CONTEMPLATIVE VIDEO • WINTER 2008 • Session II

Studio workshop in Made for Contemplation

Laurie Meeker, Stephanie Zorn and Media Services staff

 

“This is video in its most simple form: camera, subject, push record. Even that very simple act, which everybody who has a camcorder does every day, is rather profound.

You capture the essence of another human being in such a way that… you get more than just the picture, you get some feeling, because its existing in time, its existing in our time, its parallel to our existence, our heartbeats, our breaths at this moment, is paralleled by that little DVD spinning in that machine, spitting out images, coexisting with us - as people do, as friends do, as the people we encounter do. So that simple being to being presence – which people have described as a quality of video, they describe it as immediacy – is very real.”

- Bill Viola, video artist, speaking at the Tate Modern, June 2006

 

Before class, please read the handouts on the Sony & Canon palmcorders, available on Media Loan’s website at  http://www.evergreen.edu/media/pdf/ML_sonycamcorders.pdf

and http://www.evergreen.edu/media/pdf/CanonZR800.pdf

Handouts are also available at Media Loan (paper copies). Bring them to class next week! ALSO IMPORTANT: Bring a mini-DV tape to class for your first shoot.

 

Week 6 – Thurs. Feb. 14th Lib 1326  2-4 pm Palmcorder proficiency with Kathryn Ford.

4-5 pm Shooting Exercise: Choose a shooting partner. Go in teams of two to set up, shoot, and log several shots around the Evergreen campus. This footage will be used to create a collaborative video documenting contemplative spaces or environments on the Evergreen campus. Working title: Contemplative Evergreen. Check out cameras and shoot more footage over the weekend. Bring your DV tape with footage on it to the next workshop (Feb. 21). Black your tapes or pre-record on them to avoid time code breaks.

 

I Do Not Know What It Is I Am Like, Bill Viola, 1986 Videotape

 

Week 7 – Thursday, February 21  – MultiMedia Lab (LIB 1404)

2:00 – 3:30 MultiMedia Lab Proficiency with Stephaine Zorn

Final Cut Pro, Part 1 – logging, capturing, basic cuts, file management, posting to server

3:30 – 4:30 Basic Audio Recording (Field Recording, Ambient Sound) &

Flash Recorder profieciency with Zena Vegara

Read handout before class:  Marantz PMD-660 Compact Flash Recorder available at Media Loan or at  http://www.evergreen.edu/media/pdf/marantz660.pdf

 

POSTING/EDITING ASSIGNMENT: Following the directions given in the workshop, post your best scenes for the Contemplative Evergreen collaborative project to the server for other students to access.

EDIT a short piece 3-5 minutes max entitled Contemplative Evergreen. Design the piece for a soundtrack with ambient sound only. Record additional ambient sound for the soundtrack. Audio files can also be posted for collaborative use.

PLEASE NOTE: This collaborative editing exercise is optional. We may not have time to screen these in class, but it is recommended that you work on this as an editing exercise.

 

Week 7 – continued…

 

SHOOTING ASSIGNMENT: Working individually or in teams of two, design a short piece, 5 minutes maximum, expressing program themes, and addressing the third design problem, drawing connections between the perceiving, creative, and contemplative minds. We will look at rushes week 3 and rough cuts week 4.

AUDIO ASSIGNMENT: Use only original audio. Record your own audio – ambient sounds, sound effects, and/or music. If you decide to use music, record original music – composed and performed by you or used with permission. For ethical reasons, you are asked NOT to use copyrighted music.

 

Week 8 – Thursday, February 28 – MultiMedia Lab (LIB 1404)

Final Cut Pro, Part 2 – transitions, speed adjustments, importing audio, basic audio levels, multiple audio tracks. Titles, print to video and creating a DVD.

View cuts of Contemplative Evergreen, time permitting.

View rushes of team projects, time permitting.

EDITING ASSIGNMENT: Edit your final projects and post them to the server by Thursday. Make sure to include project files AND the media (shots) they point to.

*Projects must be posted in submission folder by next Thursday @ 9am so we can review them in class on the FCP timeline. As a backup, bring a DVD copy of the rough cut.

 

Week 9 – Thursday, March 6 – 5.1 Room (LIB 1328)          

2:00 – 5:00 pm: Rough Cut Critique

We will view your projects on the computer in the FCP timeline

Develop a critique schedule based on the number of final projects. 10 minutes each for screening and critique. Elect a timekeeper. When you present, let the work speak for itself – during the critique, please take notes and plan to make your final revisions after the critique.

PLEASE NOTE: Bring a DVD for the full program screening next week. Only DVDs can be screened in our booked classrooms. Plan to burn it two days in advance and TEST it on various DVD players to make sure it works. Bring an EXTRA copy to leave with Laurie for evaluation purposes.

 

Week 10 – Tuesday, March 11 – COM 107 Recital Hall & SEM2 D1105

Fine cut screenings for the full program

 – again. 5 min. screen time and 5 minutes critique each project

11-1pm in COM 107 Recital Hall &  2-3pm in SEM2 D1105