Project 1

ASSIGNMENT: Create a moving image composition that reveals a visual phenomena that cannot be recorded by camera. You will draw and animate a moving image composition that makes visible for others what you see when you close your eyes. Your own perceptual system creates visual effects. What do you see? How does it move, change, or evolve over time? Those blobs, lights, shapes, sparks and patterns you see when you close your eyes - especially when you rub them while closed - are real. "A phosphene is a phenomenon characterized by the experience of seeing light without light actually entering the eye. - more info on Wikipedia. Remember to create a title for your project and add that to your movie, including credit for yourself. Consider the style, timing and placement of your title within your movie. This is a visual project only, no audio.

Your final composition should be rendered at 1280 x 720 square pixels (HDV setting) at a minimum time of 60 seconds, maximum 90 seconds. Copy your properly compressed movie file into the folder titled "PROJECT 1" on the instructor computer before class starts on the due date. If your movie file does not play smoothly on the class computers, you need to re-render it with more compression.

Techniques: Start with drawings of what you see when you close your eyes. These could created on paper and scanned into the computer, or created directly in a raster or vector program. These will be animated in Adobe After Effects, using scale, position, rotation, opacity, layering and effects.

DUE dates: Aug 31. 6 images created by you that you can use and animate in your first project. At least 1 should be a photoshop file with multiple layers (for demo purposes).
Sept 9. CRITIQUE - all movies must be rendered and ready to show at the beginning of class.

This project is 10% of your overall grade

Digital tools are ideal for sampling pre-existing media elements and remixing - or transforming - them into new creative works. With these tools we have the ability to hybridize, collage, combine, cut, paste and duplicate infinitely. Another strategy is to erase, or relocate elements in order to point out new possibilities or relationships. Consider repurposing existing media in suprising ways to create a personal statement, an alternate reality, a political statement, a poetic statement, or a joining of the past with the future.

Techniques: montage, collage, masking, layering, transitions and effects in After Effects and Premiere, plus basic digital audio.

Source footage/media/audio: You can generate some of your own, but you must also use at least one type of pre-existing media element. Please read this guide to finding interesting public domain works online. Archival movies can be sourced legally from Prelinger Archive. There is also a meta search tool here: Let's cc that will help you find Creative Commons licenced media across multiple sites.

You can make use of work that has a certain types of Creative Commons licences, as long as you are following the licence restrictions and you are making significant creative work of your own with it. Consider licencing your own work so you can contribute to the creative pool in the way you chose. It is free. You are permitted to use copyrighted material in your artwork, only if you can explain to me how it falls within the Fair Use Principle. Please note that "Educational Use" does not apply in this class, because we are making artwork for display, not just educational videos.

Related readings: Remix Theory

Related artists/projects: Dara Birnbaum | Michael Bell-Smith | Jeremy Blake | Paul Pfeiffer | Jason Salavon | Martha Rosler | Omer Fast |Jenny Odell | R. Luke DuBois | Jillian Mcdonald | McLean Fahnestock

What to turn in: Your final movie should be rendered at 1280 x 720 square pixels (HDV setting). Running time should be between 1 and 3 minutes. Copy your properly compressed movie file into the folder titled "PROJECT 2" on the instructor computer before class starts on the due date. If your movie file does not play smoothly, you need to re-render it with more compression.

The source media files that are not created by you must be documented in a text file that explains where each came from, ie. a link to the original and credit to the author. You must also cite exactly what type of licence the media file has, ie. public domain, Creative Commons Attribution, No Derivative Works, Share Alike, etc.

You are also required to have an accessible backup of your files - in the cloud, or on external hard drive - in case of file error problems.

DUE: For Critique at the beginning of class on Mon Sept 28.

This project is 15% of your overall grade

"The function of the imagination is not to make strange things settled, so much as to make settled things strange." - G.K. Chesterton, essayist and novelist

“Art does not reproduce the visible; it makes things visible.” - Paul Klee

"You have to make the art stronger than life so people can feel it."– Tehching Hsieh, performance artist

Your assignment is to notice the presence of animals on campus and create a moving image art work that will help others notice too. Using your skills as a moving image artist, you can make the familiar into the unfamiliar and shift the unseen into sharp focus.

The best student projects will be included in the juried BioPresence exhibition. The overall project is being organized by a team of professors and staff in a variety of departments at OSU – Stanley Gehrt, Tom Hawkins, Matt Lewis, Rick Livingston, Angelika Nelson, Ken Rinaldo and Amy Youngs. The goals are to raise awareness of the other-than-human-animals on the OSU campus, to broaden appreciation of the diversity of our ecological community and to start dialogue about how we can make room for animals. As campus becomes ever more densely populated, and a restored Olentangy attracts more wildlife, how can we learn better ways of sharing space with animal others? 

Part 1:  Observe non-human animals on campus. Notice and record what you see; from a fly, to beetle, to bird or mammal - make photos, videos, stories, and/or drawings and post them publicly somewhere online (Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, Flickr, Google+, etc) with the hashtag #AnimalOSU. We have created an AnimalOSU stream on Twitter, where you can check all recent postings and comment on them. You can also join us on Tumblr, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Flickr, or YouTube. Discover animals on campus - where are they, what are they, which ones used to be here but are not right now or not any longer? Share your observations and spread the word about this project. Help us discover and notice animals that share spaces with us in ways we may not anticipate.

Part 2: Experiment with ways to create moving images that highlight the presence of animals. I will give you access to the video footage clips I have collected from a wildlife camera placed on campus. Your role as an artist will be to use techniques of rotoscoping, rotobrushing, masking, and effects to reframe and re-represent the animals on video in ways that help your audience see them differently.

Part 3: Completed moving image artwork. The final composition should be rendered at FULL HD 1920 x 1280 square pixels. Running time should be between 20 seconds to 2 minutes. Copy your properly compressed movie file into the folder titled "PROJECT 3" on the instructor computer before class starts on the due date.

Important Note: From previous assignments, you know the rules about copyrighted video and imagery. If you use any media files that are not your own, you must properly credit the authors in your movie credits at the end.

Related artists and projects: Catherine Chalmers | Sam Easterson | Marina Zurkow | Colin Ives | Pipilotti Rist | Patricia Piccanini | Brittany Ransom | Dan Phiffer and Ellie Irons | Amy Youngs| Bryndís Snæbjörnsdóttir and Mark Wilson | Dennis Hlynsky | Bear71 interactive online video.

Related reading: - BioPresence
- New York Times article about animals in art and film

DUE Dates
Part 1) Make a minimum of 4 appropriate posts using the hashtag #AnimalOSU. And be ready to discuss 2 ideas for your project. Oct 5.
Part 2) at least different 2 test renders due Oct 7.
Part 3) CRITIQUE - all movies must be rendered and ready to show at the beginning of class Oct 26.

This project is 20% of your overall grade

You will research an area that interests you and create a moving image art project. You can choose to use whatever software and hardware output format that suits your concept. Your main concern should be that the project is conceptually driven and artistically strong. Projection environments, interactive video installations, internet art works or pieces made for a theater setting are all possible formats, as long as they significantly incorporate the moving image, and as long as the works produced are well-researched, self-driven, inspired and complete.

I will reward you for taking chances and projects that are large in scope will be graded accordingly. I understand that there will be technical problems and this is why you absolutely must plan ahead - do not wait until the last minute to complete your project. NO COMBINED PROJECTS ARE PERMITTED WITH OTHER CLASSES. Of course, research that you are doing in other classes can certainly inspire your project. Collaborative projects that demonstrate an effort in proportion to the number of collaborators are encouraged.

There will also be a graded proposal, mid-critique and a draft-critique to keep you on track for this.

DUE: presentation of your project idea, including storyboard, renders, inspirations, and examples you have generated. Nov 4
DUE: mid-project critique at the beginning of class on Nov 16
DUE: rough draft critique at the beginning of class on Nov 23
DUE: Final critique at the beginning of class on Dec 7

Uploading your final project to Vimeo is a requirement of this course and you are encouraged to submit it to a juried screening, such as the Columbus Moving Image Art Review, or another cal for artwork you find on Rhizome. If you have created a BioPresence related artwork, you are welcome to submit it to the BioPresence exhbition. See the schedule for details on the show.

This project is 25% of your overall grade

• CONCEPT - idea, intention and meaning.
  Does the artwork clearly communicate something to other viewers? 25%
  
• CREATIVITY - originality of thought and expression.
  Does the artwork show innovation and uniqueness? Did the artist solve the given assignment problem in an expected or unexpected way? 25%
  
• COMPOSITION - arrangement and organization of elements.
  Has the artist carefully considered elements such as timing, story, mood, texture, balance, color and audio? 25%
  
• CRAFTSMANSHIP - attention to detail. Does the artist skillfully manipulate the elements? Are all details carefully finished and/or intentional-looking? 25%