FIRST YEAR

VNG-5040-A

Framing the Story

Summer semester: 3 credits

This course challenges students to explore, experiment and examine the fundamental principles, visual language and building blocks of how a story is constructed and told through compositional elements. How to identify and employ story imagery with meaning, action and purpose will be addressed. Students will engage their personal experiences and visual storytelling influences to discover where their story voice comes from, and apply these discoveries through workshops and rapid prototyping projects. A series of visual story explorations using collaborative rapid prototyping will be included and are intended to disrupt assumptions and current working methods, going beyond visual problem-solving by asking students to dig deeper. With a “story-first” approach, students will develop a heightened and informed approach to their visual story craft and image-making skills.

VNG-5080-A

Analog to Digital

Summer semester: 2 credits

Through technology and project-based workshops, students in this course will gain an understanding of how traditional media and analog production processes can be transformed through the lens of digital video, sound, image-making, print production and self-publishing techniques. Select Adobe applications, digital video, Risograph and smart-device technology will be explored. Students will discover a variety of methods for producing digital images, and how to translate a stationary vision into the more dynamic world of motion. The evolution of storytelling from analog to digitized media will be discussed.

VNG-5130-A

Writing Studio: Narrative Writing

Summer semester: 3 credits

Words are powerful. This course will explore how to use their power to create effective narratives, looking at the function storytelling serves in our lives—from our basic psychology to how we use story to understand ourselves and the world around us. As a class we will develop one common narrative during the semester, through which we will break down the essential elements of story mechanics to discover how story transcends medium using the same core elements. The goal is not merely to communicate, but to connect. How these basic principles are presented in both traditional prose and in radio and podcasts will be examined, and students will have the opportunity to write their own narratives for both mediums. With a focus on how language alone can be used as imagery to achieve these narrative goals, students will explore how the two mediums function differently. Readings of theoretical and narrative works will be included. Note: There will be one session scheduled outside of the listed class hours. The day/time will be announced at the beginning of the summer semester.

VNG-5230-A

Visual Narrative: Graphic Media

Summer semester: 2 credits

The Visual Narrative series offers an overview of various creative fields. This course will examine the evolution of picture books, comics, artists’ books and graphic novels as the departure point for different approaches to telling a story with words and pictures. A history of these art forms and their various points of intersection will be given, from children’s adventure books to comic strips, web comics and experimental graphic picture books to contemporary independent, direct and book publishing markets. Guest artists and lecturers will address the class and field trips will be included. Note: There will be one session scheduled outside of the listed class hours. The day/time will be announced at the beginning of the summer semester.

VNG-5234-A

Visual Narrative: Photography

Summer semester: 2 credits

The Visual Narrative series offers an overview of various creative fields. This course is a survey of the history of photography with special emphasis placed on how narrative is communicated through the medium. Photographs often suggest open-ended, non-linear narratives, and we will examine these ideas by looking at both the individual image and serial work. Studying photographs from the 19th century to contemporary practices, we will embark upon a careful analysis of the bond between photography and narrative will be defined and disassembled. The notion of photographers’ intentions versus viewers’ perceptions will also be explored. Students will gain a comprehensive understanding of how the practitioners of this medium create stories.

VNG-5256-A

Storyteller Series I

Summer: no credit

This lecture series welcomes traditional and nontraditional storytellers. Working professionals and creative story-makers across industries will share their work, background and professional experience.

VNG-5540-OL

Story Visualized

Visual storytelling is a universal language that communicates instantaneously across cultures, art forms and media. Imbuing that language with empathy, meaning and purpose is an invaluable skill that can move and empower audiences. In this course students will investigate the role of information distribution, technology and media in creative content, as well as the significance of editing, design, format and context in narrative. We will consider the impact of business on studio practice through assignments that include methods of adapting and creating fictional and nonfictional visual narratives from original and found texts. Students will deconstruct, reconfigure and critically analyze existing narrative forms such as films, infographics, video games, advertising campaigns, instructional videos, book covers, posters and graphic novels.

VNG-5580-OL

Writing Studio: Creative Script

Fall semester: 2 credits

Concept, character, structure and craft—the fundamentals of creative storytelling and the architecture of a well-defined outline—will be explored in this course. Through a series of exercises, students will develop writing skills in the core components of storytelling, such as an active but flawed protagonist with a concrete goal, a story with a solid structure based on a character arc and a concept with a specified target audience. The similarities and differences among theater, film, television, comics, games, and other visual media will be explored through lectures, and primarily through writing itself.

VNG-5583-OL

Visual Narrative: Film and the Moving Image

Fall semester: 2 credits

The Visual Narrative series offers an overview of various creative fields. In this survey of the moving image we will screen a classic film every week—each from a different genre and era—and explore the concepts and visual narrative structures it illustrates. Clips from other influential films that inspired (or were inspired by) our core films will be incorporated, to gain a deeper understanding of the continuum of film history. The course will also examine how film theory, specifically the interplay between montage and mise-en-scène, is put into practical use. How the visual vocabulary of film developed along with new innovations (and innovators) will be addressed as we examine how filmic vocabulary informs, and borrows from, other visual media.

VNG-5640-OL

Narrative Color

Spring semester: 2 credits

From fundamental principles of color theory to the invention of the printing press, color film and the digital exploitation in today’s mobile media and entertainment, this studio course will explore the emotive, psychological and symbolic properties of color and the narrative role color plays in visual communication, culture, politics and storytelling across media. Students will create a series of works that convey atmosphere and mood through narrative color.

VNG-5652-OL

Visual Narrative: Interactive Media

Spring semester: 2 credits

The Visual Narrative series offers an overview of various creative fields. This course will examine the transformative ways that information, stories, games and ideas are presented through creative digital technologies and platforms.

The evolution of analog and interactive digital media, web design and mobile technology, game platforms and user interface design will be examined as we undertake a historical survey of these interactive art forms and their various points of intersection. Guest artists and lecturers will address the class.

VNG-5657-OL

Writing Studio: Mythology and Folklore

Spring semester: 2 credits

This survey course will explore the history, universality and use of mythology and folklore across literature, the arts, entertainment and popular media. We will review a diverse list of stories from around the world, studying the symbolism, archetype, structure and intent, and what these stories reveal about our shared humanity. How these stories influence contemporary storytelling across media will be discussed. In addition to analysis, the course will focus on application of the structures and characters found in mythology and folklore through creative writing and peer response. Students will concept and create new forms and works of myth and fiction.

SECOND YEAR

VNG-6150-A

Thesis Prep: Shaping Your Story

Summer semester: 3 credits

What is the best way to research, develop and produce a personal story from start to finish? How do you identify the point of what that story is about—and the reason that drives you to create it? Why would the audience care? These are the core questions that this course will consider as students begin to develop their thesis concepts. Students will analyze their chosen medium’s strengths and weaknesses in the service of their story while taking into consideration the scope, budget and relevant production criteria in pursuit of an ambitious and professional outcome. At the end of the semester, students will pitch their concept development to the Thesis Review Committee for evaluation and approval. Note: There will be one session scheduled outside of the listed class hours. The day/time will be announced at the beginning of the summer semester.

VNG-6210-A

Visual Research

Summer semester: 3 credits

This course focuses on the application of mapping and data visualization

techniques for use in concept development and world-building. Students will identify locations connected to their existing story ideas and will investigate these locations using documentary media, data collection, and other methods of site-specific research. The materials they gather will be compiled into visual archives and students will create analog and digital maps that describe their content. The work produced in the course will function as a reference for the development of thesis projects and as a means of communicating the spaces that these stories will inhabit.

VNG-6240-A

Form, Empathy and Character Play

Summer semester: 3 credits

Sometimes the only way to find a character’s “voice” as a storyteller is to become that character in order to understand it. This course is designed to further develop skills in character creation through examining what makes characters behave in the ways they do. With lectures on archetypes, defining moments, unconscious desire and design, students will examine the elements necessary for creating their own characters. Through improv and role-playing techniques, students will understand their how their characters will behave in fictional settings, better enabling them to write and visualize their creations.

VNG-6243-A

Visual Narrative: The Power of Story

Summer semester: 2 credits

This lecture survey takes a critical and bold look at the power and influence storytelling has employed throughout history as a force for both good and evil. Through discussion and research, students will look at historical movements and cultural shifts in major religions, literature, art, digital media, entertainment and politics through a global lens and assess the narrative concepts, messaging and impact of storytelling. As content creators and future gatekeepers of change, students will be challenged to reflect upon the past and consider how the power of their storytelling can affect and shape culture and society. Note: There will be one session scheduled outside of the listed class hours. The day/time will be announced at the beginning of the summer semester.

VNG-6250-A

Thesis Prep: Picturing Your Story

Summer semester: 1 credit

Through research, critical discourse and presentations, students in this course will formulate and articulate the conceptual positions of their visual work. The goal is to identify, analyze and interpret each student’s creative interests, creative values, intent, influences, philosophical viewports and historical lineage as it relates to the work being pursued. The course is structured around extensive group critiques, presentations and research. It will guide students to write, visualize and speak about the visual projects they are preparing, and will culminate in fully realized pitch presentations.

VNG-6256-A

Storyteller Series II

Summer: no credit

This lecture series welcomes traditional and nontraditional storytellers. Working professionals and creative story-makers across industries will share their work, background and professional experience.

VNG-6320-OL

Identity in a Digital World

Aspiring artists and storytellers will advance the development of their online tool set and studio practice skills to take agency of their personal identity and communications across platforms and marketplaces. A variety of web hosting, social media, blog and portfolio/skill-sharing platforms will be discussed, along with marketing and data collection to effectively share and represent students’ digital identity and content. The pros and cons of each tool will be addressed, and specific strategies for finding clients and generating traffic and interest will be discussed.

VNG-6510-OL

Storyteller as Community

As artists, we exist inside of creative communities that consist of potential audiences, supporters, collaborators, clients and customers. To effectively sell stories, it’s essential to understand how to distinguish them. Over the semester, students will identify their potential audiences and produce a simple, boutique marketing plan tailored to their thesis project, portfolio and career pursuits. Through this process, students will discover their interests, will connect with new creative communities and identify long-term goals as a creative entrepreneur. There will be individual consulting sessions where students will review their findings and prepare for the execution of their marketing plans in the following summer semester.

VNG-6520 / VNG-6525

Thesis I and II

Fall and spring semesters: 3 credits per semester

Focusing on thesis story development, this course will address project management, thesis production, and how to achieve audience engagement. Students will establish production schedules and deadlines with instructors and mentors, who will guide and support them through constructive critique, industry feedback and troubleshooting. Participating in discussions and hearing from professionals in various fields, students will build a community of mutual support and accountability for the completion of each thesis, and in preparation for exhibition and public presentation.

VNG-6532 / VNG-6533

Seminar I and II

Fall and spring semesters: 1 credit per semester

With multiple areas of focus these seminars will assist students with their individual production techniques in order to achieve a finished thesis product

for full-scale development. Presentations on the theory and practice of visual narrative production and fabrication will be given, as they relate to various industries such as print, animation and film production, art law, accounting and studio management. Group discussions and individual consultations with faculty and advisors will help students identify specific formats, processes and techniques to successfully apply their findings into their projects.

VNG-6540 / VNG-6545

Mentor Review I and II

Fall and spring semesters: no credit

To support thesis development, students will work with a mentor during the fall and spring semesters. Individual meetings with the department chair for review of the thesis and mentorship process will be held throughout both semesters.

VNG-6551-OL

Thesis Exhibition: Preproduction

Spring semester: no credit

Thesis exhibition preproduction and schedule management will be addressed in this course. Through meetings and discussions throughout the semester, students will work with faculty to prepare and plan for the fabrication and production of the online and campus gallery exhibitions. Production and installation of all thesis exhibitions will be completed in the third summer semester.

THIRD YEAR

VNG-6820-A

Storyteller as Entrepreneur

Summer semester: 3 credits

In this course students will implement their marketing plans to identify actionable, creative opportunities for strategic brand development. Throughout the semester guest presentations and individual consulting sessions will be given in preparation for the successful launch of creative and entrepreneurship goals. By the end of the course, students will have created a polished visual deck that establishes their personal brand and content across media networks, online platforms and promotional outreach campaigns.

VNG-6850-A

Professional Presentation

Summer semester: 3 credits

Preparing students for their professional life, this course will focus on refining professional presentation skills through exercises and by preparing materials for job and arts opportunities. Critical and practical readings, talks by visiting artists and individual meetings with the instructor will lay the foundation for public speaking engagement and professional initiatives. This practice is a vital and necessary component of any creative’s life. At the end of the semester, students will present an artist’s talk on their thesis project and creative process.

VNG-6856-A

Storyteller Series III

Summer: no credit

This lecture series welcomes traditional and nontraditional storytellers. Working professionals and creative story-makers across industries will share their work, background and professional experience.

VNG-6860-A

Professional Practices

Summer: 3 credits

Designed as both a studio workshop and guest lecture series, this course will assist students in advancing their professional business, networking and social media skills as well as developing practical outreach skills. Guest presentations will be held throughout the semester to discuss and share real-world expertise, production pipeline techniques and industry best practices.

VNG-6900-A

Portfolio and Promotion

Summer: 3 credits

Serving as a production course for portfolio completion and the launching of promotional materials, students will work on their website presence and on bringing their work to a finished, professional level. In addition, students will develop their exhibition curation skills in advance of the thesis gallery exhibition at the end of the semester. Industry professionals will share their studio practice and portfolio expertise. Note: There will be one session scheduled outside of the listed class hours. The day/time will be announced at the beginning of the summer semester.

VNG-6965

Thesis Extension

One semester: 1.5 credits

This course is designed for students who have not met the unanimous approval of the Thesis Review Committee and who need an additional semester to complete their project. Students will work with a faculty advisor and have limited access to facilities. Note: Registration for Thesis Extension is contingent upon approval by the department chair.

Curriculum