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Eyewitness - Sharing Skills, Sharing Stories
The artworks in this section, made by a number of groups of local people, aged 15 to 19 years, and 70 years and over, are a creative response to the marking of the RAF Centenary and the WW1 Commemorations during 2018/2019.
Working alongside artists, animators, filmmakers, and musicians, with support from MediaActive, the project participants have created distinctive and engaging artworks that will be shared widely: exhibited in gallery spaces, installed at RAF Museum Cosford, screened at festivals, and available to view online.
Finally, one of the aims of this project was to provide an opportunity for emerging and established creative practitioners to collaborate. As such, not only were the project participants, young and older, learning new skills and creative approaches, but the lead artists were also extending and enhancing their own practice through cross art form collaboration...Sharing Skills, Sharing Stories.
With special thanks to RAF Shawbury, and Royal Air Force Museums, for the sharing of archive content.
Working alongside artists, animators, filmmakers, and musicians, with support from MediaActive, the project participants have created distinctive and engaging artworks that will be shared widely: exhibited in gallery spaces, installed at RAF Museum Cosford, screened at festivals, and available to view online.
Finally, one of the aims of this project was to provide an opportunity for emerging and established creative practitioners to collaborate. As such, not only were the project participants, young and older, learning new skills and creative approaches, but the lead artists were also extending and enhancing their own practice through cross art form collaboration...Sharing Skills, Sharing Stories.
With special thanks to RAF Shawbury, and Royal Air Force Museums, for the sharing of archive content.
'Unlikely Heroes' - an animated documentary
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'Unlikely Heroes' won 'Best Film (16-19 years)' at the 2019 Film & TV School Wales Awards. It was also nominated in the category of 'Best Film (16-19 years)' at the 2019 Into Film Awards and screened at the 2019 Cinemagic Film Festival in Belfast. |
A creative animated documentary, using an array of experimental animation techniques, revealing the crucial role messenger pigeons played in wartime. This short film was made by a team of twenty one young people aged 16 to 19 years, working alongside artists, filmmakers and animators, as part of the Eyewitness programme and in response to the 2018 RAF Centenary and WW1 Commemorations. Supported by Arts Council England and the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust.
'Unlikely Heroes' - outdoor projections
a short clip from one of the outdoor projections - around a number of public spaces in Shrewsbury.
'John Preece - Champion Pigeon Racer' - live action documentary
The live action documentary below, ‘John Preece - Champion Pigeon Racer’, is a companion piece to ‘Unlikely Heroes’ and reflects the extensive research and interview process undertaken by the group.
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Experiments in animation and film
Reflecting the new skills they learned on the project, the video below is a sample of some of the film and animation research, 'experiments' (with sound and image), and test pieces, made by the young project participants prior to making their films...
'My Letter To You', 'Bless 'Em All' and 'Turn the Dark Clouds Inside Out'
The three artworks below were made by AGE UK choir The Orchard Singers whilst working alongside Musician and Musicologist Adrian Plant, and Sound and Moving Image Artist Josh Plant. The group undertook independent research, delving into their family histories, local archives, and sharing personal stories, to find points of interest and inspiration to bring back to the wider group.
They found songs, poems, photographs and letters, some dating back to WW1. Working with Josh and Adrian, the group have created an array of moving sound and image artworks, beautiful renditions of deep-rooted and enduring songs, enhanced by clips of archive films and photographs.
They found songs, poems, photographs and letters, some dating back to WW1. Working with Josh and Adrian, the group have created an array of moving sound and image artworks, beautiful renditions of deep-rooted and enduring songs, enhanced by clips of archive films and photographs.
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Behind the scenes at The Orchard Singers' sessions
- some photos and a short film below
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Eyewitness - Sharing Skills, Sharing Stories exhibition at Theatre Severn
A selection of the work produced through the 'Eyewitness - Sharing Skills, Sharing Stories' project is currently on display in the Third Floor Gallery at Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury.
Curating archive film by mashup
with original music composed and performed by Ben Thorn
Research Interviews
Interviews with former RAF Padre Nick Heron and ex-RAF Pilot Richard Keech. The interviews cover how the RAF has changed over time; how military life intersects with faith; the experience of being away from family life; the fact that only 4 % of the RAF are pilots; life-changing experiences as a trainee pilot; what it feels like piloting a plane and the experience of community within the RAF.
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Screen installed alongside World War 1 planes at RAF Museum Cosford
'Unlikely Heroes' (images above), along with the three moving image works by AGE UK choir The Orchard Singers, can also currently be seen in the 'War in the Air' hangar - alongside WW1 planes - at the RAF Museum Cosford.
Eyewitness - Champions of Flight
An array of artworks made by young people as a response to the history of the air services during World War I, and the subsequent birth of the RAF in 1918.
The works recognise the courage and skills of those early pilots, who served their country not only during wartime, but also as champions of flight technology and civil aviation.
Using a variety of approaches, including film and animation, over 50 young people aged 10 to 22 years, and participating in their own time, have created high quality, accessible and engaging artworks.
Working with artists and filmmakers, with RAF veterans and their families, and with flight specialists, archives and museums, the young creatives have uncovered some of the hidden stories of those early pioneers of flight - from World War I trainee pilot to post war Flying Circus showman, and beyond.
The works recognise the courage and skills of those early pilots, who served their country not only during wartime, but also as champions of flight technology and civil aviation.
Using a variety of approaches, including film and animation, over 50 young people aged 10 to 22 years, and participating in their own time, have created high quality, accessible and engaging artworks.
Working with artists and filmmakers, with RAF veterans and their families, and with flight specialists, archives and museums, the young creatives have uncovered some of the hidden stories of those early pioneers of flight - from World War I trainee pilot to post war Flying Circus showman, and beyond.
'Altitude'
This short film was made by a team of twenty young people, who were also developing filmmaking skills as part of BFI Film Academy at MediaActive. Inspired by the anecdotes of WW1 pilots who went on to perform, alongside of female wing walkers in aerial display teams (aka Flying Circuses), the young people, aged 16 to 18 years, wanted to create a film that both reflected upon the horror of war, as well as the post-war years of thrill seeking entertainment. By adopting a weird and wonderful music video aesthetic, they hoped to capture the interest and imagination of other young people, connecting them to history that encompasses both military and civil aviation.
'Altitude' was nominated for a National Award at the 2018 Into Film Awards in the category of 'Best Animation (13 and over)' |
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'A Pilot's Dream'
A short but evocative animation that illustrates the troubled mind of a wounded World War I pilot.
'Camels in the Sky'
This silhouette animation depicts the celebrated Sopwith Camel in flight. A spritely plane capable of elegant manoeuvring during battle, it was also a favourite for complex acrobatic displays in post war flying circuses.
'The Birth of the Fighter Plane'
Working from archive materials, this short film tells the story of French World War I pilot Roland Georges Garros and Dutch aircraft manufacturer "Anthony" Fokker, and their role in the development of the synchronization device which enabled World War I aircraft to fire through the spinning propeller.
'The story of Wing Commander Harry Hastings and the troublesome smoke canister '
Accompanied by animated digital drawings - using the Procreate App on an iPad - Warren Hastings tells the story of his Uncle, Wing Commander Harry Hastings, and an unfortunate accident with a green smoke canister.
The full 40 minute interview with Warren can be viewed below (near the foot of this page)
The full 40 minute interview with Warren can be viewed below (near the foot of this page)
'Attack of the Zeppelin'
Using the simple ‘cut and shove’ animation technique, a group of young people from RAF Cosford Airplay have depicted the true story of a Zeppelin raid on London in 1915. Working from first hand accounts written by boys aged 5 to 14 years attending Princeton Street Elementary School in London, on the morning after the air raid.
'The miraculous escape from death of Air Marshal Sir David Grahame Donald'
Marking the centenary of the RAF in 2018, this very short, but pithy, animation tells the incredible story of Pilot Grahame Donald (later Air Marshal Sir David Grahame Donald), who, in 1917, fell from his Sopwith Camel at 6,000 feet and serendipitously survived. That is, whilst attempting to fly his plane up and over, as he reached the top of his loop, hanging upside down, his safety belt snapped and he fell out. He was not wearing a parachute as a matter of policy. Incredibly, the plane had continued its loop downwards, and Donald landed on its top wing. Climbing back into the cockpit Donald then executed ‘an unusually good landing’.
'Bloody April'
This short animation tells the story of Bloody April, the name given to the, largely unsuccessful, British air support operations during the Battle of Arras in April 1917. During this battle the Royal Flying Corps experienced particularly heavy casualties at the hands of the German Luftstreitkräfte. The original, and remarkable, words to this piece can viewed in full below (under print-based works).
'Flying With My Father'
Using footage filmed in Summer 2017, in such a way as to suggest the use of vintage film stock, this work seeks to share insight into how it might have felt for those young first time flyers that took to the air in small planes as trainee pilots in World War I.
Young people first interviewed a Shropshire school teacher about his first experience of flying with his father, and then visited and filmed at Sleap Airfield and museum, in North Shropshire. Sleap was a World War II RAF base, and today is well used by aviation enthusiasts, and pilots of small planes that are similar in size to the World War I biplanes.
Young people first interviewed a Shropshire school teacher about his first experience of flying with his father, and then visited and filmed at Sleap Airfield and museum, in North Shropshire. Sleap was a World War II RAF base, and today is well used by aviation enthusiasts, and pilots of small planes that are similar in size to the World War I biplanes.
'Eyewitness - Champions of Flight' exhibition at RAF Museum Cosford
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Project banner in the Museum's Visitor Centre/Foyer
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A selection of work produced through the earlier 'Eyewitness - Champions of Flight' project was on display at the RAF Museum Cosford throughout the Summer of 2018 – the exhibition also included a screen installed alongside the World War 1 planes in the Museum's ‘War in the Air’ hangar.
World War I stories - The Whitchurch Heritage Centre interviews
A group of young people visited Whitchurch Heritage Centre and met with some of the centre’s volunteers who showed them WW1 artefacts from their collection.
Thank you to the volunteers, for sharing their knowledge and anecdotes with us on camera.
Thank you to the volunteers, for sharing their knowledge and anecdotes with us on camera.
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Print-based works created through the project
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Full text for the short film 'Bloody April' - an original piece of creative writing composed as part of the project in Summer 2017 - to read the piece in full please select the above text-based image
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The story of the celebrated ‘Red Baron’ in the form of a comic - select the cover image to read...
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Research visit to Sleap Airfield & Museum
Research visit to RAF Museum Cosford
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Visit to Otherton Airfield to film a replica SE5A
The MediaActive Team would like to thank Peter Davies - the owner of the replica SE5A pictured above - for being such at wonderful host at Otherton Airfield, and for providing our young production team with such an inspiring and unique experience, and rare opportunity, to get up close to a WWI biplane.
Summer Production workshops weeks 1 & 2 at MediaActive
RAF Cosford Airplay - half-term holiday workshop week
Eyewitness - Champions of Flight Exhibition
front cover of the four-page exhibition guide produced for the exhibition at Theatre Severn;
some exhibition photos and a video showing animations installed on two small screens
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select image to view installation
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'Come Josephine In My Flying Machine' performed by The Orchard Singers
A short film of Age UK Shropshire Telford and Wrekin's choir 'The Orchard Singers', led by Adrian Plant, performing the popular song "Come Josephine In My Flying Machine" - first published in 1910 - celebrating the early days of flight.
Champions of Flight - 'behind the scenes' film
Some other interviews from our research
- including the full 4o minute interview with Warren Hastings
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What's it like to fly a biplane by Martin Hill - a Visitor Experience Assistant at the RAF Musuem Cosford
(audio only)
Eyewitness 2014-16
Select the image below to visit our earlier Eyewitness project page and its related dedicated website
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MediaActive Projects C.I.C.
Wem Town Hall High Street, Wem Shropshire, SY4 5DG |
email: info@mediaactive.org
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