Universitat Internacional de Catalunya

Basics of Audiovisual Arts

Basics of Audiovisual Arts
4
12041
2
First semester
OB
Main language of instruction: Spanish

Teaching staff


Dra. TEDESCO BARLOCCO, María Brunella - mbtedesco@uic.es

Introduction

Over the last two hundred years, a series of formal, methodological, conceptual and technical operations have taken place in artistic practices that have led to the emergence of the audiovisual revolutions in the 20th century. But what is to be understood as audiovisual? In the development of the course, a cartography will be drawn that will allow students to acquire a panoramic vision of the genesis of this concept and the conditions that favoured its emergence. For this cartographic task, a triple instrumentation of the devices (both conceptual and technical-technological), the patterns of visual representation and the historical contexts in which the different artistic productions develop and the scope of their influences will be carried out.

Pre-course requirements

There are no prerequisites

Objectives

The main objective of the course is to study the mutations that have led from the first collective experiences inherited from the Baroque world to the new models of mass media consumption; likewise, in order to understand the conditions of emergence of the concept of audiovisuals and their interactions with the contemporary artistic sphere, a double diachronic and synchronic perspective will be taken into account, which will make it possible to alternate the linear and transversal characteristics of the historical discipline.

Secondary objectives are, therefore, access to the specific theoretical and historiographical knowledge of the history of images with that of other human sciences associated with the knowledge of visual culture; and also the interpretation of the nature of the various social, cultural and economic contexts, as well as their interrelationships, of the historical periods in which audiovisual and artistic production is situated.

Competences/Learning outcomes of the degree programme

  • 01 - The ability to adapt to varying circumstances
  • 02 - The ability to understand, accept criticism and correct errors
  • 03 - The ability to administer and manage human and technical resources
  • 04 - The ability to work in a team and autonomously
  • 05 - The ability to organise time and workspace
  • 06 - The ability to develop academic rigour, responsibility, ethics and professionalism
  • 07 - The ability to apply the deontology and respect for the audiovisual sector
  • 08 - The ability of critical analysis, synthesis, concretion and abstraction
  • 09 - The ability to objectify, quantify and interpret (data, statistics, empirical evidence…)
  • 10 - The ability to confront difficulties and resolve problems
  • 11 - The ability to generate debate and reflection
  • 12 - The ability to meet deadlines, develop the ability to be punctual and respect for human, technical and material resources
  • 13 - The ability to create spoken and written communication
  • 14 - Knowledge and mastery of rhetoric and oratory to communicate own ideas
  • 15 - Knowledge and mastery of body language and techniques for public speaking
  • 16 - The ability to manage, analysis and reflect on content
  • 17 - The ability to contextualize and critically analyze the events of social reality and to represent Contemporary History
  • 18 - The capacity and development of general culture and interest in social events
  • 19 - The ability of informative documentation
  • 20 - Knowledge and mastery of bibliographic media
  • 21 - Knowledge and mastery of the digital culture
  • 22 - Knowledge and mastery of the distinction between opinion and information / colloquial and cultured register
  • 23 - The ability to prioritize newsworthy events and contrast information
  • 24 - The ability to plan and organize both short term and long term projects
  • 26 - The ability to develop a sense of taste and perfection in the aesthetics and finalization of projects
  • 37 - The ability to contextualize and critically analyze the organizational structure of global communication
  • 38 - The ability to understand and apply the structure of the audiovisual system
  • 41 - The ability to know how the distinct elemental agencies of the audio visual sector function
  • 50 - The ability to adapt, understand and apply the expressive possibilities of new technologies and future changes
  • 53 - Lingustic ability in Catalan, Spanish and English
  • 54 - The ability to skillfully manage the literature, terminology and linguistic structures of the English language related to the field of communication.

Learning outcomes of the subject

Within the standard thirteen-week course pattern and by the end of the course, students should be able to:

  • Recognise and identify different iconic patterns.
  • Analyse and contextualise the most significant samples from different thematic and historical periods.
  • Introduce a basic level of argumentation through written format, oral presentation and the articulation of different documentary sources.
  • Initiation in the handling and study of written texts in a language other than the student's vehicular language.
  • Group work and responsibility in commitments to deliver assignments in due time and form.
  • Basic introduction to professional ethical behaviour.

Syllabus

  • An introduction to the "audiovisual" and its manifestations. What defines the language of cinema, serials, experimental work, and other modes of the audiovisual.

  • What is criticism and how does it differ from film analysis?

  • How to think about a film and how to translate those thoughts into words.

  • The video essay: between thinking with images and thinking about images. What is it and what role does it play in film analysis? Video essay workshop: proposal ideation, initial script outline, and focus.

  • Staging, framing, and the choreography of bodies and camera. Video essay workshop: pitch and peer evaluation of proposals.

  • Editing and the sequential nature of images. Video essay workshop: scene selection and meanings that emerge from their dialogue.

  • Putting the “audio” in audiovisual: the possibilities of sound. Light and color as other variables of meaning.

  • Rhetoric of the cinematic image and transmission of meaning/feeling.

  • What is a cinematic genre? Definition and distortion of generic expectations.

  • Character archetypes and actor performance. The star as a sign: star studies. What happens with serial characters? Video essay workshop: follow-up session.

  • The issue of style: how to think about the history of cinema from an aesthetic perspective.

  • Towards a theoretical approach I: The Auteur Theory.

  • Towards a theoretical approach II: Feminist film theory, representation, and the possibilities of going beyond the narrative.

  • Video essay workshop: Final presentations.

Teaching and learning activities

In person



TRAINING ACTIVITY ECTS CREDITS
Coaching. Monitoring how students learn the content of the subject, either individually or in groups. In the coaching sessions, mistakes will be corrected, queries answered, and exercises and activities to achieve the established objectives will be suggested. 0.2
Focused Praxis. Handing in occasional exercises to learn theory through practice. 1.4
Seminar. This activity will consist of taking an in-depth look at specific up-to-date topics in a monographic manner-in some cases these topics will have been debated socially-, via active work in small groups. 0.6
Meeting Point. Meetings will be organised with notable people from the professional and scientific fields or the international field, and students. These sessions will take the form of conferences, work sessions, discussions, or interviews, etc. 0.2
Lectures. In lectures, lecturers/professors not only transmit content or knowledge, but also, and above all else, attitudes, motivation, skills and values, etc. They also ensure that participants can express their opinions and arguments to the other students. 2.8
Peer learning. The aim of this activity is to ensure that students gain the ability to analyse and be critical. One way of achieving this is by correcting their peers' exercises and results, etc. Each student will be evaluated twice: as both a recipient and a transmitter of critical knowledge. 1.0

Evaluation systems and criteria

In person



Ordinary Assessment

  • Continuous assessment, which includes various submissions of assignments and in-class exercises throughout the course: 40%

  • Attendance and participation in class: 10%

  • Final exam: 50%

To calculate the final grade for the course, students must have passed both the final exam and the partial assignments.

Extraordinary assessment

In this case, the percentage load would be as follows:

- Final exam: recovery by exam. 100%.

Note:

With regard to the administrative situation of plagiarism, the assumptions foreseen in the UIC policies will be taken into account, if not otherwise expressed, the detection of plagiarism will determine

Bibliography and resources

Andrew, Dudley J.  Las principales teorías cinematográficas. Gustavo Gili, 1978. 

Aumont, Jacques. El cine y la puesta en escena. Ediciones Colihue, 2013.

Aumont, Jacques, Alain Bergala, Michel Marie y Marc Venet. Estética del cine. Espacio fílmico, montaje, narración, lenguaje. Paidós, 2008.

Aumont, Jacques y Michel Marie. Análisis del film. Paidós, 1990.

Balló, Jordi. Imágenes del silencio. Los motivos visuales en el cine. Anagrama, 2000.

Bazin, André. ¿Qué es el cine? Rialp, 2004.

Bordwell, David. El arte cinematográfico. Paidós, 1995.

Bordwell, David. On the history of Film Style. Harvard University Press, 1998.

Burch, Nöel. El tragaluz del infinito. Cátedra, 1987.

Burch, Nöel. Praxis del cine. Fundamentos, 2017.

Carmona, Ramón. Cómo se comenta un texto fílmico. Cátedra, 2010.

Casetti, Francesco. Teorías del cine. Cátedra, 2010.

Chaudhuri, Shohini. Feminismt Film Theorists. Laura Mulvey, Kaja Silverman, Teresa de Lauretis, Barbara Creed. Routledge, 2006.

Gerstner, David. A. y Janet Staiger. Authorship and film. AFI Film Readers, 2003.

Martin, Marcel. El lenguaje del cine. Gedisa, 2002.

Mulvey, Laura. “Visual pleasure and narrative cinema”. Screen 16(3), 1975.

Perez, Gilberto. The Eloquent Screen. A Rhetoric of Film. University of Minnesota, 2019.

Stam, Robert. Film Theory. An Introduction. Blackwell, 2000.

Zunzunegui, Santos. Pensar la imagen. Cátedra, 2010.

Zunzunegui, Santos. La mirada cercana. Microanálisis fílmico. Shangrila, 2016.

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