The Museum’s core exhibition, Behind the Screen, immerses visitors in the creative process of making moving images. From nineteenth-century optical toys to video games, it features over 1,400 artifacts, as well as an array of interactive experiences, audio-visual material, and artworks. For the Museum’s grand reopening, Behind the Screen has been dramatically reconceived and upgraded.
A Technological Upgrade
With all new monitors and projectors, images are larger and sharper, with high definition video. Film history comes to ... Read more
The Museum’s core exhibition, Behind the Screen, immerses visitors in the creative process of making moving images. From nineteenth-century optical toys to video games, it features over 1,400 artifacts, as well as an array of interactive experiences, audio-visual material, and artworks. For the Museum’s grand reopening, Behind the Screen has been dramatically reconceived and upgraded.
A Technological Upgrade
With all new monitors and projectors, images are larger and sharper, with high definition video. Film history comes to life with projections of kinetoscope films, The Great Train Robbery, and excerpts from The Jazz Singer and Nanook of the North.
New and Improved Interactive Experiences
A new interactive experience will allow visitors to try their hands—and feet—as Foley artists, performing sound effects for scenes from Julie and Julia and Bowfinger. The exhibit was created in consultation with Marko Costanzo and George Lara, and leading Foley artists. Existing interactive exhibits have been thoroughly reimagined, and visitors can e-mail the videos they create at the animation stands.
Live TV Control Room
Created in partnership with SNY, the Live TV Control Room display takes visitors inside the room where director Bill Webb called the shots for the broadcast of a baseball game between the New York Mets and San Diego Padres. Exclusive video and audio allow visitors to see Webb make split-second decisions and create a seamless broadcast as he cuts among thirteen camera angles, on-screen graphics, instant replays, and commentary from the announcer booth.
New Artifacts on Display
New objects join over 1,400 artifacts on display to tell the constantly evolving story of how moving images are made, marketed, and shown. From the makeup used on each of the four stars in Sex and the City to a mechanical prop designed by Mike Marino for a climactic scene in Black Swan to the molds and prototypes produced during the design of a King Kong action figure, these new objects help to bring to life the process of making moving images.
Guided Tours
Every Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 p.m., 60 mins.
Daily Demonstrations
Demonstrations of professional crafts are conducted daily.
Film Editing: Using a scene from the television series White Collar (2009-present), educators show how film editing works. 12:30, 2:00, 3:30 p.m.
Kinetoscope: Visitors view a film on a replica of the first public movie-viewing machine, invented by Thomas Edison’s company. 12:00, 1:30, 3:30 p.m.
Sound Editing: Visitors learn how the soundtrack for Titanic (1997) was designed and layered. 1:00, 2:30, 4:00 p.m.
The First Video Game: Educators walk visitors through the early history of video games, and visitors play a prototype for the first home video game system. 1:30, 3:00, 4:30 p.m.
