Jack Beck

Professor

School of Film and Animation

College of Art and Design

Undergraduate Program Director, Production

jabpph@rit.edu

585-475-2761

Office Location

GAN-2101

Jack Beck

Professor

School of Film and Animation

College of Art and Design

Undergraduate Program Director, Production

Education

BA, Denison University; MFA, University of Iowa

jabpph@rit.edu

585-475-2761

Areas of Expertise

Film Production

Select Scholarship

Book Chapter

Beck, Jack. "Seeking a Balanced Image-Sound Referent System: In a Praxis of Design." The 21st Century Film, TV & Media School: Sound. Paris, France: CILECT Publications, 2024. 100-110. Print.

Invited Keynote/Presentation

Beck, Jack. "The Strata of Textual Analysis for the Voice Theorist." UFVA: Rock On: Urban Resilience, Cinema, and Sustainability. Cleveland State University. Cleveland, OH. 2 Aug. 2024. Conference Presentation.

Jack, Beck,. "The Cinematic A.I. as a Chion Voice-Body Duality." 2023 UFVA: Cultivating the Future of Media Arts. Georgia Southern University. Savannah, GA. 20 Jul. 2023. Conference Presentation.

Beck, Jack. "Voices Not Heard: Making Dialogue Indiscernible as an Aesthetic Choice." UFVA: A Virtual Conference. Florida State University. Tallahassee, FL. 29 Jul. 2020. Conference Presentation.

Beck, Jack. "Bressonian Method of "Complementarity": Guiding Tenets to Image/Sound Imbalance." UFVA Conference: Land of 10,000 Tales. Augsburg University. Minneapolis, MN. 1 Aug. 2019. Conference Presentation.

Beck, Jack A. "Re-Defining Focalized Sound: The Convergence of POA, Suspension, and Extension." CILECT North America Sound Conference: Sound & Storytelling. Chapman University. Orange, CA. 23 Mar. 2018. Conference Presentation.

Beck, Jack A. "Captured!: The Obsession of Powerful/less, Mediated Voice in Cinema." UFVA : Stories Without Borders. New Mexico State University. Las Cruces, NM. 25 Jul. 2018. Conference Presentation.

Beck, Jack A. "A Case for Spectral Music: Score that Inhabits the Diegesis." UFVA - Media Diversity: Inclusion and Convergence. Cal State University, LA. Los Angeles, CA. 1 Aug. 2017. Conference Presentation.

Beck, Jack A. "Challenges and New Approaches to Teaching Music and Sound in Film/New Media." GEECT - Music and Sound Design: When Theory Meets Practice. GEECT at the National Library. Vilnius, Lithuania. 29 Sep. 2017. Conference Presentation.

Beck, Jack. "A Call for the Mise-en-Bande in an Image-Centered Lexicon." UFVA Conference: Content Creation in the 21st Century. University of Las Vegas. Las Vegas, NV. 3 Aug. 2016. Lecture.

Beck, Jack. "Conveying Point of Audition for the Hearing-Impaired Character." UFVA Conference: Content Creation in the 21st Century. Las Vegas University. Las Vegas, NV. 1 Aug. 2016. Lecture.

Beck, Jack. "SOFA Request for Membership." CILECT Congress. Griffith Film School. Brisbane, AUS, QLD. 21 Nov. 2016. Address.

Beck, Jack. "The Emergence of On-Screen, Graphic Text(ing)." UFVA Conference: Media With Impact. American University. Washington, DC. 6 Aug. 2015. Conference Presentation.

Published Conference Proceedings

Beck, Jack. "Forum on Artificial Intelligence: The Cinematic AI as a Chion Voice-Body Duality." Proceedings of the 2023 UFVA Conference: Cultivating the Future of Media Arts. Ed. Cynthia Ann Baron. Savannah, Georgia: Journal of Film and Video 76.1, 2024. Print.

Invited Paper

Beck, Jack. "The Call for a Balanced Image-Sound Referent System." CILECT Asia Pacific Association Conference 2022: Sound & Screen. Nanyang Technological University. (2022). Print.

Shows/Exhibits/Installations

Beck, Jack. Stari Grad (Old Town). n.d. One hundred seventeen Film Festivals to Date, 37 Countries, 14 Awards, several cities world-wide. Exhibit.

Beck, Jack. AUX1. 2007. Eight Festival Screenings, several cities. Exhibit.

Beck, Jack. Fossil Light. 2008. Twenty-One Film Fests, several cities, international, awards. Exhibit.

Beck, Jack. Church Wall, Sarajevo. Dec. 2016. Rochester Contemporary Museum Members Exhibition and Presentation, Rochester, NY. Exhibit.

Beck, Jack. Flour Alley, Dubrovnik, Croatia. Dec. 2015. Rochester Contemporary Museum Members Exhibition and Presentation, Rochester, NY. Exhibit.

Beck, Jack. Morning Light, Old Town, Dubrovnik, Croatia. Dec. 2015. Image City Photo Gallery, Rochester, NY. Exhibit.

Currently Teaching

SOFA-502

Production Processes

6 Credits

This course is an introduction to all aspects of professional film/video narrative production. Students produce short projects while learning basic shooting and crewing procedures, studio protocol, equipment handling and maintenance, and basic sync editing.

SOFA-512

Film Sound Theory: Effects

4 Credits

This course is one of three in the study of film sound theory. Through readings, focused group discussion, and the viewing of/listening to select films, the course promotes critical analysis of the varied and profound uses of effects in sound design. Addressed is the history of effects from the early sound era to the modern design. The concepts studied include the modal changes in point-of-audition, and positioning across diegeses. Other topics like complementarity and the acousmetre acousmatic are also addressed.

SOFA-599

SOFA Independent Study

1 - 6 Credits

SOFA Independent Study will provide students with the ability to study in a specialized area with an individual faculty member. Students, with the assistance of a faculty adviser, should propose a course of study or project with clearly defined deliverables. Students must obtain permission of an instructor and complete the Independent Study Permission Form to enroll. Student must have a minimum of a 3.0 GPA to apply.

SOFA-602

Production Processes

6 Credits

This course is an introduction to various aspects of professional film/video narrative production. Course content focuses on collaborative production techniques with various student levels to reinforce team building needed to produce a film. At the completion of this course, students create short projects while learning basic shooting and crewing procedures, studio protocol, equipment handling and maintenance, and basic sync editing.

SOFA-692

Film Sound Theory: Effects

4 Credits

This course is one of three in the study of film sound theory. Through readings, focused group discussion, viewing of and listening to select films, the course promotes critical analysis of the varied and profound uses of effects in sound design. Addressed is the history of effects from the early sound era to the modern design. The concepts studied include the modal changes in point-of-audition, and positioning across diegeses. Other topics include complementarity and the acousmatic.

SOFA-790

Research and Thesis I

4 Credits

This is the first of two courses designed to advance a student towards completion of their thesis. Students will work independently on their approved plan of work for their thesis while meeting on a regular basis with their committee chair. They are required to meet at least twice with their full committee during the semester.

SOFA-799

Film and Animation Graduate Independent Study

1 - 4 Credits

Film and Animation Graduate Independent Study will provide students with the ability to study in a specialized area with an individual faculty member. Students, with the assistance of a faculty adviser, should propose a course of study or project with clearly defined deliverables. Students must obtain permission of an instructor and complete the Independent Study Permission Form to enroll. Student must have a minimum of a 3.0 GPA to apply.

SOFA-890

Research and Thesis II

4 Credits

This is the second of two courses designed to advance a student towards completion of their thesis. Students will work independently on their approved plan of work for their thesis while meeting on a regular basis with their committee chair. They are required to meet at least twice with their full committee during the semester as well as present a final screening of their thesis.

In the News

January 21, 2025

Student filmmakers showcase their work on WXXI in the next edition of ‘RIT Shorts’

WXXI continues to spotlight the work of students and alumni from RIT’s School of Film and Animation through RIT Shorts, a biannual short film series.
April 29, 2022

Pioneering RIT and NTID collaboration garners the Coca-Cola Refreshing Films Grand Prize

Say Cheese, a pioneering, heartfelt film directed and produced by two RIT students, took home the top prize in the Coca-Cola Refreshing Films program announced during the final night of CinemaCon in Las Vegas late Thursday. The project featured the combined creative efforts of students, faculty, and staff in RIT’s School of Film and Animation and NTID.
March 15, 2022

RIT, NTID make history with Coca-Cola-sponsored film

Film and Animation students Anna McClanahan (BFA) and Gabriel Ponte-Fleary (MFA) are finalists in Coca-Cola's Refreshing Films program. They are producing what is thought to be the program's first finalist film dealing with deaf and hard-of-hearing themes.

More News

Featured Work

Stari Grad Trailer

Jack Beck

A fable set in Old Town, Dubrovnik, Croatia. A boy, hiding from artillery fire, makes a wish for peace, with unexpected results. 117 festivals, 14 awards

Polar Bear Video (excerpts)

Jack Beck

Travel agencies currently promote trips to Churchill, Canada that encourage “ecotourists” to watch and photograph polar bears struggling to survive. One intention here is to create a context where a...

AUX1

Jack Beck

The electronic image, doubled, crossed, combined, and looped upon itself, exposes the circuitry matrix, and becomes its own surface texture, color, and motion; pulsing to its own overlapping signals....