As our third Week of AYA comes to an end, our weekly Friday Field Trips do too. This Friday, students visited the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Everyone arrived with interest, curiosity, and of course, phones out for pictures and the assignment given: name 5 top moments in film history according to your opinion. The class was split up into Miki and Kailyn’s group, and Brittany and Antonio’s group.
I was in Brittany and Antonio’s group, and we first explored the fifth floor, which was connected to the dome and led to such a gorgeous view! It was so amazing to experience first, as well as speaking loudly to hear the echo of the dome. There was an echo. It was so slay.
As we exited the dome and went back to the museum building, we went to the Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971 Exhibit. I went to the museum for the first time back in January for a school field trip, and had a tour of the Regeneration Exhibit. We moved pretty quickly the first time, but it was great to go at our own pace as we really viewed each historical object and the story it holds.
Afterwards, we made our way downstairs to visit the other current exhibits, such as: The Path to Cinema, Backdrop: An Invisible Art, and Stories to Cinema. Three of my favorite rooms include the Godfather Exhibit, The Costumes Room, and the Animation Room.
The Animation Room was by far, the most nostalgic, happiest, and adoring room all at once. The room seemed as if it were made for children. Hence, the bright color scheme used for the designs on the walls and the fact that it included Disney and other adolescent likings. My favorite thing in there was the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse wall, where it showcased trial photos on creating each scene and the development of each detail. They also had sculptures of the characters in the movie such as: Gwen Stacy, Green Goblin, and my ALL TIME FAVORITE, Miles Morales. These were example sculptures that the animators used to help with motion and illustration when generating the actions of each character.
Along with the Spider-Verse wall, there were sculptures of other characters (Ursula, Emily the Corpse Bride, the Mom and Bao Son of the Bao short film), drawings of movie scenes, and a model of Kubo and the Two Strings’ village.
In addition, the Costumes Room was equally interesting. Just as you enter the dimly-lit room, you view VERY ICONIC costumes. ICONIC. My favorites belonged to: R2-D2, Shape of Water Amphibian, Edward Scissorhands, and a Dora Milaje suit from Black Panther.
To conclude, speaking about my favorite exhibits, the Godfather was incredible. They literally added everything that made up the movie.
The scripts and notes from Mario Puzo were framed, the infamous horse head was on display, the music sheet for the main theme was on the wall along with the instrument that was used to play the song. Even the propaganda posters on one corner that explained the way they played around with the term “Godfather” to start selling the movie.
Overall, the ability to experience more in the museum was amazing. It was super interesting to get the insights on films we have all seen growing up. If it weren’t for the freedom of exploring around the museum – with supervision of course – we wouldn’t have gotten to see all the rooms that had a story for every important artifact. It was a heart-warming way to end our Friday Field-Trips at the Academy Museum.
Communicating Change 