Courses

During the senior year, students synthesize and apply what they have learned in their previous studies to the creation of a year-long project. Students develop, design, animate, direct, and produce these projects independently. Students receive weekly individual guidance from instructors and two critiques by established professionals from the world animation community. Class meetings are devoted to film screenings, group critique, and specialized technical workshops. Fall semester includes a one-week field trip to the Ottawa International Animation Festival in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Estimated Materials Cost: Varies considerably with production design; average $1,000.00 to $3,000.00. Deposit: $150.00 Estimated Travel Cost: $700 - $1,000. Major requirement; FAV majors only Open to non-majors with department permission. Registration by FAV Department, course not available via web registration. Majors are pre-registered by the Department Coordinator during the pre-registration period in the Spring semester preceding the senior year. Students make full payment via Slate. Payments can be made at any time once registration begins in May. Payment must be completed by September 1.

Building on skills learned in the Intro Stop-motion Animation class, students will develop and produce one short stop-motion animation for professional portfolio and public screening. This course will provide students the opportunity to focus on particular issues of stop-motion animation and explore more advanced production techniques and processes. The course emphasizes art direction and project development. Students are encouraged to experiment with individual style and techniques of armature and set building, lighting, special effects and camera techniques. Weekly exercises are designed to strengthen students' conceptual and animation skills. In addition, a wide range of short films are screened to provide creative stimulus and demonstrate a variety of aesthetic and technical approaches. Estimated Materials Cost: $300.00 Major elective Permisison of Instructor required. Course not available via web registration.

In this course students explore the fundamentals of animated movement, timing, and materials through various animation techniques, including working directly on film, drawing on paper, pixilation, cut-out animation, and modified-base processes. Over the course of the semester, students will create six short animations and a wide range of animated films will be studied to augment the student's understanding of the field. Estimated Materials Cost: $40.00 Elective Permission of Instructor required. Course not available via web registration.

This course is a study of the theories and methods of character design as applied to narrative forms. This class asks students to push beyond stereotypical designs to develop two-dimensional characters that are both personally and culturally resonant and imaginative. Particular emphasis is placed on the expressive power of abstract forms and color. Through exploring individual perceptions of good and evil, success and failure, as well as beauty and ugliness, students create characters that are highly original. Research, thorough craftsmanship, and sophisticated design are stressed. Major elective Permission of Instructor required. Course not available via web registration.

A Collaborative Study Project (CSP) allows two students to work collaboratively to complete a faculty supervised project of independent study. Usually, a CSP is supervised by two faculty members, but with approval it may be supervised by one faculty member. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses, though it is not a substitute for a course if that course is regularly offered.

This class, offered jointly by professors at RISD and Brown and in partnership with the Science Center and the Creative Mind Initiative, will explore and develop the pedagogy of using visual media to convey scientific concepts. There is a growing library of online content but often times it is not well suited for seamless adoption into educational use. The goal of this course will be to assess the quality of existing material and design new material that not only fills an educational need but makes science engaging and accessible. Class will be comprised of lectures, labs, screenings, discussions, critiques and guest speakers. After an introduction to science teaching pedagogy and the basics of animation and visual design, small student teams with a balance of science and art backgrounds will collaborate on a series of short exercises leading to the creation of final videos or animations that explain scientific concepts. Topic selection will be based on filling an educational need, where a satisfactory example does not yet exist and where the topic benefits from a visual presentation. Student groups will be paired with faculty mentors from the life or physical sciences to design an educational tool that is appropriate for a particular audience. Projects will be evaluated on accuracy, clarity of explanation, educational value, engagement with the viewer, and creativity. The skills of lesson plan design along with writing, recording, animating and editing short educational videos will give students experience within the growing field of supplements to traditional learning and online learning. Estimated Materials Cost: $25.00 Permission of Instructor required. Also offered as FAV-4599; Register in the course for which credit is desired.

This class, offered jointly by professors at RISD and Brown and in partnership with the Science Center and the Creative Mind Initiative, will explore and develop the pedagogy of using visual media to convey scientific concepts. There is a growing library of online content but often times it is not well suited for seamless adoption into educational use. The goal of this course will be to assess the quality of existing material and design new material that not only fills an educational need but makes science engaging and accessible. Class will be comprised of lectures, labs, screenings, discussions, critiques and guest speakers. After an introduction to science teaching pedagogy and the basics of animation and visual design, small student teams with a balance of science and art backgrounds will collaborate on a series of short exercises leading to the creation of final videos or animations that explain scientific concepts. Topic selection will be based on filling an educational need, where a satisfactory example does not yet exist and where the topic benefits from a visual presentation. Student groups will be paired with faculty mentors from the life or physical sciences to design an educational tool that is appropriate for a particular audience. Projects will be evaluated on accuracy, clarity of explanation, educational value, engagement with the viewer, and creativity. The skills of lesson plan design along with writing, recording, animating and editing short educational videos will give students experience within the growing field of supplements to traditional learning and online learning. Estimated Materials Cost: $25.00 Permission of Instructor required. Also offered as LAEL-4599; Register in the course for which credit is desired.

The course will teach lighting, modeling and animation, with an emphasis on basic principles as they relate to 3D tools. The overall goal of this course is to generalize the study of the 3D world and to give students basic problem-solving skills needed for continued use of 3D animation software. After a series of lectures covering the basics of navigating the interface, each student produces a short animation. Each student has focused, individual time with the instructor. The class will be taught in Blender, but students who demonstrate a sufficient proficiency in other suitable packages may elect to use them for some assignments. Major elective Permission of Instructor required. Course not available via web registration. Course may be repeated once for credit.

This class uses Adobe After Effects as a tool to achieve the students' individual goals as artists. Starting with the basics of creating imagery in After Effects, the course moves through compositing, special effects, puppet animation and time manipulation. There is an overarching focus on core concepts such as quality of motion, layout and composition, color and form that surpass this single class. The first 6 weeks contain homework assignments that allow the students to grasp individual components of this highly technical toolset, while during the second 6 weeks the students concentrate on a final project. This project stresses the students' knowledge and forces them to grow as a digital animator as they find unique problems and solve them with instructor supervision. Major elective Permission of Instructor required. Course not available via web registration.

This course identifies core principles of digital production, to enable students to continually adapt to the ever-changing world of software. Students research and produce artworks that demonstrate their understanding of these principles. This primary knowledge includes digital film and video formats, project asset management, compression techniques, understanding program interface design, color spaces, channel mixing and filters, and the creation and use of extra channels (such as alpha and depth). Estimated Materials Cost: $30.00 Major requirement Registration by FAV Department, course not available via web registration.

In the Directing class, students are encouraged to go beyond the first instinct or idea, and to develop a project to its fullest potential, particularly with respect to meaning and to potential modes of execution. Students work on a variety of scenes throughout the semester, complete several short assignments during and outside of class, and read handouts and excerpts from texts. An ongoing focus throughout the semester is an exploration of the methods of communication between directors and actors. Students direct each other, young actors from the Carriage House School, professional actors from the community (brought in for two classes), and actors of their choosing for final projects. As they direct rehearsals, students utilize a variety of specific tools that enable them to maximize the creativity and fertility of their relationships with actors, and to make adjustments in performances quickly and effectively. The latter third of the semester also focuses on techniques for script analysis. These are used to discover the range of creative possibilities in a given text, and to thoroughly prepare and organize directors for rehearsals and shoots. An ongoing, general goal of the course is also for each student to reflect upon and identify their personal themes as a director. Major elective Permission of Instructor required. Course not available via web registration.

This studio investigates monitor and projector based installation through critical readings and studio practice. Emphasis is placed on concerns of material, site, space and interactivity. The course revisits the television monitor and television viewing context as the original video installation site. Students also explore the projector and projection beam, including its shape and volume, capacity to serve as a pure light source and as a means of resurfacing three-dimensional objects. Active installation artists visit the class for lectures and critiques. Estimated Materials Cost: $150.00 Deposit: $150.00 Major elective Permission of Instructor required. Contact fav@risd.edu to register.

In Film Practices, students learn 16mm film processes, skills, and techniques - as a material and conceptual foundation necessary for every time-based practice. Exposure, focus, depth of field, and basic editing strategies are explored as tools for becoming fluent in the language of cinema. Students will build an understanding of the various meanings conveyed by aesthetic decisions regarding composition, movement, and editing. Through individual and group projects, screenings, in-class assignments, and readings, students will explore key concepts in material-based filmmaking to build, expand, and deepen their time-based practice. Estimated Materials Cost: $220.00 Deposit: $150.00 Major requirement Registration by FAV Department, course not available via web registration. Permission of Instructor required for non-majors.

The intermediate year of animation study witnesses a significant transformation, in which the student grows from novice to independent director. This year-long studio develops an integrated understanding of the diverse aesthetic tools of animation, and teaches students directing for the animation medium. The course is comprised of four elements. First, weekly in-class structured experiments and homework awaken and refine the student's understanding of movement, timing, writing, editing, sound design, art directing, and use of materials. Second, students receive technical training in 2D animation production. Third, students screen and discuss animated works spanning history, culture, and design approach. Fourth, each student designs, animates, directs, and produces two independent projects, one in the fall and one in the spring. Estimated Materials Cost: $300.00 Deposit: $150.00 Major requirement; FAV majors Registration by FAV department, course not available via web registration

Intermediate Film is a year-long course emphasizing technical production in sync sound film making. Theoretical concerns and cinematic techniques are stressed. We explore concepts of (and the relationships between) narrative, documentary and experimental filmmaking. The first half of the Fall semester, students work in assigned teams, completing a series of short exercises. In the second half of the term, class members individually create their own longer films for final projects. Students screen their work in class at various stages of completion: rushes, rough cuts, and fine cuts. In addition, there are weekly screenings of works by relevant filmmakers. Participation in class discussions is required. Estimated Materials Cost: $500.00 Deposit $150.00 Major requirement Registration by FAV Department, course not available via web registration.

This year-long video production studio focuses on the possibilities of the video medium and the development of an individualized practice within it. Students will be exposed to a wide range of forms including but not limited to single-channel production, installation, performance, documentary, and digital cinema. Estimated Materials Cost: $125.00 Deposit: $150.00 Major requirement Registration by FAV Department, course not available via web registration.

The Independent Study Project (ISP) allows students to supplement the established curriculum by completing a faculty supervised project for credit in a specific area of interest. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses. Permission of Instructor and GPA of 3.0 or higher is required. Register by completing the Independent Study Application available on the Registrar's website; the course is not available via web registration.

The Independent Study Project (ISP) allows students to supplement the established curriculum by completing a faculty supervised project for credit in a specific area of interest. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses. Permission of Instructor and GPA of 3.0 or higher is required. Register by completing the Independent Study Application available on the Registrar's website; the course is not available via web registration.

Lighting for the Moving Image is a hands-on workshop in lighting for film and video. Students are exposed to a broad range of equipment and techniques while they explore the overriding concept of light as an essential narrative element in motion picture. Workshops and discussions focus on the emotional impact of lighting as it pertains to a given story. Class time is divided between film screenings, one-day workshops on specific techniques, and an extended in-class group project in which students present light as the key narrative element. Estimated Materials Cost: $100.00 Deposit: $150.00 Major elective Permission of Instructor required. Course not available via web registration.

Live Performance for Online Audiences is a special online-only course focused on using networked technology to create engaging live performances for remote audiences. Students will study and craft performative interventions into online games and virtual worlds, build and perform interactive websites, and create networked browser extensions to support new and innovative forms of online performance. Through readings, collaborative code exercises, and group performances students will explore the concept of 'liveness' and how to better share unique, participatory human experiences in the absence of shared physical space. No prior coding experience is required for this course, though students with some background in web technology will find those skills put to good use. Access to a computer and a stable internet connection are essential for this course. Major elective Open to sophomores and above. Also offered as IDISC-2240; Register in the course for which credit is desired.

In this interdisciplinary critique-based class, advanced students take a rigorous look at the various ways time-based imagery functions in their work. With an emphasis on post-cinema, research- based, site-dependent, and performative practices, students in Meeting Points: Open Media examine their studio projects in-depth, through group critiques, a close analysis of critical concepts, and working with focus and discipline in their medium of choice. This course is required for FAV seniors in Open Media and is well-positioned to be a critical support for senior and graduate students looking for additional insight into the development and refinement of their work in the area of cross-disciplinary media art practice. Course work includes research, readings, critique sessions, group discussions, and visiting artist lectures. Fall semester includes a recommended field trip to a relevant exhibition or performance, and visits by related working artists and curators. Spring semester includes an emphasis on curatorial exhibition strategies, a recommended field trip to a relevant exhibition or performance, and visits by related working artists and curators. Required for FAV seniors in Open Media; open to seniors and grads in all disciplines. Also offered as IDISC-5291; Register in the course for which credit is desired. Registration by FAV Department, course not available via web registration.

The professional Internship provides valuable exposure to a professional setting, enabling students to better establish a career path and define practical aspirations. Internship proposals are carefully vetted to determine legitimacy and must meet the contact hour requirements listed in the RISD Course Announcement. Permission of Instructor required.

This is a year-long course of study, for which the student will complete a 10-20 minute live action work to final professional screening format. Students are free to choose genres and formats in which they want to work. Students have weekly meetings for screenings, guests, and technical workshops, and weekly small-group meetings to discuss their works-in-progress. Fall semester covers pre-production work on narrative projects: developing of scenarios, location scouting, budgets, initial camera tests or initial shooting of non-fiction projects. Visiting consultants come in to instruct in sound recording and cinematography, and guest critics come in November to review project proposals and/or footage. Estimated Materials Cost: $2,000. Deposit: $150.00 Major requirement; FAV majors only Registration by FAV Department, course not available via web registration.

This path, within the senior studio options, allows for the exploration of a broad range of hybrid practices. Through the structural support of this year-long studio, students will produce a project that synthesizes their understanding of and aspirations for media art practice. Works produced use media as their point of departure, but may take a variety of forms including performance, installation, public art, intervention, networked/collaborative production, print publication, activism, etc. The course prepares students to work with depth in their use of media and as contemporary artists in a complex art world, in which media is often only one component in a larger project. Students receive weekly individual guidance from the instructor and peers, as well as two critiques by prominent working artists or related practitioners. During the spring semester, each student explores the notion of distribution intensively, resulting in the crafting of individualized forms of presentation. Each student also develops a portfolio of their work, focused on communicating their core interests to a defined group. Class meetings are devoted to presentations of related artists works, individual meetings and group critique. Fall semester includes field trips to events in the NY/New England area. Estimated Materials Cost: Varies considerably with production design. Deposit: $150.00 Major requirement Permission of Instructor required. Registration by FAV Department, course not available via web registration.

Students in this course become engaged with sound as a partner in the language of time-based media. Through selected screenings, readings, and concept-driven design projects, the students develop ideas they can use as design principles in planning and working with sound. In addition, students get a hands-on overview of working with sound in a contemporary production environment, focusing on microphones, field recorders, and DAW software. Students learn to be better listeners and to be aware of how sound affects their perception of the world around them, as well as becoming technically competent to execute their creative ideas. Estimated Materials Cost: $50.00 Deposit: $150.00 Major elective Permission of Instructor required. Course not available via web registration.

This is a course demonstrating and exploring the basic techniques of Stop-Motion Puppet Animation, with the intent to provide students with hands-on creative experience in learning the potentials of the medium, and an introduction to filmic language. Studio exercises strengthen individual technical skills in basic armature construction and model making, animating pose-to-pose movement, the basic walk, expressions and gestures, clay animation with lip-sync, set construction and lighting for three-dimensional animation. Basic sound recording, mixing and editing are also covered. Conceptual skills are exercised through exploring intent, storytelling, storyboarding, editorial concepts, character performance, art direction, and basic sound design. This class is based on process and experimentation. It is meant to provide a strong foundation in the basics of stop-motion animation filmmaking, as well as the confidence to experiment further in one's future work. The idea is to enjoy the process by understanding it; control is born of experimentation and experience. This is a one semester class repeated in the spring. First preference given to FAV majors. Second preference given to Illustration majors. Estimated Materials Cost: $40.00 Major elective Permission of Instructor required. Course not available via web registration.

Okay, you have an idea! What do you do with it? We'll take you through the steps: from writing a logline, developing a pitch deck, pitching and selling. Through lectures, demos, discussions, and weekly assignments, students will develop a hands-on understanding of professional elements of pitching your idea in a professional, industry context, learning from a renowned leader in the field. Elective Open to senior FAV majors only. Contact FAV@risd.edu to register; course not available via web registration.

This course is designed as an introduction to the 113-year history of the projected moving image (film, animation, and video). Artistic expression in these forms will be emphasized. Students discover new areas of interest while watching carefully selected examples of films and videos. During all classes, students will view films representing different styles and periods of filmmaking. About half of the classes are devoted to contemporary films. Critical thinking will be encouraged and fostered during classroom discussions. Clear expression of these thoughts will be developed through assigned readings and weekly writing assignments. During the semester, students learn about specific artists, schools of filmmaking, genres, and fields within the history of the film, animation, and video. Students also develop a common language by learning the meaning and proper usage of a glossary of common film terms. At select classes, film artists are present to introduce and discuss their work. Other guests include improvisational musicians who accompany silent films. Major requirement; FAV majors Liberal Arts elective credit for non-majors pending seat availability and permission of Instructor.

In Video Practices, students will work with digital video cameras, sound recorders and microphones, and editing and color correction software. Through projects, screenings, in-class assignments, and readings, students will explore key concepts in digital moving-image making to build, expand, and deepen their time-based practice. Estimated Materials Cost: $60.00 Deposit: $150.00 Major requirement Registration by FAV Department, course not available via web registration.

This course is designed for students with any level of musical experience to explore music composition and the creation of experimental films based on music. During the course, students will experiment with various approaches including sampling, field recording, sound synthesis, ensembles and altered instruments. This will be complimented by strategies for creating animation, experimental film, and video based on music composition. Along with weekly experimental and workshops, students will create a short experimental film based on music they create. Contact fav@risd.edu to register. Course not available via web registration.

This course is an examination of all forms of writing relevant to film and media creation. This includes a thorough study of traditional 'story film' screenwriting, as well as writing techniques for documentary production and preproduction writing problems, such as proposals, treatments, and outlines. It is also a study of nontraditional writing problems in filmmaking: writing for nonlinear or experimental films, writing for a framework for improvisation, using text as a direct generator of filmed work, and even using text as the content of film. And last, but certainly not least, there is considerable attention paid to developing skills in critical writing. By the end of this course, students will have a portfolio of written work, including a polished draft of a short film or long-form first act, which demonstrates a wide variety of techniques for relating the written word to media. Estimated Materials Cost: $25.00 Major elective Permission of Instructor required. Course not available via web regstration.

The professional Internship provides valuable exposure to a professional setting, enabling students to better establish a career path and define practical aspirations. Internship proposals are carefully vetted to determine legitimacy and must meet the contact hour requirements listed in the RISD Course Announcement. Permission of Instructor required.

This course is designed to explore different animation techniques and materials, including working directly on film, drawing on paper, painting under the camera, object animation, cut-outs, and pixilation. It also teaches the fundamentals of animated movement and timing. Students in this course each make six short animations, with separate, synchronized sound tracks. At the end of the course, students create a DVD compilation of all their projects. A wide range of independent animated films are screened to demonstrate different techniques and approaches to animation. Estimated Materials Cost: $65.00

A Collaborative Study Project (CSP) allows two students to work collaboratively to complete a faculty supervised project of independent study. Usually, a CSP is supervised by two faculty members, but with approval it may be supervised by one faculty member. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses, though it is not a substitute for a course if that course is regularly offered.

This course will look at the ways a curatorial practice can shape both personal and societal narratives. Drawing on a rich tradition of artists using curation as a means of disseminating their work, we will look at curation as both a practical tool and the historical contexts of community building praxis. Texts such as The Recovering by Leslie Jamison will explore how societal narratives are a form of curation/anti-curation. This class views curation as a political act and will examine recent major art world exhibitions for both inspiration/failure and sites of conflict and conversation. All these skills will be used to create an end of semester screening series presented alongside a curatorial statement. Estimated Materials Cost: $15.00 Students can register online; contact fav@risd.edu to waitlist.

This is a course demonstrating and exploring the basic techniques of Stop-Motion Animation, with the intent to provide students with hands-on creative experience in learning the potentials of the medium, and an introduction to filmic language. Conceptual skills are exercised through exploring intent, storytelling, storyboarding, editorial concepts, material manipulation, character performance, art direction, lighting and basic sound design. This class is based on process and experimentation. It is meant to provide a strong foundation in the basics of stop-motion animation filmmaking, as well as the confidence to experiment further in one's future work. The idea is to enjoy the process by understanding it; control is born of experimentation and experience. Estimated Materials Cost: $40.00

Film Explorations is a beginner's studio production course introducing the student to fundamental cinematic techniques. Students will learn the rudiments of film form and process from concept to edit, through a series of exercises in and outside of class. Class sessions consist of technical demonstrations, critiques of projects, discussion, shooting exercises, as well as screening and analyzing films.

This course is designed to teach students how to utilize the computer to create animation. Special emphasis is placed on exploration and experimentation as it applies to computer-generated or computer-assisted animation. The class covers hand drawn non-computer originated animation, cut out animation, computer generated drawn animation, painting under the camera, rotoscoping, and an introduction to the concepts used in 3D animation. Additionally, an introduction to sound design and editing will be explored in the final animation project. Estimated Materials Cost: $40.00

The Independent Study Project (ISP) allows students to supplement the established curriculum by completing a faculty supervised project for credit in a specific area of interest. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses. Permission of Instructor and GPA of 3.0 or higher is required. Register by completing the Independent Study Application available on the Registrar's website; the course is not available via web registration.

The Independent Study Project (ISP) allows students to supplement the established curriculum by completing a faculty supervised project for credit in a specific area of interest. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses. Permission of Instructor and GPA of 3.0 or higher is required. Register by completing the Independent Study Application available on the Registrar's website; the course is not available via web registration.

The professional Internship provides valuable exposure to a professional setting, enabling students to better establish a career path and define practical aspirations. Internship proposals are carefully vetted to determine legitimacy and must meet the contact hour requirements listed in the RISD Course Announcement.

During the senior year, students synthesize and apply what they have learned in their previous studies to the creation of a year-long project. Students develop, design, animate, direct, and produce these projects independently. Students receive weekly individual guidance from instructors and two critiques by established professionals from the world animation community. Class meetings are devoted to film screenings, group critique, and specialized technical workshops. Deposit: $150.00 Open to FAV majors only Permission of Instructor required. Registration by FAV Department, course not available via web registration.

This is a year-long course of study, for which the student will complete a 10-20 minute live action work to final professional screening format. Students are free to choose genres and formats in which they want to work. Students have weekly meetings for screenings, guests, and technical workshops, and weekly small-group meetings to discuss their works-in-progress. During Wintersession, the students perform production work in video and film, organize crews for filmmaking, review rushes and do initial editing and sound work on their degree projects. Deposit: $150.00 Open to FAV majors only Permission of Instructor required. Registration by FAV Department, course not available via web registration.

Over the course of a year, senior students integrate their media skills through a cross-disciplinary approach with time-based media practice, resulting in a developed work or a series of smaller related works meant for exhibition or performance. This path is for students that wish to engage with time-based media in non-traditional ways, such as through installation, performance, public art, interactivity, intervention, networked/collaborative production, activism, etc.. Students research, develop, design, prototype, direct and produce these works independently. Students receive weekly individual guidance from the instructor and partnered peers. Class meetings are devoted to lectures, informational workshops, student presentations of related research, individual meetings and group critique. During Wintersession, students perform production work, test and analyze parameters and results. Students have weekly meetings for lectures, guests, technical workshops, and weekly small-group meetings to discuss their works-in-progress. Open to FAV majors only Permission of Instructor required. Registration by FAV Department, course not available via web registration.

Building on concepts from Sound for the Screen, students in Advanced Sound Design and Production explore advanced topics, aesthetic considerations, and stylistic conventions of modern audio and music production for picture. Through a series of screenings, discussions, and concept-driven design projects, students develop a deep understanding of the function of sound in time-based media. Students work hands-on with DAW software, synthesizers, and professional recording equipment to gain the capability to successfully translate their artistic intent to sound production. Major elective Open to juniors and above; FAV majors only Permission of instructor required; course not available via web registration. Interested students should email fav@risd.edu.

In this course students explore the fundamentals of animated movement, timing, and materials through various animation techniques, including working directly on film, drawing on paper, pixilation, cut-out animation, and modified-base processes. Over the course of the semester, students will create six short animations and a wide range of animated films will be studied to augment the student's understanding of the field. Estimated Materials Cost: $40.00 Elective Permission of Instructor required. Course not available via web registration.

This course examines preproduction methods for animation, including storytelling and cinematic language particular to the animation medium. Emphasizing practical approaches to research and concept development, the course will introduce structural tools including storyboards, writing, color scripts, animatics, and preliminary soundtracks. We will ask the central question "Why Animation?" as we cover topics such as point-of-view, expressive scale, use of metaphor, and transformation. Estimated Materials Cost: $50.00 Deposit: $150.00 Elective Open to sophomore and above Registration by FAV Department, course not available via web registration.

This course focuses primarily on hand-drawn character design, development, and movement. Beginning with simple model sheets drawn from different points of view, we explore how action and context can affect the design of characters. The same characters are then taken straight into animation. Students use the characters they created as actors who must perform in a variety of situations, and interact directly with the physical space around them. Exercises include walk cycles, lip-syncing, anticipation and follow-through, weight and resistance, and lessons in narrative, storyboarding, and drawing skills. A longer, three-week final project provides an opportunity for students to show what they have learned, and to create a cohesive story from start to finish. All supporting software is covered in a series of simple workshops. Class time involves critiques of homework assignments, demonstrations of techniques and screenings of a diverse range of films. Estimated Materials Cost: $100.00 Major elective Permission of Instructor required. Course not available via web registration.

A Collaborative Study Project (CSP) allows two students to work collaboratively to complete a faculty supervised project of independent study. Usually, a CSP is supervised by two faculty members, but with approval it may be supervised by one faculty member. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses, though it is not a substitute for a course if that course is regularly offered.

This course explores the use of the computer to create animation and motion graphics. Emphasis is placed on producing dynamic movement using keyframe interpolation and vector graphics. In addition, students will work with sound and motion data, coded expressions and effects generators to expand the range of animation possibilities. Through a series of individual and group projects, students will explore and experiment with computer animation techniques and gain experience with digital tools. A range of films will be screened complementing each week's focus. Knowledge of Adobe After Effects and Illustrator is helpful but not required. In addition to project work, students will reinforce software concepts by viewing weekly video tutorials outside class. Estimated Materials Cost: $40.00 Elective Open to sophomore and above Permission of Instructor required. Course not available via web registration.

The course will teach lighting, modeling and animation, with an emphasis on basic principles as they relate to 3D tools. The overall goal of this course is to generalize the study of the 3D world and to give students basic problem-solving skills needed for continued use of 3D animation software. After a series of lectures covering the basics of navigating the interface, each student produces a short animation. Each student has focused, individual time with the instructor. The class will be taught in Blender, but students who demonstrate a sufficient proficiency in other suitable packages may elect to use them for some assignments. Major elective Permission of Instructor required. Course not available via web registration. Course may be repeated once for credit.

This class uses Adobe After Effects as a tool to achieve the students' individual goals as artists. Starting with the basics of creating imagery in After Effects, the course moves through compositing, special effects, puppet animation and time manipulation. There is an overarching focus on core concepts such as quality of motion, layout and composition, color and form that surpass this single class. The first 6 weeks contain homework assignments that allow the students to grasp individual components of this highly technical toolset, while during the second 6 weeks the students concentrate on a final project. This project stresses the students' knowledge and forces them to grow as a digital animator as they find unique problems and solve them with instructor supervision. Major elective Permission of Instructor required. Course not available via web registration.

This course identifies core principles of digital production, to enable students to continually adapt to the ever-changing world of software. Students research and produce artworks that demonstrate their understanding of these principles. This primary knowledge includes digital film and video formats, project asset management, compression techniques, understanding program interface design, color spaces, channel mixing and filters, and the creation and use of extra channels (such as alpha and depth). Estimated Materials Cost: $30.00 Major requirement Registration by FAV Department, course not available via web registration.

Students in this course will produce two projects: a video camera exercise based on the observation of a particular event, and a fully researched and developed social documentary (the interaction of people in small groups or organizations) worked out in consultation with the instructor. Production teams (pairs) are encouraged for the main project. Weekly screenings of non-fiction films demonstrate stylistic developments and variety of content. Assigned readings in the history and theory of documentary promote in-class discussion. Estimated Materials Cost: $120.00 Deposit: $150.00 Major elective Permission of Instructor required. Course not available via web registration.

Experimental Filmmaking has as much in common with song and sculpture as it does with cinema, and stresses process over script. The course is designed as a hands-on production experience where visual and audial ideas can be tested, combined, discarded, manipulated, investigated. Emphasis is placed on the unique properties of 16mm film as aesthetic material, as well as on the time-based conceptual potential of digital media. The course includes a brief overview of the techniques, theory, language, and history of Experimental Cinema. Estimated Materials Cost: $100.00 Deposit: $150.00 Major elective Permission of Instructor required. Course not available via web registration.

In Film Practices, students learn 16mm film processes, skills, and techniques - as a material and conceptual foundation necessary for every time-based practice. Exposure, focus, depth of field, and basic editing strategies are explored as tools for becoming fluent in the language of cinema. Students will build an understanding of the various meanings conveyed by aesthetic decisions regarding composition, movement, and editing. Through individual and group projects, screenings, in-class assignments, and readings, students will explore key concepts in material-based filmmaking to build, expand, and deepen their time-based practice. Estimated Materials Cost: $220.00 Deposit: $150.00 Major requirement Registration by FAV Department, course not available via web registration. Permission of Instructor required for non-majors.

This is the second semester of a year-long animation study, in which the student grows from novice to independent director. This studio develops an integrated understanding of the diverse aesthetic tools of animation, and teaches students directing for the animation medium. The course is comprised of four elements. First, weekly in-class structured experiments and homework awaken and refine the student's understanding of movement, timing, writing, editing, sound design, art directing, and use of materials. Second, students receive technical training in 2D animation production. Third, students screen and discuss animated works spanning history, culture, and design approach. Fourth, each student designs, animates, directs, and produces two independent projects, one in the fall and one in the spring. Estimated Materials Cost: Varies considerably with production design; averages $300.00 to $1,200.00 Deposit: $150.00 Major requirement Registration by FAV Department, course not available via web registration.

Intermediate Film is a year-long course emphasizing technical production in sync sound film making. Theoretical concerns and cinematic techniques are stressed. We explore concepts of (and the relationships between) narrative, documentary and experimental filmmaking. During Spring semester, the course is devoted to improving skills in many aspects of live action filmmaking, including conceptualization, budgeting, camera work, and sound recording. Projects are transferred to tape and edited digitally. In addition, there are weekly screenings of works by relevant filmmakers. Participation in class discussions is required. Estimated Materials Cost: $500.00 Deposit: $150.00 Major requirement Registration by FAV Department, course not available via web registration.

This is a continuation of a year-long video production studio, focused on the possibilities of the video medium and the development of an individualized practice within it. Students are challenged to put to practice the research and experiments of the fall semester by producing a finished authored work for exhibition. The practical work of production is emphasized, and participation in the critical workshop environment is required. Continued research, development of technical skill, ability to plan and document process are expected. Estimated Materials Cost: $150.00 Deposit: $150.00 Major requirement Registration by FAV Department, course not available via web registration.

The Independent Study Project (ISP) allows students to supplement the established curriculum by completing a faculty supervised project for credit in a specific area of interest. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses. Permission of Instructor and GPA of 3.0 or higher is required. Register by completing the Independent Study Application available on the Registrar's website; the course is not available via web registration.

The Independent Study Project (ISP) allows students to supplement the established curriculum by completing a faculty supervised project for credit in a specific area of interest. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses. Permission of Instructor and GPA of 3.0 or higher is required. Register by completing the Independent Study Application available on the Registrar's website; the course is not available via web registration.

In this interdisciplinary critique-based class, advanced students take a rigorous look at the various ways time-based imagery functions in their work. With an emphasis on post-cinema, research- based, site-dependent, and performative practices, students in Meeting Points: Open Media examine their studio projects in-depth, through group critiques, a close analysis of critical concepts, and working with focus and discipline in their medium of choice. This course is required for FAV seniors in Open Media and is well-positioned to be a critical support for senior and graduate students looking for additional insight into the development and refinement of their work in the area of cross-disciplinary media art practice. Course work includes research, readings, critique sessions, group discussions, and visiting artist lectures. Fall semester includes a recommended field trip to a relevant exhibition or performance, and visits by related working artists and curators. Spring semester includes an emphasis on curatorial exhibition strategies, a recommended field trip to a relevant exhibition or performance, and visits by related working artists and curators. Required for FAV seniors in Open Media; open to seniors and grads in all disciplines. Also offered as IDISC-5292; Register in the course for which credit is desired. Registration by FAV Department, course not available via web registration.

The professional Internship provides valuable exposure to a professional setting, enabling students to better establish a career path and define practical aspirations. Internship proposals are carefully vetted to determine legitimacy and must meet the contact hour requirements listed in the RISD Course Announcement. Permission of Instructor required.

During the senior year, students synthesize and apply what they have learned in their previous studies to the creation of a year-long project. Students develop, design, animate, direct, and produce these projects independently. Students receive weekly individual guidance from instructors and two critiques by established professionals from the world animation community. Class meetings are devoted to film screenings, group critique, and specialized technical workshops. Spring Semester features speakers from different sectors of the animation field who meet with students to prepare them for professional practice. During the spring semester each student also prepares a professional reel and portfolio. The year culminates with the RISD Senior Festival, a public showcase. Estimated Materials Cost: Varies considerably with production design; average $1,000.00 to $3,000.00. Deposit: $150.00 Major requirement; FAV majors only Registration by FAV Department, course not available via web registration.

This is a year-long course of study, for which the student will complete a 10-20 minute live action work to final professional screening format. Students are free to choose genres and formats in which they want to work. Students have weekly meetings for screenings, guests, and technical workshops, and weekly small-group meetings to discuss their works-in-progress. Spring semester covers post-production, editing, sound mixing, color correction, outputting, and a series of professional practice workshops. A guest critic reviews work in early April. Final projects are screened at a public film festival in May, which is reviewed by the local media. Estimated Materials Cost: $2,000.00. Deposit: $150.00 Major requirement; FAV majors only Registration by FAV Department, course not available via web registration.

This path, within the senior studio options, allows for the exploration of a broad range of hybrid practices. Through the structural support of this year-long studio, students will produce a project that synthesizes their understanding of and aspirations for media art practice. Works produced use media as their point of departure, but may take a variety of forms including performance, installation, public art, intervention, networked/collaborative production, print publication, activism, etc. The course prepares students to work with depth in their use of media and as contemporary artists in a complex art world, in which media is often only one component in a larger project. Students receive weekly individual guidance from the instructor and peers, as well as two critiques by prominent working artists or related practitioners. Class meetings are devoted to presentations of related artists works, individual meetings and group critique. During the spring semester, each student explores the notion of distribution intensively, resulting in the crafting of individualized forms of presentation. Each student also develops a portfolio of their work, focused on communicating their core interests to a defined group. Spring Semester features speakers, working with related practices, who meet with students to prepare them for their professional future. Estimated Materials Cost: Varies considerably with production design. Deposit: $150.00 Major requirement Permission of Instructor required. Registration by FAV Department, course not available via web registration.

In Sight Gags and Hidden Monsters, students will explore the development of animation in America through making work that interrogates its historical and economic context. They will examine the possible motivations behind the "rules" of mainstream animation, and develop their own animated interventions to subvert, extend or re-imagine them, or to re-contextualize them in their own work. Students will examine the influence of vaudeville and minstrelsy on humor and the grotesque in studio cartoons, and its role in inscribing and containing "dangerous" groups or ideas. Their work in the class should critique, interrogate, subvert or reveal the history and motivation of these tropes. The course will include screenings, readings, animated exercises, and a longer project. Contact fav@risd.edu to register.

Students in this course become engaged with sound as a partner in the language of time-based media. Through selected screenings, readings, and concept-driven design projects, the students develop ideas they can use as design principles in planning and working with sound. In addition, students get a hands-on overview of working with sound in a contemporary production environment, focusing on microphones, field recorders, and DAW software. Students learn to be better listeners and to be aware of how sound affects their perception of the world around them, as well as becoming technically competent to execute their creative ideas. Estimated Materials Cost: $50.00 Deposit: $150.00 Major elective Permission of Instructor required. Course not available via web registration.

This is a course demonstrating and exploring the basic techniques of Stop-Motion Puppet Animation, with the intent to provide students with hands-on creative experience in learning the potentials of the medium, and an introduction to filmic language. Studio exercises strengthen individual technical skills in basic armature construction and model making, animating pose-to-pose movement, the basic walk, expressions and gestures, clay animation with lip-sync, set construction and lighting for three-dimensional animation. Basic sound recording, mixing and editing are also covered. Conceptual skills are exercised through exploring intent, storytelling, storyboarding, editorial concepts, character performance, art direction, and basic sound design. This class is based on process and experimentation. It is meant to provide a strong foundation in the basics of stop-motion animation filmmaking, as well as the confidence to experiment further in one's future work. The idea is to enjoy the process by understanding it; control is born of experimentation and experience. This is a one semester class repeated in the spring. First preference given to FAV majors. Second preference given to Illustration majors. Estimated Materials Cost: $40.00 Major elective Permission of Instructor required. Course not available via web registration.

This course will cover how to translate scripts into visual images with clarity and creativity. Students will study the language of film - both animation and live action- including different kinds of shots and approaches to editing. We will cover how to interpret and visualize both acting and actions, as well as staging shots for the dramatic content they contain. The course will focus on developing the conceptual strengths and technical capabilities needed to visualize from the written page. Major elective Open to sophomores, juniors and seniors; FAV majors only. Permission of Instructor required. Course not available via web registration. Interested students should email fav@risd.edu

Transparent Matter is an interdisciplinary studio focused on materials and processes that engage transparency and light. Specifically, this course invites students to challenge the boundaries between glass and film. Collaborative work practices, material agency, and time-based thinking (often catalyzed through a transparent medium) are present in both the disciplines of Glass and Film, and these performative elements will inform explorations into optical phenomenon and projection work. A hands-on approach will create a dynamic that moves students from the hot shop, to the optics lab and into the black studio - a process that will re-imagine studio, generating interdisciplinary thinking and making. Relationships between physical material, quantum theory, philosophy will be cultivated as a result of handling glass, lights, film, optics, cameras, lenses, and projectors. Through guided studio practice, readings, research, lectures, screenings, demos, and discussions, students will learn conceptual, technical, and performative principles that intersect in the disciplines of glass and film. An emphasis on the use of transparency in contemporary art and film will contextualize the diverse ways material and metaphor inform one another. Estimated Materials Cost: $100.00 The course is open to all students, sophomore-level through graduate, from all disciplines across RISD. There are no pre-requisite courses required. Also offered as GLASS-2140 Contact fav@risd.edu to register; course not available via web registration.

In Video Practices, students will work with digital video cameras, sound recorders and microphones, and editing and color correction software. Through projects, screenings, in-class assignments, and readings, students will explore key concepts in digital moving-image making to build, expand, and deepen their time-based practice. Estimated Materials Cost: $60.00 Deposit: $150.00 Major requirement Registration by FAV Department, course not available via web registration.