One must die as a sighted person to be born again as a blind person and the opposite is equally true: one must die as a blind person to be born again as a seeing person.

Your task is to imagine that you come from a planet that has no visual culture- a society of the blind or a society that has never developed visual representation or has never found visual information of any special interest. This society has sent you to Earth as an anthropologist to study the ways in which visual culture operates. Upon returning to your planet you discover that, due to an unfortunate accident, you have lost all the material samples (images, objects, apparatuses) of this culture that you had gathered along the way, EXCEPT ONE. From that one sample you must try to reconstruct for your audience both a general idea of what your object is and how it comes to be understood by people who approach the world visually. For example, your object is a desktop picture frame. You will need to explain to your audience what a frame is [a polygon or circle made of wood, metal, or plaster], what it does [holds, usually, a two dimensional object for display], and how it functions in the lives of the people who use them. Where did you see this object [on people’s walls, by their bedsides, in museums] and how did location affect its contents [personal snapshots, paintings]? You will find that you will need to tell your audience what a snapshot is, what a museum is or what the word “display” means.

Your task is to give a five-minute “show and tell” presentation using your sample to illustrate what a visual culture is like. This sample can be just about anything: it need not be a picture or a piece of art. In fact, your object might be more interesting if it isn’t. It could, for instance, be a machine, instrument, found object, a piece of clothing, etc.,...

The objective here is to de-familiarize visual experience and representation, to re-stage it as a problem to be explained rather than a capacity to be taken for granted. The idea is to set up an empty frame in which any object or experience may be staged for inspection and analysis insofar as it helps to explain what a visually oriented culture is.

Our Show + Tell will be staged during discussion section during week 3. You will be presenting in groups of four. Each person in the group will talk. Please come prepared with a 5-minute presentation and an open mind. 10 minutes, in addition to the presentation time, will be dedicated to Q + A from the audience.

1. working individually, shoot a roll of 36 exposures. YOU WILL BE TURNING IN [5] PHOTOGRAPHS

.
2. Complete [1] of the following sequence types
SEQUENCE TYPES [choose 1]:
• a series of [5] photographs which are different views of the same object/person/environment
• a sequence of [5] images that connect sequentially—either through concept, shape & color, vectors and/or both
• a sequence of [5] images which tell a story

3. Complete at least [3] of the following composition types
COMPOSITIONAL TYPES
• a primarily vertical composition
• a primarily horizontal composition
• an image which uses focus [depth of field] to attract our attention to the object/person
• an image which abstracts its subject through de-contextualization [for example, an image of a billboard or sign which is fragmented to spell a new word, or an extreme close up on a texture, object, or pattern].
• an image which contains foreground, midground, and background
• an image in which the aspect ratio of the frame is changed through the use of an architectural or
natural feature [creating a frame within a frame]
• an image that creates an interesting relationship between positive and negative space

4. Before turning this assignment in, please do the following:
• write your name on the back of each photo [with a Sharpie or non-smudge pen]
• write down the compositional type on the back of each photo
• place your photos in an envelope or fasten them together with a paper clip.

For this assignment you will be creating a Photoshop portrait of someone- yourself or another person. In addition to showing your subject’s face, capture this person’s personality in other ways: through the expressive use of color, the choice and arrangement of images. Remember, we, the audience, do not know this person. How can you tell us something about him/her without using “in-jokes” or clichés? How can you tell us how you feel about this person/character without using cliché’s or in-jokes?

You must use at least [3] layers. Save your project as a Photoshop File, with layers in tact. Assignment must be saved to disc [CD] and turned in with a label [your name and TAs name]

Write a 1-2 page scene about something that has happened to you. This can be anything—a memory, a banal event, a thrilling moment…. Write in the first person. Describe what happened—in terms of story, action, sounds, the way things looked and felt.
Write in story form prose. Do not use specialized screenwriting terms [i.e. EXT. MORNING, or CLOSE UP…..]

This draft is ver. 1 and is due in section during week 6

Then, re-write and adapt this scene to the genre category you randomly choose in section. Re-write the scene according to the demands and principles of your genre. For example, if you choose “mystery,” re-tool your story to create or highlight elements of suspense, surprise, danger, a heightened sense of drama.

This draft is ver. 2 and is due in section during week 7

You will be turning in both drafts of this writing assignment. This is a WRITING assignment—drafts should be proofread for spelling and grammar!!

You will be working in groups of [3]. Each of you will perform twice and direct once [this may be subject to change—dependent upon available time]
The process is as follows:

1. invent a relationship between two characters [co-workers, siblings, lovers, roommates, etc.]
2. devise a given circumstances that bring these people together. [funeral, waiting for a bus, dump date..]
3. re-work the script, if necessary [students are allowed to rearrange the words so long as they do not add words or remove them.]
4. give the words a fresh new context. Find a doing for each generic word that puts it into a dramatic context. [as character attempts to start a failing car she says "nothing"] For this exercise, it is important to transform these words from generic dialogue into the context of actions.
5. identify the style or genre you are working with, and develop the scene accordingly.
6. bring all necessary props. Do not pretend a bottle is candle. If you need a candle, bring one.

Part of this process is to type out the script. You will include the dialogue and then describe a whole set of actions to accompany that word or phrase. [Count on spending at least 2 two hour sessions working out the moments with your partners. Do not try to put this together twenty minutes before class]

ORIGINAL SCRIPT:

A: Well
B: Well I'm here
A: So I see
B: Yes
A: Well
B: Is that all you can say
A: What do you want me to say
B: Nothing
A: Nothing
B: You don't trust me
A: It's not that
B: Then what
A: Nevermind
B: Stop it
A: What
B: That
A: I can't
B: Try
A: Is that better
B: This is hopeless
A: What's the matter
B: I don't know
A: You don't know

For this assignment you will be working in your “production groups.” Working with/from the footage you were given in discussion section [VHS] create a “live “ soundtrack exploring the “contract” between sound and image. You may use pre-recorded elements but they must be performed “live” [i.e. played via a boom box during your performance]. Feel free to bring in and use musical instruments, sound making devices, your own voices…

#1 [35 points]
In his book Ways of Seeing, John Berger makes a compelling argument about the cultural dimension of “seeing.” He makes the following important point:
“the relation between what we see and what we know is never settled.” [CR, p.62]
What does he mean by this quote and how is it related to his larger argument? Use your own example to clarify and focus your answer, do not simply re-iterate Berger’s examples. Relate your answer to the concepts of “connotation” and “denotation”.

#2 [30 points]
Michel Chion, in his book Audio-Vision, uses the term “added value” [CR, p.250+] to describe the interaction between sound and image. What does he mean by “added value”? Relate your answer to your own experiences of matching image with sound [“live soundtrack” exercise].

#3 [30 points]
In his book, Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud uses the phrase “blood in the gutter” [CR, p.118+]. What does he mean by this and how does it relate to “closure” [CR, p.121 +]? Define your terms. Use your own example to clarify and focus your answer, do not simply re-iterate McCloud’s examples.

#4 [30 points]
In your own words, describe how “constraints” are related to the creative process. What are they? How do they work? How are you defining the term? Relate your answer to your own experience of producing images and/or sounds [either one of the 20P assignments or some other project that you’ve worked on]

#5 [25 points]
In their book, Screenwriting: Beyond the Rules, Dancyger and Rush discuss elements of narrative and storytelling [CR, p. 188+]. Define these terms and provide brief examples [from your own writing or Chunky in Heat]:
• Premise
• The role of conflict
• Atmosphere
• Subtext