Internet Television: a live streaming broadcast project
The topic for this semester is “Internet Television.” How do we think about the medium of TV in the age of the Internet, how is it changing, what are the key technologies involved, and how do artists create broadcasted works made specifically for live streaming. Students will collaboratively produce their own Internet TV channel and each student will create a live, streaming program as a final project for an end of semester broadcast.
Each project will draw from the concepts, Web tools, software, and online experience we have explored in the course. The goal of the final project is to create a program for broadcast that bridges your practice (interactive media, film, sound, animation, graphic design, product design, or discipline outside the arts) with the Internet. To prepare for the broadcast, you can either record your work, or it can be presented as a live event. In many cases, the outcome of the final project will be prototypical, in other words, a realization of an idea that could be expanded in the future.
The program can be of your choosing. It could be autobiographical, an abstract visualization, a performance, a musical work, etc., that is either a pre-recorded video or presented live with spoken word, media elements and/or text. The duration of the work will be approximately 10 minutes, but lengths may vary according to student needs.
For the final class, our seminar room will be transformed into a broadcast studio, and each student will take turns having their program aired. We will advertise the broadcast via social media to audiences at NTU as well as around the world. We will use Telestream Wirecast to preload and schedule each program. Our broadcast will be viewed on a Web page designed specifically for the class Internet channel. Students will participate in all facets of production.
Essential criteria for the project:
- The project is to be presented in recorded form or as a live event.
- Students may introduce their work live as a voiceover.
- Each project is built with tools and software presented in the course, though other tools can be considered as well.
- The work must conform to the time slot, ca. 10′ (to be discussed).
- There is some aspect of topics we have discussed that is integral to the concept of the work.
- The work explores critical ideas drawn from our study of media, performance, and net culture.
- The work may be prototypical, meaning, it demonstrates a proof of concept, rather than being a polished, finished work. We are interested in process and good ideas in this course.
- The work may be collaborative, the joint effort of more than one student.
- You may use any media.
- The work is not documentation, unless the documentation is integral to the work itself.
The Final Project will be completed as a “Project Page” (Project Hyperessay #3 Conclusion) that will be included in the main menu of your site. This Project Page is a standalone page, not a post, that includes an overview of the work and the work itself. Each project will have its own approach to the exact specifications for the Project Page, which we will discuss.
Project Page / Hyperessay #3 Conclusion
Due: Monday, November 16
The Project Page / Hyperessay #3 Conclusion is the main Web page containing information for your final project. Here is where you synthesize your project and invite the viewer to understand the concept of the work. The Project Page needs to include the project title, relevant illustrative image(s), a brief description of the work, and links to other documents/sites that are part of the work. Note that you create a page as a standalone static document that does not get included in your posts feed, nor does it get aggregated on the class site, it can only be accessed through your site.
Process
The final project will be conceptually developed during the second half of the semester (as organized and mapped out in the Project Hyperessays, and produced during the final weeks.
Note: The completed project is due on Thursday, November 16 in time for the broadcast. Final projects cannot be submitted late.
It is expected that students will work on the project throughout the second half of the semester, demonstrating progress on a regular basis. Developing a good workflow is essential in media art, with so many technical issues that need to be researched, tested and resolved.
Grading
Grading criteria will be based on the strength of concept, its execution, the ability of the student to engage critical issues discussed in class, to develop the work in a timely manner, to work through conceptual, aesthetic, and technical issues, and to steadily progress towards the completion of the project throughout the semester. Each stage of the project will be graded: (1) Project Hyperessays (I – III); (2) Project Reviews; (3) Project Page; (4) Final Work. In sum, the entire process of creating the work, using the Project Hyperessays for effective documentation, the presentation of your work, and following through on the work’s completion and exhibition are all elements of the grade for the final project. The final project is the summation of what you have learned in the course and incorporated into a work, as well as your ability to address and incorporate key concepts.