ARTS443. Time Arts II UIUC School of Art + Design Tuesdays + Thursdays, 7-9:40pm Spring 2007
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		ASSIGNMENT 01........ DUE: THURSDAY FEBRUARY 1 Choose one item from the CONTENT column below (in this case "Light" or "Shadow"). Then choose one item from the TECHNICAL PARAMETER column (for this assignment it's "Locked-Off Camera" or "Low-Rent Dollies" or "Hand-Held Camera"). Edit your piece with Final Cut Pro. Make a two-three minute video. Let the Content and Technical Parameters inform your decisions - visually, technically and metaphorically. Use the limitations to shape your piece. 2 PARTS: QUICKTIME MOVIE Bring your full DV-resolution (720x480) quicktime movie to class on your Lacie drive so we can project it. YOUTUBE Post your video on Youtube. Make sure you post it as "UIUC..." Forward the URL to Deke for inclusion on LINKS page.
		CONTENT PARAMETER LIGHT How can light be used metaphorically? Emotionally? How can you use light sculpturally? How can light DEFINE a form? How can light be used as an ephemeral element? A graphic element? A transitional element? To denote speed? Change? Use "light" as a compositional tool and a metaphorical construct. SHADOW The idea of "shadow" has a long history. Thought of in psychological terms - dreams, paintings, horror movies, Jungian terminology. What lurks in the shadows could kill you. It's what you're most afraid of. But there's also a lot of power in shadow - what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Shadow is a distinct compositional element in photography and cinematography. The opposite of light. Negative space. Use "shadow" as a compositional tool and a metaphorical construct.			TECHNICAL PARAMETER LOCKED-OFF CAMERA Use a tripod for all the shots in your piece. No panning. No zooming. No camera movement at all. Should your shot be wide? Close up? Angled like a comic book frame? For each shot, take the camera off "automatic," determine your composition, determine your focus and depth of field. Take the shot. Any movement that takes place will be from people/animals/things moving in the frame - moving in to the frame, moving out of the frame, rolling around, jittering - none of the movement will be made by the camera. Edit your piece together with all the locked-off shots that you've made. LOW-RENT DOLLIES Make a piece where, for every shot, the camera is moving. Moving SMOOTHLY. Not hand-held - smooooooth. Now, I imagine most of you don't have access to a steadi-cam outfit...fine. What can you do to get a similar effect on the cheap? Classic solutions: skateboards, grocery carts, cars, etc. This will work best when the camera is fixed on it's rolling platform - as in NOT hand-held. HAND-HELD CAMERA A shot made with a hand-held camera tends to have MEANING when we see it on TV or in a film. It's all jumpy and frenetic. It might mean there's some sort of crises (video footage of people running when the World Trade Centers collapse, war footage, a lion escapes at the zoo) or maybe it's from footage that's meant to be "live" or unplanned (like on COPS or in aggressive documentaries) or diaristic (Blair Witch Project, City of God). Handheld camera work is almost always kinetic and the best of it is ready to burst it's got so much energy.