*Visualizations*

Below you can find links to the collection of student visualizations (and accompanying analyses) for the undergraduate course Mind Games in Film: Analyzing Narrative Complexity in Transnational Cinema, NYU, Spring 2018. UPDATE: Visualizations from Fall 2023’s Mind Games seminar have been added at the bottom of this page, as well as final multimedia presentations/projects that also engaged in multimodal and multisensory visualizations (including smell & taste).

Fall 2018 montage [scroll down for details and more info]:

Fall 2020 montage [scroll down for details and more info]:

ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES:

>> Visualization assignment. This is an experimental assignment that will challenge you to think outside the box and produce new modes of interpretation that go beyond verbal analysis. For the purposes of this course, visualization includes: an illustration, a chart, a diagram (e.g. in the form of a 3D prezi, an infographic, or Venn diagram), a sketch, a short video essay, a photoshopped movie poster, an annotated image/video (see for instance ThingLink), and other non-linguistically oriented schemas. You will produce your own visualization or modify/add to an existing one, focusing on one (or more) of the feature-length films we have watched in class. Examples will be provided online and in class; see also Nick Redfern’s article (Week 2) and Elliot Panek’s article (Week 9), as well as the optional readings posted online. Your visualization must be accompanied by a 1 (or more) paragraph analysis that offers insights into your creative process, and explains how your visualization helps illuminate certain aspects of the film [take a look at some of the examples I provided below – book excerpts and videoessays]. Your visualization can be on the same film(s) as your FR or CA, and you can turn it in at the same time as your FR or CA. For visualizations, you do not need to turn them in a week after your chosen film has been discussed in class (unlike FR/CA), so you can basically take longer to complete this assignment if you would like to submit the other 2 assignments first. Share your visualization and the 1 (or more) paragraph analysis on your blog, on a new page titled “Visualization,” and also share the link on the Discussion page. The objective of this “critical making” assignment is to propose different ways of approaching moving image analysis, and to prime you for your multimedia presentation (an adaptation of your final paper) and/or final project. Bonus points will be given for more elaborate and time-consuming visualizations, assessed on a case by case basis.

**For students who do not feel inspired to create their own visualizations: you can focus on a visualization from the film itself (e.g. a screenshot from the film that resembles/mirrors the film’s own structure), and analyze it (or modify/photoshop it) in a longer analytical passage (approx. 1.5-2 pages), or annotate it in-depth [see ThingLink examples below]. Examples of films providing their own visualizations: the chart in TimeCrimes, the shots of the obstructed nature views in Rashomon, the mise-en-abyme shots in Oldboy, the interconnected origami in Upstream Color, the calendar in Premonition, the chart in films like Memento and The Almanac Project, the Cloud Gate reflection in Source Code, and so on… In your visualization analysis, you can focus on how your chosen screenshot/object mimics and/or deviates from the film’s overall organizational/conceptual schemata, etc.

* RECOMMENDED READING ON MULTIMEDIA/DIGITAL SCHOLARSHIP (for your final project/ multimedia presentation/ visualization assignment): AndersonMcPherson_EngagingDigitalScholarship_Profession2011

MORE EXAMPLES OF VISUALIZATIONS (in additions to those we discussed in class & in assigned readings – check the Links//Resources page for more):

— List of culinary visualizations (thanks to Jojo Karlin from NYU DH):

  • Social Explorer makes “Data Snacks” which are quick data stories generated from their platform.
  • You can use snacks to create visualizations like the Data Cuisine project (an oldie, but a tasty looking one)
  • Or the recipes are somehow used as data like the CondeNast FoodGraph project
  • Even Google has put together a fun food datavis: Rhythm of Food.

Examples from past semesters & other courses:

STUDENT VISUALIZATIONS:

FALL 2018

FALL 2020 VISUALIZATIONS & FINAL MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS/ PROJECTS:

FALL 2023 VISUALIZATIONS & FINAL MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS/PROJECTS:

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