BA in Journalism, Media & Cultural Studies
module JOMEC/MC3564
ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHS

module tutor: Daniel Meadows
e-mail: meadows@cardiff.ac.uk
tel: 02920 874 000 ext 77241
Bute rm. 0.60A

office hours:
Tuesday afternoons 3.00-5.30

year 3: semester one
3 October - 16 December 2011

download a .pdf version of the module handout

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AIMS OF THE MODULE
This is a practical module. It requires you to be creative. You will learn how to tell the kind of story which emerges only when you uncover what a photograph means to the people depicted in it. You will do this by seeking out and working with the private picture archive of someone from outside the university community (your "participant"), someone of your own choosing from Cardiff, someone who, prior to starting this module, was a stranger to you. You may find that your investigations also take you into public picture archives. You will learn to listen and make connections. Your findings will be astonishing for their elegance and humanity. You will present them using multimedia tools and deliver the results on DVD.

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METHODS OF TEACHING & LEARNING
The number of students on this module is restricted to 24. In the lectures you will be shown many examples of how photographs have been used as the source material for storytelling. Relevant production tools will also be discussed and demonstrated. Each week you will attend one lecture and one practical workshop. (Note: the workshop numbers will be restricted to 12, so each week's workshop will be repeated.) Dedicated multimedia equipment will be provided. Away from the classroom you will be expected to research stories, conduct interviews, gather multimedia assets, prepare drafts of scripts, work on building your output DVD and keep a reflective log of your progress.

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REQUIREMENTS OF THE MODULE
Because the learning of practical skills is cumulative, the subject matter of the lectures is linked to the subject matter of the workshops. Therefore IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU DO NOT MISS ANY OF THE TAUGHT SESSIONS. There will be an interim assessment following the third lecture (week 3 deadline Friday 21 October 2011) when you will be required to hand in an outline of your project proposal. This will not be marked but failure to meet this deadline will result in marks being deducted from your final total. Summative learning is assessed by the presentation of work at the end of the semester. So, at or before midday on Friday 16 December 2011, you will hand in two pieces of work: a reflective log (c/w lecture and tutorial notes) and the finished multimedia project presented on DVD. These should be put in a large envelope and posted, c/w a cover sheet, in the essay box. The reflective log and the disc require you to show how you have integrated key aspects of understanding with practical skills including storytelling, project design, use of pictures and an appreciation of the intricacies of "rich media" navigation.

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SUGGESTED SCHEDULE OF PRODUCTION
Sept-Dec 2010

• Before 21 October: find your participant.
• Before 28 October: complete first interview with participant, look at photos and discuss with participant.
• Before 8 November: do a rough edit of the pictures and scan the selection; write first draft of script for story.
• Before 15 November: complete final draft of script and check with participant. Conduct second interview if necessary. Storyboard your Digital Story.
• Before 6 December: finish Digital Story.
• Before midday 16 December: publish work to disc and deliver c/w reflective log.

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LECTURE SCHEDULE
Lectures take place in Bute rm.0.35 on Tuesday mornings 11.00-12.30.
1. 4 October: Introduction to the module. Photobus website, look at work by students previously on this module.
2. 11 October: participatory media forms. Inspirations: Murmur; Dana Atchley; "Blind Date" & "Drawn from Life" by Oxygen Media, Kingsmead Eyes.
3. 18 October: Digital Storytelling, BBC Capture Wales.
4. 25 October: Demonstration of how to prepare photographs in Photoshop.
5. 1 November: Picture Archive: The Smoking Room. Making judgements about photographs (Barthes and Lester).
6. 8 November: The oral history tradition of which we are a part: Olive Shapley, Charles Parker, Studs Terkel. Also: the influence of the internet on the journeys that pictures (and stories) take.
7. 15 November: Demonstration [i.] of non-linear video editing.
8. 22 November: Demonstration [ii.] of non-linear video editing.
9. 29 November: Demonstration [iii.] of non-linear video editing.
10. 6 December: Demonstration of making a DVD.

During the last week of term there will a voluntary open workshop session in Bute rm. 0.35 as follows:
11. 13 December: One-to-one tutorials 11.00-12.30.

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WORKSHOP SCHEDULE
You will divide into two groups for the workshops which take place on Wednesday mornings. This is to ensure small classes so that each of you has plenty of time and attention while you acquire new technical skills. Group One meets in Bute rm. 0.35: 9.00-10.30. Group Two meets in Bute rm. 0.35: 10.30-12.00. The workshops are as follows:
1. 5 October: Module briefing; researching; interviewing skills.
2. 12 October: Audio recording.
3. 19 October: Presentation of story ideas.
4. 26 October: The multimedia computer and picture handling.
5. 2 November: Story Circle.
6. 9 November: Editing your audio recording.
7. 16 November: Non-linear video editing [i.]
8. 23 November: Non-linear video editing [ii.]
9. 30 November: Non-linear video editing [iii.]
10. 7 December: Output and making a presentation DVD.

During the last week of term there will a voluntary open workshop session in Bute rm. 0.35 as follows:
11. 14 December: One-to-one tutorials 9.00-12.00.

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LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Knowledge and Understanding: from both the lectures and the workshops you will acquire knowledge and understanding of the enormous potential for storytelling that is tied up in picture archives, particularly personal archives. You will learn some skills in the critical appreciation of photographs and also something of the history of photography. You will learn how to listen for stories and how to tell them using so-called "rich" media, that is with software that combines, audio, still and/or moving pictures.
2. Intellectual Skills: You will learn how to think differently about professional media practice; to open yourself to the notion that the future of journalistic practice is likely to involve the "facilitation" of -- rather than merely the "telling" of -- other people's stories. You will also learn the difference between "doing media for yourself" and "being done by it" and the responsibilities which come when you take on the role of story facilitator.
3. Discipline Specific (including practical) Skills: You will acquire practical skills in the tools of multimedia production. You will also acquire some new criteria for making judgments about photographs.
4. Transferable Skills: You will acquire the ability to script, edit and produce a story using multimedia technology and also develop skills of interviewing, voice-over recording, audio and video editing and picture handling.

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ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
Project Work: 60% of the mark will be awarded for the project work as follows:
* Is your output DVD well designed and does it work technically (20% of total mark).
* Is your story a "good read" for viewers? (10% of total mark)
* To what extent does your work indicate a depth of original picture research? (20% of total mark).
* To what extent have you "given someone a voice" through this piece of work? (10%)

Course Work: 40% of the total mark will be awarded for the production of a reflective log as follows:
* Does your log give a full account of your experience of the module, including background reading?

NOTE: Marks will be deducted from your final tally (2 percentage marks for every missed class) if you are absent from lectures or workshops without good cause or without not ice being given in advance.

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FEEDBACK
* The week 3 deadline (Friday 21 October 2011), when you are required to hand in an outline of your project proposal, will be responded to before the 26 October workshop if submitted by email.
* Students who need help or advice (technical or otherwise) are encouraged to seek one-to-one tutorials during office hours or by email appointment.

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RECOMMENDED READING
* Agee, J. and Evans, W. 1941. Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. (Bute Library HN79.A5.A4)
* Auster, P. 2001. True Tales of American Life. London: Faber and Faber. (Arts & Social Studies Library E169.12.T7)
* Berger, J. 1972. Ways of Seeing. London: British Broadcasting Corporation and Penguin Books. (Bute Library N7430.5.W2 and other libraries)
* Gillmor, D. 2004. We the Media. Sebastopol (CA): O'Reilly. (Bute Library PN4784.O6.G4)
* Hartley, J and McWilliam, K. 2009. Story Circle: Digital Storytelling Around the World. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. (Bute Library QA76.76.I59.S8)
* Illich, I. 1975. Tools for Conviviality. London: Fontana. (Bute Library HD6955.I5 and other libraries.) Read the whole book online here and, if you are pushed for time, begin with the section on 'Convivial Reconstruction'.
* Lester, P. 1999. Visual Communication: images with messages. Belmont: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. (Bute Library P93.5.L3)
* Meadows, D. 1997. National Portraits: Photographs from the 1970s. Salford: Viewpoint Gallery and Derby: Montage Gallery. (Bute Library PN4784.P5.M3)
* Meadows, D. 2001. The Bus: The Free Photographic Omnibus 1973-2001. London: Harvill. (Bute Library PN4784.P5.M3)
* Meadows, D. 1999. Then & Now, pp 105-142 in Granta No.68, Love Stories. London: Granta. (Arts & Social Studies Library PN6014.G7)
* Terkel, S. 1975. Working. London: Wildwood House. (Arts & Social Studies Library HD8072.T3)
* Wells, L. (ed.) 1997. Photography: A Critical Introduction. London: Routledge. (Bute Library TR145.P4)

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TECHNICAL MANUAL
* Meadows, D. 2010. How to make Digital Stories using Adobe Premiere Elements v.7. Tutorial notes. Download a .pdf version, file size 885 Kb (link opens in a new window).

INTERNET (all links open in a new window)
* Atchley, D. 1999. Next Exit. Click on the Digital Drive-in. On the left hand panel click on 'Next Exit Stories'. When you come to them, the best one to start with is 'Home Movies'. But, with your speakers turned down, let it download first before you play it, otherwise the surprise of the story will be spoilt. You'll need Quicktime.
* BBC Capture Wales Digital Storytelling.
* Center for Digital Storytelling, Berkeley, California.
* Gideon Mendel in collaboration with pupils at Kingsmead School, Hackney: Kingsmead Eyes
* Mark Klett: Third View, the Rephotography Project.
* Meyer, Pedro. 1991. I Photograph to Remember. Now available for iPod.
* Media Storm.
* Parker, Charles., MacColl, Ewan., Seeger, Peggy. 1958-64.
  The Radio Ballads.
* Storycorps.

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