PLAN 740
(CRN 76436)
IMAGING THE CITY
Mike Douglass with Henry Mochida and Vera Zombonell
Department of Urban and Regional Planning
Saunders Hall Doc Center, Wednesday 1:30-4:15
Fall 2010
Imaging the City focuses on the visual and aural (text, art, sound, photography, film) presentation of cities in social research and planning. The course is concerned with connections between imaging as representations of the urban condition, as insights into planning theory, and as tools for social mobilization and taking action. It seeks to bridge social science and planning theories with filmmaking techniques and methodologies for deliberative planning.
The class will consist of (1) Seminars with the instructors on weekly topics, (2) Lab discussions on the filmmaking techniques, which includes introductions to shooting and editing digital films and (3) each student independently engaged in making films. Problem-solving assistance for filmmaking will be available throughout the semester.
This course is designed for the graduate/PhD student considering the incorporation of film into their research topics. A grant will be awarded to a selected student at the end of the course to go toward the production of their thesis film project (selection will be based on Project 2 by a panel of judges).
Course Schedule
Introduction: What is the city? What are its problematics? Representations in art, photographs, film.
Part I Social Research and Film Basics
• Stories and the world through the camera lens
• Making an iMovie at Apple Store
• Representing the city in art, photography and film
• Space, Time and Sound
• Films, Identity, Place and Placemaking
• Hawaii International Film Festival – movie viewing and discussions
Part II Urban Planning, Planners and Filmmaking
• The Roles of Planners and Filmmaking
• Interactive filming as planning process
• Social Media and digital imagery
• Mini film fest with prizes for best films!
Student Assessment
• Weekly reading and class assignments
• Project 1 : space, time & sound film
• Project 2 : documentary with written film treatment
Expected outcomes
• Skills to critically interpret imaging in applied research
• Basic filmmaking technique and methodology as a planning tool
• Ability to use storytelling in urban planning for social change.
• Awareness in evaluating filmmaking devices
No filmmaking experience is required to enroll in this course. No auditors, please. For additional questions contact michaeld@hawaii.edu, hmochida@hawaii.edu, veraz@hawaii.edu
Mike Douglass (Ph.D. in Urban Planning, UCLA) is the Executive Director of the Globalization Research Center and Professor and former Chair of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning. He has lived and worked for many years in Asia where he engages in research and practice on global-local dynamics and urban policy and planning, with particular interest in livable cities. He received the Excellence in Research Award from the College of Social Sciences, UH, for 2002 and 2009. He was a finalist for Graduate Student Mentor of the Year at UH in 2006. UH calls him one of its "90 fabulous faculty”. For the past 7 years he has been involved in research and training on livable cities in Vietnam with a particular focus on public space. He has recently used this theme to hold photo contests in Hanoi and, at the University of Hawaiʻi, to teach courses on imaging the city, including filmmaking for social research. His first film, Dancing in the Park, will have its US premiere in the Hawaiʻi International Film Festival this Fall 2010.
Henry Mochida has dedicated the past 5 years to developing & practicing filmmaking for social research and planning. He holds a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in Economics from the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa (UHM), a Master’s Degree in Urban & Regional Planning UHM and is currently a PhD student in the same program. His research interests are focused on developing a social theory on the image as a theory of knowledge. He is a featured filmmaking instructor with the UHM Pacific New Media outreach program; Associate Program Director for Digital Media and Filmmaking, Globalization Research Center, UHM; and Media Planner for www.interislandterminal.org. He is an award winning filmmaker with experience on over 100 productions with works premiering in film festivals around the world. Mochida seeks to foster critical thinking and deliberative democracy through filmmaking.
Vera Zambonelli holds a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Venice, Ca' Foscari, in Japanese studies, a Diploma in Advanced International Studies from the SAIS Bologna Center, a Master's Degree in Political Science from the Johns Hopkins University, a Master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Hawaiʻi and is currently a PhD candidate in the same program. Her research interests include processes of place-making, place and space, vernacular architecture, multiculturalism and right to the city, and she is currently exploring the potential applications of multimedia, particularly film, in the planning field as being one of the most ideal formats to understand people's relations with place. She is the founder of the Diversity in Place Film Project, diversityinplace.org, which recently had its second annual film festival featuring an international array of cinema addressing places and place-making.
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