Advanced Case Studies in Producing F09
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Advanced Case Studies in Producing
Carol Bixler Fall Semester, 2009 Friday, 10:00AM-Noon Cafe B
I would like to beg you dear Sir, as well as I can, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.
-- Rainer Maria Rilke
ADVANCED CASE STUDIES IN PRODUCING is a seminar that considers both the larger philosophical issues related to producing and play development and the individual realities that complicate the process. This semester we will especially focus on the movement from text-based theater to visually-based work, from single to multiple imagery -- and how your own style of perception influences your artistic sensibility.
As always, producing requires an ever-active, self-generated interest in the world around you, in the arts community, in global trends. Students are expected to be aware of current events, whether by reading a traditional newspaper or checking in on internet news, and/or by subscribing to various blogs and news sites. Initiating topics of discussion and participating in class is a critical component of the class.
The formal class requirements are noted below.
Class Schedule
Friday, September 18, 2009
Introduction -- what is your artistic sensibility? What do you know you like? What do you think you maybe might like? How do you know what you like? What do you know nothing about -- and what do you think it would be valuable for you to investigate?
Friday, September 25, 2009
In-class discussion of reading assignments
Guest Ellen McCartney
Friday, October 2, 2009
Producer Joan Stein
Assignment for Friday, October 2
Friday, October 9, 2009
Producer Joan Stein
Assignment for Friday, October 9
Friday, October 16, 2009
The National Arts Scene
Friday, October 23, 2009
The New Media/The New World
Discussion of the zeitgeist -- what are our lives “like” today? What is the landscape for shared theatrical experiences? With so much available at home, how do we encourage people to get up and go somewhere? Or do we rethink the form? Do instant communication techniques lead to “instant” thinking, as opposed to reflection?
Assignment for Friday, October 23
Friday, October 30 2009 No Class
Prepare for your projects!
Friday, November 6, 2009
Outsider Art -- presentations on outsider art, considering 1) examples, including internet art, YouTube, and webcasts; 2) the complex moral issues of exploitation/ownership, evaluation, etc.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Getting Started -- guest speakers.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Intellectual Property Today
Is copyright an outdated notion? Are new forms “stealing” ideas?
How does a producer support work that pulls from copyrighted sources?
Friday, November 27, 2009 No class – Thanksgiving
Friday, December 4, 2009
Surviving the Economic Crisis
Friday, December 11, 2009
The Re-Think -- or, everything old is new again…
In class presentations
Course Requirements
1. Participation and Involvement
This course is a seminar, which means that it is a collaborative effort. Producing is an entirely subjective undertaking, and the energy you put into our considerations will make all the difference in what you get out of the class.
Class participation is imperative. Each of you is expected to make significant contributions to each week’s discussions and to take an active role in bringing issues to class. Your participation in class will be part of your final grade.
2. Required reading:
Remix by Lawrence Lessig, Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam and Grasses of a Thousand Colors, Enron, and God of Carnage. You should acquire Remix and Bowling Alone; the plays will be made available to you in class. There will be multiple handouts and excerpts given or emailed to you, which are also required reading. I would encourage you to buy one of Lawrence Lessig’s books for your own library.
3. In-Class Presentations and Discussions
The syllabus requires some in-class presentations. NOTE: a presentation is NOT a reading. It is a visual, personal explanation of your thoughts, which is often structured very differently from a written document.
For the discussions, written notes are fine -- but, again, you must participate. Silence will be considered as a failed assignment.
4. Projects
Producer Joan Stein will be giving you a project, and later in the semester you will present both an informal consideration of production-worthy projects and a fully realized presentation on a revised classic. As noted above, you will also be required to participate in discussions to which you have brought considerable thought.
NOTE: each project you discuss or present must be unique to this class, not an adaptation of a project you are preparing for another class.
Attendance
Attendance is essential. All absences need to be acknowledged in advance – leave a message on my voice mail (#3019) or leave a note in my mail box. Unexcused absences will affect your final grade. At CalArts, three unexcused absences is an automatic NX.
Punctuality is also critical – especially for managers and producers. Three late arrivals will be considered an unexcused absence.
Preparation
A seminar rises and falls on the members’ participation. If you are not prepared, you will be graded accordingly.
