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Schedule | Fall 2016

September:1, 6, 13, 20, 27; October:4, 11, 17, 24; November:1, 8, 15, 22, 29; December: 6

August/September

     

WEEK 1
8/30

 

 

Day 1: Introductions, First Project

Gifts Passions Values

Today

  1. Syllabus and Web Site
  2. Confection Project Assignment
  3. An Example of an Attempted Confection
  4. Edward Tufte

Resources

 

R 9/1

Homework

Read

Read Tufte's Chapter 7 ("Visual Confections"), pages 121 - 151

Complete Reading Guide

Complete the Reading Guide for Tufte's Chapter 7 that was given out on the first day.

Bring the completed reading guide to class to refer to in class discussion. I may pick up your reading guides at the end of class.

Day 2: Tufte's Visual Confections (C7)

Group Work

  1. explain the "complex" idea being visualized,
  2. identify the problem(s) the visualization solves,
  3. do a close reading of the visualization (how it works, how it means). 
  4. in doing all the above, use 3 terms or phrases from Tufte to explain it (note page numbers of these)

Resources

 
WEEK 2
T 9/6

Homework

Remember to Post Your in-Class Contributions to Moodle

If you suggested a quotation or example in class last time, please remember to send a reply to the Moodle forum, "Chronology of Contributions."

Include in this posting the quotation itself(or a shortened version of a long one), the title of the reading, and a page number.

I will use this forum to award credit for particpation.

Post a separate reply for additional contributions, either on the same day or later.

This process was described on the syllabus.

Create Folders on Your USB Drive

Create the following set of folders on your USB drive (note that indented folders are meant to be nested inside of the folders one level up).

vrc

www

4260

exercises

confection

data

motion

How to Get Access to Photoshop for the CIAB Tutorials

You will need to complete this lesson sitting at a computer with Photoshop installed. See the following options for accessing Photoshop.

Download the "Classroom in a Book" Files

See page 3-4 of Photoshop Classroom in a Book (aka, "CIAB") for how to download the lesson files for completing the chapter tutorials.

Save these files in their own folder inside your "vrc" folder on your USB drive.

Read Chapter 1 and Complete the Tutorial in Photoshop

Read Chapter 1 of Photoshop Classroom in a Book (aka, "CIAB"), "Getting to Know the Work Area," and complete the lesson, pages 8-30.

Read Chapter 2 and Complete the Tutorial in Photoshop

Read and Complete Chapter 2 of CIAB (Photo Corrections), pages 32-49

What to Bring Back to Class:

Come into class with the completed files

  • "01Working.psd"
  • "02Working.psd"


saved on your USB drive in their respective lesson folders.

Also bring your copy of Photoshop Classroom in a Book.

Day 3: Photoshop

When You Get to Class Today

  1. Insert your USB drive in your computer.
  2. Open up Photoshop, and then open the final products from the both Photoshop Classroom in a Book Chapters 1 and 2 which you completed for homework
  3. Open up Dreamweaver on your computer
  4. See "Housekeeping" below...

Housekeeping

From the folders you created on your USB drive for homework, check to be sure the folder "CIAB" (inside of the "4260" folder) is emply.

(Note: You may not have such a folder if you created your folders following the homework directions since Monday morning.)

If the "CIAB" folder contains anything, move the contents elsewhere.

Then, please delete the empty "CIAB" folder from so that the "4260" folder contains only: exercises

confection

data

motion

Troubleshooting Chapters 1 and 2 from CIAB

Converting .psd Images to .jpg and Uploading Them to the Web

I will give you a copy of the handout "Converting and Uploading Images From .psd to the Web and Posting the URL to Moodle" to complete this exercise together in class.

Save the converted image (in .jpg format) from the Photoshop Classroom in a Book Chapter 1 tutorial into a new folder called "ciab1" inside of "exercises" (that is, the folder "exercises" inside of "4260," which is inside of "www")

After uploading, I will ask you to send a clickable URL to your final products from the first CIAB Chapter to the Moodle forum "CIAB1"

Repeat the process for the image created in Chapter 2 of the Photoshop Classroom in a Book manual. Save the converted .jpg image into a new folder called "ciab2" inside of "exercises"

Resources

 
R 9/8

Homework

1. Read McCloud Chapter 2

Read Chapter 2 of Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, pages 24 - 59.

As you read, be looking for ways to use McCloud's ideas and terminology concerning visual style choices to answer the following questions about the four confections below:

-- How do the visual-style choices of each confection differ from one another?

-- How and why does the choice of visual style help the designer accomplish the confection's intended purpose? (or not?)

-- How do the choices of visual style direct the viewer's attention in ways that help this achieve this purpose? (or not?)

2. "Myth of Depth" Paragraph

Look and Find

Look again at Tansey's "The Myth of Depth" on Tufte's pages 132-33. Read carefullly Tufte's commentary and explanation about it.

Choose one of the artists or critics pictured in the boat and named in the caption. Do a web search on that name, looking especially for how your chosen figure relates to the man in the picture walking on water, Jackson Pollock. Look at what you can find about Pollock as well.

Think

How does what you find help to explain the way Mark Tansey, the painter of the "The Myth of Depth," represents your person in this painting?

What is your chosen person doing in the scene (how does he or she look or seem) and how does this pose or appearance represent his or her ideas and attitudes about Pollock and what he represents?

Where does your figure stand in relation to the "whole picture" of abstract expressionism (of which Jackson Pollock was the most famous practitioner)?

Write and Bring In

Write a paragraph containing the best of what you saw, found, and thought: that is, explaining who your person was, describing what role he/she played in abstract expressionism's challenge to the "myth of depth," and analyzing the ways Tansey represents your person in the painting.

Come in Ready

Come in ready to discuss the person you chose, his/her place and attitude in the picture, and what Tansey might be saying or explaining with this confection.

I will collect your paragraphs so please have them on paper.

 

Day 4: Visual Styles (McCloud C2)

McCloud image: simple, realistic contrastfrom Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, page 43

Resources

 

 
WEEK 3
T 9/13

Homework

1. Read CIAB Chapters 3 and 4 and Complete the Tutorials in Photoshop

Save the .psd files from both exercises in the lesson folders in the "vrc" folder.

2. Save .jpg's in New Folders

Before class, save optimized .jpg versions of the .psd files from the Chapters 3 and 4 tutorials in new folders "www/4260/exercises/ciab3" and "www/4260/exercises/ciab4" respectively.

(These path names mean you should create new folders called "ciab3" and "ciab4" inside of "exercises" inside of "4260" in your "www" folder)

We will upload those folders to the web via Dreamweaver together in class.

Day 5: Photoshop Selections and Layers, Illustration from Photo

Troubleshooting C3 and C4

Importing Your Site Information Back into Dreamweaver

In Dreamweaver,

  1. Choose Site > Manage Sites.
  2. Click the "Import Site" button
  3. Navigate to wherever you previously saved your site file (.ste): for example, "www.ste"
  4. Select the .ste file and click "Open"

Uploading CIAB 3 and 4 .JPGs

Illustrated Detail from Photograph (Photoshop Exercise)

I will give you a copy of the handout, "Simplied Illustrated Detail from Photograph."

You will save the result of the exercise in a folder on your USB drive: www/4260/exercises/illustrated.

I will ask you to upload the new folder to the web, visit it with a browser, copy the URL, and post the URL as a clickable link in a reply to the Moodle forum, "Simplied Illustration."

Resources

 
R 9/15

Homework

Read CIAB Chapter 6 and Complete the Tutorial in Photoshop

Please save your completed work on your USB drive.

Save a .jpg copy of your work in a new folder: "www/4260/exercises/ciab6".

Before Class

If you did not have any problems or questions about the Chapter 6 tutorial, upload the "ciab6" folder to the web, visit the image with a web browser, and paste the URL as a clickable link into a reply to the Moodle forum "CIAB 6"

If you had issues with the tutorial, please open the file in Photoshop when you get to class so you can get help troubleshooting.

Bring Your Tufte Book to Class

 

Day 6: Photoshop Masks and Channels
Confections and Non-Confections

Collect "Myth of Depth" Paragraphs

This was homework for 9/8

Troubleshooting CIAB 6

Uploading CIAB 6

Confections and Non-Confections

I will give you paper copies of three graphics. Get together with a neighbor and put both your names on all three handouts.

  1. Working in pairs, rank the three graphics according to whether or not they are confections, and how well they might serve as an example of an excellent confection.

  2. With your partner, make notes on the handouts to identify characteristics that make the graphic a good confection, or problematic characteristics that make it something else.

  3. Consult your Tufte books. Write in page numbers and verbal tags (2 or 3 word summaries) of at least three passages or visual examples from Tufte to support your judgement that each graphic is or isn't a good example of a confection as Tufte defines it.

  4. Be ready to discuss by making further notes on the handouts:
    1. How do we decide if a paricular graphic is or isn't a confection?
    2. What questions do we ask ourselves?
    3. What makes a good confection?
    4. To what extent does the subject matter determine whether a visualization is a confection or not?
    5. To what extent does the style, layout, or execution of determine whether a visualizaiton is a confetion or not?

Resources

 
WEEK 4
T 9/20

Homework

Read CIAB Chapters 7 and 8 and Complete the Tutorials in Photoshop

Please save your completed work on your USB drive.

Save a .jpg copies of your work in new folders: "www/4260/exercises/ciab7", and "www/4260/exercises/ciab8".

Before Class

If you did not have any problems or questions about the Chapter 7 and or 8 tutorials, upload the two folders to the web, visit each image with a web browser, and paste the URL of each as a clickable link into a reply to the respective Moodle forums "CIAB 7" and 'CIAB 8."

If you had issues with either tutorial, please open the file(s) in Photoshop when you get to class so you can get help troubleshooting.

Analyze a Sample Confection Topic

This is an exercise in how to read a piece of writing as a potential topic for a visual confection project.

Read Paul Mason's column "The 10 Things a Perfect City Needs." (I will give you a paper copy in the previous meeting)

Consider how well the ideas in this piece would serve as the topic for a visual confection.

Come in with three quotations or visual examples chosen from Tufte's Chapter 7 which would help us answer questions like the following:

  • To what extent does this column provide ideas, details, and explanations needed for an excellent confection?
  • What does Mason's analysis provide that would make a confection possible?
  • What, if anything, does this article lack that you would look for in a confection topic?
  • According to Tufte, what do confections do visually that this column is doing verbally? or is not doing verbally?
  • Could a confection be improved by interpreting this piece of writing, as well as summarizing it? (That is, by visually making meanings and ideas explicit that are only implied or suggested by the writer between the lines?)

Be prepared to share your analysis of this column as a potential confection topic, supporting your idea with specific passages and visual examples from Tufte's chapter.

Day 7: Photoshop: Typographic Design, Vector Drawings, Confection Topics

Resources

 
R 9/22

Homework

Bring Confection Project at Least 90% Complete

See the Confection Project Checklist for a summary of the Confection Project's goal.

Note that the Commentary will not be due till the meeting after the project itself.

  • Bring in all materials for the studio session
  • Bring your Photoshop CIAB book

 

Day 8: Confection Studio Session

A Regular Class Meeting

Even though you are working individually today, this is still a regular class meeting. Plan on staying, being productive, and possibly helping your classmates until the end of class.

To Be Sure Your Project is On Time

I suggest uploading a draft of your Confection Project to the server today and sending the URL to the Moodle foum (following the directions below).

This way, you can be sure you have submitted the project on time.

Then, continue to work on the .psd version of your project in Photoshop. Each time you stop work for the day, convert the image to the same web-browser compatible format and re-upload the new version to overwrite the old version on the server.

As long as you continue to save and upload new versions into the same folder with the same file name, the URL you posted to Moodle will link to the newest work.

Obviously, you need to remember to upload new work from your USB drive to the server before it will replace your old work online.

WEEK 5
M 9/26

Confection Due by Noon

Upload, Copy and Paste URL

  1. upload an web-browser-compatible version of your Confection image file to the web in the folder "www/4260/confection".

    A post-card- or book-illustration-sized image can be saved in .jpg format, poster- or fold-out-map-sized images might be saved in .pdf format. See which produces the smaller sized computer file with good visual quality.
  2. visit the image file with your web browser to be sure it displays or downloads correctly from the server, and copy the URL from the web browser's location bar

  3. paste the URL as a clickable link into the Moodle forum, "Confection URLs."

 

 

 
WEEK 5
T 9/27

Homework

Confection Commentary

Write, print, and bring in a Confection Commentary due at the beginning of class, turned in on paper, double-spaced. In writing it, you should

Read

Read Edward Tufte's Chapter 1, "Images and Quantities," pages 13-25.

Identify and Be Ready

At the beginning of this first chapter of the book, Tufte asks, "What makes images quantitatively eloquent?" (13).

To understand this question and to begin to answer it, I ask you to come to class with some brief notes that point to the following:

  1. a passage from the chapter that helps to answer Tufte's question
  2. one of the chapter's visual examples that speaks to Tufte's question,
  3. either a passage or visual example that suggests the problem or challenge of making images "quantitatively eloquent."

Be prepared to share and explain your choices, and to say how your three passages/illustrations are important to Tufte's purposes in the chapter overall.

 

Day 9: Visualized Data, Tufte's C1

Collect Confection Commentaries

Troubleshoot Uploading of Confections

Introduce the Next Project

The "Visualized Data Project" (see due date).

Tufte's Chapter 1

Resources

 

R 9/29

Homework

Read

Tufte's Chapter 2, "Visual and Statistical Thinking"

Write

Complete and print the discussion guide.

Bring to class prepared to share and explain our answers, and to turn in your printout.

 

 

Day 10: Visual Decision Making and Excel

Getting Ready for Class

  1. Put your USB drive in your computer
  2. Open Photoshop
  3. Click the link "Cell Phone App Usage and Loyalty" to download and open the Excel file for later use.
  4. Get out your Tufte book and turn to Chapter 2
  5. Get out your completed discussion guide for Tufte's Chapter 2
  6. Look over the Visualized Data Project page to see if you have thought of any questions.

Google Ngram (As an Example of Online Charts)

Try visiting the Google Ngram page, and try pasting in the following search terms:

radical, trouble maker, agitator, rabble rouser, dissident, revolutionary, rebel

To save an online chart like this, take a screen shot: on a Mac,

  1. click "Command+Control+Shift+4" at the same time
  2. drag the cursor diagonally across the area of your screen you want to include in your screen-shot image (the image will be saved on your computer's clipboard)
  3. In Photoshop or other software, paste the image into an open or new document.

Here's lots more about using the Ngram.

Excel Charts

Download and open the Excel worksheet "Cell Phone App Usage and Loyalty" for some data to work with.

I will give you a copy of the exercise "Excel Charts"

I will ask you to

  1. save the resulting .png file into a folder, www/4260/exercises/chart,
  2. upload it to your web space
  3. visit the image with a web brower
  4. copy the URL as a clickable link into a reply to the Moodle forum, "Excel Chart"

Tufte's Chapter 2

Resources

 


October

     

WEEK 6
T 10/4

Homework

Read

  • Tufte Chapter 4 "Smallest Effective Difference" pages 73-78
  • Tufte Chapter 6 "Multiples," pages 105-119

Decide and Write (and Draw)

Decide on a topic for your "Visualized Data Project" and collect possible sets (or sources) of data.

Write a paragraph describing

  • the topic
  • the point or purpose of your visualizaiton
  • the data you will use to achieve that point or purpose
  • questions or challenges you foresee about designing or completing the visualization

(As a way of anticipating these challenges and questions, you might try sketching out a rough design by hand to include with the paragraph.)

 

Day 11: Aggregations; Smallest Effective Difference; Multiples;
Project Topics


Space Shuttle Challenger, April 4, 1983 (just under three years before the explosion)

Set Up for Today

  1. Get out your Tufte book and homework (paragraph and drawing).
  2. Download the Excel file "Aggregating Baseball" to your USB drive and click it open.

Aggregation Exercise

I will give you a copy of the handout, Aggregations in Excel (baseball). Please download and open the Excel worksheet "Aggregating Baseball."

Resources

Optional Revision for Extra Credit

Please see the page on the Collaborative Revision Process if you are interested in revisiting the Confection Project for extra credit.

Deadline for contacting me about revising this project is November 4.

 
R 10/6

Homework

Send a Prospectus (Online Conference)

By 8 a.m., use the form "Prospectus for a Visualized Data Project" to begin a conversation with about your plans for the Visualized Data Project.

I will respond to you by email.

 

No Class Meeting (Online Conference)
WEEK 7
T 10/11

Homework

Try to have your Visualized Data Project90% complete. Bring all materials to work on it in class.

Day 12: Studio Session: Visualized Data Project
W 10/12

Visualized Data Due by Noon

Upload, Copy and Paste URL

  1. upload an web-browser-compatible version of your Visualized Data Project image file to the web in the folder "www/4260/data".

  2. visit the image file with your web browser to be sure it displays or downloads correctly from the server, and copy the URL from the web browser's location bar

  3. paste the URL as a clickable link into the Moodle forum, "Visualized Data URLs."

 

 
WEEK 7
T 10/11

Homework

Read

Read Scott McCloud's Chapter 3 from Understanding Comics

Write, Print, Bring

Write, print, and bring in your commentary on the Visualized Data Project. This document should fulfill: a. the general guidelines for excellent commentaries as well as the

b. specific requirements mentioned in the assignment.

Day 13: The Motion Graphic Title Sequence Project; McCloud's Chapter 3

The Next Assignment

The Motion Graphic Title Sequence assignment.

See the deadline date.

Resources

 
WEEK 8
T 10/18

Homework

Read

Read Scott McCloud's Chapter 4 from Understanding Comics

Analyze a Title Sequence or Music Video

1. Online, find a title sequence (from television or film) or a music video and watch it.

If you're completely stuck for a choice, here are some you could choose from:

 

2. Divide a piece of paper into eights so it looks like this:

3. Choose a contiguous series of 8 shots from your sequence or video to analyze. (Note that in traditional filmmaking a "shot" is an uncut piece of film. It can last a fraction of a second to 20 minutes or more.)

4. In the first of the eight spaces on your paper, roughly sketch in the major shapes and details from a moment in the first shot you've chosen.

Add only details that you think are important. Don't worry about how messy the sketch is. Think of it more as a diagram of elements rather than a drawing, done to help you notice the composition. For example,

5. In a blank corner of this square, label this shot "1."

6. Do the same for the other seven shots. Number those squares as well.

7. Using McCloud's 6 Kinds of Closure or Transitions (pages 70-74), label each break between squares with the relationship or gap between each set of shots: that is between shot 1 and 2, between shot 2 and 3, and so on.

Use abbreviations like "Mo2Mo," "Su2Su," or "Sc2Sc" to labels these transitions or edits.

8. Write a paragraph analyzing what you've diagrammed. Consider the following:

How is the viewer invited to "create closure" in the gap or gutter between one shot and the next?

How do these choices help the sequence or video achieve its effects and meaning?

Effects might include pacing (fast, slow, leisurely, frenetic), suspense, irony, uncertainty, tension, calm, distance, discomfort, surprise, etc.

Meaning might arise from judgments the viewer is invited to make, ideas implied but not stated explicitly, questions the viewer is led to wonder about, attitudes that seem to be expressed, etc.

9. Paste the URL of the title sequence or video to the Moodle forum, "Closure in Seven Transitions."

 

Day 14: Transitions and Timeframes (McCloud C3 and 4)

Resources

 

 
R 10/20

Homework

Analyze the Premise of a Television Series

Choose a television series (current or past) to analyze.

Carefully read the Word document "The Premise of a Series" to understand the questions you'll use to analyze the series' premise.

  1. Download and save the Word file on your USB drive.
  2. Read the document and answer the questions in the boxes provided.
  3. Save the completed document
  4. Print the document to bring to class.
  5. Come in with observations and questions about how we can use this same set of questions to develop an original series premise.

 

Day 15: Series Premise; Plot Phrase

Resources

  • Looking for Alaska (student sample)
  • Clustering technique
  • Twin Peaks title sequence: "While the...[the title sequence] imparts a sense of tranquility, the overall mood of the sequence implies something sinister or somehow unnatural. [David] Lynch uses the title sequence to explore something he’s repeatedly explored: the potential for deception within the warmth of small town America. After all, the show is centered on the discovery that one of [Twin Peaks'] most beloved citizens, the high school Homecoming Queen Laura Palmer, has been brutally murdered. The docile town introduced in the title sequence is now forced to investigate itself in order to unravel a murder mystery."
  • McCloud Transitions (C3)
  • Diachronic and Synchronic
  • The Walking Dead ("fan"-produced sequence, prior to premiere of first season, by Daniel M. Kanemoto)
  • McCloud party (C4)
  • McCloud party with dialogue (C4)
  • McCloud timeless (C4)

 
WEEK 9
T 10/25

Homework

Write an Original Series Premise

Using the questions in this new version of the handout "Developing the Premise of an Original Series," create and describe an original series premise to use as the basis of your Motion Graphic Title Sequence.

Note that Question 2 differs from the one on the form that you used to analyze an existing series for last time.

Nothing is Final

Think of the premise you describe in this document as a snapshot of an idea you have now, and not necessarily the premise you will keep.

Use Existing Models to Start

Also, don't worry if your premise seems derivative. As with Star Trek's logline "Wagon Train to the Stars," the concepts for successful series have often started as variations on existing models and inspirations.

Print, Save and Bring

Print and bring a copy of your original premise to class, and also save a digital copy on your USB drive.

Day 16: Premise Workshop

Workshop

Read through your partner's premise . Find the following to begin a conversion:

  • Something you really like
  • A question you have (perhaps asking for something to be clarified, or explained more)
  • Further possibilities and alternatives to suggest (ideally illustrated by an existing title sequence you could suggest or look at together).

Resources

 

 

 
R 10/27  

Fall Break: No Class Meeting

 


November

     
WEEK 10
T 11/1

Homework

Two Treatments (Paragraphs)

Write two paragraphs and print them out:

1. In a substantive paragraph, write a "treatment" of an existing title sequence that you like and think of as a good model. Be sure to label this paragraph with a #1 and the series.

In the paragraph, describe both the details of what happens in the sequence, and the overall structural logic or plot, whether its diachronic or synchronic in its logic.

In your writing, take notice of techniques of editing (that is, the relation between shots), as well as Camera Work (or cinematography, what happens within shots)

 

2. Write the same kind of paragraph treatment of your own title sequence as you imagine it.

Label this paragraph #2, and give it the title of your series.

Try to use this writing as a creative exercise, meaning that you end up seeing more than you did when you started writing. E.M. Forester said, "How do I know what I think until I see what I say?"

Also, bring both paragraph treatments to class in digital form on your USB drive.

Collect or Sketch Images for your Title Sequence

Bring as many possible images as you can on your USB drive for constructing your title sequence.

For images you can't find but can imagine, roughly sketch out how they would ideally look on a piece of paper divided up into spaces for eight shots like this:

 

Day 17: iMovie Slideshows

Send Me the Treatment of Your Title Sequence

Please use this submission form for sending me your paragraph treatment of your own planned title sequence.

iMovie Exercise in Class

I will give you a copy of the iMovie exercise handout, and well as a handout "Saving an Unfinished iMovie Project for Completion Later".

Please download the compressed folder of files for this exercise and save them in your "VRC" folder (not your "www" folder) on your USB drive.

You will save the finished product in a folder "www/4260/exercises/imovie," upload the folder to the web, and then send a clickable URL in a reply to the Moodle forum, "iMovie."

I will also ask you to save a copy of your iMovie library to your USB drive in your "VRC" folder.

Resources

 
WEEK 10
R 11/3

Homework

Work on Your Title Sequence

The project will be due in under two weeks.

Two Paragraph Analyses of Five Techniques in Title Sequences:

In a digital file, write two paragraphs:

1. Choose an existing title sequence (Art of the Title is a good source, but any video available online will be fine). Write a paragraph explaining that existing title sequence uses all five of the following techniques. Be sure to bold the techniques to make it easy to locate your examples.

1. Choice of Visual Style: as in McCloud C2 "The Vocabulary of Comics"

2. Use of Transitions: as in McCloud C3, "Blood in the Gutter," achieved in comics through gutters and panels, in film through editing and "montage" of multiple shots to induce a sense of "closure."

3. Creation of Narrative Movement in Time and Space (within a single shot): as in McCloud's C4 "Time Frames," achieved in comics by introducing text or motion lines, in film by the movement of live figures or the camera. In slideshows, accomplished with panning, zooming, and text effects

4. Explicit Use of Layers: achieved by mingling various media or visual styles, usually in the same shot: for example, images and text, photorealism and simplification, or 2D and 3D)

5. Relation of Sight and Sound

 

2. Write a paragraph speculating on how you might use the same five techniques in your own project. (Note that all five are aspects of the assignment.) Be sure to bold all five techniques when they appear in your writing.

Bring to class both a printout of the paragraphs, and a digital version of them on your USB.

Day 18: Five Techiques; Final Essay and Presentation

Optional Revision for Extra Credit

Please see the page on the Collaborative Revision Process if you are interested in revisiting the Visualized Data Project for extra credit.

Deadline for contacting me about revising this project is November 23.

Deadline for contacting me about revising the Confection Project is November 4 (tomorrow).

iMovie Libraries

Next Project

Five Techniques:

  1. Choice of Visual Style: as in McCloud C2 "The Vocabulary of Comics"
  2. Use of Transitions: as in McCloud C3, "Blood in the Gutter," achieved in comics through gutters and panels, in film through editing and "montage" of multiple shots to induce a sense of "closure."
  3. Creation of Narrative Movement in Time and Space (within a single shot): as in McCloud's C4 "Time Frames," achieved in comics by introducing text or motion lines, in film by the movement of live figures or the camera (a.k.a, camerawork). In slideshows, accomplished with panning, zooming, and text effects
  4. Explicit Use of Layers: achieved by mingling various media or visual styles, usually in the same shot: for example, images and text, photorealism and simplification, or 2D and 3D)
  5. Relation of Sight and Sound

Group Work in Class

In the Moodle Wiki assigned to your group under "Five Techniques Illustrated and Explained," post the following (see the Sample Wiki in that section):

For each technique, post

  1. The bolded, numbered title of the technique (from the list above)
  2. a screen shot still from a title sequence that illustrates that technique,
  3. a clickable link to an online video of the whole title sequence,
  4. a sentence or two reviewing the moment as an example of that technique in action and the effects it can have.  (You might want to mention the time mark [minutes, seconds] where the screen shot image appears.)

 
WEEK 11
T 11/8

Homework

Read and Bring One Question

Please read carefully the assignment page for the Essay Project: The Cultural Work of an Image.

Bring at least one question to ask, or one aspect of the assignment to discuss further.

Work on Your Title Sequence

The project will be due in under two weeks.

 

Day 19: Audacity for Shortening a Song;
Five Techniques in Action

Audacity Exercise

For this exercise, you will need to download and decompress the Zip file, "Betterdays/crickets."

Save the folder to the "VRC" folder on your USB drive (not the "www" folder).

I will give you a paper copy of the tutorial,"Shortening a Song with Audacity, and Adding Sound Effects."

In Audacity, I will ask you to shorten the song by editing together portions from the beginning and ending, leaving out a section in the middle:

  • 0:00 - 1:05
  • 1:45 - 2:33

You will save the exercise final product as a .wav file to a folder in your "www" folder: "4260/exercises/audacity".

Upload the "audacity" folder to the server, visit and test the .wav file online, and then send the URL in a reply to the Moodle forum, "Audacity."

Resources

 
R 11/10

Homework

Motion Graphic Title Sequence

Bring all materials to work on your Motion Graphic Title Sequence.

Though you will be working individually, this is still a required class meeting.

 

Day 20: Motion Graphic Title Sequence Studio Day

Sign Up for a Conference

  1. Visit the Moodle Wiki "Conference Sign-Up"
  2. When you open the Wiki, choose the "Edit" tab at the top
  3. Add your name to one of the times listed. Do not add times. Email me if you wish to arrange a time other than those listed
  4. Click "Save" at the bottom of the screen
  5. In the "View" mode, check to make sure that your name is listed beside the correct time. (If someone else is editing the Wiki at the same time as you, that person may click "Save" an instant sooner and get the time slot you intended to sign up for.)
  6. Be sure to come on time for your conference
  7. Come prepared for the conference (see the Homework section of the calendar for details).

 

We will not meet as a class on the days set aside for these conferences: T 11/15, R 11/17, and T 11/22.

Essay Due Dates

Note that you are required to bring a completed, digital copy of your Essay to class when we meet together next on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.

The final, printed copy will be due to my mailbox in Humanities 420 by 4:00 on the Wednesday after Thanksgiving.

Resources

 

WEEK 12
M 11/14

Motion Graphic Title Sequence Due by Noon

Upload, Copy and Paste URL

  1. upload an .mp4 version of your title sequence to the web in the folder "www/4260/motion".

  2. visit the file with your web browser to be sure it displays--or prompts you to download it--from the server
  3. Copy the URL from the web browser's location bar

  4. paste the URL as a clickable link into the Moodle forum, "Motion Graphic Title Sequence URLs."

 

 
T 11/15
R 11/17
WEEK 13
T 11/22

Homework

Commentaries Due 11/15 by 4:00

A two-page (double spaced) commentary on your Motion Graphic Title Sequence will be due by Tuesday 11/15 at 4:00 p.m. in my mailbox, 420 Humanities. The commentary should

Preparing for Required Conference

Prepare for your conference today, Tuesday, or next Thursday to discuss your essay topic and ideas.

Sign Up for a Time

Visit the Moodle Wiki "Conference Sign-Up" to put your name beside one of the available times. (If no available times work for you, please email me to arrange alternatives, but do not add times to the Wiki's schedule.)

Conferences will be held in our classroom, KAML 118.

Bring to your conference

  1. A copy of the image you're planning to write about (on a device, your USB, or on paper)
  2. On a sheet of paper, the following labeled items:
    1. "Context": Information (or a list of online sources) you've collected about the context of that image (who created it, why, where it appeared/appears, who paid attention to it, etc.).
    2. "Class Notes": at least half a page of notes identifying particular quotations (with page numbers) from McCloud, Tufte, or other sources, which might be helpful in analyzing the how the images visually invites the audience to do cultural work.
    3. "Larger Question": at least one written sentence speculating on a larger issue, question, insight, or observation that you might explore in your conclusion, and which might suggest a topic for the final exam.

 

Day 21, 22, 23:
Individual Conferences in KAML 118,
No Class Meetings

 

 
R 11/24  

Thanksgiving

 

WEEK 14
T 11/29

Homework

Bring a copy of your completed essay on your USB drive for use in class.

Day 24: Essay Workshop

Resources

 
W 11/30

Essay Due by 4:00 p.m.

A printed copy of your final version should be turned into my mailbox in Humanities 420 by 4:00.

If the 420 door is locked, you can enter via the Humanities 410 door, if it is open, and use the connecting hallway to get to 420.

  

 

December

     

R 12/1

WEEK 15
T 12/6
R 12/8

 

Homework

Sign Up For a Presentation Time

In the course Moodle site, see the section "Presentation Sign Up and Resources."

Open the Wiki for one of the three days, and enter your name beside one of the times.

Please do not delete or move anyone else's name, or add times.

Giving a good presentation is part of your grade for the Essay assignment.

See the five expectations for the presentations at the right.

Prepare for Your Presentation

In a reply to the forum "Presentation Resources," post links to your image and to any other online resources you want to access during your presentation.

Plan to Attend All Presentations

Remember that you need to attend all three days of presentations to receive full credit for the Essay assignment.

Also, the conclusions presentations will introduce topics for discussion on the Final Exam.

 

Day 25, 26, 27: Presentations

Your presentation should:

  1. Run from 6 to 8 minutes total
  2. Show the image that you analyzed and explain what it shows and its historical background and situation
  3. Introduce and describe the cultural context that you discussed in your essay, including the specific cultural group whose cultural work you analyzed
  4. Do a "close reading" of the image using at least one a critical idea from McCloud or Tufte (or class resources such as the Camera Work pages). This reading should help to explain how the image means what it does to the cultural audience you've identified, and how it encourages the cultural work you describe
  5. In your conclusion, highlight some principle or technique of "visual rhetoric" or "visual culture" which is suggested by your analysis and which warrants further thought and discussion.

Responding to Presentations

You will respond to each of your classmates' presentations by

  • completing an evaluative checklist and turning it in at the end of the class meeting
  • asking questions to show appreciation of your classmates' effort and accomplishments, and more fully to understand the principle or technique highlighted in the conclusion.

Resources

 

FINAL
F 12/16
(Official times 10 a.m. to 11:55; Real starts times between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.)

 

Final Exam: Friday 12/16

This is an online final exam conducted via Moodle. We will not meet as a class.

In a time window today between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., you will spend 2 hours writing responses to two of the three questions on the Final Exam.

To give yourself the entire two-hour period, you should start the exam no later than 3 p.m.

We will use the couse Moodle site to make the questions available, and to enable you to write and submit your responses online.

You have a choice of when and where you write the Final Exam, but you will need to plan to complete it within one 2 hour block of time, which you complete no later than 5 p.m.

Directions for the Online Final Exam

During the time window above, open the Moodle quiz "Final Exam."

When you open the exam, an introductory page will explain details of the exam. You two-hours will not begin until you hit the blue button at the bottom of the welcome page and go to the questions.

You will find three questions with text boxes under each.

Remember to answer only two of the three questions.

Advice: Write Outside of Moodle and Paste

As a precaution, be sure to write each answer in text-editing software and save it in a file on your computer.

After you have completed each answer, copy the text into that question's text box in Moodle.

What If Moodle Goes Down?

If you have technical problems with Moodle during the exam time, please complete writing the exam, and then copy the text of your answers into an email and send the email to me no more than 90 minutes after the time you started the exam.

If you are using Firefox and have trouble typing into a text box, use the handle grip in the lower right of the text box to enlarge it slightly.

For technical questions about Moodle, call the ITSS Help Desk at 726-8847 during office hours.