Friday, January 29, 2010

Second Life and other links...

The Dumb Man from Lainy Voom on Vimeo.

For next Wednesday, you are to have signed up for a free Second Life avatar and build something with no less than 10 prims.

http://www.secondlife.com

Join and start looking around this vast virtual community for possible locations for our film.

Here are a few tutorials for building: (ok, some of those who have made these tutorials are really dorky - good skills herein nonetheless!) The tutorials within Second Life are very helpful as well on the welcome islands. You will need to spend some quality time in Second Life to get the hang of it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmN_hAHlF0M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LMcryDCIYk


Here are some places to visit in Second Life that might be interesting for locations and just worth looking at: (use the machines in the lab or at the Knowledge Center unless you have a very fast machine and a great internet connection at home as these are generally some very "prim" heavy regions that will lag on you on slower machines and connections).

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Toxia%20South/244/238/23

http://slurl.com/secondlife/IDIA%20Laboratories/197/139/34

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Dreamworld%20North/202/141/22

http://slurl.com/secondlife/TovaDok%20II/30/195/35

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Shipyard/48/25/2660

http://slurl.com/secondlife/INSILICO%20SOUTH/100/104/3602

I found many of these locations in SL from recommendations noted here:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/science-fiction/discuss/72157602809336430/

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Art 343/381 Syllabus! & Away we go...for Next week...

READ - "The Machine Stops" 1909 by E.M. Forster
WATCH - "THX1138" on reserve at the Knowledge Center.
(I will be getting my DVD copy to the library this afternoon - there is a copy on VHS at the library currently available - could be interesting to watch this one if you like as it is the earlier version before George Lucas went back and added quite a few digital additions to the film - a bit controversial actually among hard core fans of the film).

ALSO - feel free to start researching the creation of Machinima in general and in Second Life spefically:
http://www.machinima.com/article/view&id=440
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Machinima

ALSO - http://d-oo-b.cc/MachineIam_2.mov We will watch this in class on Monday, check it out ahead of time if you like, interesting use of mixed reality RL and SL.

Art 343 Imaging and Mixed Media (Art 381 Critical Play – Computer Games and Art)
Professor Joseph DeLappe
Wednesday 1-3:30pm CFA room 207
Office Hours: MW 11-1:00pm or by appointment
Office CFA 208A, 784-6624
delappe@unr.nevada.edu


Art 381 Critical Play – Computer Games and Art, (3+0)

The investigation and creation of art that critically engages the notion of “play” utilizing computer gaming and related digital media to comment, intervene and engage. Prerequisite Art 245.

Course Description:
In this class we will critically engage computer games and online communities as locations for creative artistic production. The student will be introduced both to the history and theory of computer games and online communities as relevant to experimental contemporary art while at the same time being challenged with a semester long collaborative project which will further develop methods and concepts to engage in creative, studio production in these new contexts.

The goals of this course include creating a problem-solving atmosphere towards engaging in creative and critical “play” - approaching computer gaming and online communities as the locations for conceptual exploration and personal creative growth. The intent is to provide the student with the ability to work with a variety of ideas, processes and techniques towards the production of innovative game based artworks.

1. The objective is to establish a creative and structured studio art environment, both in the classroom and online, through the execution of an ambitious collaborative project to make a feature length machinima based on the classic science fiction short story “The Machine Stops” by E.M. Forster. This semester’s offering of this course is uniquely oriented towards the collaborative production of a feature-length film. In such an environment it is key that all students are deeply involved in all aspects of production. Each student will be individually assessed according to his or her contribution to the class project. As the course moves forward, we will first work to create a timeline for the realistic production of the various elements that will go together to create our film. We will then work in smaller groups or as individuals on specific aspects of the overall production.

2. Lecture/Lab Component:

The course will meet for three lecture hours per week. Class time will be devoted to lectures, demonstrations, reading discussions, productions sessions and critiques. Students are required to work at minimum an additional 6 hours per week of work outside of the scheduled class times (studio production, reading assignments, etc.)

Course Requirements:

1) Attendance is mandatory at all scheduled class meetings. More than three unexcused absences will affect your final grade. Please arrive on time and prepared to participate in all course activities.

2) Participation in all class critiques, reading discussions and brainstorming sessions is expected and mandatory.

3) You will receive a written evaluation and letter grade at mid-term and after the completion of the project at the end of the semester.

4) Your final grade will be determined according to the following formula: class project 60%, class participation 25%, lecture reviews 15%. I will meet with each of you individually at the midterm to discuss your progress in the class and provide advising regarding the Digital Media program.

5) Each student is REQUIRED to attend two approved lectures and one exhibition or film screening, that are regularly announced in class. I will provide you with a list of approved lectures/screenings/exhibitions both on campus and off. You are required to write a short, one page critical summary of the event and two questions to ask the speaker (extra credit will be given to those who actually ask their question at the event!). There are three specific events oriented towards the digital media area that I recommend you attend this semester - I will go over these in class.

Readings/Screenings:
-Reading assignments will be both online and in the form of various Xeroxed articles.
-Screenings, a number of films will be placed on reserved in the Knoweldge Center, these are required for viewing and will be assigned as the course goes forward.

Supplies
Gaming software and online subscriptions (to be discussed)
Firewire Portable External Hard Drive – we will discuss this in class.

Access
You will be assigned a digital access code for after-hours access to the Digital Media Studio by the end of the second week of the term. Intermediate and advanced Digital Media students have 24-hour access to the lab in exchange for monitoring the facility and assisting with beginning students working in the lab.