Museum of Moving Image, Astoria, NYC

New York City is indeed packed with so many interesting places and landmarks to visit. 
Some of them are one of a kind, something that you can only find in the Big Apple.
The rest are something too good to miss, although most of us are easily overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of this Gotham city.

One of the places that my family loves to visit is the Museum of Moving Image, Astoria, NYC. 

Have you been to this museum?
I know that op-notch and world-class museums are surely the highlights of NYC, and the Museum of Moving Images is one of the them.

Welcome...

A lot to see, to learn and to try!

I believe movies have become an important part of our lives. 
Not only do they provide entertainment and fun times,  but movies have been frequently used as effective tools for education, culture preservation, as well as social movement and other noble purposes.

So, having Museum of Moving Images situated near our house is really a privilege. 
And it's great to know that this museum is the only one in the United States dedicated to the history, art, and development of moving images, particularly in the US.

Located in Astoria, near Frank Sinatra School of the Arts High School and Kaufman Astoria Studio, this Museum is the home of approximately 130,000 artifacts related to the development of moving images from time to time.

You'll be surprise and surely excited to see those collections of cameras, microphones, wigs, statues, posters, sound and special effects and more properties used in producing moving images, including stop motions and movies. 
Surely there are tons of things to do, as well as tools and skills required, behind the scene before we can enjoy a movie or even a stop motion!

Behind the screen - the exhibition

When we went there as a group, we were welcomed in its beautiful and spacious auditorium. There the kids (and the chaperons) were introduced briefly about this museum which was first open for public in 1988. 

The auditorium

We then followed the tour where we saw the Behind the Screen exhibition, where thousands of interesting, on-of-a-kind artifacts related to the producing process of movies from different period of time.

remember this?

The mutoscopes from 1899 and 1930s

We saw different kind of cameras and  projectors, mutoscopes (that's the first time I have heard of it :)) as well as all those various equipments for sound recording, as well as costumes (and different kinds of wigs!), models, molds and more.
All of them are displayed with their interesting history and development of those gadgets and technologies all these years.



And don't forget to see the Special Effect section!
Interesting display they have here!
We saw the full-size dummy used in the Exorcist movie, with that scary grin and horrible look just like in the movie! It's one being used to show Regan MacNeil (the girl played by Linda Blair) rotated her head 360 degrees! I know..that famous scene!

Don't forget to try making your own stop motion or try to compose a horror sound effect :).
My kids love them!

Our tour guide showed us how to do it and the kids didn't wait for too long to try making stop motion themselves. It looked simple as we have all the tools needed but I know exactly how complicated it really is, particularly if you combine all those details.

They also have movie screenings. As I read in its website, the Museum screens approximately 400 movies each year, showing a mix of classic and contemporary collections.

When I visited this museum, it was with my kids' school and it costs us $8 per person, with Charlie Chaplin's movie screening. It was great indeed! 

All in all, it was a great visit to a wonderful museum.
Not only that we learned a great deal of new knowledge and information, but it was full of fun and very entertaining as well.

So, if you get a chance, come and visit the Museum of Moving Image, Astoria, NYC.
36-01 35th Ave, Queens, NY 11106

It closes on Mondays and Tuesdays and don't forget to check its opening hours as it has different schedules.

The tickets cost $15 for adults, $7 for youth aged 3 - 17 and $11 for students as well as senior citizens. With NYC ID, I think we can get in here for free.

Go check http://www.movingimage.us/ for more information.

Have fun!