Screen Media and Mediated Experiences

Subject SCRN40009 (2010)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2010.

Credit Points: 12.50
Level: 4 (Undergraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2010:

Semester 1, Parkville - Taught on campus.
Pre-teaching Period Start not applicable
Teaching Period not applicable
Assessment Period End not applicable
Last date to Self-Enrol not applicable
Census Date not applicable
Last date to Withdraw without fail not applicable

On campus

Timetable can be viewed here. For information about these dates, click here.
Time Commitment: Contact Hours: 4.5
Total Time Commitment: 120
Prerequisites: Admission to the postgraduate diploma or fourth-year honours in cinema studies, the Master of Cinema Management, Master of Arts Management, or Master of Art Curatorship.
Corequisites: None
Recommended Background Knowledge: None
Non Allowed Subjects: None
Core Participation Requirements: None

Contact

Angela Ndalianis

angelan@unimelb.edu.au

Subject Overview:

We live in a world mediated by screen technologies, and our lives are marked by radical transitions and advances in media that have altered our perception and experience of reality. This subject analyses the nature of current screen media, including film, computer game, television, internet and mobile technologies and it explores their histories and genealogies -- what Zielinski calls the "deep time" of screen media history. Following an interdisciplinary approach, this subject will study the history of various screen media, asking how they contributed to perceptions of the world. It will examine their relationship with their audiences and their links with science on the one hand and art, entertainment and illusionism on the other. This subject will explore why humans have a long history of desiring to extend our senses and intensify reality through technological mediation. It will investigate the concepts of embodied technology and the technologized body within the context of public and private screen mediated spaces.

Objectives: This subject:
  • explores the impact that screen media have had in defining and mediating our interaction with the world around us;
  • Evaluates screen media such as television, film, computer games, the internet, mobile phones and iPods within the broader historical context of other media forms such as magic lanterns, stereoscopes, panorama and perspective boxes;
  • Examines the impact that digital media have had on shaping the social sphere – from gallery spaces and art exhibitions, to retail centres and shopping experiences;
  • Studies the interpretative and theoretical models that have emerged in response to the screen media and their histories – from analogue to digital traditions; and
  • considers the following in relation to screen media: narrative and multilinearity, illusion and representation, identity, virtual communities, interactivity and database aesthetics.
Assessment:

2000 word seminar paper discussing the writing of a chosen topic selected by the student and based on weekly seminar topics (40%), and a 3000 word essay that critically examines the historical and theoretical responses to systems of perception that are technologically mediated (60%).

Note: Students must complete all assignments by their due date and attend at least 80% of classes to be eligible for assessment.

Prescribed Texts:

A subject reader will be available.

Breadth Options:

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills: Students successfully completing this subject will:
  • be able to demonstrate a high level of written and oral communication skills, including conformity to academic protocols of presentation and research;
  • be able to demonstrate a high level of competence in reading, synthesizing, and presenting to others the relevant historical and theoretical material; and
  • be able to present original research that includes reflection on their own learning.
Related Course(s): Master of Art Curatorship (Coursework and Minor Thesis)
Master of Arts Management
Master of Cinema Management
Postgraduate Diploma in Arts Management
Related Majors/Minors/Specialisations: Cinema Studies
Cinema Studies
Cinema Studies
Cultural Studies
Cultural Studies

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