Posts

MDSC 206 Script to Screen

Image
         This course explores key elements of visual storytelling in narrative film, television, advertising and commercials. It began as an exploration of how a script is enacted as a film, through staging, camera movement and editing. However, it has become apparent that, given the rapid convergence of media, the process of visualization cannot be isolated to a single medium.   Today, many forms of media strive to emulate classical film narrative in its 'look' and structure; film directors cross over from film to commercials or music videos and back; and the techniques from one medium influence the visual structure of another medium-- the opening cut scenes in Halo now rival the opening scene of Avatar.       Required texts and software: On Filmmaking: An Introduction to the Craft of the Director by Alexander Mackendrrick Faber and Faber ISBN-13: 978-0-571-21125-8 Directed by Spielberg: Poetics of the Contemporary Holly...
Image
                                     MDSC 305                                             Film Editing                                         Prof. Jim é nez              “Editing is the creative force of filmic reality … and the foundation of film art. “                        V.I. Pudovkin, 1915                                            "Editing is storytelling”                              ...
Image
     MDSC 308              CINEMATIC EFFECTS         Prof. Jiménez     This course is an introduction to visual effects in film, television, and commercials. Using industry-standard compositing software (After Effects) students will learn basic compositing techniques, such as green screen keying, rotoscoping and match moving, within the context of the history and art of visual effects. Since its inception, film has been drawn to the possibility of altering reality through visual effects in the works of Gorges Melies; with the advent of digital compositing, special effects have gained added importance in contemporary filmmaking. Moreover, visual effects as 'staged' reality go beyond film to encompass the function of illusionism in Western representation as shown by Norman Klein in " Vatican to Vegas: A History of Special Affects."     Required Texts:    McClean, Shilo, ...

The Films of Spike Lee

Image
  The work of Spike Lee encompasses many genres (drama, musicals, documentary, comedy, action films, and commercials) and addresses some of the most controversial inter-racial and intra-racial issues of our time; for these reasons, he has become a defining cultural icon, and his films have sparked considerable academic interest.   Moreover, Spike Lee’s explanations of his films in their pre-production and post-production stages allows us to look at the creative process in a unique way.   In this course then, we shall study Lee’s work not only from the usual critical and academic perspective but also from Lee’s perspective as an artist. This course is a seminar, and as such, a high level of student participation is required Aims of the course: a)      To understand a director’s corpus from a creative and critical perspective b)      To explore the interplay of race and class   in American culture c)    ...

African American Culture

                  African American Culture                                                                                                   In this course, we shall attempt to define and understand the aspects of African‑American culture that distinguish it from mainstream American culture; to understand, that is, how an essentially African cultural matrix evolved within the context of American history and society. The organizing principle of the course is s...

Ghettoscapes

Image
 

Black Popular Culture

Image
 

The Visual Story

Image
 

The Hollywood Way

Image
 

Black Film

Image