A Glimpse of the Future
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be filmmaker? A photographer? Write film scores? Create 3D animation? This summer you can find out when you spend two weeks totally immersed in a creative summer program at the Boston University Center for Digital Imaging Arts.

Sign up today for one of our exciting programs offered at both our Waltham, MA and Washington, DC campuses, specifically designed for high school students interested in the arts and digital media. Our hands-on approach gives you a chance to express your creativity while you get a glimpse of what your future could be.

Who: High School Students, Ages 14-18
Day/Time: Monday – Friday, 9am – 3pm
Price: $1200 for each 2-week program
Upcoming Program Dates:
Digital Photography (July 12 – July 23, 2010)
Recording Arts (July 12 – July 23, 2010)
Digital Filmmaking (July 26 – August 6, 2010)
Digital Animation (August 9 – August 20, 2010)
Advanced Photography Class (July 26 – August 6, 2010)

To sign up for a summer program, please click on the Summer Program Registration link.

Digital Photography

July 12 – July 23, 2010

You’ll create eye-catching photographs on your very first day at the digital photography summer program. This two-week immersion in digital photography will teach you everything, from digital camera operation and image composition to image manipulation with Adobe Photoshop and printing on high-end printers. Daily activities will include demonstrations, field trips, and instructor-led activities, using the latest digital imaging equipment.

Course will begin with basic introductions to the workings of a camera, with a focus on photos with simple compositional elements. Students will spend equal time outside and in the “Digital Darkroom,” combining their knowledge of the camera with techniques of processing and enhancing an image using Photoshop. Field trips will allow students to take advantage of the local landscapes. Students will also focus on portraiture, learning about hot lights and studio lights, and reviewing the work of famous photographers like Arnold Newman and Richard Avedon.

Recording Arts

July 12 – July 23, 2010

In this two-week program, you’ll learn how to record and produce a professional music CD. Working in our fully-outfitted, digital music studio, you’ll perform each step of the record production process. From pre-production through final mixdown and mastering, you’ll see how they all come together to create music.

Students will begin with understanding the pre-production process, and the different roles involved in the recording process. Basics will begin with editing drum tracks and a discussion of the misdown process. Later in the week, students will get to act as different roles: engineer, producer and assistant engineer, which will prepare them to work in groups to actually create a song. A tracking session with the band Destroy Babylon will allow students to lay down tracks with a professional band, aiding them in their final mixing of songs of their choice at the end of the session.
(This program is not available in DC.)

Digital Filmmaking

July 26 – August 6, 2010

Explore the exciting field of digital filmmaking in this hands-on, two-week summer program that combines the craft of traditional storytelling with the latest production techniques. You’ll learn how to use digital camera and sound equipment, as well as Apple’s Final Cut Pro post-production software. Combining your creativity with your personal experiences, you’ll tell a story on film, as your film crew conceives, plans, shoots, and edits a short digital film.

Students will cover the basics of digital film and board sound, working hands-on from day one. Working individually and in groups on free shot projects, interviews and indoor and outdoor location shoots, all days will combine both field work and critique. Camera control issues like tilts, pans and height will be covered, as well as writing time. On the last day of the workshop, students will screen the finished projects for friends and family. No previous filmmaking experience required – but a passion for storytelling is a must!

Digital Animation

August 9 – August 20, 2010

Learn how to successfully animate a three-dimensional character. Working with Academy Award®-winning Maya software for 3D modeling, animation and digital effects, you’ll create bipedal characters and creatures just like those found in feature films and video games. During the two-week program, you’ll learn the fundamentals of digital animation in Maya, including the Maya interface, modeling, texture mapping, animation and effects, and lighting and rendering.

Students will begin with fun and simple projects like creating a candy box and animating bounding balls that can be textured and lit. The class will then move onto developing ideas for characters that can move and interact with their environment, culminating in the creation of a 5-10 second animated scene. Final video screening and critique will be held before an introduction to parents at the end of the course.

Advanced Photography Class **

July 26 – August 6, 2010

This class will be designed to pick up where the basic photography class ended.  Two main areas will be covered.  The first week will be devoted to advanced projects in still photography.  In the second week, students will create a multimedia story project encompassing still images, sound and narrative.

In the traditional digital photography segment, students will have an opportunity to extend their skills and develop their eye in more challenging projects, including studies of a favorite object in the studio using a variety of light sources, an on-location “scavenger hunt”, a simple photo illustration and a printed triptych.  Projects will be based on the elements of good composition that the students learned in the first week, applied to projects that will be more involved and more personal.  Most of the students’ digital processing will be done in Adobe Lightroom, with a couple of small lessons in Photoshop.  Technical skills with the camera will be taught on a more individual basis, because of the variety of kinds of cameras that students will have.

The multimedia segment of the class will be built around a single project that the students will complete over the course of the week.  It will be a story, and students will be asked to plan their subject on the first day.  Stories will be shot on location in Waltham on the Tuesday, and edited over the following two days.  Students will learn the basics of recording sound, editing multiple photographs in Lightroom to create a narrative, and putting together a multimedia piece using software that is readily available to them.  iMovie is the perfect vehicle for putting their projects together:  it’s simple and most of them probably will have access to it outside of school.

The last day of the course will incorporate a show of students’ photos and multimedia pieces.

**Prerequisite – High School Digital Photography Camp July 12 – July 23, or if you are a returning High School Student that has already taken the Digital Photography High School Camp at CDIA previously. Only offered at the Waltham MA campus.