CDM 312 | Course Introduction and Application Information - Department of Cinema and Digital Media

Course Name

Film Seminar IV: Contemporary Media Arts

Code	Semester	Theory (hour/week)	Application/Lab (hour/week)	Local Credits	ECTS
CDM 312	Spring	3	0	3	4

Prerequisites	None
Course Language	English
Course Type	Required
Course Level	First Cycle
Mode of Delivery	face to face
Teaching Methods and Techniques of the Course	Discussion Q&A Lecture / Presentation
National Occupation Classification	-
Course Coordinator	-
Course Lecturer(s)	Prof. Dr. DİLEK KAYA
Assistant(s)	-

Course Objectives	This course aims to introduce an exploration of how contemporary artists utilize documentary forms beyond traditional film theaters. Participants will gain insight into the intersection of contemporary art and documentary practices, examining their implications for the cultural politics surrounding artists, institutions, and the broader art world.
Learning Outcomes	The students who succeeded in this course; Define experimental and creative works of cinema, video and new media arts. Identify the diversity of cinema. Discuss films in relation to the individuals, institutions and cultures that produced them. Analyze films as part of cinematic traditions of narrative, technique, and also as products of authorial styles. Classify the artistic films and new media works they will encounter. Learn about contemporary art history through the eyes of video and documentary artists. Acquire knowledge of contemporary art history through the lens of video and documentary artists. Develop a broader understanding of contemporary art within various historical and geographical contexts, and analyze video-documentary works using relevant aesthetic theories and sociopolitical conditions. Analyze contemporary visual art in conjunction with the dialectical nature of documented material.
Course Description	This is the fourth part of the film seminar series, mainly consisting of introducing and screening films which are crucial to forming film culture and not readily available elsewhere. Throughout the course, we analyze examples from Turkey and engage in collective discussions to delve into the perspectives of various artists. Each week, we examine and discuss expert perspectives, complemented by presentations from co-research groups.
Related Sustainable Development Goals

Course Category	Core Courses
	Major Area Courses	X
	Supportive Courses
	Media and Management Skills Courses
	Transferable Skill Courses

Week	Subjects	Related Preparation
1	Introduction and Course Overview
2	Cinema Beyond Cinema: Introduction to Contemporary Media Arts Hito Steyerl - How Not to Be Seen Doug Aitken - Electric Earth	Check Hito Steyerl’s How Not to Be Seen and reflect on how the work challenges traditional definitions of cinema and visibility.
3	Expanded Cinema and the Breaking of the Screen Anthony McCall - Line Describing a Cone Stan VanDerBeek - Movie-Drome	Check Anthony McCall’s Line Describing a Cone and consider how projection, space, and audience interaction redefine cinematic experience.
4	Experimental Film as Artistic Practice Maya Deren - Meshes of the Afternoon Stan Brakhage - Mothlight Chick Strand’s experimental films	Check Maya Deren’s Meshes of the Afternoon and Stan Brakhage’s Mothlight, focusing on form, rhythm, and materiality.
5	Landscape, Duration, and Attention James Benning - Ten Skies & 13 Lakes Sharon Lockhart - Lunch Break	Check James Benning’s Ten Skies or 13 Lakes and reflect on the role of duration and stillness.
6	Found Footage, Archive, Reuse, and Appropriation Bruce Conner - A Movie Bill Morrison - Decasia Christian Marclay - The Clock	Check Bruce Conner’s A Movie and Bill Morrison’s Decasia, focusing on archival reuse.
7	Political Moving Image and the Essay Film Harun Farocki - Workers Leaving the Factory Chris Marker – Sans Soleil	Check Harun Farocki’s Workers Leaving the Factory and reflect on cinema as a tool of critical inquiry.
8	Midterm Concept Proposal Presentations and Collective Critique	Prepare a short written concept proposal for a non-traditional moving image artwork.
9	Video Art and the Gallery Space Pipilotti Rist - Ever Is Over All Bill Viola - The Crossing Doug Aitken - Sleepwalkers	Check Pipilotti Rist’s Ever Is Over All.
10	Installation, Space, and the Viewer Isaac Julien’s - Ten Thousand Waves Eija-Liisa Ahtila - The House	Check Isaac Julien’s Ten Thousand Waves and consider spatial narrative structures.
11	Performance, Body, and Camera Joan Jonas - Vertical Roll Vito Acconci - Theme Song VALIE EXPORT - Tap and Touch Cinema	Check Joan Jonas’s Vertical Roll and reflect on the relationship between performance and video.
12	Digital Media, Post-Internet, and AI Images Jon Rafman - Nine Eyes of Google Street View Trevor Paglen - Image Operations Refik Anadol - Machine Hallucinations	Check Jon Rafman’s Nine Eyes of Google Street View project.
13	Global Perspectives Kutluğ Ataman – Marble Hill & Woman Who Fell From the Sky Apichatpong Weerasethakul – Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives Cao Fei – Haze and Fog	Look for moving image artists beyond Europe and North America.
14	Final Project Work-in-Progress Presentations and Peer Feedback	Prepare a short presentation of the final project work-in-progress.
15	Final Project Work-in-Progress Presentations and Peer Feedback	Prepare a short presentation of the final project work-in-progress.
16	Final Project Presentations and Reflection	Finalize the Project and prepare a presentation.

Course Notes/Textbooks

Suggested Readings/Materials

Tanya Leighton, ed. Art and the Moving Image: A Critical Reader. Tate Publishing, 2008.

Janine Marchessault and Susan Lord, eds. Fluid Screens, Expanded Cinema. University of Toronto Press, 2007.

Erika Balsom. Exhibiting Cinema in Contemporary Art. Amsterdam University Press, 2013.

Jihoon Kim. Between Film, Video, and the Digital: Hybrid Moving Images in the Post-Media Age. Bloomsbury, 2018.

Hito Steyerl. The Wretched of the Screen. Sternberg Press, 2012.

Semester Activities	Number	Weigthing
Participation	1	20
Laboratory / Application
Field Work
Quizzes / Studio Critiques
Portfolio
Homework / Assignments
Presentation / Jury
Project
Seminar / Workshop
Oral Exams
Midterm	1	30
Final Exam		50
Total

Weighting of Semester Activities on the Final Grade	3	100
Weighting of End-of-Semester Activities on the Final Grade
Total

Semester Activities	Number	Duration (Hours)	Workload
Theoretical Course Hours (Including exam week: 16 x total hours)	16	3	48
Laboratory / Application Hours (Including exam week: '.16.' x total hours)	16		0
Study Hours Out of Class	14	1	14
Field Work			0
Quizzes / Studio Critiques			0
Portfolio			0
Homework / Assignments			0
Presentation / Jury			0
Project	1	29	29
Seminar / Workshop			0
Oral Exam			0
Midterms	1	29	29
Final Exam			0
		Total	120

#	Program Competencies/Outcomes	* Contribution Level
#	Program Competencies/Outcomes	1	2	3	4	5
1	To be able to have fundamental knowledge about narrative forms in cinema, digital and interactive media, and the foundational concepts relevant to these forms.	-	-	-	X	-
2	To be able to create narratives based on creative and critical thinking skills, by using the forms and tools of expression specific to cinema and digital media arts.	-	-	-	-	-
3	To be able to use the technical equipment and software required for becoming a specialist/expert in cinema and digital media.	-	-	-	-	-
4	To be able to perform skills such as scriptwriting, production planning, use of the camera, sound recording, lighting and editing, at the basic level necessary for pre-production, production and post-production phases of an audio-visual work; and to perform at least one of them at an advanced level.	-	-	-	-	-
5	To be able to discuss how meaning is made in cinema and digital media; how economy, politics and culture affect regimes of representation; and how processes of production, consumption, distribution and meaning-making shape narratives.	-	-	-	-	-
6	To be able to perform the special technical and aesthetic skills at the basic level necessary to create digital media narratives in the fields of interactive film, video installation, experimental cinema and virtual reality.	-	-	-	-	-
7	To be able to critically analyze a film or digital media artwork from technical, intellectual and artistic perspectives.	-	-	-	-	X
8	To be able to participate in the production of a film or digital media artwork as a member or leader of a team, following the principles of work safety and norms of ethical behavior.	-	-	-	-	-
9	To be able to stay informed about global scientific, social, economic, cultural, political, institutional and industrial developments.	-	-	-	-	-
10	To be able to develop solutions to legal, scientific and professional problems surrounding the field of cinema and digital media.	-	-	-	-	-
11	To be able to use a foreign language to communicate with colleagues and collect data in the field of cinema and digital media. ("European Language Portfolio Global Scale", Level B1).	-	-	-	-	-
12	To be able to use a second foreign language at the medium level.	-	-	-	-	-
13	To be able to connect the knowledge accumulated throughout human history to the field of expertise.	-	-	-	-	-