction manual, puzzle, quest, etc.); interactions/links; accompanying text, if any; awareness of conventions of representation and of viewer's experience (how do you draw in, immerse, create belief?). Try to avoid a solely traditionally linear exposition.
  
  Example diagrams of RLR (thanks to Janet Murray's graduate class in Interactive Narrative):
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• Revised storyboard/treatment, Due in-class 2/19.

Personal Web Space Project

• In this project, you develop several aspects of your personal web space. The goal is an online portfolio of your creative and professional work.
• Personal Web Space 1, Due 2/26. A basic web page. It must include identifying information, including a statement that the page is part of Multimedia Writing, English 303, and a link back to the class web page. Example.
• Personal Web Space 2, Due 3/7. Draft remediation of a print artifact in web form. (Alternatively, you may choose to remediate another medium.) Select an artifact from one of your areas of interest, i.e your career path or creative focus. Show an awareness of remediation and other principles of new media.
• Personal Web Space 3, Due 3/14. Expanded to include personal info, links to sites of interest (career, creative work, etc.), remediated artifact, and uploaded Photo/Story.
• Final Version, due 3/21.

Two final things:

1. If you have expertise in particular areas, whether technological, literary, or otherwise, feel free to help out. This is a workshop class and we'll benefit by building off each other's abilities.
2. Note the Majestic requirement and the participation/attendance policy (see Grading).

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