For King and Country
By Hattie Hearn (UEA)
On the 5th of June 1916, Field Marshall Horatio, Herbert Kitchener was killed when the ship he was travelling on, the HMS Hampshire was sunk off the coast of Orkney and all but 12 of the ships 758 crew perished in the waves. The following day, 800 miles to the south in a small terraced house in Newhaven, Eliza and David Browning heard about the tragedy on the front page of the daily newspaper. Their 20 year old son, Able Seaman Harry Browning was among the dead. At the same time as the nation mourned the sudden untimely death of a national hero, the Browning family grieved the loss of a son and brother. Through newspaper clippings, photographs and archive documents, this film brings the story of Harry Browning and his family to life. It offers a picture of life in Newhaven during the First World War and celebrates the lives of many of the towns young men, still commemorated in stone in the town’s war memorial overlooking the harbour he set sail from.
Testimonial
“The course is a great opportunity to develop skills that are transferable to any type of film project. Being able to share your research through film offers so much potential for creativity and is a fantastic means of engaging non-academic audiences. Not only is the course a fantastic learning experience, but also a chance to meet fellow PhD students. Karen is a great teacher and is full of useful advice on how to use film to tell your story.”
The Repository and Me
By Maryam Sholevar (SOAS) and Harriet Hughes (Sussex)
The Repository of Arts, Literature, Commerce, Manufactures, Fashions and Politics published in 1809 is the inspiration for Maryam Sholevar’s personal reflection on fashion. As she carefully reveals the paintings behind the tissue paper of this rare and beautifully illustrated regency magazine, Maryam identifies with the women of the regency era depicted in the book. Here, thin fabrics and short corsets replaced the stiff restricting wardrobes and uncomfortable corsets of the Victorian era. Drawn particularly to a painted illustration of a lady dancing, her arms bare, Maryam explores her response with the fashion historian Harriet Hughes. The freedom of movement in the body of the woman on the page reminds Maryam of her arrival in the UK from Iran, and the confusing, yet liberating effect of the possibilities of changing her wardrobe.
Testimonial
“Filming and editing, especially the voice editing, was so fascinating for me. You get a new perspective of the world around you which is magnificent and astonishing.”
The Lamentable Tale of HMS Brazen
By Jenny Flood
At 5’ O’Clock in the morning on January 20th 1800, 105 sailors lost their lives off the coast of Newhaven. They were returning from a successful mission to capture a French naval vessel causing ‘mischief’ to British merchants and fishing fleets and had nearly reached the harbour when a storm forced their ship, the HMS Brazen onto the rocks. This film tells the story behind this historic shipwreck and the legacy of the beginnings of the RNLI that it inspired. Through archives, paintings, interviews and contemporary coastal photography, scenes are brought to life of onlookers watching on, unable to reach the drowning men and of the desperate attempts to save the one soul who survived.
Testimonial
“It is interesting how you can tell a story by make a static picture ‘move’”
The Day War Broke Out
By Elizabeth Chappell (Open University) and Simon King (Birkbeck)
A timely look at the way personal stories of everyday life are recorded in extraordinary times, this film explores the rich resources of the Mass Observation archive’s diaries written as war broke out in Europe in September 1939.
Testimonials
“What a fantastic privilege to have access to the artefacts in the New Haven Museum and particularly the diary entries in the Mass Observation Archives at The Keep, University of Sussex, Falmer”
Talking about Thomas Tipper
By Veronique Walsh (SOAS)
Newhaven historian Martyn Edwards is fascinated in how history spreads its wings, going round and round revealing and unearthing new details of the past. In this poetic film Martyn reveals the interconnected stories of one resident of Newhaven, Thomas Tipper while at the same time sharing his own passion for learning about the past. When made Church Warden of St Michael’s Church in Newhaven, Edwards found a poem on a tombstone, celebrating a man who was “Ingenious blunt and kind”, who “dared do what few dared do; speak his mind”. It also immortalises the legendary strong ale, Old Stingo, which Tipper brewed and which apparently killed him. In this film, two lives separated by over two hundred years are woven together by sea shanties and newspaper clippings, photographs, tombstones and drinking songs . “Once you drop a pebble” Edwards says, “it’s amazing where the ripples touch”.
The Measure of Leisure
By Dominique Baron-Bonarjee (Goldsmiths)
Inspired by the detailed study of leisure activities recorded as part of the ambitious Mass Observation project this film draws on a detailed analysis of the social etiquette of couple dancing to creatively explore the personal and analytical response to contemporary leisure activities on a busy beach in Brighton in the height of a heatwave.
Testimonial
“One of the most useful training courses I’ve done during my PhD: I finally have a way to communicate facts from my research with an aesthetic language”
Keeping The Sounds Alive
By Giovanni Caporioni (Birkbeck)
An audio visual exploration of the importance of a sound archive through the eyes of The Keep’s Audio Preservation Engineer Katie Tavini.
Testimonial
“The most memorable notion I took from the course was a reflection on the essence of filmmaking, made concrete by our highly effective practical training during the week: filmmaking is the creation of meaning by juxtaposition of still/moving images in space and time.”