Introducing... "Difficult Lines"

Here it is... The final film from Daytime Moon's Film Class with Ben Sidoti!

"Difficult Lines" tells the story of two actresses working on a play who fight because one can't remember her lines. The director has to step in to help settle the dispute. "Difficult Lines" was written by the group--Safia, Samy and Jake--and created entirely by them. Safia and Samy each took a turn behind the camera, shooting two shots each and then switching to run sound. Jake consulted on the staging and camera placement, then portrayed the director. Emily and Courtney, two Daytime Moon volunteers, stepped in to play the fighting actresses. 

Check out the final movie:

Pretty amazing right?!?

Congrats to our whole cast and crew, and thanks to Ben for a great class!!

Guest Post from Film Teacher Ben Sidoti!

Hello!

I remember the exact day that filmmaking entered my life. I was sitting in class my first week as a Freshman in high school and Ms. Jensen, who would become one of my favorite teachers, came in to our class to invite us to join her filmmaking class the following semester. While I had always been interested in movies, it was never something that crossed my mind as a profession or something that I could actually do for fun. I always thought you needed expensive cameras, lights, and sound equipment, but she opened my world to the idea that a great story, built from imagination and creativity is all you need. From that day on, there hasn't been a day where filmmaking hasn't been a part of me. 

I'm very excited to have to opportunity to try and spread my love and enthusiasm for film tomorrow. With over 10 years working with cameras, editing software and everything else that comes with video, as well as plans to teach filmmaking someday, this opportunity is one I've wanted for years, and I can't wait to meet all of our participants and create something awesome!

Want a front row seat to all the action in class? Follow along for real-time updates from students on Twitter @Daytime_Moon; Instagram @Daytime_Moon; YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/DaytimeMoonCreations and Facebook at www.facebook.com/DaytimeMoonCreations.

See you tomorrow!
Ben

We have a shiny new blog!!

Hello!!

I hope you all have had wonderful summers and are enjoying the beginnings of Fall! As ever, it's been an exciting summer for all of us here at Daytime Moon!

This summer marked a lot of firsts for us: Our Summer Workshop Series brought incredible, established artists into Daytime Moon classrooms to share their unique fields. It was amazing to bring in so many different artists to teach our students!

We also made some pretty phenomenal new friends, as Daytime Moon Creations began a partnership with the incredible family at Emerge and See Education Centers!! We've been going in to offer workshop classes during the Emerge and See Summer Camps and have longer programs in the works- so stay tuned for updates! In the meantime though, check them out at www.emergeandsee.net.

I hope you followed along during our Summer Workshop Series classes: Music, Movement and Physical Theatre, Dance, and Creating a Character! You can relive all of the highlights, photos and updates on our YouTube page, our Twitter Feed, and our Facebook. As well as right here on our BRAND. NEW. BLOG.

That's right. Perhaps the biggest change of our summer is the facelift we've given to our social media. You sat front row with us as we navigated launching a public YouTube channel, went into our classrooms through increased Tweeting and real-time Facebook updates, and now I'm so excited to share our new blog with you! This beautiful new space, created by the AMAZING Rachel Murphy at tunes and spoons blog design (www.tunesandspoonsdesign.blogspot.com) is our new home to all things update! Take a look around when you have time, but here are the highlights:

-Choose what kind of blogging experience you want! So many of us here at Daytime Moon have a blog presence, but now you can choose who you want to hear from. Our teachers share stories from the classroom and updates about upcoming programs. Our performers' blogs include interviews with our participants, video blogs by our interns, and insights into Daytime Moon programming that can only come from the people who experience it. And our friends do all sorts of amazing things: These blogs can be from guest teachers, from intellectuals sharing insights into the theories behind Daytime Moon's work, and from leading therapists, teachers, artists and clinicians taking your questions!

-Check out the links at the top! This time around, our blog is more than just articles and stories. It's a chance to get to know Daytime Moon Creations in an exciting, multidimensional way. You can see a brief introduction to Who We Are, without leaving the blog to go to the full website--and when that teaser gets you super excited and you want to learn more, the option to leave and explore our full website still exists. On our "Who's Blogging" page, you'll see photos and short, funny bios about the people who write for our blog. And you'll be able to choose people to ask questions of! And of course, you can donate directly from this blog to help Daytime Moon make a difference in the lives of children and young adults with special needs by helping us provide arts programming.

-Social Media! On the left hand side of the blog, you'll see the icons that will help you stay in touch with us in so many ways: Like us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter, Subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Join our Mailing List, and now you can follow us on Instagram too! And for those of you who also blog: don't forget to grab and share one of our buttons so that you can share what we do with all of your followers!

From all of us at Daytime Moon, so many thanks to Rachel for putting this together!!

Now that it is, in fact, fall, I can share with you all of the plans that have been brewing all summer long here at Daytime Moon:

Given the success of our Summer Workshop Series, we've chosen to move 3 of the classes from July to September so that people can have a weekend dose of the arts to ease the transition back into school! On September 15th, Ben Sidoti will be teaching Film; on September 22nd, Meredith Hackman will be teaching Creative Writing, and on September 29th, Christine Fuchs will be teaching Storytelling. Class descriptions, Teacher bios, and Registration materials are all available on the website at www.daytimemooncreations.org/current-programs.

And in October, back by popular demand is our hallmark Daytime Moon Program: Stars of the Stage, an 8 week theatre program that will culminate in an original production!  This session will run from October 20th until the final performance on December 15th, from 12-2PM every Saturday at 440 Studios. Registration materials can also be found on the website.

And last but not least, we're thrilled to be headed back to the Cooke Center Academy SKILLS Program for our third in-school residency with their young adult students. Can't wait to see what they all come up with!

So, happy fall and happy blogging! Can't wait to share all of our updates with you on this beautiful new stage!

Cheers,

Jenna

From the Archives- Out of the Box: Check out the Pictures!

December 28, 2011

As promised, I can finally share some stories and photos (video footage still to come!) from “Out of the Box,” the original play from Daytime Moon’s fall program with the Peoples Improv Theater. “Out of the Box,” written by Meredith Hackman and Cooke Center Academy Intern Nagisa Mikami, chronicled the story of 5 museum artifacts attempting the save the job of Emily, the museum curator, by thinking of an exciting new exhibit. Meredith and Nagisa’s script was based on original characters developed by the cast over the course of the program.

Preparation for “Out of the Box” was, as with any theatrical performance, fraught with hilarity, hard work, joy and (at times) a little craziness. After finding out that Jeffrieal, who had developed a character based on his favorite baseball players, was leaving early for the holidays, we rushed to film all of his lines so that he could appear in the museum as a painting that came to life! Certainly tech design brings its own level of insanity, but thanks to Meredith’s determination and everyone’s refusal to accept that Jeffrieal wouldn’t be a part of the final performance, Jeffrieal was onstage like the rest of the cast: dancing, speaking, and pretending to be a dinosaur! All of our other actors also were 100% dedicated to making “Out of the Box” a huge success–you’ve already seen footage of some of their character interviews, of Jake’s songwriting session with country singer Harold Allen, and some of the commercials they made, but I can’t even begin to tell you how much additional work each actor put in to learn their lines and deliver them loudly and with emotion. Talia even perfected an accent for her role as Princess Anastasia!

I continue to be amazed by the achievements of our participants, and “Out of the Box” was no exception. They played to a packed house on the mainstage at the Peoples Improv Theater, and frequently had to stop for laughs and cheers as the audience actively engaged with and responded to the story being played out. Every single participant had their moment in the spotlight and they shared the stage with such presence. They showed us the purest aspect of theatre: the sheer joy in creating and expressing. I’m so proud to have been able to witness it.

Enjoy the pictures!

Libby helping Nicky get into his Tyrone costume

The cast and I checking in before the show started

Jake sneaking a peek at the audience

Nicky breaking out of the box as Tyrone the Dinosaur

Teddy as Ben Franklin

Jake as the Famous Country Singer

Jake, Talia and Nagisa during Curtain Call

The whole group (including Jeffrieal!) after the show

Cheers!
Jenna

From the Archives- Welcome to Camp: A Celebration and Reflection

December 28, 2011

Tomorrow, two weeks will have passed since members of the Cooke Center Academy Alumni Association and students in the Cooke Center SKILLS Program made their Daytime Moon Creations stage debut in “Welcome To Camp.” The cast performed on the mainstage at the Peoples Improv Theater to a huge and enthusiastic crowd. It was an overwhelming success!

I couldn’t have been prouder of our actors, who worked together to write the entire play themselves. This huge feat of collaboration was only eclipsed by the passion with which they tackled the performance. The group never once let nerves get the best of them and approached each moment onstage with emotion, honesty and confidence. It was incredible to watch, and I’m so thrilled to finally be able to share some pictures with you!

The cast going over last minute preparations before the show

Alexis as Rapone, the Camp Director

Sam as Kelly, a new camper

Christina as Taylor, one of the bullies at Camp Ojai Lake

Carrie and Geraldine onstage as Molly and Alex

Jake as telling a ghost story as Hal, the oldest camper

Patrick and Nagisa celebrating after curtain call

The cast of "Welcome To Camp" with Michelle and I

Cheers!
Jenna

From the Archives- One More Sneak Peek: Behind the Scenes with Harold and Jake!

December 24, 2011

Hello again!

So I just finished going through this amazing footage and couldn’t wait to share it with you.

As you already know, “Out of the Box” chronicles the story of five museum artifacts–a Ben Franklin dummy, a statue of Princess Anastasia, a T-Rex skeleton, a painting of a famous baseball player, and a country music concert poster–as they work together to create an amazing exhibit and save the job of Emily, the museum curator. Naturally, as we created the play, we turned to the unique talents of each of our amazing actors: For example, Teddy already knew so much about inventions and was so interested in improv-ing about Time Travel, it was an obvious choice to cast him as Ben Franklin and allow the character to explore each of the other characters’ time periods and lives. For Jake, who has an extensive knowledge of (and unparalleled passion for!) country music, we would have been remiss not to allow him a chance to perform a musical number.

Early in the show, Jake’s character shows the group his “favorite song to play when [he] was alive” and performs country legend Hank Williams’ standard “So Lonesome I Could Cry.” But the truly amazing part comes later in the play, when the whole group talks about how museums house stories and memories of such a wide array of people and events, not just any one thing. Jake’s character reminds us about how country music is similar; often country songs tell stories of past events and remind us never to forget. And then, you guessed it, he sings an original song with the group.

So how to create that moment?! We couldn’t have been luckier. And it couldn’t have been more fun:

Harold Allen, country singer and the centerpiece of Harold Allen and the Bonfire Choir (a country band that has toured the country, opened for Leann Rimes, and just released their first live album!) came into Daytime Moon a week before the show to work with Jake to write the song!! It was an amazing experience for Jake to be able to work with someone as excited as he is about legends like Johnny Cash, Hank Williams and Kris Kristofferson, and it was great that Jake was able to be in the driver’s seat with some of the writing, really working with Harold to create the final song (In Harold’s words, “Copyright Harold Allen and Jake.”)

The song they wrote was absolutely perfect for the show: sweet, melodic, touching, and country to the core. Check out part of the video from their work session:

And here are some amazing shots taken by photographer Benjamin Sidoti:

Harold's guitar--this guitar has played in Nashville, strummed the chords of Johnny Cash and Hank Williams, and toured the country with Harold Allen and the Bonfire Choir. Jake was beside himself with excitement!

Harold and Jake singing "So Lonesome I Could Cry"

So happy!!

Celebrating all of their hard work

Jake trying on Harold's cowboy hat

Showing off their original song, "Museums and Memories"

Hope you enjoyed!

Jenna