Department of Advertising Design & Graphic Arts



FNAR

T/Fr, 10:40am - 1:30pm, Semester: Spring 2014

Prof. Michael Marfione

marfionm@stjohns.edu

Office Hours: Friday 9:30 -10:30 in SJH B3 Adjunct Lounge

ALL material is posted on SJUVideoart@

department account:

username: sjuart

password: design1

Course Description

“Our invention can be exploited for a certain time as a scientific curiosity, but apart from that, it has no commercial future whatsoever.”

Auguste and Louis Lumiere

 

“An occasion to laugh is never to be despised.”

Ernst Lubitsch

 

This course is an introduction to the basic components and practices of pre-production and production methodologies for content creation in video art. We will be exploring ways in which video has become a multi-platform medium in conjunction with other modes such as sculpture and installation, performance documentations, narrative, cinematic language, and the Internet.

Students will analyze the fundamental principles of video with emphasis in understanding the language of this medium. Post-Production exercises with software such as Adobe Premiere pro will be an integral part of the course.

Very strongly recommended text

Introduction to Video Production, the Path to Digital Media Production, Third Edition, Musberger, Robert B., Focal Press, 2005 ISBN: 0-240-80647-6

Required tech purchase

External Firewire 800 Hard Drive, SDHC Card and card reader (available at bookstore or at B&. B&H is less expensive but the site can be overwhelming). Please make sure you purchase a Firewire drive, not a USB drive. Let me know if you have questions before purchasing.

Here are drives I recommend. There are lots of good drives out there, just make sure you get a Firewire drive.

Iomega eGo Silver Desktop Hard Drive Mac Edition (1TB)

Iomega MiniMax Desktop Hard Drive (1TB)

G-Technology G-DRIVE mini High-Speed Portable Drive (500GB)

 

 

COURSE POLICIES-PLEASE READ CAREFULLY

Please note: The primary goal of the course is to facilitate your engaged, creative thinking through video. While there will be lessons in specific computer programs and video technologies, this is not the only focus of our work together. You will be expected to spend substantial time and energy working independently on video production and software practice outside of class.

 

Attendance

This class is intensive and meets twice a week for 2:50 min .

This class relies heavily on class participation and conversation. I can't stress enough the importance of being present in all possible ways.

Attendance to all classes is required.

ABSENCES

3 ABSENCES = DROP OF FULL LETTER GRADE

4 TOTAL ABSENCES= DROP OF ADDITIONAL FULL LETTER GRADE

2 LATE = 1 ABSENCE

4.5 ABSENCES=FAILURE

Cell Phones/Computers

No cell phone use in class for any reason. Students using computers for any reason other than class work will be asked to leave and marked absent for the session. Students using cell phones in class for texting or any other reason will also be asked to leave and marked absent.

Thoughtful Contribution

Engage in class discussions, offer constructive feedback for other's work, ask questions, and clarify confusions. Maintain a professional attitude towards our time together. In this course, there will be numerous opportunities to engage in interaction. Please be courteous and respectful at all times. You may disagree with someone, but please do so politely (a Good way to start is by saying "I can see your point"

Resourcefulness

This is applicable not only to this class, but also afterward in the work force. Practice now while in class.

Production

Invest yourself in your work, think through your projects, allot time to create them and then view and amend them. Be open to criticism, this is the time to fail, to learn from it. Failure is a wonderful learning tool, not to just head you in the right direction, but to learn new things and that there are many right ways to go. Please take chances I'd rather see originality than a repetitive low budget production. Critiques are not only for the video at hand, but also for your future productions. Watching your classmates work is just as important. Critiques ask you to question your feelings about Why you feel a certain why about a piece, not merely I like it, or not, or it's interesting or not, but why. Being able to understand how your feel and talking intelligently about it is one of the greatest assets to hold for any future Endeavour.

Course Expectations / Conduct:

Behavior: All students must come prepared to class and consistently behave in a professional manner. Respect and common courtesy towards one another is expected. Students are responsible for treating the equipment they use and/or borrow with extreme care. Cell phone use is not allowed unless students are under an emergency “watch”.

This class is designed to provoke. Conversations are based on opinions and different perspectives. I welcome debate, but you must respect, listen and act courteous toward everyone in the classroom.

Respect yours, others and mine - This is our combined learning environment. During lectures and screening, avoid conversations with people sitting around you. The classroom is small -even if you whisper, please realize that other people hear and see you, and that's distracting to everybody (fellow students and Professor.) Disruptive behavior or side conversations therefore impact on your participation grade. Each occurrence will lower your grade by 10 points; i.e., frequent disruptions or side conversations may result in a participation grade of F (0 points.)

Please turn your cell phones off during class. Text messaging, IM, Facebook and all other social media are not allowed during class.

Work Load: The Department of Fine Arts requires each class to assign/expect at least 6 hours of outside class work per week from all students.

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities:

St. John’s University complies with the regulations of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and offers accommodations to students with disabilities. If you are in need of accommodation, please contact me to discuss this as soon as possible. All information will be held in the strictest confidence.

Assignments

You are expected to turn in the completed projects/assignments by the assigned deadline. I reserve the right not to accept late material.

All video assignments should a QuickTime file uploaded to Vimeo (or both). We will go over how to do this in class. Your assignments should start first with 10 seconds of black prior to picture start. All assignments should have titles and credits (your name, and names of other cast and crew). If you decide to burn a DVD, you should have name, date, title, and course title written with a permanent marker and enclosed in a case.

Grading

Attendance/ Readings / Discussions / Class participation: 20%

Assignment 1 10%

Assignment 2 15%

Assignment 3 15%

Assignment 4 20%

Assignment 5 20%

Grading Scale:

A 94-100 Excellent or Superior Achievement

A- 90-93.9 Excellent, but with some room for improvement

B+ 87-89.9 Very Good

B 83-86.9 Good

B- 80-82.9 Not quite as good

C+ 75-79.9 Somewhat above average

C 70-74.9 Average or satisfactory competence

D 60-69.9 Minimally competent, but still passing

F 59.9 and below Unsatisfactory/Failing

Supplies / Materials / Books Required: I have scanned all the reading required for this class it will all be available for download on WordPress.

Late Submission policy

Assignments are DUE ON TIME. Late assignments will be penalized, and in some cases, not accepted at all. Assignments MUST be in the format required by the Professor. Assignments not delivered in the required format will not be accepted.

Software

Students will be introduced to Adobe Premiere and gain a basic understanding of the principles and practice of post-production editing. We will be using

Equipment

Remember, these tools are a privilege and must be cared for and shared. Please be considerate of your colleagues’ project needs and respectful of the rules and workers at the Equipment Center.

 

Readings

It is essential you do the readings for the class date they are due. Feel free to bring in any items that you find relevant to our discussion. 

 

Bring to class every week

Syllabus, notebook, all readings printed out, external hard drive

 

SYLLABUS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE

Weekly Classes

01/24 Fri. Lesson: INTRO: What Video art?/Syllabus/Assignments/

Vimeo account/Equipment/ .

Technical Lecture: Camera

Lesson Documents: Camera ppt,

Assignment 1 distributed

Critical discourse:

View: Kino eye

Lab:

Due next class:

1. Please read: composition Katz Shot by Shot Chapter 6, Why Formats Don't Matter, Kino Eye Vertov

2. Karl Marx, The Fetishism of the Commodity

3. Buy external hd (firewire 800/at least 500gb)

: Premiere Essential training chpt.1 and chpt. 2

01/28 Tue.

Lesson: PPt on brief history, VIDEO AS MATERIAL

Technical Lecture:

Lesson Documents:

Critical discourse: Karl Marx, The Fetishism of the Commodity

View:

Gary Hill

Bill viola

Sam Taylor Wood

Joachim Koester 'Tarantism'

Richard Serra

Hollis Frampton

Michael Snow

Omar Fast

Eve Sussman

Christian Marclay

Lab: Work on Assignment 1

Due next class:

1. Henri Bresson "OnSound" (notes on sound)

2. Sound in the cinema

:Premiere Essential training chpt.3 and chpt. 4

01/31 Fri.

Lesson: SOUND / ASSIGNMENT 1 DUE

Technical Lecture: Sound

Lesson Documents: Sound and mics, Video1 sound,

Assignment 2 distributed

Crital discourse: Sound of the Universe, Crickets orchestra

View: Ikiru Raging Bull, The Conversation, (excerpts)

Sound of the universe,

Lab: microphones, pickup patterns/ Sound collection and

identification

Due next class:

1. Coco Fusco, The other history of intercultural performance.

2.Adrian Piper, Passing for white, passing for black.

:Premiere Essential training chpt.5 and chpt. 6

02/4 Tue.

Lesson: PERFORMANCE

Technical Lecture:

Lesson Documents: PPT

Crital discourse: Coco Fusco, Adrian Piper

View:

Joachim Koester 'Tarantism'

Pipolati Rist

Steve McQueen

James Lee

Jacolby Satterwhite

Marina Abramavich

Martha Rosler

Adrian Piper

Bas Jan Ader

Kalup Lindsy

William Forsythe

Carolee Schneemann

Francis Aly

Yoko Ono

Ana Mendieta

Lab:

Due next class: View Ingmar Bergman Persona.

: Premiere Essential training chpt.19 and chpt. 20

02/07 Fri.

Lesson: LIGHTING

Technical Lecture: 3 point lighting

Lesson Documents: Lighting Keynote 2, Lighting Images,

Lighting for Video

Critical discourse: Bergman Persona

View:

Lab: Lighting exercise

Due next class:

1. Lumet's Style

: Premiere Essential training chpt.7 and chpt.8

02/11 Tue.

Lesson: SCREENWRITING

Technical Lecture: Formatting

Lesson Documents:

Crital discourse: Lumet's style

View:

Lab: Memory exercise

Due next class:

1. Synopses, Story, Pitch

:

02/14 Fri.

Lesson: SCENEBREAKDOWN/SHOTLIST

Technical Lecture:

Lesson Documents:

Crital discourse: Synopses, Story, Pitch

View:

Lab:

Due next class:

1. Katz shot by shot chap3 Storyboard

: Premiere Essential training chpt.9 and chpt.10

02/21 Fri.

Lesson: STORYBOARDING

Technical Lecture:

Lesson Documents:

Crital discourse:

View:

Lab: Storyboard memory project

Due next class:

1. Katz shot by shot chap 1-2 Visualization Production design

2. Red Desert by Antonioni

: Premiere Essential training chpt.11 and chpt.12

02/25 Tue.

Lesson: ASSIGNMENT 2 DUE CRIT A

Technical Lecture:

Lesson Documents: Assignment 3 distributed,

Crital discourse: Sculpture and video

View:

Video and Sculpture

Nam June Paik

Omar Fast

Mike Kelly

Mika Rottenberg

Superflex

Bill Viola

Tony Oursler

Lab:

Due next class:

1.Art And Objecthood

:

02/28 Fri.

Lesson: ASSIGNMENT 2 DUE CRIT B/ PRODUCTION ROLES

Technical Lecture: Production Roles

Lesson Documents: Production roles

Crital discourse: Art and Objecthood

View:

Lab: Work on Assignment 3

Due next class:

1.Tarkovsky Sculpting in time (excerpts)

:Premiere Essential training chpt.13 and chpt.14

03/04 Tue. NO CLASS SPRING BREAK

03/07 Fri. NO CLASS SPRING BREAK

03/11 Tue.

Lesson: EDITING

Technical Lecture:

Lesson Documents: Editing ppt

Crital discourse: Tarkovsky

View:

Lab:

Due next class:

1.katz_shot_by_shot_chap7_temporal_connections

2. Murch_Blink_of_an_Eye.pdf

: Premiere Essential training chpt.15 and chpt.16

03/14 Fri.

Lesson: EDITING

Technical Lecture:

Lesson Documents:

Crital discourse: Walter Murch

View:

Lab:

Due next class:

1.on the importance of film editing .pdf

2. Watch the cutting edge.

:

03/18 Tue.

Lesson: ASSIGNMENT 3 DUE CRIT A

Lecture: Video as CINEMA

Lesson Documents: ASSIGNMENT 4 distributed

View:

Jesper Just

Luis Gispert

Steve McQueen

Douglas Gordan

Matthew Barney

Omar Fast

Shirin Neshat

Kalup Lindsy

Doug Aitken

Lab:

Due next class:

1.For An Imperfect Cinema.doc

:Premiere Essential training chpt.17 and chpt.18

03/21 Fri.

Lesson: ASSIGNMENT 3 DUE CRIT B

Technical Lecture:

Lesson Documents:

Crital discourse: For an imperfect cinema

View:

Lab: Work on Assignment 4 in groups

Due next class:

1.Lisa Cartwright, Film and the Digital in Visual Studies: Film Studies in the era of convergence

:

03/25 Tue.

Lesson: OPEN LAB/ FILM

Technical Lecture:

Lesson Documents:

Crital discourse: Lisa Cartwright

View: Un Chant d'amour by Jean Genet

Lab:

Due next class:

1.N. Katherine Hayles, Virtual Bodies and Flickering signifiers

:

03/28 Fri.

Lesson: INTERNET and VIDEO

Technical Lecture: Green screening

Lesson Documents:

Crital discourse: Virtual Bodies and Flickering signifiers

View:

Ryan Tricartin

Hennessy Youngman/ Chuleta

Chao Fei PBS art 21

Lab:

Due next class:

1.Asphxiatin culture008.pdf

:

04/01 Tue.

Lesson: VIEW FILM

Technical Lecture:

Lesson Documents:

Crital discourse: Asphyxiating culture

View: Steve McQueen _Hunger

Lab:

Due next class:

1. Aesthetics-of-affect.pdf

:

04/04 Fri.

Lesson: SUBLIME AND AFFECT

Technical Lecture:

Lesson Documents:

Crital discourse:

View: The Blood of the Beast by Georges Franju

Lab:

Due next class:

:

04/08 Tue.

Lesson: ASSIGNMENT 4 DUE CRIT A

Technical Lecture:

Lesson Documents: Assignment #5 distributed

Crital discourse:

View:

Lab:

Due next class:

1.Michel Foucault, Of Other Spaces

:

04/11 Fri.

Lesson: ASSIGNMENT 4 DUE CRIT B

Technical Lecture:

Lesson Documents:

Crital discourse: Of Other Spaces

View:

Lab: RESEARCH Assignment 5

Due next class:

1.Ideas for Final Assignment

:

04/15 Tue.

Lesson: OPEN LAB /One on One Meetings

Technical Lecture:

Lesson Documents:

Crital discourse:

View:

Lab:

Due next class:

:

04/18 Fri.

Lesson: INSTALLATION

Technical Lecture: options for output

Lesson Documents:

Crital discourse:

View:

Lab:

Due next class:

1.Marshall Mcluhan_Understanding Media the extension of man

:

04/22 Tue.

Lesson: OPEN LAB

Technical Lecture:

Lesson Documents:

Crital discourse: Marshall Mcluhan

View:

Lab:

Due next class:

:

04/25 Fri.

Lesson: OPEN LAB

Technical Lecture:

Lesson Documents:

Crital discourse:

View:

Lab:

Due next class:

1. All documentation for final assignment

:

04/29 Tue. ASSIGNMENT 5 ARTIST STATEMENT DUE

Lesson: OPEN LAB

Technical Lecture:

Lesson Documents:

Crital discourse:

View:

Lab:

Due next class:

:

05/02 Fri. LAST DAY OF CLASS ASSIGNMENT 5 DUE

Listening: audio art. Kurt Schwitters, Steve Roden, Tony Conrad, Christian Marclay, Pauline Oliveros, Meredith Monk & other selections from and

Films:

La Notte by Antonioni

L'Eclisse by Antonioni

L'Adventura by Antonioni

Red Desert by Antonioni

Un Chant d'amour by Jean Genet

Ivan's childhood by Tarkovsky

Breathless by Jean Luc Godard

400 Blows by François Truffaut

Persona by Ingmar Bergman

8 1/2 by Fellini

La Dolce Vita by Fellini

The Blood of the Beast by Georges Franju

Rosemarie's baby by John Cassavetes

The Five Obstructions by Lars Van Trier

Dancer in the Dark by Lars Van Trier

The Color of Pomegranates by Sergei Parajanov

Ali: Fear Eats the Soul by Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Clockwork Orange by Stanley Kubrick

The Century of the Self by BBC

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Andy Warhol, Kiss,

Gunvor Nelson, Time Being

Deborah Stratman, In Order Not to Be Her

32 Short Films About Glenn Gould

Rene Clair, Paris Qui Dort (The Crazy Ray)

Chantal Akerman: News from Home

Abbas Kiarostami, Ten

EXHIBITIONS

Guggenheim:

Carrie Mae Weems: Three Decades of Photography and Video

January 24–April 23, 2014

Italian Futurism, 1909–1944: Reconstructing the Universe

February 21–September 1, 2014

New Museum:

Laure Prouvost:For Forgetting

February 12-April 14, 2014

Leanine Oleson

April 22- July 6, 2014

Bibliography & Resources:

A great resource to view artists talking about their work:



GOOD BOOKS

 

Screen Writings

Scott Mcdonald

 

A Critical Cinema, vols 1, 2,3

Scott Macdonald

 

Notes on Cinematography

Robert Bresson

 

Raiding the Icebox

Peter Wollen

 

Streetwalking on a Ruined Map

The Films of Elvira Notari

Giuliana Bruno

 

OverExposed

ed: Carol Squires

 

The Reconfigured Eye

Visual Truths in the Post-photographic Era

WJT Mitchell

 

When the Moon Waxes Red

Trinh-T. Minh-Ha

 

Visionary Film

P. Adams Sitney

A seminal text on non-traditional film history and practice.

 

How Movies Work

Bruce Kawin

This is a large, comprehensive book, which provides excellent information both on film history and aesthetics as well as production and technique.

 

Narrative, Apparatus, Ideology

ed. Philip Rosen

An excellent anthology of seminal writings in film theory.

 

Beyond Document: Essays on Nonfiction Film

ed. Charles Warren

An intriguing collection of essays on the not documentary, not fictional genre.

 

On Film Editing

Edward Dmytryk

A practical how-to manual with excellent details.

 

The Blink of an Eye

Walter Murch

 

What is Cinema?

Andre Bazin

 

Film Sound: Theory and Practice

eds. Elisabeth Weis and John Belton

An excellent anthology on theory and practice of film sound.

 

Narration in the Fiction Film

David Bordwell

An immense investigation into voice and narrative in film.

 

Writing Great Screenplays for Film and TV

Dona Cooper

A how-to manual for screenplay writing-useful and clear.

 

Cinema 1, The Movement-Image, and Cinema 2, the Time-Image

Gilles Deleuze

Theory par excellence by the master of textual editing.

 

Hall of Mirrors: Art and Film Since 1945

Catalogue from the MOCA exhibition of 1998

Excellent essays by Russell Ferguson, Jonathan Crary and Molly Nesbit on the intersections between film and other arts.

 

Film Form and The Film Sense

Sergei Eisenstein

The classics from the master of montage.

 

Audio-Vision

Michel Chion

 

Kino-Oko (The Film-Eye)

Dziga Vertov

Extraordinary cinema manifestos and revolutionary writings by the Man with the Movie Camera.

 

Sculpting in Time

Andrei Tarkovsky

An incredible series of insightful writings by an amazing filmmaker. Truly inspiring writings.

 

Hitchcock on Truffaut/Truffaut on Hitchcock

Very funny, informative interviews by the greats.

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