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December 13, 2007

Final project

For my final project I attempted to make a short animation with handmade drawings. I was inspired by recent animation work I had seen to challenge myself with a new style of work. This project feels unfinished to me and is something I would like to continue working on. The final product seems more like a small episode that could be part of a larger collection. In ways that’s how I want it to read, as a narrative created out of a small, unscripted dialogue that one picks up almost as though they overheard it in passing. Ideally I would have liked for it to be projected in some public space, like a bus stop. This project might have been a little too ambitious. The final project came out somewhat successfully, but there were many technical aspects about producing animation work that I wish I would have known more about. In the end it seems like this project was more of a way for me to experiment with a different way of viewing images.

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December 12, 2007

The Birth Of Goatboy









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December 3, 2007

David Rokeby

http://homepage.mac.com/davidrokeby/home.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMIjxnNllMA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ai49w7QPPY


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November 23, 2007

Project 4: Choose Your Own Adventure

Description

For the last project, you will choose your own adventure. This project is an opportunity for you to creatively employ and extend any of the techniques that we have used in class to realize an idea that excites or inspires you. Thus the form and content of this project is pretty open. Some of you might take the opportunity to expand on or refine past projects, while others might go in another direction.

Technical Goals

  • Expand and enhance your current set of skills as they apply to your proposed final project.

Way-points and Due-dates

  • 26 November, 07 : 400-500 word proposal that addresses the following questions.
    • What is the nature of the project? Are you going in a new direction or are you extending a past project?
    • "DURATION": How will this project take place in time? How long will it be? Or, will it be in the form of an ongoing installation?
    • TOPIC: What will this piece be "about"? Will it be a story or more abstract?
    • MEDIUM: What tools and techniques will you use to make your piece?
    • PRESENTATION: How will you present your work? On a screen? Projected on a building? A website? An installation? YouTube?
    • AUDIENCE: Who is your audience? How will your work address your audience? Is it for a small group of people or a large group?
  • 5 December, 07 : Progress Check-in / "Rough Draft". I will meet with each of you individually to discuss progress give critique etc.
  • 12 December, 07 : Final projects due for group critique. Post your video (640x480 Flash) and a brief 200-300 word reflection on the blog before class.

Grading Criteria

  • General: Since you are proposing your own ideas for this project, some portion of the grading will be based on how well you achieve the goals set forth in your proposal. Of course, your proposal will be reviewed by me to make sure your goals are reasonable and manageable.
  • Technical (i.e. did you choose to do it, or did the technology choose for you?)
  • Thoughtful: Does your treatment of the subject allow you to critically engage the topic you are interested in? Demonstrate effort toward thinking about the topic in a larger cultural/critical context.
  • Effort: Effort cannot be underrated - are you pushing yourself? If you figured out the basics on day one, what do you do with the rest of your time? Are you challenging yourself to think past easy answers?
  • Participation: Participation in discussions, online comments, other people's work, etc.

Posted by Christopher Baker at 4:22 PM | | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

October 31, 2007

Project #3: In-Between

Description

What happens when we slow down and stop time? What can happen in between the constant flow of frames we call life? Fantasy commingles with reality, imagination comes to life and background comes to the fore. Alternates are possible as cycles cycle. Your second project will allow you to think broadly about these issues of time and its "in-between" spaces.

The final product will be approximately 2-3 minutes in length. The "style" and materials used in your stop-motion animation is very flexible. You must also be thinking about sound. The sound must be either recorded or made by you. What kind of sound does your animation "need"? This could range from using your voice to an instrument to recording sounds in a public space. If you absolutely MUST use someone else's sound, let us talk. Rules are made to be broken ... if of course, you have talked about it with me far in advance.

Technical Goals

  • Build on your knowledge of narrative techniques
  • Build your knowledge of basic lighting techniques
  • Learn the basics of stop-motion animation
  • Build on your knowledge of creating sound and incorporate this in to the project

Way-points and Due-dates

  • 5 November, 07 : Project Research and Proposal : Write a 400-500 word project proposal including: your topic, why it interests you, a set of initial ideas for making your animation (technique, location, style, materials etc). Find videos and artists that interest and inspire you. Post your proposal and links to videos (embedded videos if possible!!) on the blog. Be ready to discuss your initial ideas in class.
  • 14 November, 07 : A "rough draft" is due -- i.e. import all of your images into the computer so that we can talk about your progress together.
  • 21 November, 07 : Final videos due for group critique. Post your video (Flash 8 Medium) and a brief 200-300 word reflection on the blog before class.

Grading Criteria

  • Technical (i.e. did you choose to do it, or did the technology choose for you?): Editing - good use of camera, "quality" of animation (is it appropriate for the content?)
  • Thoughtful: Does your treatment of the subject allow you to critically engage the topic you are interested in? Demonstrate effort toward thinking about the topic in a larger cultural/critical context.
  • Effort: Effort cannot be underrated - are you pushing yourself? If you figured out the basics on day one, what do you do with the rest of your time? Are you challenging yourself to think past easy answers?
  • Participation: Participation in discussions, online comments, other people's work, etc.

Posted by Christopher Baker at 6:27 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

October 3, 2007

Project 2: Instruct!

Description

What happens when previously inaccessible technologies become available to the masses? What happens when virtually any individual can instantly share their thoughts, opinions or instructions with a global audience? With so many potential voices, who makes the rules? Who decides on the "correct" way to do things or the "best" things to own? What is the role of the expert or the professional? What is the role of the amateur?

Your second project will allow you to think broadly about these issues and express your ideas using digital video and sound.

The video composition will be inspired by DIY (do-it-yourself) culture, instructional videos, guidebooks, tutorials, etc. The 4-5 minute video should should creatively "instruct" the viewer on a topic of interest to you. Topics might range from "how to make an organic tuna melt sandwich" to "fomenting a communist uprising". As you develop your video, you must consider your audience -- who are you making this video for? You must think about the social, political and/or cultural associations of your topic and the meanings that your video might generate. You should cull your ideas from the things and ideas that surround you on a daily basis -- from the things you find absurd, useful, ridiculous, or so simple that we might otherwise miss it.

The ultimate goal of this project is not to simply reproduce an instructional video or guided experience. Instead it is intended to help you think about audience, empowerment, cultural associations, authorship, sequence, and DIY strategies.

Technical Goals

  • Learn to use DV cameras
  • Become familiar with basic lighting techniques
  • Learn to edit video using Final Cut Pro
  • Learn to distribute video via the Internet

Way-points and Due-dates

  • 8 October, 07 : Project Research and Proposal : Write a 400-500 word project proposal including: your topic, why it interests you, a set of initial ideas for making your video (technique, location, style etc), describe your intended audience. Make drawings, find images, and reference other art, projects or sources that inspire you. Post it all on the blog. Be ready to discuss your initial ideas in class.
  • ****UPDATED****17 October, 07 : Rough videos drafts due. Upload a rough cut to Mediamill and share it with me.
  • ****UPDATED****24 October, 07 : Final videos due for group critique. Post your video (640x480 Flash) and a brief 200-300 word reflection on the blog before class.

Grading Criteria

  • Technical (i.e. did you choose to do it, or did the technology choose for you?): Editing - good use of transitions and other techniques, a "flow" : Video - video shot thoughtfully and intentionally.
  • Thoughtful: Does your treatment of the subject allow you to critically engage the topic you are interested in? Demonstrate effort toward thinking about the topic in a larger cultural/critical context.
  • Effort: Effort cannot be underrated - are you pushing yourself? If you figured out the basics on day one, what do you do with the rest of your time? Are you challenging yourself to think past easy answers?
  • Participation: Participation in discussions, online comments, other people's work, etc.

Posted by Christopher Baker at 8:55 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

September 12, 2007

Project 1: Sound Mapping

Assigned 12 Sept 07

Your first project will be an introduction to working with sound - recording, editing, exploring presenting.

Our focus will be situated in an aural investigation of space, time, and physicality (or perspective).

Location

We will be thinking about location loosely -- in fact your location might be changin (a route), stationary (a point), or diffuse (a region).

In choosing your "location", think about the atmospheric, cultural and historical elements of that place. What do you do there? How does it feel to be there? How do you interact with the place? These are things you might want to bring to your piece.

Physicality and Perspective

How do you move through this place? Are you still? Do you move with purpose or do meander? How do you want the listener to move through this place -- all at once? Little by little? What is the viewer's physical relationship with the sounds we hear? What is the perspective?

Time

Is it a linear or non-linear experience? Is it narrative or abstract? How does it begin and end?

Ask yourself why you're interest in this specific location? Is it a contemplative or chaotic space, or something in between? What are the emotive elements? How do you feel being there? What is your objective in recreating this location in sound, or what is it that interests you?

Terms
Cinematic, Narrative, Abstract, Linear, Non-Linear, Space, Mapping

Steps to success:

1. Choose a "location" (i.e. route, region or point) in which to make a recording. This will be a kind of audio record of that place. Hone in on as many individual sounds as possible, as well as the overall "tone" of the environment. Move around if you need to. "Zoom in" and "Zoom out". Get the microphone close to things or move it away. Think ambience -- what is the ambient or "average" sound of this place? Consider "activating" the sound space -- think rubbing, scraping, striking,

2. Import and edit your audio

3. Review, add effects, spatialize the audio

4. Export and prepare your project for presentation. Listen to it in the critique space.

5. Map it!

6. Prepare your ideas for class discussion and present your work.

Due:
01 Oct. 2007

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