Practical Courses

The primary objective of the practical courses is to make students familiar with the instruments of artistic expression, to have them use these instruments according to an individual work programme, under the guidance of consultants and masters. The fundamental traditional artistic techniques are taught on an elective basis. Understanding of the technological basis of the various new media is something all students will have to acquire. Students present their project work at the end of the semester, which together with their seminar work, will be assessed by a grade.

In each semester, specialist modules are attached to the courses listed below. The credit-based course list and the detailed course descriptions can be found on the page of the current curriculum.

Studio practice
A workshop lead by programme instructors and guest lecturers, based on individual work and individual consultation sessions. The practical courses are part of the studio practices, as are students' use of labs and studios according to individual work schedules.

Creative analysis I-II
Instructor: Miklós Peternák

The core of creative analysis course is provided by creative classes and sample creations which are brought about in the course of common sessions of analysing works of art. Because this is an introductory course, the topics of the actual semester are greatly determined by the students in the given year: their knowledge base, interests and gaps of knowledge will have an impact on the details of instruction.
Generally speaking, the course investigates what art analysis is good for: how and what we can learn from analysing objects of art and how this can be turned to good use in the course of creative work. During the course, we use a variety of approaches to arrive at a mode of perception which takes the work of art as its starting point, concentrates upon it and returns to it in the end. It is important to realize that understanding works of art is a step towards knowledge - in other words, a work of art is a door that opens onto a hitherto unknown territory, and realizing this will help the reception of a new work of art as much as the creation of a new one. IN general, we deal with forms lesser-known to students, and the semesters are often structured around a core topic with recurring elements (media archaeology, experimental cinema, video art, the relationship between art and science).

How to Create Works of Art I-II
Instructor : János Sugár

In the first semester, the course focuses on building up the objective and critical attention vital to creative work. In the second semester, we delve into narration and dramaturgy, while in the third and fourth semesters the primary objective is to learn and practice visual communication. The course involves the in-class analysis of various works of art - classic art video pieces, course project work and works prepared by the students -, using radical interpretative techniques.

Drawing I-II
Instructor: Gábor Bakos

This course undertakes no more and no less than to enable students to find their own personal relationship, free of artificial expectations and clichés, to the medium of drawing. Various areas, from free-hand drawing to stencil creation to computer-aided drawing will be treated in detail.

Video I-IV
Instructor: Gábor Tálosi

The course will instruct students in the theory and practice of the independent use of analogue video equipment, cameras, software and hardware and teach them to shoot and edit video material. The process, which takes students from the conception of a project to its full realization, will provide them with experiences essential in artistic work.

Photography I-II
Instructor: Gábor Bakos and Imre Zalka

The course covers the fundamentals of photography. Students will be required to become proficient in the processes of black-and-white photography, through a personal project that will involve developing film, preparing contact sheets, the preparation of enlargements, etc.

Practical photo technology I-II
Instructor: György Gadányi

Students will become proficient in the techniques of classic photography and filming, learning skills that will also be utilized when working with digital technology. The use of classic camera techniques, special lenses and photo material demand a vision and careful planning, which will be also in demand when working with digital effects and simulations. In other words, the course provides students with skills and experience that are essential for the practice of media arts.

Traditional Filmmaking
Instructor: Mária Rigó

Students will learn the classic editing techniques of 16 and 35 mm film. Beside the technological aspects, great stress will be laid on the creative aspects of editing. The objective is to use visual and audio material in innovative ways (including dialogues, music, sound effects, atmospherics and animation)

The History of Computer Technology
Instructor: Zoltán Szegedy-Maszák

The course aims to teach basic computing skills. The lectures will bring historical and practical examples to illustrate various aspects of computing: the history of automatons from the ancient world to the present, the development of computing machines in the light of mathematics and logic, the development of the electronic computer, the evolution of software and hardware, the history of operating systems, the development of programming languages and programming interfaces, the history and development of the present networked computing environment.

Basic Web Design
Instructor: Márton Fernezelyi

Students in this course will learn the basic technologies of on-line publishing. Topics include the reasons for the evolution of networks and hypermedia and their histories, the history of the Internet and the World Wide Web, the history and latest applications of FTP, email, Telnet, HTML and other Internet applications. The prehistory and possibilities of browsers, streaming media, VRML/JAVA/JavaScript applications.

Basic Programming
Instructor: Márton Fernezelyi

The course seeks to make students familiar with the basic programming skills necessary to plan and execute interactive multimedia applications (installations, CD-ROMs, on-line works of art). Students will be required to program simple applications to provide them with the experience necessary to use programming environments, scripting languages and developer environments.

Basic Desktop Publishing
Instructor: Gábor Bakos

Students will learn the fundamental layout skills necessary to produce computer-based designs. They will also learn the practical aspects of laying out printed and electronic documents, of designing graphics and multimedia. The skills will be acquired through carrying out an entire project (DTP, web page, multimedia application interface) from the first sketches and ideas to full realization, in the course of which students will also learn to use the necessary software.

Creative computer workshop
Instructors: Márton Fernezelyi , Róbert Langh, Zoltán Szegedy-Maszák

This is a specialty module, designed to provide the technical support and framework for student projects that need unique technological solutions (installations, complex Internet and multimedia applications). The course changes from semester to semester, to allow the latest technological developments to be integrated into the instruction and in turn, into the projects of the students, who will be required to initiate and realize complex projects that are innovate in technological terms as well.