DMS 101 A DMS 101 B
Basic Filmmaking Basic Filmmaking
MW 9-10:50 TR 15:00-16:50
Reg.# 142432 Reg.# 308205
Kim / Roddy
CFA 286
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: $75. Class size is strictly limited.
DMS 103 A DMS 103 B
Basic Video Basic Video
MW 15-16:50 TR 10-11:50
Reg.# 261038 Reg.# 398087
Eaton / Rhodes
CFA 232 CFA 286 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: $75. Class size is strictly limited.
DMS 105 A
Basic Documentary
MW 13-14:50
Reg.#149519
Bouquard
CFA 232 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: $75. Class size is strictly limited.
DMS 108 T
History of Film 2
ARR (telecourse)
Reg. # 343366
Henderson This course is a survey of developments in international cinema from
the 1950s to the present.
DMS 109 CUD
Film Interpretation: Youth Culture & Cinema
TR 13:00-14:50
Reg.# 025645
Cuddy
CFA 112 This course is designed to provoke students to think about film on
an informed and critical level. "Youth Culture & Cinema" focuses
on the representation of youth in American film over the last fifty years. The
poignancy of such genres from the juvenile delinquent (JD) films of the 50s
to the politically charged films of the 60s to the ironic films of present have
tried to define a demographic that has been evasive since the end of WWII. What
are the roots of this phenomenon with youth culture? How has technology intensified
these questions? Texts like McLuhan's "The Medium is the Massage",
Postman's "The Disappearance of Childhood", Donna Gaine's "Teenage
Wasteland" and Greil Marcus' "Lipstick Traces" will help the
class investigate the issues raised about youth culture while watching a selection
of films from the last six decades. Using Louis Gianetti's textbook "Understanding
Movies" students will gain a rudimentary vocabulary to discuss techniques,
histories, and ideologies that film embodies.
DMS 121 A DMS 121 B
Basic Digital Arts Basic Digital Arts
MW 9-10:50 TR 13:00-14:50
Reg. # 391455 Reg.# 436164
Rider Miller
CFA 244 CFA 244 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: $75.
DMS 215 NEV
Programming 4 Multimedia
Dan Neveu
Reg.# 361700
MW 9-10:50
CFA 242
Permission of Instructor This course is an introduction to computer programming for all intended
digital concentration majors in Media Study. 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. Graduate students may informally audit the course if they need programming
experience. Lab fee $75.
DMS 219 GLA
Digital Literature
Loss Glazier
TR 16-17:50
Reg.# 459956
CFA 112 This course offers students the opportunity to conduct an intensive
survey of the field of digital literature through a focus on the screening of
digital texts. Primary emphasis will be on "reading" the digital texts
presented. Course will also cover the relationship of innovative poetry to digital
media, the phenomenon of the Internet and its relation to "the I",
meaning-making through the context, design, and writerly qualities of Web pages,
traditions of hypertext, the materiality of code, the history of e-poetry, and
digital media poetry in the academy. Special attention will be given to understanding
a broad range of innovative works in the medium including hypertext, digital
and kinetic literature, and works in networked and programmable media, and to
examining, interpreting, and interrogating the key theoretical texts of the
most significant practitioners in the field. The course will include foundational
early theory, writings from formative scholarly hypertext theorists, and work
by more recent cutting-edge independent digital theorists. Attention will be
given to the role of programming as a social, literary, and language-related
act. The cultural impact of films related to programming/cyberculture (Tron,
Tomb Raider, The Matrix, AI, etc.) will be discussed, with film screenings as
appropriate. Discussion of key cyberculture and media theory authors as relevant.
Online texts as appropriate, especially for a sense of current research in the
field. Course Requirements: midterm, final exam. TBA. Students are encouraged
to keep a screening journal. Text: TBA.
DMS 221 FER
Web Design
Deborah Fertig
TR 12-13:50
Reg.# 156198
CFA 242 This course will involve the analysis and creation of Web sites and
Web-based media for a variety of communication purposes (artform, gallery, information
resource, education, business). Topics such as audience analysis, interface
design, graphic design, and usability testing will be discussed. Students will
build professional-quality Web sites with guidance through all parts of the
design and development process. New advancements in Web-based multimedia will
be explored. Class time will be divided between practical labs and discussion/lecture
formats. Because this is a production-oriented course, students will be expected
to spend substantial out-of-class time working on the computer. Prior web design
and html experience are not required, although students should be fully comfortable
with working on a computer. Basic digital is not a prerequisite, but is strongly
suggested. Lab fee: $75.
DMS 304
Video Analysis II
Tony Conrad
MW 11-12:50
Reg.# 170561
CFA 112 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 341 KNO
Intermediate Video Workshop
Meg Knowles
Reg.# 420428
TR 13-14:50
CFA 286
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: $75. Attendance is
mandatory.
DMS 375 RAP
Gender & Hollywood
TR 9:30-10:50
Reg.# 229890
Call the Women’s Studies Department for a course description.DMS 401
Advanced Film
Vince Mistretta
MW 12-1:50
Reg.#118329
CFA 286 Permission of Instructor OnlyThis 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. Lab Fee
$75.
DMS 404 ELD
Advanced Documentary Production
Sarah Elder
TR 3-4:50
Reg.#082202
CFA 235 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.
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, or permission of instructor.
DMS Intermediate Video is also very helpful. Materials and text approximately
$50. Lab Fee $75.
DMS 409
Non-fiction Film: Contemporary Documentary
Sarah Elder
TR 12-1:50pm
Reg.# 459365
CFA 235 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 in this class
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 on take-home exam. Be prepared to see a lot of great films!
DMS 411
Film Theory
Brian Henderson
MW 9-10:50
Reg.#382589
CFA 235 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 412
Theory of Film Narrative
Brian Henderson
MW 3-4:50
Reg.# 352572
CFA 235 Description not yet available.
DMS 415 SCHDigital Theory: Net Cultures: Art, Politics and the Everyday
Trebor Scholz
MW 11-12:50
Reg.#420484
CFA 232 M, CFA 244 W
read: http://critical-netcultures.net (see "past courses") Net cultures have changed the landscape of cultural production over
the past few years. For artists, employing new empowering tools such as hacking,
communication became more important than representation.Networked collaborations
often caused the downfall of traditional object making. The objective of this
survey-like course is to provide a social framework for the Internet and to
point to transient places of resistance within it. Approaching net cultures
with both, the due optimism and the necessary doubt, we will then join the love
of thinking with the joy of making. We will discuss key issues such as access, privacy, e-letism, history of net
art, commodification, identity, creation and eradication of public spaces, community
building, narration online, sound, and biotechnology. We will study a large
variety of critical art practices online, read core texts of net culture and
discuss. With questions e.mail Trebor Scholz at rtscholz@buffalo.edu. Students
currently enrolled in DMS 218 Net Cultures should not take this course.
DMS 416 BOR
New Media 2
Chris Borkowski
T 11-12:50 (lecture)
CFA 112
DMS 416 A (lab)
R 9-10:50
CFA 244
Reg.# 459718
DMS 416 B (lab)
R 11-12:50
CFA 244
Reg.# 027954
PR: DMS 121 or 155, and 103 or 105. Otherwise Permission of Instructor. This course is designed specifically to focus on techniques for creating
and publishing interactive multimedia on CD-ROM /DVD. New Media II will provide
the designer with the core foundations for the development and manipulation
of audio and video content and their incorporation into interactive CD-ROMS
/DVD. Students will also actively address the formal, historical, technical
and cultural aspects of CD-ROM /DVD form and subject matter. Students will learn
how to create a meaningful interactive interface that successfully engages the
user. Students will also be introduced to the concept of re-purposing digital
media and media portability for multi application and cross platform compatibility
for both commercial and artistic projects. The software tools utilized in this
course include: Adobe Premiere, Adobe After Effects, Media Cleaner Pro, Bias
Peak, Flash and Macromedia Director. Along with producing work using traditional
authoring applications, students will also explore non-traditional authoring
programs such as Image/ine, Videodelic, and Proce55ing. Lastly, students will
be introduced to low level scripting such as Action Script, Lingo, Expressions,
and Java Script in the applications covered in this course. Students are expected
to have prior experience in digital video, basic digital arts, and/or new media.
DMS 416
Virtual Communities
Vanessa Dennen
Reg.#209830
ARR
**This is an ON-LINE course** Please contact Vanessa Dennen, vdennen@mail.sdsu.edu
This course will explore the human, environmental and technical factors that
are intertwined to create Web-based communities. Throughout the semester, students
will read about and explore various computer-based virtual communities. Seminar
discussions will focus on what components are necessary to have a "community"
and the technical and social requirements for membership in a mediated community.
As the semester progresses, the class will join and conduct small "experiments"
with these communities. The semester will culminate in a design project in which
students lay the foundations for their own virtual communities. Students should
be comfortable using a computer and the Web. No further technological expertise
is required for this course, although students with Web development skills may
have the opportunity to use them. Lab fee $75.
DMS 418 FER
Web Design Project
Deborah Fertig
TR 15-1650
Reg.# 295436
CFA 244
PR: Permission of Instructor. Description not yet available. Lab fee $75.
DMS 420 B
Advanced Digital Arts Production: Robotic Art /
Interactive Installation
Beatriz Da Costa
MW 13-14:50
Reg.# 015143
CFA 246
PR: DMS 419 B or Permission of Instructor. This aim of this class is to provide students with a hands-on introduction
to the field of robotic art and sensor based interactive installation. Students
are provided with an overview of programming techniques specifically relevant
to the use of external hardware control (motors / electro-mechanical devices
and mechanisms), basic electronic circuit design and mechanical hardware design.
The programming environment MAX/MSP in combination with the EZI/O board are
the main technical components used in this class. Students will also gain access
to machine shop facilities and obtain basic machining and fabrication skills.
The first half of the semester will be used to familiarize students with the
tools and techniques described above. Weekly assignments and one in class programming
test will be given during that time. The second half of the semester is devoted
to the development of one main artistic robotic or interactive installation
project. The semester will end with a student show in downtown Buffalo. For
student projects to be included in this show they must be fully functional.
This class is designed is designed for advanced students who have a strong commitment
to the development of their own conceptual and technical skill base. Students
with AND without previous programming knowledge are welcomed in this class.
Women are encouraged to enroll (its not only for the guys!). Students from other
departments are welcomed as well. Lab fee $75.For more information about Max/Msp:
http://www.cycling74.com
For more information about the EZI/O: http://www.ezio.com
Readings:
Robotic Art Reader (Hand out)
DMS 420 C
Advanced Digital Arts Production: Community
Trebor Scholz
MW 14-15:50
Reg.# 025098
CFA 244 PR: DMS 419C or Permission of InstructorPlease go to: http://www.molodiez.org/net/community/syllabus.html
and read the syllabus and course description.The spring semester is the second
part of this sequential advanced digital course, open to graduate and undergraduate
students. It is an educational experiment.Over the past ten years communication
has often replaced traditional object making. Networks allow people to create
a range of new social spaces in which to meet, participate in political debate,
play, and otherwise interact with one another. We will investigate a large variety
of critical art practices in the Internet. We will work collaboratively with
student groups inside and outside of the US. Our exchanges will include a web
project realized in collaboration with a student group abroad. We will set up
small reading groups discussing cultural texts with students in Tel Aviv (Israel),
Ramallah (Palestine), in Capetown (South Africa) and Weimar (Germany).On a technical
level we will continue to introduce ourselves to Php and will build a web log.
We will also build on your existing web design skills in Dreamweaver.Virtual
meetings will take place in chat rooms, via web broadcast or in the Habbo Hotel.
With questions e.mail Trebor Scholz at rtscholz@buffalo.edu. Lab fee $75.
DMS 424 ANS (Lecture) & LAB
Programming Graphics 2: 3D Virtual Environments
Josephine Anstey
MW 13-14:50
Reg.# 391126
PR: DMS419 (2D programming with openGL) or equivalent or Permission of Instructor Note: Formerly 420 A. This class satisfies the Digital Art concentration’s
requirement of a second semester of Advanced Digital Arts.This production course
extends students knowledge of OpenGL and programming into the realm of 3D computer
graphics. The course, a continuation of DMS 419, will cover more advanced techniques
for rendering, animation and interaction. The major focus of the course will
be on creating interactive art experiences by programming graphics and sound.
However, the topics are also relevant to many real-time applications such as
virtual reality and computer games. Lab Fee $75
DMS 434 FAB
Advanced Modeling in Maya: Modeling for Consumer Devices
Jesse Fabian
M 18-21:50
Reg.# 440853
CFA 242 PR: Permission of InstructorDesign visual models targeting consumer
electronics platforms including cellphones BREW(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 ANS (lecture) & LAB
Building a VR Art Project II
Josephine Anstey
T 14-18:50
Reg.# 391126
CFA 266 Prerequisites Building a VR Art Project I or Permission of InstructorVR
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 $75
DMS 442 CON
Advanced Video Production
MW 15-16:50
Reg.# 395802
Tony Conrad
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 $75.
DMS 455 MOR
Directing the Actor
Debra More
Reg.# 261721
CFA 286 PR: Permission of Instructor
Course description not yet available.
DMS 480 WEG
Bodyworks: Medicine, Technology and the Body at the Turn of the Millennium
Bernadette Wegenstein 11-14:50
Reg.# 044284
CFA 235
PR: Permission of Instructor Bodyworks takes the late twentieth century as its historical timeframe
for an analysis of concepts and representations of the human body under the
influence of new technologies. In an interdisciplinary framework, evidence from
both scientific and artistic “discourse universes” will be under
analysis. The aim of this course is to examine the thesis that the dramatic
new ways of imaging, controlling, intervening, remaking, possibly even choosing
bodies have participated in a complete reshaping of the notion of the body in
the cultural imaginary, and a transformation of our experience of actual human
bodies. An extensive course website will serve as a resource and archive for
students. The website will consist of a databank of digitized film clips, readings
(links to the online reserves at the undergraduate library), weblinks, and additional
research material on Bodyworks related issues. This undergraduate and graduate
seminar will be crosslisted with the departments of English and Comparative
Literature. Weekly topics: Machines and Bodies, Spare Parts, Computer Assisted Surgery,
Posthuman Bodies, Bodies, Inscriptions, Replicants, Body Worlds, Body Sculpting,
The Matrix, Designer Babies, Transgender, Getting Under the Skin, Postmodern
Fictional/Realities, Cyberpunk Film and Fiction, Digital Anatomy
Website: http://pluto.fss.buffalo.edu/classes/dms/berna/dms434/
user=bodyworks password=cyborg
DMS 490Internship
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: $75
