KIDS FIRST! July 2010 News
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010Last Chance to Sign up for the LA and NY Boot Camps
Act quickly if you haven’t already. You have until July 1, 2010, to sign up for an exciting week of hands-on media evaluation projects in either New York or Los Angeles. Janet Davidson shares some ideas of what parents can expect for their children during the week. First of all, expect a lot of fun. Davidson knows the ins and outs of filmmaking from her experiences as an actor and director in Hollywood. She is looking forward to merging her film experiences and her teaching experiences (she has taught acting classes in Santa Fe as well as Drama and Film Studies) to make film come alive for day campers.
Davidson feels that parents of children attending the Boot Camp might appreciate the fact that it will give children material to use and build on in the future. It could give them a motivation towards a career. No matter what career choice a child has, it’s important to be analytical about anything in life, and that’s what this camp is about.. it will help children analyze material and come forward with their beliefs. With increased verbal skills, the children learn to have the courage to talk to adults and share their opinions. It encourages curiosity.
During the course of the camp, children will learn to interview actors and directors one on one and for a red carpet experience. They will learn why it’s important to judge films, and learn about all the components involved in making a good film from directing to acting to lighting and storytelling. The kids will learn about teamwork as they experience a mock film set and make their own movies. This will teach them firsthand what it’s like to be an actor and producer. They will come to understand the process and realize that all the pieces work together, and they can pull apart, or mesh to create a powerful film. At the end of the day, they will critique their own work. Campers will also have the opportunity to visit a real filmmaking or animation studio.
To make sure your children don’t miss out on this fabulous opportunity, check out the KIDS FIRST! Boot Camp webpage and sign up. But act soon because the July 1 deadline is just around the corner.
Join the KIDS FIRST! Facebook Page
KIDS FIRST! has a Facebook Fan page where you can share information about children’s media. To participate, go to the KIDS FIRST! Facebook Page and click on “Like.”
Goodnight Moon Comes to DVD With American Sign Language as an Integral Part of the Story
Good Night Moon & More Great Bedtime Stories - the American Sign Language version from New Video is a fantastic DVD on so many levels. Good Night Moon takes a classic, simple story and makes it come alive through gentle animation. As the story is read aloud, the words to the story show up on the screen, encouraging children to read. While it’s read, a woman signs the story using American Sign Language (ASL).
This title makes it fun to learn to read and to sign at the same time. It’s perfect for children with Down’s Syndrome or children who are hearing impaired, and can encourage other children to learn ASL so they can communicate with children who sign. It can promote discussion on different means of communication.
Bonus Features include an area where children can take a quiz to see what they remember about the story. Another feature is a quiz section that has children testing their knowledge of sign language and signing letters. If you have Internet access, a third Bonus Feature allows you to download activities related to ASL and the story. KIDS FIRST! Child Juror Comments: Kids liked copying the signs. They liked seeing one of their favorite books on the screen. They enjoyed the rhyming. They thought their friends would like it because they do sign language even though they aren’t good yet. Find this wonderful title in stores beginning on July 27th, or pre-order the title on Amazon.
Are You a Winner? These DVDs Want to be Yours
Enter our July sweepstakes chance to win a free copy of one of the following fantastic KIDS FIRST! titles: Veggie Tales; Sweetpea Beauty, Goodnight Moon, To Save a Life, The 13 Ghosts of Schooby-Doo, Sesame Street: 20 Years and Still Counting and Jackie Chan’s The Spy Next Door (with one special copy autographed by Jackie Chan).
Congratulations to our May winners: Chris, Melissa, Sheila, Christina, Gilda, Shana, Cindy, Leslie, Michelle, Nancy, MaryGrace, Charice, Peter, Cathy, Marilyn, Denise, Eddy, Elizabeth, Erica, Christina, Dania, Bonnie, James , Valerie and Pat.
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JC: Being able to take my family on this trip with me and especially meeting George Schellenger. It was such an honor and privilege to spend time with him. He gave me so
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Calling all “Legally Blonde” fans, fans of “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody,” or even fans of fun, family films that keep you laughing! Now is the time to enjoy the third film in the “Legally Blonde” franchise, entitled “
1. You have been thrown into the world of acting pretty suddenly. What is the most challenging part of acting that you have discovered?Becky - It takes me a while to practice and get into character.Milly - It’s hard for me to act confident on set when I’m feeling a bit insecure.2. How do you prepare for a film in comparison to filming for a television episode?Becky - You have to be ready to portray any part of a script at any sequence since filming is out of order. I loved the live audience on Fridays with Zac and Cody where there was great energy and you could feed off the audience energy.Milly - In television there is a short script, generally one day, so you don’t get as much character development.3. What was your reaction when you were first cast for Legally Blondes?Becky - The “Legally Blonde” movies are some of our favorite films and we are “so thrilled.”Millly - “We are honored to carry on the franchise.”4. What was the most enjoyable part of making the film for you?Becky - It was great playing a character I liked. The script was very funny and clever. Milly - It was fun going to all the different locations - Queen Mary and the mansion and Rodeo Drive.5. How did you grow personally and professionally during the filmmaking process?Becky - It helped make me more confident as I met challenges, and I became more educated on the filming process.Milly - It helped me become less shy around people of all ages. The difficult process helped me learn more about filming.6. What’s the best piece of advice can you offer to aspiring actors?Becky - Be prepared and be professional. Listen to the director and enjoy the experience. Milly - Don’t get discouraged. Set long term goals for yourself and don’t compare yourself to others.7. What new projects are you working on?Becky and Milly - A pilot of Disney channel which hopefully will become a series.8. Where would you like to see yourself ten years from now?Becky - Happy in whatever I do. Hopefully acting. Milly - I hope I’m an actor surrounded by friends and family.9. Is there anything you would like to add?Becky - “Legally Blondes” is a great film for a younger audience. It’s funny and sweet. Milly - We’re from England and so much appreciate the kindness of Americans.Look for this DVD in stores on April 28th!
Exposing infants and toddlers to television does not improve their language and visual motor skills at age 3, but does not appear to harm them either. In the study, “
Our last
As we enter a new year, we at KIDS FIRST! are excited to announce a new board member who is joining our team. Actress Kay Panabaker (”Fame,” “Nancy Drew,” “
1.Martino’s journey from art school in Ohio to Monty Python to “Ice Age” to “Horton Hears a Who.”Martino was bitten by the animation bug in animation class in college while studying to be a designer. He realized that he could move an audience with moving graphics and he enjoyed making people laugh. In the early 1980’s, he worked for television stations doing animations for the Super Bowl, NFL and ESPN. He found himself moving along with technology and its leaps and bounds. Back in the 80’s he would never have dreamed of feature films with characters like today. One of Martino’s favorite parts of his job is that he is lucky to work with talented people A highlight of his career was sitting with Terry Giliam at studio and story-boarding. Martino thinks Giliam is “one of most creative guys out there.” He had a huge influence of Martino. For instance, Martino was inspired by stories on how Martino made “Brazil” and how they used clacking in “Holy Grail” as a necessity since the film budget didn’t include horses. Working on a variety of film from “Holy Grail” to”Ice Age” and “Robots,” where he was art director, Martino gained the experience necessary for co-directing “Horton Hears a Who” along with Jimmy Hayward.2. Goals for the filmMartino had three major goals for this film. First, they wanted to adapt the book by a beloved, respected author, and remain true to the work in storytelling while expanding what was between the pages.The second film goal was the animation. They wanted to create flexibility and movement. The character development team challenge. As a team they worked together to create the perfect tools for animators to move characters around mixing creativity with technology, making the animation fluid.Thirdly, they wanted to keep true to the style. Dr. Seuss was production designer in Steve’s opinion. They promised Audrey Geisel, the widow of Ted Geisel (a.k.a. Dr. Seuss) that they would stay true to the style. According to Martino, one of best moments in the project was when he had lunch with Geisel after the project was complete and they and saw it in a special showing in a theatre. Martino laughs about how his hands were clenched on seat throughout the film, as if her were in a dentist chair, wondering how she would react. Before the credits even rolled, she stood up and applauded and commented that they took the story and lifted it to a new place. Martino expresses that it was the pinnacle of the filmmaking experience to sit with Audrey and have her applaud what they had done.3. Animating “Horton Hears a Who”Hayward and Martino both sat down to talk about the book and discovered that they agreed on how it should be portrayed. They discussed what they imagined as they read the book when they were kids. Martino also factored in ideas he developed as he read to his own kids, who are now 14- and 11-years-old. Hayward and Martino wanted to depict a sense of imagination — not like this world. They felt the story needed to be more exaggerated and imaginative than our world and came to the conclusion that to depict this, they would create a unique two-dimensional animation style.Computers like to keep things on model and perfect form, and for this project the creators wanted to push character distortion –heads squashed or arms 3 times a natural length. The art team jumped on this challenge and embraced it although it was difficult.The animation project was huge. They had a special fur team whose entire job was to groom the fur digitally. This task encompassed the Who’s and the plants. There were very complex scenes, which pushed technical boundaries such as the field of flowers near the end of the film which had ½ billion clovers. The animators managed to fill space and even have clovers blowing in wind. In order to do this they had to intelligently render clovers based on the camera angle through some technologicalingenuity. Each individual frame for this scene took two to three days. Due to the complexity of the scene, it took months to render.4.ResultsMartino firmly believes the film became what it is because of the talent of the people working on it. The cast, in his opinion, was phenomenal and the recording sessions took the movie to a place he never would have conceived of as the actors improvised and all the talented people contributed with their expertise.Three years on a film is a long time to be working on one project. Especially when you are a parent with two children. In fact, his two daughters are in the movie as Who voices, and they were also part of the focus group. Martino loved the great story and great theme by Dr Seuss — no prejudice. He found that this was a great investment of time and life, stating that it was “so nice to work on a project where you can bring your family to the film without hiding your head in shame.”
“Ribert & Robert” is taking off! Since our 