Description of Project
The first project for the course asks you to think about the
concept of multimedia outside of the computer. In the 1960s,
Phyllis Johnson
published Aspen magazine,
dubbed “The Multimedia Magazine in
a Box.” Each month, subscribers to this “magazine” received
a designed box containing various pieces of media that served as
the issue contents. "Aspen," Johnson said, "should
be a time capsule of a certain period, point of view, or person." For
instance, a designed box might arrive containing several photographs,
a few poems, a reel of film, a couple of essays, several recordings
of music or interviews, all centering on one specific theme,
idea, or perspective that was critical to the time period.
Your task for this project is to recreate the concept of “Multimedia
in a Box” for the twenty-first century. Like Aspen
magazine,
each of you will assemble various pieces of media and construct some
kind of container or framing device for those media. Although not
required, you may use the computer to create or construct each of
your various
pieces of media (ex. burning a cd), but you may not use the computer
to integrate them. The purpose of this separation is to think about
alternative ways to present various pieces of media outside of emerging
technologies; it will also allow us a different perspective on integrating
various pieces of media in multimedia productions.
As you develop your project, you should consider integrating
the components of your production by using a specific theme
or metaphor.
Such a theme
or metaphor might be centered on a contemporary interest, concept,
or idea. Like the original concept, you might think of these
projects as time capsules that present a particular moment
in time addressed
to a particular audience. As you will come to learn, the professional
writing that you will do is very audience-centered. This means
that writers are knowledgeable about their audiences and write/create
with the needs of those audiences in mind. With this in mind,
you will need
to direct your work towards your local contemporaries—college-educated
adults in Indiana—who will serve as your audience.
You may work in pairs, if you wish, or you may work individually.
If you do decide to work in pairs, you must discuss the details
of your
collaboration—document who did what work, how you divided the
work up, the results of that division—in each of the deliverables
listed below.
Deliverables
1. Project proposal—One
page, single-spaced professional memo to your instructor that proposes the major theme or
idea for your
project, its main components, and your plan for its completion.
This document
in persuasive in nature, meaning you should make sure
that your proposal shows how your production will be convincing
and meaningful to your
audience.
2. Artist’s Statement—A maximum one page, single-spaced
explanation of what the artist is trying to accomplish
in his or her composition. The artist's statement should clearly
outline what the artist is attempting to achieve through the piece,
as well as major influences on the composition. Two examples
of artists' statements: Peter
Richards and Laura
Turnoff. You might also consult this
advice about composing artists'
statements.
3. Reflective
Memo—Two page, single-spaced professional
memo to the instructor that reflects on the creation
and management of
the project; in short, a project management memo.
There are two options for arranging and presenting the information
in the memo: a)you might provide a narrative account of the
production process, organized
by dates,
or b) you
might break
down
your
composition into its separate components and discuss the decision-making
and creative
process
on each. In either arrangement, your memo should specifically cover
the creative decisions you made as you developed the project,
as
well as what
you are
trying to do with each of the components. You should also discuss
your design decisions and any flashes of insight that motivated
your decisions during the design process. Obviously, if you choose
to provide your memo through a weblog, you will need to be posting
to the weblog for the last two weeks of the project (or provide
your background/earlier decisions). Your posts will detail your
decisions and your progress through the production. You should
also have a final post that reflects on the process/what works
or didn't work. If you would like some feedback on your project
management memo, please email me.
4. Multimedia
in a Box—A container no larger
than a person might successfully carry containing
at least seven
pieces of
media. The container
should also be appropriately designed and labeled.
Production Schedule
Thursday, September
4---Project proposal due
Thursday, September 18---Artist’s Statement and draft of
project due
Tuesday, September 23---Reflective memo and project due
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