Hybrid stuff1)Quick Announcements (so nice you get ‘em

twice)2)Sequence 4: Whassup with that? 3)Tumblr into the week4)Forum it up5) And we’re off!

Announcements1)Making 3 will be due on November 5th

2)If you did not receive a specific prompt for making 3, you are to make something(anything, really) then write about the process (what you did, what you needed in order to make it, where you learned how, etc.)

3)Meanwhile Project 3 is due on October 29th, which is this coming Friday.

Announcements4) Project 2 is due November 12th.

Don’t put it off, or the audio and editing will overwhelm you. I gave you all this time for a reason.

5) I will be grading your mix CDs ASAP. I have to somehow get the ones that are at my office to my apartment to do the grading.

Sequence 4Before I start talking about sequence 4, I want to remind you of something I said when we started: each sequence has a shorter “making” activity that should help to in some way (not in every way, but in some way) prepare for the larger project and a larger project.

I think during sequence 2 and 3 some of you got the making and the final project smashed together in your heads.

Sequence 4This sequence is all about remix and remediation. Remix we’ve talked a bit about, and will talk a bit more about. It’s complex and multi-faceted.

Remediation is sort of simple by comparison. So let me start by explaining it.

RemediationRemediation is a term coined by Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin in a book of the same title.

Very basically put, remediation is changing something from one delivery medium to the other without dramatically altering the content. Stress on this: it’s about “delivery” changes.

An example:

<- The USA Today, the print newspaper.

The USA Today website ->

RemediationWe regularly encounter a number of things that have been remediated (paperwork, publications, etc.)

Remember that the stress here is on a change in how the content is delivered but not in the content (there will be some content changes, but much of it should be the same).

So Sequence 4Make it:Your “making” assignment this time around is to create a top 5 list of mashed up/remixed movies or TV programs (like, for example, Krypton Creek, mixing Dawson’s Creek and Smallville). You will then pick your favorite of the 5 and make some sort of remixed promo material for it (a video trailer, a radio spot, a series of print advertisements, or a poster).

What does that mean? Hopefully now your list for last week makes a little more sense.

A mash-up is literally combining two things. So a mash-up TV show might be, say How I Big Banged Your Mother (yes, I went for the cheap joke) about a scientist who tells his kids the story of how he met their mother while chronicling the lives of himself and his roommate, Sheldon.

What? So for the making project, I want you to concoct five mash-up TV shows or movies, then create some manner of press for the one of them you like best (as I said: radio spot, commercial, series of print ads or a detailed poster).

That is your making project for sequence 4. It shouldn’t be too difficult, given that we’ve tinkered with a lot of these technologies already.

Major Project 4Your major assignment is going to be to figure out, and make a list, of all the ways your academic major or chosen career might use remix. Then you’re going to pick one of those ways and make an example. So you might end up making a video. Or a series of posters. Or another audio piece. Or a website. Or an alphabetic text. Or a statue. IDK. Whatever your field would use.

Major Project 4 cont.Part of the task of this assignment will be writing a proposal to me and explaining why you want to do what you do, and much like you will find in the workplace later, I might as the “boss” tell you that you can’t do what you want (like a boss) and assign something slightly different (like a boss). This project should also include a 2-3 page reflection on why you chose the specific thing and method of remixing that you chose.

So this week…Be thinking about how you might utilize remix in your major (and if you are undecided, pick a major field to use for this project).

I will be assigning the proposal for this next week, and we’ll talk more about Making 4 and set a due date.

TumblrsI’m going to assign all 3 this week so as to, I hope, avoid confusion.

*crossing my fingers*

Tumblr 1Find a visual remix, post it, and just as we did with the memes comment briefly on what you need to understand to understand the remix.

Tumblr 2Next week, we’re going to discuss “intellectual property” as it relates to digital composition and remix. IP law can be either fascinating or boring, so what I’d like you to do, for your second Tumblr post this week, is post a question or a link to some incident involving intellectual property that interests, excites or confuses you.

Tumblr 3Your Top 5 List: the five most effective advertisements you’ve ever seen/heard and why they were so effective.

ForumsAlso three forums this week. I’m going to give you posts as launching points in a couple of them, though, so don’t stress.

Forum 1Forum 1: Disney Remixes – here I want you to respond to the first two readings, offering your feedback on the content, the audience, and the general effectiveness of these remixes. What are they for? Why do something like this?

Forum 2Forum 2: Pulling it Together: Read my initial post in this forum, then based on what I’ve posted there, think about what we’ve looked at and provide some of your own links. I want you to think creatively here but also think deeply and engage the material.

Forum 3Forum 3: Identity Markers and Remix : What I want you to do here is find something you think is easily recognized (I’m going to give you two examples, so you can’t use the Mickey Mouse ears or the Superman Logo). Then I want you to think about this in an abstract way: how far can we push that identity marker before we lose it? I will post a few images to this forum to give you a sense of what I mean, but again, this is a task that will require some abstract thinking.

And one last piece…I want you to brainstorm out your basic plan for Sequence 4. You can do this any way you’d like (outline, freewriting, bubble chart, etc.).

Email me…But what I want you to do by Sunday is send me an email that tells me what the topics/source material will be for the following:1. Your Project 22. Your Making 3 project*you should be done with project 3 itself*4. Your Making 4 project5. Your sequence 4 project

Include any questions you have related to these.