Spring 2004

100 LEVEL COURSES

DMS 101 A
Basic Filmmaking
Howard Kim
MW 9-10:50 am
CFA 286
Reg# 431841

DMS 101 B
Basic Filmmaking
Kristine Barrett
TR 3-4:50 pm
CFA 286
Reg# 442537
This course is intended to provide a basic introduction to 16mm film production. Classes will include screenings, lectures, and demonstrations. Students will learn basic camera operation, lighting, editing, and sound acquisition. In addition, the course will explore the critical relationship between theory and practice in the context of film production. Students will be required to complete collaborative class projects, individual assignments, and a critical paper. Each student will also be required to complete a short, non-sync, 16mm film project. Class materials will cost approx. $150. Lab fee: $100. Class size is strictly limited.

 

DMS 103 A
Basic Video
Cyan Meeks
MW 3-4:50 pm
CFA 232
Reg# 410880

DMS 103 B
Basic Video
Alan Rhodes
TR 9-10:50 am
CFA 286
Reg# 150863
This course is a basic introduction to the tools and techniques of video production. Students will become familiar with using video and develop strategies for its application as an alternative medium of communication. Crucial to this project is the concurrent development of a critical perspective on mainstream media culture. Video art screenings and readings in media theory will critically address the relations between viewers, producers, and the media. Students must expect to acquire materials and texts costing approx. $50.00 to be used in exercises in classroom presentations. Access to equipment and editing facilities will be available. Lab fee: $100. Class size is strictly limited.

 

DMS 105 A
Basic Documentary
Xinli Ge
TR 11-12:50
CFA 235
Reg# 234013
This course will present students with the fundamental, theoretical, creative, and technical concerns of documentary and video production. Students will be introduced to methods of research, production design, approach to subject, interviewing and the structuring of information, as well as the technical video skills of camera work, sound recording, and lighting and editing, as they apply specifically to the documentary process. The demands of documentary expression require preparation with a different emphasis from that which applies to the personal and experimental approaches to filmmaking and video making. Materials and texts will cost approx. $50.
Lab fee: $100. Class size is strictly limited.

 

DMS 107
Film History I
Vincenzo Mistretta
MW 9-10:50 am
CFA 112
Reg# 262755

DMS 108
Film History II
Brian Henderson
Telecourse: ARR
Reg# 108178
American Cinema is an introductory course in film studies, which explores Hollywood films as an art, a craft, an industry, and a system of communication and representation. The course will examine how Hollywood films work, technically, formally, and culturally, to reinforce—and sometimes to challenge—the ideas that Americans can have of themselves, their society, and their nation. You will learn about the functioning of Hollywood institutions like the studio and star systems, about genres like the Western, Romantic Comedy, and Film Noir. The more fundamental goal of the course is to help make you more critical and active viewers, more award of how film achieves its effects and hence its power to influence in ways of which we may not be aware. In order to participate in this telecourse, you must be part of the Adelphia cable network. *Note: Students living in the UB dorms cannot access the telecourse from their dorms.* Students need to attend orientation in order to pick up the course packet and learn the course procedures.

 

DMS 109
Introduction to Film Interpretation
Michael Bouquard
TR 9-10:50 am
CFA 235
Reg# 468753
This course is designed to encourage students to critically engage film through writing assignments and class discussion. Students will learn the vocabulary of motion picture techniques, histories, theories, and ideologies.

 

DMS 110
Programming for Digital Art
Tom Leonhardt
TR 9-10:50 am
CFA 242
Reg# 365895
This course will introduce students to computer programming languages and the underlying fundamentals of how computers, electronics and digital media work. This course should answer the question” Why is programming important in digital art and how can I use it?”. It is not so much oriented towards teaching a specific programming language as it is to understanding what programming is and how it works in general terms. The language we’ll be using in class exercises to illustrate concepts will be Python. Successful completions will prepare students for higher level production course in Media Study which require programming skills.

 

DMS 121 A
Basic Digital Arts
Elizabeth Knipe
MW 9-10:50 am
CFA 244
Reg#115133

DMS 121 B
Basic Digital Arts
Shawn Rider
TR 1-2:50 pm
CFA 244
Reg# 042179
This course will present fundamental concepts and methods that underlie the use of computers in generating and processing digital works and examine them in the context of contemporary artistic practice in painting, photography, film, and video. The impact of computers, both present and potential, on the more traditional arts will be discussed. Through the use of imaging audio and presentation software, students will explore the various ways in which computers deal with images, sound and structures, adapting these methods to produce work of their own. The class size is strictly limited.

 

DMS 155 GAL
Intro to New Media
Chris Galbraith
T (lec) 9-10:50 am
CFA 112
Reg# <<>>

DMS 155 A
Intro to New Media
R (lab) 9-10:50 am
CFA 244
Reg# 328538

DMS 155 B
Intro to New Media
R (lab) 11-12:50 pm
CFA 244
Reg# 113120
This is an introductory level course designed for non-majors and majors who would like to learn basic web, media, and design skills. The ultimate goal of this class is for each student to learn how to design, create, and publish a website on their own. We will be covering the basics of Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash, and Peak-all of which will assist you in creating your site. Attention will be given to bothe the functionality of the website as well as its overall design. Students are encouraged to make a website that will be useful( a portfolio, professional, or personal site).

200 LEVEL COURSES

DMS 213
Immigration and Film
Julie Perini
TR 11-12:50 pm
CFA 232
Reg# 318854
Non-majors welcome. Fulfills American Pluralism requirement
DMS 219
Temporary Reality
Jesse Fabian, Paul Visco
ARR
Online Course
Reg# 028284
The Temporary Reality course exists in an architected reflection of our world. It is accessible via portal software, which has been developed to represent the online community as a visually rich multi-dimensional environment.The course offers an exploration of economic exchange, social structures, experimental government, environmental design, and models for change. Participants will explore and analyze such tools and structures as they discover, and will create new tools and models for building re-usable structures in temporary realities and communities.

 

DMS 259
Intro to Media Analysis
Trebor Scholz
MW 2-3:50 pm
CFA 112
Reg# 005196
Media Analysis is a wide ranging survey course engaging with current discourses in new media cultures around topics such as translation,copyright, histories of the Internet, privacy, architectures of social online interaction (such as weblogs, listservs, and wikis), networked games, hacking, electronic civil disobedience, distributed creativity, digital poetics, web-based art, the creative commons, online collaboration, wireless devices, and the economics of the Internet.Each week we will focus on one or two of these topics, prepare relevant texts, browse selected websites, watch DVDs, have focused debates or communicate with critical thinkers across the US and Europe via web-streaming.

300 LEVEL COURSES

DMS 304
Video Analysis
Tony Conrad
MW 11-12:50 pm
CFA 112
Reg# 330736
Video Analysis is a survey of historical and contemporary practices in video, with an emphasis on the work of independent media artists. Since this course is centered upon a body of work that is not widely distributed, much class time will be devoted to critical viewings of video works. This means that much of the informational substance of the course must be supplied by the readings, which will include a large course packet and two textbooks. There will be regular quizzes on these readings, and a series of short essays will be assigned throughout the semester. Students who have taken DMS 303, the first semester of Video Analysis, may expect a change of emphasis and content in DMS 304. This semester we will focus on three specific video applications: political activism, performance, and video's relation to music. Grades will be based on the essays (55%); reading quizzes (20%); and regular attendance (25%), which is mandatory

 

DMS 305
Film Analysis
Caroline Koebel
MW 2-3:50 pm
CFA 232
Reg# 401641
This course analyzes a far-ranging selection of films that are marked as having been banned, censored, or otherwise extremely controversial in their countries of origin or in the international arena. Directors have had to face such punishments as imprisonment, exile, marginality, and career loss. Weekly screenings will be placed in context by extensive materialsregarding: 1) the individual film’s conditions of production; 2) the film’s governmental, critical and popular reception; 3) the sociopolitical climate of the home country; and 4) the film’s director. Close attention will be paid to various state-sponsored forms of restriction of expression, including morality codes and censor boards. Freedom of speech and the right to receive information and ideas. Constitutional rights in theU.S. are conceptual touchstones of the course, and the historical study of these democratic principles will be continuously applied to analysis of present conditions in U.S. and global culture and politics. Although muchof the course content derives from the 1960s and 1970s, included are key examples of both silent and contemporary cinema. The course_s main body of international feature films will be complemented by several sessions devoted to short films (avant-garde, experimental) and documentaries.
Directors include: Kenneth Anger, Carolee Schneemann, Jack Smith, Jean Genet, Lawrence Brose, Frederick Wiseman, Todd Haynes, Michael Powell, Catherine Breillat, Jafar Panahi, Oscar Micheaux, Tahmineh Milani, José, Mojica Marins, Pier Paolo Pasolini, D.W. Griffith, Vera Chytilova, Jaromil Jires, Wang Xiaooshuai, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Nagisa Oshima, Sergei
Paradjanov, Sergei Eisenstein, and Jean-Luc Godard.

DMS 341 KNO
Intermediate Video Production
Meg Knowles
TR 1-2:50 pm
CFA 286
Reg# 260662
PR: DMS 103, 104, 105, or 106
This course is a workshop in the tools of video. It offers exercises in intermediate video production for students who have had some previous exposure to video as a creative medium. The course will emphasize the development of technical skills and knowledge which are necessary for the effective use of video as an artistic tool and for documentation or personal expression. The student will buy at least three videocassettes for use in hands-on assigned exercise concerning cameras, lighting, editing, and other aspects of production and post-production. Other topics to be covered are video electronics and staging. Each student will need to spend a substantial amount of time working with studio, portable, and editing facilities outside the regular class hours. In addition, some outside video tape viewing, as well as short papers, will be required. Readings will include classroom handouts in addition to the assigned textbook. Total minimum expenses for each student are $50.

400 LEVEL COURSES

DMS 401
Advanced Film
Vince Mistretta
MW 12-1:50 pm
CFA 286
Reg# 104287
Permission of Instructor Only
This is an advanced film production course designed for students who have successfully completed the intermediate film production class and have produced at least one short 16mm film. This course will explore the key components of independent production. Students will develop a major project from pre-production through the initial stages of post-production. Students are required to come to the class with an initial concept for a substantive project to be completed during the spring semester. Students will maintain a journal, produce a pre-production package, produce a production book and a fine cut of their final film project. In Addition, students will make a short autobiographical film and explore Narrative, Documentary, and Experimental elements in filmmaking. Students can expect to spend $450 for materials and processing for the course. Students will receive some assistance with supplies and film stock.

 

DMS 404
Advanced Documentary
Sarah Elder
TR 3-4:50 pm
CFA 235
Reg# 174225 Permission of Instructor
This course is an advanced workshop in which students create an original documentary project in video (or film, still photography, audio or web-based formats with the permission of instructor). Creativity and originality will be stressed with exercises to encourage "seeing", "listening" and artistic risk taking. Individual projects may go in many creative directions including the political, personal, humorous, experimental, conventional, transgressive, ethnographic, client-based or activist. Students will gain a solid understanding of contemporary non-fiction forms and the particular problems which non-fiction makers face. Films by contemporary artists will be shown on a regular basis with special attention to experimental documentary work. We will look at dramatic structure, story telling, and narrative/non-narrative forms of editing. Emphasis will be given to production techniques which bring access and intimacy to the video subject and integrity to the documentary. The course will explore ethical issues and problems of privacy and intrusion. Students will develop production skills in research, fieldwork, collaboration, interviewing, location sound recording, camera skills, and production management. Each student will produce one short documentary piece, with supporting assignments in shooting, sound, and digital editing on the Media 100. A written production book will be required. A class film festival ends the semester.
Prerequisite: DMS Basic Documentary, or DMS Basic Video and DMS Intermediate Video.

 

DMS 409
Non-Fiction Film: Pop Docs
Sarah Elder
TR 12-1:50 pm
CFA 112
Reg# 201821
This course examines popular American documentary films looking at diverse representations of American culture. We explore independent award-winning contemporary works with themes of gender, ethnicity, popular music, sexual orientation, murder, justice, rock stars, racism, disability and history. Particular focus is on the curious relationship between the images of reality and reality itself, and on America’s love affair with reality media. Emphasis is placed on understanding the thin shifting line between fiction and non-fiction and challenging the notion of documentary “truth.” Students develop analytical and interpretive media skills that are applicable to all film and video. Students learn non-fiction critical theory including Nichols, Winston, Ruby, and Renov and analyze artistic elements of non-fiction film and video including visual narrativity, storytelling, spontaneous camera work, editing, audio, and common elements for artistic and commercial success. The class explores different documentary styles including experimental docs, cinema verite, fake docs, diary and reflexive docs, collaborative making and cutting edge contemporary work. We address the ethical and artistic considerations of filming real people and real communities. Works of Wiseman, Pennebaker, Kopple, Maysles, Freidrich, O’Rourke, Riggs, Morris, and more. Attendance is required as well as two papers and a take-home exam. Be prepared to see a lot of great films!

 

DMS 411
Film Theory
Brian Henderson
MW 9-10:50 am
CFA 235
Reg# 244708
This course is an exploration of the principal theories of film through a critical reading of texts and a close examination of films. The texts to be perused comprise several groups. Classical film theory includes Munsterburg, Kuleshov, Pudovkin, Eisenstein, Balasz, Arnheim, Bazin, and Godard. The critique of classical film theory includes Burch, Perkins, and Henderson. The course will also explore semiotics, psychoanalysis, and poststructuralism, in Barthes, Eco, Metz, Pasolini, Baudry, Heath, and in feminist film theory, including Gledhill, Mulvey, Silverman, Modleski, Doane, and Studlar. A section on avant-garde theory will include Vertov, Epstein, Deren, Brakhage, Sitney, and Michelson. These topic areas will be set in interaction throughout: e.g., Soviet editing and antirealism are continued in the avant-garde; rhetorical figures such as metaphor, metonymy, ellipsis, condensation, and displacement, can be traced in very different theoretical contexts and in close readings of individual films.

 

DMS 415
Animation Graphics
Chris Coleman
F 11:30-4:50 pm
CFA 244
Reg# 348474
Pr: DMS 121,155, 221, or equivalent or permission of Instructor.
This course will look at how to create complex animations using both Flash and After Effects. The first half of the class will look at how to use Flash to create compact/web ready animations and how to include interaction to move the viewer out of a passive role. The second half will concentrate on using After Effects to enhance animations with special effects as well as create them in a 2D/3D space to add depth. Students should know the basics of one or both pieces of software. An understanding of simple action scripting or other computer language is suggested. There will be two major projects and several smaller technical exercises. Much of the work will be done outside of class times so the student should be self-driven and ready learn at a fast pace.

 

DMS 416
PUBLIC ACTION / PRIVATE PRACTICE: (media) art beyond the (media) mainstream
TR 1-2:50 pm
CFA 235
Reg# 109782
This course will examine forms of artmaking which unfold for the most part outside the world of museums, multiplexes, theaters, and other conventional venues. These include both actions with a potentially large if sometimes unwitting viewership (political protests, street theater, mass-media pranks & hoaxes) and those on a far more intimate/private scale (zines, blogs,
live/work spaces, private performances). We will also consider such phenomena as public access television, internet activism, video witnessing, independent ("sub-corporate") record labels, low-power radio, graffiti, and other instances of "peripheral art." The threads which unite these practices are many: they present a challenge to cultural monopolies, they often encourage active participation, they're generally inexpensive to produce, and their creators are usually less interested in career-building than in direct engagement with the world around them. The course will incorporate examples of the practices covered, presentations by guest speakers, and readings, among other resources. By its very nature, the course will also take into account cultural developments occurring on campus and/or in the world at large throughout the semester.

 

DMS 418
Novels to Film: Part 2 Classics
Linda Reisman
M 9-12:50 pm
CFA 232
Reg# 343628
Permission of Instructor
DMS 420 BOH
Adv. Digital Arts
Marc Bohlen
MW 11-12:50 pm
CFA 246
Reg# 323022
PR: DMS 419, 110,155 or Permission of Instructor
Computing for the Arts I (DMS420)
Microprocessor based dirt-cheap computing
Want to learn how to turn an old toaster into a hair dryer? Ever wondered about the little button in your car that lets you open and
close windows? Are you generally fed up with lack of inspiration in consumer electronics? This course is for you.
Microprocessor based dirt-cheap computing is an introduction to the small computational modules that reside in most electrical appliances. You will learn how to program a particular class of microprocessors,
how to interface them with other electrical components and the world at
large. Students are required to develop code not only for their own work but also for the class library, at everyone’s disposal. The final project will include an installation in a real world setting.Don’t take this course if you are looking for an easy ride.

 

DMS 420 SCH
Adv. Digital Arts
Trebor Scholz
MW 11-12:50 pm
CFA 244
Reg# 357475
PR: DMS 419C or Permission of Instructor
In this class we will deepen the vocational skills and conceptual abilities introduced in the first semester of this sequential class and further develop the web-based DMS publication that the class created. We will add streamed video, audio and network intensely with new media students across the US, Europe, Finland, and South Africa. In addition we will further develop content for the web-based DMS publication aiming to engage a wide university audience also including DMS alumni. We will read, discuss and systematically develop intermediate to advanced knowledge in the areas ofCSS, DHTML, XML and also widen our knowledge of software package such asAfterimage, SoundEdit, Fireworks, Director and Flash.

 

DMS 424
Programming Graphics
Dave Pape
TR 11-12:50 pm
CFA 242
Reg#270993
This course builds on DMS 423, looking at current advanced techniques in rendering. Also presents mathematical simulation and animation methods for creating dynamic applications

 

DMS 425
Visual Media Poetics
Loss Glazier
MW 3-6:50 pm
CFA 235
Reg# 396449
Visual Poetics provides an opportunity to explore the expressive potential of language as a creative material consisting of alphabetic, visual, and aural levels, with a focus on forms of visual expression, including Concrete Poetry. Non-semantic forms of expression will be studied as keys to unlocking this potential. The immense value of 20th century experimental
literature to he student's own efforts to design or interpret media writing is a major concern of this course. We will be thinking about the multiple possibilities of language as a conjunction of possibilities, textures, tones, meanings, and media. We will look at digital literature as a merging of form, image, language, and sound, and we will explore works that successfully produce this extraordinary effect. We will look at works of Concrete Poetry and consider these as models for digital media design. We
will study theoretical essays and manifestos related to visual media practice, investigating modes and means of visual media expression. Course will require weekly readings, an oral presentation, a final project, and quizzes or exams as necessary.

 

DMS 434
Advanced Maya
Jesse Fabian
M 6-9:50 pm
CFA 242
Reg# 207258
PR: Permission of Instructor
Design visual models targeting consumer electronics platforms including cellphonesBREW(Qualcomm), WAP(Nokia), console games: Playstation, and Xbox, and the web. Measure and model information, manipulate modeled information to form patterns that appeal to consumers and can be implemented in the targeted platform. Build a series of models, from real world data, for embodiment in a cellphone, DVD, computer, web application, or games hardware.Schedule: Measure people, process, patterns, motion, image, transaction, database, network, sensor, and controller information. Model information regenerated from measurements as a static model, field, procedure, database, or another structure. Manipulate modeled information to form triggering and execution devices. Select one idealized form of the manipulated information for implementation into a product at the expense of all others. Encapsulate one idealized form in a system with a formal instruction set; cellphone, DVD, computer, web application, or games hardware. Embody a process in the selected system. Design a production pipeline. Implement a product or series of products through a production pipeline.

 

DMS 439
VR Art Project
Dave Pape
T 2-5:50 pm (lec & lab)
CFA 242
Reg#168976
"In this sequel to DMS438 students extend their skills with VR authoring tools and programming/modeling for real-time applications. Focuses on networking with remote sites, as well as the use of agents, smart environments, gaming techniques, interface and interactivity, and effective sound design in VR."

 

DMS 442
Advanced Video Production
Tony Conrad
MW 3-4:50 pm
CFA 286
Reg# 013061
This course is a very hands-on introduction to the real world of the producing and exhibiting video maker. It focuses on some of our most central and troubling creative problems: What kind of project should I make, and why? How do I organize my project? How important is our cultural environment for our work? Is it important to create as individuals or in groups? And what do I do with my work when it’s “done”? In this course each individual will develop their own approach to the production of video projects; some will do work that can be completed quickly (preferred!), others will work on longer projects. Some will work alone, others in groups. Much of the class time will be devoted to observing one another’s working processes and progress. Each student will be responsible for discussing or showing their work or ideas, or presenting a summary of an assigned topic, during a four-minute time slot each week. In addition, there will be lectures, workshops, and discussions of technical and aesthetic issues including advanced editing, audio, and special effects. Other course activities (productions, showings, field trips) are also an option. Students will use both studio and field production equipment, and will work on nonlinear editing facilities. There is a lab fee for Advanced Video, in addition to which the student should plan for up to $100 in additional costs, including a standard video production text for reference. Regular and punctual attendance at course meetings is mandatory. Grades are based on the number of classroom presentations made (60%), personal progress in work completed (25%), participatory attendance (7.5%), and periodic quizzes on course topics (7.5%).

 

DMS 455
Studies in Cinema:1970’s
Linda Reisman
W 9-12:50 pm
CFA 232
Reg# 296880
This course will cover an overview of the films from the 1970’s with special emphasis on a group of directors whose films set the tone for American independent cinema of later years. Directors such as Coppola, Scorsese, Schrader, Lumet will be included

 

DMS 456
Program for Web Design
Chris Egert
MW 4-5:50 pm (lec&lab)
CFA 244
Reg# 040702
This course is intended to provide students with an introduction to web-based script programming. The course will start by providing students with an understanding of the architecture of modern web browsers and web servers. Students will be presented with a structural overview of the HyperText Markup Language (HTML), concentrating on advanced features such as Dynamic HTML (DHTML) and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). Over the course of the semester, students will learn basic programming skills for both the web server (using PHP) and the web browser (using JavaScript), with an emphasis on script programming for the web server. General programming topics will include variables, assignment, expressions, page-based input and output, functions, iteration, selection, and aggregate data types such as arrays and objects. Web browser programming topics will include manipulating the Document Object Model (DOM), forms handling, client-side cookie handling, and event handling. Web server programming topics will include processing information gathered from web page requests, dynamic page generation, session management/information scoping, server-side cookie processing, and server-based extension libraries.
Although no prior programming experience is required for this course, students should have exposure to web design, including the use of modern hypertext layout systems such as Macromedia Dreamweaver™ or Microsoft FrontPage™. As this is a production-oriented class, students will be required to perform a substantial amount of work outside class.

 

DMS 461
Cyber Theory
Marc Bohlen
MW 3-4:50 pm
CFA 235
Reg# 107495
This course will investigate the idealized hopes and false promises of the cyber theoretical discourse. In addition to a reading of classic cyber theory texts, this course will elaborate a critique of anthropocentric cybernetic paradigms.In particular we will read texts from the engineering and life sciences usuallynot referenced in cultural studies, such as the Journal of Physiology, Nature,
the Journal of Experimental Biology, the Journal of Circuits, Systems and Computers, and Applied Animal Behaviour Science

 

DMS 474
Seminar on Post-Modernism
Brian Henderson
MW 12-1:50 pm
CFA 235
Reg#23017
This seminar explores notions of postmodernism and of postmodern textuality and of relations—actual, possible, and potential—between them. Theoretical work by Jean Beaudrillard, Jean-Francois Lyotard, Craig Owens, Linda Williams, and others will be studied. Films to be viewed include Mayhem by Abigail Child, The Singing Detective by Stephan Potter, and The Thin Blue Line by Errol Morris. Graphic work to be examined includes Daniel Buren, Francesco Clemente, Mary Kelly, Anselm Kiefer, Julian Schnabel, and Cindy Sherman. Literary work to be examined includes Poems for the Millenium (vol. 2) and late stories by J.D. Salinger; drama by Caryl Churchill, Fo and Brecht will also be sampled. Presentations by seminar members will expand these issues.

 

DMS 490
Internship
Staff
Variable Credit 1-4
Permission of Instructor
Media Study majors have the opportunity to gain variable academic credit for internships in local and national media production companies, television stations, cable companies, and media access centers. This is an unpaid internship available to majors. Guidelines are set by an internship supervisor in collaboration with a faculty sponsor to provide hands-on practical experience in an on-the-job training program. For registration info, see Nancy King in 231 CFA.

 

DMS 499
Independent Study
Staff
Variable Credit 1-4
Permission of Instructor
Students may arrange for special courses of study with faculty through “Independent Study.” The instructor will set the guidelines for the course on an individual basis. It permits the student to study, independently, in an area where no course is given. Syllabus for Independent Study should be prepared prior to semester, signed by the instructor, with one copy on file with the department. For registration info, see Nancy King in 231 CFA. Lab fee for production work: $100