World of Chaucer: adaptation, pedagogy, and interdisciplinarity
RIS ID
88813
Additional Publication Information
ISBN: 9781441104489
Abstract
Machinima is a new media practice that began with the self-directed experiments and explorations of enthusiastic gamers and hackers. Over its comparatively short history, machinima has become an accessible and vibrant participatory media, fueling a desire for creative investigation into its posibilities as an expressive and communicative medai art-form. Machinima has produced a variety of modes and genres, from the knowing anti-war humor (Starrs 2010) of the Red vs Blue series (2003-present) to the competitive action of e-sports gamebattles on Major League Gaming to the dystopic combat action of Drakortha's The DC Chronicles series (2011). While some have used machinima convey educational messages or retell literary works, the full potential of machinima as a pedagogical tool is yet to be determined. In this chapter, we discuss a trial of the machinima production of a version of a Chaucer tale as part of the learning activities of tertiary students in two humanities disciplines. The interdisciplinary and collaborative making of machinirna was intended to support the students' development of digital literacy skills and understandings relevant to their disciplines. As an interdisciplinary participatory media practice, we argue that machinima can encourage fruitful collaboration across multiple disciplines through the processes of remediation, adaptation, and review.
Publication Details
Barwell, G. and Moore, C. "World of Chaucer: adaptation, pedagogy, and interdisciplinarity." Understanding Machinima: Essays on Filmmaking in Virtual Worlds. Ed.J. Ng. London: Bloomsbury, 2013, 207-226.