the syllabus

Instructor: Marcin Ramocki

Spring 2014

Digital Media 1

The purpose of this class is to familiarize you with basic concepts of computer media and, in particular, the visual language of digital 2-D image via Adobe Photoshop. You will be exposed both to software and concepts behind the 2-D digital artwork. You will learn in depth how to work with photographic images, create bitmap graphics, develop your own ideas and communicate them through Photoshop. No previous experience with computer required. Second half of the class will introduce fundamentals of online and game media.

Please note that this is not a purely technical class teaching you the skills behind digital graphics. You are expected to be creative and learn to communicate concepts, develop your personal aesthetic and talk about assigned theoretical readings.

Materials:

External drive of your choice to store/backup images, glossy paper

Absence policy:

One absence allowed without further explanation. Second one equals to one grade drop unless accompanied by doctor’s explanation. Third equals to another grade drop unless accompanied by doctor’s explanation. Beyond that you fail the course.

Grading:

1 project: 15% 2 project: 30% 3 project: 15% final project: 30% class critiques/blog participation: 10%

Course Syllabus:

Week 1: Introduction, overview of the class. Syllabus and class blog. Basics of working with files, important vocabulary, scanning, and tools. Differences between platforms. Concepts of pixel size and resolution.

Project 1: Self-portrait. Week 2: Photoshop Marathon part 1:

basic operations in Photoshop, making selections, Compositing, layers, toolbox

Self-portrait Project: scan one or more of your personal photographs and manipulate them digitally into a self-portrait. Use images found online to create a collage. Try to make certain statement about your personality, place in the world and how would you define yourself to other people. Start with a small sketch if you prefer. Experiment with the features you have learned in the class.

Week 3: Photoshop Marathon part 2: further introduction of Photoshop menus, layers, filters. Complex selections, masks, channels, paths, transforming paths into selections. Working with Bezier    curves, pen tool. Discussing differences between raster and vector based images.

Working on Self-portrait Reading asssignement:

Jean Baudrillard “Simulacra and Simulations”(fragment)

Week 4: Self-portrait project due - group critique.

Basics of print preparation. Color modes: RGB and CMYK. Calibrating a printer, selecting the right option for your piece. Color retouching, levels, curves, selective color operations. Advanced selections: color range. Introducing command shortcuts.

Project 2: Dream.

Week 5: Dream Project : write down a short description of one dream you had and which made a big impression on you, good or bad. Extract one scene from that dream and try to reconstruct it out of pieces of online images as adequately as possible. Pay attention to details; try to convey exactly the feeling you had in the dream. This is a classic compositing assignment. Custom photo material is also encouraged.

Week 6: Role of unconsciousness in creative process. Surrealist artwork introduced. Discussing student’s concepts and trying to find specific technical solutions. Perfecting Photoshop techniques, using rubber stamp tool, layer effects, adjusting layer opacity. Looking at light and shadow issues: building a coherent, realistic space.

Working on Dream Project. Reading Assignment:

Sigmund Freud: The Interpretation of Dreams (fragment)

Week 7: Dream project due - group critique. Discussion based on reading Simulacrum and Simulations. Issues of reality, copy, image ownership, documentation and falsification will be addressed. Demonstration of Actions Menu, recording and using actions.

Project 3: Creative Type

Week 8: Type tool, layer effects. Non-photographic applications of Photoshop. Building graphic elements from scratch, simulating 3-D effects, making interfaces, buttons, using gradient and bevel effects. Looking at examples of interesting communications and advertising artwork.

Creative Type Project: pick a word and try to illustrate the essential meaning of the word through inventive use of type. Play with the shape of letters, filling of the type, composition. Be creative: this is a highly conceptual project and sometimes less is more.

Week 9: Creative Type Project due – off campus group critique. Reading Assignment:

Marcin Ramocki: Assumed Mobility

Final Project: Research Blog (group assignment)

Research Blog: this assignment will be done in teams. Each team will be given a theme and will have to research the theme in a format of a blog. Participants will search the web for content, present

their private opinions, discuss, comment and try to discover as much as possible about the subject.

Week 10: Short history and fundamental concepts of the Internet

Basics of HTML script - workshop. Understanding the idea of hypertext and mark-up. Learning basic tags and attributes. Putting together a simple web page and viewing it in the browser. Saving and uploading HTML files. Preparing images for the web. Image maps in HTML.

Week 11: Using Photoshop as HTML editor. Slices and rollovers. Making a quick homepage. Embedding multimedia. Absolute and local connectivity

Week 12: Web 2.0, blogs, social media and their critique by contemporary web artists. Quick workshop in modifying and making animated GIFs.

Week 13: Short history and fundamental concepts of electronic gaming. Screening: documentary 8 BIT. Discussion related to the movie.

Week 14: Working period. Week 15: Final critique.

Bibliography: All texts will be provided online

Photoshop Help online is your best friend!

Sigmund Freud: “The Interpretation of Dreams” Jean Baudrillard: “Simulacra and Simulations” Marcin Ramocki: “Assumed Mobility: Thoughts on Experiencing Time Online”