Course Number: Art 467, 566B, and 666B
Course Name: Video Art
Meeting Time and Room: MW 6-8:40 p.m. AB 300
Instructor: Mr. Woodstrup
Office Hours: M/W 11a.m. - 1p.m. AB 319 (by appointment)
Semester: Fall 2004
Course Synopsis:
This class serves as an advanced study of the use of video and time as media for artistic statement. Students will receive lectures on the historical and contemporary issues relating to the Video Art movement. The student will be expected to create work that exemplifies both the technical knowledge gained as well as the conceptual/aesthetic practices of Video Art.
Student Evaluation:
Projects will be graded using a point system. Attached to each assignment sheet will be a grade rubric that specifies how points will be awarded for each project. The chart below describes the point distribution for each project and exam. The total of these points will conform to the 90 (A), 80 (B), 70 (C), 60 (D) grade scale.
Video Journal/shooting assignments/in-class - 15 points
Documentary - 25 points
Narrative - Realism - 25 points
Experimental - 25 points
Final Exam - 10 points
Total = 100
Recommended/Required texts:
For basic camera operations:
Cinematography Theory and Practice - Blain Brown
Digital Video Camerawork - Peter Ward
Conceptual (required):
Future Cinema: The Cinematic Imaginary After Film (Electronic Culture: History, Theory, and Practice) by Jeffrey Shaw and Peter Weibel (editors)
Assignment 1 - Documentary
Due Week 6
Objective:
Critically analyze the form and function of documentary filmmaking. Discover what elements and styles define documentaries as a genre or cliche'. Answer these questions: What separates documentaries from journalism vs. art? What role does realism and believability play in documentary filmmaking? What styles/elements can be developed in order to make this form of filmmaking a more unique expression?
Assignment:
1. Through in-class discussions and reviewing of films you will be expected to originate a unique subject to be documented.
2. Compose a one-sentence, statement of intention or treatment and define your audience (Due Monday of week 3).
3. Research your topic thoroughly. Use internet searches, conduct surveys, collect imagery and text, shoot locations, interview people for possible inclusion, etc.
4. Outline a chronology of events. Create a logical progression of ideas that support your treatment. This will be turned in with your documentation.
5. Shoot and edit your documentary. The documentary should be between two and four minutes in length. It should be output to DVD using DVNTSC standard: 720 x 480, pixel ratio (.9), 29.97 fps. Audio: 48kHz 16bit Stereo
Documentation:
Hand in a type-written version of your treatment and statement of intention.
Assignment 2 - Realism and Narrative
Due Week 11
Realism: a highly contested term. It may be taken to indicate the way in which any staged media event is perceived to be real. The more seemingly real an event is the more it is likely to be categorized as realism. It is most commonly achieved through the manipulation of a medium aesthetic. For instance, we believe that the videos on the TV show America's Funniest Home Videos are real videos because of their low quality, hand held image.
Narrative: a sequence of events (not necessarily in a chronology), which are arranged to form a story that is related to an audience. It can also be thought of as a cause-and-effect chain of events, sometimes unseen and able to change time and space. This cause-and-effect arrangement usually takes the form of a plot or conflict that is addressed between protagonist and antagonist characters. This plot or conflict gradually builds in tension until it climaxes and is then resolved.
Objective:
Through in-class discussions and screenings you will investigate Realism and Narrative filmmaking in order to understand their archetypes. You will then use (or break away from) these conventions by producing your own, short narrative film. The more successful video will be one that demonstrates your understanding of these subjects while also challenging their form through originality and experimentation.
Assignment:
1. Write or appropriate a short story that will be the basis for your narrative. If you are having difficulty finding a suitable story, I recommend reading children‚ books or nursery rhymes. Music videos also provide excellent inspiration.
2. Compose a short statement of intention or treatment and define your audience. Include your story with a basic shooting script or storyboard. (Due Monday of week 9). Document the progression of your narrative, in what ways is it original, and how will you deal with the perception of realism.
3. Enlist talent. Considering that you will not have time or finances to work with professional actors, make an attempt to use actors in a way where they do very little acting (this will be explained). You may also find that you will not need to use human actors at all.
4. Appropriation of others audio or video will not be allowed for this project. You may, however, use a story that is not your own.
5. Shoot and edit your film. It should be between two and four minutes in length. It should be output to DVD using DVNTSC standard: 720 x 480, pixel ratio (.9), 29.97 fps. Audio: 48kHz 16bit Stereo
Documentation:
Hand in a type-written version of your treatment and statement of intention.
Assignment 3 - Experimental
Due Week 15
ex-per-i-men-tal ik-"sper-&-'ment-&l
1 : of, relating to, or based on experience or experiment; experimental procedures; experimental results
2 : founded on or derived from experiment, constituting or undergoing a test
Objective:
Upon completing this project you should have a better understanding of the current trends in experimental video and cinematography. You will be expected to create a video, a series of videos, or a live performance involving video. You will conduct a series of observations based upon a hypothesis. Your final project will be the documentation of these observations.
Assignment:
1. Research the history of video art to determine current issues and the current state of the art
2. Observe some aspect of video production - you must keep a journal
3. Create a tentative description (hypothesis) that is consistent with what you observed
4. Use this hypothesis to make predictions
5. Test those predictions by experiments or further observations
6. Modify your hypothesis based upon your results
7. Repeat the process until you have reached a sufficient conclusion in accordance with your hypothesis.
8. Present your findings to the class.
Suggestions:
1. Have a concept for your work separate from the experiment. (i.e. make your work be about a particular subject)
2. Choose an experiment that will challenge you and allow you to learn new things about video. Are there things that you have always wanted to learn how to do with video?
3. Remember that the experiment does not need to be technical.
4. Some suggested topics are:
a. live video manipulation using Jitter
b. live video manipulation using VJ software
c. the relationships between sound and image
d. intellectual montage
e. audience interaction
f. nonlinear presentations of video
g. multiple screens or split screens
h. manipulation of the lens
i. manipulation of the projector - projecting through a material or onto a surface
j. lighting for video
Documentation:
Week 13 - hand in a typewritten hypothesis and detail the experiments that you plan to conduct
Week 15 - hand in your journal of experiments and write a conclusion statement about your work (i.e. what you learned)
Weekly Tentative Schedule
Week One
Introduction to course - Show and Tell.
Camera and Editing Test (results will affect schedule)
Week Two
Review basics
Define "Documentary Filmmaking"
Assignment: Documentary
Films: Baraka (R. Fricke), I do not Know What it is I am Like (Viola)
Week Three
Assignment: Documentary
Filmmakers: Leni Reifenstahl, Michael Moore, Ken Burns
Week Four
Assignment: Documentary
Films: Koyaanisqatsi
Filmmakers: Marlon Riggs, Luis Bunel
Week Five
Assignment: Documentary
Week Six
Assignment: Documentary (due)
Week Seven
Introduce Narrative and Realism
Assignment: Narrative and Realism
Videos: Cops, America‚ Funniest Home Videos
Films: Bloody Sunday, Blair Witch Project
Week Eight
Assignment: Narrative and Realism
Artists: Matthew Barney, Stan Douglas
Week Nine
Assignment: Narrative and Realism
MTV: Michael Gondry, Chris Cunningham, Mark Romanek, Mark Pellington
Week Ten
Assignment: Narrative and Realism
Week Eleven
Assignment: Narrative and Realism (due)
Week Twelve
Introduce Experimental Filmmaking
Artists: Oskar Fischinger, Man Ray, Maya Deren, Nam June Paik
Week Thirteen
Assignment: Experimental
Artists: Vasulkas, Vito Accocioni, Bruce Nauman, Dara Birnbaum
Week Fourteen
Assignment: Experimental
Artists: Dan Sandin, Gary Hill
Week Fifteen
Assignment: Experimental
Week Sixteen - Finals
Assignment: Experimental (due)
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