Work in the class will consist of:

- in class studio time: working on short and long term exercises and projects during lab time with faculty availability

- out of class projects: projects and assignments to be completed alone and in groups

- training sessions: in class instructions and demonstrations on the use of digital video equipment and software.

- discussion and critique

- viewing of works in various media, in and out of class.

- some reading of relevant histories and theories

- research or relevant artists, artifacts for source material and examples

WORK: You should expect to spend at least 6hrs a week outside of class working on out-of-class projects. When an assignment requires you to work in a group you should respect your teamates and contribute equally towards the final product.

PATIENCE: Digital cameras, camcorders, and the associated photo and video editing software are not always the most cooperative things to work with. Learning complex non-linear video editing software is rarely an intuitive process and one should fully expect to encounter (sometimes confounding, sometimes disastrous) technical problems. Often there exists no single clear solution to problems, so one should be prepared to bring their creativity and problem-solving skills to class. BE PREPARED from some frustration, don't worry! I'll help you.

PARTICIPATION: Attendance is MANDATORY. Missing more than three classes will result in a full grade drop. You must also show up to class on time to be able to keep up with the rest of the class. Active participation on the part of each student is essential to the success and effectiveness of this course! Contrary to popular belief, some teachers do not necessarily enjoy talking to themselves and really want to hear your thoughts and insights into the material being discussed. DON'T be afraid to speak up! Or freak out!

If you don't already have a portable harddrive you will need to get one from the checkout window. The Lacie portable HD available from the school may be check out for an entire semester. Due to limited supplies (there are 3 classes which will be checking out portable harddrives) students will need to share a single HD with a classmate. You may use a hallway locker to store your drive if you wish. Simply find and unused locker, purchase a combination lock, and let Chris Bonner (jrbonner@uiuc.edu) know which locker you are using and that it is for my class. If you are planning to do more video editing or other digital creative work in the future I strongly encourage you to purchase your own portable harddrive.

You will need to bring headphones to each class – they should be long enough to reach the tower under your desk. Earbuds are fine.

Some of the projects require that you turn in projects on a DVD. Buy a short spindle of DVD-R's (or a big one and split it with a friend). A few of the early projects require the use a Digital camera. If you don't already own one you can check one out from the school – but you will have to provide your own SD memory card for the camera. When we start doing projects which use the camcorder you will need to purchase some miniDV tapes.

1/4 PARTICIPATION: joining in class discussions and critiques, having any required class materials prepared and ready (I will sometimes ask you to bring equipment to class or have raw video/rough draft video edits ready to work on during lab days)

3/4 PROJECT SCORES: you will receive a grade for each long-term project based upon: adherence to the project parameters, creativity of solution, mastery of technical and formal elements, attention to context and history.

The projects will be scored out of 20 points:

8pts – project turned in on time at beginning of class
4pts – adherence to and execution of the project parameters
5pts – formal qualities of the video (competent camera use, smart use                                            of editing, quality of audio, white balance, use of color, etc.)
3pts – Creativity and ambition of the work.