All School Media Arts
Each year during our All School Shabbaton or special programs, Media Arts teacher Roger Blonder working with teams of faculty and students works to produce a project involving the entire student body. Enjoy the fruits of these efforts.
Etz Chaim He - The Tree of Life
"It is a Tree of Life to them that hold fast to it."
The theme of our All-School Shabbaton was based on this passage about the Tree of Life from Proverbs 3:18. Students were challenged to consider the question: "What is 'it' to you?" through programs and discussions. This animation was the first NCJHS all-school media arts production. Many faculty and students participated in the creation of the film. Produced and directed by Roger Blonder.
The Crossing of the Red Sea
On the moonless night of April 3, 2008, the entire student body of New Community Jewish High School in West Hills, CA gathered on a dark field to re-enact the seminal event in the story of the Jewish People: The Exodus from Egypt through the Red Sea.
Ich Bin Du
Yom HaShoah programs at NCJHS strive to create a balance between learning and celebration of Jewish civilization before the war and solemn memorial for the lives and worlds lost. During this program, students were filmed against a green screen as they entered the room. They sat in circles on the floor, interacted with photographs and artifacts from the Yiddish world and wrote poetry to process their thoughts and emotions while considering the theme Ich Bin Du: Here I Am. While working in their groups, we filled the video silhouettes of walking students with footage of life before the war (from the documentary film "Image Before Our Eyes") and composited the video against background paintings created by students in NCJHS art classes prior to the program. The audio recording of this video was recorded live in the room as the students viewed the media composition on a big screen at the end of the program.