Multi-Platform Ideation

Course Code

MPS 5003

Academic Year

2016-2017

This course is designed to direct students through the creation of ideas for multi-platform storytelling projects, and the development of their ideas into original, cohesive and practicable forms, across a wide variety of creative platforms. Students will explore how ideas evolve from initial whispers of possibility through real-world stages of creative refinement, such as concept, proposal, treatment and prototype, and to final product. Students will be driven to test the originality and viability of their ideas, and to frame them for sharing with potential funders and gatekeepers, and to be aware of the necessary crafts required to execute them well. Modules will engage participants in a thorough and rigorous exploration of the possibilities and limitations of both well-established storytelling platforms, such as films, television programs and articles, as well as emerging and evolving forms such as interactive documentaries, mobile games, podcasts and social media. No matter which storytelling form or skill a student brings to the course, they will be pushed to think like a creative producer-to generate and grow ideas that can actually get made, even as the rules of the game change.