Digital Screen Futures: Transformation and Innovation in Cinema and Media

We are living in a screen-dominated era, in which entertainment, communication, and even our sense of reality are mediated through digital platforms. This course surveys the contemporary forces shaping the future of the moving image and asks how these developments are changing our understanding of cinema and its role in our lives. It investigates:

How digital platforms such as Netflix, YouTube, and TikTok are reshaping cinematic and media consumption, and the economics of the streaming wars

The role of AI, algorithms, and data-driven storytelling in the evolution of screen media from recommendation engines and "AI slop" to generative image-making

The expansion of media experiences beyond the cinema into gaming, galleries, museums, social media, and public space

Machine vision, operational images, and surveillance as new regimes of seeing

The economic and environmental cost of digital media infrastructures

The impact of emerging technologies on creative industries, media professionals, and cultural institutions

Who gets to make cinema, who gets to be seen, and what conditions make creative expression possible.

A distinctive feature of the course is that AI functions as both a research topic and a research methodology. Alongside critical analysis, students undertake Creative Coding —a semester-long project in which they use AI to "code" a cinematic experience or aesthetic world through natural-language prompting. In learning to move beyond generic "AI slop" toward a specific, keyword-informed vision, students experience first-hand the creative possibilities and limits of the very technologies the course critiques.

This course examines the evolving landscape of cinema and media as they undergo digital transformation, and treats artificial intelligence not only as an object of study but as a working method. Students explore how technological innovation and cultural shifts are revolutionizing traditional screen media, creating new forms of storytelling, reshaping entertainment and communication platforms, while themselves using AI-assisted tools to research, prototype, and create. By the end of the course, students will be able to: 
- analyze how digital innovation is transforming media formats
- evaluate the impact of emerging technologies on production and consumption
- develop critical perspectives on the future of the moving image
- gain hands-on experience working creatively with generative AI.

• Quality education
• Gender equality
• Decent work and economic growth
• Industry, innovation and infrastructure
• Responsible consumption and production

In presence

The course combines theoretical frameworks with practical, hands-on analysis through: 
- weekly screenings and discussions of contemporary films, videos, and digital media works; 
- interactive lectures exploring cutting-edge media platforms and technologies; 
- case-study analysis of innovative digital projects; 
- critical reading discussions; 
- a semester-long creative coding project using AI-assisted tools to build an interactive digital work, supported by personal consultations; 
- the "Lee-flix" Film Tournament (a viewing contest as an alternative to Netflix)
- a one-week Media Screen Journal tracking personal media consumption. 

The course is designed for students interested in how digital transformation is reshaping the future of cinema and media, whether their background is in media management, cultural studies, communication, or digital innovation.

Assessment is research-creation–based and centers on the vibe code project. Students submit a complete "Cinema Concept" package: an interactive digital project built with AI-assisted ("vibe coding") tools, and a chronological prompt-stack, accompanied by a written reflection that cites course topics, concepts, and films and accounts for how AI tools were used in the creative process. Ongoing participation—including the Lee-flix Tournament and the Media Screen Journal—and a midterm prototype contribute to the final grade.