Professional Practice: Meeting The Client and Location Scouting

Professional Practice: Meeting The Client and Location Scouting

Today I traveled to the guildhall museum to meet with my client. I arrived early and intended to use the time to scout out the museum. However they forgot to mention that the museum was closed on Monday's. I met with Melissa and we discussed what to do, I proceeded to ring the client and say we arrived early. 

 

They were quite accommodating and led us in to the office early. We re introduced ourselves and the museum staff established themselves to us. They asked us why we chose this commission and what our aims were.

I explained that my aim was to tell a story, I wanted to bring to life not just the history of their exhibits but the impact they had on the world around them. 

Before arriving, I had a brief look at the 100 objects but I hadn't decided which ones I wanted to film. They had the 100 objects listed in the office and we discussed which ones had the most potential or history, however they didn't want to influence us too  much. After re examining the 100 objects, two that really jumped out at me were: The fire pump, and the Anglo Saxon sword. 

I thouht they both had a big story surrounding them and would certainly have had a large impact on Kent. The fire pump certainly had a lot of potential as I could talk about the development of fire fighting in general as well as key events like the great fire of London which led to the development of such pumps. 

It also has an interesting history from what they said to me, having been donated to Rochester by a former mayor as part of a political campaign. Then after having seen regular use it has had some restoration work done on it. 

The scramasax is also interesting since it dates back to the 4th century and has both practical and symbolic use. There is also the opportunity to look at the impact Anglo Saxon Culture had on Kent. 

As the meeting continued we discussed possible shoot dates and spoke more about the aims and outcomes of the project. Then after this initial meeting we were taken on a tour of the museum so that we could RECCIE potential shooting locations, discuss the exhibits and look at some of those that weren't listed on the website. 

We were re-introduced to some of the museum staff and began to walk through. The first room featured quite a few of the objects we had been looking at including the Scramasax. 

 

It was great to see these objects up close and personal and we could discuss with the museum staff about the practicality of filming them. 

We were talked through all of the objects in the first few rooms and learned more about their history and their direct impact/relation to the local area. 

Melissa and i made sure to take plenty of pictures for future reference and help us think about camera positioning.  

We walked through a few of the rooms and I noted that we had a fair bit of space available (more than I expected). I then got to see the Fire Pump in person and heard from the staff about what had been restored and mended over the years. We also spoke about the practicality of filming it.
They were happy to move it outside where we could have the space to film all its angles as well as get plenty of natural light. 

We continued to walk through the museum and the staff introduced us to some exhibits that weren't on the website/100 objects list, but could still make an interesting story and they might be able to arrange a different way of displaying our work if we chose one (but they weren't sure how practical it would be)

These included model ships and fishing boats (reflecting on the fishing history in the river Medway); china dolls which were all made here in Rochester, several paintings and possessions of famous residents of Rochester (including Charles Dickens); and several other old objects.

 

The museum staff seemed passionate about all of the exhibits they had and suggested story lines or points of history we could compare or look at. Of course they did have their favorites that they were particularly keen on, however we had to consider what would make the most interesting story, and they were very respectful of this.

Ultimately they explained that they are just there to guide and offer a hand, we are the experts and would have most of the creative control and they trusted our judgement, which was great to hear. 

 



After the tour we went back to the office to discuss things further. We finalized our shoot days and planned a viewing of our rough and fine cuts. They said that they would mainly be looking at our cuts for the story they tell and their representation of the objects. While they respect our creative freedom, they have to think about the professional and positive reputation of the museum. 

So while they may want to change a few shots they are happy to let us go in whatever direction wen want. It could be a silent art piece, an informative piece, a story telling piece etc. 

They also asked to see a basic script/shot list from us at some point which I started planning in my head. 

Overall today was very successful. I was able to scout the location and make an initial decision about what I want to film and how. The museum staff were very helpful and I look forward to working with them.