Course Syllabus

ART 1140 4D Time

Course Description

This foundation studio course introduces students to time-based media. Investigations will include conception, storyboarding, sequencing, narrative and non-linear time, stop motion animation, video, and sound design. Both analog and digital components will be utilized to experiment with the broad range of time-based media available to visual artists. This course will culminate with a final portfolio of virtual kinetic work combining multiple and integrated applications of each technology. 4D Time is one of a triad of design courses, including 2D Surface and 3D Space, required in the curriculum for acceptance into the Snow College Visual Arts AFA degree program. A program fee is required.

Justification

This course provides theoretical study and application of time-based media. The content of this course is an integral part of the core art curriculum for most visual arts programs in the country. Its primary goal is to provide a solid foundation in the creative and functional workings of time-based art. Living in a world inundated with motion graphics, it is paramount that art students understand how to utilize analog and digital time-based strategies and their implications and outcomes in contemporary art. 4D Time is one of a triad of design courses, including 2D Surface and 3D Space, required in the curriculum for acceptance into the Snow College Visual Arts AFA degree program. Its outcomes are offered at other higher education institutions in the state as an art major requirement during the freshman year of study and possesses a common course number in the USHE system.

Student Learning Outcomes

1. MATERIAL PROFICIENCY: Strategies will be taught working with both analog and digital mediums, including conception, storyboarding, sequencing, narrative and non-linear time, stop motion animation, video, and sound design. Digital skills will include, navigating the Macintosh operating environment (Mac OS), developing skills in digital imaging software, audio capture and manipulation and sound design.
2. CONCEPTUAL PRINCIPLES: Through the exposure to countless creative kinetic works, by contemporaries in the field of film and animation, students will develop a sensibility to allow them to communicate their own unique concepts as they apply them to time-based media.
3. HISTORICAL CONTEXT: Students will be exposed to an array of historical time-based media from the fields of film and animation. This process is designed to inform students of the broad development and context of the moving picture and its influence on society and contemporary art. Artistic influence and imitation is a revered and healthy part of the creative development of art students.
4. CRITICAL ANALYSIS: Students will develop an ability to critically analyze works of art through verbal critiques of their peers and professional artists relating to the relationship of technology, form, and content. This skill will foster a greater ability of students to be critical of their own work within the creative process.
5. CREATIVE PROCESS: This course teaches strategies for cultivating creative practice, expressing ideas, solving problems creatively, engaging with challenging concepts, and experimenting with different mediums in working with time-based media.

Course Content

Course topics and learning tasks include idea generation (as it applies to the creative process), storyboarding, sequencing, narrative and non-linear time, stop motion animation, traditional 2D animation, video, performance, sound design, appropriation, image and audio capture, storage and output, materials, process, tools, and craftsmanship. The artistic genres, major figures, and movements covered in this course will be representative of a ranging variety in gender, nationality, language, perspective, etc. Where disparities exist in these genres, major figures, and movements, questions or issues of representation will be addressed in class discussions and/or assignments. Discussion of representation are highlighted as significant aspects of time-based media as they relate to access, voice, and audience.