Eighteen learning
sessions
Names, causes and image characteristics can be looked up in the register and on each effect page.
1
Light without a camera
Comparison and first own attempts
- Cyanotype, photogram, and luminogram. Which visible traces are created by objects, and which by moving light?
- Sketch two image ideas without a camera. Name the process and the point where light changes the material.
- Two sketches, each containing one technical sentence.
2
Space in the flat image
Perception, perspective, and sharpness
- Stereoscopy, dolly zoom, and tilt-shift. How does each method change our perception of space?
- Match three causes: two viewing angles, changed camera distance with focal length, tilted focus plane.
- Choose an effect for a confining portrait and explain your choice.
3
Making time visible
One movement, three different procedures
- Long exposure, chronophotography and bullet time.
- Describe a jumping body in each method. Which time points merge, which remain separate, and which camera views change?
- Design a short sequence using exactly one procedure. Note the intake and desired effect.
4
How color gets into the picture
Material, separation and design
- Hand coloring, Autochrome, Technicolor and Duotone.
- Assign each term its corresponding intervention: applying color subsequently, colored filter grains, separate color extractions, targeted assignment of two printing inks.
- Choose two techniques for the same portrait. Describe the difference without using the word "vintage".
5
Three types of image distortion
Similar surfaces, different causes
- Sabattier effect, RGB split and datamoshing.
- Match the following: additional light exposure during development, offset color channels, manipulated temporal video compression.
- Formulate an image characteristic for each effect. Explain why any given glitch filter only partially replicates the processes.
6
One theme, three decades
A unique visual language instead of a collection of filters.
- A 20-second teaser for a piece of music shows only one person and one room.
- Choose three effects from three decades. Note their names, their historical contexts, and their role in the sequence.
- What effect does something convey? Which effect could be omitted?
7
Silver, iron and platinum
Early printing processes compared
- Salted paper print, albumen print and platinum print.
- Describe the surface, tone and durability of each print. Which binder or metal creates the image?
- A small table with three rows and one sentence per process.
8
Ghosts and doubles
Two images in one frame
- Double exposure, combination printing and Pepper’s Ghost.
- Name where the second image is added: in the camera, in the darkroom or on stage.
- Plan a portrait with a transparent second figure and choose the method.
9
Tricks of early cinema
Cuts, stops and reversals
- Stop trick, reverse motion and undercranking.
- For each trick, describe what the camera operator does differently while filming.
- Three one-line instructions for a camera operator.
10
Building worlds
Sets that are not there
- Glass shot, Schüfftan process and miniature effects.
- Explain where the illusion sits: painted on glass, reflected by a mirror or built in small scale.
- Design a castle shot for a low budget and justify your method.
11
Background behind the actor
From projection to green screen
- Rear projection, front projection and chroma key.
- Describe where the background image comes from and where the actor stands.
- A sketch of each set-up with camera, actor and light source.
12
Colour before colour film
Painted, separated, layered
- Hand colouring, photochrom and Autochrome Lumière.
- Explain whether the colour is painted on, printed from separations or created by filters inside the plate.
- Choose a process for a historic travel poster and explain why.
13
Dots and screens
Printing tone with points
- Halftone, Ben-Day dots and dithering.
- Describe how each method creates the impression of grey or colour from few inks or pixels.
- Three magnified sketches of the same grey tone.
14
Errors as style
Glitches from video and data
- VHS artefacts, datamoshing and pixel sorting.
- For each effect, name the technical fault or algorithm that produces it.
- Choose one glitch for a music video and describe the mood it creates.
15
Light in the lens
Flares, glow and blur
- Anamorphic lens flare, halation and bokeh.
- Explain which part of the lens or film causes each effect.
- One sentence per effect describing the visible shape.
16
Seeing edges
How machines find outlines
- Sobel, Canny and Laplacian edge detection.
- Describe the difference between measuring the slope of brightness and its curvature.
- Choose one filter for a clean line drawing of a portrait.
17
Depth from a single image
Maps the machine creates
- Monocular depth map, normal map and 2.5D parallax.
- Explain what each map or effect stores: distance, surface direction or movement of layers.
- A short diagram connecting each map to its use.
18
Generating images
When the machine adds content
- Inpainting, outpainting and image-to-image diffusion.
- Describe what remains from the original in each case and what is newly generated.
- Plan an extended landscape poster and name the steps.