---
tags: gened1145, workshop, preview
---

# GENED1145 Layering Video Essays Workshop Preview
We're so excited to host GENED1145 sections on October 18 and 19! Below you'll find a preview of what we'll be doing in our time together.

## Stations
We’ll have three stations - below you can see some examples of what we might do in each one.

### Visual Arguments

At this station, students will work with low-tech tools to make visual arguments with layers comprised of printed film stills and art supplies. The idea is to develop a basic visual grammar for analyzing and interpreting films in video essays, using layers of images and graphical elements to perform visual moves such as highlighting, contrasting, comparing, reducing, and more. By making quick "paper prototypes" before moving on to the digital tools, students can think more quickly about their visual arguments in the absence of the technical barriers that tools like After Effects and Premiere present.


---

### Overlays in Cinema

In the second station, we'll explore layering in film itself - VFX, effects in anime, the multiplane and green screen, in order to increase understanding of how layering is constructed in film. Students will have hands on experience working with physical materials to experiment with how background, middleground, and foreground elements work together in 2.5D. In the example below, we prototyped an imitation of a scene from godzilla using paper and overhead cameras, as well as our gren screen stage to try out different iterations of these physical layers.


---

### Digital Tools Overview

In the third station, we'll look at the digital tools required to realize the layering effects that we've encountered at the other stations, whether to create visual effects in cinema or to make arguments about cinema in a video essay. Ranging from the quick and simple, to the more complex and variable, we'll cover tools like **Canva** and **After Effects**. Students will learn about the ways that matting, keying, transparencies, and alpha channel manipulation can be used to reframe film excerpts and existing media.


## Directions to the Learning Lab
The entrance to our 50 Church St., Suite 374, office is located to the left of Gong cha and The Sinclair. Proceed up the ramp and take the elevator to the 3rd floor. Exit the elevator to the left and continue through 2 sets of doors. The Bok Center office will be the second door on your right.