Media Criticism (Fall 11)

Week 1 8th Sept. (Th) Introduction to the class What is time? View in class: Segments from Chungking Express (1994) top
Week 2 13th Sept. (Tu) What is time? (cont.) Topic 1: Time and Narrative Structure For this topic, we examine how time is “coded” in three different media: photograph, comics, and film; and how time is an important element in film narrative. Photograph class note
15th Sept. (Th) Photograph Read: Moores Ch.4 “signification” - Fallacy Read: Barthes, Roland. (1984). Camera Lucida: Reflections on photography. London: Fontana. [Blackboard] top	In-class writing 1 Exercise 1
Week 3 20th Sept. (Tu) Comics Read: Eisner, Will. (1985). Comics and sequential art. Tamaras, FL: Poorhouse Press. (Ch.3 Timing) [Blackboard] Read: McCloud, Scott. (1993). Understanding comics: The invisible art. New York: Harper Perennial (Ch.4 Time frames) [Blackboard]	In-class writing 2
22nd Sept. (Th) Comics Analysis of code in comics top	Exercise 2 [complete in class]
Week 4 27th Sept. (Tu) Film Read: Denby, David. (March 5 2007). “The new disorder: Adventures in film narrative”. The New Yorker, pp. 80-85. [Blackboard] View in class: Toy Story 1 (81 min.) (1995)
29th Sept. (Th) Film Read: Bordwell, David, and Thompson, Kristin. (2003). Film art: An introduction (7th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. (Ch. 3 Narrative as a formal system) (pp. 68-91) [Blackboard] Pay attention to: - narrative - story - plot - plot/story/screen duration - omniscient/restricted narrative - narrator View in class: Toy Story1 (cont.) top	In-class writing 3
Week 5 4th Oct. (Tu) Film Analysis of film in relation to time view in class: Pulp Fiction (154 min.) (1994)	Exercise 3
6th Oct. (Th) Film Analysis of film in relation to time view in class: Pulp Fiction (cont.) top
Week 6 11th Oct (Tu) Soap Opera Read: Moores Ch.1 “Cyclicity” - routines - seriality - ordinariness Read: Geraghty, Christine. (2005). The study of soap opera. In Janet Wasko (ed.), A companion to television (pp. 308-323). Malden, MA: Blackwell. [Blackboard] view in class: Pulp Fiction (cont.)
13th Oct (Th) Topic 2: Time and Television Genre Under a capitalist system, time is a commodity and a resource for media institutions. Economic interests constrain the variety of television genres and the contents of different genres. View in class: Ugly Betty/Coronation Street/Suffolk U News top	In-class writing 4 Paper 1 (sample)
Week 7 18th Oct. (Tu) National culture / national television Read: Moores “Ch. 1 Cyclicity” - tradition - lifetime - eventfulness Broadcast News Read: Moores “Ch. 1 Cyclicity” - dailiness - hourliness Mini-presentation 1 1 Allison; 2 Phil; 3 Leidy; 4 Julianna; 5 Ricky	In-class writing 5 Mini-presentation 1
20th Oct. (Th) Mini-presentation 1 6 Perri; 7 Melissa; 8 Adrien; 9 Kelly; 10 Matt; 11 Kayla; 12 Cassidy; 13 Alivia top	Mini-presentation 1
Week 8 25th Oct. (Tu) Mini-presentation 1 14 Evan; 15 Alyssa; 16 Jillian; 17 Ben; 18 Marieke; 19 Michelle; 20 Mary; 21 Yasmine	Mini-presentation 1
27th Oct. (Th) Topic 3: Time and Space Time and space are not fixed entities but are relational to each other. Communication technologies, old and new, have shortened physical distance. New technologies such as e-mail, digital media are said to erase space altogether. Read: Moores “Ch.2 Extensionality” - globalisation - stretching - medium Guest Lecture: Frank Christopher top	In-class writing 6 Presentation feedback 1
Week 9 1st Nov. (Tu) Read: Moores “Ch. 2 Extensionality” - shrinking - unevenness - network - flow - empires View in class: A trip to the moon/Le voyage dans la luna (14 min.) (1902) View in class: The Terminal (119 min.) (2004) Students will join an interactive online group and visit it at least once a week. The obvious choices are Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, SecondLife, but online forums, interactive gaming count too. If unsure, check with the instructor. Mid-term grade released. Students who score C minus or lower are advised to see the instructor.	In-class writing 7
3rd Nov. (Th) View in class: The Terminal (cont.) top
Week 10 8th Nov. (Tu) Read: Moores “Ch.2 Extensionality” - permeability - virtuality View in class: You've Got Mail (119 min.) (1998)	In-class writing 8
10th Nov. (Th) View in class: You've Got Mail (cont.)
Week 11 15th Nov. (Tu) Topic 4: Time and identities Media technologies make non-face-to-face communication possible. Mediated communication has transformed social relations, and has challenged traditional social identities. Read: Moores Ch. 5 “Identity” - trust - inattention - reflexibity - dwelling Read: Hill, Annette. (2005). Reality TV: Audiences and popular factual television. Oxon, England: Routledge. (Ch. 4 Performance and authenticity) [Blackboard] View in class: MTV Real World (1st season) View in class: Infernal Affairs (101 min.) (2002)	Paper 2 In-class writing 9
17th Nov (Th) Read: Marchetti, Gina (2007). Andrew Lau and Alan Mak's Infernal Affairs – The trilogy. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. [Blackboard] View in class: Infernal Affairs (cont.) top
Week 12 22nd Nov (Tu) Read: Content, Bob. (2003) Memento. Film Quarterly, 56(4), 36-41. [Blackboard] View in class: Memento (113 min.) (2000)	Exercise 4
24th Nov (Th) Thanksgiving – no class top
Week 13 29th Nov. (Tu) View in class: Memento (cont.)
1st Dec. (Th) Read: Moores “Ch.5 Identity” - labour - performativity - MUDding - community - diasporas Read: Alter, Alexandra, (August 10, 2007). Is this man cheating on his wife? Wall Street Journal, p. W1. [Blackboard] Autoethnographic analysis	Exercise 5 In-class writing 10
Week 14 6th Dec. (Tu) Mini-presentation 2 1. Ben 2. Alyssa 4. Allie 5. Cassidy 6. Evan 7. Melissa 8. Jillian 9. Leidy 10. Marieke	Mini-presentation 2
8th Dec. (Th) Mini-presentation 2 11. Alivia 12. Perri 13. Michelle 14. Kelly 15. Ricky 16. Juliana 17. Kayla 18. Phil 19. Matt top	Mini-presentation 2
Exam week 13th Dec (Tu) before 2:00 p.m. due in my mailbox 19th Dec (Mon) Grades Due top	Paper 3 Presentation feedback 2