​COURSE OUTLINE ​

This Visual Arts course is designed to help you build a foundation in visual literacy skills and knowledge as it pertains to photography. The principle goal of this course is to have you grasp the technical, aesthetic and semantic aspects of photography and digital image making as it applies to fine arts and design. Emphasis is on enhancing your visual awareness of the world around you, creating personal imagery and responding critically to your work, the work of your peers and the work of professional photographers and artists.

Big ideas

COURSE CONTENT



 TECHNICAL SKILLS: 
  • Image development with digital cameras
  • Editing images and sound with digital software
  • Lighting and sound
  • Using the library and internet as research tools
  • Planning using scripts, shot sheets and storyboards
  • Create a portfolio of video techniques and projects throughout the semester 

AESTHETICS: 
  • Cultivate a critical and aesthetic visual “way of seeing.”
  • Analyze, explain and justify the use of the elements and principles of art and design in the production of your videos.  

SEMANTICS:
This course will help you develop an understanding of the personal, social, cultural and historical contexts in which meaning is created and communicated through moving image production.  The skills gained through the production, analysis, and in the making of digital media are invaluable in the understanding and appreciation of visual communication. 

LEARNING STANDARDS

Students are expected to be able to do the following: 
Explore and create 
  • Create media art using sensory inspiration, imagination, and inquiry
  • Explore artistic possibilities and take creative risks, using various sources 
    of inspiration
  • Experiment with media arts materials and processes to create media artworks 
  • Explore established, new, and emerging technologies used in media arts
  • Create artistic works for a specific audience
  • Refine skills and techniques in creating media artworks
  • Demonstrate active engagement in creating media artworks and resolving 
    creative challenges

Reason and reflect 
  • Understand the purpose of a critique and choose when to apply suggestions
  • Describe and analyze, using discipline-specific language, how artists use materials, technologies, processes, and environments in media arts
  • Analyze creative choices in the planning, making, interpreting, and analyzing 
    of media artworks
  • Develop personal answers to aesthetic questions
  • Reflect on the influences of a variety of contexts on artistic works

Communicate and document 
  • Document, share, and appreciate media artworks in a variety of contexts
  • Communicate ideas and express emotions through art making
  • Demonstrate awareness of self, others, and place through art making
  • Communicate about and respond to social and environmental issues 
    through media arts 

Connect and expand 
  • Demonstrate personal and social responsibility associated with creating, perceiving, and responding in media arts
  • Explore First Peoples perspectives, knowledge, and protocols; other 
    ways of knowing, and local cultural knowledge through media arts
  • Create artistic works to reflect personal voice, story, and values
  • Explore the relationships between media arts, culture, and society
  • Explore personal, educational, and professional opportunities in media arts 
    and related fields
  • Engage in digital citizenship throughout the creative process
  • Connect with others on a local, regional, or national scale through media arts
  • Demonstrate safe and responsible use of materials, tools, and work space
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ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION

Students will produce projects and portfolio work in a variety of subject areas.   The goal of every assignment is personal and technical growth.  Assessment will involve the following methods:
  • Teacher evaluation based on project criteria
  • Self-assessment based on curricular competency
  • Self-assessment based on personal goals and learning
  • Peer critique and discussion

EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES

Students will be provided cameras, tripods, SD cards and access to lighting equipment for use in class.  Any student is welcome to bring their own camera. However, the school cannot take any responsibility for equipment brought from home. Students are expected to treat equipment with care and will be responsible for cameras and other equipment while in class.