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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "DMA/CMS 380"
COURSE NAME: "Editing, Remixing and Critical Media Practice: The Video Essay"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Spring 2017
SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Tijana Mamula
EMAIL: [email protected]
 HOURS: W12:30 PM 3:15 PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: Prerequisites: Junior Standing, COM 230
OFFICE HOURS:
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The course focuses on the variety of new forms of critical engagement with audiovisual media --transformative remix videos, mash-ups, re-cuts, vids and the ‘video essay’. All of these formats entail the appropriation and reutilization of pre-existing audiovisual footage — pulled from films, television programs, commercials, music videos, and so forth — in a way that deconstructs, questions, critiques, subverts or analyzes its aesthetic construction and cultural meaning. Students will expand their conceptual and technical skills by engaging these emerging forms of critical media practice, both by tracing their historical development and their relation to preceding trends in avant-garde cinema and contemporary art, and by creating their own political remix videos and analytical video essays. The course alternates weekly screenings and seminars, and includes four Final Cut Pro editing tutorials spread throughout the semester.
SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:

The last decade has seen a radical shift in the circulation of media content, and a proliferation of new technologies that enable and invite active modes of spectatorship and media consumption. These developments have led to a rise in new forms of critical engagement with audiovisual media, both among broad audiences — through the widespread popularization of transformative remix videos, mash-ups, re-cuts, and vids — and within scholarly film and media studies, through the growing acceptance of the “video essay” as an alternative to the traditional written piece. All of these formats entail the appropriation and reutilization of pre-existing audiovisual footage — pulled from films, television programs, commercials, music videos, and so forth — in a way that deconstructs, questions, critiques, subverts or analyzes its aesthetic construction and cultural meaning. This course will focus on expanding conceptual and technical skills in these emerging forms of critical media practice, both by tracing their historical development and their relation to preceding trends in avant-garde cinema and contemporary art, and by guiding students through the creation of their own political remix videos and analytical video essays. Through this theoretical and practical engagement with new approaches to cinema and media studies, students will not only deepen their understanding of the aesthetics and politics of contemporary media, but will also learn to develop a more active and thoughtful stance toward the moving images that today more than ever impinge on our relation to culture and society, and, indeed, on our everyday life. 

The first two weeks of the course will be dedicated to screenings and seminars grounding the students in the historical and theoretical contexts shaping the field of "critical media practice," while the last three weeks will be largely focused on guiding them through the application of this history and theory to their own creative and written assignments. Guidance with Final Cut Pro or, for whomever prefers, Adobe Premiere CC will be provided, but students are expected to have at least a basic grasp of non-linear editing before commencing the course.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:

Students will: 

— Learn conceptual and historical frameworks for thinking through critical media practice, and lay the groundwork for clear understanding of how it can be used to advance active modes of spectatorship and media consumption

— Broaden their understanding of key trends in avant-garde cinema and contemporary video art, and their influence on emerging forms of critical media practice

— Familiarize themselves with the history of the essay film and its relation to the contemporary “video essay”

— Learn to engage with contemporary audiovisual media critically and thoughtfully, and to pay particular attention to the ideological subtexts and undercurrents of apparently innocuous pop culture products

— Become sufficiently proficient in Final Cut Pro to create their own “found footage” remix videos and video essays

TEXTBOOK:
NONE
REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
NONE
GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
AssignmentGuidelinesWeight
Practical exerciseA transformative/political remix or mash-up video, 5 mins long OR An analytical video essay, 5 mins long 40%
PaperPaper complementing and exploring in depth the theoretical issues raised in the student's practical exercise40%
Attendance and Participation 20%

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the course
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.
-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS AND EXAMINATION POLICY

Studenst are allowed up to three unexcused absences. Anything more than that will result in failing the course.

You cannot make-up a major exam (midterm or final) without the permission of the Dean’s Office. The Dean’s Office will grant such permission only when the absence was caused by a serious impediment, such as a documented illness, hospitalization or death in the immediate family (in which you must attend the funeral) or other situations of similar gravity. Absences due to other meaningful conflicts, such as job interviews, family celebrations, travel difficulties, student misunderstandings or personal convenience, will not be excused. Students who will be absent from a major exam must notify the Dean’s Office prior to that exam. Absences from class due to the observance of a religious holiday will normally be excused. Individual students who will have to miss class to observe a religious holiday should notify the instructor by the end of the Add/Drop period to make prior arrangements for making up any work that will be missed.
ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.
STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.
SCHEDULE

NB: The schedule, including screenings and readings, is still subject to change


Session 1: Introduction: The Active Spectator

Screenings:

1) “Friends,” Season 1, episode 15: “The One With the Stoned Guy” (Alan Myerson, 1995)

2) Homophobic Friends: The One With All the Gay Jokes (Tijana Mamula, 2011)

3) Apocalypse Pooh (Todd Graham, 1987)

Readings:

1) Clay Shirky, “Gin, Television and Cognitive Surplus,” in Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age (Penguin, 2010), pp. 1-31.

2) Lev Manovich, “The Practice of Everyday (Media) Life: From Mass Consumption to Mass Cultural Production?”, Critical Inquiry 35, no. 2 (2009)

3) Kjerstin Johnson, “I’ll Be There For You (But Not in a Gay Way): Homophobic Friends,” Bitch Media, July 14, 2011. (+ user comments)

4) Scott Mackenzie, “The Horror, Piglet, The Horror: Found Footage, Mash-Ups, AMVs, the Avant-Garde, and the Strange Case of Apocalypse Pooh,” Cineaction 27 (2007).

Session 2: Avant-Garde Precedents: From Dziga Vertov to Peter Tscherkassky

Screenings:

1) Man With a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, 1929), excerpts.

2) East of Borneo (George Melford, 1931), excerpts.

3) Rose Hobart (Joseph Cornell, 1936)

4) Alone. Life Wastes Andy Hardy (Martin Arnold, 1998)

5) Outer Space (Peter Tscherkassky, 1999)

Readings:

1) Michael Pigott, “Rose Hobart,” in Joseph Cornell Versus Cinema (Bloomsbury, 2013), pp. 15-24.

2) Scott MacDonald, “Sp… Sp… Spaces of Inscription: An Interview with Martin Arnold,” Film Quarterly 48, no. 1 (1995): pp. 2-11.

3) Erika Balsom, “A Cinephilic Avant-Garde: The Films of Peter Tscherkassky, Martin Arnold and Gustav Deutch,” in New Austrian Film, eds. Robert von Dassanowsky and Oliver Speck (Berghahn, 2011), pp. 263-277.

4) Lev Manovich, The Language of New Media (MIT, 2001), excerpts.

5) Brigid Maher, “Smart Montage: The New Mobile Dialectic,” iDMAa, March 4, 2013.

Session 3: Transformative Media: (Political) Remix Video

Screenings:

1) Everything is a Remix, Part 2 (Kirby Ferguson, 2011)

2) Ressemblances dans les films Disney (2008)

3) Selection of Anita Sarkeesian’s Feminist Frequency videos

4) White Knights and Bad People (Arielle Bernstein, 2014)

5) Further selection of mash-ups, supercuts, and queer and feminist vids and remixes, TBD.

Readings:

1) Laurel Westrup and David Laderman, “Into the Remix: The Culture of Sampling,” in Sampling Media, eds. David Laderman and Laurel Westrup (Oxford University Press, 2014), pp. 1-12.

2) Richard L. Edwards and Chuck Tryon, “Political Video Mash-ups as Allegories of Citizen Empowerment,” First Monday 14, no. 10 (2009).

3) Chuck Tryon, “Hollywood Remixed: Movie Trailer Mashups, Five-Second Movies, and Film Culture,” in Reinventing Cinema: Movies in the Age of Media Convergence (Rutgers University Press, 2009), pp. 149-173.

4) Francesca Coppa, Rebecca Tushnet, Kristina Busse and Alexis Lothian, eds., “In Practice: Vidding,” Camera Obscura 26, no. 2 (2011): 123-146.

5) Elisa Kreisinger, “Queer Video Remix and LGBTQ Online Communities,” Transformative Works and Cultures, no. 9 (2012).

Session 4: Some Lessons from Contemporary Art

Screenings:

1) Technology/Transformation: Wonder Woman (Dara Birnbaum, 1979)

2) 24 Hour Psycho (Douglas Gordon, 1993), clips.

3) Qaeda, Quality, Question, Quickly, Quickly, Quiet (Lenka Clayton, 2002)

4) The Clock (Christian Marclay, 2010), clips.

5) Versions (Oliver Laric, 2009-ongoing), clips.

Readings:

1) TJ Demos, Dara Birnbaum: Technology/Transformation: Wonder Woman (Afterall Books, 2010), excerpts.

2) Nicolas Bourriaud, Postproduction: Culture as Screenplay: How Art Reprograms the World, trans. Jeanine Herman (Sternberg Press, 2005), excerpts.

3) Darian Leader, “Glue,” in The Clock (White Cube, 2010).


Sessions 5&6: Work in Progress

In-class presentation and discussion of video proposals; Final Cut Pro X tutorial

Session 7: The Video Essay

Screenings:

1) Chaos Cinema (Matthias Stork, 2011)

2) The Spielberg Face (Kevin B. Lee, 2011)

3) Falling: The Architecture of Gravity (Jim Emerson, 2009)

4) Constructive Editing in Robert Bresson’s Pickpocket (David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, 2012)

5) Touching the Film Object (Catherine Grant, 2012)

Readings:

1) Kevin B. Lee, “The essay film — some thoughts of discontent,” Sight & Sound, August 8, 2014.

2) Matthias Stork, “In Touch with the Film Object: Cinephilia, the Video Essay, and Chaos Cinema,” Frames Journal

3) Christian Keathley, “La camera-stylo: Notes on Video Criticism and Cinephilia,” in The Language and Style of Film Criticism, eds. Clayton, Alex and Andrew Klaven (Routledge, 2011), pp. 176-191.

4) “Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video” (cmsimpact.org)


Sessions 8&9: Work in Progress

In-class work on video essays & discussion of progress


Session 10: The Essay Film: Histories of Cinema

Screening:

1) The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema (Sophie Fiennes, 2006), extracts

2) Histoire(s) du cinema (Jean-Luc Godard, 1988-1998), extracts.

3) Workers Leaving the Factory (Harun Farocki, 1995)

Readings:

1) Matthew Flisfeder, “Introduction,” in The Symbolic, the Sublime and Slavoj Zizek’s Theory of Film (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), pp. 1-14.

2) Timothy Corrigan, “‘On Thoughts Occasioned By…’ Montaigne to Marker,” in The Essay Film: From Montaigne to Marker (Oxford University Press, 2011), pp. 13-49.

3) Douglas Morrey, “Histoire(s) du cinema,” in Jean-Luc Godard (Manchester University Press, 2005), pp. 219-229.

4) Thomas Elsaesser, “Harun Farocki: Filmmaker, Artist, Media Theorist,” in Harun Farocki: Working on the Sightlines, ed. Thomas Elsaesser (Amsterdam University Press, 2004), pp. 11-42.

Session 11: Work in Progress

In-class work on video essays & individual tutorials

Session 12: Final Assignment Presentations

In-class presentation and discussion of practical assignment rough-cuts (or, ideally, NEARLY fine cuts).