Penn State University – School of Visual Arts

Fall 2015

ART 316 Video Art

Professor: Eduardo Navas (ean13@psu.edu)

Mondays & Wednesdays 2:30 PM – 5:30 PM

Office Hours: Mon/Wed, 12 PM – 1 PM, 209 Arts Cottage

 

 

 

Course Description (as defined by Penn State School of Visual Arts)

This is a studio art class that focuses on creating, authoring, exhibiting, and critically evaluating video and time-based arts. This new media course explores experimental uses of video by visual artists with an emphasis on integrating digital video into current studio practice (i.e., new media digital arts, mixed media, installation, and performance). The course will engage students in research methods to advance their skills in time-based media and to help them develop an understanding of the critical evaluation and assessment of video and time-based artworks and media projects.

 

This course explores the nature and potential of digital video art practice and media

production through lectures, readings, demonstrations, studio practice, and critiques.

Assignments will cover a range of digital video authoring applications central to video

and time-based arts production.

 

 

Emphasis of Class:

In this course students explore concepts of sequential media, meaning the concept of movement with different forms of digital visual presentation, such as still graphics, animation, typography and video. The influence of film language across various media disciplines will be discussed at length and explored with a hands-on-approach to produce video projects. Students will explore concepts of motion in art, film and video. Issues of design practice in time based media in general will also be covered. Students will gain a theoretical and practical understanding of sequential movement.

 

The class is specifically focused on how to create engaging experiences with still images, video footage, text and sound. Participants will gain a theoretical and practical understanding of film and video production that will prepare them to develop advanced projects for their own interests as well as for future classes.

 

 

Class Structure

Class sections for the most part will be divided as follows: on Monday, the first half of class will consist of critiquing weekly exercises and projects, followed with lectures on video editing and formal aspects of film language. Wednesdays is lab time. This is the time for students to go over technical issues that come up with their editing process. Screenings of specific videos and films will be scheduled on specific days either Monday or Wednesday. The screening days will be defined throughout the term, and students will be notified with ample time to prepare for the screenings. The students will turn in a total of seven projects, which are

 

Project 1: Stop Motion (no sound)

Project 2: Stop Motion (with Sound)

Project 3: Graphics/Still Images and Video (with sound)

Project 4: Video Analysis + First Advanced Video

Project 5: Second Advanced Video

Project 6: Final

 

Details on each project will be announced at least two weeks prior to the due date.

 

Learning Outcomes:

  1. To understand content and form in relation to movement and sound.
  2. To understand the basic history and theory that is relevant to audio-visual culture in the tradition of the moving image.
  3. To acquire an advanced understanding of conceptual models important in audiovisual culture.
  4. To gain practical knowledge of diverse tools used to develop sequential and time based projects.
  5. To produce projects that communicate messages effectively, and are critically invested.

 

A Note on Plagiarism

Plagiarism will not be tolerated. A student who commits plagiarism will be reported to the office of the visual arts. The studentıs behavior will be taken very seriously and dealt with according to the guidelines provided by Penn State University – School of Visual Arts. To avoid plagiarism, please cite your sources when appropriate.

 

 

Academic Integrity Statement

University Policies and Rules Guidelines states that academic integrity is the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest and responsible manner. Academic integrity is a basic guiding principle for all academic activity at The Pennsylvania State University, and all members of the University community are expected to act in accordance with this principle. Consistent with this expectation, the University's Code of Conduct states that all students should act with personal integrity, respect other students' dignity, rights and property, and help create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed through the fruits of their efforts. Academic integrity includes a commitment not to engage in or tolerate acts of falsification, misrepresentation or deception. Such acts of dishonesty violate the fundamental ethical principles of the University community and compromise the worth of work completed by others.

 

Academic dishonesty includes but is not limited to acts such as cheating on exams or assignments; plagiarizing the words or ideas of another; fabricating information or citations; facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others; claiming authorship of work done by another person; submitting work completed in previous classes; and/or submitting the same work to multiple classes in which a student is enrolled simultaneously.

 

 

Accessibility Statement

Penn State welcomes students with disabilities into the University's educational programs. Every Penn State campus has an office for students with disabilities. The Office for Disability Services (ODS) Web site provides contact information for every Penn State campus: http://equity.psu.edu/ods/dcl. For further information, please visit the Office for Disability Services Web site: http://equity.psu.edu/ods.

 

In order to receive consideration for reasonable accommodations, you must contact the appropriate disability services office at the campus where you are officially enrolled, participate in an intake interview, and provide documentation: http://equity.psu.edu/ods/guidelines. If the documentation supports your request for reasonable accommodations, your campusıs disability services office will provide you with an accommodation letter. Please share this letter with your instructors and discuss the accommodations with them as early in your courses as possible. You must follow this process for every semester that you request accommodations.

 

 

Safety Information

 

Students in the School of Visual Arts may find themselves working in the shop or in their studios or classrooms using a variety of power and hand held equipment, which may cause injury. Students should use the shop only after having received an orientation in the use of such equipment and when supervised by faculty or shop personnel. Should any injuries occur, in the shop, studios, or classrooms in the School of Visual Arts please report them to Matt Olson, Shop Supervisor, Room 108-A Visual Arts Building, Phone: 814-865-3962, email: mjo5165@psu.edu.

 

 

Required Equipment

You will need an external hard drive that is fast enough to handle real time editing of your videos. You will have to bring this hard drive with you to all class lab sessions. If you donıt have one, it will be extremely difficult to develop your projects successfully. The possibility of your files becoming corrupted is higher if you store your working files on the hard drive of the computer you will use to edit your project. Video cameras will be used throughout the semester, if you donıtı have a good camera you should check one out from the media center: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/mtss.html  

 

Required Book

(These books are available at the bookstore)

Deleuze, Gilles, Cinema 1. Minneapolis:  Minnesota Press, 1986.

 

Highly recommended book

Deleuze, Gilles, Cinema 2. Minneapolis: Minnesota Press, 1989.

 

 

Recommended Book

You are not required to buy the following book, but you are strongly encouraged to purchase it. Many of the examples that will be presented throughout the term are also discussed in the book:

 

Rush, Michael. New Media in Art. New York: Thames & Hudson, 1999.

 

 

Additional Recommended Books

I will not require the books listed below for class, but I strongly encourage you to buy the following texts which are meant to function as complementary reference manuals.  They will be quite useful not only during class, but also for other classes and future projects.

 

John Jackman, Lighting for Digital Video and Television (Amsterdam, Boston, New York:

Focal Press, 2010).

Steven Katz, Film Directing: Shot by Shot (Studio City: Michael Wiese, 1991).Course

 

 

Requirements

Please note that final grades are dependent upon consistent performance in all course requirements.

 

 

 

Grading

 

 

Total 100%

 

 

Grade Scale

 

Attendance

 

Semester Schedule

Note that the class includes a series of short exercises and screenings, which are considered part of class participation. These sessions are designed to complement the successful completion of your projects. Lectures on history and theory will shift according to the studentsı needs to gain practical knowledge from week to week.

 

 

Week 1:

Monday, August 24, 2015

Introduction to Class | Examples | Read: Deleuze, Cinema 1 Chapter 1  (pp. 1-11) | First Project Assigned (Due September 9)

 

 

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Concepts of sequential media | Lecture on Film: View La Jettee | Lecture on film language | Stop Motion and Time Based Media Lecture | Weekly Project Assigned, due on Monday August 31 | Lab Time

 

 

 

Week 2:

Monday, August 31, 2015

Weekly Assignment Due | Discussion of Weekly Assignment | Online and in-class Discussion of Deleuze Cinema 1, Chapter 1. | Lecture on Video Editing | Work on First Project due on Wednesday September 9, 2015 | Read Deleuze, Cinema 1, Chapter 2 (pp. 12 - 28)

 

 

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Lab Day: work on first project

 

 

Week 3:

Monday, September 7, 2015

Labor Day, no class

 

 

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Due: Project 1, Stop Motion (no sound) | Class Critique | Online and inclass discussion of Deleuze Cinema 1, Chapter 2. Homework: Develop one paragraph concept proposal with storyboard for Stop Motion (with Sound) | Read: Deleuze, Cinema 1 Chapter 3 (pp. 29 - 55) 

 

 

 

Week 4:

Monday, September 14, 2015

Due: Concept proposal and storyboard for Project 2, Stop Motion (with Sound)

Basic Editing Techniques | Principles of Narratives and Montage | Online and inclass discussion of Deleuze Cinema 1, Chapter 3 | Lecture on Sound | Screening of film or video | Lab Time |  Read: Deleuze, Cinema 1 Chapter 4 (pp. 56 - 70) 

 

 

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Lab Day

 

 

 

Week 5:

Monday, September 21, 2015

Due: Project 2, Stop Motion (with Sound) 10% | Class Critique | Moving Typography Lecture | Homework: Develop one paragraph concept proposal with storyboard for Project 3 on Graphics/Still Images and Video (with sound)) | Online and inclass discussion of Deleuze Cinema 1, Chapter 4 | Read: Deleuze, Cinema 1 Chapter 5 (pp. 71 - 86)

 

 

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Lab Day |

 

 

Week 6:

Monday, September 28, 2015

Due: One paragraph concept proposal with storyboard for Project 3 on Graphics/Still Images and Video (with sound) | Lecture on Image, Text, and Sound | Online and inclass discussion of Deleuze Cinema 1, Chapter 5 | Read: Deleuze, Cinema 1 Chapter 6 (pp. 87 - 101)

 

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Lab day to work on Project 3

 

 

 

Week 7:

Monday, October 5, 2015

Due: Project 3, Graphics/Still Images and Video (with sound) 10% | Class Critique

Homework: Guidelines for Film/video Analysis available – begin research for film analysis | Online and inclass discussion of Deleuze Cinema 1, Chapter 6 | Read: Deleuze, Cinema 1 Chapter 7 (pp. 102 - 122) | Lab time to work on Weekly Assignment |

 

 

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Lab day

 

 

Week 8:
Monday, October 11, 2015

Due: Preliminary materials for film analysis | Technics in video analysis | Online and inclass discussion of Deleuze Cinema 1, Chapter 7 | Read: Deleuze, Cinema 1 Chapter 8 (pp. 123 - 140) | Lab time to work on Project 4

 

 

Wednesday, October 13, 2015

Lab day to work on project 4

 

 

Week 9:

Monday, October 19, 2015

Due:  Part 1 of Project 4, Video Analysis 10%  

Homework: Work on second part of Project 4: First Advanced Video | Online and inclass discussion of Deleuze Cinema 1, Chapter 8 | Read: Deleuze, Cinema 1 Chapter 9  (pp. 141 - 159)

 

 

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Lab day

 

 

Week 10:

Monday, October 26, 2015

Due: Preliminary studies for First Advanced Video | Lecture on Advanced Video Editing | Online and inclass discussion of Deleuze Cinema 1, Chapter 9 | Read: Deleuze, Cinema 1 Chapter 10  (pp. 160 - 177)

 

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Lab Time to Work on Project 5.

 

 

Week 11:

Monday, November 2, 2015

DUE: Part 2 of Project 4, First Advanced Video | Class Critique | Introduction to Diverse Formats for Output | Homework: One page concept proposal with storyboard for Project 5. | Online and inclass discussion of Deleuze Cinema 1, Chapter 10 | Read: Deleuze, Cinema 1 Chapter 11  (pp. 178 - 196)

 

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Lab Day

 

 

 

Week 12:

Monday, November 9, 2015

Due: One page concept proposal with storyboard for Project 5, Second Advanced Video | Video Screening | Online and inclass discussion of Deleuze Cinema 1, Chapter 11 | Read: Deleuze, Cinema 1, Chapter 12  (pp. 197 - 216) | Lab Time

 

 

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Lab day to work on Project 6

 

 

Week 13:

Monday, November 16, 2015

DUE: Project 5, Second Advanced Video | Class Critique | Homework: Proposal for Final project | Online and inclass discussion of Deleuze Cinema 1, Chapter 12 | Catch up with online forum discussions | Lab Time

 

 

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Lab day

 

 

Week 14:

Monday, November 23 2015

Thanksgiving

 

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Thanksgiving

 

 

 

Week 15:

Monday, November 30, 2015

Due: proposal for Final project | Learn Advanced Techniques for Output | Brief review of works | Proposal to be critiqued

 

 

 

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Lab day

 

 

Week 16:

Monday, December 7, 2015

Final Project Critiqued Assignment includes a brief essay on one of the readings assigned throughout the semester. The text cited in assignment 3 cannot be cited in your final assignment.

 

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Lab day: make necessary adjustments to final project.

 

 

 

Week 17: December 16, 2015

Due: Final Project.