Tech in the Movies

Let's take a look at technology in our popular culture. How is it depicted? How do characters in fiction or in art interpret and interact with technology? Does technology appear to have a positive or a negative impact on our culture?

Note that while we say "movies" in this assignment, you can actually look at a TV show, a game, a piece of art, or some other media if you find something interesting.

Objectives:

Our goals for this project are to:

Find a clip from a movie/TV show, a video game, a piece of artwork, or some other visual media source depicting some aspect of technology and its impact on society, and present its meaning and implications as you see them to the rest of the class.
Relate your movie clip back to our current course themes, including what you have read and seen online.

How to Complete - Your Task

Find a piece of media. YouTube is, of course, full of great video with clips (and sometimes full episodes) of all kinds of movies and shows. If you have a Netflix or Amazon Video subscription, there might be things there worthy of investigation as well. If you're into art, Google is a great place to go to find links to photography and museum exhibits, and there are other collections of amateur and semi-professional art out there as well such as DeviantArt. If you're into games, you could capture a screen recording, find one existing online, or emulate it on a computer and bring it in for us.
Tell us about it. Each member of the class will present their art and what they found in terms of how that media represents technology, how it is impacted by it, and what it's saying about our tech-based culture. Use PowerPoint or other visuals if you wish to help you make your point. Be creative and be ready for a discussion with the rest of the group.

Turning it in

There is nothing to turn in for this assignment - we will present in class.

How you're graded

	Unacceptable	Beginning	Developing	Proficient
Summary of Media 7 points	Not completed	Gives a summary with limited information to satisfy the audience, with few details to support the presenter's goals	Gives a brief summary with some information about the media and evidence that somewhat supports the presenter's goals	Gives a brief summary with enough information to satisfy the audience, with details from the media and evidence that strongly supports the presenter's goals
Technology and Media Analysis 8 points	Not completed	Very little evidence is shown to support basic claims as to how the media depicts technology and its impact on culture or society.	Some evidence is shown to support solid claims as to how the media depicts technology and its impact on culture or society.	Strong evidence is shown to support fully developed claims as to how the media depicts technology and its impact on culture or society.
Creativity and Discussion 6 points	Not completed	Very little effort or creativity has gone into the presentation. May not engage in discussion about the media with classmates.	Student shows some creativity and effort in the presentation, and engages in limited conversation about the media with classmates.	Engages in lively discussion with classmates and shows a great deal of creativity and effort in putting together the presentation.
Organization and Flow 6 points	Not completed	Unorganized presentation that does not appear to have strong connections between thoughts	Organized presentation where most transitions and connections are clear, but either organization is somewhat lacking or the connections are somewhat limited	Strongly organized presentation with clear and logical connections that create a sense of being tightly woven together

Resources

There are lots of different places you can go online to find media clips and other material, such as YouTube, Google, Amazon, and Netflix. YouTube is likely to be a one-stop shop for your needs, but don't limit yourself!

Stuck on an idea that grabs you? Think about your favorite movie or show or game. Does it have a relationship to technology? If not, what about other things you've seen that did in some way? It could social commentary, or it could be a plot or setting device, or all of the above. Some examples might include: