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This class is designed to introduce students to
the production processes of visual/aural, time-based, creative work. Students
will work on numerous creative projects: performed, written, photographed
and created digitally. With an emphasis on low-budget, independent film
and video making, we will study all aspects of production from idea generation,
conceptualization and scripting through post-production. Assignments,
both written and creative, will emphasize creativity, visualization, research
and production organization. Presentation of ideas in both the written
word and visual media are integral to the production of creative media
and form the basis of the assignments for this class.
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Course
Objectives:
•To demystify the creative process so that you can develop your
own and/or become more aware of your own creative processes
• To develop creative adeptness at translating ideas into well designed
and competently executed visual works.
• To develop a more sophisticated level of media literacy in creating
and seeing,i.e., learning how to constructively critique.
• To foster the collaborative sense necessary for the production
of film, video, and digital media.
•To develop an understanding and appreciation of production aesthetics,
techniques, and technologies. |
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• Please
be aware that there is a course materials fee of $15.00 plus $1.00 administrative
fee to cover film rentals and other course materials.
• You are responsible for providing your own digital still camera,
35mm camera (disposable or other), photo processing for two rolls of film,
and any necessary digital media storage [CD, flash drive, etc].
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EQUIPMENT
CHECKOUT |
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The equipment checkout facility
is located in the Communications Building
Check In: Monday/ Thursday 9:00am-12:30pm
Check Out: Tuesday/ Friday 12:30pm - 4:00pm
fdmcheckout@ucsc.edu 459-4062
The following equipment is available to you on first come first serve
basis
Video/Still:
- Apple iSight Webcam (8)
- Canon PowerShot G2 Digital Still Camera (4) user
manual (pdf file)
Audio:
- Olympus LS-10 Handheld Audio Recorder (4) user
manual (pdf file)
- Sony PCM-D50 Handheld Audio Recorder (5) user
manual (pdf file)
- Zoom H2 Handheld Audio Recorder (2) user
manual (pdf file)
To sign up for equipment checkout:
1. You must be enrolled for the course
2. you must login at https://slugfilm.ucsc.edu/secure/signup/
You are responsible for providing your own digital media storage [CD,
DVD], signing up for equipment access via slugfilm, and setting up server
space for yourself on ‘softserve’.
SOFTSERVE:
GO> CONNECT TO SERVER>fdmsoftserve.ucsc.edu
SLUG FILM:
http://slugfilm.ucsc.edu/
FDM PRODUCTION WIKI--- http://128.114.20.49/fwiki/index.php/Main_Page
Connecting to Softserve/ i.e-- accessing your designated
1GB of storage space:
for Mac
for PC
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REQUIREMENTS
FOR RECEIVING CREDIT |
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• Attendance
and participation at both lecture and section is mandatory. Sections will
allow students to explore the concepts presented in class through assignments
and discussion on a more individualized basis.
• Three missed sections will constitute a NO PASS in the course, and
active participation will count favorably in determining evaluations.
• Reading assignments should be completed BEFORE class.
• Careful and conscientious treatment of equipment and facilities. |
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Your final evaluation
and/or grade in the class will be based on the following: |
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• Attendance
and Participation |
10% |
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• Exercise
1: Alien Anthropologist/Show & Tell |
due week 3/in section 5% |
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• Exercise
2: Still Images in Sequence/compositions |
due week 4/ in section 10% |
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• Exercise
3: Study of a Space |
due week 5/ in section 10% |
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• Exercise
4: Writing a scene |
due week 6/ in section 10% |
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• Exercise
5: Performance |
due week 7/ in section 5% |
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• Exercise
6: Portrait/Image and Text |
due week 8/ in section 15% |
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• Exercise
7: iLife compilation project |
due week 10/Thursday June 4th 25% |
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•Final
Exam |
Monday June 8th 4-6pm 10% |
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• Students
must complete each of the assignments in order to pass the class.
• Late assignments will not be accepted; missed exams will not be
rescheduled, so please plan your time and commitments carefully. Any emergency
situation or special condition should be discussed with the Instructor,
not only with your TA.
• Incompletes for the course are NOT routinely given. Please assess
your time commitments early in the term. An Incomplete will make you ineligible
to proceed into another FILM production class until the "I" has
been cleared the following Quarter.
• Lectures will be organized around the topics and the films as listed.
Films can be reviewed and studied further at the Film & Music Center
at McHenry Library. |
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All assignments
must be completed and turned in on time. In order to receive credit for
the class |
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ASSIGNED
READING |
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REQUIRED:
•Course Reader [CR]
Available at the Bay Tree Bookstore
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SCHEDULE |
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jump to week:
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1.
T March 31
Introduction to the class, assignments, sections and expectations, Admissions
TH April 2
Visualization Techniques: framing, aesthetics, and composition.
Photography, Exposure, Depth of Field
Reading Due: [CR] James Monaco, “Technology: Image and Sound”
SECTION: No section this week
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2.
T April 7
Visualization Techniques: framing, aesthetics, and composition.
Photography, Exposure, Depth of Field
Reading Due: Bruce Mamer “Creating the Shots”
Herbert Zettl, “The Two-Dimensional Field: Area” and “The
Three-Dimensional Field: Depth and Volume”
TH April 9
How we “read” images/ “Learning to See”
Introduction to iLife
Reading Due: John Berger “Ways of Seeing” Chapter 1, 2, +
3
Susan Sontag, “Against Interpretation”
SECTION: Photography/“production groups”
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3.
T April 14
Photography & Images in sequences
Screening: La Jetee [France, Chris Marker, 29 min.] VT1288/ DVD81
Reading Due: Scott McCloud, ”Understanding Comics” Ch. 1,
3, + 4
John Berger, “Another Way of Telling” (2 parts)
TH April 16
Alien Exercise
20P assignment workflow: ‘softserve,’ iphoto, garageband,
imovie, idvd
SECTION: • EXERCISE 1 DUE: “Alien Anthropologist”
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4.
T April 21
Screening: Visions of Light
[USA, Stuart Samuels, 1992, 92 min.] DVD3924
TH April 23
Form + Content
Mis-en-Scene/Things you include in the “scene”/Working with
light and objects
Reading Due: Kris Malkiewicz “Lighting”
Studs Terkel, “Brett Hauser” and “Jill Torrance”
SECTION: • EXERCISE 2 DUE: “Still Images in a Sequence/compositions”
Berger vs. Sontag
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5.
T April 28
Writing
Alphabet Exercise—still image
Reading Due: short story by A.M Homes, “Chunky
in Heat” (pdf file) from The Safety of Objects
David Foster Wallace, “Forever Overhead”
TH April 30
Writing a scene
Pre-production/Treatments
Reading Due: [CR] Dancyger and Rush “Beyond the Rules,” “Dramatic
Voice/Narrative Voice,” “Working with Genre”
SECTION: • EXERCISE 3 DUE: "Study of a Space"
Communications Computer Lab: ilife workflow, iphoto, scanning
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6.
T May 5
Acting, Casting, Directing + Drama, Stereotypes
Screening: Psycho [USA, Alfred Hitchcock,1960, 109 min] DVD34/
Psycho [USA, Gus Van Sant, 1999, 104 min.] DVD2383
Reading Due: [CR] Rabiger,”Directing the Actors”
Mike Leigh, “Directors on Actors and Acting,”
TH May 7
The Documentary Performance
Screening: Mister Death (USA, Errol Morris, 2000, 92 min.) DVD1061
Reading Due: Interview with Errol Morris, “The Truth is Not Subjective”
Robert Coles, “The Tradition: Fact and Fiction”
SECTION: • EXERCISE 4 DUE:
“Writing the Scene”
Communications Computer Lab:
iphoto, imovie
TREATMENT
EXAMPLES [pdf files]:
no.1
no.2
no.3
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7.
T May 12
Genre and constraints
Screening: The Five Obstructions (Denmark, 2004, 90 min.) DVD3165
Reading Due: Dogme 95, “The Vow of Chastity”
Anthony Kaufman, “Breaking Von Trier: Jorgen Leth Survives ‘The
Five Obstructions’” from http:www.indiewire.com
TH May 14
Sound/ Listening Exercises
Reading Due: Michel Chion, “Projections of Sound on Image”
and “The Three Listening Modes”
Microphone pick-up patterns
SECTION: •EXERCISE 5 DUE: “Performance”
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8.
T May 19
Sound + Image
Screening: Playtime [France, Jacques Tati, 1967, 108 min.] DVD3938
TH May 21
Working with Garageband
SECTION: • EXERCISE 6 DUE: “Portrait/Image and Text”
Communications Computer Lab:
imovie, garageband
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9.
T May 26
NO Lecture: Instructor and TAs will be available for individual appointments
(to discuss and troubleshoot your final projects)
TH May 28
Editing--- continuity vs. disruptive
Reading Due: Walter Murch, “Cut Out the Bad Bits”
SECTION: Communications Computer Lab: imovie, garageband
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10.
T June 2
Review for Final Exam
TH June 4
•EXERCISE 7 DUE: iLife compilation project. DUE AT THE BEGINNING
OF CLASS
critiques
SECTION: NO SECTION THIS WEEK
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FINAL EXAM
Monday June 8th 4-6pm |
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Film and Digital Media
Department LAPTOP POLICY
Laptops can be a useful tool in the service of teaching and learning,
however, we ask that you use them productively and respectfully.
A few common sense rules:
1. Always set up your laptop computer before the beginning of class.
Setting up the computer and booting it up can take a few minutes depending
on what applications are set to open at startup. Turn off all other
mobile devices before lecture begins
2. Disable sound
3. During lecture and classroom discussion, you should not be connected
to network resources. To do so invites many distractions - web surfing,
email, chats, etc. Chatting or emailing during class is no more acceptable
than talking on a cell phone during class time. Additionally, your networked
screens are distracting to those sitting near and behind you
If you are found to be doing anything other than note-taking (or sanctioned
network activity) you will be asked to leave the class immediately and
will be marked as absent for that day.
Individual faculty members reserve the right to further legislate laptop
use in their classes. For example, you may be asked to close your computer
during screenings or be asked to sit in the first two rows of the class
if you are actively using your laptop.
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