Real-Time Media

NYU IMA, Fall 2022 // Instructor: Carrie Sijia Wang

Quick Links:

Homework Submissions Doc

Final Project Class Folder

Max/MSP/Jitter Example Patchers

All Slideshows

Zoom Recordings

Week 1: 09/01

Week 2: 09/06 & 09/08

Week 3: 09/13 & 09/15

Week 4: 09/20 & 09/22

Week 5:  09/27 & 09/29

Week 6: 10/04 & 10/06

Week 7: 10/13

Week 8: 10/18 & 10/20

Week 9: 10/25 & 10/27

Week 10: 11/01 & 11/03

Week 11: 11/08 & 11/10

Week 12: 11/15 & 11/17

Week 13: 11/22

Week 14: 11/29 & 12/01

Week 15: 12/06 & 12/08

Week 16: 12/13

About

Class Information

Time: Tuesdays & Thursdays 10:40am – 12:10pm

Location: 407

Instructor: Carrie Wang / sw3923@nyu.edu / Office Hour Signup

GA: Josephine Wang / pw2257@nyu.edu / Office Hour Signup

Coding Lab (search for “Max”)

Doc Lab (see if they can help you document your performance)

Resident Office Hours (scroll to research residents)

Description

This course focuses on designing, developing and delivering real-time, performative work using audio and video elements. The class will have an emphasis on using MaxMSPJitter and other tools to create performative experiences that dynamically combine interactive elements such as video, sound, and code, allow for the unfolding of engaging narratives, and generate compelling visuals in real time.

We will look at various examples of both multimedia performances and installations, explore how we can apply the technologies we have learned to design real-time systems, and discuss methods we can use to make our work more engaging.

The class is three-fold and divided into tech tutorials, discussions of existing examples, and in-class performances.

Evaluation

Grades will be determined according to this criteria:

  • Participation and Attendance 40%
  • Performance Projects:
    • Audio Performance 12%
    • Video Performance 12%
    • Final Project Development and Execution 16%
  • Other Homework Assignments 20%

The performance projects will be evaluated based on:

  1. Concept – clear intention to tell a story, express emotions, or convey messages
  2. Process – active efforts to develop the piece, meeting in-progress milestones, 
  3. Execution – level of completion + how well the performance reflects the concept 

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

NYU Bias Response (Referral) Line

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, which can be found online at https://tisch.nyu.edu/student-affairs/important-resources/tisch-policies-and-handbooks

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 course, we encourage you to utilize the support services of the 24/7 NYU Wellness Exchange at 212-443-9999. Also, all students who may require academic accommodation due to a qualified disability, physical or mental, please register with the Moses Center at 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 lectures. Laptops must be closed during class discussions and 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.

CODE OF CONDUCT

Our signature is collaboration – Not competition.
– Red Burns

We live in a fractured world where communities are burdened by differences – so what we ask of you is nothing short of miraculous.
— Red Burns

ITP/IMA is a community whose mission is to explore the imaginative uses of emerging technologies — to make people’s lives safer, more just, more beautiful, more meaningful, and more fun. We pledge to act and interact in ways that contribute to an open, welcoming, diverse, inclusive, and healthy community.

The scope of this Code of Conduct applies to all ITP/IMA community members (faculty, staff, students, residents, fellows, and guests), ITP/IMA physical and digital spaces (e.g. Email listservs, Yorb, and ITP/IMA Discord server), and all courses, events, and projects created at or in service to ITP/IMA.

SOLIDARITY

We are a community of and in solidarity with, people from every gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, language, neuro-type, all visible or invisible disability, body size, ability, class, religion, culture, subculture, age, skill level, occupation and background. As a result, we continually work to make participation in our community a harassment-free experience for identities above as well as all levels of experience, education and socio-economic status.

INTERNATIONAL

Our student body typically has a large International student presence. We understand that, by the nature of being established in New York, our curriculum and social environment naturally centers events and histories specific to the United States of America. We know that a large percentage of our student body are international and we will continue to incorporate, celebrate and acknowledge events and histories from those countries with respect and an open mind.

We align ourselves with any values in pursuit of equity and freedom for all identities and, by that nature, are in alignment with similar views in International countries as well.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We acknowledge that we are gathered on the unceded land of the Lenape and Canarsie peoples. We acknowledge the Lenape and Canarsie communities, their elders both past and present, as well as future generations.

We also acknowledge that NYU, Tisch School of the Arts, and ITP were founded upon exclusions and erasures of many Indigenous peoples, including those on whose land this institution is located. This acknowledgement demonstrates a commitment to beginning the process of working to dismantle the ongoing legacies of settler colonialism.

PRIVILEGE

We recognize that simply being part of the ITP/IMA community places us in a privileged position as we have the opportunity to receive an education from a private, expensive and prestigious university. We know that there are many equally talented students around the world who would like to partake of this community and, due to academic inaccessibility, it is not possible. We know and will continue to acknowledge that our privilege does not mean that we have more value than other people. We acknowledge this inequality and hold personal responsibility to share what we do in the spirit of inclusivity and create access where we can, as often as we can. We will use this privilege as a tool to help those most in need.

TECHNOLOGY

We pledge to center creative and ethical uses of technology in our research, teaching, and making. We accept the claim that technology is a reflection of society, its histories, and its politics. We reject the claim that technology is neutral and acknowledge that every technology has the potential to do as much harm as good. We acknowledge that when technologies cause harm, the harm disproportionately affects Black, Brown, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), queer, trans, disabled, femme, low-income, survivors, and all other marginalized bodies and communities worldwide.

Schedule

Week 1: Intro

Thursday 09/01: SLIDES

In Class:

  • Introductions
  • What is this Class?
  • What are we doing in this class?
  • Introduction to OBS
  • Download & Install Max

Homework:

Week 2: Practice Performance I

Tuesday 09/06: SLIDES

In Class:

  • Examples: Language & Text
  • Performance Critique
  • Practice Performance I: Prompt & Groups
  • Review OBS Studio
  • Group Work

Homework:

Thursday 09/08

In Class:

  • Show Stock Photo Storytelling Performances
  • Feedback and Reflections

Homework:

Week 3: Practice Performance II

Tuesday 09/13: SLIDES

In Class:

  • Examples: Desktop Performance
  • Performance Critique
  • Practice Performance II: Prompt
  • Come Up with Ideas

Homework: In Class Performance (Due 09/15)

Thursday 09/15

In Class:

  • Show Desktop Performances
  • Reflections

Homework:

Week 4: Audio I

Tuesday 09/20: SLIDES

In Class:

  • MIDI
  • Make a Piano
  • Player Piano
  • Make Your Own Piano

Thursday 09/22: SLIDES

In Class:

  • Connect Computer Keys to Piano Keys
  • Control Velocity, Note On/Off, and Octaves
  • Presentation Mode and Sub Patcher
  • Review What We Did

Homework:

Week 5: Audio II

Tuesday 09/27: SLIDES

In Class:

  • Record and Play from Buffer
  • Sample and Manipulate Sound with Buffer and Groove
  • Work with Sound Files
  • Make Your Own Audio Performance System

Thursday 09/29: SLIDES

In Class:

  • Sampling Sound and Using It as Musical Instrument
  • Review, Questions & Building Your Own Audio Performance System

Homework:

Week 6: Audio III

Tuesday 10/04: SLIDES

In Class:

  • Playing with the Max Interface
  • Share Ideas for Audio Performance
  • Getting Ready for Tech Check & Performance

Homework:

Thursday 10/06

In Class:

  • Notes on Next Week’s Performances
  • Tech Check
  • Studio Time

Homework:

Week 7: Audio Performance

Thursday 10/13

In Class:

  • Share Audio Performances:
    Meet in the classroom at 10:40am and follow the order and locations to see all the performances

Homework:

Week 8: Video I

Tuesday 10/18: SLIDES

In Class:

  • Lighting (with Josephine)

Thursday 10/20: SLIDES

In Class:

  • Jitter Matrix
  • Generate Patterns with jit.matrix
  • Video Basics I

Homework:

Week 9: Video II

Tuesday 10/25: SLIDES

In Class:

  • Video Basics II
  • Video Effects

Thursday 10/27: SLIDES

In Class:

  • Video Effects System
  • An Intro to OpenGL (3D)
  • Build Your Own System

Homework:

Week 10: Video III

Tuesday 11/01: SLIDES

In Class:

  • Video “Deterioration” System
  • Share Video Performance Ideas

Thursday 11/03

In Class:

Homework:

  • Video Performance (SLIDE 9 & 10):
    • Tech Check/Practice Setting It Up – Thursday 11/08 (Classroom + Room 404)
    • Record One of Your Rehearsals – Thursday 11/08
    • Performance – Thursday 11/10 (Classroom + Room 404)

Week 11: Video Performance

Tuesday 11/08

In Class:

  • Notes on Thursday’s Performances
  • Tech Check
  • Studio Time

Thursday 11/10

In Class:

  • Share Video Performances
    Meet in the classroom at 10:40am and follow the order and locations to see all the performances

Homework:

Week 12: Final Project Development

Tuesday 11/15: SLIDES

In Class:

  • Object Theater Examples
  • Assign Finals
  • Where to Show Finals

Mini Homework:

Thursday 11/17: SLIDES

In Class:

  • Survey Results
  • Share Ideas and Inspirations
  • Form Groups

Homework:

Week 13: Final Project Proposal

Tuesday 11/22

In Class:

  • Share Final Project Proposals

Homework:

  • Keep working on your final. Get the project to work in the most basic sense (with all the technical aspects figured out, the structure of the performance/installation in place).
  • Review and edit your part in the Equipment List.

Week 14: Final Project Work-In-Progress

Tuesday 11/29

In Class:

Thursday 12/01

In Class:

  • Share Work-In-Progress

Homework:

  • Get your final project to 90%.
  • Think about what you want to present on 12/08 for our final critique. Set up ahead of time and limit your presentation / performance to under 5 minutes.
  • Finalize your Equipment List.

Week 15: Final Project Rehearsal + Show

Tuesday 12/06

In Class:

  • Tech Check for All Projects (in the classroom)

Thursday 12/08

In Class:

  • Final Presentations of All Projects with Guest Critic (in 407 and 404)

Homework:

  • If you’re showing in the garage:
    • Review the Garage Tech Check and Production Plan and email Carrie with any questions.
    • Rehearse as much as possible.
    • Rehearse both the performance and the setup (it’s essential to streamline your setup process).
    • Invite your friends! All are welcome to the 12/13 show.

Week 16: Final Project Show

Monday 12/12 (9am – 12pm in the Garage Space)

  • Tech Check in the Garage (for those who will present in the garage)

Tuesday 12/13 (9am arrival)

  • Final Show in the Garage (for those who will present in the garage)