today administrivia what this course is about how you’ll be graded overview of theories of meaning...
Post on 19-Dec-2015
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Today
Administrivia What this course is about How you’ll be graded
Overview of theories of meaning Art intro
Teaching staff
Instructors Ian Horswill (EECS) Marlena Novak (Art) Jay Alan Yim (Music)
TAs Phil Williams (RTVF) Kenn Kumfp (Music)
Studio staff Ying-Zhu Chin (CS) Vani Oza (CS) Archana Sriram
(Cognitive Science)
overview
What is this course about?
It’s about communication Visual, auditory, textual Between humans, between machines, between
human and machine
It’s about composition Of sound Of imagery Of computer programs
Com/position
Composition means“placing things together”
You’re given a set of elements Your job is to learn to put them together
to achieve a desired effect
So you need to understand The elements What their effects are How they can be put together to have a
specific desired effect
Building your eyes, ears, and mind
When composing, it’s easy to get caught up in what you want to say/show/do… and lose track of what your composition
really does
We want you to learn to see, hear, and communicate more precisely
And to develop a more conscious awareness of how you respond
What do you see?
What do you see?
Critique skills
“What do you see” isn’t a question about what’s in the image It’s a question about what effects the image has on you
Overt and subliminal Positive and negative Intended and unintended
One of the main places we’re learn to be aware of this process is in critique Looking at/listening to people’s work Watching ourselves look at it Listening to other people look at it
What does any of this have to do with programming?
Programming is composition Programming languages are rated based on their
“compositionality”
Programming is communication Between you and the computer Between you and a coworker who needs to modify your code
Programming is learning to look beyond what you want the program to do To what it really says
What does any of this have to do with programming?
Oh, yea; and computer-based art is way cool Installation art Electronic music Video games Hollywood SFX …
That’s great,but what is this course about, really?
Oh, well: Visual art
Basic visual composition (line, space, color, etc.) A little drawing A little photography
Audio Basic acoustic theory Dimensions of sound Continuity and contrast
Programming Functional programming 2D graphics Looping, recursion, and lists
This is very experimental
To our knowledge, no one has ever tried to teach a class like this
We’re making it up as we go along, folks
We’re going to screw up Please let us know when we do
If something doesn’t make sense If it’s too much work …
We reserve the right to disagree, but we need your feedback and involvement
Fear
This class has both art and programming There’s something in this class to make everyone feel insecure
If you’re an artist, you probably have math anxiety If you’re a nerd, you probably have art anxiety
But that means no one should feel like they’re “behind” the rest of the class
(or like they can coast)
For what it’s worth, we’re insecure too I’ll be learning to draw alongside the rest of you Marlena, and Jay are learning to program Oh yea, and we promised the administration we’d develop this whole
new outrageously ambitious curriculum…
We can all feel stupid together!
How hard is it?
It’s not unusually hard
It is a significant time investment, though Skill development takes time Weekly assignments
Sometimes two
When you first start programming, you may feel very stupid Don’t worry, it will pass
time
perc
eive
d di
ffic
ulty
Animate Arts
Oh right! This is the first course of a new
adjunct major called animate arts Interactive art and entertainment Programming, art, sound, theory Tight integration of teaching
This is the first course of the curriculum
No, you don’t have to do the major to take the course(s)
The curriculum: Core courses
Animate Arts 1 Animate Arts 2
(brings in film and narrative) Animate Arts 3
(brings in animation, 3D and simulation)
Animate Arts 3(brings in sociality & culture)
Senior project 2 quarters Group or individual Your choice of project
4 electives 2 can be double-counted with your
major
you are here
administrivia
Textbooks
Introduction to Design, Alan Pipes Visual Culture, Nicholas Mirzoef
Materials you should bring
~8”x12” sketchbook 2B and 4B graphite pencils Medium-point black pen Media for file storage
(e.g. CD, DVD, or keychain drive)
Equipment you’ll need to use
Macintosh computer Window-XP/200 based computer Digital Camera Headphones
Computers and phones available in the studio
Software
MetaA scheme-like programming language designed for multimedia applications (developed at Northwestern with extensive student involvement)
Windows-only; requires .NET and DirectX 9 Free
Audacity All operating systems Free
Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator Not free Available in studio Or you can substitute GIMP and Sodipodi, which are free
The studio
This room is available for your use 24 hours a day
$50 deposit for a Marlock key If you already have a key, we can
program it
It will be staffed some evenings and weekends
We want the space to belong to the animate arts students
Involve you in hardware/software purchases
Let you run the place as you see fit
We want to make it comfortable and fun for you to work in
Coffee maker Popcorn popper Working on:
Cozy furniture Lava lamps Game systems and dance pads
Crowe Café (open 24hrs, but only serves until 5pm)
Move nights Yes, we’ll have chairs soon
We want animate arts to be a community
Grading
Assignments 60%Art, music, programming, all of the above
Quizzes 15%2 in-class 1-hours quizzes
Final project 10%
Critique and class participation 15%Read the material before class and come to class prepared with discussion questions
SketchbookWe will collect your sketchbooks periodically for review
Attendance
Attendance is required Repeated unexcused absences, tardiness, or leaving
early may lower your grade by a full letter grade.
This is a studio art course in addition to a programming course Active apprenticeship Not all lecture materials will be available outside class
Late assignments
Extensions are available for programming assignments Ask 24 hours in advance and no questions will be asked After 24 hours, you have to have a really good excuse
Art and music assignments will be critiqued in class, so can’t give extensions
Penalties for late assignments <1 day 10% 1-2 days 20% 2-4 days 30% 4-8 days 40%
Late art assignments that miss crits will also lower your crit grade
Cheating policy
See syllabus