Penn State University - School of Visual Arts
Fall 2016
A&A 110 Interdisciplinary Digital Media Studio I
Professor: Eduardo Navas (ean13@psu.edu)
Mondays & Wednesdays 11:15 AM - 2:15 PM

Office Hours: M & W 10 AM - 11 AM
Please contact at: ean13@psu.edu

Syllabus:
Online
PDF

Research Methodology

 

ASSIGNMENTS WEEKLY SITES

Week 17:

December 12, 2016

Final Project due with adjustments based on final feedback

Final Projects by Students Available Online:
Ophelia Castellito: http://thegrindapp.weebly.com/
Victoria Dickson: http://conductorapp.weebly.com/
Malia George: http://memoryapp1.weebly.com/
Ross Karwath: http://i.imgur.com/URzXdJC.pnghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Prnc0HuV3L4
Adam Kling: http://audioblaster.weebly.com/
Alex Larkin: http://adl5245.wixsite.com/thedab
Kevin Liang: http://kpliang.wixsite.com/mythmachine
Samantha Martin: https://marvelapp.com/26a4893/screen/17594005
Kai Masuchika: http://ulyssespoetry.weebly.com/

 


Week 16:

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

  • Review of Final Project, Part 2

Monday, December 5, 2016

  • Review of final Project, Part 1

 


Week 15:

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

  • Review of work before final project is due
  • Individual meetings
  • End online discussion of Crow's "Chapter 8: Open Work."

Monday, November 28, 2016

  • Tecniques for online media development

 


Week 14:

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

  • Thanksgiving

Monday, November 21 2016

  • Thanksgiving


Week 13:

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

  • Lab Day

 

Monday, November 14, 2016


Week 12:

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

  • Project 3 Critiqued

 

Monday, November 7, 2016

  • Lecture on UI UX Design
  • Tecniques for online media development
  • Individual meetings to discuss Project 3
  • Begin Reading Crow's "Chapter 8: The Open Work"


Week 11:

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

  • Weekly Assignment Critiqued

 

Monday, October 31, 2016

  • Lecture on UI UX Design
  • Brief meeting with students in preparation for weekly assignment due on Wednesday, November 2


Week 10:

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

  • Lecture on UI UX Design
  • Weekly Assignment Released due on Wednesday, November 2
  • Begin online discussion on Crow's "Junk Culture"

Weekly Assignment due on November 2, 2016:
Based on the feedback received during class, continue developing your project to present a set of materials as outlined below.

Guidelines:

  • Develop concrete design layouts/diagrams for your project.
  • If you are working on a specific mobile app, develop mockups that show the way your app/project would function. You can "doctor" images for this.
  • Shoot documentation footage that you plan to use for the major project. Edit the documentation in a way that shows the narrative you plan to present. You can insert drawings/diagrams or descriptive text as fill-ins that explains what you plan to inlcude in particular parts of your narrative. Your video should be no longer than 3 minutes but ideally under 2 minutes.

Guidelines for Video Development:

  • Take advantage of stop motion/video montage techniques explored in your second major project. Make effective use of the three basic shots: the wide, mid and close up.
  • Make use of your understanding of image and text layout as explored in your first major assignment to create an engaging narrative.

You don't have to include the following in the rough video version for this assignment, but you must plan for the following:

  • Use text/type strategically in the form of subtitles, or chapter introduction for specific sections of your video in order to explain certain parts of your process as you move from the early creative stages to more advanced and/or final prototype of the imaginary app.
  • It may be necessary to develop a scripted narrative for a voice-over that explains the process of your app development. The voice-over can be complemented with type/subtitles throughout your video.
  • You are free to use any sound or images that will help enhance the narrative of your video.

What you need to turn in on November 2:

  • Rough footage edited
  • Sketches/early designs that show progress for the design of your app.

 

Monday, October 24, 2016

  • Weekly Assignment Critiqued


Week 9:

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

  • End online discussion of Crow's "Chapter 6: Symbolic Creativity."
  • Begin reading Crow's "Junk and Culture," 144 - 163.
  • Lecture on UX and UI Design continued
  • Lab Day, discuss individual progress with students

 

Monday, October 17, 2016

  • Lecture on UX and UI design tecniques
  • Discuss individual progress with students
  • Go over weekly assignment due on October 24

Weekly Assignment due on October 24:
Design an imaginary app. You can focus on any subject of your choice, such as:

  • An app that makes art/design for the user (whatever this means for you)
  • An app that resolves or improves any impractical situation
  • An app that is a clear improvement of an already existing app
  • An app that makes possible the development of better apps (a meta app for app developers)

Consider the app according to Agamben's discussion of the apparatus. These are playful suggestions meant to push you to think beyond the obvious functional app. It is encouraged that you don't choose to work on common apps such as a "map app" or "find a restaurant app". You are encouraged to come up with your own ideas for the imaginary app. Make sure to discuss possibilities with your instructor to get the most of this process.

The imaginary app is not meant to be functional, but you must develop a design as detailed as possible. This includes diagrams, layout of an interface in relation to a particular device (mobile phone, tablet, etc).

Document every step of the process by scanning sketches you make, taking photographs and video of your working environment and/or yourself working, as well as related spaces that inform the reasoning behind the app. You will be using the documentation to produce a video for your third major project (see details for this in the actual guidelines for Project 3).

You are to upload a design file complemented with selected documentation that provides a concrete sense of function of your app. The design can be developed with a combination of software including photoshop and Illustrator as well as Maya or Cinema 4D if you find that working with a specific software is best or necessary for your project.


Week 8:

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

  • Project 2 Critiqued
  • Weekly Assignment due on October 24 released (See Week 9 above for actual guidelines)

 

Monday, October 10, 2016

  • Begin online discussion of Crow's "Chapter 6: Symbolic Creativity."
  • Lab day: Individual Meetings. Students will show concrete progress towards Project 2.


Week 7:

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Monday, October 3, 2016

  • Lab Day | Brief lecture on Time-Based Media
  • Meet with students individually
  • End online discussion of Crow's "Chapter 5: Official and Unofficial Language."
  • Begin reading Crow's "Chapter 6: Symbolic Creativity," 126 - 143.


Week 6:

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

  • Lecture on time-based media: sound and video editing
  • Weekly assignment released due on October 5, 2016
  • Lab Day

Weekly Assignment due on October 5, 2016:
Create one 15 to 45 second video that use type along with still images, and actual video with sound.

The video could explore the subject matter of your first major project. This means that you need to consider how you can translate your focus of three images into a video project.

You need to have at least three short scenes that add to an open-ended narrative. Consider previous feedback on weekly assignments and well as your first major project to come up with a work that pushes image, sound and text for critical reflection on the subject of your choice.

Guidelines:

  • You must use at least two still images, and you need to use text at least one time.
  • The text must be an open ended statement(s) that supports your overall message.
  • You must consider the rhythm in your editing as discussed in class critique. For instance, when you let a shot/image linger, it must be for a reason. You can have as many shots as you like for this video project.
  • Use at least one extra sound source you recorded that is not part of video footage.
  • You must mix your sound well and not go into the red. Review the material covered in class, and go over class tutorials available on the right column of the resource webpage.
  • You must shoot your own footage, but you can use some pre-existing material if it is necessary for your idea. Go over this option with the instructor before moving ahead.

Monday, September 26, 2016

  • Review of weekly assignment
  • In Class Critique


Week 5:

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

  • Meet with students individually
  • Lab Day

Monday, September 19, 2016

  • Lecture on time-based media: relation of image, sound and text
    Principles of video editing
  • Weekly assignment released due on September 26
  • Begin online discussion of Crow's "Chapter 5: Official and Unofficial Language."

Weekly Project Assigned, due on Monday, September 26:
View the films by blublu (there are four of them), as well as the stop motion studies by David Crawford, and the newspapers visualizations of the Hawaiian Star, then use three to five images (could be stills or renderings, or a combination of both) of your own that make direct or indirect refence to one of the videos. The image should be edited as a short stop motion sequence that contradicts or repositions/questions the aesthetics of the video you chose. You can use any software to develop this project, but you are encouraged to use Adobe Premiere. Your project should be no longer than 5 seconds.


Week 4:

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

  • DUE: First class project | In-class critique

 

Monday, September 12, 2016

  • Review of work before project is due
  • End of online discussion of Crow's "Chapter 4: Text and Image."
  • Begin reading David Crow's, "Chapter 5: Official and Unofficial Language," 96-125.
  • Lab day

 


Week 3:

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

  • Weekly assignment critiqued
  • Lecture on analysis of image and text
  • Techniques on image and text production

Monday, September 5, 2016

  • Labor Day, No Class

 


Wednesday, August 31, 2016

  • Lab day

Week 2:
Monday, August 29, 2016

  • Weekly Assigment critiqued
  • Lecture on image and text layout
  • Weekly Assignment released due on Sept. 7
  • Begin online discussion of Crow's "Chapter 4: Text and Image."

Weekly Assignment due September 7:
According to the feedback given to you during class critique, take your first assignment and rework it so that it is closer to communicating your idea. You need to do two versions. The first should provide a sense of depth while the other should present a sense of flatness. You can certainly think of the first in terms of photo and text, and the second as a vector-image and text. You may need to use new images or create your own, depending on the feedback you received. Upload your two files as png or jpg to Canvas.

 


Week 1:

Wednesday, August 24, 2016


Monday, August 22, 2016

  • Overview of class
  • Lecture on the relation of image and text
  • Weekly Assignment released, due on August 29
  • Begin reading: David Crow's, "Chapter 4: Text and Image," 80 - 95.

Weekly Assignment due on August 29:
Develop a simple design that explores the relation of an image of your choice with text. You may create your own image, but you can also appropriate one if it makes sense for your idea. The text can be a single word or a phrase. It should not be too much text. Try not to use more than 5 words. Consider carefully the concepts and examples discussed by Crow in chapter 4 of his book. Upload a png or jpg to Canvas.

 

Week 15

Sites for the Week of November 28, 2016

 

To understand how design can drastically affect how we engage with information, and in effect can shape meaning check CSS Garden:
http://www.csszengarden.com/

Consider the following sites for their overall interface design and their attention to user interaction (Make sure to check their mobile and tablet versions):

Newspapers/Magazines
Huffington Post
Los Angeles Times
New York Times
The New Yorker

Fashion/Entertainment Publications:
Elle (U.S.)
Elle (U.K.)
Interview Magazine
Vogue
W Magazine

Art/Design
A is for Apple
Adbusters
Bartlebooth.org
Bruce Mau Design
Design Observer
Thinking with Type

 


Week 13

Sites for the Week of November 14, 2016

Places you can use for app or website development if not interested in writing code:

Wordpress.com
Wix.com

App development:
marvelapp.com/
Idea to App
Android Patterns

See more selections at Creative Blog:
10 best free tools for app designers

 


Week 12

Sites for the Week of November 7, 2016

HTML Lectures:

1. Basic Tags
2. Hyperlink Basics
3. CSS Styles
4. File Hierarchy

HTML Development on Lynda.com:
HTML Essential Training
Basic HTML Syntax
Current State of HTML
Exploring the HTML Document
Understanding Content Model
Formatting Content with HTML

Lecture notes on lighting (from Fall 2014)
Lecture notes on sound (from Fall 2014)
Lecture notes on microphones (from Fall 2014):

 


Week 10

Sites for the Week of October 24, 2016

After Effects Selections from Lynda.com:
Relinking Missing Footage
Different Ways to Use After Effects
Exploring the Interface of After Effects
Building Animations
Working with Effects
Understanding how to Render
Adding Effects and Graphics

Pay attention to how the story develops in these videos:

Designing Video Installations with Douglas Gordon

Critical Design Shorts:
Can you Feel How I Felt?
Mutualism
Future Memorial Exhibition Documentation
Quo
Air Mask
Radical Sensing
Discursive Design
glom
Blind Zone, Wapping

Takram Design:
Professional Sharing
ID Protocol
Taste of Light

John Underkoffler - The Future UI
Pranav Mistry - SixthSense Technology

 


Week 9

Sites for the Week of October 17, 2016

Tutorials on UX Design on Lynda.com:
https://www.lynda.com/Prototyping-tutorials/Welcome/475945/497322-4.html
Tutorials on UI Design on Lynda.com:
https://www.lynda.com/iOS-tutorials/Welcome/445430/479443-4.html

Art Works and Examples to Consider

Hooger Brugge, Modern Living
http://ml.hoogerbrugge.com/

Things that look like the real thing:
Theory Action Figures
Theory Trading Cards
HAVIDOL (avafynetyme HCL) -- Guy's Testimonial
HAVIDOL: Female Testimonial
Black People Love Us:
http://www.blackpeopleloveus.com/

Open ended "apps"

A is for Apple:
http://www.aisforapple.net/
Mobile Art Applications - article
http://audi-urban-future-initiative.com/blog/mobile-art-apps-and-the-emerging-aesthetics-of-mobility
IPhoneart.org
http://www.iphoneart.org/
Art in Your Pocket
http://rhizome.org/editorial/2009/jul/7/art-in-your-pocket/

Documenting the process:

Concept design process (gaming):
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131632/
creating_a_great_design_document.php
Plan your video:
http://www.dpbestflow.org/node/635

Consider the following techniques to combine your documentation as stop motion stills and live footage:

Canon Rebel XSi Commercial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BQfCoqbubE
Take on Me (Video):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djV11Xbc914
Former student Christine D'Emidio
Documentation of Installation project begins around minute 1:06
https://vimeo.com/149292979

 


Week 7

Sites for the Week of October 3, 2016

Time Code: Trailer, excerpt (in French)

Analysis of films:

Infographic of Pulp Fiction in Chronological order:
http://visual.ly/pulp-fiction-chronological-order

My own analysis of Pulp Fiction:
http://remixdata.net/2014/08/18/timeline-of-pulp-fiction-actual-version-and-chronological-edit/

Montage visualization of Breathless:
http://remixdata.net/2014/10/23/analysis-and-visualization-
of-godards-breathless/

La Jetee by Chris Marker
https://vimeo.com/46620661

Analysis of Close-Ups in Chris Marker's La Jetee
http://remixdata.net/2015/10/11/analysis-of-close-ups-in-chris-markers-la-jetee/

What Watching 'Memento' in Chronological Order Can Teach About Story Structure:
http://nofilmschool.com/2013/06/watch-memento-in-chronological-order-story-structure/

Timeline for Memento:
http://www.thehighdefinite.com/2012/02/the-timeline-for-memento/

 

Art work based or appropriating film and/or using multiple screens:

Douglas Gordon:
Douglas Gordon - Play Dead; Real Time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-XD6fuf0ho
Designing Video Installations with Douglas Gordon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3mm-LNkmXU
Douglas Gordon: the only way out is the only way in. Artist interview at ACCA 2014 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nvbdkgi203M
Meet The Artist: Douglas Gordon Part 1 of 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXY99WS-Byo
Meet The Artist: Douglas Gordon Part 2 of 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjYb6EN0v8w

Peter Horvath - Hovarth.net


Week 6:

Sites for the Week of September 26, 2016

Sound Tutorials on Lynda.com (Make sure you are logged in with your PSU account to Lynda.com by going to http://lynda.psu.edu/ ):

Up and Running with Audacity:
http://www.lynda.com/Audacity-tutorials/Up-Running-Audacity/111697-2.htm
Importing audio
http://www.lynda.com/Audacity-tutorials/Importing-audio/111697/115443-4.html
Playing audio with Audacity:
http://www.lynda.com/Audacity-tutorials/Playing-audio/111697/115444-4.html

Making selections
http://www.lynda.com/Audacity-tutorials/Making-selections/111697/115452-4.html
Cutting, copying, and pasting
http://www.lynda.com/Audacity-tutorials/Cutting-copying-pasting/111697/115453-4.html
Splitting clips
http://www.lynda.com/Audacity-tutorials/Splitting-clips/111697/115454-4.html

GarageBand Tutorials: Essential Training:
http://www.lynda.com/GarageBand-tutorials/GarageBand-Essential-Training/156620-2.html

 

Music Selection Relevant to Weekly Assignment:

John Cage on Silence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcHnL7aS64Y
John Cage playing amplified cacti and plant materials with a feather
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qWPCoayhjY
John Cage - 4'33"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN2zcLBr_VM

 

Relevant Film and Video Examples for Weekly Assignment

Film mashup of bar scenes, "Hell's Club"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QajyNRnyPMs

On Listening vs. Hearing:
Memorex commercial Chuck Mangione Ella Fitzgerald
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32X8sFAlDZM

 

Andy Warhol's Screen Tests and excerpts of other films:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tvEfwTj2C8
Andy Warhol - Eat (1963):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoQcGAczNTE
Andy Warhol - Blowjob [Edit] (1964)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFik-n8-Mzw

Yoko Ono - Cut Piece (1965)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Sc47KfJjcI

 

Consider how montage and editing is used in the following films/experiments to create a complex narrative that the viewer can follow:

Technical Aspects of editing:

Basic Shot Types
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laU2MI6X48I

Camera Angles and Shots
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwbsYgZ7d-8

 

Basic Principles of Editing:

Basic montage principle, experiments by Kuleshov:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gGl3LJ7vHc

The Kuleshov Experiment (ORIGINAL)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUZCPPGeJ1c

Hitchcock's Pure Cinema- "The Kuleshov Effect"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNVf1N34-io

Blow up - Michealangelo Antonioni - The last scene
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItDmn40TvuI

 


Week 5:

Sites for the Week of September 19, 2016

Video Editing Tutorials on Lynda.com
(Need to be logged in to your PSU Student account in order to access the links, then go to http://lynda.psu.edu/):

Adobe Premiere Pro Essential Training
Importing and Organizing Media
Selecting Shots
Basic Editing
Refining the Edit
Basic Effects and titles
Outputting the Project

Stop Motion:

Stop Motion Studies by David Crawford
http://turbulence.org/studios/crawford/index.html

Visualizing newspapers history: The Hawaiian Star, 5930 front pages, 1893-1912
http://lab.softwarestudies.com/2012/03/visualizing-newspapers-
history-hawaiian.html

La Jetee, NY Times Movie Pick:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgC7Eh355E4

Blublu:
http://www.blublu.org/

Law and Order Introduction:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTVSTnYIxEA

Michael Jackson's Thriller:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnqjkJTMaA
Thriller with Legos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MThEoxSWURA

 

Focus on a specific aspect of a film director's approach:

Hands of Bresson:
http://vimeo.com/98484833
Wes Anderson Centered:
http://vimeo.com/89302848
Wes Anderson from Above:
http://vimeo.com/35870502
Tarantino from Below:
http://vimeo.com/37540504
What is Neo-realism?
http://vimeo.com/68514760
Kubrick, One Point Perspective:
http://vimeo.com/48425421
Linklater on Cinema and Time:
http://vimeo.com/81047160
Malick, Fire and Water:
http://vimeo.com/64063304
Sounds of Aronofsky:
http://vimeo.com/42191484

All of the above selections can be found at
http://kogonada.com/

 


Week 4

Sites for the Week of September 12, 2016

Image in Art and Design:

Rodchenko:
Images on Google
Feature on Helveticahaus

Constructivism:
Constructivist Design Posters

Bauhaus:
Design is History
Bauhaus Design Images

Image and Text in Art Practice:

Banksy:
Coca Cola Add

A is for Apple:
http://www.aisforapple.net/

 


Week 3

Sites for the Week of September 5, 2016

Image and Text in Design:

Adbusters
Critical Design
Domus: Critical Design
Dunne and Raby on Critical Design
Critical Design on Vimeo

 

Image and Text in Art Practice:

Jenny Holzer
Barbara Kruger
Kruger Images on Google
Glenn Ligon

 


Week 2

Sites for the Week of August 29, 2016

Understanding Type:

Thinking with Type
Introduction to Type
Anatomy of Type
Anatomy of Typeface

 

Visual Examples Related to Weekly Assignment:

History of Graffiti
History of American Graffiti

50 Logotypes
7 Famous Logos
40 Brand Logos with Hidden Messages
21 Logo Evolutions
20 Well Known Luxury Brands

Art and Design:

Design is Kinky:
Main Site
Art
Design

Art:
Ash Schmitt
Eero Lampinen
Rui Palha

Design:
Devan Drogaroglu
Gian Galang
Makebardo

 


Week 1

Sites for the Week of August 22, 2016

Software Tutorials for Image and Text (Make sure you are logged in with your PSU account to Lynda.com by going to http://lynda.psu.edu/ )

Photoshop Essentials:
Understanding File Formats
Resolution Image
Exploring Layers
Cropping
Blending Images with Layer Masks

Illustrator Essentials:
Overview of Illustrator Interface
Exploring the Tools Panel
Exploring Layers
Understanding Vector Paths
Working with Type
Placing Images into Illustrator

 

Visual Examples Related to Weekly Assignment:

Roland Barthes's Panzani:
http://indexgrafik.fr/wp-content/uploads/Rhetorique-
de-l-image-Roland-Barthes-index-grafik.jpg

A is for Apple:
http://www.aisforapple.net/

Peanuts, Dog and Homework:
https://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/media/img/posts/2015/09
/BOB_Essay_Peanutsstrip/6f8c13be5.jpg
Peanuts Website:
http://www.peanuts.com/

Storyboarding:
http://accad.osu.edu/womenandtech/Storyboard%20Resource/

Anchorage and Relay in Film:
F.W. Murnau - Nosferatu (1922)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcyzubFvBsA

Anchorage and Relay in Advertising (early Mac Ad):
http://blog.graphicleftovers.com/wp-
content/uploads/2010/04/ipad_retro_testdrive.jpg