Mauricii ingeniaT oris a die Parascu e usque Ad SANCT I Michaeli six POUN ds four shillings and eight pence by the King's writ and Ralph the mason 1 mark as a gift by the same writ... |
| AUDIO-VISUAL SCRIPTS FOR ENGLISH HERITAGE'S £2.45m REFURBISHMENT OF DOVER CASTLE GREAT TOWER |
The refurbishment of Dover
Castle Great Tower was funded
by SEA CHANGE through
CABE (the Commission for
Architecture and the Built
Environment)
Castle Great Tower was funded
by SEA CHANGE through
CABE (the Commission for
Architecture and the Built
Environment)
PRESS COMMENT:
THE SUN
THE TELEGRAPH
THE SUN
THE TELEGRAPH
Roland The Farter
Ale-Blown Rapscallion
Scriptorium
AUDIO
VISUAL
"Henry II was the most powerful monarch in Western Europe: power
attracts followers, and Henry II’s court or ‘Curia’ was thronged with
people of all kinds, not forgetting his family. Visitors thronged the
court: petitioners looking for a favour; bishops and churchmen
advising the king; earls and barons of the royal council, summoned
to give advice; ambassadors, diplomats and foreign visitors. The
court was the largest single source of custom around: it attracted
merchants, traders, entertainers. "
(Stephen Brindle)
attracts followers, and Henry II’s court or ‘Curia’ was thronged with
people of all kinds, not forgetting his family. Visitors thronged the
court: petitioners looking for a favour; bishops and churchmen
advising the king; earls and barons of the royal council, summoned
to give advice; ambassadors, diplomats and foreign visitors. The
court was the largest single source of custom around: it attracted
merchants, traders, entertainers. "
(Stephen Brindle)
The lifelike characters who interact
with the visitors on a tour of the great
Tower are, surprise surprise, not real,
but based on an updated Victorian
illusion called PEPPER'S GHOSTS
(and yes, it is all done with mirrors).
The scripts for the Pepper's Ghosts
were extraordinarily difficult to write
(and film) as I had to keep constantly
in mind the very restricted scope of
action demanded by the film-based
illusion. The characters were meant to
look real, not like ghosts, and thus
couldn't make any movement in the
studio out of the plane of action
circumscribed by their eventual
physical setting in the Great Tower (it
was also very difficult for the actors!).
... And then the illusory figures were
supposed to be 'engaging the visitor'.
... And then 'historical authenticity' was
my (and English Heritage's) baseline
standard.
... And then no-one actually knows
exactly how people talked (and swore!)
in the 12th century.
And then...
with the visitors on a tour of the great
Tower are, surprise surprise, not real,
but based on an updated Victorian
illusion called PEPPER'S GHOSTS
(and yes, it is all done with mirrors).
The scripts for the Pepper's Ghosts
were extraordinarily difficult to write
(and film) as I had to keep constantly
in mind the very restricted scope of
action demanded by the film-based
illusion. The characters were meant to
look real, not like ghosts, and thus
couldn't make any movement in the
studio out of the plane of action
circumscribed by their eventual
physical setting in the Great Tower (it
was also very difficult for the actors!).
... And then the illusory figures were
supposed to be 'engaging the visitor'.
... And then 'historical authenticity' was
my (and English Heritage's) baseline
standard.
... And then no-one actually knows
exactly how people talked (and swore!)
in the 12th century.
And then...
"The five Peppers Ghost displays that
have just recently opened in Dover
Castle on the South Coast of Great
Britain were engineered by Simon Beer
of Integrated Circles. Because the
visitors are so close to the illusions,
hiding the mirrors and replay images
became a priority. Getting the mirrors
into position through the vaulted rooms
of the Castle with just a 5 mm
clearance was a major achievement.
The result is a variety of close field,
full-scale Peppers Ghosts that look
stunning even if you know how they
work. The close interaction by the
ghosts with the set works particularly
well in this mediaeval setting."
have just recently opened in Dover
Castle on the South Coast of Great
Britain were engineered by Simon Beer
of Integrated Circles. Because the
visitors are so close to the illusions,
hiding the mirrors and replay images
became a priority. Getting the mirrors
into position through the vaulted rooms
of the Castle with just a 5 mm
clearance was a major achievement.
The result is a variety of close field,
full-scale Peppers Ghosts that look
stunning even if you know how they
work. The close interaction by the
ghosts with the set works particularly
well in this mediaeval setting."