Analog Filmmaking
Film and analog filmmaking tools have played an important role in shaping the Media Studies program at The New School. By tracing the history of film production courses we can see the analog tools' influence on the general shape of the program. The Media Studies course guides are not only important for their course descriptions, but also for their graphic design, images, and front covers. Each detail helps shed light on the unique history of the Media Studies program.
Before the Media Studies program was at The New School, it was known as The Center for Understanding Media. In 1971, one of the first courses offered was the Multi-Media course which included Super 8 film, 35mm film, and slides.
Below is a page of the 1974 course catalog which highlights film production courses using the term "workshop." Small hand-drawn photos of media making tools reside on the left hand side of the page, reminding us that there is an inherently tactile essence to the program.
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As shown in the Fall 1980 Course Catalog, the department changed its name to Cinematic Arts, Television and Media Studies. The greater emphasis on film and cinematic arts (and television) implies a shift in culture that centers around creating, and also implies the importance of television in 1980s culture.
Eight years later, in the 1988-89 catalog, the program, now called Master of Arts in Media Studies, only offers 16mm film courses. Super 8 filmmaking had been phased out by this time. Some additional questions to be considered: What caused this? Was this the result of a shift in industry? Were there financial reasons, as well?
Similarly to the 1988-89 catalog, the only film production course offered in the 1997-1998 catalog is in 16mm.
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In the 2007 course catalog 16mm filmmaking continues to be a big part of the program, however, the numbers begin to dwindle, as compared to the 2000 course catalog.
In the 2007 course catalog 16mm filmmaking continues to be a big part of the program, however, the numbers begin to dwindle, as compared to the 2000 course catalog.
In Fall 2014 Course Catalog only one course, "Media Practices: Film Form," explicitly requires students to shoot using film and filmmaking tools. It seems that Film courses and the accompanying engagement with filmmaking tools in the Graduate Media Studies program are on their last legs. What does this say about Media Studies and society at large?
In terms of pedagogy, analog tools still have much to offer. I had the pleasure of interviewing Melissa Friedling, the Director of the undergraduate Media Studies Program, and she suggested that “the [analog] tools don’t get outdated they teach you much more rigorously what cinematography is…what lens do and how images are captured so once students actually go and get a DSLR camera it actually makes sense why your doing this and what the lens does.” Analog media is an important tool for the understanding of media production.
The media making tools and the courses they are taught in tell a unique story of the history of the Media Studies program. By looking at film production courses in the course catalogs side-by-side, we can clearly see a great shift in the department's treatment of film and filmmaking pedagogy.
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