The following projects, as part of a large-scale collaboration with the institutions presented below, have been produced, or are currently being produced, by the New York Film Academy under the STEAM Initiatives Program
1. James Webb Space Telescope
Partnering with National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA GSFC) & Northrop Grumman – The goal of this collaboration is to increase overall scientific and educational awareness and interest among the general public through the documentation of the development of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The following products of this collaboration are currently being produced by the Academy’s leading faculty and student members –
- 30-90 second Public Service Announcements (PSA’s) that will highlight the overall motivation and development of JWST
- 3-5 minute short videos featuring pertinent JWST missions, scientists, and engineers
- Short animations of key astronomical phenomena that JWST will observe
2. Global Warming
Partnering with California State University, Northridge (CSUN) – To provide visual arts students with a genuine experience in scientific research, the Academy collaborated with CSUN to conduct an experiment that investigated the effects of global warming on the topography of Southern California’s natural vegetative regions. This was accomplished through the launching of two meteorological weather balloons, which contained sensitive scientific instruments and cameras, over the Southern California desert regions. The entire project, results, and student experiences are captured in an exciting 5-minute short documentary produced by the Academy.
3. Tufts University – CEEO
Partnering with Tufts University – The Academy’s collaboration with Tufts University aims to directly engage visual arts students in engineering education and design. Three students had the opportunity to stay at Tufts for a one-week period and participated in workshops and classes teaching concepts in engineering design. The students are currently completing a 3-minute visual story focusing on interviews with Tufts’ Center for Engineering Education and Outreach (CEEO) faculty, student participants, and workshops.
4. Caltech – WISE
Partnering with Caltech – In order to illustrate the benefits of visual animation in presenting pertinent astronomical research, the Academy’s animation faculty and staff produced a short visualization of Dr. Davy Kirkpatrick’s research featuring the proper motion of an L-Class sub-brown dwarf star.
5. Optics for Lenses and Cameras Course
Partnering with Radiant Zemax – An innovative course merging concepts in mathematics, optics, and cinematography, is the Academy’s Optics for Lenses and Cameras. The Academy has collaborated with Zemax to use their OpticStudio software to help students better understand the construction of complex lens systems. A 30 second PSA for Zemax to further promote the benefits of including STEM fields in the visual arts was created under this collaboration.