Listen, a soundtrack of shared memories from Big Bang Lab on Vimeo.
Listen, a soundtrack of shared memories
Nearby: East End Docks Programme Listen: A Soundtrack of Shared Memories Friday 4th September, 1200 - 13.30 Free screening and Q&A Museum of London Docklands, Wilbeforce Theatre
To book a free place for the screening and event programme, click here
For more information about the Canary Wharf Film Festival visit http://www.cwff.org.uk
To download the flyer click here
Continuing with the line of work of Big Bang Lab in the creative use of film archives, this two day project will help a group of old and young participants to interact with each other in order to bring the memories back and contribute with their stories and dreams to a new dimension of the Docklands of the past, present and future.
The group of retired members of PLA will share their passion and their knowledge of the river and life. Their narratives are going to be recorded and use them on day 2 as the base to create a new soundtrack to City of Ships, one of the films from the PLA archives.
Listen is a project beyond oral history, as the narratives are used in a experimental way, creating new work out of old assets and putting forward the positive contribution of old generations in a two way process. This intergenerational project aims to bring a hidden heritage alive and making it relevant to new audiences
By using the film without its original soundtrack and adding a new one that has been created together in a studio, not only skills and knowledge has been transferred but also a new dimension to heritage as a living legacy in present time. Corporate archives are used in a community environment and Big Bang Lab has created a platform for debate and discussion, a learning programme for the Film Festival hosted by the Museum of London Docklands.
The final screening will take place this Friday the 4th. The programme includes other iconic films that have used real-life soundtracks and innovative use of sound on film to finish with the presentation of the outcome of this project, City of Ships with the new soundtrack followed by a Q&A session with the participants.

Listen: A Soundtrack of Shared Memories’ was developed to provide a learning exchange between communities, laying down a foundation for engagement and heritage participation. Playing on the themes of picture, sound, and memories, the group has worked together to record oral histories, understand sound editing and create a living soundtrack to silent film from the extensive PLA archive. At the Nearby screening you can see the finished product and indulge in an open discussion about it with the group.
DAY 1 -Recording day, Thames Clipper boat ride and creative writing
DAY 2 - Editing Sound to picture, creating the soundtrack
DAY 3 - Screening and Q&A - Canary Wharf Film Festival - Museum of London Docklands
We are very pleased to have found another hidden gem in London, a great online resource of audio files (under creative commons license) representing the soundscape of the city in the present and in the past. We used some of the files available on http://www.soundsurvey.org.uk