BASIC INFO
fdm 170a: Introduction to Digital Media Production.
when: fall 2009
instructor: margaretha haughwout
email: mhaughwo AT ucsc DOT edu
office: communications 151
class times: Tu < Th 2-4:30pm
office hours: Th 12:15pm-1:45pm
chat: jonnievenom1
online office hours: 8-8:30pm
pdf of syllabus
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DESCRIPTION
This course is a hands-on introduction to digital media technologies: the methods, tools and concepts of a digital/ new media art practice.
It is meant to inspire, provide launching points for personal or collaborative exploration, and to provide resources as well as foundational skills for creativity.
This quarter we focus on digital practices that include drawing, photo manipulation, web design, and basic animation. Our book draws from the Bauhaus school, a school that emerged in Germany in the early 20th-century and was dedicated to new forms of design that responded to industrialization and modernity. Our syllabus usually includes one art or design manifesto each week as we move through learning the basics of each tool. Students are asked to read each manifesto and at times explore ways that its concepts and text might be conveyed through the tools we are using. The manifestos supply conceptual material to work with design-wise, but also ask students to consider what principles their own works are grounded in.
As engaged and eager students of this field, you are expected to have come to class having read the required readings and completed assignments on time. This means you come to class brimming with questions and comments about the material, eager to not only advance your own ideas, but to push the entire group towards thoughtful and engaged work.
REQUIRED TEXTS
burroughs, xtine and Michael Mandiberg. Digital Foundations: Intro to Media Design. Berkeley: New Riders, cc Attribution, Non-Commercial, 2009
GRADING FORMULA
participation/ collaboration/ helping/ asking: 10%
9 assignments: 10% each, 90%
GRADING RUBRIC
A -- Excellent. Student exhibits exemplary ability and creativity in implementing technical skills as well as through a close reading and analysis of the required materials. All work is lucid and engaging.
B -- Good. Student completes assignment, and demonstrates a grasp of most of the main themes and aspects of each lesson, but not all. Detail, creativity and critical analysis is present.
C -- Satisfactory. Student completes the assignment but may lack enthusiasm or drive to push the work into a detailed creative or critical space. Student performs little or no creativity or analysis. Problems exist in student's work, the work is underdeveloped.
D -- Unsatisfactory. Student does not complete the work as assigned. Substantial problems exist in student's work.
F -- Fail. Student does not submit work, or work is below unsatisfactory level.
LATE WORK POLICY
Work is considered late if handed in or emailed after due date/time. The default time for submission of work is 12 midnight on Sunday, unless specified otherwise in the schedule. For each day the work is late (marked each 24 hours by the day and time of original deadline), the work decreases by half a grade (a B+ goes to B-, a B- to a C+, etc.).
Note: it is highly recommended that students bring a thumb drive with them to class to back up work. Assignments not completed because of lost work will not be excused.
EMAIL ETIQUETTE
Please visit: http://www.stopforwarding.us/etiq.html for tips on appropriate email practices.
In you subject header, indicate your course, and a couple of words about your question/comment -- ie:
subject: FDM 170 assignment question
Allow for a 48 hour response time from the professor (if it is urgent, please put URGENT in the subject header for quicker response time)
EMAILING AND NAMING ASSIGNMENT FILES
Students are required to submit assignments electronically to mhaughwo AT ucsc DOT edu. file names should begin with the latter A in capitals, followed by the assignment number, folowed by an underscore and the student's last name, another underscore, and then their first name:
A1_lastname_firstname.filetype
files emailed that do not follow this format run the risk of not being graded.