Universität Wien

233050 SE Thinking on Screen: Exploring the Video Essay as a Research Method for STS (2024W)

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 23 - Soziologie
Continuous assessment of course work
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Friday 04.10. 13:00 - 15:00 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien (Kickoff Class)
  • Friday 11.10. 13:00 - 17:00 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Friday 25.10. 13:00 - 17:00 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Friday 22.11. 13:00 - 17:00 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Friday 29.11. 13:00 - 17:00 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Friday 06.12. 13:00 - 17:00 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

This methods class is a chance to experiment with ways of articulating a thinking process on screen. We will explore audiovisual ways of foregrounding you, the researcher, as a thinker; of amplifying your voice in describing how you explore your chosen subjects. Over the course of the class, we embark on a collective exploration of what audiovisual-based research methods can be. These sessions are also a chance to practice and reflect upon your personal approaches as researchers.
This course introduces the video essay as a particular audiovisual form and research mode. The video essay has distinct characteristics: namely, an open-ended exploration of ideas, a pronounced subjectivity of the filmmaker, and an emphatic articulation of their thinking process. These aspects can combine in dialogical, discursive, and poetic gestures on screen. They also connect video the notion of ‘to essay’ as a verb, opening acts of essaying to various other research fields and practices – including art, design and media studies – in hybrid and experimental ways. The course emphasises the video essay as a material practice, where researchers can develop and demonstrate an articulacy and literacy in audiovisual materials in different stages of their research process. For example, video essay methods can inform explorations of your empirical materials, produce videos that describe your research-in-progress, or develop visual essays that form part of larger projects and can be independently screened in exhibitions or festivals.
Upon introducing the video essay and its history as an emerging practice, the class will cover a range of essay methods in a series of hands-on editing exercises. These exercises build towards producing your own individual video essays which explore a chosen research subject. Image, sound, and words form the essential elements of your experiments in presenting thoughts on screen. By working with filmed or found footage and employing various montage methods, you can address particular insights, questions, observations, or reflections. In articulating your thinking process, you can also pronounce your voice in sharing research findings which can be as subjective as they are meaningful, as critical as they are playful, as radical as they are open-ended.

Assessment and permitted materials

To pass the seminar, students are expected to:
• Be present in class and actively participate in the class exercises and discussion.
• Practice different video essay methods, introduced by the lecturer, and produce a series of videographic experiments which they will share with the class in short screenings. Students will be expected to provide constructive feedback on each experiment.
• Develop and produce an individual video essay (or series of video essays) that are based on a research subject they identify. The video essay(s) will be informed by independent media and literature-based research, and will address particular questions concerning aspects, issues or themes they find about their subject.
• Hand in and present their completed video essays in a screening on 6 December 2024. The video essay is expected to be between 5 and 10 minutes long, excluding title cards. More details provided in the class.
• Submit one short essay (approximately 1500 words) that analyses and reflects upon methods and approaches in making the video essay, in relation to the aims and concerns of the research. The essay should be uploaded to Moodle by 23.55 on 13 December.

Grading Scheme
The course grading is based on the separate assessment of different tasks on a scale of 1-5. A weighted average of at least 4,5 is required to complete the course.

In-Class participation 20%
Presentations of Video Essay Exercises 20%
Complete Video Essay(s) 30%
Written Essay 20%

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

A minimum of 50 points is necessary to successfully complete the course. Failure to meet the attendance regulations, to deliver course assignments on time or to adhere to standards of academic work may result in a deduction of points.

Grades
100-89 points Excellent (1)
88-76 points Good (2)
75-63 points Satisfactory (3)
62-50 points Sufficient (4)
49-0 points Unsatisfactory (5) (fail)

Examination topics

Reading list

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Th 05.09.2024 14:06