Film Short by Bournemouth Students Brings Museum to Life

Film Production students from Bournemouth have produced a stunning short film for The Tank Museum.

The film, which was shot on a budget of just £1,500, aims to show how museums can fire the imagination and bring history to life.

Tobias de Gromoboy (10) from Bournemouth, plays an errant school boy who looses interest in his teacher on a class visit to the Dorset museum and wanders off on his own personal voyage of discovery amongst the tanks and artefacts on display. As he looses himself whilst alone among the exhibits, they come to life and lead him back in time. The film concludes when his teacher, played by Bournemouth based actor Chris Manning finds him and leads him back to the rest of his group.

The film was made by a group of 25 Film Production students over five days in July, and was written and Directed by 22 year old Conrad Milligan and Produced by 22 year old David Tallon.

The Tank Museum curator, David Willey said; “We approached Conrad and David having seen a short film Conrad had made as part of his course, which was part filmed at the Museum. We were bowled over by the quality of this work – not just because it was made by a student – but because of the creativity and talent displayed in it.”

Following this, the Museum approached them to create a film that shows the power of historical objects to inspire and excite.

“We didn’t want this to be an `advert` as such for The Tank Museum, more a piece to promote the value of the experience a museum can offer” David said. “The film shows that modern museums offer a tactile experience and with modern storytelling techniques it can literally fire the imagination and bring the past to life. This is perhaps now increasingly important in a world that is becoming more `virtual` in the way in which we interact with culture.”

The film's Director, Conrad Milligan, said; “The experience offered us the chance to truly stretch our creative muscles outside the university environment, and that is something we are all grateful for. We’ve come away with some great practical experience and additions to our CVs, and the Museum has a short film that will help promote the museum experience. ”

Producer David Tallon said; “This was an exciting project for us as it provided an opportunity for us to practice what we love: film making. We succeeded in making an ambitious film, despite the very tight budget and time allowed by cutting unnecessary expenses and closely managing schedules. We managed to acquire all the necessary high-end equipment through our resourcefulness and connections, but apart from fancy equipment, this film would not have been possible without our crew’s contribution from pre-production through to post. We’re very grateful to The Tank Museum for giving us the opportunity to show what we can do, and we’re delighted that they will be using the film to show how important museums are.”

The film features 30 extras from Bovington Middle School, and almost 25 of Living History re-enactors who brought some of the vehicles shown in the film. It also features an original score written by 22 year old music student James Wilson-Read, studying music at Birmingham Conservatoire. He conducted a 26 piece orchestra to create a fitting soundtrack to the work.

David Willey said; “This is an exceptional short film produced by a highly talented, organised and professional group of students. It also shows that museums can play a positive role in their communities by giving talented people the opportunity to develop their skills in projects such as this, and gain something valuable and very useful as a result.”

David, who has also championed the museum’s award winning partnership with the Dorset Probation Service, added; “Of course, creating something like this by commercial channels would have cost so much as to be beyond the budget of a museum. Again, this shows the benefit of developing links and partnerships with your local community and at a time of economic hardship it is even more important we grasp such opportunities when we can.”

The Museum has been so impressed by the student’s work, that another project is currently being discussed.

Picture Captions: (Above Right) A still from the short film and (Below Right) The cast and crew celebrate the final shot of the film.

The film has been posted on The Tank Museum's You Tube channel. To see it, click here.