The Cr8tive Film Crew

On January 21st we interviewed the film crew, it was a chance for us to learn their techniques. We interviewed Kheira and Orane.

Interviewer: What skills have you learnt?

Kheira: We learnt about the whiteboard, which stops the camera from blurring.

Orane: You have to check that everything is correct so that the whiteboards make the image sharp.

Interviewer: What was your favorite part ?

Kheira: That everyone had a role and we learnt about actual cameras.

Orane: I enjoyed interviewing people from the local area.

This is the whiteboard to stop the camera from blurring.

Interviewer: What was the easiest part ?

Kheira: The sound checks and you have a tiny microphone on your chest. The sound person listens, then they count up to 3 and check the sound.

Interviewer: What was the hardest part?

Orane: The frame because you have to make it focus. We also had to use a light to make it brighter.

Interviewer: How is a pro camera different to a phone?

Kheira: On a phone you don’t have to set it up because it is already set up for you.

Orane: With pro cameras you have head phones as well.

Interviewer: Thank you for talking to us Kheira and Orane

The Film Crew Creatives

On January 21st a few members of the website team had a chance to interview the Film Crew, who have the amazing opportunity to use an actual filming kit. We found out about the new techniques they have learnt and what they have enjoyed so far. The interviewees in this interview are: Asia and Nasr.

Interviewer: What have you learnt today?

Nasr: We learnt an acronym called WIFFLE which goes like this:

W is White balance, which is a button you press to turn the screen to its original colour,

I is Iris, the Iris is the eye of the camera you close it to make the scene darker and you open it to make the scene light,

F is Focus, this is when the scene is blurry and you zoom in on a specific thing,

F is Framing, you want the interviewee to be in the middle of the screen and you want their eyes to be on the top,

L is Level, it is the level of the sound and light and…

E is the same thing.

Asia: We learnt about different microphones and we got to use the Typing microphone. The headphones are connected to the microphone. We also learnt how to use sound. We couldn’t speak too loudly or too quietly we had to speak evenly

Interviewer: How is the camera you use different to a camera-phone ?

Asia: There are more buttons than on a camera phone. When you are doing white balance you have to set it up, however, on the camera-phone, it is automatic. Furthermore you don’t hold it when you are standing still, instead you use a tripod. When you are moving around you have to hold the top and bottom of the camera.

Interviewer: What was your favorite part and what are you most looking forward to?

Nasr: I enjoyed when we interviewed each other for practise and I am most looking forward to interviewing the artists.

Asia: I don’t have a favorite part I loved it all and I am really looking forward to interviewing the artists.

Interviewer : Thank you for being such lovely interviewees.

Asia and Nasr: Thank you.

Becoming Archivists

On Friday 22nd January, the Web Team visited Kensington and Chelsea Archives. An archive is similar to a library but instead of just books it stores all kinds of historical information. For example, old pictures and photographs, books about history, newspapers, magazines, leaflets and maps.

When we arrived, Dave Walker, a historian and archivist, specialising in the history of Kensington, told us all about the archives. Dave has written lots about Kensington. You can view his blog here.

We then looked through the sources of information that are stored in the archives.

This is Dave explaining what we were going to do.

Our task was to research the history of Notting Hill Carnival and find images that we could share with the film team; use to help us in our history learning; and use in our blog. We chose our favorite pictures to scan. Then Ms Brierley (who is one of our teachers) saved the photos onto a USB key. You can see just a few of the amazing photos we found below.

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Before we left Dave had some important things to tell us: he believes history is useful to know because you can learn from the mistakes of the past. He also said that what amazes him about history is that although lots of things change, many things are the same. You see many people doing the same thing today that they did 100 years ago. For example, chatting on the streets and going shopping. Many of the struggles we experience today are the same as those experienced hundreds of years ago.

Tabernacle Tour

On Monday 18th January, the year five class visited The Tabernacle (also known by some locally as the Little Taj Mahal) to explore some more history of North Kensington.

When we arrived we were greeted by Mathew Phillips, the general manger, who gave us a short tour. As we wandered around we couldn’t help but stare at the magnificent sculptures made by Trinidadian artist, Carl Gabriel. Ms Wilson thought that the wiring on the mask was very intricate and we all agreed it was well painted.

Some year fives, next to an amazing sculpture by Carl Gabriel. 

Next, we entered the conservatory  where there were many photographs of people including: Rhaune Laslett, Kelso Cochrane and Claudia Jones . Upstairs, there was a theatre and some more photographs of the activists who campaigned to save the Tabernacle and make it into a community space. We went downstairs and saw lots of trophies standing in a large, glass case which Mangrove won for their steel panning. Next to it, was a room full of shiny steel pans so children can learn to play the songs that were once played by Mangrove. The lessons are free. You can also learn how to dance, sing and act at the Tabernacle. To find out more click here. 

To learn more about the history of the Tabernacle, click here. 

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The Tabernacle 1971

Year outside The Tabernacle 2016

The Clay Creatives

On Thursday 14th January, artists, Jaime and Angelique came in to teach us how to make things out of clay. Jaime and Angelique work in Kindred Studios on St Marks Road.

The class got split into two groups.  One half of the class worked with Jaime to make pinch pots. The other half worked with Angelique to make model houses and buildings.

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To make the pinch pots we had to roll the clay into a ball. Then we had to poke our thumb into the clay (but we had to be careful not to do it all the way through). After that, we had to pinch the outside of the pot to make it thinner (but not too thin). To make the base, we had to flatten the bottom with a ruler.

To make the houses we got clay and made it into the shape of a cuboid.  Next, we got wire and then we cut the top to make a pointy roof. After that we dug out the inside to make our buildings hollow (but not too much because it would crack the walls and we wouldn’t be able to make the windows and door). Finally we cut out the windows and door. We were finished!

Jaime and Angelique have taken our clay work to their studio where they will be smoke fired. The film team will film this process happening in early February. Our clay work will be on exhibition at the end of the project.

History Workshop

On Thursday 14th January Tom Vague, a local historian, came to Year 5’s classroom to talk about the history of North Kensington.

Tom taught us lots of interesting facts and new information such as: Golborne Road used to be called Britania Road and was named after a local priest.Borne means “transported by” and Westborne Park  is named after an under ground river.

In 1864 Portobello Market used to be a farm. In the late 1800’s the Welsh and Irish migrated to the local area. Did you know that the dairies were owned by the Welsh on Golborne Road? They were one of the first communities to migrate here.

Tom also taught us about all the famous  people who died and some who are still alive now. Rhaune Laslett, who was an important figure in starting Notting Hill Carnival, is one of the famous people who Tom talked about.

As Tom was showing us his slide show, he told us that Bob Marley used to go to an old place called the mangrove on Portobello Market.

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When Tom had finished his talk we asked him some questions for example:How long has graffiti been around for? Once we asked our questions it was time for break and Tom had to go.

History of Rhaune Laslett

On Monday the 11th  of January, the year five class had two special visitors, Mike and Grace Laslett, the son and grand-daughter of Rhaune Laslett , who told us the tale of Notting -Hill Carnival.

Rhaune was half Indian-American and half English. She was a social worker and helped residents get property and gave them advice. She had people her visiting her home at all times of the day, and she was well-known in the local community. One night, she had a vision of all races celebrating, dancing and singing in the street. This was at a time when there was a lot of tension between people of different races.  The next day, she held a meeting in her backyard and this was the beginnings of Notting Hill Carnival.

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These are pictures of Mike and Grace with students of Year 5.

In the first procession, Rhaune hired a small truck for a float and Russ Henderson played the steel pan. It was this, that drew attention to the small gathering of people outside Rhaune’s house on Taverstock Road. Otherwise it would have been more like a tradition English fete. But Russ started moving and people came out of their houses and followed him like the Piped Piper.

This a picture of a student admiring the information about Carnival at the Tabernacle.

After they’ve finished talking, we wrote a plan to organise a mini carnival outside in our school playground. We thought about the music, food/drinks and local businesses who could help us and support us in our mini carnival. We drew a brief picture of what we wanted our carnival to look like.

Below are some photographs that The Web Team found at the Kensington and Chelsea Archives of Carnival through the ages.

In the past, costumes for carnival, were still made out of different materials such as: feathers, plastic, straw, wool and much more. But unlike nowadays, the costumes were traditional and less fancy.