Live! ITP
NYU ITP, Spring 2023 // Instructor: Carrie Sijia Wang
Class Information & Quick Links:
Time: Thursdays, 6:00 – 8:30pm
Location: 370 Jay St., 409
Instructor: Carrie Wang / sw3923@nyu.edu / Office Hour Signup
About
Description
This course focuses on designing, developing and delivering multimedia live performances via a virtual platform. The class will have an emphasis on experimenting with different possibilities of virtual performances, pushing the boundaries of the performative medium, and using emerging technologies to create experiences that allow for the unfolding of engaging narratives, and/or generate compelling visuals in real time.
We will look at various examples of both online and offline performances, explore how we can apply the technologies we have learned to design performative systems, and discuss methods we can use to make our performances more engaging.
Students will practice quickly coming up with ideas and performing in class. A few weeks into the course, students will propose final project ideas and then develop the performances in the following weeks with support from the instructor. The class will culminate in a virtual event featuring solo and/or group performances by the students.
Evaluation
Grades will be determined according to this criteria:
- Participation and Attendance 40%
- Homework Assignments 20%
- Final Project Development and Execution 40%
Attendance
Attendance is mandatory. Please email your instructor if you are going to miss a class. Two unexcused absences is cause for failing the class. An unexcused lateness of 10 minutes or more is equivalent to 1/2 of an absence.
Equitable IMA/ITP
More Resources on Equity & Inclusion
Statement of Academic Integrity
Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s work as though it were your own. More specifically, plagiarism is to present as your own: A sequence of words quoted without quotation marks from another writer or a paraphrased passage from another writer’s work or facts, ideas or images composed by someone else.
Statement of Principle
The core of the educational experience at the Tisch School of the Arts is the creation of original academic and artistic work by students for the critical review of faculty members. It is therefore of the utmost importance that students at all times provide their instructors with an accurate sense of their current abilities and knowledge in order to receive appropriate constructive criticism and advice. Any attempt to evade that essential, transparent transaction between instructor and student through plagiarism or cheating is educationally self-defeating and a grave violation of Tisch School of the Arts community standards. For all the details on plagiarism, please refer to page 10 of the Tisch School of the Arts, Policies and Procedures Handbook.
Statement on the Use of Free and Open Source Materials (including code)
This statement is written by Ellen Nickles, adapted from Dan Shiffman’s Code! Course (Spring 2020) at New York University and Golan Levin’s Interactivity and Computation Course (Fall 2018) at Carnegie Mellon University.
You must cite the source of any material / code you use with the exception of examples specifically provided by the instructors or demonstrated in media assets for the program courses. Please note the following additional expectations and guidelines:
Check the License. When using others’ code, pay attention to the license under which it has been released, and be certain to fulfill the terms and requirements of those licenses. Descriptions of common licenses, and their requirements, can be found at choosealicense.com. Some licenses may require permission. If you are confused or aren’t sure how to credit code, ask one of the course instructors and make your best good faith effort.
Use Libraries. The use of general, repurposable libraries is strongly encouraged. The people who developed and contributed these components to the community worked hard, often for no pay; acknowledge them by citing their name and linking to their repository.
Be Careful. It sometimes happens that an artist places the entire source code for their sketch or artwork online, as a resource from which others can learn. Assignments professors give in new-media arts courses are often similar; you may also discover the work of a student in some other class or school, who has posted code for a project which responds to a similar assignment. You should probably avoid this code. At the very least, you should be careful about approaching such code for possible re-use. If it is necessary to do so, it is best to extract components that solve a specific technical problem, rather than those parts which operate to create a poetic experience. Your challenge, if and/or when you work with others’ code, is to make it your own. It should be clear that downloading an artwork from someone’s GitHub and simply changing the colors would be disgracefully lazy. And doing so without proper citation would be outright plagiarism.
Statement on Accessibility
Please feel free to make suggestions to your instructor about ways in which this class could become more accessible to you. Academic accommodations are available for students with documented disabilities. Please contact the Moses Center for Students with Disabilities at 212 998-4980 for further information.
Statement on Counseling and Wellness
Your health and safety are a priority at NYU. If you experience any health or mental health issues during this program, we encourage you to utilize the support services of the 24/7 NYU Wellness Exchange (US +1 212-443-9999). Also, all students who may require an academic accommodation due to a qualified disability, physical or mental, please register with the NYU Moses Center (US + 1 212-998-4980). Please let your instructor know if you need help connecting to these resources.
Statement on Use of Electronic Devices
Laptops will be an essential part of the course and may be used in class during workshops and for taking notes in lecture. Laptops must be closed during student presentations. Phone use in class is strictly prohibited unless directly related to a presentation of your own work or if you are asked to do so as part of the curriculum.
Statement on Title IX
Tisch School of the Arts to dedicated to providing its students with a learning environment that is rigorous, respectful, supportive and nurturing so that they can engage in the free exchange of ideas and commit themselves fully to the study of their discipline. To that end Tisch is committed to enforcing University policies prohibiting all forms of sexual misconduct as well as discrimination on the basis of sex and gender. Detailed information regarding these policies and the resources that are available to students through the Title IX office can be found by using the following link: Title IX at NYU.
Schedule
Week 1: Overview + OBS + In Class Performance: Language & Text
01/26
In Class:
- Introductions
- Class Overview
- Performance Examples: Language + Text
- Introduction to OBS
- One Minute Performance: Stock Image Storytelling
Homework: Performance Critique
01. Create a Twitch account and stream something. Test out both video and audio. Make sure your microphone sound AND desktop sound can be heard on Twitch. Post a screenshot of your livestream here.
02. Watch a live streamed performance or its documentation. Write about it on your blog and post the link here. Tell us what it is, how you felt as an audience, and you think of the piece in terms of content, form, performance, and technologies used.
A few places to look for relevant work:
- ELO 2021 Performance Program | ELMCIP
(Description of the performances are here: ELO2021 Performances) - EdgeCut Performance Series – YouTube
- LIPP TV
- Search Results for “ITP NIME” on Vimeo
Week 2: Network Performance Tools + In Class Performance: Connection + Experiments with Time and Space
02/02
In Class:
- Performance Examples: Connection
- Network Performance Tools
- One Minute Performance: Connection
- Examples: Experiments with Time and Space
Homework: Experiments with Time and Space
Livestream a performance on a platform of your choice (Twitch, Zoom, Instagram Live, etc..) that experiments with the idea of time and/or space.
- Once you decide when and where you’ll perform, invite us all to your performance by posting your schedule and link to the homework submissions doc at least a day before your performance.
- Document your livestream in video, screenshots, etc.. Share with us in class next week your idea, process, results, and reflections. Post a link to your documentation in our homework submissions doc.
- Everyone should go to at least two of your classmates’ online performances.
Week 3: Guest Talk + Share Experiments + Brainstorm Final Performance Ideas
02/09
In Class:
- Guest Talk + Q&A
- Share Experiments
- Brainstorm Performance Ideas
Homework: Final Performance Pitch Presentation
Consolidate your ideas into a final project pitch presentation and add your presentation slides to the class slideshow here. Be prepared to share your pitch with the class. Make sure you include the following in your pitch:
- Who are your collaborators (if working with others)?
- What is your performance? / Elevator Pitch
- What will the audience see? / Form + Content
- Why do you want to create this piece? / Intention
- Are you inspired by any previous performance or other art projects? / References
- How are you going to make this performance? / Technology
- What’s your plan for next steps? / Timeline
- Raise at least one question for the group.
Week 4: Performance Pitch + Workshop
02/16
In Class:
- More Inspirations
- Project Pitch
Homework: Proof of Concept
Get your performance to work in the most basic way. Create a prototype version of your performance. Write a blogpost about it and post it here.
For next week’s one-to-one meetings, have the following ready to show:
- A recording of your WIP performance
- A tech diagram
- An equipment list
Week 5: Getting Ready + One-On-One Meetings
02/23
In Class:
- Tips for getting ready to perform online
- Rehearsal details
- One-on-one meetings with instructor: show in-progress work
Homework – 95% and ready to rehearse
01. Keep working on your performance. Rehearse on your own and record your rehearsal.
We will have an in-class rehearsal next Thursday. Get ready to perform in front of the class. The piece should be 95% complete by the time of rehearsal next week.
02. Complete the Performance Schedule and Description sheet with a livestream link, a project title and a one-sentence description.
Week 6: Rehearsal and Feedback
03/02
In Class:
- Rehearsal
- Summary & Next Steps
Homework: Getting Ready
- Record a backup video
- Double check your tech list (think about what could go wrong and plan for those scenarios)
- Rehearse rehearse rehearse
- Get the word out there
Week 7: Final Performance
03/09