The museum of moving image, located in Astoria, Queens, shows the evolution of film and digital media. Technology has gone a long way, which is impressive. Back then there were black and white tvs and cameras that use film. My mom actually still has an old camera from the 1980s that uses film. In the current day, a lot of stuff has become digital, and it has been easy to forget or be unaware of the advancements that have been made to get up to this point.

The museum has everything related to media, with planning, directing, designs, lighting, recording, and more. There were also sections for music, sound effects, special effects, and early video games. In the above picture, the museum show a lot of the film materials used, and while the machinery is foreign and complicated, it looks cool and I respect all the effort put into film. There were always boards where you could read about the topic, such as the one above.

There is so much planning going on in films and media. There were blueprints of rooms or bridges and built models, all which fascinated me. The huge effort and time used to produce media is not easily seen, but it is there. There was a lot to explore in the museum. Music, lighting, cameras, acting, costumes, models, special effects,  it and sound are topics I remember.

There was a cool hands-on table that demonstrated illusory motion. People were experimenting with moving motion and created this. In the video below, there’s a still image and a circle that has holes in it. When you spin the circle and look through the holes, it looks as if the contents of the image are moving even though the image is still.

It’s an early example of moving image, before cameras or films ever started, so there’s a lot of history behind it. There were two other similar figures that looked like motion.

There was a small section about the early days of gaming. I saw a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), which is really old. You could play the original Super Mario Bros, which I did (for a few minutes). The description of the system and the game mentioned that it got very popular, which is very true. Unfortunately, the other early arcade games couldn’t be played.

Many do not know or care about the evolution of media. I know I used to not care. But I have seen media change in my life. My family used to use a VCR. We still have it, but it is no longer used. It’s all about DVDs now. I’m blessed to be able to live with the current day technology. This experience was good for educating me about how much effort is put into shows and media in general. It helps to be aware so that we may learn and explore deeper in the possibilities of digital media and film.