New York is home to hundreds of museums. This week I got to visit a museum dedicated to film as well any media displaying moving images. This museum is called The Museum of Moving Image and is located in Astoria, New York.
While visiting I got to explore exhibits on Jim Henson, merchandising, special effects, and so much more.
JIM HENSON EXHIBITION
The first exhibit I got to explore in the Museum of Moving Image, was the Jim Henson Exhibition. Many of the objects featured were donated by Jim Henson’s family.
Henson is most famous for creating The Muppets and his work on Sesame Street. Featured in his exhibit are multiple Muppet and Sesame Street characters, including Kermit the frog and Elmo. Multiple drawings of early designs for the Muppets are placed around the room. There is even a section that allows people to design there own Muppets.
Henson had a major influence on childrens’ entertainment. He created groundbreaking techniques and inventions for his Muppets. Almost everyone has, in some way, experienced his work.
TUT’S FEVER
Created by Red Grooms and Lysiane Luong, Tut’s Fever is both a working movie theater and an art installation. It was inspired by picture palaces of the 1920s.
The small theater is placed in the middle of the museum, right outside the Jim Henson Exhibition. Although there are occasionally special showings in the theater, the day that I visited it was playing the muppet show.
SELLING THE PRODUCT
Movies about giant gorillas, super heroes, and spaceships. Do they make money in the box office? Oh yeah. Do they find even more ways to get money out of you? You bet. Merchandise.
Shown in this section of the museum, were various toys and other products. Games and toys from kids shows such as Howdy Doody. The biggest section though, was for Star Wars and their merchandise.
BEHIND THE SCREEN PT. 1
On the second floor of the Museum of Moving Image is the first part of their most famous exhibit, Behind the Screen. Part One focuses on production design, makeup, photography on set, and prosthetics.
Production Designers in film are in charge of the films overall look. Featured in the museum were set models from movies such as Carlito’s Way, A Midsummer’s Night Sex Comedy, and Turk 182.
Prosthetics from movies such Mrs. Doubtfire, the Mask, and Chewbacca were on display. Those were very creepy to look at due to their resemblance to the actors.
A WHOLE DIFFERENT BALL GAME
What appeared to be the busiest exhibit, at least on the day I visited, was the exhibit dedicated to 60 years of sports games. The best part of this exhibit is that everything on display is a game that you are encouraged to play with.
Fun fact: video games typically revenue about twice as much money as the film industry every year.
BEHIND THE SCREEN PT. 2
In Part 2 of Behind the Screen, they focus on the history of film as well as special effects.
Featured are Thomas Edison’s Kinetoscopes and other devices that used to be used to watch films. They work similar to the way flip books work. They use a series of photographs and move then quickly to make it look as if it were a single movement instead of various pictures.
The other area focused on special effects you would see in movies today. On display there was a doll used to replace the actress while filming the Exorcism. This doll was designed to move its head in a full circle to show that the character had been possessed. There was also a large version Freddy Kruegar’s sweater, a miniature model of a Skyscraper used in Blade Runner.
In conclusion, I highly recommend visiting the Museum of Moving Images. It was a great experience and I learned so much about films. I especially recommend it for the people who really enjoy behind the scenes stuff and want to learn more about the progression of film as well as media in general.
The Movie Comeback 