Today

Administrivia What this course is about How you’ll be graded Figuring out whether to split CS-110 and CAT-380

Overview of theories of meaning A little art

If time permits:The Brothers Quay, The Cabinet of Jan Svankmejer (1984)

overview and administrivia

This is not a C programming class

If that’s what you want, take CS-110 next quarter Please make room for others

This is the first course of a new adjunct major called animate arts Interactive art and entertainment Programming, art, sound, theory Tight integration of teaching

This is the first quarter of a 5-quarter intro sequence

This is very experimental

To our knowledge, no one has ever tried to teach a class like this

We’re making it up as we go along, folks

We’re going to screw up Please let us know when we do

If something doesn’t make sense If it’s too much work …

We reserve the right to disagree, but we need your feedback and involvement

You’re our boss

You pay our salaries We work for you Don’t be afraid to ask for help

Teaching staff

Instructors Annette Barbier, RTVF Ian Horswill, CS Marlena Novak, ATP Jay Alan Yim, Music

TAs James Baker (CS) Robin Hunicke (CS)

Graders Illya Blokh (CS) Ying-Zhu Chin (CS)

Studio staff Alanna Krause (SAS) Vani Oza (CS)

Textbooks

Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud Introduction to Design, Alan Pipes Visual Culture, Nicholas Mirzoef

Materials you should bring

~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

Macintosh computer Window-XP/200 based computer Digital Camera Headphones

Computers and phones available in the studio Digital cameras can be checked out during

weeks 5 and 6 from MMLC ($50 deposit)

Software

MetaA scheme-like programming language designed for multimedia applications (developed at Northwestern with extensive student involvement)

Windows-only; requires .NET and DirectX 9 Free

Audacity All operating systems Free

Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator Not free Available in studio Or you can substitute GIMP and Sodipodi, which are free

The studio

This room is available for your use 24 hours a day

$50 deposit for a Marlock key If you already have a key, we can

program it

It will be staffed some evenings and weekends

We want the space to belong to the animate arts students

Involve you in hardware/software purchases

Let you run the place as you see fit

We want to make it comfortable and fun for you to work in

Coffee maker Popcorn popper Working on:

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

by the way, you’re our boss

Tentative curriculum

1. Language and meaning2. Design and abstract imagery I3. Design and abstract imagery II4. Figurative imagery I5. Figurative imagery II6. Sound and audio I7. Sound and audio II8. History9. Theory10. TBA/Review

programm

ing throughout

Grading

Assignments 50%Art, music, programming, all of the above

Quizzes 30%2 in-class 1-hours quizzes

Critique 10%Your will present your work, have it critiqued and contribute to the critique of others

Class discussions 10%Read the material before class and come to class prepared with discussion questions

SketchbookWe will collect your sketchbooks periodically for review

Attendance

Attendance is required 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 Active apprenticeship Not all lecture materials will be available outside class

Late assignments

Extensions are available for programming assignments Ask 24 hours in advance and no questions will be asked After 24 hours, you have to have a really good excuse

Art and music assignments will be critiqued in class, so can’t give extensions

Penalties for late assignments <1 day 10% 1-2 days 20% 2-4 days 30% 4-8 days 40%

Late art assignments that miss crits will also lower your crit grade

did I mention you’re our boss?

Cheating policy

See syllabus

Fear

This class has both art and programming There’s something in this class to make everyone feel insecure

If you’re an artist, you probably have math anxiety If you’re a nerd, you probably have art anxiety

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 I’ll be learning to draw alongside the rest of you Annette, 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

Overpopulation

The course is oversubscribed Mostly with seniors who won’t be taking the other

animate arts courses This would kill the animate arts program …

Options Euthanasia Some students take the normal CS-110 next quarter Unjoin CS-110 and CAT-380

CS-110 would then meet some other evening And just have the programming component of 380