Columbia GSAPP Spring 2018
Graphic Architecture Project III
Instructors
Michael Rock / 2x4
Whitney Dow / Whitney Dow
The class focuses on How do we tell, and how do we read, stories?
The answer to those questions elucidate essential aspects of narrative, the way parts can stand for wholes, the distinction between mood and plot, the difference between things that happen in sequence and things that happen simultaneously, and the way details reveal truths. We will investigate those issues through careful reading and watching, but most importantly, by making.
The class builds upon several assignments from A to G, helping guide and teach
with various methods and modes of meduim on how to build a narrative.
Assignment A
Bring in five objects that when taken as a group suggest a narrative.
Coffee, Pills, Passport, Wallet & Blank Phone
Assignment B
Make a narrative diagram that charts the trajectory of your life from birth to today.
Assignment C
Take an existing image of a an event and sketch/create 8 additional images on either side of the image that places the image in a sequence of events that tells story.
Assignment D
Using the front page of the print edition of the New York Times transform it from a single page format to a multiple page booklet. The booklet must use only (and all) the elements of the front page.
Assignment E
Using simple video editing tools and your smartphone, create a one minute film that traces your route from your apartment to the classroom.
Assignment F
Create a 90 second video portrait of an environment. The site could be real or imaginary. The film should have a clear trajectory, starting, and ending. You may use one shot in which the camera moves, all the rest should be lockoffs.
Assignment G
The next set of projects will focus on your studio this semester. The intention is to tell a story of the studio that may or may not include the project you are developing.
Think of it as a kind of documentary that could investigate the assignment, your professor, classmates, travel, and/or your internal state.
Make a documentary film or scripted slide presentation that tells the story of your semester of no less than 3 and no more than 5 minutes total.
