Collaborative Arts and Open Arts Courses

Combining science and the art of storytelling, this course will tackle one of the most pressing issues facing the future of humanity: Abrupt Climate Change. In a unique collaboration with NYU physical climate scientist Professor David Holland, students will research and create work that bridges the divide between science and the public through accurate, creative science-based storytelling.

This highly multidisciplinary, hands-on course welcomes students from all backgrounds and fields of study to imagine and invent creative ways of telling stories about this global phenomenon and to investigate solutions.

Weekly assignments will lead to a final collaborative project and an exhibition open to the public.

This course challenges us to foster a tactile understanding of the relationship between art and social change. How do artists address social issues? Can art transform lives? How can art serve as a force for encouraging ethical dialogue and action within the public sphere? How do we make our ideas and revelations actually matter within our collective place and space? To better facilitate our understanding of this relationship, and in an effort to get inside these key questions and others, this course will unfold in two parts.

Part I (Conversations on Art and Social Change) will be run as an interactive seminar in which we will explore how the desire to change the world has led some artists to align themselves with wider social movements. Through lectures, discussions and presentations, we will set about to engage ourselves with the work of contemporary artists who have addressed issues related to the environment, racial and cultural identity, human rights, healthcare, and social justice. We will assume that understanding the work of others is necessary if we are to appreciate the potentiality of our own impact on the world.

Part II of this course (A Collective Gesture Toward) will entail challenging ourselves to participate more fully in our immediate surroundings vis-à-vis the development and implementation of a work (or works) of art.

Taking off from the practices of medium-based art categories, this course is structured across key topics in contemporary art - “art of today, produced by artists who are living in the twenty-first century”. During the semester, via the framework of readings, projects and assignments, we will consider the importance of the visual arts in the larger context of society. Each week we will look at a different topic, which will be organized around key concepts, artists and artwork examples. The main goal is to allow us to contemplate the process of interaction between visual art, history, cultural, socio-economical, and technological forces. The stress of our gatherings will be on the artist as a thinker and a maker.

This course will engage students directly in the discourse of contemporary art and in the hugely diverse practices of artists in their studios in New York. Framed predominantly around studio visits, the course will expose students to hybrid mediums and working strategies that will complicate, not facilitate, systems of categorization. Meeting outside of the physical classroom for the majority of the semester, students will be expected to be prepared to navigate the city independently to various locations across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens for site visits. Each week, we will sharpen our abilities of seeing, questioning and understanding not only physical spaces of creativity but also mental strategies of production across a wide variety of media. Supplementing the visual feast of these weekly adventures, students will participate in material workshops at a number of artist’s studios and will build a record of influences, ideas, research and modes of making in individual sketchbooks that will be compiled during the semester and which will help inform the class’s collaborative project at the culmination of the semester – a Studio Guide to assist in oblique strategies of creating. Weekly readings, videos and podcasts will introduce elements of art criticism, theory, philosophy and history and will inform our understanding of what we see and how we approach making in the studio. Prior experience in object-making is recommended, however, it is not required. This class is best suited to Collaborative Arts BFA students as well as NYU students through the Open Arts program.

This course examines the Western fascination with the moving body in different cultural environments and throughout colonial and postcolonial historical periods until the present time.  It will begin by investigating early images and artistic representation of the body in motion captured by European ethnographers at the turn of the 19th century, and continue tracing it to current trends of contemporary culture.  The goal of this course is to develop a critical understanding of the culture built around the body as subject as well as a marker of otherness. This course will offer students an opportunity to study and articulate, intellectually and physically, the legibility of bodies in motion within different cultural landscapes. Body as Culture: Bodies in Cultural Landscapes will provide an open forum in which to investigate human movement within the specific aesthetic system and cultural practice of early ethnographic representation to contemporary culture’s engagement with the moving body. It will offer insight into personal and cultural identity, stimulating an expanded recognition and appreciation of difference. This course offers students the opportunity to explore simultaneously their intellect (in class viewing, readings and discussions), as well as in the presentation of their own version of ethnographic research and representation based on a topic of their choice discussed with instructor. Students will engage weekly with exercises and assignments based on course material.

All art production has an environmental impact. To develop sustainable studio practices, artists must familiarize themselves with the consequences of material choices and processes, such as their carbon footprint, supply chain, environmental justice issues, land use, water footprint, toxicity, and end-of-life management. This studio sculpture class is a combination of hands-on experimentation in the classroom and a series of site visits to facilities in the metropolitan area to conduct research and to find inspiration for the development of new artist practices. Workshops in the classroom include experiments with mycelium, bioplastics, vegan adhesives, and nontoxic paints as alternatives to commercially available products. To understand the links between the fast demands of disposable culture and its effect on biodiversity, exhaustion of natural resources, and climate change, we will visit a recycling facility, an oyster reef, and a rooftop farm to learn about environmental projects and initiatives on a city scale. For class projects, students will invest their creativity to do more with less impact by reusing, repurposing, and recycling the city's abundance and waste. These projects will highlight the resourcefulness of artists’ imagination to invent new solutions in the studio and communicate to audiences the urgency of the paradigm shift needed to tackle the challenges of the climate crisis. 

The object, in reality, is anything but inert - it is hyperactive, changing in function and meaning as it moves in time and space. This studio-based course will give students the tools to use objects and materials specifically and deliberately in their work. The course will link intuitive making with research, allowing students to investigate their genuine and unique interests and develop their conceptual goals. During the course of the semester, students will be exposed to a wide range of non-traditional objects and materials that have been employed by artists throughout history. Readings and viewings will supplement the work done in the studio, with four themed sections serving as guided warm ups for a final project of the students’ own direction. These sections are titled: The Other, The Icon, The Minuscule, The Massive. Each student will make a work based on each theme, and group critiques will function as a laboratory in which students can test theories on display, context, form and legibility. This course is best suited to those with an interest in nontraditional art materials, collage, and found objects. Prior experience in sculpture or painting will be particularly helpful, however, it is not required.

Knowledge Systems: The Poetic and the Algorithmic introduces students to a series of critical texts and art practices and invites them to adopt a similarly critical approach to their own work. With texts ranging from 1st century BCE to today, the course through weekly prompts, in class discussion and a deep reading, examines non-dualistic thought and the role of emotion, the sensual and performativity in the making of the world and art. Instances of such non-dualistic thought in art, science, philosophy, and craft are looked at as a way to question established knowledge systems and propose new futures. Non-dualistic thought is approached here as a way to escape established binaries and create a space that goes beyond good/bad, right/wrong and instead invites multiplicity and a wide range of perspectives and voices. Starting with Mallarmé’s seminal poem, “A Throw of the Dice Will Never Abolish Chance,” and concluding with Muñoz’s essay “Feeling Utopia” from his book Cruising Utopia, where he opens with Oscar Wilde’s quote: “a map of the world that does not include utopia is not worth glancing at,” the course challenges students to “feel hope and to feel utopia” as a form of resistance to established dystopian narratives. In particular the course approaches artificial intelligence as a non-plural contemporary knowledge system and asks students to reflect on the world view that technical systems establish. Following such reflections, the course urges students to explore ways to counter monolithic systems by engaging with uncertainty, the poetic and embodied interactions.

Whether you are a filmmaker looking to better understand how to build a cohesive and productive film crew; a theatre maker excited about building a performance project or theatre company; a multi-media artist looking for ways to innovate your ideas for artistic work in collaboration with others; an artist looking for tools for building an artistic ensemble, or a multi- disciplinary artist looking to take your creative work out into communities as social practice, this combination lecture/activity-based class provides you with tools for better understanding how to enter into and engage others in collective creative work of purpose.

Multi-Disciplinary Arts Practice with Community Groups: Theories and Practice explores the challenges and benefits of making artistic work with others and the tools needed to create meaningful collaborative projects. In this class we interrogate definitions of community and group, explore the balance between group process and producing a satisfying creative product, and examine the processes of creating artistic work with others in order to strengthen our own artistic voices while helping raise the creative voices of others. With its focus on social practice, this course provides a foundation for working with small group structures in a variety of community settings and professional creative work environments.

Today, many documentarians consider themselves working within a well-defined human rights framework where images and film are used to raise awareness about social injustice. On the far edge of this movement, however, there are writers, photographers and filmmakers whose work calls attention to the traditional documentary ethics of bearing witness but whose modes of representation blur the lines between fact and fiction. This body of work is more open-ended to interpretation and multiple readings, which also include more personal themes such as loss and melancholy, the ephemeral nature of time and memory, nostalgia and change. While not a production course per se, most students create short poetic films for their midterms and finals. The course is a great opportunity for students to open this door on short-form media production for the first time even if they wish to shoot on their smartphones.

We will study several different kinds of visual poetics such as combining documentary photos with literature, artists working with archives and found images, the essay film, the personal diary and journal film, the performance film, ethnographic poetics, and new trans-media platforms and webdocs.  Some of the writers and artists we will study include Roland Barthes, W.G. Sebald, Chris Marker, Christian Boltanski, Forough Farrokhzad, RaMell Ross, Roland Barthes, Miguel Rio Branco Charles Burnett, William Greaves, Agnes Varda, Margaret Tait, Robert Gardner, Jean Rouch, and Jonas Mekas.  

This course explores the pictorial articulation of individual human likeness and its fiction in the public forum. The art of portraiture has survived its own origins in myth making and archetype building. The human image, or icon, forever landmarks the voices, textures, physicality, spirituality, symbols, politics, aesthetic concerns and military contexts, religious rituals, government, calendar ceremonies, daily functions, heroic acts and social disorders of diverse cultures throughout recorded history. It is the history of creation, the story of romance, the mark of progress, the record of royalty and the profile of democracy. It is the revolution of fine art and a catalyst of discipline. Imaging the individual in the public eye is the story of humankind. This course bridges the worlds of the oral and written mythologies which inhabit and empower us and the creative manifestation (conscious and unconscious) of these ancient archetypes into contemporary art, media and design. Students will critically rethink the implied and material presence of portraiture in everyday life. Students will gain practical knowledge and insight into the origins and potential power of the archetypes which permeate our collective unconscious.

This course will ask how artists incorporate research in their practice by looking at their manifestoes and their subsequent works. Throughout the term, we'll ask: How did various artists employ manifestos as methods of inquiry to understand how they themselves are situated within their respective fields? By conceptualizing how art-making can be a research tool through these manifestos, we will see how there is an art to research and that art is a mode of inquiry that others use to make sense of their own world. In this way, manifestos are the evidence of the research that went into the art-work.

The way in which artists interrogate the issues, holes, or gaps in the set of assumptions employed within their respective fields will guide students in proposing creative solutions to issues within their own. During the term, we'll focus on archival, qualitative, and quantitative methods to reveal the creative praxis within each. Students will utilize the skills they acquire over the semester to, section by section, create a manifesto of their own, including an artist's statement, research/resource review, an outline of an issue, and the prototype of a project that fills the gap they've found in their field. This living document will then be critiqued by fellow students so that all those in the course experience multiple facets of the creative process.

Understanding Story is a class composed of lectures, discussions, screenings, readings, critical and creative writing, group critiques and presentations. The course is designed to expose the student to the fundamental principles of storytelling across a spectrum of mediums, including the written story, playwriting, film, poetry, dance, games, photography, fine art and music. How do all these different art forms tell stories? How can the student apply what is learned to their own creative work? History and theory of story will be studied and used to inspire personal and creative work in order to better understand how story can most successfully be expressed in different mediums and reach its audience.

Urban Arts Workshop–New York is composed of lectures, presentations, screenings, readings, discussions, and visits from painters, photographers, filmmakers, writers, designers, architects, planners, restaurateurs, curators and critics designed to expose students to the key concepts and fundamental theories of urban studies, public art and the urban-inspired works of many great artists and writers based in New York City and around the world. Outside of class time, students will do readings, conduct research, watch movies, post reactions and do various assignments that engage the core course subject matter and themes. Each class will explore another form of urban art, including discussions about and encounters with graffiti, street photography, sculpture, installation art, architecture, music, dance, performance, theater, fashion, urban sound projects, large-scale projections, poetry, essays and short stories with an aim to understand how such art forms came into being and how they express a distinctly urban message to the inhabitants and visitors of New York City and cities across the planet. The instructor seeks to combine the critical and theoretical with the experiential and personal in order to lead students to a deeper and more fruitful relationship with cities, the arts and themselves. Further exploration will be conducted into the phenomenon of connectivity in the 21st century city providing a deeper perspective on globalism, the networked environment, and emerging technology’s role in the future of art, culture and urban living. Field trips may include: The Whitney, The High Line and Hudson Yards, Tiny Island, MoMA, Guggenheim, PS1, Museum of the City of New York, The New Museum, Transit Museum, Noguchi Museum, Governors Island and others based upon availability. Students will need a MetroCard for traveling around the city as well as approximately $50.00 to cover meals and museum tickets (this price varies depending on course itinerary).

This course is an introduction to the fundamentals of classical ballet technique. Its goal is to help students develop a clean and precise technical base for ballet dancing. Through the instruction of proper alignment and dynamic imagery, students will learn how to dance safely and effectively, and improve their comprehension of the ballet form in relation to music, space, time and energy. Eventually students will experience how the mind, body and breath come together to produce greater freedom in movement. The technical content will vary according to the skill level of the class and the individual dancer. All levels are welcome. No previous dance experience is required. For the dance-history part of the course, students will examine the evolution of ballet from the time of Louis XIV through the present, and explore different styles of training and performance presentation through the use of images, video, practice and discussions. Reading assignments will explain how social changes have affected the development of ballet technique and choreography.

This course is a continuation of classical ballet training designed for students who have had previous training or have taken Ballet I and are looking to further develop their technique, learn new steps and expand their vocabulary at the intermediate level. In Ballet I, we traced the basic ballet vocabulary back to the time of its birth at the court of Louis the XIV. Students developed their ballet technique, and experienced the growth of ballet up to the early-1900s avant-garde choreography of the Ballet Russes. The period that followed is considered the most pivotal in ballet history, and it is this era that will be the focus of Ballet II. Students in Ballet II will not only look into the different training styles of ballet technique, but will also learn about some of the 20th century's most famous ballet dancers, as well as notable ballet productions from both the East and the West.

The purpose of this course is to enable the student to gain a heightened awareness, appreciation, and knowledge of dance through movement and performance. We focus on the foundations of dance such as control, aesthetics, alignment, dynamics, athleticism, musicality, use of space, development of learning strategies within a group context, and personal, artistic expression. The students exploration of their creativity, expression and concepts, as well as their work on other dancer's bodies is part of the work of this course. Through individual and collective kinesthetic participation in unfamiliar patterns, the student is physically and conceptually challenged and informed. Students will be asked to problem solve as homework assignment and in-class composition exercises. Dance experience is recommended, but formal dance training is not required.

Part studio and part seminar, The Dancing Body focuses on the practice and history of movement and choreography in the context of Modern Dance and Performance Art in the second half of the 20th century. Though the exploration of ideas in cultural studies/dance studies essays, reviews, and writings by dance artists, students will engage with a range of physical activities and conceptual performances in practice and theory.  This course offers a unique opportunity for students to simultaneously pursue creative/physical practices while exploring the intellectual discourse that informs them. The goal of this class is to generate an artistic environment where students develop collaborative relationships throughout the creative process individually as well as collectively.

This course is a laboratory for students interested in exploring the works of master choreographers, exposing them to an in-depth study of choreography by focusing on the steps, rhythm, structure, style and historical/conceptual contexts of iconic choreographic works ranging from 19th-century romantic ballet to contemporary work. This exploration will be accomplished physically: students will learn dance excerpts with attention to the physical details of steps, style and phrasing, allowing them to acclimate their own bodies to the universe of specific choreographies.

Students will be able to execute these choreographic works while developing a deeper understanding for the choreographers’ creative process and artistic decisions, inviting them to physically experience major artistic shifts in19th- and 20th-century dance aesthetics as they immerse themselves in the process of choreographic reconstruction. From classical ballet’s ideals of beauty, to the uses of narrative and the social/political/religious function of classicism, and finally through to the deconstruction of dance tradition in postmodern performances, this course exposes students to dance’s living archive while encouraging them to develop a critical perspective on the art of dance, its historical impact and future directions. Each session will be devoted to the recreation of seminal works from a variety of styles—Cambodian dance, Ballet, modern dance, postmodern dance, etc.

Beginning with a twenty-minute warm-up based on a physical technique tailored to each specific style (whether a simple ballet warm-up, basic Horton technique, Pilate’s based exercises, etc.), physical technique will be complemented with readings, viewings and discussion that focus on each historical work. All readings and viewings will be uploaded to create easy access for students. For midterm, students will perform one of the works already covered. For the final project, students will choose a favorite work covered over the semester and develop—in dialogue with the instructor—a solo, duet or a small group piece based on this work. For two weeks preceding these projects, students will build a compositional method based on the creative process of their chosen work. Details and guidelines about the final project will be discussed individually with the instructor. In addition, students will write a three-page paper on their chosen work due on the penultimate week, with guidelines distributed at the beginning of the semester.

This course is an introduction to Modern Dance technique that exposes students to basic concepts of movement in space and time. During the semester students will engage in a weekly physical practice that will prepare their bodies to move safely through space and expand their physical abilities. Students will explore a multitude of exercises aimed at organizing their bodies and deepening their physical awareness to prepare them to perform pedestrian, stylized and codified movement material demonstrated and generated by them upon instructor’s prompts. Through this weekly movement practice, dancers will gain confidence and muscular strength to learn and to execute choreography; understand and translate rhythmic patterns; and improve their spatial awareness. Weekly participation is paramount to success in this course. Grading will be based on student’s work developed in and out of class with homework assignments due every week. There is no pre-requisite for this course, all levels of dance experience are welcomed.

This course is a level II in dance practice designed for a student with an intermediate level of familiarity and experience with Modern dance. It further improves on the physical training offered in Modern Dance I, but is not predicated on previous enrollment in that class. The class focuses on the physical articulation of various movement vocabularies, collaborative exploration of partnering, and ongoing in-class discussion to deepen the connection of self-awareness through learning and executing movement. Each class will involve set choreographic material as well as improvisation practice as teaching tools to deeply inform movement training with intention, efficiency and artistry. Students will be encouraged to pay close attention to their own movement learning experience instead of focusing on replicating the movement they learn. Movement material will include floor work, traveling, balancing, jumping, turning and will be shaped by these principles. Previous modern, contemporary or equivalent experience is required.

Students are expected to know the basic tenets of movement:

 Learning movement and executing choreography in detail

 Ability to reproduce complex movement material

 Comfort in dealing with full-bodied movement through space

 Basic knowledge of physical skills

 Commitment to a weekly physical practice set up by instructor

 Timely presentation of homework assignments

In Performing Anatomy: Body Technology, students will experiment with human anatomy as technology for composing original works. We will begin this process by learning movement patterns that survey the human anatomy. We will build onto this knowledge through improvisational studies that invite composing original multidisciplinary works in response to biomechanics like motion, force, momentum, and balance. Our practice in the studio will be supplemented by reviewing images, texts, sound and video as reference material. Students will produce studies in their chosen media. These multidisciplinary studies finalize each module and are presented publicly in a collaborative final performance.

This movement and performance course fosters the creation of interactive experiences that blur the lines between performers and audience, utilizing unconventional spaces for site-specific choreographic structures. Throughout the semester we will immerse ourselves in time-based performance art, emphasizing embodied choreography that challenges the confines of the traditional proscenium stage. Students will be expected to engage confidently in physically demanding movement vocabularies, bolstered by frequent performance opportunities. Set against the backdrop of New York City's rich cultural legacy, the course takes place in outdoor settings at various landmarks. With the inclusion of guest artists, students will collaboratively craft public performances, which will be documented on video. Our goal will be to probe the role of public spaces in articulating social commentary, melding choreography, activism, and performance art, and offering a unique opportunity for students to enhance their movement skills in notable urban locations, honing their performance capabilities within an ensemble. The desire and passion to participate and engage in movement and performance as an ensemble is required.

This is an introduction to the dances and rhythms from Africa and the African Diaspora. Through movement, students will explore certain aesthetic characteristics that help to classify the dances as “African.” Traditional and or cultural dances and rhythms from various regions in Africa and the Caribbean will be taught along with the basic rhythmic patterns that are the foundation for the dances. There will be an emphasis on specific West African movements that have been transported and transplanted to the Americas. Class will consist of an extensive warm-up, including floor work, stretching, and isolation exercises that utilize elements of the Katherine Dunham isolation technique.

This is an introduction to the dances and rhythms from different styles that comprise Hip-Hop dance today. The first stage of the course will explore the wide array of styles that comprise and influence Hip-Hop movement. This course will not only introduce steps, but investigate root moves and historical context that shaped contemporary Hip-Hop today. During the course, students will also discuss the current and emerging trends of the genre. As an ever-evolving dance, this class will focus on budding dance styles, such as Flexing, Lite feet and Finger Tuts, comparing and contrasting those to case studies of past styles that emerged, (or re-emerged) to become heavily popularized such as Gliding, Krumping and Waacking. Additionally students will explore the globalized nature of Hip-Hop. To see the full evolution, students will see how other cultures have embraced and left their mark street styles, and how international dance battles and competitions have emerged, ultimately changing the landscape of Hip-Hop dance. Over the course of study students will begin to realize the complexity, the history and the varying opinions focused around Hip-Hop.

Traversing Europe, the Americas, and Asia, this course investigates the various social, political, and historical contexts that have contributed to the evolution of dance, and conversely, explores the ways that performers and choreographers have utilized the medium of dance to reflect their personal concerns back to society in powerful ways. Artistic movements, choreographers, and dancers examined will include Vaudevillian tropes; the impact of the Industrial Revolution on ballet; sexual manipulation in the roles of Nijinsky; the political work of early modern dancers; WW I and II and its aftermath in the German Ausdruckstanz of Mary Wigman, Kurt Jooss, and in Japanese Butoh; the propagandist ballets of the Chinese Cultural Revolution; exploration of the commonplace in the psychological dance-theater of Antony Tudor and Pina Bausch; the anthropological research of black choreographers Katherine Dunham and Pearl Primus; exploration of Postmodern rebellion of the Judson Dance Theater; and the response of choreographers and performance artists to the Culture Wars and the AIDS crisis. Students will pursue extended research, view performance videos and documentaries, and be expected to write and talk about dance. 

This course explores why and how dance acts as a vital participant in cultural practices around the world. Looking back through the perspective of present research, we will examine how dance is inherently a reflection of the culture it represents.

A wide overview of dance and its myriad purposes will be covered, from a means of worship in India, Turkey, and Haiti; its inclusion in the rituals of Bali; noh and kabuki theatrical traditions of Japan; fertility and death ceremonies of the Wodaabe, Yoruba, and Dogon tribes of Africa; the healing zar dances of North Africa, and the rituals/activism of Native American tribes. The presentation of court dance as a symbol of power will be examined in Hawai’i, Java, and Cambodia, as well as in Catherine de Medici’s Renaissance pageants and in the French Baroque spectacles of Louis XIV's Versailles and the Paris Opera. The inevitable impact of politics on dance will be examined in viewing the bloody genocide of Cambodia’s Royal Dancers; the propagandist works of China’s Cultural Revolution; the French Revolution’s influence upon Romantic ballets such as La Sylphide and Giselle; and how the repression of a Gitano culture led to the emergence of flamenco in Spain. In addition to written texts and video documentation, we will review examples of related art forms (visual arts, music, and drama). NOTE: This class was previously titled “History of Dance.”

Scores are ordinarily considered as a method of musical notation, but they have also been developed by visual and performance artists as an alternative means of creating material, injecting critical commentary and expanding the imagination for both witness and participant. Within these experimental/postmodern settings, scores have been used to heighten awareness of an artist’s social environment by exposing unconscious assumptions embedded in culture, and by creating spaces of challenge, critique, and/or play. This course is an interactive exploration of some of these major scores, approaching them as documents that reflect a multiplicity of expressive forms as well as reflective of the historical frames that produced them. Students will gain an understanding of how scores work in various disciplines including but not limited to music.

This course is for actors who want to explore and cultivate their filmic talents, directors and writers who want to create performances that exploit the potential of the camera. Unique to acting for film is the intimate relationship between actor and camera. Experienced actors and those new to acting begin working before the camera the first class. Breaking down and filming scenes from television and film scripts, actors learn to make nuanced, authentic choices based on commitment to action, responsibility to text, investing in subtext and understanding what their physicality and behavior reveal.

Being directed and watching others directed will give clarity to the role the actor plays in this visual storytelling process. The audition will be demystified through improvisation and practice of rehearsed and cold audition material. There will be an overview of the business aspects of professional acting, including casting and actor representation. The goal is to be a better screen actor, trust yourself, feel confident and be comfortable auditioning and working on professional sets in the future. Footage and scenes are available to each student.

This course provides a foundation for understanding and practicing the craft of the actor. Beginning with theater games and improvisations, class participants will be challenged to explore and stretch their physical and emotional ways of expression and the scope of their imaginations. Students will begin to work with scripted material in the second half of the course and will learn basic script analysis to support their work with text as they integrate earlier exercises into presentation of scripted material.

Not open to Tisch Drama majors.

This course is a studio based advanced on-camera acting performance workshop designed for actors, writers, directors and artists to strengthen screen acting skills by focusing on four major aspects of screen performance: Character, Role & Identity; Script Analysis; Physicality & Voice in Frame; and, Specificity in Moment to-Moment Being. Concentrating on these elements of screen performance, and filming on-camera exercises and scenes every session, actors will employ various acting techniques to discover and develop a reliant set of techniques and technical skills that best serve them as actors, and expand their artistic sensibility as related to visual storytelling through film. Actors prepare to be successful, auditioning and working within the parameters of the professional filming experience. With limited rehearsal and acting direction, shooting out of sequence, and multiple takes unique to production, each actor will develop their own set of best practices and ownership of their role as an actor.

This next level acting course turns traditional, realistic scene study on its head. We begin with the essentials: digging into the skills for building precise, emotionally connected, intelligently crafted, character-specific, and theatrically articulate performance inside a realistic context. We then use those skills as a springboard to invent new ways of building a compelling narrative through forms of multi-media and devised storytelling. In this course students explore and expand their understanding of “what is character?” And, who’s telling the story and why and how are they telling it? This course is a laboratory for constructing, deconstructing and reconstructing narrative – a place to turn the story on its head to see what new story we can make. Students will engage in studio exercises to build clear skills in acting technique and stage composition and practice with various forms of crafting theatrical stories. In addition, students are expected to analyze, rehearse, and perform one short, realistic two-person scene, create a solo devised piece, and participate in ensemble-devised, multi-media performance pieces for a final showing at the conclusion of the semester. Students are also required to complete a detailed character/script analysis to support their exploration of the journey from realistic theatre to expanded forms of theatrical/performative storytelling.  This is a next level performance class; students must have successfully completed Acting I, Performance Practice or have equivalent experience in performance coursework to register for the class.

This is a creative workshop designed for playwrights who yearn to act and actors who have an itch to write. Using one’s self as material, participants create a short solo performance for an end-of-semester presentation. The lab combines physical work (both group and solo) with in-class/out-of-class writing exercises aimed at enhancing students’ capacities to transform the stuff of their real lives into mimetic fiction. The final composition may stand alone as a finished, self-contained piece or may be an extended monologue planned as part of a full-length play, given the creator’s primary interest (solo-performance vs. playwriting). In-class exercises, group critiques (though the instructor prefers the word “responses”) as well as analysis of other artists’ solo performances are used to shape students’ final compositions.

OART-UT 144 / 1 unit

This intensive focuses on both historic evolution of ritual-based/early theater models through contemporary theater philosophies (accentuating history of Futurist/Dada theater innovations to present), and on anatomizing the nature of performer, performance, story and storytelling via the non-traditional philosophies and methods of contemporary experimental theater. The class will be rigorously participatory in terms of discussing/physicalizing these experimental methods and will culminate in the creation and performance of simple class collaboration-generated stage narratives. Students will investigate the meaning and application of physical/environmental ’neutrality’ on stage as they simultaneously investigate and define for themselves the most essential markers needed for the viewer to perceive ‘story’ in performance. As the staged pieces are constructed from these anatomized building blocks of performance and story, more complex qualities of character, identity, archetype, mannerism, linguistic disfluencies (verbal and non-verbal) and psychological subtext will be introduced as tools for each performer’s role in the story. In the final phases of piece creation, simple analog elements of music, sound, light, mask, craft materials, dance, virtuosic/specialized skill, props will be introduced as tools. The final performance will aspire to clear and effective applications of the performance/story elements discussed (or discovered) in class. Techniques and exercises derived from the worlds of Futurism/Dada, Richard Maxwell, Blue Man Group, Elevator Repair Service, Ann Bogart, Joshua Fried, and others will be discussed and employed.

This course explores the ecology of artistic creation in the "downtown" New York scene. New venues, performance forms and modes of expression and distribution are attracting audiences to unconventional experiences in "the cracks of the city." Three themes are explored. First, geography and location; where the non-traditional performance activity is taking place; then hierarchy, or how the venues and institutions of “downtown” relate to each other and finally; networking, or how and why audiences connect with artists and performances within in contemporary performance.

Dramatic Literature students should register for DRLIT-UA 175.

Embodied Performance: Collaborative Creations is a 2-credit studio course that explores the instructor’s original performance methodology, a fusion of physical theater modalities culled from Western practices (Psycho-physical actions, Viewpoints), Eastern practices (Butoh, Kundalini yoga) and related performance disciplines (Mask, Puppetry). This course provides foundational training for students who are interested in investigating the field of performative and collaborative arts and will serve as an entry point for NYU students interested in movement and physically based acting.

Building on Acting I: Introduction to the Actor's Craft, this class provides students with techniques and skills designed to help them make the transition from theater games, improvisation and basic text work to detailed scene study. After beginning with ensemble building exercises to create a safe and supportive environment conducive to bold, creative exploration, the class will focus on methods of script analysis; playing actions; particularizing emotional meanings; ways to make creative choices while respecting the playwright's intent, and how to balance spontaneity with precision and aspects of character development. The goal of the class is to enable students to make the journey from text analysis to a full, immediate and inventive embodiment of the given circumstances, character adjustments and dramatic action. Scenes will be drawn from a wide range of dramatic material. 

Not open to Tisch Drama majors.

Dramatic Literature students should register for DRLIT-UA 639.

What makes a musical a musical? How did the most major form of Drama in America come to be? This survey of American musical theatre, with an emphasis on its significant and unique contribution to US popular culture, will trace the musical’s relation to 19th century popular entertainments such as minstrelsy, vaudeville, and burlesque, examine its critical affair with popular song and dance forms from throughout the 20th century, and celebrate its continual reimagining of itself up through present day. Through the reading of librettos and the listening to scores we will also analyze the “bones” of the art form: the structural elements that define the fully Integrated musical: plot, character, song, dance, orchestration, setting, and design – all blended together into a seamless whole, and all completely hinging on the collaborative process for creative inspiration and ultimate success.

Dramatic Literature students should register for DRLIT-UA 296.

This course is a unique collaboration between the Collaborative Arts and IMA Tisch departments, and CultureHub based at La Mama. During the pandemic many performing artists moved their work online, leading to an increasing acceptance of experimental practices that their predecessors developed in on-line work for the past 30 years. In Experiments in Hybrid (IRL/URL) Performance, students will have the opportunity to design, prototype, and present collaborative projects that build on this tradition, blending both physical and virtual elements. Over the course of the semester, students will have the opportunity to study at the CultureHub studio where they will be introduced to video, lighting, sound, and cueing systems. In addition, students will learn creative coding fundamentals allowing them to network multiple softwares and devices generating real-time feedback systems. The class will culminate with a final showing that will be presented online and broadcast from the CultureHub studio.

Modeled as an accelerated intensive on methods of collaboration, students will work together in groups of 4 to produce new performance work to be presented to an invited in person and online audience. Participation in class discussions and in-class movement workshops are mandatory, and always based on each student’s physical ability. All body types and abilities are welcome and needed for this course to be successful. 

The primary objective of this semester is to free up the artist’s channel through physical training. This work happens under the notion that the body is a channel through which we process our experiences into motion and sound - whether that be through acting, filmmaking, writing, etc. When the channel is open, you learn to connect with and respond more spontaneously to an environment without tension or pushing. A large portion of the freeing-up process is psychological, which requires an understanding of and connection to your emotional and physical self. The mindfulness component of the movement work encourages you to be permissive with your habits, experiences and emotions as they develop in the body. However, this is never accomplished in a vacuum. The unique insight of this training is the necessity for you to be in contact in order for the work to take-hold. This happens through regularly practiced ensemble exercises drawing from Pilobolus and Viewpoints techniques. The concept of “play,” begins to take hold, as you understand improvisational movement without tension or anxiety - working less cerebrally and more kinesthetically.

Pulling from exercises of Michael Chekov, Lloyd Williamson, Joe Hart, Steve Paxton, Allen Wayne, and Julia Crockett- you are given an arsenal of physical vocabulary and challenged to become fearless, expansive, unapologetic, and creative. A large portion of the work focuses on the studies of Rudolf Laban’s “Eight Efforts.” These Laban Efforts are the springboard for a final composition choreography project, where you will be asked to create your very own movement piece.

Not open to Tisch Drama Majors.

What is comedy? WHY do we laugh at all? WHAT makes us laugh? How is comedy today different from yesterday; how is it the same? Combining theory with practice, this class endeavors to explore comedy both critically and in performance, embodying the comic even as we theorize about it. We will look at comedy historically, and as it manifests in various genres, as well as break it down structurally – all the while keeping an eye to the cultural influences that inform all comedy. The primary mode of exploration for this class will be stand-up. Arguably the most prevalent form of comedy of our age, stand-up offers us a window into how all comedy works, including: the importance of surprise; comedic timing; comedic structure; and comic situations and characters. In terms of content, we will address status as a location for humor; the importance of the body in comedy; and cultural taboos. In addition to working on our stand up routines, each class will have a critical component, and class discussions will serve to deepen our evolving routines. Of particular interest is the examination of (and distinction between) comedy that affirms cultural norms versus comedy that subverts these norms.

This course provides a hands-on exploration in performing Shakespeare’s work and offers a guided frame for freely and fully accessing and living out the text in performance for a 21st century audience. The focus of the class is on breaking down Shakespeare’s text for literal and emotive meaning, finding our own connections to the characters, stories, and circumstances in Shakespeare’s plays, and allowing the material to come to life through in-class exercises and rehearsals. Students will work on a monologue, a two-person scene, and a final ensemble piece involving the full class. This studio acting class is open to students at all levels of experience. The course will not count as studio credit for Tisch Drama majors.

This eco-art course brings together students interested in filmed performance, applied theater, and environmental justice to create a series of micro-short, filmed art performances. Following the five stages of grief of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance), yet leading to action, not merely acceptance, students will explore various forms of performance – staged, film, digital creation, music, installation and/or performance art – as a means of examination, memorialization, and advocacy for extinct and threatened species. Week to week, along with topic-specific research and readings, students will devise, dramatize, and articulate each of these five steps from a series of assigned prompts. Starting with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, students will choose a species on the edge of extinction and monitor them for the semester, researching their life, habitat, cultural and social relations, and what to do to protect these species and slow or halt this decline. A “die-in” collective performance will happen mid semester. Each student will design and create a memento mori for their chosen species. The efforts here may be revived for November 30, Remembrance Day for Lost Species. The class will culminate with a collective, mixed media, performance installation on extinction in the style of the Wooster Group.

From Shakespeare’s era to the present day, writers and other artists have created new works by using other art-forms as source material. This practice is especially true for film and television, where the source material can come from a novel or play, a video game or comic book, an historical event or even a blog or trashy headline. We will explore a variety of practices in the art of adaptation--as it relates to movies and TV--and apply them to an adaptation that students will develop over the course of the semester, resulting in a treatment for a film or television show. Through case studies, exercises and in-class discussion, we will refine and develop students’ work to its greatest potential. We will compare early drafts of award-winning screenplays with their original source material and the final shooting scripts, hopefully gaining insight into the iterative process of adaptation and the challenges and creative insights that the filmmakers discovered along the way. We'll also explore practical issues like options, rights, collaborations, intellectual property laws and licenses, etc.

Always thought you had that perfect concept for a streaming TV show? Curious about what makes those shows tick, and to see if you have what it takes to collaborate on a show that works? Focused on the development of the half-hour streaming ‘prestige' TV series, The Writers’ Room is an Intermediate and Collaborative TV Screenwriting class that addresses the latest forms of shows that sell, on the platforms that dominate the market. Shows like The Mandalorian, Ted Lasso and The Bear are 'binge-worthy' because along with dynamic stand-alone episodes they present connected dramatic arcs stretching over seasons. Often these shows are developed with multiple writers, in a format known as the 'Writers’ Room.' Along with conceptualizing a show, the class is intended as a practicum in collaboration, modeling the Writers Room to prepare the future screenwriter for one of the central forms of commercial storytelling. In this class we will cover what it actually takes to break into TV writing and create a roadmap to developing not only a great TV episode but conceptualizing its entire first season. What will sell a great show? Great premises, fulsome outlines, dynamic pitches, engaging decks, etc. How do you 'break' an episode and build provocative story arcs? Students will emerge with a group-conceptualized deck for an original show as well as that show’s original pilot--all done in the form of a structured workshop environment, with the last half of the class modeling the writers room. Our main texts are current shows that fit within this context. Note: this is a rigorous, collaborative class that requires significant out-of-class meetups with your group colleagues, so please be aware of the time commitment.

The course combines lectures on the basics of feature length screenwriting with the development of the student’s own writing work. Students are required to complete 25-50 pages of a full length screenplay. The students study story structure, conflict, and character, in conjunction with the screening and study of several films and screenplays. The emphasis will be on visual storytelling and developing a strong and distinctive screenwriting voice. All students must come to the first class with two ideas for full-length screenplays.

A continuation of the training presented in Fundamentals of Developing the Screenplay. Required work in the class includes extensive scene work. Guided by their screenwriting instructor, students will complete the screenplay begun in Fundamentals of Developing the Screenplay and then do a rewrite or they may begin, complete, and rewrite a new full-length screenplay. The focus in this class will be on story structure and development and the completion of a full-length screenplay. If you plan to do a new work, you must come to the first class with three ideas for full-length screenplays. Each idea can be described in one or two paragraphs.

A team-taught workshop that encourages composers, lyricists, and book writers to find their own voices and learn to merge their unique artistic visions with those of other collaborative artists to create exciting new songs in a theatrical context. Rotating teams write and present a series of projects culminating in a short musical theatre work to be presented at the end of the semester by Broadway actors. Theatre songwriting craft, issues of communication between artists of different disciplines, and storytelling through music and text are emphasized. Great musical theatre works of the 20th century are read and discussed to support the students' examination of their own creative process. Poets, playwrights, and writers from other genres, and composers from a wide variety of stylistic background ranging from pop to classical-country, hip-hop, rap, and jazz to fusion, are welcome to participate.

Before the internet, artists and enthusiasts found their communities through self-publishing niche small-circulation magazines, usually without profit, with a burning desire to communicate. We’ll discuss the continued relevancy of the culture as we look at zines scenes from the past. For each scene, we’ll have an “object lesson” in which we dissect historical zines with an eye on form, content, aesthetic, publisher motives, and technology required for production. Then we’ll make our own! We’ll learn about historical zine making methods by making our own small-run zines in the same fashion to circulate within class. In addition to this tactile learning, you’ll produce a small body of work and gain an instant collection from your peers.

An introductory course on the basic techniques employed in writing a play. Class includes discussion of samples of the students’ work in addition to discussion of theory and various theatrical exercises. Students read selected plays to enhance discussions of structuring a dramatic piece of writing. The course addresses actors writing material for themselves and focuses on character and dialogue as well as examining scene work, outlining, and the completion of a first draft of a one-act play. This course counts towards Theatre Studies requirements for Drama students and as elective credits for other TSOA students.

Adapted from the Dramatic Writing Program’s popular “Introduction to the Sitcom” course, this intensive scriptwriting class answers the question, “What do I need to break into TV writing?” – the student will be guided through the step-by-step development of an episode for an ongoing TV sitcom, from premise line to one-page outline, to pages and revisions. The course will require the completion of a polished draft while introducing students to the rigors of professional standards through weekly story goals.

If autobiography is a retelling of the events of your life from beginning to end, then memoir—from the French for “to remember”—is an examination of some events of your life through a particular frame. We tell stories drawn from our lives all the time, but we sometimes fail to consider the themes and ideas that connect those stories with themselves and with each other; that failure robs us in turn of the opportunity to understand better both the world and ourselves. Each week of this course you’ll both read and write thoughtful memoir; by the end of the semester, you’ll be able to write reflectively about your own past, examining not just the stories you tell about your life but also those stories’ deeper meanings, their part in shaping your identity, and their echoes in your present and your future.

Animation is often considered an art form of synthesis— bringing together disciplines as varied as collage, cartooning, dance, puppetry, slight-of-hand, sculpture, painting, printmaking, engineering, photography, sound design, music, and acting to forge wholly new kinds of "moving pictures." This hands-on class will explore the productive possibilities of adding a time-based dimension to a variety of artmaking modes. Emphasis will be placed upon experimentation, diy solutions and developing unique approaches to applying the principles of frame-by-frame filmmaking to one’s own practice. The course will survey artists and art movements that have uniquely embraced animation. Group and individual projects will engender a solid understanding of animation principles and provide students with a toolkit of strategies for creating animation in a variety of contexts— from optical toys, to short films, live-performance, documentary and large-scale projection. Open to those with no animation experience, and those with experience looking to deepen an understanding of their own creative process and voice. 

The interview is at the heart of the documentary film and many forms of media, journalism, podcasts and theater. It is a basic tool in academic research. This course will analyze the skills required to produce a successful interview: selecting subjects; preparing and posing questions; focused listening and eliciting powerful responses. Students will be exposed to some of the finest examples of interviews across disciplines demonstrating the range of styles and contexts for the interview. Whether with a random stranger, a family member or a well-known personality, students will develop the ability to conduct meaningful interviews during the course of the semester.

Many films - both narrative and documentary - aim to present some form of “truth” and reality to the audience. This course examines how film is always an authored construct, where the filmmaker’s selection and presentation of visual materials reveals an artful manipulation of reality in order to evoke meaning and emotion. Students will analyze and interrogate cinematic representations of reality, and put theory into practice through video exercises based on this theme. This course is designed to give film students the foundational understanding of narrative film structure and cinematic grammar through the use of fiction and non-fiction filmmaking. The class will use films as texts to explore how cinematic storytelling attempts to create and subvert representations of reality. We will examine films that blur the line between documentary and fiction, calling into question the notion of portraying "truth" in cinema. Through a close analysis of films that challenge our notion of what is “real,” students will interrogate the very notion of truth in cinema, and ultimately demonstrate a new way of thinking about film narrative.

Students will also test the waters of film production, through cellphone video exercises and assignments. Students will work in groups to create two 1-3 minute films - one scripted and one built from a real world story. This course inspires students to see the art of cinematic stories not as a narrow construct, but rather one that allows the filmmaker to blend veracity and creation to produce original narratives.

Hollywood in your palm. That is what this combination of lectures, screenings, demonstrations and practical production workshops will offer to the students in this course. 
There will be several professional guests making presentations and Q&A sessions from the mobile phone filmmaking industry. 
In addition to the historical and critical overview of the emergence and exponential growth of global cell phone cinema, students will shoot all footage on cell phones and download them for computerized editing. The final project will be under three minute shorts. 

Projects will include all genres of film and television: news, mini-documentaries, animation, music videos and narrative shorts. Completed student projects will be suitable to be posted on the Internet and entered into domestic and international mobile phone film festivals. For example, two minutes long improvisations of Bollywood Style Music Videos shot on Cell Phones by the students have been projected at the Tribeca Cinemas as part of the New York Indian Film Festival. It is suggested but not compulsory that students bring to the class a cell phone capable of recording video. 

In this course, we will explore the versatile usage of animation in the world of graphic design as a unique form of expression. We will examine how motion design combines movement, rhythm, space, and timing to orchestrate abstract shapes, words, and symbols. Through a series of weekly exercises, students will gain an understanding of key concepts in motion design while using and learning Adobe After Effects. We will follow the footsteps of motion design history, reconstructing classic pieces in order to gain a fundamental understanding of this art form. We will learn how graphic design, music, choreography, and acting can all be applied to the motion of design elements and furthermore, how the combination of animation and design can convey compelling stories, emotions, and ideas. Students will survey the technologies and methods that enabled the fields’ developments - from drawing on 18 mm film, the analog Scanimate in the 80s, to UX motion, interactive design, and contemporary live performances. Inspired by those traditions, students will be encouraged to take on an experimental approach, discuss thought processes, and develop their own visual language while combining interdisciplinary practices. *Adobe After Effects will be used as a main tool in the course, therefore a sufficient computer (over 16GB of RAM and a graphic card) is required.

This is a standard digital photography course designed for those with little or no experience in photography. This course will emphasize personal expression through the application of technique to the presentation of subject matter. Open Arts will have enough A7RII cameras for students to share for the duration of the semester. While it is not required that you own your own digital camera to enroll in this course, it is recommended that you borrow or acquire your own camera for the duration of this course, if you would like to avoid having to share one of the department's cameras with another student. If you would like to purchase your own camera, a digital single lens reflex (SLR) or mirrorless digital camera is highly recommended for this course. The camera needs to have manual aperture and shutter speed controls.

The purpose of this course is to develop an understanding of the technical and aesthetic aspects of making photographic images. We will apply fundamental photographic techniques such as composition, framing, lighting and manual camera controls to the images we create. We will discuss the way we see, compared to how cameras and lenses see, evaluate the similarities and differences and how that impacts the creation of images and how we analyze them. Students will make photographs that are effective as individual images and photographs that work together in a series. Students will learn how to create a narrative with a series of photographs and express a feeling or mood with a series of photographs. Class discussions will introduce students to a variety of concepts related to visual literacy. Students will also be introduced to the work of historically significant photographers from a broad range of backgrounds. Students will learn how to use Adobe Creative Cloud software to adjust images for print and digital publishing.

By the end of the course, students will understand how to use a digital SLR or mirrorless camera to create compelling photographs using manual controls, process their images using Adobe Creative Cloud software and best practices for publishing their images digitally as well as best practices for printing their images. Finally, students will enhance their critical thinking skills while developing a deeper understanding of visual/photographic language. Students are expected to shoot a minimum of 108 exposures (photographs) each week.

This course emphasizes the content, the aesthetics, and the purpose of cinema as a truly distinctive and dynamic art form uncovering the inner vision of the filmmaker, and the organic and transformative process where filmmakers projects their original truth, not compromising or borrowing ideas and themes from other films. Students explore the use of technology as a valuable tool that enhances the vision of the filmmaker without diminishing the organic texture of the work by its overwhelming presence. The course brings to light the stagnant and repetitious formulae of commercial cinema, resulting in diluted mainstream films. The works of iconic filmmakers who embrace and use film as an original, vibrant and reflective art form are reviewed throughout the course. Extracts and readings from relevant filmmakers are given throughout the course.

Fundamentals of Documentary Filmmaking I is an intensive 14 week course combining lectures and creative workshops to introduce students to documentary film production, basic film production tools, and basic film grammar. Students work together in crews to research, discover, design, pre-produce, shoot and direct short documentary film exercises and a final short Observational documentary Film. No pre-arranged interviews, or prepared recreations are used. Only a directional camera microphone is employed to acquire diegetic sound while observing and filming real life activity.

This course serves to expand the Open Arts program’s film production course offerings by making an introductory documentary filmmaking class available. It is similar in structure and technical scope to the existing Fundamentals of Filmmaking I course - which is a narrative based course.

Fundamentals of Documentary Filmmaking I will also serve as an introductory film production course for other NYU students who may have an interest in non-fiction, documentary film production courses. This course will count towards the Documentary minor. Please email Tisch Special Programs at tisch.minors@nyu.edu to ask to substitute this course for the minor.

“Documenting Discovery” is an intensive 14 week course combining lectures and creative workshops to fully explore documentary film production. Students will learn advanced non-fiction filmmaking techniques, including interviewing subjects, capturing visuals from real life and documentary storytelling. Over the course of the semester, students will hone their filmmaking skills through a series of exercises, leading up to a final project that focuses on a single subject. Focusing on both content and form, student filmmakers will choose a subject to research, interview and develop a documentary film with a clear narrative arc. Students can choose to focus on a friend or family member, or else they can choose from a pool of suggested subjects to document their process of artistic discovery.

This practical workshop is designed to introduce students to the techniques and theory of developing and producing short film ideas that are shot on digital video and edited digitally on computer using Adobe Premiere Pro software. The course centers on learning elements of visual storytelling through a spectrum of aesthetic approaches. Working in crews of four, students learn directing, shooting, and editing skills as they each direct three short videos (three to five minutes in length). This course is specifically designed to fulfill the major requirements in production of students not majoring in film and therefore, students who need to fulfill this requirement are given registration priority. 

It is required that you purchase an external hard drive (you may find specs at https://tinyurl.com/oacompcamp). Adobe Premiere will be used for editing and students should make sure they have computers that meet the following tech requirements (https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/system-requirements.html). Other editing software may be used by permission from the instructor. Additional College Student Insurance (approx $155) is a recommended purchase to protect your personal equipment is required. Please contact your professor if you have any questions.

FUNDAMENTALS OF FILMMAKING II: NARRATIVE FILM is an intensive production workshop for fiction filmmaking. Students write, direct, and produce one short, 5-7 minute, film. The course builds upon the visual storytelling tools learned in the prerequisite courses, Fundamentals of Filmmaking I, or Cinematic Narratives. Students will strengthen their skills in screenwriting, cinematography, aesthetics, and editing to further develop their personal filmmaking style. Students can choose to create a traditional narrative film with dialog, or they can choose alternative types of performance and filmmaking that create narrative style flow in different ways. Students must have a rough draft script, or one page treatment, ready by the first day of classes as writing and rewriting work begins in week one. Each student writes and directs their own film, and then they serve as crew members for their classmates when they direct their films.

Students can also choose to break the constraints of the traditional solo director/auteur theory, and choose to co-direct and Co-Create their film with a partner. Students with more experience in acting or performing can partner with other students who have more experience with writing, directing, or cinematography - and they can explore the opportunities within the emerging trend of Co-Creative filmmaking.

Students are guided by their Professor, and a Production Advisor, through all the production logistics that are necessary for successful filmmaking - including casting, art direction, props, locations, schedules, call times, insurance, equipment, wardrobe, effects, editing and more. During Morning Sessions, all work is discussed in class, and creative feedback is an essential component of the course. For the first third of the semester, Afternoon Sessions provide technical training on professional level videocameras, audio gear, lighting, and editing software. After the tech training period, Afternoon Sessions are reserved as optional practice sessions and/or filming periods. Midway through the semester, the final production period occurs over four consecutive weeks, and weekend work is required during this production period.

The course traces the documentary film from its origins to the present day. Pioneer documentarians like Dziga Vertov and Robert Flaherty saw in documentary film the ability to portray life with a kind of truthfulness never before possible. Early Polish filmmaker Boleslaw Matuszewski wrote that while “the cinematograph does not give the whole truth at least what it gives is unquestionable and of an absolute truth.” Since those heady days, it has become all too clear that documentaries have no special access to the truth.

Nevertheless, as this still-young art evolved, documentarians of different schools constantly sought new means to tell the human story. Documentary filmmaking has always been a blend of artistry and technical means and we will also explore this critical relationship. The course explores the development of the documentary and the shifting intentions of documentary filmmakers through the evolution of narrative approach and structure paying special attention to the documentary tradition’s relationship to journalism. Students examine how different filmmakers have gone about trying to convey “reality” on screen both through the use and avoidance of narration, through interviews, editing and dramatizations. Throughout the semester, students investigate how image-driven medium attempts to report stories and the ways an emotion-driven art can be problematic for journalistic objectivity. Finally, the ethical and journalistic responsibilities the documentary filmmaker are discussed. Special attention is given to dramatic re-creations, the filmmaker’s relationship to his/her subjects and the construction of narrative through editing.

New Video Dimensions is a video production workshop where students conceive, produce, perform, direct and edit fully polished video media for a variety of interdisciplinary art forms - from immersive VR to interactive performance art, from movement-based performance to media guided participatory theater, to stand alone internet media and short films. Video is an integral part of many artistic disciplines and this class explores ways to reimagine conventional video production and harness the visceral impact of video within a wide range of unique interdisciplinary mediums.

Each student pitches and chooses an interdisciplinary project they plan to create. They then team up with another student who will work with them to create video that will support that project. Emphasis is given to ways in which personal visual inspiration, as opposed to artistic imitation, can create innovative new forms of video art. Students will alternate roles as interdisciplinary artists and as video collaborators, so that each student creates a final video for a proposed interdisciplinary project. Students can also choose to work together within both roles for a single project, or stand alone video piece. All aspects of video production will be explored, including writing, choreography, acting, art direction, cinematography, music, editing, and more. The role of the video-maker will be explored as a collaborative partner with other interdisciplinary artists.

Students use a variety of cameras & audio gear as they build upon the technical skills they learned in previous filmmaking courses. For the final projects, each proposedinterdisciplinary project will be detailed in a powerpoint presentation, and the completed videos for those projects will be screened along with those presentations. Students are required to have taken one introductory video class with synchronous sound, or special permission can be given by the Professor on a case by case basis.

Note: Fall semester only

This course, while not a production class, is designed to give students the opportunity to learn each stage of the documentary filmmaking process from the best working professionals in their field. Each week we will watch a documentary and meet someone who had a pivotal role in the making of that documentary. Our guests will include producers, directors, cinematographers, sound engineers, editors, writers, film composers and sound mixers. These professionals will share their experience and expertise with the class and answer questions about their work thereby providing a foundation of insight into the decisions, tools and skills that go into the making of good documentaries. Class discussions will explore the creative and technical decisions involved in the making the film.

Photo 1 for Non-Majors will begin with the analog process of photography by using a manually adjustable 35mm film camera to shoot black & white film, with the option of then transitioning to color film and shooting digitally with either a DSLR or other digital device after mid-term. Students will learn how to properly and creatively expose film, have a commercial lab both process and scan film (optionally students may process film off campus and/or scan film themselves if hardware is accessible), and then learn the basics of post-production digital imaging with software such as Adobe Photoshop to edit and finalize images. In addition to viewing photographs on screen, we will also use machine-made prints from the commercial lab and the Laguardia Co-op on campus to make larger-format prints for critique. Emphasis is placed on the application of technique in terms of personal expression through the selection and composition of subject matter. The course consists of technical lectures and demonstrations, photography and written assignments, lectures on historical and contemporary photography, discussions about readings and assignments and several group critiques. Smaller photography assignments begin the semester and each student will work on a single larger project after mid-term. Each student must have access to a camera with manually adjustable focus, aperture and shutter speeds by the first week of class. In addition to a SLR camera, students will need to pay for a minimum of 5 rolls of film, film processing, scanning and have access to digital imaging software.

This course examines the artistic career and creative work of Walter Murch, Oscar-winning film editor and sound designer, and the first and only artist to win Academy Awards for both film editing and sound mixing on a single film (The English Patient, 1997). The class will provide an unprecedented inside look into Mr. Murch’s processes of sound designing, editing, mixing, writing, and directing on such acclaimed and memorable films as THX 1138, American Graffiti, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now, The Godfather, Return to Oz, The English Patient, Touch of Evil, and Cold Mountain. Through interviews, articles, and materials from his private archives never before publicly available, students learn about the creative world of an artist who has brought the importance of sound and editing to a new level. In addition to his work in film and his inventions used in the filmmaking process, two additional areas of interest of Mr. Murch will be examined: translations of Curzio Malaparte’s writings and his passion for astronomy. Mr. Murch will participate on several occasions in the course as a guest lecturer by visiting the class and/or via video conferencing.

Students will learn how to shoot professional looking shots on prosumer cameras with minimal lighting — by applying the lessons of professional cinematography to prosumer video cameras, DSLR’s, and cellphone videography. A wide variety of Camera Exercises are assigned to train the students to shoot movies with natural light and limited prosumer camera gear. 3-4 person crews are selected to work together on all the Camera Exercises, and for the Final Project as well. Students shoot with their own DSLR’s, prosumer cameras, and/or cellphones. Pending availability (and CSI access) students can also choose from a selection of DSLR’s and prosumer gear provided by the course (SONY A73, SONY A7R2, SONY A6400, Pocket Osmo Gimbal Camera, and Osmo 3 Gimbal for Cellphones). All camera exercises are screened and reviewed in class.  Students analyze and discuss their own work and are assigned reshoots and pick-up shooting assignments to reinforce their in-class learning. Early classes work with professional lighting gear on stage and students then go out into the field to film camera exercises and music videos utilizing available natural light and small practical light kits - while employing the lighting concepts and lessons they learned on stage.

This production course allows students from all academic backgrounds to expand their artistic practice, and apply film training through the lens of queer cinema. This collaborative course blends film screenings, discussions and theoretical exploration with hands-on production experience. Students will gain critical knowledge of significant works from the queer film canon, and hone their skills as filmmakers through the production of short cinematic works. In this course students will make a short film. In the beginning of the semester students will present their film idea, then shoot and edit it. The film will be between 3-15 minutes and can be a documentary, scripted, or hybrid. Students who want to collaborate on a film can co-direct. The class will culminate in a final screening of all the students' original creations. 

Students work in groups to develop and present collaborative projects that creatively incorporate real-life material (for example: unscripted interview, archival material, found footage or newsreel) as the basis for developing their co-authored work. Over the course of the semester, collaborative groups explore what it means to create original works from real-life material - examining how various mediums allow them to delve into this theme differently.

This is an introductory level hands-on workshop designed for students wishing to explore their artistry, experienced makeup artists seeking advanced techniques, non-makeup artists just starting out, and anyone who has ever wondered “how’d they do that?” This course explores the art of special effects make-up. Topics include “out-of-kit” makeup effects including contusions, bruises, burns and frostbite; skin safe molding procedures; casting and painting silicone replica props, frozen death makeup; and designing and creating a 1:4 scale character maquette.  Anatomical reference and safety using materials is also addressed. Students receive their own specially designed makeup kit with all materials necessary to complete all in-class assignments. No artistic background required

PRE-REQUISITE: OART-UT 14 Special Effects Makeup 1 or special permission from instructor. This course expands upon Special Effects Makeup I in an even more rigorous and challenging hands-on workshop environment. It is designed for students who have already successfully completed Special Effects Makeup I and wish to further develop and build upon the skills and techniques learned in the class for their own film productions, photo shoots, or fine art projects. Special Effects Makeup II projects are character driven and include designing, sculpting, molding, casting and painting. The University Bursar will assess a lab fee for this course.  Students will receive all materials and tools necessary to complete each in-class assignment. (NOTE: This class uses latex.  Please contact the instructor if you have a latex allergy.) 

This course explores unruly images, bodies, faces, spaces, aesthetics, and even feelings that exist at the margins of categorization, making these powerful subjects for artistic work. We will manipulate image-making tools and give form to expressions that reveal the hidden structures of power. Through lectures, discussions, workshops, and readings, we will look at topics such as memes and glitch art, cyberface and AR filters, monsters and glitched bodies, uncanny valley and AI images, as well as liminal space and collaborative world-building. We will pay particular attention to selected writings from Hito Steyerl, Legacy Russell, Rosa Menkman, and Adam Greenfield, and apply these critiques to emerging perceptual technologies (volumetric 3D capturing, machine learning, AR/VR, web-based 3D game engines) that students will use to create their projects. 

THINK LIKE A GAME DESIGNER is a class about collaboration, systems thinking, problem solving, communication, and the creative process. The course uses game design as the way to practice these essential creative skills - but it really is a course about how to design anything. Over the semester, students will work in groups to actually make a series of playable games, each project offering lessons in how to brainstorm, conceptualize, prototype, iterate, and playtest.

While we will be discussing the design and culture of videogames, the focus of the class is hands-on physical game creation: card games, board game, social games, and physical games. Along the way, we will be touching on all of the things that make games work - mathematics and logic, aesthetics and narrative, psychology and economics, technology and culture. Because games operate across all of these areas, they are the perfect way to practice how we can design with all of these factors in mind - systems thinking to storytelling to designing for human contexts. The final class project will make use of your own field of study as you link game design thinking to the analysis and redesign of a real-world problem.

Artist managers are the central focus of the music business, the dealmakers behind the latest industry developments, and the brokers of power, influence, and revenue streams for not only recording artists, but creative entrepreneurs and technology startups as well. The role of the artist manager is to help creative talent find commercial success.

We will study the basics and fundamentals of artist management, and its many different functions. We will learn about the different roles that artist managers play as well as understand how artist managers build and develop their teams, and the different kinds of leadership positions that they assume. We will look at different styles of artist management, and discuss best practices by reviewing case studies, and speaking with special guests. Through a class lab, we will analyze various potential problems and scenarios, and develop techniques and skills for forming solutions, simulating the artist management experience. We will hypothetically take over the management duties for an existing artist and help them re-organize his/her career in a comprehensive final project.

Artist managers now serve as the gatekeepers of commercial and brand value in the talent food chain, and they not only help grow careers, they create many new ones along the way. From Troy Carter and Scooter Braun, to Amy Thomson and Kelly Clancy, artist managers are the thought leaders of this business and catalysts for industry change.

Through groundbreaking and creative nonfiction programs like S-Town, Have You Heard George’s Podcast?, and Radiolab, podcasting has taken hold in American culture over the last decade, having evolved into its own unique art form. This innovative medium is not bound by the limitations of traditional radio — podcasts can be heard anywhere in the world, produced in any language, and be of any length. In this course, students will learn how to embrace their unique voices as they produce compelling nonfiction stories solely in sound. Students will learn how to record, edit, and workshop audio stories, write for the ear and record narration, effectively employ music and sound design, and distribute a self-produced podcast.

Contemporary music applications is an intermediate music production and computer music class. The course will encourage a creative approach to using recording software as a tool that can be applied to music making for a wide range of interdisciplinary practices. Students will be introduced to mixing, sound design, advanced audio/MIDI editing, and production techniques for composing music. It will explore concepts and questions such as how does sound re/de/contextualize an image and how are dynamics created through mixing and effects processing? This class will encourage students to step outside of their musical comfort zones to further their technical skills in composing and producing music with software.

As with Creativity in Context 1 in which the purpose of the course is to contextualize the core curriculum of the The Clive Davis Institute to incoming first year students, this course delves deeper into the exploration of creativity throughout various disciplines and career structures.

In opening this course to the NYU community, we will be linking academic disciplines, philosophy, and culture to creativity and discovery in practice. The course will offer seven workshop style lecture/conversations with senior faculty, and working artists or professionals who have traveled an varied journey throughout their careers. This exposure to, and opportunity for a deeper conversation, will lead students to better understand the relationship between academic study & self-development, artistic & commercial achievement, as well as coupling art and industry with politics and current events.

Design, build, practice, perform, record, recycle, repeat. In this fabrication-heavy course, students will create new musical instruments, devices and toys that can be performed and manipulated by humans, machines, animals and the supernatural. We will experiment with shapes, materials, and analog/digital technologies to create new performative instruments that defy common sense, yet are visually beautiful and sonically adventurous. Our main sources of inspiration will be the industrial revolution, punk subculture, soap operas, cartoons, Fluxus, the universe, and New York City. Our goal will be to devise musical instruments that can be mastered but also played without skill or music education. We will utilize various building tools and Art Studio materials such as 3D modelling and printing, electronics, wood shop, CNC, laser cutting, cardboard and paint. In each weekly iteration, students will compose, record and perform original music with their instruments, sometimes as an ensemble. The semester will end with an exhibition featuring our instruments and sheet music, with a final performance for a live audience.

There Are Other Worlds (They Have Not Told You Of) — Sun Ra 

You can be in unison without being in unison.  —Ornette Coleman

I do not think there are final and definite answers to any of the really important questions in human life; there are only useful and useless answers—answers, that is, that lead in the direction of enrichment of experience or of its impoverishment.  — Christopher Small

This course is about successfully illuminating some of the formal, contextual, cultural, and social dimensions of Experimental performance vis-à-vis the critical study/practice of improvising. Because the professor believes that improvisation presents itself as a non-hierarchical (ideally), process-oriented practice, that claims no victories and is rooted in a listening self, the class will construct this course together as an ensemble; an open, unpretentious and wholly democratic approach will carry us into our 15-week experimentation.

A professional composer leads a theoretical and practical course dealing with artistic and technical aspects in composing music for film and television. Through analysis, demonstration, and controlled practice, students learn and deal with the specifics of the composer’s job, duties, and responsibilities, and develop listening and production skills necessary for the creative use of music. The course provides an inside look into a relationship between composer and music editor, and explores music as a creative tool. In addition to musical considerations, the business and personal relationship between composers and directors/producers is discussed. 

Music supervision and music licensing are two of the hottest topics in the music business. This class will introduce you to the creative, financial, legal, and technical sides of music supervision as well as teach you the nuts and bolts of music clearance and licensing. We will look at the many different facets of a music supervisor’s job, and the services they provide for all types of media projects, including film, television, advertising, video games, online/apps, and more. If you aspire to have a career as a music supervisor, licensor, publisher, artist, songwriter, composer, producer, and/or creative entrepreneur, this course is for you. Some of the topics include: breaking into the field, opportunities for music placement, how to pitch and get your music placed, different parties involved in all sides of the licensing transaction. You will be exposed to complex business challenges that music supervisors face and learn the mindset and strategies needed to successfully overcome. Through readings, discussions, lab assignments, and case studies like Straight Outta Compton and Broad City, as well interactions with special guests, you will gain a real-world understanding of the music supervision field as well as the many opportunities that music creators, and rights owners can leverage to take their career to the next level by understanding music licensing.

For more about Recorded Music courses at Tisch, please refer to the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music website.

This class is targeted to DIY Music creators, songwriters, recording artists, and music rights owners who want to acquire, develop and manage their songs and act as their own publisher.

In this class, students will learn about music publishing ‘s main royalty sources, Mechanical, Performance, Synchronization and Digital, how they are generated, maximized and protected. Topics include: the music publisher’s role and responsibilities which including getting exposure for songs and collecting monies earned from their exploitation. Students learn the different steps involved in starting up and running their own music publishing companies. They are also exposed to effective marketing and business strategies that will best position them for music publishing success.

Fifty years after 1960s, the tumultuous events of that decade haunt our consciousness. Music is the most obvious example of how the “spirit of the 60s” still fascinates us. But no one can grasp the power of ‘60s music without understanding its political and aesthetic context. The style and substance of rock are intimately related to broader social currents of the time. This course will help you to understand those connections, and the logic that informed the music.

We will explore major movements associated with the ‘60s, including the counterculture, the sexual revolution, the New Left, Black Power, Second-Wave Feminism, and Pop Art. We will consider the roots of 60s sensibility, from the Beats, hipsters, and existentialists of the postwar era to the folk revival of the early part of that decade. We will examine the philosophical currents of the ‘60s through some of its leading literary figures, including James Baldwin, Allen Ginsberg, Marshall McLuhan, Herbert Marcuse, Susan Sontag, Ellen Willis, and Tom Wolfe. In addition, we will discuss the aesthetic strategies of Andy Warhol, who influenced everything from rock music to cinema and art. We will discover how the rebellion against distinctions between “highbrow” and “lowbrow” culture produced a new aesthetic sensibility central to the rise of rock. These artifacts will be examined alongside music with a similar spirit, so that they can be experienced contrapuntally. Iconic songs will be presented against material from other media so that their congruencies are evident. I will use my own experiences as a prominent rock critic in the ‘60s, and my personal interactions with important rock creators—such as the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison—to bring the era alive, leaving you with a new perspective on how the music and the values of that generation were related to your life. And hopefully it will be groovy.

For more about Recorded Music courses at Tisch, please refer to the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music website.

Music Studio Machines is an intermediate experimental music production and audio engineering class designed for performing arts students interested in exploring the theory, art, technique and workflow of the recording studio environment. Each student will create a singular body of work while working as one collaborative multi-functional unit - composing, performing, engineering, writing, producing and assisting on each other's music projects, all while pursuing their own individual sound, style and composition methods. Topics include synthesizing electronic sound using analog and digital hardware and software, field recordings, sampling, recording acoustic instruments and vocals, sound processing and effects. Ableton Live will be our main sequencing tool with an emphasis on songwriting and composition, audio and MIDI recording, arranging, editing and mixing techniques. Through weekly recording assignments, listening sessions, group exercises and sound experiments, we will deepen our understanding of sound and song structure. At the end of this course each student will have created an album of work.

This course is geared to all students interested in live music event production and the technical and business aspects involved in planning, developing, and producing a live music event. Topics included: talent and venue contracts and negotiations, primary and secondary revenue streams budgeting, marketing, best practices for promotion and more. Course work includes lectures, interactive class discussion, peer and self-assessments, short answer analytical responses and hands-on collaboration on the production of one live music event. By the end, students have the skills and a framework to book and oversee all aspects of a live music event - whether for themselves or for any artists with whom they work.

This course focuses on the business of music publishing, which has served as a powerful engine fueling the growth of the music business since the first decade of the 20th century. Song copyrights are among the most important and valuable assets that musicians and songwriters have. Knowing how to protect, manage, and monetize these rights is more critical than ever. This course is targeted to students who aspire to careers as recording artists, songwriters, record producers, artist managers, and music executives, among others. Course topics include: roles and responsibilities of music publishers identifying new markets for songs, structure of the music publishing companies, different music publishing deals and their terms, music publishing revenue flow, practical aspects of music publishing administration and licensing, and music publishing as an investment. You will leave with a practical understanding of music publishing as a business and with tools and strategies for turning songs into sustainable sources of income.

For more about Recorded Music courses at Tisch, please refer to the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music website.

Streaming Economy represents a great paradigm shift in the music industry and its monetization. In 2013, digital streaming of music replaced the CD as the main source of music sales and has provided economic hope to a – commercially speaking - weakening industry. However, with artists such as Thom Yorke, The Black Keys, David Byrne and many others speaking out against the royalty of streaming services like Spotify, streaming, in its current structure, as a permanent replacement for CD and digital download sales remains a controversial subject. Through this course the student will be guided through the history of streaming, the controversies surrounding its business model, and the technology that made it possible. Students will be introduced to the new storefront of online music and be shown how the digital marketplace is changing music marketing and artist development.

Streaming offers exciting new opportunities along with serious and complex challenges. This course will examine the pros and cons of the current streaming status quo. The student will practice techniques of releasing music online through a hands-on workshop, which will lead them through the beginning steps of registering, and releasing their own project via Phonofile and WiMP on all major platforms and services.

Topics courses change each semester.

Thesis: All art uses technology. Technology is not art. Whether a work of art is created to bridge the supernatural, convey experience, thought, or a world view, or something more, art is a three letter verb representing the result of an individual’s desire to create difference.

This course is an exploration of the relationship between art and technology over time with an emphasis on work of the late 20th century and the dawn of the 21st century. During class we will examine recurring artistic concepts and consider how technology interprets the expression of these ideas.

You don’t have to be an electrical engineer to be able to hack power and twist it for your own wild experiments. No matter what art/performance mediums you use in your creative practice, there are so many exciting and cutting-edge ways to augment your craft with connected devices and computer-assisted fabrication. This entry-level, hands-on electronics course is for students who want to test, build, fail, break, guess, burn, explore, and to ultimately make weird stuff that has never existed before.

Some example projects include: interactive installations, moving sculptures, wearable devices for fashion, dynamic lighting, and DIY music devices. The course goes over the basics of electronic circuits and coding for Arduino — programmable micro-computers that process inputs from buttons, biofeedback sensors, and microphones and translate them into outputs expressed through LED lights, sounds, motors, and relays. We use laser cutters, 3D printers, woodworking tools, and sewing machines to assist us, and learn the best practices of creating robust circuits through soldering, component selection, and power supply. Each week we look to contemporary hardware artists for inspiration and use our classmates to test and analyze our prototypes, getting feedback on not just the practical design of the circuits and mechanisms, but the feelings, ideas, and creative effects our connected art elicits.

No prior coding, hardware, or fabrication experience necessary, but time and dedication is — most projects will require out-of-class time spent in the shop. Students will need a laptop, but basic hardware and materials will be provided.

How do ants or bees organize on a mass scale when their individual brains are incapable of understanding the bigger systems they’re creating together? How did a Twitch hive-mind of 1.2 million people beat Pokémon one collective move at a time? How do we make art that makes us and our audience feel more connected, more alive, more powerful? This hands-on project studio course is about making art where participants are the medium, and the masterpiece created exists inside and between them. Let’s explore community and its connection to transformational, radical joy — not complacent happiness, but a joy that is the feeling of power, agency, and capacity growing within us and within the people around us as we cooperate to overcome shared challenges. Which systems and forms of art, play, and expression foster that kind of joy? 

This course is heavy on imagination, vulnerability, reading, discussion, experimentation, playtesting, and interactive group activities. Each week explores the relationship of the individual to the group under various lenses and spheres of life (i.e. politics, religion, activism, evolutionary biology, sociology, pleasure, the universe, sports, games, childhood, etc.). Then together, we break down the relationships, dynamics, and effects those systems have, and create multi-media prototypes and performance experiments inspired by these themes and ideas. The early assignments are solo, and then almost all assignments are in groups. The core process of the class uses iterative game design as a structure for ideating, creating, playtesting, and refining, though students are welcome to work in any medium they choose, so long as the goal is to explore themes of collective joy.

This course will explore the basic tools of digital imaging. We will cover the three main Adobe products for creative imaging - Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign. Through a series of short assignments we will look at various graphic design and layout ideas using Illustrator and InDesign and will touch on the wealth of image enhancement techniques afforded by Photoshop.

The short assignments introduce the basics of design, typography and compositing images. Students have the opportunity to complete a small project of their own for the end of the term. Class time will be divided between lectures, critiques, and work in class sessions. This course is not intended to completely cover the software listed, but will give students a fundamental understanding of the possibilities of digital imaging.

While the majority of the class focuses on print media (images, books and magazines), we discuss the growing importance of screen output. We do not have time to cover specific web or media projects, but will address transferable skills and understanding. We will incorporate some Adobe apps to augment the desktop applications.

Additional reading materials will be distributed during the semester. Students should have access to the Adobe Creative Suite through the NYU license.

This course will combine a history of video art and experimental film with practical training in the use of live video performance art technology. Students will explore new ways to create and edit films and videos using VJ software, projections, and multi-channel video surfaces. Workshops will demonstrate concepts and software that can be integrated into the creative process of video performance art and video art installations.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

At the completion of this course, the student will be able to:

1. Draw inspiration from the recent history of incredible video and multi-media artists.
2. Develop an understanding of audio and visual hardware used by VJ’s.
3. Use live VJ software to manipulate digital media in real time to create Video Performance Art.
4. Use Projection Mapping techniques to project video art onto 3D surfaces.
5. Create original video performance art, video installations, and other performance pieces.
6. Utilize skills to make video art in the professional market.

Technology is a weasel. Squeezing its way into art, culture and the everyday. It infiltrates our psyche, inspiring playful interactions, fantastical ideas, vengeance and drama. It brings us together while tearing us apart. In this project-based studio, we will focus on a collective approach to creating art, tools, performances, and experiences. Outer Space in the context of this course will be used as a metaphor for the future, the unknown, and the seemingly impossible. We will investigate disparate cultural moments and unravel narratives that are both historical and technological. Technology will serve as a structure with open-ended assignments in music, video, sculpture, electronics, kineticism, surveillance, interactive graphics, and performance.  Combined collaborative exercises and individual projects will augment classroom discussions and inform the art that we make. A willingness to use your imagination and personal experience to derail preconceived notions of linear timelines will serve you well in this hands-on multidisciplinary course.

This course will introduce students to technologies for speech synthesis and speech recognition from the point of view of performance art. Through weekly assignments and in class lectures, we will explore voice interfaces and their role in technology, design, art, and culture. We will begin with understanding human speech, and then delve into computer speech. We will learn how to program existing technologies such as p5.js to create our own talking machines. The class will research the current limitations and biases of these technologies and models, and respond by leveraging these constraints as ground for performative expression. Students will be required to develop a performative piece as their final project, this could be a live performance, an interactive installation piece, or a performative object or tool. Students are encouraged to bring their interests into the classroom and apply the course into their practice. Prior knowledge of computer programming will be helpful, however, it is not required. NYU is a global community. You are welcome to bring your own language, your accent, and your spoken identity into the class.

While grocery shopping, have you ever wanted to talk to a cucumber? Encounter a red radish or pet a pizza? You can. Puppets are everywhere and highly effective for bringing impossible ideas into reality. Following the idea that puppets are "any performing object" and that objects can be useful as stand-ins for human beings, this hands-on puppet building course explores anthropomorphism, character development, narrative and performance. Through weekly assignments and a final project, we will bring life to objects that we create, transform or find. Drawing inspiration from different styles of mainstream and avante-garde art, music, entertainment and puppetry we will develop original concepts of our own. Exercises explore a range of technologies and materials, from simple sock puppets to marionettes and shadow puppets, to hand puppets and body puppets, to abstract and kinetic objects. We'll spend time looking at how to successfully integrate interactive elements from other realms such as music, special effects, physical interfaces, lighting, video and more into our performances. Every week we perform, with the class culminating in a final public performance bringing together the best of student work.

What do biodata wearables, midi controllers, lighting systems, webcams, kinect depth sensors, 3D models, shaders, animations, smart devices, and projections all have in common? We can get TouchDesigner to connect them all — powerfully augmenting our live performances with innovative technology and hardware. With a varied array of inputs and outputs at our disposal, what new, evolved, or remixed types of performance can we create? And how can the connections of these wildly different systems help us create connections between ourselves and our audience or our world? Students will learn how to use TouchDesigner, a node-based visual programming environment for real-time interactive multimedia content. It's been used by artists, creative coders, musicians, and software designers to create installations, apps, and mixed media works, but we will be focusing on its application as a central hub and interface for live performance. The class will go over the fundamentals of the software and various techniques for real-time graphics programming, interaction design, networking smart devices, midi integration, projection mapping, and more. Weekly assignments range from simple prototypes demonstrating new skills to group performances utilizing a wide array of technologies. The final performance will be a part of a public show.

What types of performance can we create if we’re not limited to a physical stage or even a physical body? How much more can we communicate with video once our audience has the power to directly interact with the content, not just passively observe? We can create dynamic, digital experiences and innovative, virtual performances using Unreal Engine, a game engine and powerful suite of development tools. Students will learn the fundamentals of Unreal Engine, including 3D environments and assets, lighting, cameras, animations, audio, basic VFX, and programming interactivity using visual scripting blueprints. Then, we will incorporate external hardware such as depth cameras, LiDAR scanners, and motion capture suits to create our own digital assets, including virtual avatars of ourselves. Students will use this foundation in virtual production to create projects ranging from 3D music videos to choose-your-own-adventure memoirs to

Performances with puppet avatars in an online 3D environment. The final assignment will be a part of a public show.

Casting is the most recently recognized profession in film and theater. In this course, students learn how to cast a film and learn the skills casting directors employ to become indispensable members of any production, including script and character analysis, scheduling, and negotiation. Students develop protocols for evaluating resumes and auditions, and learn strategies for communicating with directors and producers to ensure the talent pool has been effectively identified. Techniques for delivering convincing and fruitful casting sessions before learning to close deals between producers, actors and agents also are presented. This class will also make students ‘audition ready’ -- equipping them with tools and techniques to better understand and get through the audition process. The course will cover the various disciplines of theater, films, commercials and voiceovers. Through lectures, character exercises and workshops students will learn strategies for preparing for an audition, developing characters, and working with professionals in the industry.

This course will cover both traditional and non-traditional financing and fundraising in the worlds of entertainment and the arts. Although our focus will be on the film world (with an emphasis on feature films), we will take occasional forays into the worlds of television, theatre, and music. We will also look at product financing. The goal of the course is to provide students with a framework for understanding the dynamics (as well as the specific routes) to raising funds for artistic endeavors.

Many entertainment projects require significant capital before they can be realized. The negotiation and structuring of these deals may be a humbling experience, fraught with compromises that affect creative control over the final product. Producers need knowledge of financing tools and structures, an understanding of current economics driving the business, and skills in understanding new technologies and trends in funding. At its core, the course will help students develop a general understanding of fundraising and financing in the world of entertainment and refine the skills necessary to develop proposals that allow them to one day realize a creative vision.

This course de-mystifies the film development process and teaches students the key tools necessary for a successful career as a film executive or producer.  This course will chart the key stages of finding and preparing a good script for production. These steps include how to find, evaluate and shape material from the producer's perspective. Students will learn the practical art of writing script coverage and notes, as well as how to establish a tracking group and develop tracking reports for new material. Other topics include the role of key players in the process, such as agents and studio executives, and how to avoid "development hell." 

Impact Producing is an emerging field in the film industry that uses issue-driven films as catalysts to create social, political, or cultural change through advocacy and engagement. Just as films have producers to manage the creative and financial process from script to screen, they also increasingly need Impact Producers to take the film campaign from production to impact. This hands-on class will guide participants through the essentials for becoming an Impact Producer by identifying key skills and goals. Participants will learn the scope of work necessary for building allies and partnerships, creating and measuring successful campaigns, and transforming passion for social change into a viable career path. Each semester the class will work in groups to create an actual impact strategy for a film in current release as a final project.

This course attempts to track the American entertainment industry from its plebian origins through its rise to becoming the predominant mass entertainment culture in the world. Students discover the origins of the production practices that are employed in the entertainment industry today by following the legendary characters, movie moguls, and media titans of the early 20th century and the companies they built. The emphasis is on the way the visionaries of the time impacted seemingly risk-averse systems to invigorate and sometimes completely revolutionize them. These innovative men and women include, but are not limited, to Louis B. Mayer, George Lucas, Maya Deren, Shirley Clark, Nam Jun Paik, Lucille Ball, Russell Simmons, Clive Davis, Julie Taymor, and Steve Jobs.

The role of the creative producer in the entertainment industry is integral to bringing a project to fruition. This introductory course covers both the creative and physical production time-line and provides students with an understanding of the producer's role through a semester-long team-based pitch project, which culminates in written and verbal pitch presentations. Students are encouraged to work on a project that best suits their area of interest: feature film, episodic/streaming, theatre, performance, podcasts, VR/AR or individualized multi-media. The course focuses on the dynamics of producing, including producer skill sets, tasks and responsibilities necessary to effectively and efficiently develop a project.

A comprehensive introduction to producing for New York's professional Off-Broadway theaters. The goal of this course is to equip students with the skills to enable them to manage the responsibilities inherent in a professional production. Following a review of the Off-Broadway theater movement, traditions and current trends, the class will take a practical approach to preparing a play for the stage. Students will complete a semester long project which will have them guide a play from "option to opening." Course study will include: play and venue selection; comprehending agreements; fundraising; budgeting; assembling a creative team; marketing and audience development; pre-production, performances and the closing.