for MSc Digital Media Production

This is a semester 1 module for the MSc Digital Media Production at Oxford Brookes University and runs from September 22 to December 15 2008

This module will provide you with an understanding of the processes and practices by which content can be generated and manipulated in digital form and then published to the world wide web.. You will have an opportunity to develop a blog and build an on-line portfolio of work to include digital text, images and audio.

You will be introduced to a range of topics including the theory of interactive media and an introduction to some of the techniques employed to create digital content.

Assignments

There are various assignments associated with this module:

• Post entries (at least weekly) to your 'blog' (online journal) | 20%
  Marks will be given for: frequency of posts, evidence of research, relevance to topic and the layout of the pages (change from original 'standard' template). There will be an opportunity for online comments by everyone.
• Personalise the blog templates by changing the CSS | 20%
• Digital image album. | 30% At least 6 collages of images manipulated using Photoshop from relevant sources (such as travel tickets, clothing fragments etc) (copies of original Photoshop images should be retained so as to show evidence of layers, paths, masks etc.). The images should be manipulated in some way and not just photos taken with a digital camera.
  Marks will be given for the images themselves and the web gallery that is used to present them.
• A podcast on your web site | 20% You will work on this in teams
  We expect you to create 3 episodes of the podcast to include an intro, outro, recording in the studio and recording in the field.
• A presentation in class to show the work on the digital images. | 10%

All digital material (images and audio) must be captioned with details of file size, format, resolution and software used. These captions must be included on your web pages.

The deadline for completion of all of the web based assignments is Friday 19 December 5pm

Course Programme and Calendar

This course takes place on Mondays 9am to 1pm weeks 1 to 12. The lectures and workshops will take place in the IT Suite for Publishing in the Tonge Building.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Blogging and other similar web technologies

Tonge IT Suite, Brookes, Gipsy Lane, Oxford

During this session we look at the basics of blogging as a way to deliver content to a web site. Each student will be given a web space and a blog. From this day, students will be able to post items to their blog using a basic template.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Digital Image making

Tonge IT Suite, Brookes, Gipsy Lane, Oxford

The web is full of images - even Google provides a way to search specifically for images. Most images on the web are photographs and with most cameras now purely digital, most people are distributing their photos online.

But what about making an image from more than one source. What about experssing oneself or decorating the screen medium with 'montages'. This talk discusses the history, techniques and contexts for such digital images.

Monday, October 06, 2008

Creative Tools for Screen Media

Tonge IT Suite, Brookes, Gipsy Lane, Oxford

All of our work ends up on the screen. What is a screen exactly and how can we build something for it?

Monday, October 13, 2008

Designing for the WEB

Tonge IT Suite, Brookes, Gipsy Lane, Oxford

Graphic design is an important part of our work. There are certain issues to consider even before we get to the screen as medium.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Template Editing using Dreamweaver

Tonge IT Suite, Brookes, Gipsy Lane, Oxford

We may be using ExpressionEngine to manage the content but it is possible to use Dreamweaver to help us define the look of our site. We can take the existing templates and make modifications to the CSS.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Photoshop Surgery

Tonge IT Suite, Brookes, Gipsy Lane, Oxford

No formal lecture. Just bring your images along for help with techniques.

Monday, November 03, 2008

Building an Image Gallery

Tonge IT Suite, Brookes, Gipsy Lane, Oxford

We want to put our images together and add some text.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Separating Style and Content with CSS

Tonge IT Suite, Brookes, Gipsy Lane, Oxford

The basics of delivering web content by styling with CSS.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Introducing Podcasting

Tonge IT Suite, Brookes, Gipsy Lane, Oxford

How to create audio content and publish on the web as a series of episodes.

Monday, November 24, 2008

More on Podcasting

Tonge IT Suite, Brookes, Gipsy Lane, Oxford

How to publish the podcasts with RSS.

Monday, December 01, 2008

Making a Presentation and more …

Tonge IT Suite, Brookes, Gipsy Lane, Oxford

Advice about preparing an giving a presentation. This is in anticipaton of the following week where students on this course will be expected to give a 7 minute presentation (worth 10% of the marks!).

This session will also 'mop up' any other issues such as posting Podcasts.

Monday, December 08, 2008

Student Presentations

Tonge IT Suite, Brookes, Gipsy Lane, Oxford

During this session, each student will give a short (7minutes) presentation of the images produced for the web site gallery. The presentation can use 'Powerpoint' or a similar technology to explain the rationale behind the selection of images and issues encountered when producing them.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Surgery Session | Blog templates and Photoshop

Tonge IT Suite, Brookes, Gipsy Lane, Oxford

There will be no formal lecture on this day. Just help with any technical issues as needed.