The Museum of the Moving Image’s curriculum-based education programs serve thousands of children, teens, and families with their studios and workshops in order to advance the understanding and appreciation of the art, history, technique, and technology of film, television, and digital media. The museum immerses visitors in the creative process of making moving images by providing access to over 1,400 artifacts, screening classic and contemporary films, hosting a series of conversations with renowned actors, directors, producers and screenwriters, and presenting both large- and small-scale changing exhibitions.
Read on for our top five picks to check out at the Museum of the Moving Image right n0w!
1) Interactive Experiences In Behind the Screen: This is their core exhibition, which tells the story of how movies, television shows, and digital entertainment is made, marketed, and shown. It also invites families to make their own short animation, star in a Video Flipbook, experiment with sounds effects and soundtracks, and record your voice into a famous film scene: “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”
2) Indie Essentials: 25 Must-Play Games (Now through March 2, 2014): The Museum will open a temporary exhibition featuring groundbreaking independently produced games from the last decade, including such hits as Minecraft. You’re also able to play more than ten classic video arcade and console games: Donkey Kong, Space Invaders, Gauntlet, Frogger, as well as Sonic the Hedgehog, Super Mario Bros., and Combat.
3) Family Workshops: Fun, hands-on activities (most are for children 6 and older) such as making and performing puppets for the screen, early optical toys, video game design, game-making, stop-motion animation, and more.
4) Sumner M. Redstone Theater—One Of The Best Movie Theaters In NYC: It feels like a space ship, but it’s actually a majestic 267-seat state-of-the-art theater. Starting with Thanksgiving, there are daily screenings and related workshops devoted to Rowlf, Jim Henson’s famous Muppet; over the Christmas holiday, there will be daily showings of “Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas.” Coming in January and February, is the popular series “See It Big!,” which will be devoted to musicals presented on the big screen as they were meant to be seen.
5) Jim Henson’s World: The museum is presenting a monthly program of screenings and events devoted to this American puppeteer, inventor, screenwriter, film director and producer, as it prepares for the 2015 opening of the first ever, permanent exhibition spanning the breadth of his career: more than 400 puppets, costumes, props from “Sam and Friends,” “The Muppet Show,” “Sesame Street,” “Fraggle Rock,” “The Dark Crystal,” “Labyrinth,” and every other major film and television production to which he lent his genius.