DESCRIPTIONS OF COURSES
Last update 24/08/2011 (.pdf -161K)

Theory [THE] | Technology [TEC] | Audio [AUD] | Visual [VIS] | Audiovisual [AVA]

VIS130 Analogue Drawing
VIS230 Design – Colour
The aim of the course is to introduce the students to the function of visual perception, as well as the structure and use of visual language, in order to communicate effectively their ideas through the creation of original and meaningful art. Drawing methods together with systems and elements of representation and ways of colour depiction are an important part of the course. During the drawing activity, students are encouraged to see, interpret and discover appropriate marks to reproduce the observed phenomena. Other significant structural units of the visual language discussed here include the transformation of three-dimensional objects to two-dimensional symbols, the use of line, shape, shade, form, space and rhythm and their compositional arrangement on a two-dimensional surface.

VIS231 Introduction to Photography
VIS331 Photography I
VIS431 Photography II
VIS531 Professional Photography I
VIS631 Professional Photography II
Photography is taught through five different courses, starting with History of Photography (from the medium’s invention to the 1950s) to continue with two (basic and advanced) darkroom laboratories. The final two laboratories deal with issues of professional photography (medium format cameras, architectural photography through use of view cameras, copying techniques, basic principles of digital image handling, introduction to fashion photography, etc). Main aims of these photographic courses are the acquaintance with the structural peculiarities of the photographic image, the exploration of photography’s expressive potential and the introduction to its various professional applications.

VIS333 Digital Image Process and Synthesis
This course presents the properties, possibilities and limitations of the digital tools currently used in the field of digital image processing. The issues examined include analogue image digitalisation, compression methods that are implemented, colour systems, image multiple layers, combinative use of processing tools, filters, effects, the use of mask and colour and tonal corrections. Moreover, advanced techniques of digital processing in special uses and applications of digital image are also explored. Particular emphasis is placed on expanding the perception concerning formative language (colour, tone, shape, synthesis) towards the creation of works of art.

VIS430 Graphic Arts I
VIS530 Graphic Arts II
From the world of analogue graphic arts to the environment of digital dynamic graphic arts through acquiring theoretical and artistic knowledge, as well as through cultivating aesthetic criteria that develop visual perception, aesthetic cultivation and the possibility to use analogue and, mostly, digital media so as to create expressive graphic works of art. More specifically, among the issues examined are conceiving the idea, analysis, illustration, and the use of both traditional and experimental graphic methods concerning interactive multimedia and hypermedia applications (e.g. audiovisual presentations and multi-spectacles using mixed media, Net Art and nomadic networks, DVD-type technologies, Interactive/WEB TV etc., motion designing, virtual and augmented reality).

VIS434 Video Recording Techniques
In this course, the basic principles and techniques of video production are approached. The subjects analysed include the line of thinking for the formation of ideas and their realisation, as well as the process and production programme (pre-production, production and post-production). The main operations and basic video-camera features, shot framing, depth of image operation, camera movement control and subject control are demonstrated through practice. There will also be analysis of subjects concerning: light, colour, lighting and optical effects, as well as systems and video-recording process in field production. Practical exercises on video-recording techniques in studio and TV programmes are executed using amateur and professional video-cameras in fully equipped laboratories and outdoors.

VIS435 Montage of the Moving Image
The course introduces the basic principles of digital editing and the set of techniques governing the conjunction of shots. The workshop exercises aim at the familiarisation with the terminology and learning of the corresponding software, so that the students can comprehend the selection and the shot linkage, and their interrelation. The course also examines the notional and psychological meanings of montage, as well as its aesthetic dimension. The structural elements of a work are analysed (whether it is a cinema film or a video-art work) with the projection of audiovisual material, so that the students can appreciate the contribution of montage to the final outcome. The workshop practice focuses on techniques and manners regarding narrative forms and alternative shot-linkage systems.

VIS630 Computer Graphics
This course aims at presenting the terminology, functionality and the major applications of computer graphics for the Arts. Typical issues and applications examined include: computer graphics hardware, the composition of electronic image synthesis, electronic publishing, animation, three-dimensional graphics, vector-based graphics and virtual reality technologies. The practical exercises in the field of graphical visualisation through the use of graphical methods and tools allow the students to appreciate the potentialities and limitations of graphical technologies. This is achieved through the use of examples and applications, which are directly related to their artistic domain of interest.

VIS632 Comics Illustration and Animation Applications
Comics firstly appeared in the mid 19th century and in the early 20th century were established as a real mass medium with particular expressive and communicative power. During the course, comics is approached as an autonomous narrative genre and as an expressive medium with numerous applications in the area of mass communication (advertisement, animation, cinema, illustration, graphic design). Students are taught the basic principles of illustration, anatomy drawing, perspective, pictorial composition, character design and narrative organisation of a story. They are encouraged to create a number of projects, develop their design skills, experiment with different illustration techniques and finally develop their individual voice.

VIS633 Digital Formative Arts I
VIS733 Digital Formative Arts II
Study of the basic principles and techniques of action and motion creation through the sequence of static images (stop-motion animation). Presentation of a series of specialized techniques for the digital processing of the image sequence with the use of state-of-the-art tools. Formative art works of this kind are presented and analysed, while implementation exercises are assigned in the context of lab work, where complete works in digital environment are created with the integration or combination of other artistic media (digital or analogue). Emphasis is placed on the organisation stages and the execution of works of art through professional production methods (script and narration, sets, characters, motion, action).

VIS730 3D Modelling
Computerised 3D modelling offers the possibility to create graphics that have the ability to be distributed via all contemporary media, such as games, movies, television, the Internet and magazines. The basic thematic units examined include 2D and 3D graphics terminology, working environment, modelling, transformation, modification, material basic properties, texture, lighting, motion of scene objects, cinematographic camera shooting, defining parametres, filters, environment special effects, particles systems, sound and image montage, titles and subtitles, extracting for use in various specialised digital platforms.

VIS732 Comics Narrative Set-Up
The course focuses on the discussion of style, rhythm and composition of comic images. Detailed reference is made to techniques for the creation of visual space, as well as to the basic rules of anatomy drawing and perspective. Moreover, this course examines the basic narrative principles of the comic genre in comparison with the language of cinematic storytelling. Students are asked to create their own stories in order to apply acquired knowledge about comics and to address issues concerning the narrative structure, the creation of characters and the design conventions of the medium.

VIS734 Iconography of Sound
The course studies and analyses the iconography of sound. Examples of works in which the sound has an important role to play (e.g. the theatre, opera, cinema, television and visual art areas, as well as videogames and video clips) are presented. In this course, students are challenged to create images, with the combination of analogue and digital media, and to convey particular sound themes through specific exercises aiming at the achievement of the best aesthetic and technical outcome. The aim of the course is the encouragement and enhancement of the personal characteristics of each student, in order to trace the individual style of the future professionals in the real or virtual space.

VIS830 3D Model Animation
The stage of creating digital models of 3D characters is followed by creating the characters’ motion (or animation). Animation is probably one the most difficult artistic aspects of a production, requiring not only technical knowledge of 3D motion, but also high experience. This stage is in essence where the movie characters become alive, breathe, think and feel. Most of all, it is the point where they put across their feelings to the viewer, rendering them real.
Acting Workshops:
Adaptation of  the acting process during the stage of 3D model animation. Emphasis is put on the analysis of the creative adaptation of the actor’s inner state in a digital hero. Analysis of the actor’s kinesiology and the possibilities of the human body, the objective being their reproduction in creating a digital hero. The concepts of plasticity, restraint and control in motion. Time and pace. Analysis of time and rate of speech of the actor and the respective digital hero. Searching the hero’s emotional state as a determinant of his/her motion and speech. The improvisation technique for detecting his/her external form. Practical applications through assignments during the 3D Model Animation course.

VIS832 Digital Image Processing I
VIS932 Digital Image Processing II
Introductory concepts of digitalisation, sampling, quantumism. Resolution – bits levels. Chromatic representation, spaces, chromatic models. Brightness transformations – negative image – contrast increase. Histogram – histogram processing. Thresholding and multi-thresholding techniques, pseudo-colouring techniques. Quality improvement through histogram equilibration and the use of filters. The Discrete convolution. Linear/non-linear filters (mean value, min/max, Gauss, FIR, IIR). Adaptable filters. Edges detection and thresholding. Detection with the use of mask in the brightness field. Detection through the use of first and second degree derivations. Sobel and Canny detectors. Image transforms: Fourier transforms, properties and applications. Discrete sine and cosine transforms, properties and applications. Simple geometrical transforms – scale change – rotation.

VIS930 Digital Composing of Virtual Environments
Presentation of the basic concepts, definitions and principles of virtual reality, as well as of the digital virtual world composition methods. Creation of virtual 3D real time environments and of the proper digital content, using contemporary specialised software and methods. Designing and creation of intelligent interactive object models and user’s interface. Combing sound and image devices and special controls for developing experimental virtual environment installations. Examples of artistic expression media and generally of complete interactive works through the use of advanced techniques and virtual reality technologies. Critical analysis of the production procedure of a complete 3D virtual environment application. Finally, the students’ projects are presented and analysed.

VIS030 Digital Composition of Moving Image
Digital compositing of moving or still cinematic shots aims at producing images for motion pictures or screen display. During the digital compositing process, multiple images are assembled to create a final image that gives the impression of being recorded at the same moment by the same recording medium and under the same lighting conditions. Students learn to use different compositing software applications in order to modify the parameters of an image and to produce the final composite image. Particular emphasis is given on processing the individual elements of each image, such as the cinematic shot, light and motion.

PRO750 Individual Project
The cultivation and practical implementation of the necessary mix of scientific methodology, of scientific knowledge and of skills, which are acquired in previous semesters study, are achieved through the development of individual work. Learning goal is the development and documentation of an integrated scientific and / or artistic work (according to the guidelines for academic essays, existing in the website of the Department of Audiovisual Arts). The Individual Work is also the introductory study and work on a specific subject of the curriculum of the Department which later may become the subject area of the Thesis.