Workshop of design and production on the Internet (21367) - Multimedia and interactive storytelling

Titulació/Study: Degree of Journalism
Course: Fourth
Quarter: Second
Numeral of credits ECTS: 8
Hours of dedication of the student: 60 hours
Teaching Language: English
Teacher: Eva Domínguez

1. Presentation of the course

The workshop of design and production on the Internet belongs to the group of courses related with the Internet. It is preceded by Journalism for the Internet and Redacció Integrada.

This course is a workshop for developing multimedia storytelling. The goal is to go beyond the sum of different supports to develop the possibilities of the interface and the interactivity to create visual and interactive journalistic stories. Students' work will be online: http://achangingmultimediaworld.wordpress.com

Formal experimentation will be encouraged but always in the service of reality, and applying journalistic criteria and processes. We will focus on the peculiarity of the current multimedia production, in a moment of emergence of non-fiction and journalistic digital production.

The digital narrative language is merging other field's forms. The aim is to compete for the attention of a demanding user. Once students have fulfilled the basics of journalism, this workshop opens them the door to formal experimentation, balancing the informative and accuracy requirements with a compelling narration that captivates user's attention. On the Internet, this goal is shaped by interface, interactivity and social networks.

The course has a professional and practical approach. Student's works will be published online. The language of publication is English. Therefore, the reach of their work is potentially high, since it is one of the most used languages online.

The purpose of this course is that the students have at the end of the course the tools and journalistic resources to launch their own multimedia projects, as well as an up to date knowledge of digital multimedia production and its opportunities.

2. Skills to be fulfilled

Generals:

Instrumentals skills

- To be able to speak and write properly to experienced and inexperienced audiences.

- To master computer tools and its basic applications for the ordinary academic activity.

Personal skills

- To be able to work in teams, taking part actively in the tasks assigned and negotiating dissenting opinions, until reaching consensus.

- To consolidate self-discipline, self-demand and accuracy in academic work, organization and correct timing.

Systemic skills

- To develop curiosity and a desire to learn the unknown, indispensable for any learning process and professional activity.

- To be able to progress in the learning process in an autonomous and continuous way.

Degree skills

- To know and apply the technologies and systems used to process, elaborate and share information.

- To have the abilities and skills to communicate in each media own language.

- To have the abilities and skills to apply informative and communicative techniques.

- To have the abilities and skills to use the systems and computer resources and their interactive applications.

- To have the abilities and skills to design the formal and aesthetic aspects in print, audiovisual and digital media.

- To have the abilities and skills to carry out the main journalistic tasks in diverse thematic areas.

- To have the abilities and skills to recover, to organize, to analyze and to process information to be distributed, served or edited.

- To have the ability to identify and dissect informative products in any genre, language or support, in order to do a critical study.

Course skills

- To know the basic forms of implementing news in digital media.

- To develop skills to use and harmonize different tools on the Internet.

- To have the ability to organize, to arrange into a hierarchy, and to develop journalistic products for digital media.

3. Content

Section 1. Main factors in digital journalistic practice

- Narrative convergence

- Different concepts of multimedia journalism

- The function of form and genre in digital media

- Interface and interactivity

- Transparency in the process: data accuracy, corroboration of sources and relationship with the audience

Section 2. Narrative forms and resources

- From slideshows to multimedia

- The characteristics of online video

- When to click? Ways to apply interactivity

- Context and visualization of data

- Integration versus juxtaposition

- The webdoc, an emergent form?

Section 3. Immersive journalism and journalistic immersion

- Immersion as a news reporting technique

- Immersion as a narrative technique

- Research with immersive technologies and forms: augmented reality, virtual reality and 'newsgames'

Section 4. Tools and resources to be up to date

- Multimedia editors

- Online tools for production

- Free resources

- New production companies and relevant webs

4. Evaluation

This course will apply continuous assessment. Final marks will be obtained by the sum of the exercises made in the workshop (50%) (1) as well as a final multimedia feature (50%) (2).

(1) The course is organised around weekly topics and exercises. To fulfill the continuous assessment mark, each student will need to complete a minimum of three mandatory exercises (highlighted as such), valued as 50% of the final mark. All these exercises will be individual.

(2) The final multimedia feature will be produced in teams of two people.

A minimum attendance of 80% of the classes is required to pass the course. If a student does not fulfil this requirement, he/she will have the chance to retake it in July with one or more exercises (depending of each particular case).

5. Bibliography and resources

5.1. Basic bibliography

McAdams, Mindy. Flash Journalism: How to Create Multimedia News Packages. Focal Press: Burlington -Oxford, 2005.

Lietaert, Matthieu (ed). Webdocs, a survival guide for online filmmakers. Not so Crazy!: Brussels, 2011.

5.2. Suggested bibliography

Domínguez, Eva i Pérez Colomé, Jordi. Microperiodismos. Aventuras digitales en tiempos de crisis. Editorial UOC: Barcelona, 2012.

5.3. Educational resources

There will be in the online campus.

6. Methodology

The methodology of the workshop is practical and follows the philosophy of the professional simulation that is the axis in

the studies of journalism which main representative is the Redacción Integrada course. In this case, students will not work for an actual journalistic product but there will be a public exhibition online their exercises.

7. Activities

WEEK 1
TOPIC: Narrative convergence. The function of form and genre in digital media Interface and interactivity Different concepts of multimedia journalism. Integration versus juxtaposition. From slideshows to multimedia The characteristics of online video	ASSIGNMENT: Search and analysis of three good examples of multimedia features.
WEEK 2
TOPIC: Context and visualization of data. Transparency in the process: data accuracy, corroboration of sources and relationship with the audience	EXERCISE 1: Video based on photography (*)
WEEK 3
TOPIC: Ways to apply interactivity	EXERCISE 2: Storytelling with data (*)
WEEK 4
No theory. 6 hours of production this week.	EXERCISE 3: Interactive story (*)
WEEK 5
TOPIC: The webdoc, an emergent form? How to structure it
WEEK 6
TOPIC:	ASSIGNMENT: Idea for Interactive Feature DEADLINE FOR FIRST 3 ASSIGNMENTS
WEEK 7
TOPIC: Immersion as a news reporting technique Immersion as a narrative tecnique Research with immersive techonologies and forms: augmented reality, virtual reality and 'newsgames' Immersive Journalism The importance of sound	Interactive feature work in progress
WEEK 8
TOPIC: Multimedia editors Online tools for production and free resources	Interactive feature work in progress
WEEK 9
TOPIC : New production companies and relevant webs	Interactive feature work in progress
SETMANA (10)
Final feature work in progress	Presentation of the final feature**

* These exercises are mandatory to reach the 40% of the total mark. The 10% come from the completion of all weekly exercises. All these exercises will be individual.

** The fulfillment of the feature weights 50% of the total mark. There will be a public exhibition in class.

Students who do not pass the course will have a chance for retaking it by exercises that will be set for each case. These exercises will have to be delivered the week of the 17th of July, according to the teacher directions for each student.