Media Arts: Welcome, lets get global!

Welcome to all of the new students in Mr. Needles media arts classes this semester!  In this class we'll be taking part in a very special program from the Global Nomads Group entitled Global Citizens in Action.  The program uses new media to open an exchange between classroom in Smithtown with classes in Pakistan and Afghanistan and we'll be using SKYPE and videoconferencing to actually talk in person live with classes and have an ongoing conversation.

Our first video conference is going to be Tuesday, February 4 at 7:20am (aka the 2nd day of class) which means that we have a bit of important preparation to take care of on our first day!  The theme of the first exchange will be understanding each other's worldviews but before we begin we need to talk about how to have a successful video conference across the world and take a brief survey to understand a bit about what we know and how we feel now.

Smithtown Alumni: Broad City on Comedy Central

"This is so exciting! Wow, a National commercial" -Ilana Glazer

Today is episode 2 of Smithtown alumni Illana Glazer's new Comedy Central television show Broad City so watch and support our very successful alumnus, "it's that simple!"

Last Day of Classes for Semester 1

Today is last day of classes for semester 1 so make sure all of your assignments are in so I can let you know your final grade for the class!  Above is another great entry for the White House Film Festival supporting good uses of STEAM in schools by Cara, Isabella, Erika, and Lesly.  I had a great time working with all of you, have a terrific year!

Final Exam Day

Today we have final exams in Media Art and Photography and all remaining assignments are due in all classes tomorrow as it is the end of the quarter/semester.  I haven't seen some of you since my return from Paris on Monday so the video above of Bon Iver playing on the street is a little taste of the areas I visited called Montmarte.  They're actually playing right in front of what once was Pablo Picasso's house called the Bateau-Lavoir where he painted the Les Demoiselles d'Avignon which you may have seen at MOMA.  He shared the with a number of artists and writers when he first came to Paris such as: Amedeo Modigliani, Guillaume Apollinaire, Georges Braque, Henri Matisse, Jean Cocteau, and Gertrude Stein.

Photography and Media Arts: Final Exams

Now that I'm back from Paris we are starting our final week of Photography and Media classes so I wanted to do a review for our final exams on Thursday.  I created a comprehensive quizlet to help you review here: Photography Review & Media Art Review so take advantage of them!  Remember there is some material we haven't dealt with since the beginning of the year so spend a little time looking over your class notes as well and best of luck!

Media Art: The White House Film Festival Submissions

One of our final assignments in Media Art class is to create an entry for the new The White House Film Festival using all the tools we learned in class.  for this assignment students were given create freedom in interpreting how to best illustrate STEAM in schools and how it might be important in the future of their education.  Above is a terrific example from Allie who used clips of our recent SKYPE and Google Hangout sessions along with examples from our ongoing Japan Society program Going Global in her piece, great job!  Make sure you films are totally completed by Thursday this week (we may have quite a bit of snow coming our way so you might want to bring some material home to finish your projects)! 

Media Art: Broad City

In our final week together in Media Art we are going to take a look at Smithtown alumni Ilana Glazer and her new show on Comedy Central that premieres tomorrow titled Broad City which with executive producer Amy Poehler.  Here's a short interview with Ilana and her partner Abbi Jacobson about how the show developed from a web series and what it's all about.  From the previews I've seen this is not the kind of show that would be appropriate to show in class but we are very proud of Ilana and her amazing success and it seems like an awesome show!

Bon Voyage

“A walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of Life.”
― Thomas Jefferson

Today after school I will be leaving for Paris and I'll be visiting some of the artistic highlights of the city in addition to some of the business I'm taking care of there.  Here is a quick look at the Louvre, one of the most important art museums in the world.  It houses work that we have learned about in every class from studio art to media to AP art.  It houses famous works such as the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo as well as artists favorites such as the The Raft of the Medusa and The Islamic Art Collection.

I'm also going to try and check out a great photography show by Brassaï about the 'Pour l'amour de Paris' (For the love of Paris) at the Hôtel de Ville de Paris.

Studio Art: Antoni Gaudí's Sagrada Família

Today we have our test on art deco and art nouveau so as a quick refresher take a look at this awesome animation of Antoni Gaudí's Sagrada Família and how the exterior is being worked on and will continue to be construced until the 2026 completion date.  I was there this summer and I found it to be one of the most awe inspiring art experiences of my life, especially the now completed breathtaking interior! 

Photography: Alternative methods, the final portfolio, and the final exam

We are finishing up the semester in Photography with some more alternative processes such as Tilt Shift and the Lens Baby.  After using the tilt shift maker online we are going to look at what an actual tilt shift lens looks like and what can be done with it including uses for video with our White House Film Festival project.  Here are 50 great tiltshift examples to take a look at along with the awesome tiltshift video above from Sam O'Hare. 

ALL PHOTOGRAPHY ASSIGNMENTS SHOULD BE COMPLETED AND TURNED IN THIS WEEK- next week we will work on editing and printing our best images and our final exam which is in class on Thursday 1/23.

Studio Art: Art Nouveau vs Art Deco

In Studio Art we have been looking at Art Nouveau (or Modernisme) and Art Deco styles with classic work from Gustav Klimt, Alphonse Mucha, René Lalique, Antoni Gaudí, Louis Comfort Tiffany, Aubrey Beardsley, Lee Lawrie, Paul Landowski, and Le Corbusier (Charles-Edouard Jeanneret).  This week we will have a test on what we learned and begin our poster design project.  We looked at 4 contemporary poster designers: John Van Hamersveld, Daniel Danger, Jay Ryan, and Tara MacPherson for inspiration so now it's up to you to pick a style, event, and concept then begin sketching out your idea. Five thumbnails are due on Tuesday and then we will talk about your mixed media approach.  The test is on Wednesday.

La tournée du Chat Noir avec Rodolphe Salis (1896)

AP Art: The Concentration

This week in AP Art we are thinking about concepts for 'The Concentration' so here are a few places to look at examples.  The video above shows a great concentration in urban street photography and below are links to examples from the College Board for the 3 different exams.  Everyone should have their initial concept written in Word and saved in the public drive by the end on Monday.

Drawing Examples
2D Examples
3D Examples

We are also entering the Heckscher Museum of Art Long Island's Best contest so you can look at what works were shown this year at the museum for inspiration here: http://www.heckscher.org/

Media Art: Hand Drawn Animation

In Media Art we are finishing up our hand drawn animation projects this week, all films are due by the begining of class Monday.  Above is a great short done by Allie which was editing on iMovie and Garageband.  As a reminder you can use any media to finalize your film for example: Moviemaker, Vine, Premiere, Instragram, or iMovie.

Studio Art: Art Nouveau and Art Deco

Today in studio art we will begin looking at two major design movements of the early 20th Century: Art Nouveau and Art Deco which will be our inspiration for our next design project.  We will learn about these two diffesnt art styles the incorperate aspects of them into the design of an event poster using both traditional media and computers.  We will also learn about modern poster designers such as: John Van Hamersveld, Daniel Danger, Jay Ryan, and Tara MacPherson and take a look at clips from the documentary Just like Being There which looks at the subject.

Media Art: School Shorts

Today we are going to look at some really successful short films about school in preparation for our work on the White House Film Festival.  Above is a short from the This American Life series on Showtime, one of my all-time favorites.  The short has a great true story illustrated with Chris Ware's drawings animated by John Kuramoto.  It is a professional example by should help giving you an idea of a different approach to your short.

Studio Art: Zentangles

In studio art we are finishing up our Zentangle drawings by digitizing and coloring them in Photoshop.  Above are a few great examples from: Bella, Georgina, and Brianna from fourth period.  Today is the final day to submit them so make sure you finish up and save them in the public drive if you haven't already.

Welcome back (again)

Welcome back (again)!  We have just 14 class days left of class in media art and photography so we will be finishing up our current animations and photo projects and begin working on pur next assignment, the White House Film Festival, in both classes. 

We will also be finishing up work on the Scholastic Art and Writing awards in Photography and AP Art as work needs to be uploaded and forms need to be postmarked by today (St.James Post Office closes at 5pm today).

Welcome to 2014!

Welcome back everyone (for at least a day anyhow) but there are only 14 school days left of the quarter and in some cases the class! Keeping that in mind, here's a project we will be working on next week that you should consider before we begin:



THE WHITE HOUSE FILM FESTIVAL- due January 29, 2014
films must be 3 minutes or less

THE PRESIDENT HAS AN ASSIGNMENT FOR YOU
Our schools are more high-tech than ever. There are laptops in nearly every classroom. You can take an online course on Japanese -- and then video chat with a kid from Japan. You can learn about geometry through an app on your iPad. So, what does it all mean?
We’re looking for videos that highlight the power of technology in schools.
Your film should address at least one of the following themes:

1. How you currently use technology in your classroom or school.
2. The role technology will play in education in the future.

Here are some topics that you may want to consider as idea starters when deciding what your video could be.
How does technology help with:

• Personalized Learning
• Online Learning
• Global Collaboration
• Student Creativity
• Making and Tinkering
• Project Based Learning
• Critical Thinking

Consider showing the following in your video.
These are examples only:

• The use of technology as a creation tool
• The use of technology in new and innovative ways
• The use of technology to access high quality online content and resources