Meet the team - Glenn Whorrall Glenn Whorrall discusses some of the processes used in creating the video content for the digital museum website. I love cinema and moving pictures, so shooting and editing the films on the Clocktime website is a joy. Distilling Dr Taylor's knowledge during the shoot and investigating the given timepiece, then making it work as a short film during the edit, is really gratifying. I've also grown to love the challenges of photographing each item and the methodical approach to capturing the perfect shot, often focus stacking multiple images to get maximum depth of focus. The first video I did for the website was the Selby Lowndes Tompion. From a film making point of view it was very easy to make such an outstanding clock look good. They are really working, moving artworks in their own right. I think the biggest challenge for me initially was to get up to speed with the horological terminology and differentiate between an escapement and a countwheel! As well as the first 24 timekeepers released in March, there are many more to come as John has had one of the most important collections of this type in the world. The production process is similar for most clocks, where we start with a wide shot and John talking to camera. Here he gives us the main body of the film and might talk about different features and also the historical context. We then go in and cover off the detail shots which might also reveal certain aspects we hadn't anticipated. Often, John might start with an assumption or 'the received knowledge' about a certain clock from the history books, but then on closer inspection we discover the truth in action, which John always revels in! For the shoots, it is just John and me but the team in the office keep him on schedule and always prepped with the appropriate folder containing all the writing and research on a particular exhibit. At times we've also used a teleprompter if there is a written script to deliver, as remembering the assortment of dates and other facts can be quite a challenge. My favourite film is the animation of the Vallin Astronomical Table Clock. The dial has a series of concentric rings, each with a different feature. At first glance it looks like something from a science fiction film - both archaic and futuristic. We had to sit down and work out what each ring did, then how it moved in relation to its neighbouring ring. With the power of animation we could manipulate time and show it speeded up, brought to life in a way never before seen. Only then do you see how each ring interacts and how the functions work. The fact it was made 400 years ago is completely mind-blowing. It’s a real honour to have these world class items at your fingertips. Each timepiece has its own unique story and history, from its origins and the makers, right up to the later years and the dealers and collectors who have looked after them. Photographing and filming the artefacts to reveal their hidden secrets to share with the world has been a fantastic journey.
