The schedule below is a projection, things can adjust a little depending on our discussions during the classes.

Week 14: Tuesday, December 8TH
Topic: Virtual Museum Visit

Class Topics

We will take a walk into the native American village of Seneca which was at the location of Central Park.

Week 15: Tuesday, December 15TH
Topic: ePortfolio

Week 1: Tuesday, September 1st
Topic: Welcome To Digital Media Foundations

 Objectives

  • Familiarize students with the objectives of the course.
  • Establish working practices and clarify expected outcomes.
  • Introduce the basics of our working practices.
  • Class introduction: Ice breaker with “The Questionnaire” game.

Project presentation: Video Project introduction

Next Week Class Prep: watch the video “The Art of Storytelling”on the homepage, in categories: Homework, video project.

Homework for your video project: Write a short text about how you intend to create the video.

Week 2: Tuesday, September 8th
Topic: How To Tell A Story In A Few Seconds?

Homework deadline: email me by Sunday September 6th, a paragraph of a pitch for your video.

Before the class watch my talks

Inspiration videos to watch

Lecture on Slack: Inspire students to approach their work presentation as a story telling. A series of short videos, commercials and music videos will be shown as examples to understand stylistic, narration, emotional impact.

Watch these videos for next week Class Prep

Homework for your video project: adjust your pitch after my comments and email it by Sunday September 13th, 1pm. Make sure that you will be able to follow your pitch during the making of your video. Your pitch is the tool that will help you make the video.

Week 3: Tuesday, September 15th
Topic: Digital Video and Sound

Homework deadline: email me by Sunday September 13th, 1pm, the updated pitch for your video. Make sure that you will be able to follow your pitch during the making of your video. Your pitch is the tool that will help you make the video.

Class Prep: before class watch these videos

Lecture: Introduction to the technical aspect of digital video and audio. Students will get familiarized with the terms and vocabulary of the movie industry and prep for the quiz 1. 

Demo: How to upload your video on YouTube.

Homework for next week

  1. Upload your video on YouTube and email me the link by Sunday September 20th, 1pm. Make sure that you will be following your pitch during the making of your video. The pitch should help you during the filming and with the final editing. You will follow the sequences of the scenes that you wrote and place the elements (graphics, sounds, voiceover) the same way you described them in your pitch.
  2. Quiz 1 Prep: Familiarize yourself with the audio and video vocabulary we talked about during class. Make sure you understand the benefit of story telling and a writing a pitch and why we need them.
  3. Watch these videos for next week Class Prep:

Week 4: Tuesday, September 22nd
Topic: Quiz 1 and Research Paper Presentation

Class Prep

  1. Quiz 1 Prep: Familiarize yourself with the audio and video vocabulary we talked about during class. Make sure you understand the benefit of story telling in writing a good pitch, using a storyboard, and why we need them.
  2. Everyone needs to read all the pitches on OpenLab and comment at the bottom of the post.
    As we saw on the video about The Art of Storytelling, giving feedback is part of the process. Your comments have to be constructive and develop ideas. Suggest adjustments if you see something that could be added or tweaked that could help make the story better. This is part of your participation grades. You need to write at least a comment on 2 different stories.
  3. Revise your pitch and start working on the video (30 to 45 seconds long).
    Make sure that you will be following your pitch during the making of your video. The pitch should help you during the filming and with the final editing. You will follow the sequences of the scenes that you wrote and place the elements (graphics, sounds, voiceover) the same way you described them in your pitch.
  4. Watch these videos:
    3 inspirational videos about The Art Of Film

Class Topics

FOR INSPIRATION visit these posts:

Homework
Your video (30 to 45 seconds long) uploaded on YouTube by Sunday September 27th, 1pm.

Upload your video on YouTube and email me the link. If you need help with it, watch the demo video on OpenLab.

Make sure that you will be following your pitch during the making of your video. The pitch should help you during the filming and with the final editing. You will follow the sequences of the scenes that you wrote and place the elements (graphics, sounds, voiceover) the same way you described them in your pitch.

NO CLASS Tuesday, September 29th
School follows Monday schedule

Homework for next class, in 2 weeks, emailed by Sunday October 4th, 1pm:

Prepare a list with 3 artists who inspire you. Ask yourself these questions below and write a short paragraph for each artist you’ll pick:

  • what type of art this artist does?
    For example, if it is a photographer, what type of photos he or she does, portraits, fashion, journalistic ….
  • what era and style this artist has?
    For example, if it is a photographer is it B&W, digital or print, for advertising or magazines or galleries.
  • why I am inspired by their work?
    For example, if it is a portrait photographer, I love taking photographs with people, being able to connect with them. I am inspired by the intimate way this photographer is working with his or her models. I want to be able to create the same type of atmosphere when I take portraits.
  • highlight what will be your sources for your research.
  • Write a short paragraph for each artist with the idea of making me curious to want to know more about them. We will decide together which one will seem the most exciting to get to explore deeper.

If you haven’t done it yet, everyone needs to read all the pitches on OpenLab and comment at the bottom of the post.
As we saw on the video about The Art of Storytelling, giving feedback is part of the process. Your comments have to be constructive and develop ideas. Suggest adjustments if you see something that could be added or tweaked that could help make the story better. This is part of your participation grades. You need to write at least a comment on 2 different stories.

Tuesday, September 29th
NO CLASS – School follows Monday schedule

Week 5: Tuesday, October 6th
Topic: Web Design

Homework

  1. Your video should be on YouTube and I should have received the link.
  2. If you haven’t done it yet, everyone needs to read all the screenplays, watch the uploaded videos on OpenLab and comment on at least 2 projects at the bottom of the post.
  3. For your research paper, prepare a list with 3 artists who inspire you.
    Send it by Sunday October 4th, 1pm
    Write a short paragraph for each artist.
    Your goal: I want to be intrigued by your choices. You really need to convince me about the high quality of their achievements and the impact of their work in the society. We will decide together which one seems the most exciting to pick.
    Ask yourself these questions below and write a short paragraph for each artist:
  • what type of art this artist does?
    For example, if it is a photographer, what type of photos he or she does, portraits, fashion, journalistic ….
  • what style this artist has?
    For example, if it is a photographer is it B&W, digital or print, for advertising or magazines or galleries.
  • why am I inspired by their work?
    For example, if it is a portrait photographer, I love taking photographs of people, being able to connect with them. I am inspired by the intimate way this photographer is working with his or her models. I want to be able to create the same type of connection when I take portraits.
  • highlight what will be your sources for your research.

Class Prep

To inspire your research paper, watch videos on 3 artists of my choice:

Class Topics

  • Lecture: Introduction to web design with presentation of the WordPress platform and templates used for OpenLab.
  • Demo: How to create pages on OpenLab and personalize your ePortfolio. 

Homework for next week

By Sunday October 11th, 1pm.

Send a written paragraph about the artist we decided to develop. Add a list of websites, videos, biographies that you are going to use to write your paper. You can also start to select portraits of the artist and reproduction of their work.

Week 6: Tuesday, October 13th
Topic: Motion Graphics, Visual Effects, and Animation

Homework

If you haven’t done it yet. For your research paper, prepare a list with 3 artists who inspire you.
Write a short paragraph for each artist.
Your goal: I want to be intrigued by your choices. You really need to convince me about the high quality of their achievements and the impact of their work in the society. We will decide together which one seems the most exciting to pick.
Ask yourself these questions below and write a short paragraph for each artist:

  • what type of art this artist does?
    For example, if it is a photographer, what type of photos he or she does, portraits, fashion, journalistic ….
  • what style this artist has?
    For example, if it is a photographer is it B&W, digital or print, for advertising or magazines or galleries.
  • why am I inspired by their work?
    For example, if it is a portrait photographer, I love taking photographs of people, being able to connect with them. I am inspired by the intimate way this photographer is working with his or her models. I want to be able to create the same type of connection when I take portraits.
  • highlight what will be your sources for your research.

Inspiration

For your research paper, watch videos on 3 artists of my choice:

By Sunday October 11th, 1pm.

  1. Send a written paragraph about the artist we decided to develop. Add a list of websites, videos, biographies that you are going to use to write your paper. You can also start to select portraits of the artist and reproduction of their work.
  2. Following the demo videos from last week delete all the dummy pages and navigation from your ePortfolio on OpenLab. Create an about page, and a folder called Digital Media Foundations with inside a page of your Video project.

Class Topics

Lecture: Introduction to motion softwares with Adobe Creative Cloud After Effects, Premiere Pro, and Anime. Presentation to an other approach to animation and 3D with the software Cinema 4D.

Guest interview with a designer specialized in motion graphics. 

Next week Class Prep

To do by Sunday October 18th, 1pm

Watch the video series and complete activities

Color Science

Week 7: Tuesday, October 20th
Topic: Color Science

Homework

If you haven’t done it yet, work on your ePortfolio and on research paper.

  1. By Sunday October 18th, 1pm, send a first draft of about 2 pages. And if you are late, send also a written paragraph about the artist you decided to develop. Add a list of websites, videos, biographies that you are going to use to write your paper. Include them as hyperlinks, not just links. You can also start to select portraits of the artist and reproduction of their work.
  2. Following the demo videos from how to build your ePortfolio, delete all the dummy pages and navigation from your ePortfolio on OpenLab. Create an about page, and a folder called Digital Media Foundations with inside a page of your Video project.

Class Prep

Watch the video series and complete activities

Class Topics

Lecture: This is a prep class for your next Quiz. Determining Color is not as simple as saying Red or Blue, there are endless shades of color in the visible spectrum. In this lesson, you will learn how color is determined partly by the physics of light and partly by how our brains perceive it.

Intro to the different color spaces for various supports and identification of colors in the visual spectrum. 

Next week Class Prep

  1. by Sunday October 25th, 1pm, final paper paper with text, photos, links and a list of all your references.
  2. Make sure you watched the Color Science video series and complete all the activities for your next quiz.

Week 8: Tuesday, October 27th
Topic: Classifications and Psychology of Colors

Homework

  1. by Sunday October 25th, 1pm, final research paper with text, photos, links and a list of all your references.
  2. Make sure you watched the Color Science video series and complete all the activities for your next quiz.

Class Topics

Lecture: last week we learnt that colors are subjectives. Visual professionals have created a classification system to identify colors for specific supports. We will explore the specifications of process vs. spot colors and PANTONE library. Through examples, we will discover the reasons why graphic designers are most of the time disappointed with their color output.

Demo: identification of colors and how they interact with each other using watercolor. The goal is to understand how real paint and a brush relate to the ways colors work in Photoshop, illustrator and InDesign.

Next week Quiz Prep

  1. Revise the last 2 classes about The Science of Color and Color Classifications. Watch again the Color Science video series and complete all the activities.
  2. by Sunday November 1st, 1pm, your final Artist Research Paper should be on your ePortfolio with photos and hyperlinks of your list of all your references.
  3. Make sure to read and comment on the other students artist research paper.

Week 9: Tuesday, November 3rd
Topic: Quiz 2 and Visual Quote Postcard Presentation

Homework:

  1. Revise the last 2 classes about The Science of Color and Color Classifications. Watch again the Color Science video series and complete all the activities.
  2. by Sunday November 1st, 1pm, your final Artist Research Paper should be on your ePortfolio with photos and hyperlinks of your list of all your references.
  3. Make sure to thank and comment on the motion graphic designer, Michael’s interview.

Class Topics

Students take Quiz 2 on color, motion graphics and web intro.

Artist Research Paper Review

Project presentation: Visual Quote postcard

Next week Homework

  1. by Sunday November 8th, 1pm, send your 2 quote selections and proposals in for of hand drawings or digital sketch for version with type only and the one including an image.

Week 10: Tuesday, November 10th
Topic: Print Media & Digital Imaging

Homework

  1. by Sunday November 8th, 1pm, send your 2 quote selections and proposals in for of hand drawings or digital sketch for version with type only and the one including an image.
  2. Make sure to read and comment on the other students artist research paper.

Class Topics

Image file formats: when to use each type of file

When to Use Spot Colors Versus Process Colors (Or Both). How design and budget affect color printing.

Week 11: Tuesday, November 17th
Topic: Reflection on typography

Class Topics

An approach on the terminology of Serif and Sans Serif fonts and how they are used. What is the future of typography? An overview of how typography is constantly evolving to address todays parameters. Having control of fonts and typography is becoming complex and unsustainable. To work around the strict limitations of the online frame Google has created NOTO font.

Next week homework and class prep

Sunday November 22nd, 1pm, send your 3 favorite variations on the quote you picked for the typography only postcard. See post for baby steps.

Watch the videos I recommended many times, they’ll help you find inspirations.

Week 12: Tuesday, November 24th
Topic: Intro to computer technology:
Analog Vs. Digital

Homework

Sunday November 22nd, 1pm, your 3 favorite variations on the quote you picked for the typography only postcard. See post for baby steps.

Class Topic

Analog and digital signals are used to transmit information, usually through electric signals. In both these technologies, the information, such as any audio or video, is transformed into electric signals. The difference between analog and digital technologies is that in analog technology, information is translated into electric pulses of varying amplitude. In digital technology, translation of information is into binary format (zero or one) where each bit is representative of two distinct amplitudes.

Type Formats and Vector Image Formats

Every graphic you see online is an image file. Most everything you see printed on paper, plastic or a t-shirt came from an image file. These files come in a variety of formats, and each is optimized for a specific use. Using the right type for the right job means your design will come out picture perfect and just how you intended.

Next week Quiz Prep

Revise what we study these past 2 weeks.

Read about lossless data compression.

Week 13: Tuesday, December 1ST
Topic: Quiz 3 and Visual Quote Postcard Presentation

Class Topics

Students take Quiz 3 on computer technology and typography introduction

Visual Quote postcard Review