The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, the largest museum in the US devoted to the arts, sciences, history, and social impact of movies and film artists, today announced a partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies whose generous funding has supported the development of the museum’s wide-ranging digital engagement platforms. Designed to enhance the on-site visitor experience and provide access for an off-site global audience, the Academy Museum’s digital platforms, including its website, online archives, and app, inspire a deeper understanding and appreciation of motion pictures.
Bill Kramer, Director and President of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, said, “The Academy Museum’s digital platforms will be an expansion of the museum’s dynamic, diverse, and immersive visitor experience. As part of that, our new app will connect users with the art and artists of cinema and the creative, collaborative process of filmmaking via audio tours from film artists and scholars, curated augmented reality experiences, and more. It will both enhance the visit for museumgoers and reach a wide audience beyond the museum campus. We are tremendously grateful to our partners at Bloomberg Philanthropies who have made the full scope of our digital engagement possible.”
“The Academy Museum’s varied digital platforms provide dynamic ways to experience the collection and learn more about the storytellers, image makers, and artists who contribute to the world of cinema,” said Katherine Oliver, who is a member of the Academy Museum Board and a Media and Entertainment Principal with Bloomberg Associates, Bloomberg Philanthropies’ pro bono consultancy that works in cities around the world. “Bloomberg Philanthropies is pleased to support this initiative, which will help expand the reach and impact of the museum.”
The museum’s digital platforms include its website, academymuseum.org, a comprehensive online portal where users can access details of exhibitions, film screenings, public programs, as well as an Academy Awards® History Timeline. Users can also discover digitized archival content and in-depth highlights from the Academy Museum’s permanent collection, including the Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaur input device used during the production of Jurassic Park (1993). Through such collection highlights, as well as archive-based digital projects like the Academy Awards® History Timeline, the museum’s website will connect visitors to an ever-growing set of digitized works on paper and still and moving images from the unparalleled collection of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, housed across the Margaret Herrick Library, Academy Film Archive, and the Academy Collections.
Expanding upon the museum’s core exhibition, Stories of Cinema, the app will include narrated audio tours from actor Whoopi Goldberg and casting director Kim Coleman. The museum’s Chief Artistic and Programming Officer Jacqueline Stewart has voiced the museum’s core curatorial tour, which will be available in English, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, and Korean.
The Academy Museum’s digital platforms also support augmented reality (AR) technology, where visitors will also be able to use the app to bring to life objects on view in the exhibitions. AR experiences launch with the animation of praxinosxope and fantascope images, bringing to life captivating pre-cinematic optical toys featured in the temporary exhibition The Path to Cinema. Coming soon, visitors will be able to dissect film scenes, such as a seminal fight sequence from Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon (1973) and gain a clearer understanding of essential tools such as the animator’s desk and the multiplane camera.
The museum app will also feature content made available to museum visitors through location-aware technology. App users will be able to explore the museum using interactive maps that provide a variety of tools to connect with key museum locations, including exhibitions, theaters, the Academy Museum Store, and Fanny’s, the museum’s restaurant and café.
The app is available to download today for iOS and Android, on the Apple Store and Google Play. Please visit academymuseum.org for more information.
