CMS.950: Comparative Media Studies Workshop I
Fall 2007
Instructor: Nick Montfort, nickm at nickm dotcom, writingnick, 14N-233
TA: Greg Dancer, filmduck at mit dotedu
Class meets 11:30am-3:30pm Wednesdays, GAMBIT, N25-372
Screenings/playings are 5pm-7pm most Mondays, the Trope Tank, 14N-233
Office hours (in person or by IM) by appointment
Full syllabus [PDF]. This version is from October 10.
- Nothing needs to be brought to class.
- Exercise 1: Program a "terminal saver" in Python.
- Exercise 2: Program an OS X screen saver in Objective C.
Sep 10 - Screening/playing: Early console & computer games
- Continue project work outside of class time.
- Exercise: Close reading of BASIC games.
- Reading: Pick one of the 101 BASIC games that are available as images of printed pages. Some span more than one page. You probably will want to look over a few before selecting one to read closely. Read the description of the game, look at the sample output, and read through the code closely. (You're not expected to learn BASIC first; this is how we're going to learn about BASIC.) See if you can determine what each line does and why it produces the sample output that it does. When you encounter a line and don't know what it does, make a note of this. We will discuss these games in class, reading one of them together and trying to answer the questions we've encountered in our own attempts to understand these programs.
Oct 1 - Screening/playing: Editions/versions of Pac-Man
Oct 3 - The Video Game IV
- Bring a playable (ideally, fully functional) game in need of testing, tuning, and polishing.
- No exercises or readings - use studio time for testing and tuning.
Oct 9 - Special opportunity
- Leave from 14N-233 at 1:30pm or meet at the Boston Federal Reserve at 2pm to see the Boston FRB's video game exhibit.
- This day is a student holiday; this is not an official class event. If you are interested in going but can't make it, let me know so I can try to arrange another time.
Oct 10 - The Video Game V: Critiques
- Bring projects and be ready with a short presentation.
Oct 15 - Screening/playing: Introduction to Books
Oct 17 - The Book I
- About the project: You are to design and produce a book, focusing on the design and production rather than writing and editorial aspects. (That is, do not spend your time writing a novel.) You can just design, typeset, and produce a conventional-looking book using a text that you like, or you can do something wacky and produce an artist's book or something similar. Your book may have any text in any genre, or no text at all. Any printing/reproduction/layout/binding technology may be used. You may make your book by hand or have it printed by a print-on-demand publisher after you set up the files for the publisher. We will not use computers during critiques; we will look at your book while you discuss it. Bring at least two copies of your book on November 7. The requirement that you bring two copies is made for two reasons: First, so the whole group has a better chance to examine your book; Second, to ensure that your book is at least minimally mass-producible rather than being only a sculptural object.
- Bring a printed preliminary book project proposal with at least questions and concrete ideas.
- Exercise: Design and lay out a small book (text: Edgar Allan Poe's "The Philosophy of Furniture"). Since InDesign is not yet available in GAMBIT, we will use Word and/or Illustrator. Check this handout on binding for ideas about how to bind your book. (Staples can be used, too.) Supplies for binding will be provided. Find the text online - there are several sources. But check the quality!
- Readings: "Something about Book Design" by Jan Tschichold, 1932 (JSTOR; access from MIT); "Consistent Correlation Between Book Page and Type Area" by Jan Tschichold, 1991; "Purple dotted underlines: Microsoft word and the end of writing" by Sandy Baldwin, 2002.
Oct 22 - Screening/playing: InDesign Workshop in the New Media Center, 26-139
Today we have an exercise - unusual for a screening day, but this is the only time when we could get into the room with InDesign on all the computers. We will design and lay out a small, self-cover book (text: Edgar Allan Poe's "The Philosophy of Furniture"). Use the linked text, from the Poe Society; it seems to be of highest quality. You'll just need to remove the page numbers (in bold). If you open it in Safari you'll be able to copy the text with formatting. Lay out a folio book (two pages on each side of your 8.5" x 11" sheet) without any illustrations but with a title page and with some thought to how the main text shold begin. Choose a font and margins. You can do imposition (conversion into a printer's spread) using an option on the InDesign file menu.
Example layout: InDesign, PDF. Printed duplex, this will fold into a booklet with correct pagination. There is (at least) one error in here: At the bottom of page four, the justified block of type switches to ragged right. Do you prefer the text typeset one way or another?
Oct 24 - The Book II
- Project proposal should be finished and work on projects should have started.
- Exercise: Meet at the Bow & Arrow Press, Harvard: 26 Plympton St. Meet there at 12 noon (leaving at 11:30am by T or walking at a fast pace should get you there in time). All studio time will be used for a letterpress exercise and for printing eduction on-site.
- Readings: "The Unacknowledged Revolution" from The Printing Press as an Agent of Change, Elizabeth L. Eisenstein.
Oct 29 - Screening/playing: Multilinear books
Oct 31 - The Book III
- Bring a mock-up/proof of your book. We will have some time for group discussion of these. Continue project work outside of class time. Books to be printed on demand will need to be completed and ordered well in advance of November 7.
- Reading: "The Xerox Degree of Art" from Conceptual Art and the Politics of Publicity, Alexander Alberro.
Nov 5 - Screening/playing: Book potluck
Nov 7 - The Book IV: Critiques
- Bring projects (your books) and be ready with a short presentation. You do not need to use the computer to present your books.
Nov 14 - The Music Video I
- Bring a printed preliminary music video project proposal with at least questions and concrete ideas.
- As always, this unit involves a project you will develop individually and which you will be evaluated on. It also involves technical exercises we will do in class, which will be done in groups. The techincal exercises, as always, are designed to help you acquire skills that will be useful in your project and in your studies, but you will not be evaluated on these exercises.
- Exercise: Digital video editing.
- Divide into teams, plan videos for the exercise that will take place during the next two classes.
- Reading: "What is Digital Cinema," Lev Manovich; a selection from Film Sense, Sergei Eisentein.
Nov 19 - Screening/playing: The 1980s
Nov 21 - The Music Video II
- Project proposal should be finished and work on projects should have started.
- Exercise, part 1 of 2: Video production during class time. Instructor and TA will be on call (but not on location) to help.
- Reading: "Do-It-Yourself" from Reel Families: A Social History of Amateur Film, Patricia Zimmerman.
Nov 26 - Screening/playing: The 1990s
Nov 28 - The Music Video III
- Continue project work outside of class time.
- Exercise, part 2 of 2: Video editing of your own footage during class time. Videos will be screened in class after they are completed.
- Reading: "The Musical Film and Recorded Popular Music," Alan Williams. First up for discussion will be the Manovich reading, which we still haven't gotten to talk about.
Dec 3 - Screening/playing: The 2000s (With some time for discussion of projects in their final stages)
Dec 5 - The Music Video IV: Critiques
- Submit your video beforehand so a reel can be put together; you should also be prepared to show your video yourself. Videos should be five minutes or less; no more than five minutes of each will be screened.
Dec 12 - Revision studio
- Bring a project and at least one substantial revision idea. Focus on making one or two substantial revisions rather than trying to address a laundry list of minor concerns.