Spring 2005

100 LEVEL COURSES

DMS 101 A
Basic Filmmaking
Vincenzo Mistretta
MW 9-10:50am
CFA 286
REG#308443

DMS 101 B
Basic Filmmaking
Ki-Seub Shin
TR 3-4:50pm
CFA 286
REG#371122
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
Aysegul Taskent
MW 1-2:50pm
CFA 286
REG#237130

DMS 103 B
Basic Video
Robin Brasington
TR 9-10:50am
CFA 286
REG#369628
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
Basic Documentary
Ruth Goldman
TR 11-12:50pm
CFA 286
REG#173268
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 1
Brian Henderson
MW 9-10:50 am
CFA 112
REG#096286
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. For information, contact: bhenders@buffalo.edu

DMS 109
Film Interpretation
Carolyn Tennant
TR 9-10:50am
CFA 235
REG#3121110
Description not yet available.

DMS 110
Programming for the Arts
Staff
TR 9-10:50
CFA 242
REG#471872
This course is an introduction to computer programming for intended digital in Media Study only. It is highly recommended that you enroll in this course if you intend to pursue the digital arts in Media Study. This course will give you the necessary background to aid you in DMS 419 and DMS 420, and the Robotics and VR courses. Registration is strictly limited to intended/declared digital arts majors. Graduate students may informally audit the course if they need programming experience. Lab fee $100.

DMS 121 A
Basic Digital Arts
Elizabeth Knipe
MW 9-10:50am
CFA 244
REG#321473

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. Work by contemporary artists working in the digital medium will be shown and examined on a regular basis. The class size is strictly limited. Lab fee: $100.

DMS 155 (Lecture)
Introduction to New Media
Staff
T 9-10:50
Reg.# xxxxxx(Register for a lab, this will enroll you for the lecture as well)
CFA112

DMS 155 A (lab)
R 9-10:50am
CFA 244
REG#250615

DMS 155 B (lab)
R 11-12:50pm
CFA 244
REG#310561
This course provides an introduction to design and the production of interactive multimedia. The content of the class will focus on the theoretical and practical aspects of creating and integrating digital media with authoring/presentation tools. This class will lay the foundation for creating interactive projects for the web and CD-ROMS, and will integrate art, journalism, and music through hands-on developmental projects in our new state-of-the-art Mac lab. Students will learn the process and skills necessary to create a web site and an interactive CD-ROM which integrates animation, graphic design, sound, and text, working in Adobe Photoshop, Macromedia Dreamweaver, Flash animation, Sound Edit 16, and Illustrator. The course will accommodate 48 students. Enroll now! Get the technological edge! Lab fee $100. NON-MAJORS WELCOME. NO PRE-REQUISITE KNOWLEDGE NECESSARY.

200 LEVEL COURSES

DMS 213
Immigration and Film
Julie Perini
TR 1-2:50pm
CFA 232
REG#218262

DMS 215
Programming for the Web
Tom Leonhardt
MW 3-4:50pm
CFA 244
REG#345095
Contemporary Web projects are often based on the gathering, organizing and distribution of media content. This course will introduce you to the scripting and database tools that work behind the scenes to make this happen. You will learn how to use Open Source, server-side languages such as PHP and SQL to produce a portfolio piece. The course will guide you through the development process; beginning with conceiving an idea, modeling it as data, then producing the code, content, database and interface to realize it. A basic understanding of programming concepts, interface design and media production is required.

DMS 225
Digital Literature Survey
Loss Glazier
MW 5-6:50pm
CFA 232
REG#354438

DMS 259
Intro to Media Analysis
Josephine Anstey
MW 1-2:50pm
CFA 112
Reg.#034942
This introductory course to Media Analysis examines the rise of especially visual mass media in the 20th century, from photography, television, and film, to new media. It pays close attention to media historical moments, such as fascism and film in post world war II Italy, or the postmodern turn with the event of digitality. Due to the urgency of political events, we will closely analyze the current media-war-coverage considering mainstream as well as independent media discourses. The respective media are analyzed in light of their materiality. Methodologies vary between Ideology-critique, Cultural Studies, Political Theory, Postmodern Theory, and Semiotics. Students will write essay exams based on course lectures and essays from the course reader: Media and Cultural Studies, ed. Meenakshi Gigi Durham/ Douglas M. Kellner, Malden, Mass./ Oxford, England: Blackwell, 2002.

300 LEVEL COURSES

DMS 304
Video Analysis 2
Tony Conrad
MW 10-11:50am
CFA 253
REG#466160
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 Cinema 1
Bernadette Wegenstein
W 2-5:50pm
CFA 235
REG#169524
Holocaust and Film: This film analysis class focuses on the cinematographic representation of the Holocaust in various cultures and film genres, as well as through the last fifty years of film history. From Hollywood to France, Italy, Austria, Germany, Israel, and Czechoslovakia, from fiction to documentary to docu-fiction, from drama to comedy, this class will analyze one film per week and discuss it in relation with readings from philosophy and literary criticism. Intercultural differences between the various backgrounds of the filmmakers, times, and cultural environments, in which these films and documentaries have been made, will be at the center of the analysis. The course will be held on Wednesdays from 2-5:50 each week with a 15 minute break. One part of class will be dedicated to a screening, the other one to the discussion of the film and the readings. We will invite at least one filmmaker during the semester to present her own Holocaust film. Students are required to actively participate, kick off on the weekly readings, and view all films. They will write a 10 page paper at the end of the semester, as well as write one midterm and one final essay exam. There will be a course website with general course info, syllabus, readings, and Holocaust and Film archive available as of January 2005.

DMS 341 KNO
Intermediate Video Workshop
Meg Knowles
TR 1-2:50
CFA 286
REG#******
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. Lab fee: $100. Attendance is mandatory.

400 LEVEL COURSES

DMS 401
Advanced Film Production
Steven Eastwood
MW 11-12:50pm
CFA 286
REG#******
Further Experiments with film narrative:
Reflexivity; films within films; inaccurate telling; the problems with looking, and with looking at looking.
This is an advanced course open to graduate and undergraduate students, developing ideas addressed in intermediate film. Students have the option to produce several short films, or to instead concentrate on developing an innovative ‘screenplay’. We will give close reading to feature films that deal with the nature of filmmaking and the complexities of storytelling. We will discuss the reflexive strategies of postmodern film practice and the origins of such foregrounding in modernism (within both the novel, classic cinema and avant-garde film/video practice). In class we will analyse screenplays and then relate them to finished films, discussing novel story structures, uses of palimpsest and the disruption of continuity. In particular we will examine films that, by including looking and filming within the film text, disturb or make problematic the positioned gaze and attentiveness of the audience (for example in Powell’s ‘Peeping Tom’, Hitchcock’s ‘Rear Window’ and Kieslowski’s ‘Camera Buff’). We will also look at how artists have worked with narrative script writing and the short or feature film form, viewing the work of Vito Acconci, Rebecca Horn, Tom Kalin and Janet Cardiff. An additional emphasis will be on drifting narratives, where filmmakers have deviated from the script structure during shooting, most notably in Godard. Students will be appraised on their research process and on either their screenwriting content and method or the film sequences they produce. This is a production class with a strong emphasis on critique and theoretical reading. In addition to the submission of practice, students can expect a reading list of 4-6 books and will be required to submit a longer form written paper of 7-10 pages.

DMS 404
Advanced Documentary Production
Sarah Elder
TR 3-4:50pm
CFA 235

DMS 404
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. Materials and text approximately $50. Lab Fee $100.

DMS 409
Non Fiction Film
Sarah Elder
TR 12-1:50pm
CFA 235
REG#******
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 415
Special Topics
Trebor Scholz
TR 6-7:50pm
CFA 235
REG#183964

DMS 415/515
"Collecting: The Art of Containers. Touring From Interface to
Back-end Data" (Digital Theory) Graduate level (spring: Intermediate, fall:
Advanced) Tues/Thurs
Graduate students coming from different media backgrounds will critically examine their practice as it relates to collecting, archiving, categorizing,
and forgetting. We will individually or collaboratively, work with you on your projects. Applied to your concrete projects the course will introduce you theories about the archive, the politics of memory, and databases. If you are an obsessive collector just like Andy Warhol and like to deepen your practice or if you like to learn how to take your database project to the web-- this will be your class.
Outcomes of this class may be web-based database art, writing, installation or video work.
Prerequisite:
Your practice or interests need to relate to the topics of this class.
see: http://critical-netcultures.net

DMS 416
Cyberfeminism
Bernadette Wegenstein
W 6-9:50pm
CFA 235
REG#320143

DMS 417
Copyright & All That
Dave Pape
TR 3-4:50pm
CFA 232
REG#146243

DMS 418
Advanced Modeling
Jesse Fabian
M 6-8:50pm
CFA 242
REG#023154
We will measure patterns of difference, and replicate idealized and designed patterns.
The patterns which will be used as the basis for our models might be of any variety. Examples of good information sources which could be used to create models are: objects, behaviors, games, animals, and communication structures.
The goal of the course is to facilitate the design, and completion of a modeling project: you will design and build a model, embody the model in a
system which supports the capabilities of the model, and create a system by which other similar models can be produced.
For example, if you design a model of a bear, you might then put the model into a bear-based video game, or have the model embodied in plastic and plush at a production facility. The next step is to create a method for designing and producing a series of bears, and embodying them.
Another example: if you design a piece of organized movement or dance, you might then put the dance into a music video, or have the dance performed live. The next step is to create a method for designing and producing a series of dances, and embodying them.
In class, example models will be assembled and disassembled, and embodied in various ways - using for example: object components, anatomy, behavior, communication, and movement.Schedule:
Measure and model information, manipulate modeled information to form patterns which can be implemented for a targeted media. Build a series of models, for embodiment in a targeted media. Connect capabilities of models
to environmental factors. Select one idealized form of the manipulated model for implementation. Encapsulate one idealized form in a system using
a formal instruction or symbol set. Embody a model and process for manipulation of this model in the selected system. Design a production method for replicating models into a system or systems. Implement a product or series of products through this production method.
Potential media targets: video or other stream, print, computer & display, cell phone/pda, web application, broadcast system, choreographed events, manufacturing, built environment.

DMS420
Advanced Digital Arts Production
Trebor Scholz
TR 2-3:50pm
CFA 244
REG#******
Students will be introduced to the theory and technical concepts underlying websites which use databases to store, organize and publish information. Online, database-driven web sites are becoming the standard and range from giants like Amazon and social software tools like weblogs, to a vast range of art projects. The course will lead you through the fundamentals of creating a database, writing code to interact with it, and publishing it with a web interface. Your main creative project will consist of a data-based diary/ self-portrait.
Prerequisite: basic familiarity with web design and programming.
see: http://critical-netcultures.net

DMS 424 (Lab)
Programming Graphics 2
Dave Pape
TR 11-12:50pm
CFA 242
REG#345277

DMS 424 (Seminar)
Programming Graphics 2
Dave Pape
TR 11-12:50pm
CFA 242
REG#420848
This course builds on DMS 423, looking at current advanced techniques in rendering. Also presents mathematical simulation and animation methods for creating dynamic applications. Lab Fee $100.

DMS 432 (Lab)
Italian Cinema II: Directors
E.G. Licastro
TR 4:10-6:50pm
ALUMNI 90
REG#047312

DMS 432 (Lecture)
Italian Cinema II: Directors
E.G. Licastro
T 4:10-5:30pm
ALUMNI 90
REG#028988

DMS 434
Animation Graphics
Shawn Rider
F 1-4:50pm
CFA 244
REG#076340
Animation Graphics will explore methods and practice of creating digital animation, motion graphics, and algorithmically generated and enhanced vector animations. We will study the history and tradition of motion graphics design and fine art animation, and incorporate concepts
relevant to the development of these modes of creation into two major projects. We will use AfterEffects and Flash to explore two major
technical modes of creation: raster-based animation, and vector animation. Students are required to have a foundational knowledge of
Flash and AfterEffects; completion of Basic Digital Art, New Media I, Art 250 (Computer Art), or some equivalent coursework or demonstrable
level of knowledge is required. Completion of Programming for the Arts, Programming Graphics, or any other introduction to programming and
scripting is also strongly suggested, but not required.

DMS 438
Vr Art Project 1
Josephine Anstey
W 4-7:50pm
REG#099370

DMS 439
Vr Art Project 2
Josephine Anstey
W 4-7:50pm
CFA 266
REG#073892
Prerequisites Building a VR Art Project I or Permission of Instructor
VR is a new medium for artistic experimentation. It is an area in need of practice as much as theory as it evolves and defines itself. This course and its prequel push students to contribute to research in this area by building a large-scale and complex VR art project from start to finish. It exploits the discipline imposed by a production schedule while exposing students to the cutting edge in immersive VR authoring tools. Experience in VR programming will open new employment opportunities to the students since Virtual Reality is an expanding medium with applications in many areas - science, industry, education, medicine, entertainment & the arts. Lab Fee $100

DMS 440
Women Directors
M.E. Gutierrez
M 3-5:40pm
CAPEN 260
REG#264155

DMS 442
Advanced Video Production
Tony Conrad
MW 3-4:50pm
CFA 286
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%). Lab Fee $100.

DMS 447
Sound Design
Michael Bouquard
MW 1-2:50pm
CFA 232
REG#248826

DMS 455
Novels to Film: Contemporary Authors
Linda Reisman
F 10-1:50pm
CFA 232
REG#415670
This course will closely examine the screen adaptations of a selected group of contemporary novels. The books will include work by authors such as Russell Banks, Rick Moody, Scott Spencer and Kazuo Ishiguro, among others and filmmakers Paul Schrader, Atom Egoyan, Keith Gordon, Sofia Coppola and several more. Each week we will discuss a different novel and screen the film.

DMS 456
Dance for the Camera
Staff
F 12-3:50pm
CFA 286
REG#031154
This course will introduce students to the use of dance and movement in film and video. We will pursue an inquisition into this new genre that crosses over the classical sensibilities of dance, music video, narrative and artist’s moving image. A contextual framework will be provided through a program of screenings and lectures examining a cross section of dance and movement based films and videos. Looking at a variety of material from Europe and America we will explore the current growing wave of emerging international dance filmmakers including directors such as Miranda Pennell, Allison Murray, Magali Charrier and Shelley Love. In addition to these progressive contemporary directors we will also examine earlier dance film interpretations, bringing in elements of Busby Berkeley, Maya Deren and Jacques Tati. We will consider the movement of the camera and camera operator in Dance Film and experiment with what can be done ‘in camera’ that can be considered movement: Stop frame animation, zooming, changing film speeds or exposure etc. We will ask what constitutes dance as opposed to movement? Can we think of editing as a form of choreography? Inquiring into the politics of Dance Film we will question issues of trained dancers versus untrained dancers, site specific as well as gallery work and exploring site as a context for movement. We will look at how choreography for the camera differs from choreography for the stage and how to utilize the medium of film and video to enhance the expression of the movement. Students will be expected to collaborate to produce 2 pieces of work on film or video or both. Lab Fee: $100

DMS 461
Element of Machine Culture
Marc Bohlen
MW 11-12:50pm
CFA 232
REG#296084
This lecture course will follow the conception and history of the machine from the monastery bell to the latest humanoid robot. This is not a history course, but a survey of events that may be considered pivotal in the conceptual construction of the role of the machine. Consequentially, the course will focus on cultural aspects of technologies, deployment of technologies and the fabrication of desire for and belief in the machine. The later part of the course will concentrate on aspects of machine and robotic art. Materials will be gathered from diverse authors and sources such as: Mumford, Virilio, Feyerabend, Kittler, Heidegger, Foucault, Marvin, Marr, Nye and others. Open to all students – no prerequisites. marcbohlen@lycos.com www.buffalo.edu/~mrbohlen

DMS 474
Seminar on Postmodernism
Brian Henderson
MW 12-1:50pm
CFA 235
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.

J.T. Rinker
MW 2-3:50pm
CFA 246
REG#152263
DMS 490
Media Arts Internship
Staff
REG#******
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
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