Features
A licence to film
National Diploma Media Production and A level Media students spent a number of days filming at the James Bond Museum in Keswick this year
The students filmed five separate interviews with the owner and Bond enthusiast Peter Nelson at his newly opened Bond Museum in order to develop content to be used in the museum’s own cinema room and at various locations around the site. It’s part of an exciting new collaboration with the museum which gives the university’s FE students the chance to work on a series of enriching and demanding professional projects.
This is an ongoing programme and the students will continue to visit the museum throughout the coming year to film more interviews exploring the histories of the cars on display. The most recent batch of interviews culminated in a fascinating set filmed on and inside the belly of the Russian T-55 Tank driven by Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond in ‘Goldeneye’.
“We had a brilliant time filming and editing the James Bond interviews. It was like the best school trip ever as we got to sit in some of the cars and film anything we like.” Joel Wheatley
The museum, launched in April 09, is the original Aladdin’s cave for 007 aficionados. With vehicles and props from every Bond film stretching back to 1962, it’s fascinating to see how the special effects aspects of production have become ever more sophisticated. From the first Bond film, Dr No (1962) the museum displays the notorious dragon tank, a simplistically painted vehicle used for frightening the local populace. Jump forward to 1977 and The Spy Who Loved Me and we see a Lotus Esprit that transforms into a submarine and a Kawasaki 2900 complete with exploding sidecar. Moving into the twenty-first century, the museum has acquired the Aston Martin Vanquish from Die Another Day (2002), along with a skidoo and a Zao Osprey hovercraft 5, and from Casino Royale (2006) one of the Ugandan Landrovers. The latest 2008 Bond thriller, Quantum of Solace, is next on the target list—in Peter’s words “The Aston Martin DBS? Watch this space…”
Ed Cooper, lecturer in media and film at the university explains the concept behind the student project. “This year sees our FE media students engaging with a ‘live’ external project for the first time. This is an extremely exciting time for staff and students alike as this project gives the students a first glimpse of the real world experience of working alongside a real client and in a professional environment. This is the first project of this kind and is indicative of the fresh and pragmatic approach we have to teaching media. We are aiming to develop further projects of this type in the future and our key goals are to allow students to apply their theoretical understanding and practical skills in a dynamic and ultimately engaging way which other institutions would struggle to match.
“Our students are using professional cameras, lighting, sound and edit equipment to produce these documentaries and throughout this shoot the students have been applying the full range of professional film techniques learned on their respective media courses. This practical approach is designed to build students’ confidence, offer a real perspective of the media industry and develop professional links and experience while studying with us on our further education courses.”