50157 New Media Fundamentals

UTS: Communication: Creative Practice
Credit points: 8 cp
Result Type: Grade, no marks

Requisite(s): 50117 Media Arts and Production 2 OR 50248 Media Arts and Production 2
These requisites may not apply to students in certain courses. See access conditions.

Handbook description

This subject introduces students to a range of fundamental production techniques and issues in the area of new media. Through lectures, tutorials, workshops and exercises, students explore the challenges and opportunities for media producers in the new media field. They develop core technical skills in integrating still image, animation, sound, video and interactivity into convergent new media projects. They examine the key concept and design issues for new media development, including interface, interaction and information design issues. They also learn to critically reflect upon existing new media works. Students work both individually and in small teams to develop new media projects using a range of relevant softwares.

Subject objectives/outcomes

On completion of this subject, students are expected to have:

gained an overview of the new media industries and its challenges and opportunities
developed core skills and production techniques relevant to new media production
developed a conceptual framework for developing new media projects
developed a basic understanding of design issues such as interface, interaction and information design
successfully completed a range of relevant production exercises
developed skills in concept development, brainstorming and project brief development for new media
worked in small teams to develop components of a collaborative new media project.

Contribution to graduate profile

On completing this subject, students will:

be aware of industry practices in new media production
have some knowledge of aesthetics and new media industry issues, within the landscape of media production in general
have developed specific core skills in new media production which may be applicable across a range of existing and emerging formats
have had the opportunity to develop their conceptual skills and critical thinking in relation to various areas of new media production
have had the opportunity to develop new media works across several softwares
are able to develop and critically revise new media work.

Teaching and learning strategies

Lectures, tutorials, demonstrations, workshops, production exercises, reports, project brainstorming, individual and collaborative project development.

Content

This subject introduces students to a range of fundamental production techniques and issues in the area of new media. Through lectures, tutorials, workshops and exercises, students explore the challenges and opportunities for media producers in the new media field. Students undertake a range of activities within the subject. They gain an overview of the new media industry and are exposed to a range of relevant new media works. They gain a conceptual framework for approaching new media through being introduced to key design issues including interface, interaction and information design, navigational structure, and future directions in the field. They undertake production exercises to gain skills in producing various still image, animation and interactive components for integration into new media projects. Students also work in small groups to produce components of a larger collaborative new media project.

Assessment

Assessment item 1: Animation and interactivity exercise

Objective(s):	b, c, e
Weighting:	35%
Task:	Working individually, students complete a production exercise involving the integration of still images, animation and interactivity into an interactive program such as Flash.
Assessment criteria:	Creativity achieved within brief Degree of aesthetic and technical refinement Degree of engagement with relevant software and production techniques Degree of engagement with design issues such as interface, interaction, information design.

Assessment item 2: New media research report/class presentation

Objective(s):	a, d
Weighting:	30%
Task:	Working individually, students prepare a new media research report to be presented as a 5-10 minute class presentation. They will report on a new media work, for broadband, mobile, games, cross media, iTV or other format, with a particular emphasis on design issues relating to the work. Students will critically reflect upon an existing work, discussing design considerations in the work such as interface, interaction, information design, over all conceptual design and imagined/inferred objectives of the project. The new media work may be commercial, experimental/artistic, not-for-profit, educational or other. The report will be verbal, supplemented by relevant audio visual materials to be provided by the student. A summary of key points should also be submitted to the lecturer, either in Powerpoint or as a written item.
Assessment criteria:	Clarity of presentation Relevance of information and support materials Degree of critical reflection upon the work Degree of engagement with issues of new media project design such as interface, interaction and information design Degree of engagement with imagined or inferred objectives of the examined new media work.

Assessment item 3: Collaborative project

Objective(s):	b, c, e, f, g
Weighting:	35%
Task:	Working individually but within a team structure, students develop their own section or component of a collaborative group project. This will involve producing a small scoping document to describe the project, then producing and integrating relevant stills, animation, sound and interactive elements into the project. Students gain skills in working in a team, working to a brief, communicating with team members, and meeting a production deadline.
Assessment criteria:	Creativity achieved within brief Degree of aesthetic and technical refinement Degree of engagement with relevant software and production techniques Degree of engagement with design issues such as interface, interaction, information design Demonstrated degree of ability to work and communicate successfully and professionally within a team environment.

Minimum requirements

Students are expected to read the subject outline to ensure they are familiar with the subject requirements. Since class discussion and participation in activities form an integral part of this subject, you are expected to attend, arrive punctually and actively participate in classes. If you experience difficulties meeting this requirement, please contact your lecturer. Students who have a reason for extended absence (e.g., illness) may be required to complete additional work to ensure they achieve the subject objectives.

Attendance is particularly important in this subject because it is based on a collaborative approach which involves essential workshopping and interchange of ideas. Students who attend fewer than ten classes are advised that their final work will not be assessed and that they are likely to fail the subject.

Recommended text(s)

Cato, J (2001) User Centred Web Design. London: Addison-Wesley 005.72

Eaton, E. (2003). DesignWhy's: Designing Web Site Interface Elements: For Graphic Designers. Gloucester, Mass.: Rockport Publishers, c2003. 005.72 EATO

Galitz, W.O. (2002). The essential guide to user interface design: an introduction to GUI design principles and techniques. Chichester [England] : John Wiley. 005.7 GALI

Horton, S (2006) Access by Design, Berkeley, New Riders. 006.7 HORT

Kerman, P. Sams Teach Yourself Macromedia Flash MX in 24 Hours. SAMS, 2002

Kristof, R. (1995) Interactivity by Design: creating and communicating with new media, Mountain View: Adobe.

Morris, D (2005), Creating a Website with Flash: Visual Quickproject, Berkeley: Peachpit Press.

Persidsky, A, and Schaeffer, M. (2003) Macromedia Director MX for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickStartGuide, Berkeley: Peachpit Press.

Rosenfeld, L and Morville, P ( 1998) Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, USA O'Reilly.

Silver, M. (2005). Exploring interface design. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Learning ; London: Thomson Learning

Tofts, D (2005). Interzone: Media Arts in Australia, Australia: Craftsman House/ Thames and Hudson

Ulrich, K (2006). Visual Quickstart Guide to Macromedia Flash 8. Berkeley: Peachpit Press

Indicative references

Due to the rapidly changing nature of this field, texts are updated regularly. Online references are provided each semester via UTSOnline. Core texts include:

Albers, Michael J. (2005). Communication Of Complex Information: User Goals and Information Needs for Dynamic Web Information. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Pub

Arah, T, (2001), Webtype: Start Here 006.7 ARAH

Bolter, J.D., and Gromala, D. (2003). Windows And Mirrows: Interaction Design, Digital Art, And the Myth of Transparency. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. 2003.

Flew, T. (2003) New Media, Oxford University Press.

Fox, B. (2005). Game Interface Design [Electronic Resource] Boston, MA: Course Technology PTR, Galitz, Wilbert O.

Gao, Y. (2005). Web Systems Design and Online Consumer Behaviour [Editor]. Hershey, P.A.: London: Idea Group Pub.

Lowgren, J. (2003). Mobile usability: how Nokia changed the face of the mobile phone. Christian Lindholm, Turkka Keinonen, Harri Kiljander [editors]. Imprint. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Lowgren, J. and Stolterman, E. (2005). Thoughtful interaction design: a design perspective on iniformaton technology. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

Manovich,L. (2001). The Language of New Media. MIT Press

Packer, R; Jordan, K. (2002) Multimedia: From Wagner to Virtual Reality, Expanded Edition. W.W. Norton & Company.

Pring, R, (2004), www.colour 005.72 PRIN

Murphie, A and Potts,J. (2003) Culture and Technology (Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan

Stone, D. (2005). User interface design and evaluation. Amsterdam; Boston, Mass.: Elsevier : Morgan Kaufmann.

Stansberry, D. (1998) Labyrinths: the art of interactive writing and design, Belmont: Integrated Media Group.