PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE: First Meeting at the Museum & Schedule

Today was my first visit to the Guildhall Museum. I met with George who is also doing the 100 objects commission and we met with Rachel and Steve, who we will be liaising with throughout the commission. They showed us round the museum and the different objects in the exhibition and gave us some information about them. This was very helpful as it has made me want to research into other objects and has given me additional ideas along with more information about the Anglo-Saxon Pennies. I learnt that the only requirements they expected were for the video to be short (2 minutes max) and to be aimed at children as they are the main age group that visit the museum on school trips - this means I have the chance to maybe put in graphics or cartoon images and the dialogue will need to be simple so the children can understand the story well. 

Anglo-Saxon Pennies

The pennies were a lot smaller than I thought. This seems stupid because all coins are small but from the photos I expected them to be a bit bigger and maybe over the years, any new coins were made smaller. Being so small they may be difficult for me to get the detail in focus through the camera. 

Gold Staters
Rachel introduced me to the Gold Staters. These look similar to the coins with the biggest difference being that they cannot be used for currency. They were a way of storing treasure and rewarding people. They were found packed into a hollow fossil flint sponge, and buried in the ground. The fact that even just the fossil they were packed into is an amazing find, the staters just add that extra bit of impressiveness. Maybe I could link the two in one film, e.g. information about the coins then say "similar to the Gold Staters, however, these are unable to be used as currency". 

Fly Tool
The Fly Tool was an object Rachel mentioned and she said that it has an interesting back story. Therefore, I have researched into this object to see if I can find a better story to base my film on. 

The '100 Objects That Made Kent' website explains the Fly Tool as:
Spade-like cutting tool; ‘muddies’ fly tool; used for digging & loading mud (clay) on to barges for the cement industry; wooden shaft with perpendicular top grip (probably a replacement); heavily shoed in iron to create a narrow cutting edge. Made of wood. Length: 1090mm, Width: 122mm. 

My initial idea for this is to include shots of the Medway River to possibly put the audience in the workers perspective. The tool was used in the cement industry, therefore another shot could be someone working with cement. My dad uses it sometimes in the garden so I could get a few shots of the cement. 

The following description is also on the 100 objects website for the Fly Tool but it could make a good starting point for the script:
The need for a strong reliable cement increased due to the escalating engineering works from the late 18th century onwards. James Parker, in 1796, patented what became known as Roman cement. This was a ‘natural’ cement made from chalk and clay in approximately the right proportions, which, when broken and fired in a kiln at 900 to 1200 degrees centigrade, and ground to a powder with mill stones and sieved, produced a strong cement. The ‘cement stones’ were initially obtained from the Sheppey shore, the Essex coast and by dredging between.

I could get a stock photo of James Parker and film clay and chalk. I could also get someone to light a match/lighter for 'fired in a kiln' with the flame being a good visual for that part. Thinking about using this information for the script, I think the whole video needs to be about the actual tool not the cement, I may be able to keep some of these shots but mainly it should be shots and information of the tool. I will also be sure to talk about the description of the tool and focus in on the details of the spade, shaft and handle. 

Straight away I can think of better visuals and ideas for the Fly Tool over the Anglo-Saxon Pennies so I think I will go in that direction. 

Wooden top grip

Wooden shaft

Spade end. Shoed in iron to create the narrow cutting edge

Schedule
While we were at the museum we agreed our schedule for this project with Rachel and Steve for when we were all available to meet:

November
Wednesday 15th - Possibly meet again or email Steve with ideas and for any info he's got on chosen objects

Thursday 16th - Rough storyboard/write up of ideas 

Tuesday 21st - Filming all day. From 9.30am - 4pm

Wednesday 22nd - Another filming day if needed. From 9.30am

Friday 24th - Rough cut viewing with Rachel, Steve and Laura @ 11.30am

December
Monday 4th - Extra filming if needed after rough cut feedback

Wednesday 6th - Fine cut viewing with Rachel, Steve and Laura @ 11.30am

Tuesday 12th - Signing off with Rachel and Steve @ 11am. Retuning/possible re-shoot if needed 

Thursday 14th - Deadline/project hand in

I am very happy to have a schedule all worked out as now I know what time I've got before filming and in between the rough and fine cut viewings. It's all happening within the next couple of weeks so theres no time to mess about. I also have a weeks work experience to do in that time too (27th Nov-1st Dec) which is why the rough cut has been brought forward from the 27th to the 24th.