4 Point

This course explores the intersection of narrative storytelling and real-time game engines, focusing on the practical application of Unreal Engine to create immersive interactive and non-interactive narratives. Students will learn how to harness the power of this tool to blend traditional storytelling techniques with the unique capabilities of game engines. Through a combination of theoretical discussions, hands-on exercises, and a short final project, students will develop the basic skills required to begin to create immersive and dynamic interactive narratives.

Storytelling and media are deeply interconnected and complement each other. Understanding  different kinds of narratives is crucial for the effective delivery of a rich and meaningful message. How can we use these new real-time technologies to compose a story? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using real-time media in storytelling?  The students will review and experience different kinds of storytelling in video games, movies, and other interactive media in order to get a critical understanding of the power behind stories.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

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

Understand the different kinds of storytelling and how they can be delivered using real-time media

Being able to explore real-time media as an inspiration and vehicle for delivering a story.

Utilize the knowledge and skills presented in class to create a final project.

Have a critical point of view of how to use real-time media in the creation of contemporary storytelling.

Using Blender as our primary software, we will create digital reconstructions of physical spaces lost to violence, natural disasters, climate change, urban renewal and eminent domain. Students will explore techniques such as photogrammetry, machine learning and Blender’s modeling tools to turn archival and contemporary references into 3D models. We will analyze evidence from maps, photographs, newspapers, archival documents and social media with a special emphasis on source inclusivity, journalistic ethics and cultural sensitivity. Students will be challenged to create 3D models in the service of telling human stories. Prerequisite: Hypercinema or equivalent experience.

This class is a workshop, this means students will be working on a single project throughout the semester. The goal of the workshop is to develop skills and implement them in the creation of a kinetic sculpture. Topics that will be explored are – computer vision and sensing, on screen simulation, CAD, mechanics and fabrication. Topics will be explored individually, in groups and with demos by the instructor. 

• Develop on-screen interactive experience using computer vision and sensors.

• Imagine the on-screen interactive experience as a physical object and simulate it.

• Develop the mechanics necessary for the sculpture.

• Design the kinetic sculpture.

• Fabricate the kinetic sculpture.

This is an environment for students to work on their existing project ideas that may fall outside the topic areas of existing classes. It is basically like an independent study with more structure and the opportunity for peer learning. This particular studio is appropriate for projects in the area of interactive art, programing, physical computing and digital fabrication. There are required weekly meetings to share project development and exchange critique. Students must devise and then complete their own weekly assignments updating the class wiki regularly. They also must present to the class every few weeks. When topics of general interest emerge, a member of the class or the instructor takes class time to cover them in depth. The rest of the meeting time is spent in breakout sessions with students working individually or in groups of students working on related projects.

Data is the means by which we turn experience into something that can be published, compared, and analyzed. Data can facilitate the production of new knowledge about the world—but it can also be used as a method of control and exploitation. As such, the ability to understand and work with data is indispensable both for those who want to uncover truth, and those who want to hold power to account. This intensive course serves as an introduction to essential computational tools and techniques for working with data. The course is designed for artists, designers, and researchers in the humanities who have no previous programming experience. Covered topics include: the Python programming language, Jupyter Notebook, data formats, regular expressions, Pandas, web scraping, relational database concepts, simple data visualization and data-driven text generation. Weekly technical tutorials and short readings culminate in a self-directed final project.

Prerequisite: ICM / ICM: Media (ITPG-GT 2233 / ITPG-GT 2048)

“How can we create services – digital or otherwise – that scratch psychological itches in ways that take into consideration the uncontrollable nature of users? In this course, we marry the art of design with the science of psychology. The offspring of this match is complicated, unexpected and never predictable – but indelibly informed by both its binary and analogue parentage.

Leaning on a variety of international case studies that tickle our human passion for enquiry, for storytelling, for sensation, and for sense-making, plus short philosophical readings about the nature of the indefinable, each class will dissect what we know about something inherently human (from beauty to joy to elegance), and how technologists and machine-makers have tried to predict it. We will spend time in this course reverse engineering black boxes and imagining how they could have been designed otherwise. The final project will be an “”engine”” or machine – mock-up, paper design or working prototype – that proposes to produce the solution to a messy human question every single time.

The course will be divided into three thematic sections of three classes each: a theory week, an analysis week, and a prototyping week. Each thematic section will examine single-topic human “needs” frequently designed for in apps and tech. Students will be expected to take part in group discussions, and brainstorming sessions that will imagine systems that could achieve that topic. Latterly, the last session will be workshops, in which students will work together or alone on their own projects based on one topic of their choice.”

This course provides students an opportunity to sharpen their coding skills in several ways: by reviewing fundamental programming concepts, acquiring techniques to systematically develop code-driven projects, and then implementing those to develop an independent project with the structure and support of a classroom learning community.

The first part of the semester consists of weekly exercises to practice strategies for learning new algorithms, writing pseudocode, pair programming, debugging, refactoring, version control, and more. Screen-based code examples for the activities and assignments draw inspiration from the history of creative coding. The second part of the semester shifts to a project development studio format for students to apply these strategies to a self-directed project. This could be an existing idea or one devised during the course.

Ultimately this course aims to empower students to reflect on their process and teach themselves how to program with greater efficiency and independence. It is a direct follow-up to Introduction to Computational Media (ICM) or for anyone interested in advancing their coding practice.

Examples and exercises will be provided in JavaScript using the p5.js library. However, students are welcome to consult the instructor about working with another programming library, framework, or language with which they have interest or prior experience.

Prerequisite: ICM or equivalent experience

Using Blender as our primary software, we will create digital reconstructions of physical spaces lost to violence, natural disasters, climate change, urban renewal and eminent domain. Students will explore techniques such as photogrammetry, machine learning and Blender’s modeling tools to turn archival and contemporary references into 3D models. We will analyze evidence from maps, photographs, newspapers, archival documents and social media with a special emphasis on source inclusivity, journalistic ethics and cultural sensitivity. Students will be challenged to create 3D models in the service of telling human stories. Prerequisite: Hypercinema or equivalent experience.

Using Blender as our primary software, we will create digital reconstructions of physical spaces lost to violence, natural disasters, climate change, urban renewal and eminent domain. Students will explore techniques such as photogrammetry, machine learning and Blender’s modeling tools to turn archival and contemporary references into 3D models. We will analyze evidence from maps, photographs, newspapers, archival documents and social media with a special emphasis on source inclusivity, journalistic ethics and cultural sensitivity. Students will be challenged to create 3D models in the service of telling human stories. Prerequisite: Hypercinema or equivalent experience.