Media and Entertainment (Old Structure)

Forget the screen. People want to be part of the action. They don’t want to watch detectives and control superhero avatars. They want to solve the mystery and be the hero. They want to experience it. We see this craving for playful experience in everything from immersive theater to escape rooms to the Tough Mudder to gamified vacation packages. Designing live experiences for large audiences that demand agency offers a distinct set of challenges, from how much choice you give each participant to how many people you can through the experience. We’ll look at examples from pervasive games to amusement parks to immersive theater, examining both the design choices and technology that make the experiences possible. Along the way we’ll create large, playful experiences that put the participant at the center of the action.

This class focuses on the particular design problems of large-scale games and playful systems. In this class students develop a foundation in design fundamentals from which to approach the problems of design particular to experiential entertainment. We will analyze existing digital and non-digital games and playful experiences, taking them apart to understand how they work. We will also work on a series of design exercises that explore the social, technological, and creative possibilities of play.

The class will be broken into three sections: People, Time and Space. People will focus on experiences that coordinate the actions of a large number of participants. Time will focus on experiences that stretch out in time and begin to integrate with our everyday lives. Space will ask you to design an experience that takes advantage of physical space and integrates other elements of the class.

Looking to become famous on the internet? Getting attention online may be easy, but controlling it is a lot harder. As traditional celebrities continue to struggle with their digital images, a wave of micro-celebrities and influencers has rushed to fill the gap with viral content, product suggestions, memes, and conspiracy theories. This new breed of stars rules a media landscape where anyone can be their own manager or PR department – for a price.

This class examines the transformation of celebrity from a 19th-century sales gimmick into the formidable cultural, social, and technological force it is today. It explores what happens when fame is freed from its traditional magazine and TV gatekeepers, delving into issues of media manipulation, fan management, commercialization, exploitation, cancel culture, and the surprising importance of cute cat pictures. And we’ll also experiment with the raw tactics and techniques of stardom for anyone looking to chase their own celebrity dreams.