The faculty of the Film and Electronic Arts Program believes that a student's economic status should not be a barrier to participation in our courses. Students enrolled in Film and Electronic production courses ("PA" courses, not including screenwriting) will have access to cameras and other filmmaking equipment, lab computers, software, and film stock necessary to complete their coursework.

 

It is strongly recommended that students taking production courses own their own USB 3.0 portable hard drive for data storage. If editing on a personally-owned laptop, a standard (3-button) mouse is also recommended. In our efforts to be fully transparent about the cost of these items we are providing a list of the approximate costs of these supplies. 1TB USB 3.0 Hard drive: $50. Three-button mouse: $10. Students who are unable to afford these supplies will be able to request support through the Bard Student Emergency Fund. Details will be provided by instructors at the beginning of the semester.

 

Course:

FILM 109  Aesthetics of Film

Professor:

Richard Suchenski  

CRN:

15818

Schedule/Location:

 Tue  Thurs    11:50 AM - 1:10 PM Avery Film Center 110

Wed     7:30 PM -  Avery Film Center 110 Screening

Distributional Area:

AA Analysis of Art  

Credits: 4

 

Class cap: 25

Designed for first-year students, this course will offer a broad, historically-grounded survey of film aesthetics internationally. Key elements of film form will be addressed through close analysis of important films by directors such as Griffith, Eisenstein, Dreyer, Hitchcock, von Sternberg, Rossellini, Powell, Bresson, Brakhage, Godard, Tarkovsky, and Denis, the reading of important critical or theoretical texts, and discussions of central issues in the other arts.  Midterm exam, two short papers, and final exam. Open to all students, registration priority for First-Year students and film majors. This film history course fulfills a moderation/major requirement.

 

Course:

FILM 116  History of Cinema since 1945

Professor:

Andrew Vielkind  

CRN:

15824

Schedule/Location:

Mon       1:30 PM - 4:30 PM Avery Film Center 110

Sun 7:00 PM - 11:00 PM Avery Film Center 110 Screening

Distributional Area:

AA Analysis of Art  

Credits: 4

 

Class cap: 25

 

Designed for first-year students, this course (the second part of a two-part survey) will address the history of cinema since the end of the Second World War. Screenings will include narrative, experimental, documentary, and animated films. As we study major movements in postwar global cinema, we will consider the nature and function of film form through lectures, discussions, the reading of key texts, and close study of works by Roberto Rossellini, Maya Deren, Stan Brakhage, Akira Kurosawa, Alfred Hitchcock, Jean-Luc Godard, Robert Bresson, Agnès Varda, Ingmar Bergman, Andrei Tarkovsky, Chantal Akerman, Ousmane Sembène, Stanley Kubrick, Abbas Kiarostami, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Claire Denis, among others. Special focus will be paid to the role that cinema plays in shaping and being shaped by discourses on gender, politics, and race. Attendance (including our weekly screenings) and participation are assumed. There will be a midterm exam, two short papers, and a final examination. This film history course fulfills a moderation/major requirement.

 

Course:

FILM 167  Survey of Electronic Art

Professor:

Ed Halter  

CRN:

15822

Schedule/Location:

Fri   10:10 AM - 1:10 PM Avery Film Center 110  

Thurs    7:30 PM - 11:30 PM Avery Film Center 110 Screening

Distributional Area:

AA Analysis of Art  

Credits: 4

 

Class cap: 25

Crosslists: Science, Technology, Society

An introductory lecture and discussion course on the history of moving-image art made with electronic technologies, from the earliest computer-generated films, through television, the portable video camera, the internet, gaming, and social media. Topics include analog versus digital formats, guerrilla television, expanded cinema, image processing, feminist media, video and performance, internet art, and video installation. Artists studied will include Joan Jonas, Nam June Paik, Lillian Schwartz, Martha Rosler, Dara Birnbaum, Marlon Riggs, Peggy Ahwesh, Sadie Benning, Jacolby Satterwhite, and others. Requirements include two short essays and a final take-home exam or final research project. Open to all students, with registration priority for first-year students and film majors. This film history course fulfills a moderation/major requirement.

 

Course:

FILM 203  Performance and Video

Professor:

Laura Parnes  

CRN:

15828

Schedule/Location:

 Tue      1:30 PM - 4:30 PM Avery Film Center 217

Distributional Area:

PA Practicing Arts  

Credits: 4

 

Class cap: 12

Crosslists: Experimental Humanities

This course explores intersections of video and performance art. Course participants develop strategies for exploiting video's most fundamental property: its ability to reproduce a stream of real-time synchronized images and sounds. How does video technology mediate between on-screen performer and audience? How can artists interested in creating critical and self-reflexive media respond to video’s immediacy and “liveness”? How can performance artists use video playback devices, displays, projectors, interactive elements, and live video mixing software to shape and enhance live art? The first half of the course concentrates on the creation of performance “tapes” (or tape-less video recordings) and the history of experimental video focused on performance for the camera. The second half of the course concentrates on the use of video as a central component within live performance art. We will read about and carry on a sustained conversation about the cultural and psychological impact of video technology on subjectivity and conceptions of the artist as "medium." Readings on and viewings of work by Marina Abramović, Vito Acconci, Laurie Anderson, Trisha Baga, John Baldessari, Paul Chan, Patty Chang, Chris Burden, Coco Fusco,  Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Wynne Greenwood, Nancy Holt, Joan Jonas, Miranda July, Mike Kelley, George Kuchar, Kalup Linzy, Tata Mateik, Shana Moulton, Jayson Musson, Bruce Nauman, Nam Jun Paik, Sondra Perry, Walid Raad, Martha Rosler, Jacolby Satterwhite, Michael Smith, Ryan Trecartin, Andy Warhol, William Wegman, among others. This production course fulfills a moderation/major requirement.

 

Course:

FILM 205  Gesture, Light, & Motion

Professor:

Kelly Reichardt  

CRN:

15819

Schedule/Location:

  Wed     10:10 AM - 1:10 PM Avery Film Center 333

Distributional Area:

PA Practicing Arts  

Credits: 4

 

Class cap: 12

A filmmaking workshop introducing the student to the narrative form through the qualities of gesture, light and motion on screen. Focusing on these elements above dialogue and literary approaches to storytelling allows the filmmaker to develop expressive control to communicate a deep sense of character.  Approaches to visual storytelling, examination of narrative strategies, hands-on shooting, and solutions of practical and/or aesthetic problems, as they are encountered in the making of a film. This production course fulfills a moderation/major requirement.

 

Course:

FILM 207 A Introduction to Video

Professor:

Ephraim Asili  

CRN:

15814

Schedule/Location:

 Tue      10:10 AM - 1:10 PM Avery Film Center 333

Distributional Area:

PA Practicing Arts  

Credits: 4

 

Class cap: 12

This course is designed to introduce you to various elements of video production with an emphasis on video art and experimentation.  The class culminates with the completion of a single channel video piece by each student.  To facilitate this final project, there will be a number of camera and editing assignments that are designed to familiarize you with digital video technology while investigating various aesthetic and theoretical concepts. Class sessions will consist of technology demonstrations, screenings, critiques and discussions. Technology training will include: cameras, Adobe Premiere, studio lighting and lighting for green screen, key effects, microphones and more. Prerequisites: All students must complete one Film History course prior to taking this course.  This production course fulfills a moderation/major requirement. Registration open to Sophomores and above. Student must elect both FILM 207 A and 207B.

 

Course:

FILM 207 B Video Lab

Professor:

Marc Schreibman

CRN:

15815

Schedule/Location:

Thurs       10:10 AM - 11:30 AM Avery Film Center 333

Distributional Area:

PA Practicing Arts  

Credits: 2

 

Class cap: 12

This course is designed to introduce you to various elements of video production with an emphasis on video art and experimentation.  The class culminates with the completion of a single channel video piece by each student.  To facilitate this final project, there will be a number of camera and editing assignments that are designed to familiarize you with digital video technology while investigating various aesthetic and theoretical concepts. Class sessions will consist of technology demonstrations, screenings, critiques and discussions. Technology training will include: cameras, Adobe Premiere, studio lighting and lighting for green screen, key effects, microphones and more. Prerequisites: All students must complete one Film History course prior to taking this course.  This production course fulfills a moderation/major requirement. Registration open to Sophomores and above. Student must elect both FILM 207 A and 207B.

 

Course:

FILM 208  Introduction to 16mm Film

Professor:

Ephraim Asili  

CRN:

15820

Schedule/Location:

  Wed     10:10 AM - 1:10 PM Avery Film Center 319

Distributional Area:

PA Practicing Arts  

Credits: 4

 

Class cap: 10

An introduction to filmmaking with a strong emphasis on mastering the 16mm Bolex camera. Students will be required to shoot six different assignments designed to address basic experimental, documentary, and narrative techniques. A wide range of technical and aesthetic issues will be explored in conjunction with editing, lighting, and sound recording techniques. Prerequisite: all students must complete one Film History course prior to taking this course. This production course fulfills a moderation/major requirement. Registration open to Sophomores and above.

 

Course:

FILM 225  3D Animation

Professor:

Ben Coonley  

CRN:

15823

Schedule/Location:

Mon       1:30 PM - 4:30 PM Avery Film Center 333

Distributional Area:

PA Practicing Arts  

Credits: 4

 

Class cap: 12

In this course, students are introduced to processes for creating moving image artworks using 3D animation software and its ancillary technologies. Topics include: the basics of 3D modeling and animation, 3D scanning, and creative use of other technologies that allow artists to combine real and virtual spaces. Weekly readings reflect on the psychological, cultural, and aesthetic impacts of the increasingly prevalent use of computer-generated imagery in contemporary media. Students are not assumed to have any previous experience with 3D animation. This production class fulfills a moderation requirement.

 

Course:

FILM 256  Writing the Film: Text to Voice

Professor:

Sky Hopinka  

CRN:

15817

Schedule/Location:

 Tue      10:10 AM - 1:10 PM Avery Film Center 117

Distributional Area:

PA Practicing Arts  

Credits: 4

 

Class cap: 12

Crosslists: Written Arts

An introductory writing course that looks at creative approaches to writing short films and dialogue scenes. There will be writing and research exercises, screenings, discussions, readings and script critiques. The course will focus on researching and developing ideas and structure for stories, building characters, poetic strategies and writing comedic, realistic and awkward romantic dialogue. This is an elective course for Film and Electronic Arts and does not fulfill moderation/major requirement, but does fulfill a Written Arts major requirement.

 

Course:

FILM 265  Music Video

Professor:

Laura Parnes  

CRN:

15821

Schedule/Location:

  Wed     10:10 AM - 1:10 PM Avery Film Center 217

Distributional Area:

PA Practicing Arts  

Credits: 4

 

Class cap: 12

Music has been a driving force in experimental video and avant-garde film from its inception–with artists, directors and musicians working in collaboration, lifting and borrowing from each other, all while blurring the boundaries between art and popular culture. From early live action musical shorts with Cab Calloway, to collaborations between Kenneth Anger and Mick Jagger, we will examine historical works as well as present-day examples of the form, while keeping a broad view of what a “music video” can be. Features of the form including lip-synching, nonlinear experimentation, animation, dance and storytelling through song will be explored. The diverse intergenerational artists screened will include: Charles Atlas, Arthur Jafa, Gretchen Bender, Ragnar Kjartansson, Kalup Linzy, Pipilotti Rist, Wynne Greenwood, A.L. Steiner, Laurie Anderson and My Barbarian. Students will be asked to complete a series of short assignments that will culminate in an ambitious final project. Collaboration with musicians and dancers is encouraged. Prerequisite: Completion of one 200-level Film and Electronic Arts production (PA) course. Application procedure: Prior to registration, email lparnes@bard.edu one paragraph (no more than 100 words) explaining your interest in taking this course. This production course fulfills a moderation/major requirement.

 

Course:

FILM 279  Contemporary Moving Image Practices

Professor:

Aily Nash

CRN:

16035

Schedule/Location:

   Thurs    1:30 PM - 4:30 PM Avery Film Center 217

Distributional Area:

AA Analysis of Art  

Credits: 4

 

Class cap: 12

This course will look expansively at diverse practices that comprise the contemporary moving image landscape including documentary, avant-garde film, video and installation art, and experimental narrative cinema, with a focus on socially and politically engaged approaches. Each week will feature a different guest artist who will be present (in person or virtually) for a screening and presentation of their work, and students will have the opportunity to engage in close dialogues with them in a seminar setting. Readings and supplemental materials will be assigned for each session and discussed in conjunction with the moving image work. Guests will include international and local artists, Bard undergrad and MFA alumnx, as well as Bard faculty. Students will write weekly response papers, a final essay, and conduct short interviews with guests that will be compiled into a digital publication at the end of the term. This film history course fulfills a moderation/major requirement.

 

Course:

FILM 290  Narrative Production Workshop

Professor:

Brent Green  

CRN:

15816

Schedule/Location:

 Tue      10:10 AM - 1:10 PM Avery Film Center 217

Distributional Area:

PA Practicing Arts  

Credits: 4

 

Class cap: 12

Students will explore visual storytelling strategies. Each student will write and direct three short films, and operate as crew-members on other student's films. For crew assignments, members of the class will act as a production team: planning, shooting and editing. Crew-members will rotate positions so that everyone is getting the chance to experience the various areas of filmmaking. Students will construct sound design for each piece. Registration open to Sophomores and above. This production course fulfills a moderation/major requirement.

 

Course:

FILM 312  Advanced Screenwriting

Professor:

A. Sayeeda Moreno  

CRN:

15830

Schedule/Location:

  Thurs     10:10 AM - 1:10 PM Avery Film Center 338

Distributional Area:

PA Practicing Arts  

Credits: 4

 

Class cap: 12

Crosslists: Experimental Humanities; Written Arts

An intensive screenwriting workshop designed specifically for someone who plans to make a film for moderation or senior project. In a seminar setting we will work on multiple drafts, at times utilizing actors to workshop the scripts. The goal will be to develop a concise and polished short screenplay ready for production. The class will engage in poetic strategies and writing assignments forming the bedrock for vigorous analysis as students workshop their scripts. This course will require extensive outside research, and a commitment to a rigorous writing and rewriting process. Students must currently have a short script in progress that they intend to workshop during the semester.  Pre-requisite: Film 256 - Writing the Film or Film 229 - Character & Story, or the successful completion of a sophomore level production class. Non-majors can participate but must email the professor to highlight their screenwriting experience prior to registration for approval. ALL prospective students must email asmoreno@bard.edu one paragraph (no more than 200 words) with a short synopsis of the screenplay you want to workshop in class, and explain your interest in taking this course.

 

Course:

FILM 330  Script to Screen

Professor:

Kelly Reichardt  

CRN:

15826

Schedule/Location:

 Tue      1:30 PM - 4:30 PM Avery Film Center 333

Distributional Area:

PA Practicing Arts  

Credits: 4

 

Class cap: 12

This is a live-action film workshop. Concentration will be on the narrative form as a means of exploring visual storytelling strategies. Students will collectively produce a dramatic re-creation of a feature film chosen by the professor. Each student will produce, direct and edit a sequence of the feature-length film. The production course fulfills a major requirement and is intended for Junior level Film and Electronic Arts majors.

 

Course:

FILM 357  Advanced Documentary

Professor:

Sky Hopinka  

CRN:

15825

Schedule/Location:

Mon       1:30 PM - 4:30 PM Avery Film Center 217

Distributional Area:

PA Practicing Arts  

Credits: 4

 

Class cap: 12

Students will research and complete a short documentary film in the form of their choosing. The class will dive deeper into the specific genres and practices that students are incorporating in their work. Screenings as well as cinematographic and editing instruction will be tailored to enable the exploration of the specific forms of student work. To take this course, students must have previously taken at least one other 200-level Film and Electronic Arts production course or have comparable video making experience and the permission of the instructor. This production course fulfills a moderation/major requirement.

 

Course:

FILM 358  Auteur Studies

Professor:

Richard Suchenski  

CRN:

15829

Schedule/Location:

 Tue      7:30 PM Avery Film Center 110 Screening

Wed     3:30 PM - 6:30 PM Avery Film Center 110

Distributional Area:

AA Analysis of Art  

Credits: 4

 

Class cap: 12

In this seminar, we will undertake a comparative study of major directors, with the focus and theme changing each time the course is offered. This time, the primary subjects are Max Ophuls and Stanley Kubrick, whose rich bodies of work have become paradigms for international art cinema. Among other things, we will examine the filmmakers’ relationships with the artistic, musical, and theatrical cultures of Vienna and Central Europe; chains of transmission and influence across periods and regions; and the development of auteurial film style, with a special focus on cinematic space, mobile camerawork, film sound, cinematic adaptation, and artistic representations of the human figure. In addition to studying representative features by both filmmakers, we will watch films by directors who emerged in the silent era such as Fritz Lang, Josef von Sternberg, and Erich von Stroheim, as well as contemporary filmmakers like Paul Thomas Anderson, Claire Denis, and Martin Scorsese. We will read a range of relevant criticism, along with contextual material and works by figures such as Arthur Schnitzler, Franz Kafka, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, and William Makepeace Thackeray. Grades based on in-class discussion, short writing assignments, and a final research essay. Upper-college students who have taken courses in film criticism and history will have priority.

 

Course:

FILM 369  Sound in Film and Electronic Arts

Professor:

Andrew Vielkind 

CRN:

16034

Schedule/Location:

Mon       7:00 PM - 11:00 PM Avery Film Center 110 Screening

Tue      1:30 PM - 4:30 PM Avery Film Center 110

Distributional Area:

AA Analysis of Art  

Credits: 4

 

Class cap: 12

This course explores the aesthetics, history, and theory of sound technology in film and electronic arts. Attention will be paid to films which use the juxtaposition of image and sound/music in a particularly creative and challenging way. We will pair weekly screenings with discussions of a range of topics, including early talkies, film music, the role of voice, soundscapes, silence, noise pollution, field recordings, sound design, musique concrète, surveillance, immersive sound systems, compression, fidelity, MP3s, and podcasts. We will screen global art films, Hollywood blockbusters, and key avant-garde works. Filmmakers include Alfred Hitchcock, David Lynch, Robert Bresson, Charles Burnett, Shane Carruth, Francis Ford Coppola, Fritz Lang, Michael Snow, Bruce Baillie, Maya Deren, Dziga Vertov, Marjorie Keller, Brian De Palma, and Wong Kar Wai. Grades will be based on in-class discussion, small creative exercises, short writing assignments, and a final research essay. This film history course fulfills a moderation/major requirement.

 

Course:

FILM 405  Senior Seminar

Professor:

Ben Coonley  

CRN:

15832

Schedule/Location:

 Tue      5:00 PM - 7:00 PM Avery Film Center 217

Distributional Area:

 

Credits: 0

 

Class cap: 40

A requirement for all Film and Electronic Arts majors, the Senior Seminar is an opportunity to share working methods, knowledge, skills, and resources among students working on their Senior Projects. Classes are devoted to presentations and critiques of Senior Project work-in-progress, workshops and presentations by visiting artists, a review of film distribution strategies and grant writing opportunities for emerging filmmakers, and discussions with Bard Film alums about finding employment, pursuing graduate education, and making art after graduation. The course is an integral aspect of Senior Project for all seniors in Film and Electronic Arts and carries no credit.

 

Cross-listed courses:

Course:

MUS 230  The interaction between Music and Film

Professor:

James Bagwell  

CRN:

15401

Schedule/Location:

 Tue  Thurs    11:50 AM - 1:10 PM Olin AUDT

Distributional Area:

AA Analysis of Art  

Credits: 4

 

Class cap 25

Crosslists: Film and Electronic Arts