OBSERVATION AND INVENTION - 2019/0

Module Overview

Fundamental to all aspects of digital media arts is the conception and creation of the visual image. In this module you will develop your observational skills and fine tune the innate craft skill we arguably all posess to depict and portray using an array of image-making tools, with drawing and other mark-making at its core. It is a fantastic opportunity to get to grips with the theory and practice of drawing and image production.

The module is designed for those both familiar with and new to practical image-making, the module will include a series of classic studio sessions through which you will be able to explore life drawing, still life, location drawing and imagination-based image-making. It will also introduce and develop digital photography as an artistic technique - both as facilitation and reference for your image-making and as an artistic end in itself.

Through these exercises you will cultivate the observational abilities that underpin the specialist techniques of 3D modelling, character design, motion graphics, film-making and animating you will encounter later in your degree. Likewise, the module will also provide you with the chance to develop a portfolio of your own images, which will hopefully demonstrate your progress and improve your own confidence in seeing, depicting and portraying.

Module provider

Music and Media

Module Leader

O'DELL Matthew (Music & Med)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 4

Module cap (Maximum number of students): 24

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

N/A

Module content

The indicative content of this module includes:
• Introduction to Observation and Invention;
• Still Life;
• Life Drawing;
• Drawing Architecture and the External Enviroment;
• Image Composition;
• The Photographic Image;
• Exhibiting Image;
• Reflecting on Studio Practice

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and skills of drawing and image-making,

The summative assessment for this module consists of:

• Portfolio (80%)


• Reflective Report (20%)

Students will be provided with a range of formative assessment and feedback opportunities.These include feedback given during studio sessions, subsequent critical discussions and personal tutorials. Specific feedback on assessment preparations will be provided during the later studio exhibition sessions.

Module aims

• • Provide students with the opportunity explore a range of image-making techniques
• • Provide students with an understanding of the fundamentals of drawing from life
• • Provide students with an understanding of the fundamentals of image composition
• • Provide students with the ability to create drawings and images from observation and imagination
  
• • Introduce students to the process of reflecting upon their studio-based actvities

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to provide you with the opportunity to cultivate a skillful, creative and critical understanding of drawing and image production. It will do this through a series of practical studio sessions, that are supported by preliminary craft lectures and aligned with individual image-making activity. In doing so, it will allow you to gain practical, verbal and written skills in drawing and image-making. It will also provide you with the opportunity to develop skills in expressing your ideas in visual form.

Specific learning and teaching methods include:

• Introductory lecture(s)


• Practical studio workshop on elements of drawing and image-making


• Individual drawing and image-making activities


• Gallery exhibition seminars at the end of the module to review and reflect on student work-in-progress


• Guided reading

The preliminary lecture will provide you with an introduction to the practice of observation and invention in image-making. In subsequent weeks, you will cultivate your skills in a series of studio-based workshops that will provide you with practical drawing and image making challenges. These sessions will also provide you with a chance to receive formative feedback on your work-in-progress and to ascertain any issues or troubleshooting requirements before you move towards producing your own portfolio work.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: DMA1014

Other information

N/A

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2019/0 academic year.