Course: Environmental Studies 402/Communication Arts 609/Art 469
Topic Title: From Ecotopia to Ecopocalypse: Telling Digital Stories About
the Environment
Instructor: Alex Rivera, Fall 2013 Artist in Residence
UW Instructor of Record: Gregg Mitman, Nelson Institute
Day/Time: Tuesdays 2–4:30 p.m.
Location: 3161 Vilas
Limit: 12
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: Junior, senior, or graduate student status and consent of instructor. See How to Apply below.
A scene from the film SLEEP DEALER.
Course Description
"From Ecotopia to Ecopocalypse: Telling Digital Stories About the Environment" will explore two questions:
- How can we understand the changes occurring all around us in our lived environment?; and
- How can we speak powerfully about those changes?
To answer these questions, the course- limited to 15 upper-level undergraduate and graduate students—will take a cross- disciplinary approach, engaging with read- adings on the environment, as well as with a body of films that strongly invokes the central theme of pressing ecological realities. We will screen both documentary and fiction films--deploying styles from animation to documentary, and from science fiction to mockumentary- -that all communicate fantastic stories rooted in real worlds cience.
Students will synthesize this body of films, along with assigned texts, and then produce a personal short film of their own around the theme of "Ecotopia and Ecopocalypse." In other words, students will be pushed to think about the environment in the crucial and challenging space of the future. The resulting films will inevitably contain strains of fact and fiction, they will be both personal and political, and they will look like documentary and fantasy. Through the production process, students will learn the basics of creative filmmaking in an intensive workshop environment, from working with found footage to thinking artistically with the camera, and from discovering the power of creative sound design to the challenges of writing visually-driven scripts.
How to Apply
The application period has closed and the course is filled, however students interested in being on the waiting list should contact Gregg Mitman for more information.