Museum Trip

I was very excited to go to the Museum of Moving Image, and was surprised many of my fellow media majors haven't been there before (as I used to spend every Friday night of my seventh grade year there.)  The demonstrations were an interesting aspect of the museum I had not experienced, always being my own tour guide through the Gumby exhibit of 2006. My favorite demonstration was how sound effected a particular movie scene. They showed the same clip with different soundtracks over it, and we had to guess which the original score was. Although sound was taught in lecture, I hadn't realized how because of our quick association with moving images and sound, different music made the same clips take on a whole new mood and meaning.

What I discovered about media production was the extent to which realism could be achieved through puppets in the years before computer animation was digitally inserted into live action films. The Freddy Kruger Sweater being extremely oversized for the purpose of a closeup shot was something I found to be very interesting. I realized that the vintage movie magic wasn't just a facade, but was calculated enough so the props themselves were majestic even when taken out of the films for which they were created. 

How we experience moving images is very different than the movie industry's humble beginnings. For immigrants, the movies were a way to get air conditioning in the hot summer days, and take working class families out of the misery of their lives, into something fantastical. Today, we are bombarded with images, and access to television from any and every device. The format of movies have to use better technology to get us to leave the house and spend money because we are spoiled with our access to moving images. 

The 3D phenomenon and IMAX is a way of using new technology to lure people away from their laptops, phones, and iPads in exchange for something they can't see at home. 
The new digital animations are making the puppets a thing of the past. And while it is amazing what a computer can conjure, it isn't the same feeling as the live action puppet, there is something inauthentic about it.

Overall, I enjoyed our trip to the museum, I always feel like I learn something new whenever I go, and their new exhibits never fail to amaze.