Download introduction - Computer Science Division

Today
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Administrivia
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What this course is about
How you’ll be graded
Overview of theories of meaning
Art intro
Teaching staff
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Instructors
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Ian Horswill (EECS)
Marlena Novak (Art)
Jay Alan Yim (Music)
TAs
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Phil Williams (RTVF)
Kenn Kumfp (Music)
Studio staff
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Ying-Zhu Chin (CS)
Vani Oza (CS)
Archana Sriram
(Cognitive Science)
overview
What is this course about?
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It’s about communication
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Visual, auditory, textual
Between humans, between machines, between
human and machine
It’s about composition
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Of sound
Of imagery
Of computer programs
Com/position
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Composition means
“placing things together”
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You’re given a set of elements
Your job is to learn to put them together
to achieve a desired effect
So you need to understand
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The elements
What their effects are
How they can be put together to have a
specific desired effect
Building your eyes, ears, and mind
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When composing, it’s easy to get caught up in
what you want to say/show/do
… and lose track of what your composition
really does
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We want you to learn to see, hear, and
communicate more precisely
And to develop a more conscious awareness of
how you respond
What do you see?
What do you see?
Critique skills
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“What do you see” isn’t a question about what’s in the
image
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It’s a question about what effects the image has on you
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Overt and subliminal
Positive and negative
Intended and unintended
One of the main places we’re learn to be aware of this
process is in critique
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Looking at/listening to people’s work
Watching ourselves look at it
Listening to other people look at it
What does any of this have to do with
programming?
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Programming is composition
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Programming is communication
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Programming languages are rated based on their
“compositionality”
Between you and the computer
Between you and a coworker who needs to modify your code
Programming is learning to look beyond what you want
the program to do
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To what it really says
What does any of this have to do with
programming?
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Oh, yea; and computer-based art is way
cool
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Installation art
Electronic music
Video games
Hollywood SFX
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That’s great,
but what is this course about, really?
Oh, well:
 Visual art
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Audio
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Basic visual composition (line, space, color, etc.)
A little drawing
A little photography
Basic acoustic theory
Dimensions of sound
Continuity and contrast
Programming
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Functional programming
2D graphics
Looping, recursion, and lists
This is very experimental
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To our knowledge, no one has ever tried to teach a class
like this
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We’re making it up as we go along, folks
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We’re going to screw up
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Please let us know when we do
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If something doesn’t make sense
If it’s too much work
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We reserve the right to disagree, but we need your feedback
and involvement
Fear
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This class has both art and programming
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There’s something in this class to make everyone feel insecure
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But that means no one should feel like they’re “behind” the rest of the
class
(or like they can coast)
For what it’s worth, we’re insecure too
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If you’re an artist, you probably have math anxiety
If you’re a nerd, you probably have art anxiety
I’ll be learning to draw alongside the rest of you
Marlena, and Jay are learning to program
Oh yea, and we promised the administration we’d develop this whole
new outrageously ambitious curriculum…
We can all feel stupid together!
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It’s not unusually hard
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It is a significant time
investment, though
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Skill development takes time
Weekly assignments
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Sometimes two
When you first start
programming, you may feel
very stupid
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Don’t worry, it will pass
perceived difficulty
How hard is it?
time
Animate Arts
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Oh right!
This is the first course of a new
adjunct major called animate arts
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you are here
The curriculum:
 Core courses
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Interactive art and entertainment
Programming, art, sound, theory
Tight integration of teaching
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This is the first course of the
curriculum
No, you don’t have to do the major
to take the course(s)
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Senior project
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Animate Arts 1
Animate Arts 2
(brings in film and narrative)
Animate Arts 3
(brings in animation, 3D and
simulation)
Animate Arts 3
(brings in sociality & culture)
2 quarters
Group or individual
Your choice of project
4 electives
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2 can be double-counted with
your major
administrivia
Textbooks
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Introduction to Design, Alan Pipes
Visual Culture, Nicholas Mirzoef
Materials you should bring
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~8”x12” sketchbook
2B and 4B graphite pencils
Medium-point black pen
Media for file storage
(e.g. CD, DVD, or keychain drive)
Equipment you’ll need to use
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Macintosh computer
Window-XP/200 based computer
Digital Camera
Headphones
Computers and phones available in the
studio
Software
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Meta
A scheme-like programming language designed for multimedia applications
(developed at Northwestern with extensive student involvement)
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Audacity
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Windows-only; requires .NET and DirectX 9
Free
All operating systems
Free
Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator
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Not free
Available in studio
Or you can substitute GIMP and Sodipodi, which are free
The studio
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This room is available for your use
24 hours a day
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$50 deposit for a Marlock key
If you already have a key, we can
program it
We want to make it comfortable
and fun for you to work in
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Coffee maker
Popcorn popper
Working on:
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It will be staffed some evenings
and weekends
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We want the space to belong to
the animate arts students
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Involve you in hardware/software
purchases
Let you run the place as you see
fit
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Cozy furniture
Lava lamps
Game systems and dance pads
Crowe Café (open 24hrs, but only
serves until 5pm)
Move nights
Yes, we’ll have chairs soon
We want animate arts to be a
community
Grading
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Assignments 60%
Art, music, programming, all of the above
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Quizzes 15%
2 in-class 1-hours quizzes
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Final project 10%
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Critique and class participation 15%
Read the material before class and come to class prepared with
discussion questions
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Sketchbook
We will collect your sketchbooks periodically for review
Attendance
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Attendance is required
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Repeated unexcused absences, tardiness, or leaving
early may lower your grade by a full letter grade.
This is a studio art course in addition to a
programming course
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Active apprenticeship
Not all lecture materials will be available outside class
Late assignments
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Extensions are available for programming assignments
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Ask 24 hours in advance and no questions will be asked
After 24 hours, you have to have a really good excuse
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Art and music assignments will be critiqued in class, so can’t give
extensions
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Penalties for late assignments
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<1 day
1-2 days
2-4 days
4-8 days
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Late art assignments that miss crits will also lower your crit grade
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10%
20%
30%
40%
Cheating policy
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See syllabus