Almost There...

We are now half way through April and it's getting to that point where I'm looking back over the year and wondering where the time has gone. We have only a month left at the Palace and it feels like we have been there forever but then hardly there at all at the same time.

However, our projects are still running smoothly. We have now finished all the filming for the Vox Pop Project which means only have the editing to do in order to complete this task. We started this process on Wednesday which we knew was going to take a while. In this sitting we succeeded in getting all the footage from the videos onto a computer so next time we can start to edit. This took a little while longer than anticipated as we had to do it the video's natural playing time. We had one full tape and a little extra which was over an hours worth of footage. This allowed us to see the films which we had made and also allowed to split it into clips. However, there was no sound whilst we were transferring the footage so we had to guess where to do the splits. We have arranged a meeting for next Wednesday afternoon with one of the technical equipment staff so we can be taught how to edit effectively.

The Sensory Trail is also going well; I feel guilty because I haven't seen the progress which has been taking place over the past few weeks due to my trip to Rome and the Easter holidays. However, I understand that much of the digging has now taken place and the area should be ready for the planting if that has not already happened. Over the break, I did some more communicating with the electronics company and we have finally arranged what would be best for our project. I forwarded the email to Amanda so she can actually buy the parts for Ad to put into the posts for us. I feel this is a massive part of the project sorted now and all we have to concentrate on is getting it finished in time to open. It has been decided that the best time for a grand opening would be May half term, this is a little later than originally planned as we now want Ad to do a live demonstration in the grounds to create awareness of the project. However everything is running on time for the new opening date.

Other than the projects, we have to now concentrate on the tasks which need to be completed for the module itself such as the reflective essay and the presentation. Again, we just need to find the time where can plan and present together; the essay should be easier as it is very much individual.

Lights, Camera, ACTION!!

Our Vox Pop Project is well under way and we have the majority of the filming done and dusted.

So far we have had meetings with Taras, Tony, Rosie, Pam and Lynne and have gone further by filming Taras, Tony and Rosie.

All the interviews and filming have gone well; we have noticed how every volunteer is different and how nerves affect them all in various ways. However, all of them have been very willing and patient.

We have found that this project has caused most work for us as we have been constantly phoning and emailing to set all these interviews up. I have also found that the volunteers are much more comfortable about the whole experience once we have had the initial meeting so they fully understand what we are doing and why. The only volunteer we have left to speak to at all is Peter but that has now been arranged for next week, along with Pam's filming.

I have also noticed that the volunteers are quite enthusiastic about the project and are all anxiously awaiting the finished product.

We have decided that the editing should begin to take place soon, much of which we can do off site on our university campus. Imogen and I have arranged another meeting with Tom in order to learn how to use the appropriate software and how to make the most of it. I am looking forward to this as technology eludes me a little so I feel I may learn some valuable skills for the future. This will allow us to start the editing process straight after Easter so the project is finished in time.

It is all onwards and upwards from here.

Brownies take over the Palace

On February 13th 2013, I organised for some of my local Brownies to come to the Palace for the day. This was in aid of the Vox Pop Project so we could film the volunteers within their role at the Palace. This will be part of Rosie Petherick's interview which has been organised but not yet carried out.

We had a very lovely day, even though only two of the girls could come. We spent the first part of the morning making shields in the Learning Room. This was an activity based around the knights and their shields. It was amazing to see how the education department actually worked and to get involved with the activities.

It was interesting to see which patterns the girls chose for their shields and why and then what the symbols would have meant early in history on a knight's shield.

We followed this up through doing the Dragon Hunt which the girls thoroughly enjoyed and this gave us an opportunity to film them a little for the project. Sara did all the technical work but only stayed at the Palace for a couple of hours. However, we managed to get more than enough footage and pictures. I think the Dragon Hunt was the most popular activity as it did encourage the girls to be outside; they also loved the fact the dragon was a girl and they could tie ribbons on her. However, we did get to explore the inside of the Palace as well and I was surprised to see how interested they were about the History of the Palace as they sat and watched the video in the Long Gallery all the way through.

After our pleasing find, we took part in a Shield Hunt to warm up. This allowed the girls to explore the inside of the Palace a little more. This worksheet was a little more challenging with a complex activity at the bottom but they seemed to enjoy it.

Then all that was left to do was explore the market place a little before heading home.

I really enjoyed this particular week as it was a little break from all the work we have going on. I had a little bit of a hard time coming to terms with going on our Reading Week as it was meant to be a week away; however, I enjoyed organising the trip for the girls and making the most of the Palace as a visitor as well as enhancing our projects a little more. The Vox Pop project is finally beginning to take shape. Yay!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

So, a new year and a new start with a fresh wave of motivation.

I have been quite guilty of neglecting my blog of late so here comes a massive update on where we are and what is happening:

THE SENSORY TRAIL:

Okay, I'm going to start with my project as it is developing pretty fast and there's lots of exciting developments coming along.

So I had a review meeting with the lovely Amanda after the Clearing Day and we discussed the amazingness of our Clearing Day and then continued to make a timeline of events which need to happen in order for the grand opening on May 1st.

It has been decided that March will be digging month where we will remove all the roots at the end point ready for the planting to take place. James has agreed to organise the levelling of the area for us and this should take place end of February or early March in order for our digging to take place. This leaves late March or early April for Angela to mark out where our flower beds will go. Depending when the Easter holidays are, we shall invite Lufton College back to do some planting.

We then went on to discuss the potential audio element of the sign posts.

I did some research and contacted a company BlackBox-av and they have been rather helpful in terms of prompt replies and friendliness. They sent me this link to a project they have just finished with Llanyrafon Manor in Wales.

After discussing this further with Amanda, I have contacted them again with the hope of getting a solar powered audio equipment installed in the first post of the Trail.

Last Wednesday, I attended the Manager's Meeting with Amanda to discuss the Sensory Trail. They were very enthusiastic and this was very encouraging. This has allowed us to give the final go ahead to Angela and Adam. This means we can give definite dates for marking out the flower beds and for the wooden elements to be installed. We discussed the possibility of Adam coming into the Palace and performing some form of wooden based event as this would raise awareness of the Trail and raise some money for marketing the Trail once it is time to open.

Also from the meeting, we discussed the idea of introducing sensory trail related items to the shop such as mini chalk boards similar to those we will have on the trail. I am going to do some research into this at some point. And we threw around ideas for an alternative name as the idea of a Trail suggests a fixed, paper based route which isn't the right idea for this particular project. So we are also brainstorming that.

I think that's all up-to-date now.  I am meeting Amanda on Wednesday to discuss audio feedback and the possibility of Adam coming in. Looking onwards and upwards.

VOX POP

Moving on to good old Vox Pop.

We had a general review meeting with Anneli last week to discuss progress of the last term in general. This involved a lot of feedback from Taras in regards to the interview he took part in.

From this, we have learnt we must meet with each volunteer before any filming takes place. This will allow us to discuss our aims and the questions we will be asking. We want to make everyone feel as comfortable as possible so by doing this, hopefully the volunteers will have an active input on the questions. We will also have a flipchart with us during the actual interview so the volunteers don't get lost or panicked at any point.

We are also putting in actual visual examples of the volunteers within their roles. For this, I have been in touch with the Brownie Pack I volunteer with every Thursday evening. I am hoping to arrange for the girls to come to the Palace during February half term for the Learning video with Rosie. We have arranged to have a meeting with her this coming Wednesday where I shall present this idea.

We finally managed to steal a few minutes of Sarah Moore's time to discuss the project. She was very supportive and has given us some guidance on how to go about the more generic advertising video. We are waiting on some story board plans from her to get going on this and we are hoping we can pull most of the content from our original interviews through major editing.

This week has been relatively successful in terms of Vox Pop as Imogen and I sorted the camera situation so we now have working visuals and sound in good quality. We then carried out Taras' meeting and interview which ran very smoothly. He has been so helpful and so patient with us which has made us a lot more confident.

FUNDRAISING

Fundraising seems to slowly be taking shape as well.

Before Christmas, Imogen and I carried out a series of surveys on visitors. This was a success and gave some interesting results - it is clear that an event based around art would be very popular.

After meeting with Jo, it was decided that we would no longer be putting on an actual event as this seemed really daunting for us. We are now going to essentially planning an event. This will entail doing a lot more research through surveys and questionnaires and then building on this information to make a business plan which we will present to some of the managers in February.

I think this has made us feel better as it has given us a steady ground with achievable aims. We will act on this by carrying out some more surveys this coming week. This should be interesting as it was decided to go into the market place outside the Palace as well as the Bishop's Table to get more varied results.

I think everything is running rather smoothly at the moment. Hopefully it will continue that way.