ENG 6138: Graduate Film and Video Production
This course is meant to be a broad practical survey of strategies and techniques of video production. However, unlike previous iterations of this class, I will be trying something of a pedagogical experiment here, convening on the first day of class to allow you to determine collectively what exactly we will be covering over the 15 weeks of the semester. At the undergraduate level I get to teach an incredible diversity of approaches and technologies including both video and film, and I would like finally to be able to offer more than the familiar video production introduction at the graduate level. Among the possible subjects we might include are proto-cinematic technologies (allowing students to make thaumatropes or praxinoscope strips), cameraless filmmaking (direct animation, Rayograms, hand-processing in 16mm film), small-gauge celluloid (super 8 and/or 16mm), SD and/or HD video, found footage (film or video), contact printing, optical printing, and experiments in audio (with or without images). The first class will surely be an experiment in decision by consensus, and I donÕt expect it to be easy, but I am excited to allow you a voice in determining what you learn. The outer boundaries of this experiment will be determined by the limits of my knowledge and the limitations of the technology we have at our disposal (so, for example, we wonÕt be able to include 3D animation). I expect to have six seats to offer to non-English majors as well, so we should have an interesting mix of perspectives and voices to accommodate as we collectively chart our way.