For those just in, here's a player for all five episodes of Wartime Memories - each episode is around 10 minutes long, so about fifty minutes as a single listen.
Wartime Memories: First Hand Recollections of the Great War by William Coleman
In the early 1980's, William Henry Coleman, a veteran of the First World War, was persuaded to talk about his experiences. What he didn't realise was that he was secretly being recorded. This is a series of restorations of that footage, released for the first time, with a specially recorded interview with his grandson, Alan Scott.
NB: Due to the archive nature of the recording and the context of its creation, the audio quality is extremely variable - if the stories told do not always yield to a first listen, hang in there, it's worth it.
The voices you will hear are: William Coleman on the archive recording, Alan Scott in present day interview and the producer Robert Crighton in the background.
This series is supported by Patreon - to support more work like this from Robert Crighton go to www.patreon.com/robertcrighton
Showing posts with label the great war. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the great war. Show all posts
Friday, 29 April 2016
Saturday, 9 April 2016
Wartime Memories: Episode Four
Continuing the story of the First World War via the recollections of William Coleman, this episode is all about food - and an alternative use put to the ration cart.
If you can help support my work, do go to www.patreon.com/robertcrighton and pledge something. Even $1 makes a massive difference.
If you can help support my work, do go to www.patreon.com/robertcrighton and pledge something. Even $1 makes a massive difference.
Thursday, 18 February 2016
Patreon - Learning by Doing
So, not long now till the big launch for my Patreon page and I'm figuring out, vaguely, how to make it happen. Several interesting things have come up as I've troubleshooted (troubleshot?) the set up.
1. Internet Explorer can't see Patreon. Well, that's not quite the case, the default setting for the older version hasn't got the correct setting enabled, so you have to adjust this manually. DON'T PANIC. It's very simple and you can just email me if you need a hand (contact@milkbottleproductions.co.uk or on Twitter@RobertCrighton ) - I don't want to stop anyone pledging if they wish to. An easier solution is to use a better internet platform. Like any one other than IE.
2. Patreon seems to prefer credit rather than debit cards. I got someone to pledge one $1 to test what it was like to sign up (it's a doddle, no different to anything else) but it declined the debit (though, that might have just been them). Otherwise, smooth as a babies arse.
3. There is VAT added to any pledge - so adjust if you feel the need. Those donating in the UK should find that the added VAT makes the dollar pledge about the same as it would be in pounds sterling (exchange being what it is!)
4. It's really easy. Minor computer problems aside, if you do any shopping online, it is no different.
See you tomorrow!
Oh, and a little teaser for the first Patreon supported project - Wartime Memories - is below.
1. Internet Explorer can't see Patreon. Well, that's not quite the case, the default setting for the older version hasn't got the correct setting enabled, so you have to adjust this manually. DON'T PANIC. It's very simple and you can just email me if you need a hand (contact@milkbottleproductions.co.uk or on Twitter
2. Patreon seems to prefer credit rather than debit cards. I got someone to pledge one $1 to test what it was like to sign up (it's a doddle, no different to anything else) but it declined the debit (though, that might have just been them). Otherwise, smooth as a babies arse.
3. There is VAT added to any pledge - so adjust if you feel the need. Those donating in the UK should find that the added VAT makes the dollar pledge about the same as it would be in pounds sterling (exchange being what it is!)
4. It's really easy. Minor computer problems aside, if you do any shopping online, it is no different.
See you tomorrow!
Oh, and a little teaser for the first Patreon supported project - Wartime Memories - is below.
Sunday, 14 February 2016
Wartime Memories
The creation of Metal Harvest last year produced a lot of interesting responses - and has sent me in a couple of surprising directions. This is one of them.
Alan Scott, who has performed with me for readings and the installation piece You Have Been Watching in 2014, mentioned to me in the bar one night that he had a tape recording of his grandfather talking about his experiences in the First World War. Now, Metal Harvest was mostly written at this point and though there was more material to shape I didn't need anything new, but it seemed like too good an opportunity to pass. If nothing else, it would be interesting and I could transfer the recording onto a CD for him.
I sat down to transfer the tape. It wasn't good. There was a phenomenal amount of hiss and little dynamic to the sound. The recording was of a family gathering, after a meal or similar event, where everyone was trying to prompt this veteran into talking about the Great War. The tape recorder was hidden, so that he didn't notice. There's a lot of background noise of clearing plates and general chatter. I struggled along and hoped for the best.
In the 55 minutes of recording the conversation, occasionally obscured, danced around making things with used shell casing and leather off cuts; surviving off the land (stealing the odd chicken); looking after the horses; taking the dead from the front line; joining up and being demobbed. I did a quick de-hiss to see how much clarity could be got out of the recording and emailed Alan back with a suggestion - to release the material online. People should hear this first hand account.
So, Alan came over and recorded some background, listened to the recording and commented on it. We think that with some work we could get between twenty and thirty minutes of good audio that I plan to release in a couple of weeks. The current plan is to release it in themed chunks, of five to ten minutes each, over a month or so, and then release the full recording for those who want to work out the less clear sections.
Wartime Memories - First Hand Recollections of the Great War by William Coleman
First Part has been released - you can support this work at www.patreon.com/robertcrighton
Alan Scott: "The recording is of William Henry Coleman, born 14th August 1897 in Lambeth.
Alan Scott, who has performed with me for readings and the installation piece You Have Been Watching in 2014, mentioned to me in the bar one night that he had a tape recording of his grandfather talking about his experiences in the First World War. Now, Metal Harvest was mostly written at this point and though there was more material to shape I didn't need anything new, but it seemed like too good an opportunity to pass. If nothing else, it would be interesting and I could transfer the recording onto a CD for him.
I sat down to transfer the tape. It wasn't good. There was a phenomenal amount of hiss and little dynamic to the sound. The recording was of a family gathering, after a meal or similar event, where everyone was trying to prompt this veteran into talking about the Great War. The tape recorder was hidden, so that he didn't notice. There's a lot of background noise of clearing plates and general chatter. I struggled along and hoped for the best.
In the 55 minutes of recording the conversation, occasionally obscured, danced around making things with used shell casing and leather off cuts; surviving off the land (stealing the odd chicken); looking after the horses; taking the dead from the front line; joining up and being demobbed. I did a quick de-hiss to see how much clarity could be got out of the recording and emailed Alan back with a suggestion - to release the material online. People should hear this first hand account.
So, Alan came over and recorded some background, listened to the recording and commented on it. We think that with some work we could get between twenty and thirty minutes of good audio that I plan to release in a couple of weeks. The current plan is to release it in themed chunks, of five to ten minutes each, over a month or so, and then release the full recording for those who want to work out the less clear sections.
Wartime Memories - First Hand Recollections of the Great War by William Coleman
First Part has been released - you can support this work at www.patreon.com/robertcrighton
 |
| Alan Scott, with the recording on screen. |
His father was a saddler working for the Southern Railway in the Battersea area. It is difficult to piece together a full service history as his service records are not available – probably lost in the 1940 fire - but from the tape I believe he was in the Army Service Corps, which became the Royal Army Service Corps in 1918 and is now the Royal Logistics Corps.
The tape was recorded at my parents house in Colchester following a family lunch and was done without him being aware of the recording. I think this was to celebrate the Diamond Wedding anniversary of William and his wife Elsie and would therefore have been in September 1981.
He mentions being at Arras when the victory parade for Cambrai was staged – this would be mid-December 1917. He was at Mons at or immediately after the Armistice and relates how they had to march to Dieppe to return to the UK. This is approximately 150 miles so would probably have taken a week or so. I believe he was demobbed at Purfleet in December 1918.
After the war he returned to London and worked as a vehicle trimmer, having his own business for a while which failed during the Depression, and latterly working for a firm in Colchester as a vehicle trimmer until the 1970’s. He served in the Home Guard in Colchester in 1939-45 – after failing to convince the recruiters to let him join up as a regular at the outset of World War Two.
William died in Colchester on 22nd April 1982."
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| William and Elsie in 1981 on the day of the recording. |
Monday, 28 September 2015
Complexity v Simplicity
Metal Harvest could be the most complex show I've ever done. It could be one of the simplest*. It's undecided. It could go either way at this stage. The script - or my spoken script anyway - barring some shifting here and there, is set and I'm running the text (verbal and physical) each day looking for detail. Looking for new ways in. But then there's the other elements. Sound, projection, light. And they're all completely up for grabs. I've started sketching out a rough storyboard for the projection - most of it would be very simple - textures, a few pictures, text. But it might be too much. I might cut it all on the tech run. Sound should decide itself very soon.
I've just finished recording a section of text with Richard Fawcett, who's performing the music and doing some acting in the piece. This, Richard and Google translate assure me, is a section in German, which I simultaneously translate into English. Except we might also have the text projected and the words spoken recorded and played separately at the same time. Getting the balance between the different sources is going to be tricky to get right.
Or I could strip it back and do much less. It's a difficult call at the moment.
The other problem I face is technical - getting the imagery to do what I want it to do, when time starts getting tight. It's a little over a month to go and I'm very unsure which delivery system is the best to use.
And don't get me started on the set...
These open source paranoid musings are, I should add, a fairly traditional part of creating a show. With a month to go, it's going well. I just want the show to be amazing. And we will get only ONE chance to get it right.
*To be fair, I doubt I'm going to get any simpler than Fantasy Terrorist League (2005) where I stood still for 40 minutes before doing two actions.
Milk Bottle Productions Presents...
Metal Harvest
Written and performed by Robert Crighton and Richard Fawcett
“This is the story of a shell...” Throughout the First World War the armaments created passed through many hands – from those in the mines and factories who made them, to those who transported the boxes and those who fired the guns. This is the story of one shell, the story of those who touched it and whose lives were changed by it. Told in words, music, image and song, Metal Harvest is the latest work from award-winning theatre producer Robert Crighton, made in collaboration with musician Richard Fawcett.
Performing on Thursday 29th October at 7.30pm
Tickets: £9 (Friends £8)
The Quay Theatre, Sudbury
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