Advanced Interactive Expression
IMA 763
Wednesdays 5:30PM -8:30PM
Film and Media Department
Spring 2003
Instructor: Andrea Polli, apolli@hunter.cuny.edu

212.772.5589
Hunter College, New York

COURSE DESCRIPTION:  This course is a continuation of IMA 762, Interactive Expression, and is a studio course that focuses on new forms and techniques in computer based interactivity. Students will complete substantial projects related to new models of computer-human interaction, new definitions of self and the body, and new modes of global communication, as well as new ideas that develop through the group's discussion and interaction. Topics will change each semester as new technologies become available. Students plan, organize, present, evaluate, and critique the work in progress throughout the semester.

PREREQUISITE: IMA 762 interactive Expression and graduate standing. The use and mastery of software based tools is encouraged in this course, but the choice of tools will be dependent on the nature of your project.  Director, Flash, and related extras will be the main tools discussed in this course. 

OBJECTIVES
Students will:

• Design flow charts and storyboards for substantial interactive projects
• Be able to work independently and/or collaboratively on new media projects
• Create and incorporate external resources to their projects including: graphics, sound, video, other resources
• Be able to identify significant critical texts related to interactive media and to articulate critical positions with regard to this work
• Be able to develop proposals for substantial interactive media projects
• Complete or prototype one or more substantial interactive media project

REQUIRED TEXTS:
title: Pause & Effect: The Art of Interactive Narrative
author: Mark Stephen Meadows
edition: 2003

title: Shockwave 3D
author: Jason Wolf
edition: 2002

ALSO REQUIRED FROM THE PREVIOUS SEMESTER
title: Director Demystified
author: Jason Roberts

Additional readings and books: As provided by instructor

MATERIALS:
A sketchbook and notebook will be required
At least one 100 MB Zip disk

GRADING POLICIES:
A professional attitude and approach toward all aspects of this course is expected. Specifically; class starts on time, and class attendance and participation are mandatory.  Un-excused absences and un-excused lateness will adversely effect your grade. Excused  and un-excused absences are at the discretion of the instructor. Please contact the instructor prior to class if you will be late or absent. The fourth absence- for any reason- constitutes a failing grade.  (Two late arrivals = 1 absence)  Assignments are expected on time ( late assignments will be graded down 1 grade per week late). 

Make-ups: If a student finds they will not be able to hand in a midterm or final on the scheduled day, it is the student's responsibility to notify me prior to that day. Under no circumstances will I accept the work if I have not been notified and arrangements made prior to that day.  

Grades are based on a system of personal growth within the following criteria; time and effort, interpretation of the assignment, aesthetics and technical expertise,  critique participation and  professional presentations.

GRADING SCALE
100 - 90 = A
90 - 80 = B
80 - 70 = C
70 - 60 = D
60 and below = F

Participation: Lecture must be interactive. To this end, I encourage an open atmosphere where back-and-forth communication is the norm. Students are free to speak up when they need clarification or wish to make observations. Always let me know if you are having difficulties mastering a technique presented in class and I will help you. Plus, you will be expected to work several hours outside of class time each week. You will not be able to finish your assignments during class! 

Lab policy : NO EATING OR DRINKING IN THE LAB (THIS INCLUDES WATER) Students found with food or drink at the computers will lose access to the lab. Keep and consume foodand drink in the designated area. Open lab hours are posted on the door of the lab the 2nd or 3rd week of the semester.

SPECIAL NOTE: Some of the course reading will be on-line and you wil be expected to use the internet as a research tool.  In addition, you MUST have an email account by the second week of class!  Some class correspondence may happen via email, there are several free services available, ask me if you need assistance getting email. 

This syllabus is subject to change

COURSE BIBLIOGRAPHY AND RESOURCE MATERIALS:

• As We May Think Vannevar Bush 
• A Rape in Cyberspace Julian Dibbell electronic distribution only 1993
• Cybernetics or, Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine. Wiener, Norbert.  Cambridge: MIT Press,1948
• The Design of Everyday Things Donald Norman
• The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction Walter Benjamin
• The Invisible Computer Donald Norman
• Life on the Screen Sherry Turkle Touchstone Books, 1997 
• Being Digital Nicholas Negreponte New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1995.
• Collective Intelligence Pierre Levy 1995
• The Nature of Order Christopher Alexander
• Envisioning Cyberspace Peter Anders, McGraw-Hill, 1999 
• Computers as Theater Brenda Laurel, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1993 
• Affective Computing. Rosalind W.  Picard Cambridge: MIT Press, 1997 
• Hyper/Text/Theory. Landow, George P (ed.)  Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994
• The Age of Intelligent Machines. Kurzweil, Raymond (ed.)  Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992
• The Age of Spiritual Machines : When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence. Kurzweil, Raymond.  New York: Viking, 1999
• The Society of Mind. Minsky, Marvin  New York: Simon & Shuster,1986
• Early online version: The Cyborg Manifesto Donna Haraway
• The Cyborg Handbook Chris Hables Gray (ed.) London: Routledge, 1996.
• Modest_Witness@Second_Millennium_FemaleMan_Meets_OncoMouse, Feminism and Technoscience. Haraway Donna J.,  Routledge London, 1997.
• Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature. Haraway, Donna J.  London: Free Association Books, 1991
• Digital Delirium. Kroker, Arthur and Kroker, Marilouise, (eds.).  New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997
• The War of Desire and Technology at the Close of the Mechanical Age. Stone, Allucquere Rosanne.  Cambridge: MIT Press, 1996
• Will the Real Body Please Stand Up?   First published in the anthology Cyberspace: First Steps Stone, Allucquere Rosanne.  Cambridge: MIT Press, 1991
• Zeroes + Ones: Digital Women + The New Technoculture Sadie Plant New York: Doubleday, 1997
• Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution. Levy, Steven.  New York: Anchor Press/ Doubleday, 1984
• The Network Nation: Human Communication Via Computer. Hiltz, Starr Roxanne and Murray Turoff.  Cambridge: MIT Press, 1993
• The Archeology of a Computer Screen Lev Manovich. published in Kunstforum International, Germany 1995
• Envisioning Information Edward Tufte Graphics Press 1990
• The Robot in the Garden: Telerobotics and Telepistemology on on the Internet Ken Goldberg Cambridge, MIT Press, 2000
• Understanding Media. McLuhan,Marshall .  Cambridge:The MIT Press, 1994
• Information Arts: Intersections of Art, Science, and Technology Stephen Wilson MIT Press, 2001
• The New World Border : Prophecies, Poems & Loqueras for the End of the Century Guillermo Gomez-Pena
• The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction Walter Benjamin 
• The Society of the Spectacle Guy-Ernest Debord

• Information Design. Jacobson, Robert. Cambridge:The MIT Press, 1999

Web Resources:

• find this page: http://www.andreapolli.com follow the 'teaching ' links on the left
• Rhizome
• Hotwired
• CTheory
• Intelligent-Agent
• rtmark
• Ars Electronica
• ISEA
• ZKM
• STEIM
• IRCAM
• irational
• adaweb
• the thing
• Siggraph
• Dr Dobb's Technetcast
• radio-locator
• MIT Media Lab
• Franklin Furnace
• ArtsWire
• jodi
• Eduardo Kac
• The Virtual Museum of Computing
• The Tech Museum of Innovation: Webopedia
• Women and Computer Science
• Actionscripts.org

• Stephen Wilson's Conceptual Information Arts Links
• Copyleft and the Religious Wars of the 21st Century

COURSE OUTLINE
These are suggested topics and are subject to change

COURSE:       Interactive Expression
WEEKS    TOPIC

Jan 29
1 Introduction

• New Lab procedures and policies
• Course policies and timeline
  

• Homework 1: Based on our readings and discussions, develop a flowchart/interactive map of an interactive project you intend to work on in this class. Write a detailed 3-5 page project description that incldes a discussion of: the point of view/perspective of the work, metaphors you plan to employ, the plot line or use-case scenario of the work (use one of the three plot structures outlined in the book or explain why your structure does not follow one of these three), the level and type of interaction in the work, and the use of time in the work. Be prepared to present this in class on February 26.
  

• Reading: Chapter 1, Theory and Principle MEADOWS

Feb 5
2 Designing and Mapping an Interactive Structure

• Reading Discussion

• Review/Introduction Flash
• In-class Exercise 1-drawing and animating in Flash
• Flash Web Resources:

• Macromedia
• Actionscripts.org
• Flashkit

 

• Reading: Chapter 2, The Second Dimension MEADOWS

Feb 12
NO CLASS MEETING LINCOLN'S BIRTHDAY

Feb 19
3 The Second Dimension

• Reading Discussion
• Continued introduction to Flash
• In-Class Exercise 2 - more animating techniques in Flash

• Homework 2: Create a web banner teaser for your interactive project. Specifications TBA. DUE March 12

Feb 26
4 The Second Dimension continued

• Presentations HOMEWORK 1 (see week 1)
• In-class work on web banner
  

• Reading: Chapter 3, The Third Dimension MEADOWS

• MIDTERM ASSIGNMENT: You will present a revised project proposal and flowchart/interactive map (based on feedback during and outside of class) and a SUBSTANTIAL work-in-progress presentation that may include the development of imagery or interactive structures/programming (depending on then nature of your project). DUE April 2

March 5
5 The Third Dimension

• Reading Discussion
• Creating buttons and interactivity in Flash
• In-class work on web banner

March 12
6 The Third Dimension continued

• Presentations HOMEWORK 2 (Web banner promo - see week 3)

• Homework 3: Exercise in spatial navigation  Navigating contemporary urban spaces, although we do it every day, is a complex task that requires many levels of awareness.  For this assignment, you will break down your experience of navigation by taking a trip to a place that you HAVE NEVER BEEN BEFORE and write a detailed description of your navigational experience from an information and/or narrative point of view.  DUE NEXT WEEK.

• Reading: Chapters 1 and 2 WOLF

March 19
7 The Third Dimension continued

• Presentations Homework 3
• Reading discussion
• Introduction to Macromedia Director 3D
• In class work on Midtems 
  

• Reading: Chapter 3 WOLF

March 26
8 NO CLASS MEETING - INSTRUCTOR OUT OF TOWN

April 2
9 MIDTERM CRITIQUE

• Reading: Chapters 4 and 5 WOLF

April 2
10 The Third Dimension continued

• Reading Discussion
• Macromedia Director 3D continued

• Reading: Chapters 6 and 7 WOLF

April 9
10 The Third Dimension continued

• Reading Discussion
• Macromedia Director 3D continued

• Reading: Chapter 4, Development and Practice MEADOWS

April 15 CLASS MEETS ON TUESDAY INSTEAD OF WEDNESDAY!
11 Beyond the Third Dimension

• Reading Discussion
• Expanding Director's capabilities with plug-ins and extras

• Homework 4 - In preparation for the final presentation, you will present a functional part of your final piece for user testing on April 30

April 23
NO CLASS MEETING SPRING BREAK

April 30
12

• Homework 4 Presentations (see week 11)
• Expanding Macromedia Director continued
• In class work on Finals

May 7
13 Design testing and Revision: Continued work on finals with special emphasis on user testing and revision

• In class work on Finals

May 14
14 IN CLASS FINAL PRESENTATIONS

• Your projects must include a portfolio quality complete and accurate flowchart/interactive map and a 3-5 page detailed description of your project

WEEK OF MAY 19-23
15 IMA GRADUATE PROGRAM CRITIQUES - NO CLASS MEETING - SEE YOU AT CRITIQUES!