**Registration for this elective is now closed.

By studying multiple unique styles of dance and physically practicing numbers from famous musicals, teens will develop the knowledge and ability to apply themself fully to their compositions. This performance based elective will teach teens short numbers to strengthen their choreography, as well as their physical ability in learning unique dance skill sets. Teens will develop improvisation as a process for exploring creative impulses, new movement material, create seed phrases and build a tool box of choreographic crafting devices. 

**Registration for this elective is now closed.

The evolution of songwriting over the years has gone from large, expensive studios and tape, to a laptop in a bedroom. The art of songwriting is a hobby for many teens, this intensive is designed to take their writing to the next level. Teens will study the fundamentals, how to collaborate with other musicians, and gain hands-on experience performing with a band. Our Cornish instructors will guide them throughout the songwriting process and provide one-on-one coaching to help you develop their unique sound. Teens will learn why songs work and give them the skills to further develop their music, as well as time to create new music alongside other like minded musicians.

**Registration for this elective is now closed. 

Led by Cornish instructor and trumpeter Ray Larsen, this elective is designed for instrumentalists and vocalists who are interested in exploring contemporary approaches to writing and performing music for a small collaborative ensemble. Students will experiment with group and solo composition using performance instructions, graphic scores, conduction languages and game pieces. Along the way, the ensemble will investigate and leverage the sonic possibilities of a unique and non-traditional instrumentation. The course will culminate in a set of original music to be performed in a final performance on August 4 in Cornish's New Raisbeck Hall. 

This studio course introduces teens to the expressive capabilities of digital games and the significance of game art in generating meaning and aesthetic experiences in gameplay. Teens will learn how to think and talk about games as both designed media objects and artworks in order to create game art that facilitates meaning, feeling, and perception in gameplay. Through analysis of game examples, designing game art concepts for fictional projects, and making functional art for a small game in collaboration with peers, students will learn how to engage critically and creatively with the process of game-making. Teens will make art for a "game mod," modifying a self-selected commercial game, and contribute original art to a small game project created for the class. 

* This elective requires each student to bring a personal laptop. 

This intensive exposes teens to the actor’s “instrument” - their body and voice - and the habits of healthy performance; establishing skills, concepts, terminology, and goals from which subsequent training can spring. Teens will learn about their  instrument as a complex and unified system, the mechanics of the body, and the steps performers can take to remain emotionally and physically resilient.
 

While this intensive may be taken independently, it is an elective that is designed to work in conjunction with our Film Foundations program or Acting Fundamentals for Theater and Musicals.

Costume Design is focused on exploring the job of a costume designer and understanding their role as part of a collaborative design team working on a production. Teens will explore the role and processes of designing costumes from the initial reading of a script, to conceptual work and research, design techniques and principles, and completing design renderings. Using a short one act play, teens will experience the design process from initial organizational and research methods to introduction of design principles. They will also explore historical and style research, and learn rendering techniques and fabrics that will allow them to continue to create on their own.

Set Design is an intensive that allows teens to delve into the visual art and craft skills required to be a successful scenic designer or set designer. Teens will explore visual research strategies and presentation, perspective and speculative sketching, scale model building, scenic drafting, and paint elevations. Teens will explore the theory and practice of the design process for the professional theater and beyond, while developing the skills necessary to conceptualize and craft designs for plays or musical scripts. 

Both an acting and a physical technique course, this class explores character movement in the context of a specific physical form: Stage Combat with an emphasis on unarmed and Theatrical Sword technique. Performers develop greater specificity of movement, clarity of physical choices, and balance of one’s own energy with that of a partner. 

**Registration for this elective is now closed.

The Voice 101 intensive affords high school vocalists an opportunity to take their vocal technique and command of the voice to the next level. This serves as a foundation course, which will inform and increase stylistic abilities as vocalists progress as committed singers and performers. Combining genres (jazz, classical, contemporary), students and instructors will explore aspects of vocal technique, the physiology of the voice, musical styles, body awareness and commitment to the text.

This intensive will give vocalists the opportunity of focusing on healthy vocal technique in any style, as well as peer and instructor feedback on vocal performances. Through classroom discussion, listening sessions, studio performances, private lessons, and group masterclasses, the intensive will delve into all aspects of vocal use and technique.

All musicians, regardless of style or instrument, can benefit from learning the basics of music production. Through exercises and small projects designed to strengthen the technical understanding of music production, teens will be given the opportunity to write and produce their own music. This intensive gives an overview of software, including navigation, key commands, screen sets, and workflow. Using MIDI instruments for editing, audio recording, building beats, and mixing, the teens will be encouraged to let their creativity produce a final product that will get them to their next level.

Prior knowledge of music production is not necessary, all levels are welcome. We will do our absolute best to cater this class to each person's ability, supporting those who are newer and challenging those who are more advanced.

While this intensive may be taken independently, it is an elective that is designed to work in conjunction with our Music Foundations I & II program. Please see that description or email extension@cornish.edu if you have any questions.

* This elective requires each student to bring a personal laptop.

Music for Film, Games, and TV affords teens an exciting opportunity to write their own soundtracks to Hollywood blockbusters, epic video games, and favorite TV shows. In a creative and supportive environment, teens will gain fundamental skills, with particular emphasis on composing for media; as well as learn the ins-and-outs of digital audio production, including a full introduction to Apple’s Logic Pro X. The course begins with an overview of how music interacts with media and the basics of writing and composing. Students will study “the dramatic arc” from a composer’s point of view as well as receive a detailed explanation of Logic’s powerful tools like MIDI editing, audio recording, electronic music production, building beats, mixing, virtual instruments, synthesizers, and how to produce professional sounding music.

Teens do not need to have prior experience although it is helpful to have some basic ability recording audio or MIDI in Apple’s Garageband and/or Logic. Both beginner and more experienced students are welcome.

**Registration for this elective is now closed.

Led by The Rhapsody Project, this new elective will weave together music making, self-awareness, cultural context, equity, historical context, and anti-racism. Teens will play in ensembles and learn music from a variety of genres including spirituals, string band, blues, jazz, and deepen their understanding of the history of this music and explore aspects of Black American music: the history, the culture, and making music in community. This course will support self-reflection through group discussion, leading to new personal and societal insights that improve musicianship and possibly self-awareness in our complex, rapidly changing world.

**This course is currently full. If you would like to be added to a waitlist in case of any withdrawals, please email plus@cornish.edu.

Cinematography is a key element in making a director’s vision a reality. In this intensive, teens will work on set and location, gaining experience in the basic fundamentals of cinematography. From camera selection, lenses, and filters; to learning about basic lighting, color theory and how to integrate special effects, these intensive covers necessary elements of filmmaking. Teens will begin by learning the art of filmmaking and how to communicate their message. After having a deeper understanding of basic video principles, teens will learn how to integrate the technical side of cinematography to reach their goal.

This intensive exposes teens to the actor’s “instrument” - their body and voice - and the habits of healthy performance; establishing skills, concepts, terminology, and goals from which subsequent training can spring. Teens will learn about their  instrument as a complex and unified system, the mechanics of the body, and the steps performers can take to remain emotionally and physically resilient.
 

While this intensive may be taken independently, it is an elective that is designed to work in conjunction with our Film Foundations program or Acting Fundamentals for Theater and Musicals.

**Registration for this elective is now closed.

Sound Design gives teens an exciting opportunity to work with layers of recorded sound and effects to breathe emotion and a sense of felt experience and storytelling into media. This elective covers key aspects of sound in film, games and media including music, foley arts, creative audio design as well as mixing sound over multiple tracks. Teens will learn the fundamentals of software, creative practices in the digital environment, and invention. Participants will set their own original sound beds and soundtracks to scenes that will be provided. Teens will develop our ears, learn the technical fundamentals, watch ground-breaking examples of contemporary sound design, as well as spend time understanding the tools and concepts behind the mysterious alchemy of sound and image in film and media.

For students of all backgrounds and abilities.

Engaging, powerful photographs come to life through ideas, perspective, voice, and memory. In this class, teens will put aside all digital devices and explore the world of film and “alternative” photography.   During week one we will work with Holga toy cameras and medium format film as an introduction to light sensitive materials and the traditional darkroom.  Referencing the work of Juanan Requena we move on to camera-less photography, making photograms and cyanotypes, and then bring our photographic marks to the 3D world by printing onto different substrates like foldable books, masks and lightboxes.  

Everyone is now a photographer! Learn how to make great photos, not just “take” them.

Life drawing (drawing from live models) is a core skill for any budding visual artist. Teens will develop perceptual and conceptual skills through exercises, critiques, lectures, and strong drawing practice. While working with a live model throughout the intensive, teens will gain the skills of translating what is observed through the techniques of drawing. 

Additionally, teens will become familiar with contemporary and traditional art history as it relates to the figure. Specific instruction will include construction of the figure/body, figurative proportion systems including the head and face, and a volumetric understanding of the planes of the body through line and light. Teens will explore various black and white media, develop visual awareness, and enrich their capacity for observation and self-expression.

Teens will be immersed in the world of object design through hands-on studio work that will include material exploration, drawing, and making concept models. Through three distinct design projects, teens will experiment with textile design, lighting design, and furniture design. In each project, they will explore the diverse cultural history of design as well as contemporary culture and emerging technology.

While this intensive may be taken independently, it is an elective that is designed to work in conjunction with our Art and Design Pre-College Foundations program. Please see that description or email extension@cornish.edu if you have any questions.

This elective explores both traditional and digital illustration and introduces the tools to make illustrations come alive with animation! Teens will learn the basics of pose, movement, and expression through a process of drawing to create animated sequences in the digital time-based media technologies of animators.

Learn about bringing theatre to life through aspects of performance production. Each day, teens will explore professional back-stage environments and studio costume design, lighting, scenic, and/or sound design.This elective is perfect for the teen who loves theatre, ballet, music, really any aspect of live performance, but prefers to be the person behind the curtain making the magic happen.

Editing is a powerful skill to shape narrative. In this intensive, teens are introduced to the writing, thinking, music, and “surgery” that create vivid film stories, and will learn the  rudiments of editing on Adobe Premiere Pro, a non-linear editing system. Core basics such as importing files, designing sound and image, adding effects and transitions, and troubleshooting common problems will be covered. Final projects may be suitable for future applications to schools, screening for family and friends, uploading to YouTube, or submitting to film festivals. 

* This elective requires each student to bring a personal laptop.

This is a hands-on course for teens with a limited background in graphic design. Teens will be introduced to graphic design through introductory projects using Adobe Illustrator. They will learn to draw with vector lines and be introduced to color theory, typography, hierarchy, and shape. Through research and by developing analytical skills, teens will learn how to draw and use type in Adobe Illustrator and gain knowledge of graphic design principles.

In this all-levels hands-on intensive, teens will develop essential skills for powerful, versatile storytelling in words and pictures, including writing, drawing, visual language, crafting narratives, developing characters, inking, and production including scanning, Photoshop, and printing. Teens will craft several short comics, which will be collected in a final mini comic at the end of the session.

While this intensive may be taken independently, it is an elective that is designed to work in conjunction with our Art & Design Pre-College Foundations program. Please see that description or email extension@cornish.edu if you have any questions.