China 九年级（初三） Arts: Film and Digital Media

1. Sem.1 U1 Capturing real life

Documentary snapshots of life

• Documentary Film: How Real Life Becomes a Film – A documentary is a film about real people and events. But it is never a plain copy of reality: the filmmaker chooses what to film, how to frame it and in which order to edit it. Documentaries come in modes (expository, observational, participatory, performative and more). Filmmakers like Watkins, Broomfield, Longinotto and Moore hold different ideas about how present and how persuasive a filmmaker should be. Digital technology has made filming cheaper and closer, and raised new questions about truth.

2. Sem.1 U2 Passing on Chinese culture

Rhythm, history, craftsmanship, cultural memory

• Filming a Craftsperson: Rhythm, History and Cultural Memory – A craft documentary shows a skill that people pass on. Look for the rhythm of the work, show where the skill came from (history), shoot the maker with wide, medium and close shots, and join interview, work and old photos so that the community's memory stays alive.

3. Sem.1 U3 Stories of friendship

Write, direct, shoot, edit

Coming soon

4. Sem.1 U4 New life for art

Interactive media; upcycling

• Interactive Media and Upcycling: Giving Art a New Life – Interactive media lets the viewer act and choose, so the story changes. A branching video has choice points; with n two-way choices there are 2^n paths. Upcycling gives waste a new, better use without melting it down. Both are ways art finds new life.

5. Sem.2 U1 Everyday life

Food and people documentaries

• Food and People Documentaries: Storytelling with a Dish – A food documentary is really a film about people. Follow the food on its journey (field, market, kitchen, table), meet the person at each stop, shape the film in four parts (start, rise, peak, end) and film what viewers cannot taste: steam, sound, colour and hands.

6. Sem.2 U2 Art of concision

Visual essence; film poets

Coming soon

7. Sem.2 U3 Poetic images

Montage: narrative and expressive

Coming soon

8. Sem.2 U4 Art and technology

Virtual/real; IoT; AI and art

• Art and Technology: How New Inventions Change Art – New technology has changed art again and again. The printing press (about 1450) let one image be copied many times, so art reached ordinary people. Paint in metal tubes (1841) let painters work outdoors. Photography (1839) took over the job of copying reality, so painting turned to colour, feeling and new ways of seeing. Cinema (1895) added time and motion. Computers (from the 1960s, common after 1980) made digital, internet and now AI art, where copies are free and works can react to viewers. Artists also use science: perspective (geometry), colour theory (light and the prism), new materials, and today 'artistic research' where art and science investigate together. Each new tool raises questions: what is original, who is the author, and what is art for?