This summer we’re looking for budding young historians, TV presenters, documentary makers and historians to take part in our local history challenge!
We want young people (under the age of 18) to create a short video (two minutes or less) about something from history that is special to Chatteris.
Your video should be about one of the following:
- An historic building or place
- A person from (long ago to recent) history
- An event from (long ago to recent) history
All you need to make a video is a friend (or tripod) to do the filming and a camera or cameraphone! Your video can be recorded straight to camera and filmed in a single take, or you can edit together multiple videos and photographs. Feel free to be creative!
If you want extra inspiration, here are some ideas:
- Chatteris Museum reopens in August and will be open every Saturday from 10am to 1pm. Entry is free of charge. A visit to the museum will surely help you find a unique story to tell!
- The Chatteris Community Archive contains lots of old photographs and some news cuttings and other media. You can find inspiration here, and you’re permitted (and encouraged!) to use photos from the archive in the video you make.
- Chatteris Library reopens in August, although you can only collect reservations and use the computers if you have booked in advance. The library has some local history books that may be useful, and you can access the British Newspaper Archives for free on the library computers (you can access this from home, but it comes at a cost).
- Look for some history documentaries or a YouTube series to get some ideas about how you might present your video.
- Consider filming “on location” around Chatteris, but stay safe! Take an adult or, if you’re old enough to go on your own, make sure a responsible adult knows where you’re going. Take care, and only film outdoors from public spaces (unless you have permission to film indoors or on private property and it’s safe to do so). If you can’t get out and about, recording a monologue straight to camera from home is fine too.
- There are lots of great free video editing apps for Android, iPhones, tablets, PCs and Macs – and most are very easy to use. If you’re feeling creative, look for online tutorials on how to use these to do some basic editing, like editing together videos recorded in multiple places. It’s a great opportunity to learn a new skill!
- If someone in your family has access to a family history website, this may come with access to resources like census records or newspaper articles that could also help you with your research.
We’ll make a showreel of the videos we receive and broadcast them on our Facebook and YouTube pages as part of our programme of digital events for Heritage Open Days in September.
Submissions should be made no later than the end of Wednesday 16th September.
Ready to send us your video?
Submissions are now open and will close no earlier than Wednesday 16th September 2020. To submit your video, fill in this form (you will need a free Google account).
All submissions are subject to a few rules. By submitting your video, you are indicating that you accept these rules and agree to abide by them.
Got any questions?
You can contact us by email or via Facebook if you have any questions, if you encounter any problems with submitting your video, or if you need an alternative way of sending your video to us.