Digital Animation

After School Students Shine at Winter Solstice

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Camille and studentsMy name is Camille Martin and for the past few months I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing Green Street Arts Center’s After School Arts and Science Program.  I started at Green Street as an intern through Middlesex Community College.  I would come and work with the After School students as a support staff member, assisting several classrooms, participating in dance classes, and greeting students when they arrived.

After a month I became part of the staff working Monday through Friday taking care of attendance and dismissal, visiting class rooms, and tutoring kids during our Academic Enrichment hour.  I’ve watched the children flourish into mature, talented individuals thanks to the support of dedicated staff.

Breakdancing ArseanJust last week one of our students showed me her detailed watercolor painting, something she wouldn’t have been able to do four months ago.  The teaching artists and support staff have worked very hard over these months to empower the students to do their very best in the classroom and in life.  Each child has grown dramatically in character, as well as in talent, in their selected fields.  Helping kids develop skills in their young life that will carry them into their adult life has been such a rewarding experience.  From breakdancing to arts and science, our kids truly shine.  It has been an immense pleasure to be a part of the After School Arts and Science Program.

Submitted by Camille Martin, After School Support Staff

Come see all our students shine in our annual winter show.

After School Stars: Winter Solstice
Friday, December 10 | 6-8pm | Free

Students in BalletJoin us for our annual evening of performances, art exhibits, and multi-media presentations by the After School program. Enjoy performances by Breakdancing, Ballet, African Drumming, Songwriting, Storytelling, ThoroEnergy Hip Hop, and Videography classes, as well as exhibitions from Art and Science, Comic Book Drawing, and Creative Writing classes. Your support of local arts begins with our young artists—stop by and be amazed by the talent that surrounds you!

“It’s only half way through our After School Program year, but it is truly astonishing at how far our students have come and how much they have to share. Between the Cave Art and Dinosaur Sculpture exhibit from the Art and Science classes to the Beginning Breakdance Battle, our Winter Solstice event is a don’t-miss-opportunity for family, friends and neighbors to come and support Middletown’s youngest most creative minds.”— Sarah-Jane Ripa, Artistic and Education Coordinator

Future Animators Shaped At Green Street

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“Working at Green Street, in the After School program, has given me the chance to show our students how current technology can be a creative tool that they can use to express themselves.  I try to help them see how relatively easy it is for them to create sophisticated content, and put it out into the community and further into the world. In some sense, I want to convert them from passive consumers of online content into creative producers.” -Shawn Hill

For the past few years I’ve been teaching Digital Video Animation to Green Street’s After School students and helping them create animated shorts (cartoons).  Students draw images on the computer and then move those images to a new location on the screen.  The computer then infills the motion necessary to move from the initial location to the new one, and creates the sense of motion over time.Student Animator

Animating in this way gives the students immediate feedback on their drawings and brings them to life through motion.  Each student is typically able to create a short animated section of about 3-6 seconds in length during an hour-long class.  And, while spending an hour to create 5 seconds of a cartoon may sound like a lot of time, when you consider that 5 seconds represents 120 frames, you can imagine how much time it would have taken even the most talented classic Disney animators to draw 120 subtly different drawings in order to add up to 5 seconds of final film!

Each semester our class settles on a theme – over the years we’ve done global warming, exercising, Middletown, and science.  In each class I introduce and demonstrate a new skill or technique in Anime Studio.  The students then go off to their own computer to draw, and then animate some part of the semester’s theme, using the new skill/technique.

Each week the students create their clips independently, and the beginning of the following class is often a great chance for them to see the creativity and skill of their peers By mid-semester we begin to assemble the best clips into a class video.  We work on titles and credits, and typically end-up with a final class video of about 6 minutes in length.  Students in Green Street’s Sound Recording class then create soundtracks that we add to the final cartoon.

Submitted by Shawn Hill, Wesleyan Staff & Green Street teaching artist

Here is a video students made called “Go Out and Play”.  Click here to see more videos and get a sense of the great work our After School students have created.

A little bit about After School:
Green Street’s After School Arts and Science Program offers outstanding classes with published writers, professional dancers and visual artists that represent the diversity of our community and the breadth of our experience.  Classes are offered for grades 1-9, Monday through Thursday and grades K-5 on Fridays.  Students can take classes in digital animation, African drumming, comic book creation, breakdance, sound recording and more.  Our After School Program begins on September 13, 2010.

Registration closes at noon on September 8th, or once the program has reached maximum enrollment, so don’t wait!  In order to enroll in the program, you and your child must register with us in person to sign our Parent Handbook, complete financial aid paperwork, and/or make payments. Please call ahead – (860) 685-7871 – to schedule an appointment; drop-ins will only be seen on a first-come, first-served basis.  Registration appointments are currently being scheduled at the following times:

Monday, August 30th and Tuesday August 31st – 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Wednesday, September 1st and Friday, September 3rd – 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Thursday, September 2nd and Tuesday, September 7th – 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM

Green Street’s 6th Annual Arts Fest: from Popcorn to “Pickles”

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Popcorn Arts Fest '10On Saturday, June 12th, the Green Street Arts Center was filled with excitement.  The 6th Annual Arts Festival took place and, despite the rain, was a great success.  With performances like “Pickles” from the Songwriting class and the debut of “Middletown: Our Town”, an animated video created by the Digital Animation class, the entertainment was energetic, captivating, and certainly inspiring.

Even before entering the building, the festival’s energy was already evident.  Teaching artist Anna had a line of eager kids waiting to get their faces painted, the neighborhood ice cream truck was popular as ever, and Frank was busily handing out free popcorn.  Upon entering Green Street, you could already smell delicious food provided by our partners at Esca Restaurant & Wine Bar, Iguanas Ranas Taqueria, and Firehouse Steakhouse.  Jerry’s Pizza had a table with free pizza that was always surrounded by hungry Arts Fest attendees.  Broad Street Books brought a great assortment of arts supplies and books, and DeFabrica Therapeutic Massage was very popular, constantly providing people with refreshing massages.

Arts Fest Drumming '10
Drumming at Arts Fest '10

After satisfying their hunger, guests could choose from a variety of amusements.  The African Drumming classes were set up in the Multipurpose Room, providing hours of rhythmic entertainment.  Adults and kids alike were invited to do arts and crafts in both the Wet and Dry Arts Rooms.  Meanwhile, across the hall in the Performance Studio there was constant action, with breakdancing, musical performances, salsa dancing, animated videos, hip-hop, and more, continuously provided enjoyment for an exuberant audience.

Students in the Breakdancing class staged a breakdance battle to showcase their unbelievable moves.  Young musicians displayed their talents in solo performances, as well as collectively in the Songwriting class’s amusing song “Pickles”.  The salsa class inspired the audience to move and grove to Latin beats, and the Digital Animation class highlighted their skills with a video called “Middletown: Our Town”.  ThoroEnergy also wowed the audience with a dramatic and engaging hip-hop performance.

Breakdancer
Breakdancing Battle

When Arts Fest ended, attendees left with smiles on their faces, students left with a sense of pride in their accomplishments, and the staff were pleased with the success of the event and happy to have made new friends.

For more great pictures of the event, check out our Facebook page here.

If you are interested in learning more about how your child can get involved in one of these (or other) great classes, call us at (860) 685-7871 or email gsac@wesleyan.edu. For more information on upcoming events and classes, visit our website at www.greenstreetartscenter.org.

Submitted by Lisa Bruno, Development Assistant

Arts Fest: Thoroughly Obsessed

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Arts Fest postcardGreen Street’s Annual Arts Festival is something I, and all of Green Street’s friends, look forward to each year.  This year’s Arts Fest will take place on Saturday, June 12 and is sure to be an afternoon filled with creativity, excitement, food, and fun.  ArtsFest is a great way for our students to showcase their hard work and successes throughout the year, and for the community to join us and participate in the fun as well.

This year features performances from Fresh Obsessed

Salsa Dancers
Salsa Dancers Arts Fest '09

breakdancing crew, ThoroEnergy hip hop crew, salsa students, and music classes.  I am especially excited for the West African Djembe Orchestra- a diverse group of people ages 7 to 57 from the After School program, adult class, and Cromwell Children’s Home residency program who will be performing together.  With the strong lead of teachers Jocelyn and Aaron, the group will rock out the beats of Lamban, Makru, and Yankadi.

For the first time, our outside attractions will include delicious food from partners in our membership program.  We are pleased to welcome Esca Restaurant & Wine Bar, Iguanas Ranas Taqueria, Jerry’s Pizza, Broad Street Books, and DeFabrica Therapeutic Massage to the festivities.

Painting Green Street
Facepainting Arts Fest '09

While enjoying live performances and great food, you will also be able to meander through the building to view the artwork, stop by a classroom for a free mini-class in Salsa or visual arts.  You can enter a raffle to win a free Green Street class or even plants from Starlight Gardens in Durham.  Don’t miss out on a chance to sign up for Summer classes right on the spot.

In addition to this scintillating array of amusements, mural artist Marela Zacarias will begin painting the new mural, designed by Green Street students, across the street at St. Vincent dePaul’s Place. All community members are welcome and encouraged to help out.

By the way, have I mentioned that all of this is free?  It is!  I hope to see you there!

Green Street Arts Festival & Open House
Saturday, June 12, 2010
1-3pm
FREE
51 Green Street, Middletown, CT 06457
www.greenstreetartscenter.org

Submitted by Rachel Roccoberton Griffin, Administrative Assistant

Teaching Artist Shawn Hill connects Healthy Eating, Creative Writing, and Technology

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Shawn Hill’s extensive web-design experience and creativity continue to expand the imaginations of kids in his animation class and adults who have taken his blogging classes.

After School students love Shawn’s animation class because it allows them to get silly with colors and images while exploring topics that interest them.  Walk into class, and you’ll see kids discussing how best to present the topic: “How can we show glaciers melting?”, “What colors will be the most vibrant to combine?”  Global Warming was the theme for projects two years ago, after which the students focused on healthy eating.  This year, kids are letting their imaginations go wild as they animate science phenomena, vividly demonstrating the splitting of an atom, magnets, the mixing of colors, and electricity.  Check out their video about eating healthy: Fruit is Fuel

The After School students in Shawn’s class will debut their exciting videos at Green Street’s Arts Fest on June 12th.

Green Street Community Members also benefit from Shawn’s knowledge of the blogging world.  Photographers, painters, individuals concerned with a social issue, or people who want to share their passion and experiences have all gathered for Shawn’s Web-Design and Blogging class.  Shawn is especially excited by the blogging world because of the wide range of topics that blogs can cover. One of the most unique topics he has assisted with was for people interested in duck-decoy carving.  As an expert in web-design, html, and many other intricate computer languages, Shawn thinks that these techniques are overly complicated for practical, every-day purposes.   Even though blogs are not “God’s gift to original aesthetic,” they work well for anyone wishing to share information on the internet.  Shawn hopes to continue to share this passion with interested community members this spring in his Blogging & Web Design Class on Wednesdays from 6:30-7:30pm.

Submitted by Noah Klein-Markman, Wesleyan University Class of ‘13