Study Plan for Bachelor in Scenography (2009–2012)

What do you learn?

Degree/title obtained

Completion of and passing the course confers the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Scenography.

Admission

The course at the Norwegian Theatre Academy is exempt from the requirement for a university admission certificate. Special guidelines for admission exist. The assessment criteria for admission are described here. The admission is by practical auditions. Applicants may be invited to the audition after their answers from the admissions form are assessed. For more information about the auditions, please see www.hiof.no/scenekunst.

Applicants do not need to speak Norwegian given the course's international profile, but the students are expected to understand Norwegian by the end of the first year of the course.

Structure and content

The structure and content of the programme

The Bachelor of Arts in Scenography has four areas of study featuring:
Skills, Methods, Laboratories and Productions. Each area consists of a number of components. Please note the study model illustration below concerning organizing subject areas and study points.

All subject areas in the first semeter must be passed before students can proceed to the second semester, and all areas in the second semester must be passed before students may proceed to the thrid semester, etc.

Organisation and learning methods

Areas of study are divided into components which again are divided into study periods. At the start of each semester, each student is given a detailed semester plan outlining his/her targets and a description of the contents of each study period. The semester plans are designed to ensure progress and are a contract between the Norwegian Theatre Academy and each student. The semester's teaching consists of different study periods of varying length. For each study period, the students are expected to prepare themselves and keep á jour with relevant literature, images, film, music/sound, websites and other important educational material.

As theatre is a collective art form, all classes are compulsory and must be attended. For more details, please see the guidelines for students at the Norwegian Theatre Academy.

The two study programmes for the performing arts are almost structurally identical, but the programmes are organized differently in terms of components, working methods and assessment criteria. For some teaching units the two programmes are combined into one, as well as there are study periods involving the students from different study levels.

Components, teaching and assessment criteria
The constant practising of skills and methods are mainly ensured by artists associated with the University College. Laboratories and productions are usually led by Norwegian and international artists and other relevant experts.

Teaching is normally planned for semester by semester. This is based in part on an assessment of the students' progress and needs, partly on which relevant contemporary artists and professionals the Academy can attract for each department, and partly on an ongoing assessment of the relationship between tradition and contemporaneity in the performing arts. Each year the demand on students in terms of independence and professionalism in their studies and in collaboration with others gradually increases.

The teaching consists of classroom-based activities, group teaching, individual teaching, supervision, direction, lectures, discussions and debates, individual study and practical task-solving. Essays and independent projects which must be completed outside of the regular teaching hours will be submitted based on the semester program (homework). All teaching is in English.

Study aids
The Students must pay for all study aids themselves. This includes individually required hardware, software, copying, books, etc. Study aids at the Norwegian Theatre Academy include attending performances and exhibitions outside the academy's premises. This implies that students at the Academy must pay for productions and exhibitions to be visited and according travel expenses. Please see the guidelines for students at the Norwegian Theatre Academy.

AREAS, COMPONENTS, FORM OF TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

Skills:
Composition
Composition focuses on an understanding of general principles of composition and skills in working within the performing arts in their nature as a composition of various elements. The students will learn to create productions and production components through analyses, by generating staged material and improvisation. They learn how to develop the different elements of an artistic work into dramatic compositions and productions. The aim is for the students to learn how to use conceptual and formal principles of composition independently and with others.
Form of teaching: courses, essays and laboratories.
Assessment criteria: based on the ability to see, analyse and create original contextualities between different elements, and a musical, dramaturgical and compositional understanding.

Drawing and design in space
This component comprises the disciplines anatomy, perspective and drawing techniques and the study of colour. The students will be trained to use drawings and painting as precise analytical and communicative tools. This course will highlight the use of two-dimensional (drawings, photography, collages, digital pictorial media) and three-dimensional (physical and computer-assisted models) media to read and to create objects and space. Additionally the students will learn to concisely and distinctly communicate a spatial concept and/or a design and its components in a professional way to third parties in the form of drawings, models or digital media (including computer assisted 3D-models).
Form of teaching: courses and practical tasks, ongoing teaching.
Assessment criteria: based on the ability to perceive and represent a space with drawings or paintings and the ability to express an own spatial creation with drawings, paintings, models or other media.

Technical drawing and construction
This component focuses on the visualization and realization of concepts and constructions. Students will be given an introduction to the principles of technical drawing and a basic understanding of physics and the techniques used in constructing and designing elements in stagecraft. Secondly the students will gain knowledge of practical and effective techniques to use data-assisted construction. The aim is for students to be able to present and subsequently discuss their designs with technicians, craftsmen, technical departments and other relevant parties. The students will become aware of the importance of this interface in order to realize a design which is executed by other professionals.
Form of teaching: courses and practical tasks.
Assessment criteria: based on the ability to represent a spatial design in 2D-material and the knowledge on construction and materials

Costume design
Costume design aims to increase the students' knowledge and understanding of costumes as a dramaturgical and formal element of communication as well as a visual component in a performance. The aim is to enable students to develop and design costumes as an integrated part of scenography.
Form of teaching: courses and production-based work.
Assessment criteria: based on the produced works

Methods:
History and theory of art and theatre
This subject provides the students with historical and contemporary knowledge about the theories of culture, architecture, art and the theatre and philosophy. The aim is for students to be able to relate their own work to historical and contemporary artistic practices and thinking. International guests lecture regularly about contemporary art in order for students to gain a broad knowledge of contemporary movements and trends within art and society today.
Form of teaching: lectures, private study, discussions and debates.
Assessment criteria: based on active participation and the ability to relate theory to practice.

Art and theatre analysis
This subject provides students with the analytical experience and tools to understand the basis, structure and dramaturgical principles of their own and others' texts and productions and other works of art. The students will learn to describe and analyse the processes and products of the performing arts. The students are expected to see various kinds of realized and fictive productions and exhibitions. The aim for the students is to become acquainted with the use of literature and visual material in order to gain a background which enables an artist an analytical method to the performing arts.
Form of teaching: lectures, essays and discussions.
Assessment criteria: based on active participation and the ability to reflect and analyse the texts or works studied.

Conceptual development
This component trains students in how to create and develop visual material, texts and other production-related material for a scenography. The ability to develop concepts is based on productions and analytical skills, dramaturgy, and systematic and strategic thinking. The aim is learn to create, articulate and communicate concepts.
Form of teaching: courses, lectures, laboratories.
Assessment criteria: based on written/oral reflection, and the ability to see the links between theory, working methods, composition and an artistic production.

Project planning
Project planning looks into themes such as organisation, administration, assessing costs, rights and logistics, and provides a basis for production-related processes. The aim is for students to be able to draw up written applications for funding for productions and become familiar with a host of principles for administrating collective production processes. All the different phases and levels connected to the creation of a work, from the first idea to the dismantling of the work, are explored in this component.
Form of teaching: lectures, private study, essays and discussions.
Assessment criteria: based on active participation, the ability to express oneself in writing, the ability for strategic reasoning, the organization of a work throughout all phases, as well as organizational skills.

Laboratories:
Multimedia
Multimedia provides a technological and aesthetic understanding of the potential of various technology-based media as formal elements integrated in a production. The aim is for students to be able to use various forms of digital and analogue technology as artistic elements in their own productions. The students will also acquire the needed vocabulary for high-end equipment to be able to incorporate according instruments into their projects on a theoretical level and then communicate with specialists.
Form of teaching: practical courses and experimentation.
Assessment criteria: based on active participation, the ability to see creative possibilities for the use of relevant technology in the creation of space.

Space
Within this component, the students explore characteristics of space practically and theoretically. It contains the analysis of any given space as well as the free and distinct creation of space. A space is always there and inherently bound to time. The students will study the potential of a space, the objects it contains and by which it is defined and the movements inside it. The aim of this key laboratory component is for the students to learn to communicate with space and objects in relationship to it.
Form of teaching: practical courses and experiments.
Assessment criteria: based on the active exploration of and experimentation with composition in space, reflecting the other elements which inhere in space: light, movement and sound.

Lighting
In this laboratory component the students learn about technical aspects connected to light as well as to its artistic use as an inherent part of every space. An introduction into the different (stage) lamp types, their specifications, build, mounting, focussing and use on a theoretical level will be followed by practical exercises in which the students experience artificial light physically. On a second level workshops will focus more on the way light affects surfaces and how any object respectively material only becomes visually apparent with light. Lighting as a fundamental prerequisite for scenography and the way in which forms and space are created with light will be explored. The Students will get to know techniques and methods on how to use light to create form and space which are inextricably linked to light. The aim is for students to understand the possibilities of artificial lighting, how to rig and focus simple lights themselves, how to sketch a light plot and learn from the experiences of professional lighting designers and directors.
Form of teaching: courses and practical experiments in real stages in scale and with models
Assessment criteria: assessment is based on the technical and artistic understanding of light, its role in a scenography and space in general.

Sound
Within the component of sound, knowledge is acquired about analogue and computer-based sound productions and sound as an integrated part of a scenography or a performance work in general. The aim is for students to be able to understand the functions of and possibilities of sound, compose simple sound backgrounds themselves, and enter into dialogue with professional sound technicians, designers, musicians and composers. Students should be able to use sound/acoustics as an important variable (characteristic) in the way in which a room is experienced.
Form of teaching: courses and practical experiments.
Assessment criteria: assessment is based on the level of basic technical and artistic understanding

Productions:
Directed productions
Directed productions is based on skills from all the study areas and provides practice in being a part of staged productions. The aim is for scenographers to take part in a creative collaboration with a director, a curator or other professionals involved in an artistic project. The students will be trained in taking responsibility for the scenographer's part of a whole project and in finding a balance between the dialogue with others and the own independent work.
Form of teaching: staging/realization of a project.
Assessment criteria: based on the presentation of the production or project.

Independent productions
This component is based on skills from all the areas of study and provides practice in working independently with scenography. The aim is for students to be able to formulate a concept and realize a production; productions can be: staged performances, directing fellow students on the stage, exhibitions, realizing a video, writing a text for the stage, composing a site-specific work or producing other kinds of artistic works.
Form of teaching: independent study with supervision.
Assessment criteria: based on presentation

Coursework requirement
To sit the exam it is required to attend all teaching, study periods and formal students' activities. Any student exceeding the maximal absence of 20% will not be allowed to sit an exam.

For more details, please see the guidelines for students at the Norwegian Theatre Academy.

In case of absence caused by injury, prolonged disease or pregnancy, the head of programme and a tutor who has continuously followed up the student over a longer period of time will on an individually base discuss with the student in concern to seek alternative progression to the normal length of study.

Objectives

Studies in scenography
The Norwegian Theatre Academy offers a three-year course to train people to be professional actors and scenographers respectively. The aim is to train specialized artists who can combine skills, knowledge and methods from conceptual visual art, with skills, techniques and methods from the performing arts with a focus on contemporary theatre. The course requires students to take part in complex, experimental theatre productions, develop independent artistic projects and continually practise their skills.

Students are required to develop an awareness of the methods used in a host of production processes. One important aim is to train professional artists who can work both collectively and independently, and who possess a reflected and analytical attitude to the various forms of expressions and role of the theatre and contemporary art in society.

The artistic profile of the course
The artistic profile of the course has been inspired by the international performing arts within which images, space, sound, text and physicality are equally important elements. Performing arts which experiment with the Classics and relate to different art forms are used as a reference to develop an explorative approach to theatre. Different forms of interplay between scenography (space) and acting (people and their actions) are key elements.

It is an aim to promote genuine artistic collaboration between the students from the Bachelor of Arts in Acting and the Bachelor of Arts in Scenography, further more to create real and challenging encounters between students and artists from different countries and artistic disciplines. The aim is to train scenographers who can develop and implement concepts for various forms of the performing arts: from complex theatrical productions at large theatres or other venues to projects involving experimental artistic expressions based on space and time. The course places great emphasis on training the students' abilities to develop precise forms of visual communication in drawings, models and digital media.

Internationalisation

The Norwegian Theatre Academy's curriculum engages professional artists and other relevant experts from all parts of the world as teachers. The Norwegian Theatre Academy also keenly recruits students from an international environment.

Students at the Norwegian Theatre Academy are encouraged to take one semester of their studies abroad. The Academy's international network facilitates student exchanges and it will help arranging exchanges for interested students individually. Nevertheless the students are expected to take the according initiative.

All teaching is in English. The students have to follow all arranged classes; there are no separate courses for foreign students. The Academy is pleased to welcome international exchange students from its international network whenever this fits in with the organizing of regular academic year programmes.

Continuous feedback

Individual students' work is assessed orally during their studies based on the targets and contents of the area concerned, and the students' individual abilities. Continual assessment is an important part of the student's individual learning plan.

Upon the completion of each study period which lasts 2 weeks or more, as defined by the semester plan, the students will be given an assessment. The head of programme or his/her deputy and the main teacher involved in the respective study period assess the student's work, progress and artistic and professional development.

Risk of not passing
If, on the basis of the student's efforts or academic development, the student is deemed to be at risk of failing in one or more of the study programme's four subject areas at the end of the semester, the student will be called in to an interview and notified of this at any time during the programme of study.

The head of programme, a tutor who has continuously followed up the student over a longer period of time and the head of study will take part in this meeting with the student.
At the meeting, it shall be stated in which way the student will be followed up.
Students may be given individual assignments as an opportunity to raise their level of academic development and proficiency sufficiently to a pass grade by the end of the semester.

The meeting must be drawn up in writing, signed by the student, the head of programme and the head of study, indicating that the meeting has taken place.

If extra individual task has been required, this must also be drawn up in writing with a date for submission (deadline) and signed by the head of programme, the head of study and the student. Such extra work may be a written essay, or presenting work demonstrating that the student possesses adequate skills or knowledge and is progressing.

The result of the extra work will be a part of the final assessment for each of the semester's areas of study at the end of the semester.

Assessment

The course is based on continual assessment.

At the end of the semester, the student's individual effort and progress are assessed in relation to the targets set for each area by the head of programme and at least one tutor who has followed the student's studies regularly for a longer period of time. The overall assessment of each of the semester's areas of study at the end of the semester is considered to be the exam, and the mark "pass/not passed" is awarded.

Study points are awarded at the end of each completed semester, and for each individual area.

Due to the organisation and structure of the course and the way in which subject areas are integrated to make a whole, a student must pass each subject area of study during each semester to be able to continue with his/her studies. This means that all subject areas in the first semester must be passed before the student may continue to the subject areas of the second semester, etc.

Absence (please see organisation and teaching above) must be authorized before the student can take the exam. Any student who has been absent for more than 20% of the subject area will not be able to take the exam. The student will only be able to catch up on the teaching he/she has missed in the next ordinary teaching period. This must be equivalent to the same level/semester the student has missed. This may imply a delay of up to two years.

Re-sits
If a student fails to pass the exam in one or more subject areas, he/she will have the opportunity to re-sit the exam.

A new exam is drawn up in the third last week of the semester. This task must be done during the two last weeks of the semester.

The task is defined by the head of programme in cooperation with a tutor who has followed the student for a certain period of time and an external examiner. The external examiner will be appointed by the head of programme. The new exam takes place in the last week of the semester. 14 days are granted to complete the task. The content, the criteria which will be assessed and the time allotted to complete the new exam will be stated on the task itself. The head of programme, the head of study and the student sign a document stating that the new exam has been handed to the student. All areas of study must be passed before a student can continue with the next semester.

An exam may be taken twice (the normal exam and one retake), in correspondence with the Regulation concerning Exams at Østfold University College of 1 January 2006, section 5, subsection 3.

A student who chooses to leave the course before completing and passing it may be given a transcript of records showing the areas passed and the number of study points gained and which semesters have been completed.

Formal mistakes in the exam may be appealed against. The expert assessment of the examiners cannot be appealed against.

Reading list

The course has no set reading list.
The Academy has a specialised library so the students can bring themselves up to date with the national and international arts.
The areas of SKILLS, LABORATORIES and PRODUCTIONS are based on experiential learning. The area of METHODS is more theoretical and assessed based on active participation and reflection.

The head of programme and the tutors will point to relevant literature, visual art works, videos, websites, theatrical productions and exhibitions, art catalogues, film, music, art and theatre criticism in the media etc.

The study plan is approved and revised

The study plan is approved

Artistic Director Serge von Arx and head of administration Anne Berit Løland, 9 September 2009.

The study plan applies to

2009 - 2012

Programme Coordinator

Norwegian Theatre Academy