Final Portfolio

Due:

Wednesday, 12/1

The final portfolio will consist of jpeg files turned in. It should represent your strongest work created over the course. It will be graded as a separate project. It would be a good idea to strategize what you will be submitting ahead of time with the instructor. Revisions to any project images you are submitting are welcome. If you are submitting a revision, please indicate with the filename. Use the following criteria:

Electronic:

• Jpegs, highest quality
• 1200 pixels in longest direction
• sRGB
• LASTNAME_PROJECTNAME (REVISION)_(number).jpg

Examples:
jordan_movieposterREVISED_1.jpg

jordan_digitalphotos_1.jpg

jordan_digitalphotosREVISED_2.jpg

Projects represented in portfolio:

• Project 1, digital photos (3 images)
• Project 2, Image Combination (1 image)
• Project 3, Culture Jam (1-3 images)
• Project 4, Video Project (no need to turn this in again, unless you have made changes to original)
• Project 5, Movie Poster (1 image)
• Project 6, Open project (as many images that comprise your final piece or pieces)
• Any additional work you have made for the class outside of specific assignments that you wish to include as part of your portfolio

For project 6, you will also turn in work files (psd, pdf) as part of that particular assignment.

Proposals: Open Project

Review the reading supplement to the course: Digital Art (Christiane Paul). Find an artist in the book (any chapter) who is doing something that you find inspiring. Describe their work/ideas/approaches/techniques in your proposal. Use 1-2 of these aspect as a starting point for a project of your own. The idea is to use the positive influence of an artist you admire to launch you into new territory. If you are excited, you can't help but be original. Propose the scope of your project as you presently see it. Describe themes, concepts, methods, techniques you anticipate exploring.

Length: 1 page, double space.

Proposals due: Wed 11/10, hard copy (typed). Please no email—(inbox overloads!)

The project is due the last class of the course, Wednesday 12/1.

Spring Digital Photography Courses

Digital Photographic Arts

Art 328-001

***NOTE TIME CHANGE*** 3:00 pm – 5:45 pm MW

Faculty: Chris Jordan

Learn essentials of digital workflow from image capture through print. Discover new modes of picture making in the digital realm. Gain mastery over image-editing tools (Photoshop). Be inspired by contemporary photographic artists and develop your own body of work.

Pre-requisites: Art 218, Art 224, or permission of the instructor.

Photography: Creative Studio Lighting

Art 408-001

12:00 pm - 2:45 pm MW

Faculty: Chris Jordan

Learn how creative studio lighting can transform your photography. Learn fundamentals for still life, portraiture, location work and other applications. Explore natural, hot light and strobe light sources, reflectors, light modifiers and more. Develop a body of work exploring the use of light as an expressive photographic medium. The course will primarily be taught digitally, but skills also apply to film.

Pre-requisites: Art 318, Art 224, or permission of the instructor.

Movie Poster Project

For this project, create a movie poster for your video project. The finished poster should have a strong design that is in keeping with a professionally designed movie poster. Study existing movie posters and look to them as design templates to help you with image ideas, layout and typography decisions. The finished piece should look convincing as a movie poster.

A great catalog of movie posters (the good, bad and ugly) can be found here:

http://impawards.com/index.html

Other useful resources:

Fonts for billing blocks (the credits appearing in movie posters)

SteelTongs

Infictus

SFMoviePoster

1. Create your background graphics in Adobe Photoshop and/or Illustrator
2. Layout and Typography should be set in InDesign
3. You will turn in contributing photoshop file, and final PDF output file
4. Design the poster for a size of 11"x14" at 300dpi.
5. Be mindful of bleeds and build these into your design
6. Make sure all graphics are of adequate resolution to support final print size

Final Posters will be evaluated on:

1. Correct file setup (file types, size, resolution, color space, etc.)
2. Correct use of applications (Photoshop, Illustrator, inDesign)
3. Fresh, creative, exciting graphic ideas
4. Strength of design (layout, typography) that is convincing as a movie poster

Production/Due Dates:

• Production Critique 11/15
• Final Poster Due 11/22

Class recommendations: Videos

Prince and Cinderalla

Favorite Pants

Are you watching closely? (animals)

Cabinet unto the world

winnebago warriors

"drop out"

black

haunted camera

City One Minutes

Old French Lady

Chinese Stamp

Tri Topolja, Borschagovskij

Sewing Machine

Insomnia, Bell Soto

Je me figeais, Baptiste Sola

Marcel the shell with shoes on (very funny)

Extension 21

Project 4: Video Art

Due Dates:

Monday 10/18:

• email (cjordan@as.ua.edu) two links for experimental videos that have inspired you
• story board

Monday 10/25:

• Video footage due, captured / converted to .mov format

Monday 11/1:

• Initial cut due for screening critique

Monday 11/8:

• Final Videos Due

Additional dates TBD

For this project, create an experimental art video ranging in length from 1-3 minutes.

The video should have a distinct theme, concept or even a plot. This is entirely up to you—think way outside the box and push beyond the expected.

Its advisable to watch and study many examples of video art projects for inspiration. While Hollywood films are often tied to obvious linear plots, with experimental video there is no need to do something so rigid. Be abstract, poetic, suggestive, wild, weird...but always keep quality in mind.

Basic steps:

1. Arrange for video equipment (should be done by now)
2. Watch a lot of video art
3. Brainstorm your ideas... develop the "story"
4. Storyboard ideas... pre-plan your general shots and sequences
5. Arrange actors, shooting sessions
6. Shoot footage
7. Capture footage... your footage must be captured into .mov file
8. Edit footage with iMovie
9. Score video in Garage Band (add music, sound effects, etc.)
10. Output final movie file

Check out these links to get you going with some possible approaches. Others can be found at the site (link located on the bar to the right)... some ranging from profound to clever, to downright odd.

The One Minutes Site

Vimeo Experimental Channel

Dramatic narrative

Extended moment

Time Lapse Typology

Performance Art

Weird

Francis Alys

Isaac Julian

Bill Viola

Jym Davis

Elizabeth Holly Hurt

Baptise Sola

Project 3: Culture Jam

Project Due:

10/18

Digital technologies allow singular images to be re-mediated or re-manifested into numerous forms, venues, locations, simultaneously and instantly. Images, paired with text in slick design layouts appear in advertisements on multiple fronts, trying to sell us something. We're bombarded with these messages.

Some useful terms:

• Mediation: An intervention by which direct experience is recorded/represented by some sort of medium (words, music, paint, film, digital, video, etc.), for the purpose of (re)presentation.
• Remediation: Essentially, mediation of mediation… existing media forms are subjected to additional acts of mediation or recording (and then subsequent presentation)
• Culture Jamming: The highjacking of commercial/pop culture to deliver a subversive or protest message. Here, "jam" refers to both improvisation and the blocking of communication.

An advertisement is an act of remediation. Photographic meaning is slippery. When combined with text, the meaning of a photograph can easily morph or change to support a bigger concept or idea. The ambiguity of photographic meaning is clearly illustrated with this example from class:

The remediation of photographs with slogans, logos and corporate identity can result in powerful and compelling communication. Ask yourself... what am I being sold? What fantasies or cultural myths are being broadcast?

The Artist Barbara Kruger was concerned with these questions when she created her Billboard works:

Richard Prince created "artwork" drawing attention to icons of American masculinity, in particular the "Marlboro Man," by re-photographing advertisements.

For this project we'll take a closer look at advertising as an act of re-mediation. In a rebellious (and hopefully empowering) act of cultural jamming (another form of re-mediation), the assignment is to work with a well known ad campaign and create a smart, pithy spoof. Look to a product that perhaps bothers or annoys you and create a "re-mixed" advertisement that sharply pokes fun at it.

Criteria:

1. Finished piece should look like a professional advertisement. Logos, text and layout should resemble the original in a way that makes the spoof clear.
2. All the photography and supporting imagery must be yours. So, choose an ad you think is technically within reach.
3. The image should use legitimate digital workflow skills as taught in class
4. The final piece should be clever, smart and engaging.

For inspiration, check out work by the infamous cultural jamming duo, The Yes Men. Whether or not you agree with their message, their tactics are certainly bold.

More in the advertising vein:

From adbusters

From adbusters

©1997 Abrupt

for more:

https://www.adbusters.org/gallery/spoofads

Reading and Response

Due: 9/22

Reading:

Digital Art, by Christiane Paul

• Introduction
• Chapter 1

Response:

You are presented with several questions about the reading (see below). Answer these in paragraph form in a way that demonstrates your knowledge of, and engagement with, the reading. Support your responses with quotes and specifics from the book (with pages cited). Typed/word processed and printed.

Your responses will be evaluated on:

• Demonstrated completion of the reading
• Demonstrated understanding of the ideas, concepts presented in the reading
• Appropriate citing of referenced content, with page numbers
• Thoughtful reflection and elaboration on ideas presented
• Clarity of writing, correct grammar and spelling

Questions

Introduction and Chapter 1

1. Summarize the main advances in digital technologies from each decade from the 40’s through the present.
2. A general distinction is made throughout the introduction (and the whole book) between object-oriented art and process-oriented digital art. Define these two categories. Pick an artist from the book (that you like) that fits the “object-oriented” category and describe their work. Do the same for process-oriented.
3. From throughout the reading (and must be other than already mentioned), which artist's work did you find particularly engaging? How so? Justify your answer intelligently, based on concepts covered in the reading. Limit answer to a paragraph.
4. Which artist's work did you find the least compelling? How so? Justify your answer intelligently, based on concepts covered in the reading. Limit answer to a paragraph.
5. From the assigned reading, what concepts or ideas most engaged you? Go beyond repeating your answer to question 3; choose some additional subjects. Justify your answer intelligently, based on concepts covered in the reading and listing associated artists. Limit answer to a paragraph.
6. From the assigned reading, what concepts or ideas least engaged you? Go beyond repeating your answer to question 4; choose some additional subjects. Justify your answer intelligently, based on concepts covered in the reading and listing associated artists. Limit answer to a paragraph.

Project II: Image Combinations*

* Note this project is replacing the "digital photographic book" as outlined in the syllabus. There will be other chances to create digital books later in the course.

Project II: Image Combinations

Combine at least three (3) images together into a coherent whole. Source imagery may be photography, hand drawn pieces, paintings, monoprints... you name it. If it can be scanned or photographed, its fare game. The only caveat is that source imagery should be of sufficient resolution for good print output. This rules out much of the imagery that can be nabbed from the internet, because (as you know) screen resolution (72 dpi) is insufficient for printing.

The final piece may be abstract or realistic, but should evidence good masking skills, layer handling, tone and color handling, and of course be a strong design. Even "abstract" pieces should evidence good selection skills, with no "jaggies" or "halos."

Due Date 1: 9/20

• Three strong variations. The wider the variety, the better
• Preliminary critique

Due Date 2: 9/22

• Finalized design
• Photoshop file

Your work will be evaluated on the following:

• Required components; 3 images of adequate resolution
• The image is built for print resolution (at least 8x10 at 300 dpi)
• Strength of the visual design (aesthetic)
• Conceptually creative, fresh and engaging (What is the picture showing us?)
• Selections and masking are precise (no jagged edges or halo artifacts)
• Appropriate use of photoshop layers

Some examples:

Some examples (student):

Lab Hours

M 8:30-midnight

T 5:30-10pm

W 8:30-midnight

TH 5:30-10pm

F 1-6pm

Sun 22-7

Project I

Project 1

Due: Wednesday 9/8

4-8 portfolio-level images that serve your project (choose strongest images)

3 strongest images from initial shooting exercises

For each image, process in photoshop using best practices as taught in class

• Curve adjustment layer to set white/black points
• Contrast and / or brightness curve adjustment layer
• Dodge and burn layer (local adjustments)
• Color adjustment (if the image requires it), using curve and/or photo filter

Choose one of the following projects that calls out to you. Make it pertinent to your sensibility and interests. Create a group of photographs using strong techniques that expresses the ideas of your project. Work through and avoid clichés (e.g. smiley face for happy)— see if you can tackle the subject in a fresh, unique way that might not be so literal. Teach us something.

• The seven deadly sins: gluttony, sloth, envy, avarice (greed), temper, pride and lust
• The four cardinal emotions: sad, mad, glad, scared
• States of mind: awake, asleep, astute, mystical, altered, psychotic...
• You are what you eat
• People (or person) important to me
• Objects sacred to me
• Places important to me

Work will be evaluated on:

• Use of creative shooting strategies
• Interesting subject matter
• Successful balance of form and content (how your creative photography expresses your subject matter) to express your idea/theme/concept
• Successful use of Photoshop as taught in class

Artists for inspiration:

Christine Chin

Michiko Kon

Susan Lakin

Diane Arbus

Nan Goldin

Arno Raphael Minkkinen

Elinor Carucci

Marta Dahlig

Seven Deadly Sin (various)

Hieronymous Bosch

Laura Letinsky

Wolfgang Tillmans

Richard Misrach

Uta Barth

Monday 8/23

For next class:

Photograph for at least 30 minutes (around 50 exposures). Focus on the 1-2 strategies you identified in your strongest images from the class exercise — really dive in and explore them. The subject matter should be something you are really passionate about.

Resolution slides

8/18

For Next Class:

• Bring Cameras, Tether/Card Reader
• Buy the Textbook