Media Arts: Animation

In media arts class this week we looked at a few different animated works which use different techniques and have made an impact such as John Lasseter's work with Pixar and Matt Groening's work with the Simpsons and Futurama.  We also looked at more independent animation work such as Loren Bouchard's work on Bob's Burgers and Home Movies and Adam Reed's work on Archer series. Tomorrow we will have a short quiz on what we learned and next week after we complete our IVC with Pakistan look in detail at a great feature length animated film Pixar's Ratatouille which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. 

Below is a clip we watched with voice actor Hank Azaria and  Conan O'Brien who was a writer and producer on The Simpsons for 2 seasons until he became host of Late Night in 1993.

Studio Art: Printmaking

 

In studio art we are about to begin our printmaking unit and the above  book cover illustration from American Supernatural Tales is an example of an what our first printing project will look like.  The drawing all black and very graphic of a weathered monotone background. 

Our first print is going to be done in a very simple stencil style based on our previous portrait project and it can be literal or abstracted like the example below from Paige.  First I will show some examples of finished prints and we will start with a few initial drawings for our first print in pencil.  I will demonstrate the process in class and show the very simple printmaking process.

Spring Break in France and Italy

 

I spent spring break touring France and Italy visiting the Louvre in Paris, Milan's Duomo, Florence's Galleria dell'Accademia, San Gimignano and Sienna (where the color terminology comes from) in Tuscany, and Rome's Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel admiring some amazing art, architecture, and sculpture and soaking in the culture.  The trip was terrific and I'll share some of what we learned about art and culture in class this week in the mean time check out the amazing video below about the Sistine Chapel which was unquestionably one of the trips big highlights!

 

 

The group I was traveling with also happened to bump into some Italian students on a while in Florence which was fun and unexpected below is Lisa and Harry from AP Art on the streets of Florence outside the Baptistery! 

 

Media Arts: Pixilation storyboards

Today is the final class before our spring break so the colored 6 frame storyboards for you pixilations are due today.  Everyone should film their pixilation which should be at least one minute long over the break, check out the demo I did in class on Vine above talong with the student example below to get an idea of what the expectation is.  You are free to use any media such as: cell phones, SLR's, ect. to shoot it as well as apps such as: Vine, iTimeLapse, or any others or simply take photos then edit them when you return using Adobe Premiere, iMovie, or Windows Movie Maker. 



Remember creativity and clean shots are the key here! When we return we will begin our hand drawn animations so take a look at the video below from Pixar's John Lasseter on his advice for students!

Media Arts: Pixilations

Yesterday in Media Arts class we began working on the fundamentals of creating an animation with a simple 8 frame hand-drawn, morphing animation and today we will learn about another way to animate called a pixilation.  There's a great short example above called You & I which shows what the final project will look like but today we'll create a short, simple pixilation in class collaboratively with each student writing their name and one adjective about themselves (quirky, funny, creative, ect).

Each student will be creating their own short pixilation in the future so think of concepts that might work well with this process when we are learning about it.  Below is a great classic example of a pixilation from Coldplay that you might have seen.

The San Diego Museum of Art

Last week I was in San Diego, California for the National Art Educators Convention and I had a chance to visit The San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park so I wanted to share some of the highlights.

The museum had a terrific show on painter Robert Henri (1865-1929) who's work which I have not seen much before and an example of a portrait he created is pictured directly above.  The exhibit titled Spanish Sojourns included interactive elements such as a wardrobe and props to create the Robert Henri look like I did above!

 

I also had a chance to meet and talk with artist Deborah Butterfield at the NAEAwho is world famous for her sculptures of horses uses weathered wood.  She gave a great talk on her work which we'll reference during our upcoming organic sculpture unit.  Take a look at some of her work below, its terrific!

Japanese Student Visitors

We recently had two Japanese student visitors, Anna and Hikaru, from Tokyo stay with us in Smithtown for two weeks through the Japan Society's education program.  As part of the program each student had to create a project about American schools  and above is Hikaru's completed projects featuring some of the students from AP Art class.  Hikaru partnered with Gabby from AP Art who was part of the program in Japan this summer and Anna partnered with Allison who will be traveling to Japan this summer.

Media Art: Public Service Announcement

Today we will be completing major production on our Global Nomads Group collaborative Public Service Announcement and taking a short vocabulary quiz on the terms we learned from PBS and in class.  All the editing and post-production must be completed next week by Wednesday.

AP Art: Senior Show- Michelle

Our most recent AP Art Senior Show opened yesterday with Michelle's solo exhibit including her knockout concentration paintings and a collection of drawings.  The work is terrific and a big crowd lingered to see what she's been working on for the past 9 weeks.  Her works evoke her animation which is also fantastic and it will be up through the week so be sure to check it out while you can!

Media Arts: Global Nomads PSA project

Yesterday we held our 3rd video conference with the G9 school in Islamabad, Pakistan and we were able to discuss the concept for our upcoming public service announcement on drug and alcohol abuse and hear about their environmental public service announcement. It was again an interesting and productive conversation and we will be continuing work which we discussed yesterday for the remainder of the week both in preparing and beginning to film our PSA and clarifying what we are requiring from our partner school.

A special thanks goes out to Nick and Shannon who shared their talent by playing guitar and singing "Kryptonite" by 3 Doors Down yesterday at the tail end of our talk.  Great job guys!

Back from San Diego's National Art Educators Association conference

Loving the #creative #spirit @naea #SanDiego! Great #participatory #workshops w/ @Sharpie & @MichaelsStores #naea14 https://t.co/m7Dma8hSCb
— Tim Needles (@timneedles) March 29, 2014

I'm back from the National Art Educators Association conference in San Diego today feeling refreshed and creative!  This is the last week of the quarter so make sure all projects are complete and in by tomorrow!

Media Art Honor Society: Inside Out Project at the Pantheon

This week the Media Art Honor Society took photos to include in JR's Inside Out Project at the Pantheon in Paris.  Above are a few of the images which we sent of to France and which will be included in the project this April! 

Our next project will be creating a short collaborative documentary together.  We discussed ideas yesterday and on Wednesday we will work together to pitch ideas and begin working of the piece which will have an audio and visual component that are separate but work together.

Media Art: The Short Documentary

Today we will continue our look at documentaries by watching a segment of the 1st episode of one of my all-time favorite series from Showtime called This American Life which stems from the public radio show on WBEZ Chicago. 

The stories are all personal and engaging and they utilize a few different techniques that help tell the stories which we'll discuss tomorrow in class.  Above is a short clip of Ira Glass, the host and creator of the show working with Google in creating their recent Google doodle, something you should all be familiar with after creating your own for the Doodle for Google contest last week.

In April we will each create our own short documentary so keep that in mind while watching.  We'll be talking about the basics of storytelling and the different documentary terminology and styles.  Before we begin you need a story and that's often the toughest part so think about the stories that you, you friends, and your family tell others and start there.  I'll be creating a story with you so you'll get to see the process before you go through it!

Media Arts: Public Service Announcement

This week we are finalising preparations for our Public Service Announcement and we are going to examine some PSAs such as the examples posted above and below to look at what makes them effective and how we respond to them. The PSA above is a great example of a project that focuses on awareness as opposed to action or advocasy. After watching the PSA we are going to answer the 4 questions on page 41 of your student guides and we will go over the group assignments for the week.

Studio Art: Graphic Novels

In Studio Art we are begining a new project on Comics and Graphic Novels and each of us will create a short 6 frame comic with a front and back cover in class this week.  Above is an axample from last year's studio art class by Alvaro showing the final comic and below is an image of how it's laid out using one piece of paper folded into 8 parts and cut in the center. 

Before we begin working on our comic which will be due on Tuesday next week we are going to examine graphic novels as an art form and discuss storytelling.  We will look at successful writers such as: Neil Gaiman, Daniel Clowes, Craig Thompson, and Will Eisner and look at some of the most well respected graphic novels such as: Maus and Persepolis along with some of the fan favorites such as: The Walking Dead and Scott Pilgrim.

I had the chance to interview the author of well known graphic novels turned films Persepolis and Chicken With Plums Marjane Satrapi and below is an exerpt relating to her work being read in schools: 


I work as a high school teacher in a pretty conservative area and your book is part of our curriculum. It’s kind of amazing. Look at how far things have come.
That makes me very happy. Truly, truly.


I was wondering what you would say to those kids, especially with the movie, there is the scene of the Americans that might make them question you?
Well, just consider that a human being in the world is a human being. The privilege of loving your family and being kids and wanting to eat ice cream and going to the movies is not only something you want. Everybody in the whole world, they want to have a peaceful life. We have some psycho people, you have them here too. They are everywhere, you know, they are like ultra-religious or whatever. You have a few of these guys, but unfortunately if they are crazy you hear them much more, than the other ones. From the second that we consider that the “other one” is a human being just like us and that it’s not an abstract notion, you know, “Middle Eastern, Muslim, Axis of Evil” then it will become very difficult to bomb these people. Just consider that the “other one” is just like you wanting to play, wanting to go to the movies, wanting to have, you know, the latest t-shirt that is very much in fashion, listen to the music, falling in love, if they consider that, then you know, this is the only thing that I can say, I don’t have any pretension that is more than that.

You can read the full interview along with an interview with her collaborator Vincent Paronnaud on Short & Sweet NYC.

Studio Art: Wang Center Exhibit

In Studio Art we are beginning our graphic novel project and their is a related art exhibit locally that you might want to see in conjunction.  The show is Marvels and Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics, 1942-86 and it's at Stony Brook University's Wang Center until July in the Theatre Lobby Gallery.  The Wang Center also has a great restaurant and other exhibits going on so if you haven't been there it should be a fun excursion!

Doodles for Google Contest

Today is not only the first day of Spring but it is also the final day of the Doodles for Google contest! We worked hard on our designs in class so before we submit your work take one more look and make sure your submission is complete, signed by a parent or guardian, and sized correctly.  The drawing above by Olivia from Studio Art class is a terrific example of the kind of creative ideas that were brought to the concept while maintaining the logo design.

In the process of creating your doodle we brainstormed, sketched, collaborated, designed, and digitally manipulated our drawings to enhance our work which is the same basic process a designer goes through and it leads into our next project in Media Arts classof creating a short animation.  As I'm sure you know the Google doodles are sometimes animated so take a look at the process in the video below to get an idea of how it works.

Art Honor Society: JR Project in Paris

The Art Honor Society will be participating in JR's Inside Out: Au Pantheon! project this month which will be pasted onto the Pantheon which is being renovated in Paris.  We will be taking JR style with a white background photos afterschool this week and next week and digitially mailing them to JR's studio in Paris.

Take a look at the recent JR project in London below to get an idea of what the final project looks like when the images are printed and wheatpasted in public.

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Doodle for Google

Today is the last day to enter the Doodle for Google contest so we will be finishing up our designs and sending them off to the judges online.  The most important piece of your work is coming up with a great idea, the video below looks at how the artists at Google do it.

Remember Photoshop files need to be: 1894 pixels high by 2960 pixels wide at 300 dpi and if you dont remember how to check it's under the Image menu in Image Size. 

Studio Art: T-shirt Designing with Adobe Illustrator

In Studio Art class we are currently working on our T-shirt Designs and now that we have drawn out the designs, digitized them, and cleaned them up in Adobe Photoshop today we will learn how to vectorize them using the 'live drawing' feature and color them using 'live paint' in Adobe Illustrator.  The image above is an example of how the t-shirt actually turns out, this one is a collaborative shirt created in my National Art Honor Society.

AP Art: Japan Society's Junior Fellows student guests

 

Today we are welcoming Hikaru and Anna to Smithtown East.  They are both students visiting from Japan and they will be staying with us for 2 weeks through the Japan Society's Junior Fellows program.  they will be working with us in class as well as working on a project they've designed which we'll participate in. I've also arranged a short talk with our guest and all the students in classes and the Art Honor Society who worked on the Going Global program this year.

2014 Japanese Student Visitors

Next week we will be welcoming two visiting students from Tokyo, Japan for a two week stay through the Japan Society in NY who's Going Global project some of us worked on last semester.  The students will be staying with Gabby and Allison from my AP Art class and they we be participating in a talk that I am putting together with my classes for next week. 

This visit is a great experience for all of us to learn a bit about a new culture and teach them about ours.  The video above is from a terrific TED talk Derek Sivers gave that gives some perspective of how the different cultures view things and opens you mind to how we might view things differently.  I encourage you help welcome the girls next week, to be open to the experience, and most importantly to try not to judge things that you think might be weird, they are just different.

To give you a sense of how different school is in Japan, below is a photo of me and a class of Japanese students from the Nagoya area of Japan in the Aichi district.  The school had some elements like dress codes, student cleaning periods, student led field trips, and grade charts posted on the walls that were different but when class began the learning and students were very similar.

 

 

We'll be doing an art project I designed while in Japan next week based on the Tanabata Festival where you will interpret the myth visualy and use the color palette from Japanese woodblock prints.

AP Art: Senior show 2- Harry and Gabby

This week was Harry and Gabby's show which might've had more work shown than any previous AP show.  Harry's figure drawings and paintings cover the walls with Gabby's digital art, drawings, and photographs cover the floor intermixed with cranes and sculptures.

 

Smithtown superstar Mr.Kelly even made a cameo appearance stylishly pairing a pinstripe suit and backpack.

Art Honor Society: The 2014 Whitney Biennial Field Trip

The Whitney Museum's Biennial is happening right now in New York City and we are going to learn about why the exhibition is important and get acquainted with some of the artists featured this year. 
This year 3 curators each oversee one floor: Stuart Comer (MoMA), Anthony Elms (ICA Philadelphia), and Michelle Grabner (SAIC, Chicago) and each chooses work they feel is important.
Sculptors Alma Allen and John Mason have work in the show along with video artist Darren Bader and fine artist Karl Haendel and looking at the variation in their work gives you an idea of how wide the scope of the show is. This Biennial will be the last to take place in the at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street before the Museum moves downtown under the high line.  We'll talk today in the club about whether we want to visit the show on our next field trip to NYC.


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Studio Art: Designing T-shirts

In studio art class we will be continuing our design unit with a t-shirt design project this week. Before we begin designing we'll take a look at the amazing short documentary series above from a NPR's Planet Money which shows how the t-shirt they make for listeners is created from start to finish.  The series was funded via Kickstarter and will help us learn about the global economy.  We'll see how the clothes we wear are actually made from a cotton farm in Mississippi to factories in Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Colombia  then shipped back to America.

To create our t-shirt design we will be using Adobe Photoshop along with a new sister program Adobe Illustrator.  We'll learn the difference between the pixel based program and the vector based program and why it matters but before we get too technical you need a great idea and it needs to be sketched out.  The video below gives you some ideas on what makes a good t-shirt design and some of the basic rules we'll be following such as centering your design and choosing an appropriate shirt color.  We'll begin by drawing 5-10 thumbnails in our sketchbook wiof design ideas and variations.  Remember to be original and not to use copyrighted ideas or characters in your work. The final graphic image should be one-color and scanned in and it will be due on Friday at the end of class. 

AP Art: NYC Art Week

This week is Armory week with a number of huge events in and around NYC.  The big NY Armory show and Armory events in NYC shows off tons of work and showcases what's going on in the art world along with the 77th Whitney Biennial which is a must see as it is the last to be held in the museum before their move downtown to new facilities.

Today is the due date for any students that are entering the Heckscher Long Islands Best show so make sure the artist statement is submitted along with the entry form and the work is prepared for the drop-off date with the printed paperwork.

UPDATE: I had the opportunity to interview artist Carly Ivan Garcia at the Fountain Art Fair during Armory Weekend Saturday and asked a few questions relating to students, I'll be posting the interview shortly on a blog called Warholian (which is also a worthwhile follow for artists). 

Interviewed #artist @carlyivangarcia @AHA_Gallery's showcase @FountainArtFair for @WarholianTweets #ArmoryWeek #NYC pic.twitter.com/hQWr1uruED
— Tim Needles (@timneedles) March 8, 2014

Media Art: Storyboarding

Today we we be storyboarding our public service announcements using the 12 frame template and reviewing for our quiz on cinematography tomorrow. Here's the quizlet to review: cinematography flashcards.

Media Art: #15secondpremiere

Boy loves girl, Girl loves cat, Cat loves tuna- hates boy, Boy gets job @ fishmarket, cat interns; Girl moves out buys dog #15secondpremiere

— Tim Needles (@timneedles) March 2, 2014

This week the Tribeca Film Festival and Heineken are partnering for a twitter based #15secondpremiere, a 140-character screenplay pitch as a lead in to this years festival. The winning pitch will be cast and made into a film which will premiere at the film festival in New York. For all of the aspired screenwriters out there this is a great little challenge! I submitted my entry above so if your interested in creating one the rules can be found here: pic.twitter.com/rjwnli1SvR. Remember the idea is be original and fun and don't forget retweets count so help each other out and give a little retweet love!

Media Art: Cinematography

Today in Media Arts we'll recap the biggest moments from last night's Oscars then Begin looking at the basics of Cinematography.  We'll examine what the responsibilities of the cinematographer (better known as director of photography or d.p.) are and the different jobs that exist in the camera department on a film. 

We'll also study the basic camera angles and compositions that are used in film and some of the resources cinematographers need to use.

Media Art: The Oscars

This Sunday is the Academy Awards Show and today we'll be taking a look at some of the nominated films that you might not have seen or heard of such as some of my favorites shown above: Philomena, Nebraska, & Her along with clips from some of the films nominated for best documentary such as: Cutie and the Boxer, The Act of Killing, & The Square.  You may want to watch some of these films on Netflix Instant, Amazon Instant, or Google Play before the show so here's a link to WNYC showing which films are available where instantly.

AP Senior Artshow 1: Sabrina

 This week we held our first AP Senior Artshow of 2014 and Sabrina started us off in style with an eclectic and intricate arrange show including her fashion designs, drawings, prints, sculptures, and paints complete with electric candle lighting and corrugated birds! 

February 26- Sabrina

March 12- Gabby & Harry

March 19- Michelle

March 26- Zachary

April 2- Andrew & Juliana

April 9 - Lisa & Erica

It was a fabulous beginning and above is the complete schedule for upperclassmen shows this year which will be followed by group shows of undergraduates and an alumni show later in the school year.

Studio Art: Art History Test

Today we will have our test on the sculptors and designers we studied in studio art.  It's a straight-forward matching test so look at your notes about what the different artists work looks like to be prepared.  I choose artists like Saul Bass who created the work shown above who are influential and distinct so they wont be confused with others.

Media Arts: Our global PSA Project

We held our second Global Nomads Group video-conference with the G/9-4 school in Islamabad, Pakistan in Media Arts class yesterday and had another interesting global conversation.  In addition to discussing our collaborative community project the topics ranged from stereotypes to cars to war to media and some of the biggest surprises included learning about some of the things we take for granted such as mascots, You Tube, and lockers.  Our next video-conference in early April when we'll show our work on our global community PSA project which we will begin brainstorming today.

Media Arts: Videoconference #2 with Pakistan

This morning in Media Arts class we will have our second Global Nomads Group video-conference with the G/9-4 school in Islamabad, Pakistan.  During this conference we will discuss our upcoming collaborative community project, our personal and global history work, and the short videos that we created this week about where we live (ours is posted above).

Studio Art: Cutie and the Boxer

Today we'll take a look Cutie and the Boxer, one of the 2014 Oscar nominated films for best documentary, and the artists it focuses on: Shinohara and his wife Noriko aka 'Cutie'.  We will continue reviewing the sculptors and designers starting tomorrow with a test on Thursday that includes Shinohara.

Shanti Peace Poster Contest

Congratulations to Mr. Needles AP Studio Art students Lisa Sacco and Andrew Chang who's artwork was selected to be included in the 2014 Shanti Fund calendar.  Students from across Long Island created images to celebrate the idea of peace in honor of Gandhi's birthday and the Shanti Fund chose 12 of the best for the calendar which is distributed throughout New York.

Happy Valentines!

Happy Valentines Day everyone!  Today we have an abbreviated schedule due to the 2 hour delay so most c lasses will be taking a quiz or turning in work and going over what we'll be doing when we return from next week's break.

AP Art: Japan Society Visit

Today we are welcoming guests from the Japan Society education department into classes in preparation for our upcoming Japanese student visitors in March.  Above is a video from JS's Waku Waku series reminding us how to say 'konnichi wa'!

Media Art: Frank and Ollie's Twelve Basic Principles of Animation.

Today we'll take a closer look at each at two of Disney's Nine Old Men, the team of Frank and Ollie along with their Twelve Basic Principles of Animation.  We'll also be collecting the 5 images for our upcoming look at the town we live in film.  Due to tomorrow's 10th grade Holocaust assemble the quiz will be moved to Thursday!

Media Art: Animation Basics

In Media Art this week we are going to go over the basic terms and principles of Animation including terms like: persistence of vision, stop-motion, storyboards, animatics, table reads, dailies, frames per second, pencil tests, CGI, cells, extremes, in-betweens, key frames, foley, and the Twelve Basic Principles of Animation.  We'll be looking at how animated works like Futurama and Toy Story are made and there will be a short quiz on Wednesday on the terms.

We are also going to work on out ongoing collaboration with Pakistan with out 5 photos of Smithtown due tomorrow, Tuesday 2/11

Extra Credit: ANTI-BULLYING Poster

This month's extra credit assignment is to create an ANTI-BULLYING poster for the Suffolk CountyYouth Bureau in any media.  Below are the basic rules and to get the credit posters need to be submitted to Mr.Needles by Friday
February 14 and mailed by April 18, 2014

To be eligible, middle school and high school aged youth must submit an 8 ½” x 11” poster, containing original content, reflecting, in words and/or images, the child’s perception of cyberbullying and its impact.

The poster must be postmarked no later than April 18, 2014, and must include, on the back thereof, the name of the child artist, as well as the name and address of the school or youth bureau with which the child is affiliated. Poster submissions must be sent to:  Roderick A. Pearson, Executive Director, Suffolk CountyYouth Bureau, 100 Veterans Memorial Hwy. P.O Box 6100 Hauppauge, NY 11788.

The Anti-Bullying Campaign Committee will select 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners from the middle and high school age categories. Winners will be notified by Friday, May 16, 2014, and will receive their award at a ceremony to be held on May 30, 2014.  In addition, winning posters will be displayed in the lobby of the County Executive’s office at H. Lee Denison Building during the month of October, 2014, which is Bully Prevention month.

Studio Art- Artist Research Project II

To begin the second semester we will be researching artists who work in three dimensional art, sculpture, printmaking, and graphic design which are the major units we'll be covering.  Below is the master list of artists we'll be covering and just as we did last semester we'll have a test on them after the presentations.  Check the assignment drive to see which artist you've been assigned and complete a PowerPoint with 10 full slide images, 10 relevant facts, and a title page with the artists name, birth (and death) and your name and period by Friday 2/7.

Studio Art Semester II Artist Research Project

1. Alberto Giacometti
2. Albrecht Dürer
3. Alexander Calder
4. Andy Goldsworthy
5. Auguste Rodin
6. Bradbury Thompson Bradbury Thompson
7. Chip Kidd
8. Christo
9. Claes Oldenburg
10. Constantin Brancusi
11. Dan Flavin
12. David Carson
13. David Smith
14. Donatello
15. FAILE
16. Gian Lorenzo Bernini
17. Henri Toulouse-Lautrec
18. Isamu Noguchi
19. Louise Bourgeois
20. Louise Nevelson
21. Marcel Duchamp
22. Massimo Vignelli
23. Michael Bierut
24. Milton Glaser
25. Paul Rand Ruth Ansel
26. Richard Serra
27. Robert Indiana
28. Saul Bass
29. Stefan Sagmeister
30. Ushio Shinohara

Media Arts: Global Nomads Project

Today was the first day of the new semester of Media Arts class and we jumped right in with our first project in which we work with Global Nomads Group to collaboratively work on the Global Citizens in Action along with a class in Islamabad, Pakistan. 

This morning we held our first videoconference with our Pakistani partner school and were able to ask and answer a few questions and learn a bit about each other.  This week we will follow-up with 3 assignments that will be part of our next videoconference later in February.