Daniele Wilmouth

This course is designed to introduce students to the language and histories of the moving image arts and the diverse ways in which artists have contributed to them. Throughout the semester we will examine a range of approaches to creating moving image work. We will compare and contrast established ?norms? with radical and experimental approaches to these various media, leading to an understanding of the rich, complex, and evolving landscape upon which individuals have been making, and continue to make, moving image art. Students will engage with this expanded field through lectures, readings, screenings, meetings with visiting artists as well as becoming active in discussions and practitioners in the field via group projects. Working in small groups, students will complete a series of short projects to introduce them to the various pathways of the department. By the end of the semester, students should have gain basic production and postproduction skills as well a good understanding of the key concepts relevant to contemporary film, video, new media, installation and animation.

Form and Meaning is a rigorous investigation of the art of moving image editing and provides a historical and theoretical understanding of both classical film editing and newer modes and models of editing and perception. The course provides a working foundation and framework. A close reading of films will train the student in the core aesthetic decisions, structures, strategies and demands of editing cinematic works. In addition, we will look at examples and discuss how editing functions for the installation artist, and further, how the Internet, New Media, television and video art have made an impact on concepts surrounding editing. Weekly readings will expand on the work presented in class. Students should expect to research and write both a midterm and final papers as well as a few short responses to works presented in class. Form and Meaning is a theory-based seminar and is not designed to offer critique for works in progress.

Sonics and Optics is an intensive study of lenses, optics, sensors, stocks, materials, laboratory processes, microphones, and recorders as essential tools in film/video making. Throughout the semester students will learn the fundamentals of a lens (focal length, aperture), its relationship to the camera (shutter, ISO), and aesthetic options available. The course will offer the same immersive perspective of sound technologies; including choosing microphones (stereo, cardioid, shotgun, contact, etc), recording options (sound device, field recorder, mixing board), and methods of field recording. This course is an essential technical base for all advanced moving image work. In-class screenings of films and videos and weekly readings will expand on the technical workshops at the core of the course. Students should expect to complete a series of quick technical exercises as well as a more in depth final project.

How can physicality and spatial properties of performance be transformed through a flat rectangular projection of light? How can a film director's shot list be influenced by the acting techniques of Meisner? What can a cinematographer learn from the breath control and movement techniques of Japanese Butoh dance? When film/video and performance are approached as a hybrid form, exploring and exploiting the unique properties of each, fusions between these mediums can truly be successful. This course will give an introduction to established theories and methods in four areas: 1) Dance/Movement for the camera. 2) Experimental Theater/Performance Art combined with film/video. 3) Acting for the camera. 4) Directing performers for film/video. Readings and screenings typically include an introduction to Japanese Butoh Dance, featuring works by Tatsumi Hijikata, Kazuo Ohno, and Shuji Terayama. Cinedance works by DV8, Alla Kovgan, and Liz Aggiss. Various approaches to acting and directing with readings on Konstantin Stanislavski, Sanford Meisner, and John Cassavetes. Students will participate in weekly movement workshops, a group acting and directing video shoot with professional actors, a Cinedance project, and a final film/video/performance fusion of the student's design.

This senior Capstone course is designed for students who made a serious commitment to film and video as a major part of their art practice and who wish to focus on the completion of a moving image project for public presentation. Students will be asked to document their practice and develop a realistic plan for the exhibition of their work. The structure of the class consists of periodic workshops, regular critiques of student works as well as individual meetings. Additionally, students will be exposed to diverse examples of contemporary moving image works and will participate in discussions of relevant critical topics. Students should be both self-directed and interested in developing a support system for producing each other's work.