Archive for the ‘Photography’ Category
Museum drama brings Glasgow’s wartime subway to life
Copyright: Culture & Sport Glasgow (Museums)
More than 50 volunteers and professional actors donned 1940s costumes to star in an innovative short film that will be broadcast on an antique subway train inside the new Riverside Museum.
The 28-minute period drama is set on the 1930s subway car, a well-known feature of the old Museum of Transport at Kelvin Hall, and part of Glasgow Museums’ collection. Visitors to Riverside Museum will be able to board the subway and watch the performance, which will be back-projected onto the end of the train.
During the drama, the 17 actors and 36 extras board and alight at various “stations” on the route. One of these stations included Merkland Street Station, which was bombed in 1940 and re-opened the following year. The drama is set a few weeks after the station re-opened with travellers still anxious about the risks of attack. Despite the fears, Glasgow’s subway was regarded as a safe way to travel during the Second World War, and by 1945 more than 34 million people were travelling on it.
Joseph Briffa, Head of Film and Video at 55degrees, the multi-media production company that made the film, said the production was one of the most ambitious and challenging shoots they’d ever worked on. He said, “We had some 60 actors entering and leaving the subway carriage at very specific timings based on a real-time circuit of the subway in 1941, all in single 30-minute long takes. If there was the slightest mistake we had to re-set and return to the beginning. The technical challenge of this was extreme to say the least, and the level of concentration by everyone on set to make this happen was incredible.”
As well as the challenges of filming, production staff also had to ensure that the cast of 17 actors and 36 extras all boarded and left the train at exactly the right moment in the script. While aboard, the “travellers” had to sway as if they were standing on a moving train.
Kirsty Devine, Senior Curator at Riverside Museum, added “It was important we got the look perfect. We had to make sure the costumes, make-up, hairstyle and dialogue were all authentic. It was a fun and extraordinary couple of days. Everyone was fantastic, and it was lovely to see such enthusiasm for the new museum. By the time of the final shoot, however, wartime fatigue was definitely starting to show!”
Gavin McLellan, Director of the Riverside Museum Appeal, said “This filming is another example of the public support for the new Riverside Museum, with so many people giving up their whole weekend to feature in this film. There’s still time for members of the public to become part of the new museum. A donation to the Riverside Museum Appeal will ensure that your name or that of someone you love will be a permanent presence inside the museum, just like those who starred in this innovative wartime drama. And despite the difficult financial circumstances, we’ve raised about £4million and have £1million to go – a terrific achievement.”
To donate online, please visit www.riversideappeal.org or text the word ‘Riverside’ and your name to 70700 to give £5.
Picture of the week
Here’s an attempt to uphold Iona’s tradition of picture of the week. This is the car show room at the Museum of Transport, the majority of cars have gone and the wrapped items are bicycles waiting to be transported to the Riverside Museum.
A Riverside slideshow: some of Iona Shepherd’s finest photographs
Iona Shepherd’s wonderful photographs have been a regular feature on the Riverside Museum blog since it launched in the spring last year. As well as providing a regular Photograph of the Week, Iona’s other posts include slideshows of the work carried out by the project team, from the conservation and decant of the ship models to the 3007’s epic journey from GMRC to Riverside. Today’s Iona’s last day with the project; she’ll be sorely missed. Below’s a selection of some of the photographs she’s taken for the Riverside project.
Glasgow’s Queens prepare for final voyage to Riverside
The three largest ship models in Glasgow Museums’ collection – the Queen Mary, the Queen Elizabeth and the QE2 – are preparing to make their final voyage. In the next few weeks, they’ll make the last leg of their epic journey from the Clyde Room at the Museum of Transport to the new Riverside Museum.
Like all of the ship models in the collection, these three ships are incredibly fragile. Unlike the others, however, they are huge! These are hefty models that weigh up to 258kgs each, and took a team of six people to carefully move them out from their display case in the Clyde Room and onto maneuverable skates.
Specialist contractors from Constantine carefully lifted them into custom-built wooden crates using fabric straps. The models were then covered in protective sheeting, the crates built up around them, and the interiors filled with packing to prevent the models moving. Soon they’ll be forklifted down into the main hall then loaded onto a lorry and taken to the Riverside Museum.
Riverside Museum like you’ve never seen it before
Many thanks to Glasgow Museums photographer Jim Dunn for this stylish evening shot of the Riverside Museum. Most people photographing the Zaha Hadid-designed building capture it from the impressive north and south facades. Here, Jim shows off the new museum from an unusual angle while, to the southwest, the low winter sun sets over Govan.
The Riverside Museum Appeal has now raised £4million, and in these last few months of the project it’s making a final push to reach its £5m target. You can help by donating online at www.riversideappeal.org or, to make a £5 donation, text “Riverside” to 70700. All donations will be permanently recognised in the new museum.
Merry Christmas from the Riverside team
Today’s Picture of the Week is a snapshot of our very own, and especially unique, Christmas tree!
As temperatures plummeted across the country in recent weeks, one of our mount-makers here at the Museum of Transport took some festive inspiration from the frost.
Using scrap metal left over from building mounts for the new displays in the Riverside Museum, Simon created an arching sculpture and placed it under a burst pipe in the yard.
With such low temperatures, the water escaping from the pipe quickly turned to ice, and each day we’ve been treated to a new formation of the sculpture.
Thank you everybody for checking in on the blog this year. We wish all our followers a very merry Christmas and all the best for 2011; it’s sure to be a momentous year!
Riverside Museum on a crisp and clear winter’s day
Many thanks to Riverside Museum Appeal supporter Ian Macleod for sending in this stunning picture of the Riverside Museum, taken on the south bank of the River Clyde at Govan. The soft wintery light gracing the Glasgow skyline makes for a beautiful photograph, while the warm hues belie the freezing temperatures!
Just a wee bit upstream and to the right, you can see the Tall Ship Glenlee, which is in her current location for only a few more months. Come February, preparations will be made to haul anchor and move the ship downstream to her new berth outside the new museum. Now that’ll be a dramatic picture!
The Riverside Museum Appeal has now raised £4million, and in these last few months of the project it’s making a final push to reach its £5m target. You can help by donating online at www.riversideappeal.org or, to make a £5 donation, text “Riverside” to 70700. All donations will be permanently recognised in the new museum – they make for great Christmas presents!
Picture of the Week – Shadows of a Ladder
A few weeks ago we told you about the raising of the turntable ladder on our Dennis-Merryweather fire engine. Since then, under the watchful eye of the Conservation team, the Dennis-Merryweather’s been patiently sitting in the corner of the main hall at the Museum of Transport at Kelvin Hall; the frame of its extended ladder casting an intricate shadow against the wall.
Slideshow: update on the Museum of Transport’s clear-out
It’s been a while since our last update on the progress of the clear-out of the old Museum of Transport at Kelvin Hall in Glasgow. As you can see in the slideshow above, the Riverside team have been very busy and the inside of the old museum is now looking very different.
Our decant team and contractors have moved all of the trams and locomotives to Riverside. The majority of the motorbikes once on display in the mezzanine level have gone too.
With the clearing of more and more space in the museum, the main hall has become a working area for staff. It’s currently full of cars and boxes, crates and ladders.
Packing of the smaller objects continues in the stores, while Admin and Visitor Assistants work on the archiving of books and other printed material in our offices. Most of the ship models have moved to their destinations, either Riverside or GMRC.
The next big job is going to be moving the cars which are in the main hall cleaned, wrapped, and waiting to go.
The dismantling of the displays at the old Museum of Transport is also approaching completion, and you can see the metal walkways that once ran between the trams lying in bits awaiting disposal.
There’s still an awful lot of work to do, but the final evacuation and move to the new Riverside Museum looms excitingly closer.
A glimpse of Glasgow nearly 100 years ago
Look closely. What can you see? What can one picture tell you about the history of Glasgow?
Just one photo can say so much about the history of a city and its people. This photo was taken in 1914 by Glasgow Corporation as part of a Water and Tramways Bill. It was meant to show just how much traffic was on the streets. But, looking at the picture, you can tell so much more about Glasgow at the time. Horse carts making deliveries, men pushing a barrow, a boy selling that day’s newspaper.
The Riverside Museum curatorial team have pored over thousands of photographs during their research for the new museum. Sometimes you find things you never expected to see! You might find out how much a trip to England from Thomas Cook & Sons cost in 1914. Or what a shop was selling at on the eve of World War I.
This is one of hundreds of photographs that will feature in the new museum. You will be able to look for yourself and find out just what YOU can see when we open next spring.
Riverside Museum 
