News/Update from Fiona Evans, Project Co-ordinator

August 2007

Things are really starting to hot up at the Living Memory Lab project. Despite the usual go-slow of August we have been inundated with enquiries. Emails from all over the UK have been flooding in from people keen take the free course. Fortunately for the people of Plymouth the course only covers the city and it's travel to work area.

There are still lots of places and we intend to recruit for courses monthly until next September, so there's plenty of time to sign up. Our first course will start in October and we hope to run them every two weeks. The Living Memory Lab will be working closely with Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery in the first instance and hopes to explore in detail some of the artefacts displayed in it's Human Cargo exhibition which opens on September 22nd. So if you are looking for inspiration for your film then some of the heritage on display may well get the creative juices going! Another good place to look for film ideas is the BBC's webpage dedicated to the Bicentenary.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/abolition

The beginning of September sees the arrival of the majority of our equipment. 5 brand new Apple Macbook Pro computers with accompanying AVID software, which is the programme we will be using to edit our mini movies. The project will be using Sony camcorders that shoot in Hi Definition although nobody is really broadcasting in Hi Def yet. But it means that if you have a posh TV that is Hi Definition ready then you can watch your feature in real quality at home.

We have our first group of volunteer trainers to interview so watch this space. But there are still plenty of opportunities to volunteer… So please get in touch.

So far we have had a range of film ideas from exploring family history to highlighting child trafficking... to a journey around the imagery of slavery and the dark side of the sugar industry. I've started to work on my film which is dedicated to my daughter Nubia and my husband Danovan and their roots in Jamaica.

Plymouth & District Racial Equality Council

3rd Floor, Prideaux Court, Palace Street, Plymouth, PL1 2AY

Tel:  01752 224555   Fax:  01752 220258   Email: enquiries@plymouthrec.org   Web: www.plymouthrec.org