DTC 491 | Advanced Digital Cinema
Spring 2026
- Class Time: M 5:45pm-8:30pm Location: VMMC 111
- Instructor: Will Luers
- Phone: 503-975-3254
- Email: wluers@wsu.edu
- Office Hours: M 4:00pm-5:00pm, T 3:00pm-4:00pm in the Digs or on Zoom most days after 12pm
COURSE OBJECTIVE
In DTC 491 / Digital Cinema, students explore cinema as a contemporary practice shaped by digital tools, networked culture, and emerging media forms. The course emphasizes cinematic thinking—how meaning is created through framing, montage, sound, color, duration, and voice—rather than treating video production as a narrow technical specialization. Through short creative assignments, studio labs, and collaborative work, students experiment with sculpting space and time, working with loops, expressive sound and color, interview-based cinema focused on presence, and the creation of an original video essay.
Students gain hands-on experience with digital cameras and smartphones, studio lighting and sound recording, and post-production in Adobe Premiere, including montage-based and text-based editing workflows. Optional AI tools are introduced as exploratory aids for ideation, transcription, music, and image generation. The course also addresses how digital cinema circulates today: students prepare trailers and press materials, build simple project websites, and submit work to festivals or online platforms. Emphasizing accessible tools and compositional practice over expensive equipment, the course prepares students to create, present, and share cinematic work in contemporary digital environments.
Learning Goals
| Required Course Activities | Student Learning Outcomes and Activities | University Learning Objectives | CMDC Goals & Objectives |
| 1. Short Assignments | SLO1: Critical and Creative Thinking Understand the principles of framing, continuity, time frames, montage, spatial montage, practical videotaping needs like a job profile, hybrid space, hypervideo, database cinemaSLO4: Communication Learn to make effective presentation of your work in varying scenarios from formal to personal critiques of work | Combine and synthesize existing ideas, images, or expertise in original ways.Express concepts propositions, and beliefs in coherent, concise, and technically correct form. | Goal 3: Employ the principles of visual form for sophisticated image manipulation |
| 2. Journaling | SLO1: Critical and Creative Thinking Gain a better understanding about how to engage in self-reflection about your own work through blogging about your process, methods, and ideasSLO4: Communication Become more adept about writing about your work by blogging about your insights and influences. | Combine and synthesize existing ideas, images, or expertise in original ways.Express concepts propositions, and beliefs in coherent, concise, and technically correct form. | Goal 7: Recognize various forms of language processing and their implications for media authoringGoal 10: Be practiced and capable communicators in all mediums |
| 3. Group Project & Video Essay | SLO1: Critical and Creative Thinking Produce the script, storyboards and other items needed for the final digital cinema projectSLO2: Information Literacy Become adept at working with tools related to video production, including cameras and softwareSLO4: Communication Be able to articulate your ideas in the 250-500 statement that accompanies your final project.SLO7: Depth, Breadth, and Integration of Learning Synthesize a broad array elements of multimedia elements (sound, movement, images) | Combine and synthesize existing ideas, images, or expertise in original ways. Determine the extent and type of information needed.Express concepts propositions, and beliefs in coherent, concise, and technically correct form. By applying the concepts of the general and specialized studies to personal, academic, service learning, professional, and/or community activities. | Goal 3: Employ the principles of visual form for sophisticated image manipulationGoal 5 : Understand the production and assessment of media objects |
COURSE STRUCTURE
- Focus on the conception and creation of expressive video
- Readings, discussion of concepts, and application of theory
- Multiple assignments and projects
REQUIRED TEXTS/SUPPLIES
- Print journal for collecting ideas and note-taking, free-writes, etc.
- Extra computer storage (OneDrive) for storing video and project files
- Headphones or "earbuds"
- Digital camera and monopod (available to check out)
- $10-20 for optional AI tools, rentals and app purchases
COURSE POINT-EARNING POTENTIALS
Assignments (40%)
- one day in 30 secs - 10%
- sculpting space - 10%
- loop series - 10%
- sound & color - 10%
Group Project (20%)
- a collective work of digital cinema
- graded on student post-production
Video Essay (30%)
- a 2-3 minute video essay about one of your favorite causes, ideas, topics, person(s), places or objects. Use cinema language and text or voice-over.
- 30-second trailer
- submission to one film/video festival
Class Participation (10%)
- in class discussion, group work, assignments and readings
COURSE SCHEDULE
| WEEKLY SUBJECTS | ASSIGNMENTS / PROJECTS |
|---|---|
| Introduction January 12 |
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| Sculpting Space January 26 |
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| Time Frames February 2 |
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| Color: Mood and Palette February 9 |
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| Sound Design February 23 |
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| Studio Interview Lab March 2 |
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| Post-Production Lab March 9 |
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| The Video Essay March 23 |
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| Composing the Video Essay March 30 |
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| Networked Video April 6 |
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| Video Essay Editing Lab April 13 |
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| Submitting to Festivals April 20 |
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| Showcase April 27 |
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GENERAL ASSIGNMENT AND PROJECT GUIDELINES
- Do not use copyright-protected text, images, audio or video
- You may use material that is in the public domain, but please credit the source
- Do not ask friends or roommates to pose as interview subjects
- Your work must be your own, produced for this course
Assessment and Final Grades
Both attendance and participation will be monitored and deficiencies in either/both will result in lower final grades. Participation means being attentive in class, joining in discussions, engaging in informal critiques and completing all in-class and outside assignments.
You are allowed 2 class absences. Each class absence after that will result in a 5 point deduction from the final cumulative points.
It is your responsibility to make sure I check your attendance if you arrive after the start of class. Frequent late arrivals, leaving early, or other forms of lack of attendance will also deduct points from the cumulative total. Absent students remain responsible for all course matters during their absence(s). Opportunities to make up missed work may not be available.
Final grades are based on the following scale:
| A | 94-100 |
| A- | 90-93 |
| B+ | 87-89 |
| B | 83-86 |
| B- | 80-82 |
| C+ | 77-79 |
| C | 73-76 |
| C- | 70-72 |
| D | - |
| F | 0-69 |
Submission of Late Work
All work must be submitted as and when required. If you are sick or have an emergency, you must make contact with me (best to use Slack) and arrange a time to submit work.
AI Use Policy
Students are encouraged to use AI tools to amplify their strengths and enhance their learning. AI can be a valuable assistant in digital cinema and video production — including tools such as ChatGPT or Claude for conceptual support, and AI features within software like Adobe Premiere.
AI may be used to support:
- Learning and research (always fact-checked for accuracy)
- Learning techniques and workflows in Adobe Premiere (editing tools, shortcuts, effects, color, sound, and export settings)
- Using Premiere’s AI-assisted features as learning aids — such as text-based editing for rough assembly, speech enhancement for dialogue clarity, auto-captioning, or generative fill for limited visual repairs
- Understanding editing concepts, timelines, and post-production pipelines
- Brainstorming narrative ideas, themes, and visual approaches
- Mood boards, visual references, and aesthetic exploration
- Planning edits, scene structure, and production workflows
- Generative media for cinema, video, sound, voice, and experimental audiovisual work
However, in this course, cinematic ideas and editorial decisions will begin with you. Much of the creative process will involve watching, listening, sketching, assembling rough edits, and making iterative choices in the timeline. This is designed to slow the process down and help you develop a clear cinematic perspective and intentional use of image, sound, rhythm, and structure before relying on AI tools.
AI should be used as a support for thinking and making — not as a shortcut that replaces creative judgment or editorial responsibility.
AI tools — including generative media tools and AI-assisted editing features — are powerful collaborators, but they cannot replace the slower, deeper processes of watching closely, editing attentively, listening critically, and refining ideas through critique and iteration.