CalArts Weekend 2019

Students will learn how to properly function 35mm cameras, and use of meters, apertures, shutter speeds. We will discuss various equipment, film and paper options out on the market that will best fit student's needs. Students will learn how to develop their own black and white film and print on RC and Fiber based Papers. We will focus on proper darkroom setup and workflow. Knowledge of multiple enlarger types and brands will be gained. Mixing of chemicals and the use of different dilutions ratios will also be discussed. Taught by Alejandro Sanchez.

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From contracts to job negotiation, this course covers essential practical information necessary to contemporary professional practice. The class includes guests and field trips to various Los Angeles design studios and printers in order to acquaint students with the many circumstances and environments in which design is practiced. Taught by Beth Elliott.

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Course will prepare students for making work using digital tools. This class will focus on the technical aspects of the pre-production, production and post-production processes. Covering animation and live action production workflows. Topics include various methods of acquisition and file type options, importing, basic editing, file output and the completion pathway on and off campus. Taught by Mike McNeff.

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The goal of this course is to apply basic elements learned in 'Voice BFA2' and develop them in the context of the physical training protocols for the performer. Emphasis will be given to the: development/research of voice textures; study of the physical training protocols for the performer; study of gesture as visual representation; integration of the prop in physical training; use of 'raw' sound, spoken word, and singing; tools for writing the voice and the body gesture: composition; and vocal and corporal delivery. Taught by Rafael Lopez-Barrantes.

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The Limits of Perception: This year the experimental music workshop class will deal with works that explore fundamental questions about musical perception. Taught by Michael Pisaro.

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Course devoted to musical literacy. Training is provided in basic areas, including reading and writing staff notation, clefs, scales, intervals, triads and their inversions, rhythm and meter. Taught by Amy Knoles.

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In this class students will learn costume shop orientation, shop safety and how to safely operate tools and equipment that are common practices, such as home and industrial sewing machines, steam irons, and specialty tools of the trade. Students will learn fabric and commercial pattern usage and create a finished garment by the end of the semester. They will also learn fitting room conduct and special garment finishing techniques. Taught by Tanya Lee.

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The goal of this course is to apply basic elements learned in 'Voice BFA2' and develop them in the context of the physical training protocols for the performer. Emphasis will be given to the: development/research of voice textures; study of the physical training protocols for the performer; study of gesture as visual representation; integration of the prop in physical training; use of 'raw' sound, spoken word, and singing; tools for writing the voice and the body gesture: composition; and vocal and corporal delivery. Taught by Rafael Lopez-Barrantes.

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The course will incorporate a thorough investigation of the physical and notational aspects of harp techniques. Students will compose short works for solo harp and harp with ensemble. Topics will include the instrument itself and its mechanism, including playing position and pedals; techniques such as arpeggio, muffling, glissando, and bisbigliando; and special and extended techniques, such as preparations, bowing, pitch bending, and tuning key slides. Taught by Anne Lebaron and Alison Bjorkedal.

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Performance of ensemble works written for small jazz groups. Faculty members lead groups and play alongside the students. Taught by Alphonso Johnson.

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An investigation into the formal means that narrative filmmakers (from the Italian neo-realists to Dogme95, Renoir to Cassavetes) have used to achieve a heightened sense of "reality" in their work. Topics include the incorporation of documentary technique into fictional films, "improvisation," performance styles and the relationship between these "naturalist" filmmakers and the mainstream cinema. Taught by Gary Mairs. NOTES FOR ATTENDEES: Absolutely no use of electronic devices of any kind during the class. Please note that the class is best attended from the start. If you need to leave, please do so quietly.

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This course will teach students how to accompany vocal and instrumental music. Students will learn how to play with different thekas (rhythm cycles). Taught by Swapan Chaudhuri and Randy Gloss. NOTES FOR ATTENDEES: The tabla room is small. A few folding chairs can be made available, but available seating is typically floorspace. Shoes are not allowed in the Tabla room.

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This seminar focuses on investigating the possibilities in collaborative relationships between dance makers and music/sound makers. Dance and music students will experiment with how sound and movement interact, and with collaborating in different ways. In developing ways of supporting and challenging each others' creative processes, students will be able to develop the clarity, range and responsiveness of their own artistic voices. Taught by Dimitri Chamblas and David Rosenboom.

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A workshop in fundamental color theory; including basic color perception and vocabulary. Exercises will focus on color mixing, color harmony and color contrast. This course also addresses developing an individualized sketch book practice utilizing traditional drawing techniques and less traditional image making processes. Concepts and techniques are explored with a focus on their application to graphic design. Taught by Joyce Lightbody.

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Training in Balinese flute playing sixteen various-sized bamboo flutes accompanied by percussion instruments. Students will perform as an ensemble. Taught by Nanik and Nyoman Wenten.

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An introduction to modern Western musical structures such as extended harmonic relations, pitch-class set theory, serialism, indeterminacy, process, and extended tuning systems. Taught by Robert Wannamaker.

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Brass Workshop provides a comprehensive look at topics related to professional performing standards on brass instruments. Taught by Ed Carroll.

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This course explores the philosophy and psychology of the listening experience through both research and practice. What does it mean to listen? To imagine sound? What is the relationship between listening and memory, perception, consciousness? How can we practice alternative modes of listening? Can we step outside of our habitual perspectives to listen as non-musicians, non-humans, non-Earthlings? Taught by Ben Richter. NOTES FOR ATTENDEES: The second hour of the class may take place outside of the classroom for listening exercises outdoors. The first hour will be in the classroom.

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Performance of ensemble works written for small jazz groups. Faculty members lead groups and play alongside the students. Taught by Larry Koonse.

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This course is a series of hands-on workshops exploring the possibilities for percussionists performing with electronic controllers via computer music software, processors, sampling and loop based performance. Members of this class develop the ability to shape sound in ways that are informed by contemporary composition and performance practices. It is the goal of this course that: all participants become empowered electronic musicians/artists; that students be comfortable and adaptable when encountering newly designed controllers, evaluating the possibilities as live performance tools and programming the devices confidently; Students will develop ancillary skills that question the design of existing controllers and may ultimately consider creating their own design for use in live performance settings. Taught by Amy Knoles.

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This class will explore movement techniques and approaches from a variety of sources and will expand the student's knowledge of the movement world in general. Taught by Anthony Nikolchev.

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The mission of the BFA II Acting Studio is to shift the actor's attention to the world of language and heightened text. The intention is to get the language into the mouth and body of the actor using the disciplines of the text, as well as improvisation and exercises to free the actor's imagination in response to the word. Emphasis is placed throughout the year on truthful, specific, moment-to-moment way of acting using classical texts, with the aim of developing an actor who is skilled and comfortable approaching any level of text they may encounter during the course of a career in the theater. Disciplines learned in other classes (speech, voice, movement, text analysis), and the actor's creative instinct, passion, and imagination are brought together in BFA -2 Acting Studio. Taught by Daniel Passer.

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This course focuses on performing the works of the modern classics such as Chekhov, Ibsen and Strindberg. We begin by analyzing the text in its depth and finding inner motive forces behind the words. Learning to convey complexity of hidden emotional world interconnected with the logic of the language is the base for our work. The actors are learning to 'commune' with each other. They are developing creative skills through varies exercises. While sharing, understanding and adapting to different methods they are building up their confidence and finding personal style and force. Besides reviewing the specifics (who, where, what and why) students are encouraged to form their own ideas. Awakening their imagination, learning how to use it and making brave choices is of crucial importance. Liberating their gift in a powerful and at the same time sophisticated ways is the goal of this approach. Taught by Mirjana Jokovic.

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Discover, develop and strengthen the role of the voice in the dancer's body as it translates to text and singing. Taught by Rafael Lopez-Barrantes.

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This class will cover the concepts of Tala - organizing time into units, both duple and triple meters. The North Indian tala system will be explored, ranging from 3 beats to 128 beats. Students will learn the different talas and their patterns with syllables and will be exposed to the North Indian notation system, including learning how to read and write it. Taught by Swapan Chaudhuri and Randy Gloss. NOTES FOR ATTENDEES: The tabla room is small. A few folding chairs can be made available, but available seating is typically floorspace. Shoes are not allowed in the Tabla room.

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Instruction in the traditional dance techniques of Indonesia. Taught by Nanik and Nyoman Wenten.

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Performance of ensemble works written for small jazz groups. Faculty members lead groups and play alongside the students. Taught by Paul Novros.

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This is class is designed as a critical inquiry into the aesthetic, theoretical and political implications of John Cage's music. In addition to sustained encounters with several of Cage's significant pieces it will look at the implications of those works in the artist products of others. Taught by Michael Pisaro.

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A performance-based ensemble, learning traditional drumming from the Dagombas of Northern Ghana. In this musical tradition, drummers are griots, charged with the history keeping of their community. Unlike many other West African drumming traditions, the drum language of the Dagombas has been maintained and remains a vital part of the community. Students will play the talking drum (lunga), and bass drum (gon-gon) that are the primary instruments of the ensemble. Taught by Andrew Grueschow.

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A beloved CalArts tradition "Film Today," offered by the Program of Film and Video, is open to the entire Institute, to graduate and undergraduate students in all programs, for Critical Studies credits. Opening a window into the world as well as into our own subjectivity, the art of the moving image is changing rapidly. This course is taught by scholars and/or professionals active in the field, who closely follow these changes. It is designed to offer a context and critical tools for a better understanding and appreciation of the moving image in its different manifestations. We will show narrative features from all over the world, crafted within different cultural, racial and sexual communities - as well as cutting-edge documentaries, essay films, experimental works and hybrid creations at the boundaries of several art practices. Lectures and active discussions will provide a context and build bridges between your respective metiers and the aesthetics of the moving image. Taught by Katharine Relth.

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Let's make use of the results of acoustical research concerning the various phenomena constituting the timbre of tuned compound sounds (as first described in 1863 by the physicist Hermann von Helmholtz in his historic book 'On the Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Basis for the Theory of Music'), of Harry Partch's 'language of frequency ratios' ('Genesis of a Music') and of James Tenney's concept of harmonic space ('John Cage and the Theory of Harmony')! This experimental hands-on tuning workshop with instrumental and computer sounds (with students playing their instruments) will set out to expand the ear's analytical hearing capabilities (training the awareness of partial unisonos, difference tones, and beats) and explore the sonorities of microtonal just intonation, methods for refining instrumental tuning and ensemble playing techniques, and possibilities for their musical application. The course offers a review of the complete curriculum for the theory of harmony (with a focus on just intonation and its microtonal implications) and an overview of the history of intonation in Western music. Taught by Wolfgang von Schweinitz.

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This course supports 4th year BFA students in developing their graduation projects. It is structured as a collegial seminar, leveraging the expertise of each class member in the service of assisting the others with the fullest realization of their projects. Students share their work-from the initial stages of development through completion-in a series of scheduled presentations and group critiques. Taught by Michael Scroggins. Visit this site for more course details: https://michaelscroggins.wordpress.com/fvea-482-01-experimental-animation-undergraduate-critique-fall-2019

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This course will focus on the question of media and democracy. The lecture series' yearlong line-up that structures the course normally ranges from political debates to film screenings and performances, as well as conversations about art, architecture, and philosophy. Taught by Andrew Culp.

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Instruction in the traditional dances of Bali. Taught by Nanik and Nyoman Wenten.

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This course will delve deeply into themed and immersive entertainment, exploring the creative process behind developments such as theme parks and attractions, museums, leisure destinations, and immersive theater performances. Using their wide variety of artistic backgrounds, students will apply theatrical philosophies and techniques to develop projects that weave narratives and tell richly detailed stories. This class depends heavily on both personal dedication and teamwork, and will guide students to find innovative solutions within nontraditional media while pushing the boundaries of art and storytelling. Taught by Jason McManus.

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