AP Art: Hiroshi Sugimoto at the Japan Society

Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto will be speaking at the Japan Society next week on Tuesday, March 26 at 7 PM.  You may know his work from  U2's album cover for  No Line on the Horizon which was his photograph Boden Sea, Uttwil (1993) and his colorful scarf designs for French fashion label Hermès.  He will be doing a Q&A along with Memories of Origin Japan, 2012

Studio Art: Origami

In completing the origami lesson we will take a look at director Vanessa Gould's documentary Between The Folds about the "mesmerizing world of modern origami, artists and scientists craft works of delicate beauty and model cutting-edge mathematical theories."

   

   

Media Art: Documentary Film project

In media arts class we've just began making our first film but take a look at this Kickstarter project from New York filmmaker Jessica Edwards called Tell Me Something which asks 50 documentary filmmakers for creative advice, a great read for any kind of artist!!

Media Arts: Animating the Alphabet

In media arts classes we are working on creating an alphabet animation using hand drawn frames. Each student will create a 50 frame animation based on a letter they are given and morph at least 3 different images that begin with that letter into their sequence (Letter A: Apples, Alligators, Andrew Jackson). All of the letter sequences will be combined into a full animation of the alphabet which can be used to teach elementary school students next year, posted online, and submitted into film festivals.

Here's an example of a finished storyboard


Here's an example of a finished name credit and below is an example of what the final individual animated segment looks like.

AP Art: Looking at the concentration as a body of work

Concentration number 8 is due today in AP Art and there are only 25 class days left until the AP Art test so  in addition to making sure each AP concentration fits your theme and works well as a piece it is extremely important that you look at your pieces as a body of work and make sure they fit together.  The 6 concentrations above from Clay clearly have some stylistic elements that run through each of them and they work together as a whole even though there are clear differences so it's a good example of a successful body of work.  If pieces don't fit together it may necessitate you create replacement works so this is the time to work these issues out because there are only 5 weeks left after next week's vacation.

Art Honor Socitey: Art Show and Year End Planning

Today in Art Honor Society we will be reviewing our annual art show (pictured above) and we'll be planning the activities for the end of the year including our spring field trip, a visiting artist, an earth day celebration, MSG varsity filming, contests, AP Studio art for next year, the yearbook page, our alumni art show, and our induction ceremony.

Media Arts: Storyboarding Basics

This week we'll be creating storyboards for our full-length animated films so we'll be talking about the basic camera shots and angles and how to create a professional storyboard.  When storyboards are completed animators will often use them to create an animatic such as the one shown below for the Gorillaz music video.

Studio Art: Textile design and Origami

In Studio Art class we worked on creating unique textile designs and now it is time to learn some basic origami.  We will be designing our own origami paper like the example shown below then creating 3 origami cranes.  The video above shows the step by step instructions so you can replay it if you get lost.  After the 3 cranes are completed we will photograph them and mail them away to a memorial!

AP Art: Submission Information

Today in AP art class we will be signing up for the AP Studio Art Submission in preparation for the upcoming AP test in May. Below is the information you need to know to sign up:

School Code: 335001
School: SMITHTOWN HIGH SCH E CAMPUS
Teacher Key: xwt0100

If you have any questions the College Board has a web demo that gives a step by step run through the process.

Photography: The Story Behind The Image

Last week in photography we learned about photographer Joe McNally and looked at some of his works and today in preparing for tomorrow's test we'll look at the story behind one of his most iconic images for National Geographic, the changing of the light bulb on the Empire State Building.  The video above is the story of the shoot which took a few attempts to be successful.  This is a very timely lesson as Joe posted earlier today that he had " climbed the worlds tallest building today. What an amazing structure! Tweeting from… http://instagr.am/p/W_VQ0SOlGi/" for a photograph on top of the Burj Khalifa.

Photography: Photo History

This week we learned about a number of important photographers such as Robert Frank who is profiled in the video above.  Friday we'll take the visual portion of the test on all of them so here's a list of all of the photograsphers to review:

1. Alfred Stieglitz
2. Ansel Adams
3. Arnold Newman
4.  Chuck Close
5. Cindy Sherman
6. Danny Lyon
7. David LaChapelle
8. Dianne Arbus
9. Dorothea Lange
10. Duane Micheals
11. Eadweard Muybridge
12. Edward Weston
13. Greg Crewdson
14. Henri Cartier-Bresson
15. Herb Ritts
16. Irving Penn
17. Joe McNally
18. Julia Margaret Cameron
19. Lauren Greenfield
20. Margaret Bourke-White 
21. Man Ray ­
22. Marilyn Minter
23. Mathew Brady
24. Nadar
25. Peter Beard
26. Robert Capa
27. Robert Doisneau
28. Robert Frank
29. Sebastião Salgado
30. Walter Iooss Jr.

Media Art: Morphing Animation Demo

Today we will begin a short demo animation which will teach you the steps of animation with a easy morphing design.  Above is a more complex version but the example shows you how simple and cool the animation can be.  You will create a 10 frame animation morphing one shape or object into another and digitize it for Friday.

Media Art: Animation Basics

Today we will begin learning the basics of animation and here's a short clip about the making of the series Futurama to begin with and see how it's arranged and built.

Comedy Central

AP Art: The Armory Show

This weekend was The Armory Show in NYC and the art did not disappoint.  With the AP Art class looking at research for your concentrations it may be worth while to take a look at some of the work on Art.sy when you have a chance this week!

Media Art Honor Society: Film of the Month Searching For Sugarman

The Media Art Honor Society will host a showing and discussion of the Oscar winning documentary Searching For Sugarman on Tuesday afterschool in room 161.  Mr. Needles interviewed Rodriguez, the subject of the film and will be sharing his raw interview along with video he took of Rodriguez from the Newport Film Festival.

Photography: A Sense of Place

Today our 'Sense of Place' assignment is officially due in Photography and above is a short interview with National Geographic Traveler and Smithsonian photographer Bob Krist who's work and books inspired the assignment.  Below is a great example from Taylor who took some great photos from around Long Island!

Art Honor Society: Chelsea Galleries Field Trip

In April we'll be taking another trip to NYC to visit some of the Chelsea galleries as well as art along the high line downtown.  The tentative date is April 24 but that is subject to change based on the appointments we make.  Currently we are planning to visit the Gagosian Gallery for their Jean-Michel Basquiat exhibit and the SVA Westside gallery for their BFA Advertising and Design Department Portfolio Exhibition.


This week is also the Armory Show on Piers 92 & 94 in Manhattan so if you happen to be in the city and not snowed in again it's well worth check out because there are numerous contemporary exhibitions, check artsy for the preview!

Studio Art: Walt Whitman and Visual Poetry

The good grey poet Walt Whitman was born in Huntington and actually taught for a short time in Smithtown school district so this week we will be working on creating a work of visual poetry based on one of his famed poem "Song of the Open Road" from Leaves of Grass for a contest sponsored by the Walt Whitman Birthplace.  We will begin by looking at poem then writing our own short poem about the road which we will the illustrate and design visually using a variety of materials including drawing, paint, photographs, and the computer in order to create a small book.  The project is due one week from today on March 12 and the entries will be submitted later that week.

AP Art: Concentration Art Research Project

Now that we are half way through creating our concentrations we are going to do another artist research project but this time the artist is being chosen based specifically on your concentration thus far.  Many of these artist deal with 'adult' subject matter so be sure to choose 10 slides that are appropriate for the classroom along with a cover page and a short bio on Powerpoint for Thursday.  You may not like the art but it was chosen because some aspect relates to what you are doing so try to learn from the process to aid you if you don't have a strong direction at this point:

• Ali- Yoko Ono
• Alli- Salvador Dali
• Brianne- Nan Goldin
• Carissa- Chris Cooper
• Alejandro- Francisco Goya
• Clay- Kristin Holcomb
• Devon- Sabrina Ward Harrison
• Meagan- Henri Matisse
• Samantha- William Cox
• Jenna- Winold Reiss
• Jessica- Chris Cunningham
• Kerin- Chuck Close
• Kevin- Herb Ritts
• Melissa- Chris Appelhans
• Sabrina- Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich
• Saylor- Greg Crewdson
• Gabby - Austin Kleon
• Lindsay- Joel-Peter Witkin

Media Arts: Screenwriting

This week we will be working on our first screenplay so each day at the beginning of class we'll take a look at a screenwriter and learn a bit about how they work.  Today we'll be looking at Rob Reiner who began his career as an actor winning an Emmy on  All in the Family then started Castle Rock producing, directing, and writing films like  Stand by Me, When Harry Met Sally..., The Princess Bride, This Is Spinal Tap and A Few Good Men.  Here's an interview I did with Rob this summer: Tim Needles interview with Rob Reiner.

Tomorrow we'll be looking at Tales from the Script a documentary about screenwriting featuring clips from Frank Darabont and William Goldman among others.

Studio Art: Written Self Portraits

Part one of our self portrait project is complete and above are some great examples from Mark, Victoria, and Emily.  Today we begin part two which will use the same words but painting as well.