57686 Studio: Screen Experiences

Warning: The information on this page is indicative. The subject outline for a particular session, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.

Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.

Subject level:

Postgraduate

Description

In this subject, students explore current, emerging and experimental approaches to creative media, including new methods of production and exhibition, with a focus on screen-based experiences. Students begin their exploration of new and alternative media forms – such as interactive, immersive and site-specific media - by proposing multiple project ideas. They then engage in a process of iteration and refinement before choosing one project idea to present for feedback and prototyping. Through a combination of practical exercises, studio intensives, field trips, and group projects, students are encouraged to experiment and innovate with their creative practice. By creating screen experiences that explore a range of new and emerging creative media techniques, technologies and platforms, students are able to clarify their strengths and interests in media production.

Subject learning objectives (SLOs)

Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)

This subject engages with the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs), which are tailored to the Graduate Attributes set for all graduates of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences:

• Analyse, develop or produce creative media projects within a framework of specialised practice-oriented knowledge and skills. (1.1)
• Engage critically with your creative practice research through the application of established theory. (2.1)
• Apply collaborative practice, research, and entrepreneurial skills to business, curation and understanding audiences (3.1)
• Critically reflect on ethical practices to work effectively with and for Indigenous peoples and communities as professional screen arts practitioners. (4.1)
• Engage screen audiences and communities for impact and change. (5.1)
• Demonstrate high-level abilities and self-awareness as an oral, written and audio-visual communicator. (6.1)

Teaching and learning strategies

The subject is delivered through on-campus studio sessions and workshops. In-person sessions will be supplemented by online resources offering example projects, recorded material and further reading to assist students in developing an understanding of the field. Students are expected to engage with this online material as part of their preparation for the in-person studio classes.

The subject is divided into three modules where students experiment with a range of creative screen media techniques, work through iterative project development frameworks, and apply prototyping processes to collaborative group projects. Students receive regular formative feedback on their in-class work during the studio sessions and are expected to be consistently working to produce and show their tutor new material each week. An iterative approach to development and prototyping is encouraged with multiple opportunities for teams to present work-in-progress versions of their project concepts to creative industry professionals, their peers, and tutors.

An aim of this subject is to help students develop academic and professional language and communication skills to succeed at university and in the workplace. To confirm proficiency in this area, one of the assessment tasks in this subject will be assessed for English language proficiency.

Content (topics)

This subject explores emerging and experimental approaches to creative media production that includes interactivity, immersive exhibition, and site-specific experiences.

Module A introduces students to a range of creative media production methods and modes of delivery including:

• Video compositing
• Visual effects
• Locative media
• Mobile media
• Interactive technologies
• Working for and with first nations artists and Indigenous communities.

Module B focuses on project development and covers topics such as:

• Creative ideation
• Concept iteration
• Experience mapping
• Project visualisation

Module C focuses on project prototyping and collaborating in creative teams. It covers topics such as:

• Paper prototyping
• Digital prototyping
• User testing
• Heuristic/expert reviews
• Creative collaboration
• Refining projects in response to feedback.

Assessment

Assessment task 1: Online (or mobile) creative media essay

Assessment task 2: Portfolio of creative media concept tests and oral presentation

Assessment task 3: Proposal for creative media project

Assessment task 4: Project prototype (or project pilot) and documentation

Minimum requirements

Students must have completed a Lighting Proficiency Test before commencing this subject.

Students are required to submit documentation to an online approvals system for Media Arts & Production student projects in which they confirm they have acquired the appropriate approvals (locations, crew and cast) necessary to undertake the work that they propose. In addition, students must also identify any and all safety risks that the production of their student project reasonably presents and provide evidence of how they will mitigate those risks while adhering to industry-standard safe work practices. These tasks address the various legal, safety and ethical requirements of screen production. Failure to provide tutors with the required documentation before published deadlines will result in the student crew not being authorised to collect the equipment required to complete their projects from FASS MediaLab.

Attendance at classes is essential in this subject. Classes are based on a collaborative approach that involves essential workshopping and interchange of ideas with other students and the tutor to build capacities towards meeting the subject learning objectives. A roll will be taken at each class (whether on campus or online). Students who have more than two absences from class will be refused marking of their final assessment (see Rule 3.8).

All students must complete the Embedding English Language 2nd milestone task as part of their assessment in this subject.

Peer and self-assessment will be used to moderate individual results within the group project.

Generative AI may be permitted in specific assessment tasks. If so, it will be noted in your assessment brief and its use will need to be referenced. In this case refer to the UTS Library Guide on the use of Generative AI for instruction about how to reference correctly.

References

Required and recommended readings will be available via UTS Library and through the subject site.

Farman, J. [ed.] 2016, Foundations of mobile media studies: essential texts on the formation of a field, Routledge, Abingdon/New York.

Gaudenzi, S. 2019a. The !F Lab Field Guide to Interactive Storytelling Ideation: IF Lab.

Gaudenzi, S. 2019b. "The WHAT IF IT process." Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media (17): 111-127. https://doi.org/10.33178/alpha.17.07.

Hjorth, L. 2016, ‘Mobile Art: Rethinking the Intersections Between Art, User Created Content (UCC) and the Quotidian’, Mobile Media & Communication, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 169–185.

Kim, Jihoon. 2022. Documentary's expanded fields: new media and the twenty-first-century documentary. New York, New York: Oxford University Press.

Murray, J.H. 2012, Inventing the medium: principles of interaction design as a cultural practice, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.

Norman, D.A. 2013, The Design of Everyday Things Revised and expanded edition, Basic Books, a member of the Perseus Books Group, New York.

O'Sullivan, Simon. 2001, ‘The aesthetics of affect: thinking art beyond representation’, Angelaki, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 125-135.

Ricardo, F.J. 2013, The Engagement Aesthetic: Experiencing New Media Art through Critique, Bloomsbury Academic, New York.

Ryan, M.-L. (2015). Narrative as virtual reality 2: revisiting immersion and interactivity in literature and electronic media. Johns Hopkins University Press.

Sinclair, Kamal, and Jessica Clark. 2020. Making A New Reality: A toolkit for inclusive media futures. Ford Foundation, Immerse, Guild for future architects, Sundance Institute (USA).

Sharp, J. and Macklin, C. 2019, Iterate: Ten Lessons in Design and Failure, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.

Sullivan, J. L. 2013, Media audiences: Effects, Users, Institutions, Power, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.

Turkle, S. 2008, ‘Always On/Always On You: The Tethered Self’ in Katz. J.E [ed.], Handbook of Mobile Communication Studies, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.