This course aims to introduce and develop students' technical and aesthetic skills in digital compositing relevant to the production of digital visual effects.

This course will focus on the production of digital visual effects for digital art, film, multimedia and broadcast using industry-standard software packages. Students will explore the process of layering and integrating conputer-generated images and live-action plates to create photorealistic composites.  Beginning with digital image fundamentals such as resolution, bit depth, colour and geometric transformations, the course progresses to more advanced topics relating to the treatment and management of assets in compositing, such as colour operations, keying, filters, tracking and various methods for creating mattes. In addition, students will be given a historical context for the techniques being taught. This course includes a production schedule for the completion of a major project.

Students will be offered an introduction to industry standard digital compositing processes; an introduction to cinematography and the fundamentals of photorealism; the ability to realise a concept from beginning to end; development of project development, management and research skills;  an awareness of historical and contemporary trends, and future directions in the visual effects industry.

1. Demonstrate creative control and a critical understanding of techniques, technologies and equipment used in the discipline
2. Demonstrate the creative analysis and critical understanding of the materials and processes currently employed in digital media
3. Show a critical awareness and developed understanding of historical and theoretical contexts relevant to the course
4. Exploit the characteristics of materials and processes in an individual and conceptually developed way
5. Demonstrate the possession of a critical, analytical and self-reflective practice
6. Apply concepts and techniques to the development of resolved works of art
7. Identify and develop personal topics for individual research
8. Demonstrate adherence to OH & S requirements and procedures

Portfolio of studio work (80%)

Studio Theory report/Journal/Studio Documentation equivalent to a 1000 word essay (20%)

Portfolio of studio work: Learning Outcomes: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Studio Theory report/Journal/Studio Documentation: Learning Outcomes: 3, 5, 7

All sessions take place in a computer laboratory:

3 hours of seminar / studio practice per week

Students are expected to do at least an extra 6 hours of studio practice each week

None

Knowldege of digital environment

Brinkmann, R. The Art and Science of Digital Compositing, Morgan Kaufmann, 1999

Watkinson, John, The Art of Digital Video, Oxford: Focal Press, Third edition 2000.

Youngblood, Gene. Expanded Cinema, New York: Dutton; (1st ed.) edition, 1970

Hall, Doug  & Fifer, Sally Jo (eds.), Illuminating Video : An Essential Guide to Video Art, San Francisco: Aperture 1991

Shaw, Jeffrey  & Weibel, Peter  (eds.), Future Cinema: The Cinematic Imaginary after Film, Cambridge, MA.: MIT Press, 2003

Brinkmann, R. The Art and Science of Digital Compositing, Morgan Kaufmann, 1999

External hard drive