More movie magic!

I still have a few more pictures to share from my recent trip to the Museum of the Moving Image- I hope you don't mind!

To me, one of the coolest parts of the museum was the area devoted to the history/science of movies.

The exhibit started with examples of the beginning of movie history.

And the displays were all tactile, so you could play with them and really appreciate how far movies have come.

For example, these Charlie Chaplain "films" were operated with a hand crank.

As you cranked the handle, lots of little pictures flipped by and Charlie got into a barroom fight... the technology was so simple, yet I can imagine it was pretty revolutionary when it was first developed.

Another cool area of the exhibit was the stop motion station. Housed around a large table, there were 8 interactive computers that allowed you to record stop-motion videos...

Using paper shapes in various colors and sizes.

As if that wasn't cool enough, when you were done playing you could even email your video to yourself! Of course, I had to try the technology, so here's my 13 second video in case you want to check out my handy work. (Don't worry, I won't quit my day job!)

Fun, right? Further into the exhibit there were all sorts of other items and artifacts used to create movies. For example, there was an entire room of movie and television cameras...

And each one was developed or used for a special purpose. This particular camera was created in order video motion, like this scene from Judy Garland's Meet Me in St. Louis.

There was also a display of audio recorders, which was pretty interesting!

Another cool (and interactive) part of the museum was the sound effect display. It included an area where you could select a movie from a list, and insert different sound effects.

I chose to play around with Home Alone II, and had all sorts of fun replacing the movie's actual sound effects with crazy alternatives.

I had similar fun in the soundtrack area. There I decided to take a scene from Independence Day...

And played the scene with a different score. (In my opinion, nothing beats Holst's Mars, although the original soundtrack is still pretty good!)

As you can tell, I had a great time at the Museum of the Moving Image, and I highly recommend it if you're ever in Astoria.

Oh, and if you're in town, there's a Jim Henson exhibit showing until next month. I wasn't allowed to take pictures, but it was amazing- I actually teared up when I saw the Bert and Ernie puppets that were used on Sesame Street when I was a kid. The exhibit had so much to see: in addition to an incredibly interesting display of Jim's art work and puppets, there was Ms. Piggy from Muppets Take Manhattan and items from the Dark Crystal, which I loved to watch when I was a kid (event though I was slightly terrified the whole time).

Thanks for stopping by- I hope you had a great weekend!

How moving!

As I alluded to yesterday, I visited another amazing museum recently: the Museum of the Moving Image!

This cool place is located in Astoria (just about 20 minutes from my apartment), so I couldn't wait to check it out! As their mission states: 

Museum of the Moving Image advances the public understanding and appreciation of the art, history, technique, and technology of film, television, and digital media. It does so by collecting, preserving, and providing access to moving-image related artifacts, screening significant films and other moving-image works, presenting exhibitions of artifacts, artworks, and interactive experiences, and offering educational and interpretive programs to students, teachers, and the general public.

Now, I am nowhere near what most folks would call a "film buff," but I love watching movies! So I was pretty excited to see what this museum had to offer. Upon entering the first exhibit, I wasn't disappointed. Spanning an entire wall were photos of the greatest film actors/actresses of all time.

And it didn't take me long to spot my boyfriend, Bing Crosby! (For those of you who have never met me, I have loved Bing for as long as I can remember... he's the best!)

Of course, there were all sorts of other things to see at the museum as well. From prop busts...

To mechanical "heads" (the plaque said that this one was used in Black Swan, though I don't know for sure since I'm too scared to see the movie)...

And terrifying puppets. (Do you recognize her from The Exorcist?)

In addition to the creepy items, there were also cases of interesting cinematic artifacts.

For example, this was Marlon Brando's dental insert for his role in The Godfather.

And like I shared yesterday, these were the prosthetic faces for Mrs. Doubtfire.

The museum collection also included a few interesting costumes...

Where Mrs. Doubtfire's dress and padded "lady suit" were prominently displayed (you can even see Cliff Huxtable's sweater and slacks on the right).

Another fun part of the museum was the area devoted to movie memorabilia. There was a wall of movie magazines...

Toys based on movies and television shows...

(Including these awesome coloring books that I would LOVE to have owned...)

And a whole alcove of video games. I was surprised to see these at first, but then I realized they're also great examples of "moving images." Oh- and the best part? YOU CAN PLAY THESE!! There are a couple that are free (the older games), while the newer games like Ms. Pacman are 25 cents a game. Isn't that fun?

One of my favorite little displays on this floor was this area devoted to movie scores. I was proud to realize that I already owned quite a few of these (including one my of personal favorites Fame in the upper-left-hand corner).

And as if that whole floor wasn't cool enough, there was a movie theater IN THE MUSEUM! Even better, the theater is home to screenings each week, so people can come to the museum and see a movie... how fun is that?

As you can tell, this museum is great! I have a few more pictures to share, so make sure to stop by on Monday to see the rest of the photos!

Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

All lined up...

When I got to work yesterday, there was a line of people up the block. They had apparently slept there all evening in preparation for the Harry Potter movie premiere which was being premiered in the theater next door.
By the time the evening rolled around, this same shot was a scene of pandemonium! Thousands more people had shown up, and we could hear their screams inside our school as the stars of the show walked the red carpet.

Things like this remind me that I never know what to expect when living in a wonderful city like NYC...

Met(ropolitan Opera) under the moon...

I love working at Lincoln Center because there's always something new going on. For example, as I made my way to work the other morning, I passed by several hundred chairs lined up in the plaza.
Those chairs will actually remain where they are until Labor Day, thanks to the 2010 Summer HD Festival. Every night (for 10 nights) the Met will be projecting their HD operas on the big screen. This event is a big hit- especially since it's free! Don't believe me? Check out the crowd that had gathered by 7 pm...
The movies are started at 8 pm, so when I strolled out of the office last night around 8:30 I had a chance to glimpse a bit of Magic Flute...
Isn't this a fun idea? I love all the fun (and sometimes frugal) things to do in NYC! Thanks for stopping by- I hope you had an awesome weekend!

Colonel Brandon, I think I love you!

I had a really exciting night in Brooklyn this week. It all started normally enough: two of my co-workers and I stopped to grab some dinner at Linger.
Since the weather has been so nice, we decided to eat in the garden out back.
Isn't that gorgeous? There were pink petals everywhere.
We were pretty parched, so when the waitress brought our drinks, we were quite relieved.
As we waited for our food, I couldn't resist snapping a few photos...
However, our food arrived soon enough. This was my co-worker's, complete with marinated fennel on top.
I, on the other hand, ordered a delicious caprese salad.
And to top everything off, we finished our meal with a chocolate chip cookie, divided quite diplomatically.
While our meal was quite nice, it was just the beginning of a magical night, because we were headed here.
It's the Harvey Theater, part of BAM. We were there to see the opening night of The Creditors.
It was an interesting play, which happened to have a very famous director.
Now, I've saved the best part for last: one of the professors at my school was Mr. Rickman's teacher at RADA, so she took us backstage to meet him after the show. He was gracious and humble... and his speaking voice is even more incredible in person than in the movies. I got to shake his hand, and then he invited us all to be his guests at the opening night party. We got to hobnob with lots of lovely theater folk, and the paparazzi even took our picture... apparently when you arrive to a party with the director, they assume you're kind of important. (I have to admit, I could get used to that kind of attention!)
It was a wonderful evening, and I'll never forget the night I met Colonel Brandon!

I hope you have a great day- thanks for stopping by!