AP Art: Out on the Town

Tonight is the Art series Night at the New York City ballet with artwork from Dustin Yellin and a number of us will be attending.  The show is terrific as is the ballet and there's even a free art book as a gift so what more can one ask!

AP Art: James Victore design challenge

Here are some of the results from the James Victore AP Art Class design challenge.  Each student was given 40 minutes, a word, and a design handicap that pushed them out of their comfort zone and the results were as diverse as they were interesting.  These examples from Samantha, Christian, Mackenzie, and Andrew were all particularly interesting because they were so unexpected and outside of the style of each student.

Media Arts: Animation Basics

In media arts we are reviewing the basics of animation quizlet and looking at some of the process used to create animated films and television.  We'll have a short quiz on the terms Friday which is also when our first short animation challenge is due!

Advanced Media: Sound Editing

As a prequel to learning how to create short film documentaries we will focus just on audio and audio editing and work together to create some 30 second sonic IDs for the COWBIRD audio library. Today we will do some brainstorming around the themes of school, free time, and ambition and begin sharing our ideas and tomorrow we will begin recording and editing some of the ideas into short radio ids.  We'll be referencing Transom which is a great resource for audio techniques and storytelling tips and we'll go over the basics of editing sound with Audacity.

Studio Art: James Victore Day

Today we are looking at the work of designer James Victore in studio art and AP studio art class.  He has created some unique and impactful design work  which has been shown in some of the biggest museums from MoMA to the Louvre and his spirit and style is terrific.



Studio art- we are going to use his recent collaboration with Holstee as inspiration to create our own individual daily affirmation or reminder.  I will have media such as ink, tape, paper, paint, and pens available but as James himself states there ain't no rules and it's a reminder for you so make it personal and create it in a way that reflects you.

Remember this design is not about being neat and pretty or sloppy and loose for that matter, it's about you- what do you want and how do you communicate it best to yourself?



AP Studio art- we are going to use his recent Creative Live online class as a jump off point.  I watched the majority of the sessions and in it he challenged students to create a design after being given a word and a handicap.  We'll look at some of his work and words and then I'll give each of you a word paired with a media handicap!

Advanced Media: Talking Oscar Night

In Advanced Media we will begin by recapping the Oscars from last night and discuss the winners, moments, and films.  Below is one of my favorite moments from the night as Graham Moore won the Best Adapted Screenplay award for The Imitation Game.

"Stay Weird. Stay Different" a terrific #Oscar speech from #screenwriting winner #GrahamMoore #Oscars2015 #weirded pic.twitter.com/83nPSVWo7p
— Tim Needles (@timneedles) February 23, 2015

We'll also talk about the animated feature and short films that were nominated as we will soon be working on an animation ourselves- here's a great talk from the Academy about the films.

Media Arts: Pixilations

In Media Arts class we will be working on our first pixilation challenge this week.  Pixilations are animations created in real-life without drawing such as the animation we created with everyone's name on the first week of class.

Each student should create their own pixilation that is under 30 seconds using anything they'd like (people, toys, kittens, whatever) and if possible try to loop it so the end is the beginning is the end.

We'll take a look at some amazing profession pixilations from Norman McLaren, PES, Michel Gondry & OK Go and talk about some tricks and techniques that aid in the process but the final pixilation is due Friday 2/27.

Advanced Media: The Short Doc Challenge

Our second challenge is to create a short documentary film in 2 weeks with the theme of: MUSIC. The theme can be used creatively but the film should touch on music in some way.  The example above is a great short doc with the theme of music which was created by a student and was nominated for a student Academy Award.  It is clever in it's technique of simple cinematography and a surprising personal turn that happens midway through the film which holds the attention of the audience and makes the subject very personal.  Be creative, have fun, and film- that's the best advice for short docs because you never know what you have until you begin editing!  The film is due February 27, 2015

Extra Credit: Looking into Smithtown’s Past

Share your creative skills and celebrate your community’s 350th Anniversary! Submit an original work of visual art or photography that responds to, reflects, or is inspired by the theme of Smithtown's Sesquarcentennial Celebration Looking into Smithtown’s Past.

Entry Deadline: April 24, 2015.
Exhibition Dates May 23 – June 16 at the Mills Pond House Gallery.

Cash prizes will be awarded:  $500 for 1stPlace, $350 for 2nd Place, and $150 for 3rd Place. Winning entries will be featured in Smithtown News.

For more information see STAC's website here: Looking into Smithtown’s Past

Media Art: How we use media in class

Here's a short video created entirely on the iPhone using Vine, Relay, & Instagram with students from media art and the art honor society in school yesterday showing how Mr. Needles classes uses media in innovative ways to engage students in the classroom and community.

Extra Credit: Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County Arts Competition

HMTC's Arts Competition theme for this year is to reflect on any of the items in the Objects of Witness exhibit, or other artifacts you have seen or studied, and create a piece in one of the categories below that addresses these questions.

• What story does this item tell?
• How does it help you understand the history of the Holocaust?

VISUAL ART: All works on paper must be matted and ready for hanging with a hook on the back. All framed works must have wires for hanging. Sculpture and ceramics must have sturdy bases. We will accept art submissions MARCH 9-13, BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 9 AM AND 5 PM. No submissions will be accepted after March 13. All art work may be picked up from the Center after the Awards Ceremony on April 19—any art left after June 1, 2015 will become the property of HMTC.  

MUSIC & MULTI-MEDIA: All entries must be submitted electronically either in audio or video, compatible with PC. You may send by flash drive or online storage such as Dropbox or Google Drive. They must be post-marked by March 13. Please provide a brief written document (see format below in literature guidelines) explaining the inspiration and creative process behind the musical composition or multi-media creation.

Deadlines: Entries must be submitted by March 13, 2015. For questions or more information, please contact Tracy Garrison-Feinberg at 516-571-8040 x 106 ortracygarrisonfeinberg@holocaust-nassau.org.

Studio Art: T-shirt Design

In Studio Art class we are designing T-shirts this week which we can actually produce.  We;ll begin by sketching out ideas on paper and drawing a design which we'll then translate to the computer and digitize.  Here are some examples of shirts created by Mr. Needles to give you and idea of what to expect.

Advanced Media: Michel Gondry

In Advanced Media we'll be looking at the films and music videos of writer and director Michel Gondry.  Above is a short film showing him in the process of animating a film, Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy?, which is a collaboration with philosopher and linguist Noam Chomsky (available currently on Netflix).  We'll look at his creative music videos with the White Stripes, Daft Punk, Bjork, and the Rolling Stones in preparing for our music video.  We'll also look at some of his movies such as  Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind which was shot on Long Island and landed him the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 2004 and Be Kind Rewind. We'll also watch a few of his experiments and short films at michelgondry.com. We'll start today with the video for Daft Punk's "Around The World" below.

The Columbus Museum of Art's Mobile Photo Now Exhibition

Tim Needles Photograph of Smithtown East's Patriots Day in the Columbus Museum of Art's #MobilePhotoNow Exhibition

I am honored to have two of my mobile photographs included in the Columbus Museum of Art's #MobilePhotoNow Exhibition which opens to the public today in Columbus, Ohio and runs throuh March 22, 2015.  More than 5,000 photographers from 89 different countries (from 6 continents) submitted nearly 45,000 images via Instagram and 300 images were selected making it largest museum mobile photography exhibition to date.  The museum partnered with the Josh Johnson and the #JJ online photography community (which we work with in class occasionally) to create the show and examine the world of photographs created exclusively on mobile devices.

I'm especially proud to have an photograph that I created with students from my media art class modeling here on Smithtown East's Patriots Day included in the show- the image was chosen to represent the spirit of community seems very appropriate.  If you take a look at Josh Johnson's video below you can see the Patriots Day photograph showcase with some text about the spirit week event at the museum's opening in the background.

Smithtown East Scholastic Art Award Winners

This year Smithtown East won 10 awards in the regional Scholastic Art and Writing Awards which is unprecedented.  Congratulations to: Andrew Chang, Luke Gelfman, Troy Hallahan, Rose Kong, Kristin Scomillio, and Jamie Werner on winning awards in the nationwide competition.  Special congratulations also goes to Rose Kong and Andrew Chang who both won 3 award each.  Senior Rose Kong and freshman Luke Gelfman both won a prestigious gold key awards and their art work is now being moved forward onto judging on the the national level which offers $40,000 award, an art show in Manhattan, and presentation of awards at Carnegie Hall.

Advanced Media: Critiques and our short music video

Today in class we'll watch Paperman, a great 7 minute short romantic comedy film and we'll discuss how to critique the film for class using our template.  We'll watch some behind the scenes clips with the director, John Kahrs, that will give you some insight into how the film was made and styled.  The critique for the film will be due at the end of Monday's class.



Our first month's film assignment in advanced media will be to create a short music video in which all the sound editing takes place via video editing.  I've included examples from Jimmy Fallon and a look at a great duo Eclectic Method who DJs with edited video.  I'll collect you film pitches today and we'll discuss them tomorrow

Studio Art: Peace Poster Zentangle Design

In Studio Art we will begin 3rd quarter with a Peace Poster Zentangle Design. Choose a design which somehow incorporates peace (a mandala, a portrait of a figure known for peace, a quote, ect.) and use a monochromatic zentangle type design to add depth to the work somehow.  The finished piece will be due on Monday.  Below are some student examples including a zentangle designs that were chosen as a finalists.