461 – t3

i’m several weeks into the filming of the second iteration and i feel i’ve not shared with you how my process and journey has been ….

so in the style of a recap ….

previously in the process …

feel – think – do  features in the arts and heritage strategy of the museum of making hlf bid

work continues in the museum with the collections.

over the summer i’m working as a part time lifelong learning programme assistant and bobbing in and out of the volunteer activities, chatting, researching and filming what’s going on.

and in post production … the process begins tomorrow.

with hundreds of visitors currently outside until sunday, small groups of volunteers are working on the upper floors with the collections team to photograph, measure and record hundreds of objects to increase the collections team’s knowledge of what the museum stores hold.  in some cases the museum database might say something like “box of thirty seven thingy ma bobs.”  together the box is explored and each item added to a register.

this second non linear film is concentrating on the activity of the silk mill beyond the public gaze.

i’ve looked over the rushes so far and i’m pleased with how they look.  for this project i’ve been supported by the museum to upgrade my equipment to address the concerns there were about the content quality in the first iteration.

while filming for the first i was also facilitating an outreach project at a derby hospital and when i reflected about this realised i would have liked more time to review and reflect.

with this project the production period is longer and this immediately makes it less intense than the first.

there are production elements i want to try to add based upon the feedback and experience from the first.

the non linear film itself will have a slightly different format.  i’m going to research a version that allows for continual viewing in an exhibition setting, this is based on experience of seeing the first being viewed in the museum gallery space.

the making of the first has informed this second production and already it’s feeling much less “arms in the air running around in wiggly lines.”  that’s a technical appraisal of how internally i felt during the making of the first where there were set public activities happening that i wanted to have included in the production.

reflecting now i see the second as being a much more considered piece as there is so much consideration happening on the upper floors of the building at this time.

with enough footage to begin the first phase post production process, i’m excited at the thought of putting a first draft together soon.  with this framework in place the next stage of filming will have a structure enabling me to see what and where i want to add more content into the film.

reflecting about where this iteration began, it was a lot less obvious what to do than with the first.  working with what i discovered to be happening, i do feel now that i’ve got through the most challenging period and from here am looking forward to it  becoming more intuitive.

since the weekend i’ve been reflecting about the film.  it’s reached the stage of being online and viewed by invitation.  this is part of the research into reactions to a non linear film.

for this project i drew upon my experience of the mill through my maker residency in the summer.  i wanted to document aspects of the museum as they are now, knowing that they will have evolved by the time the museum fully reopens.  being known to the staff and volunteers helped me to film without causing distraction to those around me.

the timing of the project massively contributed to what i documented.  the last running of the model railway, the prototyping of display ideas and of course the maker games.

and there’s the brick collection.  the bricks – 461 in total (at the last count) inspired the origins of the thinking about this work.  they gave me a number to work with as a starting point.   i turned this into a what if … what if i walked 461 steps away from the mill and used this as a starting point for filming.  i was surprised at the range of surroundings at the same distance from the mill.  it led  me to think  that where ever one begins, the museum presents itself in a manner to be explored as you choose to.    for me this sums the film.

in editing the footage and authoring the film i went through a process that saw me wrestle the linear nature of the material and  ultimately to reject that to free up my thinking.  i didn’t anticipate that this would happen.  looking back on that time i can see that the volume of footage i had required my to go through a process of handling the content enough so i could make it do what i wanted it to.  i arrived at the content behaving in a non linear manner through firstly considering it as linear.

i have been able to create a non linear film that i’m pleased with.  the keyword linking does provide meaningful connections between the scene that is playing and the next available choices.  i’ve even cracked how to end the film, including a credit roll !

one aspect that does leave me a little disappointed is the outcome of using a camera mounted upon myself ensuring a pov experience for the viewer.  in an early draft the nature of the shot video was a cause for concern and i’m still attempting to shake that off and  it remains attached like some seed with clever hooks on the ends of it’s spines.

with that said i can move onto to reflect about what my intentions were when making this film.

• i wanted to begin the film by placing the museum at the same distance from several points within derby.  the viewer sees one of these as the beginning to their film.
• recording pictures and sound from a first person pov to place the viewer as an explorer of the museum.
• showing the variety of use of the main public space.  (i wasn’t able to capture everything that happened.)
• represent the other public areas.
• to capture aspects of the last running of the model railway prior to decommissioning.  a bonus of this was i was invited to capture footage from driver and guard pov on the model railway.
• to document of the areas of the mill not currently in public use.
• to document the lift at the rear of the building.

i’ve noted these down so i can refer back to them should there be an invitation to make a second instalment.

there’s a meeting soon at the mill where the project team will be introduced to the draft.  i say draft although as far as i’m concerned it’s finished.  the draft makes the film available to view prior to negotiations about final hosting and other potential screenings, for example might it be shown in the museum?