Media Arts Concentrations

The Applied Interactive Media Concentration emphasizes literacy in related creative disciplines, digital project management, visual storytelling, and digital experiences with the ability to adapt to new technologies as they appear. It will appeal to students looking to blend Graphic and Digital Design, Computer Information Systems, and Visual Arts to create compelling digital media.

Graduates of the Applied Interactive Media concentration will be able to:

1. Produce image-based motion graphics, video, and kinetic typography
2. Create interactive, dynamic, immersive spatial and online experiences across various digital media platforms
3. Design media projects which draw on the tools and knowledge of a variety of creative industries
4. Apply principles of visual organization, visual language, and theory to visual communication problems
5. Manage digital projects

Note: Students may not use a Bachelor of Media Arts core requirement to meet a concentration requirement. In the case of overlap, students must make an alternative course choice to meet their core requirements.

The Digital Art concentration will appeal to students interested in becoming independent or freelance creative artists.

Following in the tradition of Fine Arts studies, artists specializing in digital media are equipped to produce work within the context of established galleries and arts venues, but are further capable of combining and exploring alternative circuits of dissemination at the abundant intersections of culture and technology. Video screens, sound systems, the Internet, stage performances, interactive physical locations, and mobile social spaces are all activated by the imaginations of new media artists.

Artists in this field work at the forefront of digital media technology, but also drive the development of new technologies and cultural interfaces. The creative, imaginative, critical, and technical capabilities of digital media artists make them valuable members of any team-based effort, working across a spectrum of cultural productions in the new digital media environment.

Graduates of the Digital Art Concentration will be able to:

1. Articulate the function of digital art media in its historical and contemporary contexts
2. Apply the terms, concepts, and techniques used in the production of digitally based artwork
3. Demonstrate proficiency in photo or video imaging software skills used in the production of digital art
4. Produce a body of digital artwork reflecting critical and creative thought processes
5. Apply analytical skills to critically examine digital art imagery for critiques
6. Conduct independent material production and theoretical research in digital art media

Note: Students may not use a Bachelor of Media Arts core requirement to meet a concentration requirement. In the case of overlap, students must make an alternative course choice to meet their core requirements.

Managing creative teams, coordinating work flow, and overseeing a large project in new media requires both knowledge of new media production processes and management skills, particularly listening and writing. These skills, however, must be tailored to this particular field, where most projects are done in teams, self-employment is the norm, and projects must be funded through innovative business models. The Interactive Media Leadership program addresses such needs, focusing on problem-solving, facilitation, and persuasive communication, as well as basic creative production processes.

Graduates of the Interactive Media Leadership Concentration will be able to:

1. Use appropriate leadership tools, strategies, and techniques for the context, team, and/or project
2. Communicate effectively and persuasively in written, oral, and visual forms
3. Employ effective interpersonal communication skills to build, manage, and lead creative teams
4. Utilize a recognized method of project management and adapt it as needed
5. Facilitate effective team meetings
6. Use design thinking to solve problems

Note: Students may not use a Bachelor of Media Arts core requirement to meet a concentration requirement. In the case of overlap, students must make an alternative course choice to meet their core requirements.

The Media and Performance concentration will provide students with opportunities to explore performance in a range of live, digital and interactive environments. Students will discover how the creation of compelling characters and the development of interesting stories are the foundations for content creation in all media platforms, whether it be performing live, developing a film project, or collaborating on a new videogame design.

Graduates of the Media and Performance Concentration will be able to:

1. Create compelling characters for performance in a range of live, digital, and interactive contexts
2. Identify how digital technologies interact with and influence perception and mobility of the human body in performance
3. Integrate social media and digital technologies in performance
4. Apply conventions selected from a range of narrative structures, genres, and styles to generate original content for diverse media platforms
5. Construct relationships between audience, performer, space, and time in a range of live, digital, and interactive environments
6. Apply key theories and methodologies in performance studies and digital performance in analyzing and devising performances

Note: Students may not use a Bachelor of Media Arts core requirement to meet a concentration requirement. In the case of overlap, students must make an alternative course choice to meet their core requirements.

We spend a large portion of our waking lives staring at or into screens, from the tiny windows on our smartphones to the gigantic projections in IMAX theatres.

Screen studies focuses on enabling students to assess the impact that screens in the broadest sense are having on our lives and on society as a whole. Students in this concentration will explore this impact in terms of how their viewing experiences affect thoughts, emotions, and behaviours for better or for worse. They will also focus on the other side of the screen to examine how producers create messages that communicate effectively and persuasively to the audiences they want to reach.

Graduates of the Screen Studies Concentration will be able to:

1. Describe the dominant discourses, past and present, that frame the development and integration of information and communication technologies in society
2. Identify the social and cultural dimensions of technology and effectively communicate both potentially positive and negative outcomes and effects
3. Critically assess the theoretical underpinnings associated with “new media” and articulate their relationships within various spheres of human activity
4. Employ a variety of methodological frameworks to investigate social, cultural, and economic dimensions of media and media representations
5. Produce digital video and audio works demonstrating an understanding of, and proficiency in, digital production software
6. Demonstrate an understanding of the legal and ethical considerations associated with the production, consumption, and use of cultural goods

Note: Students may not use a Bachelor of Media Arts core requirement to meet a concentration requirement. In the case of overlap, students must make an alternative course choice to meet their core requirements.