'Build It Basement' was a component of a larger project called 'Touchstones TV' commissioned by Touchstones Museum in Rochdale. During the COVID-19 pandemic cultural institutions had to find different ways of engaging their audience during the periods when lockdowns were imposed as the museum itself wasn't allowed to be open to the public.

During 2021 I was commissioned to create 4 episodes of 'Build It Basement' from my home to be included within a provision called 'Touchstones TV'. I was brought on to the project based on the success of a previous project I had been involved with in 2020 that focused on Dippy the Dinosaur. Within the Dippy project Touchstones created a narrative involving time travelling scientists. The time travelling characters were then brought forward into the Touchstones TV offer.

The plan was to have primary schools partner with the museum. They would then receive regular broadcasts from various time travelers who specialised in different parts of the museum curation process. In addition to this, each school would be sent a loan box that featured artifacts relating to different historical periods. (Victorian/Ancient Egypt/Pre-History/Roman) The project culminated in a live transmission coming through to the school where a head time traveler would talk and interact with the children live. As a part of this live broadcast there would be pre-recorded segments where dances were taught, stories were told, and crafts were demonstrated. 'Build It Basement' was one of these segments. At the end of the transmission the children would help the head time traveler identify an object from the Touchstones collection that had lost its label. Once the mystery was solved a curator would explain what the object was before the head time traveler thanked the school and ended the transmission.

Although we had regular phone calls and zoom sessions I acted almost entirely on my own in terms of creating the 4 episodes. I set up a green screen, designed all of the craft activities, wrote the script, and performed as both Roger and Marvin. I borrowed my dads Nikon D3500 to film all of the footage and plugged it into a TV which I used so I could see whether the footage was looking OK/ in focus. The TV also acted as a wonderful monitor so I could see what the puppet looked like without being in the shot. Marvin the puppet was built for an earlier project that took place in the pandemic called 'The Adventures of the Big Cheese League'. He was built by me out of plastic Easter egg packaging and scrap materials on a shoestring budget... Still, outside of being a bit stiff and having a neck sleeve that didn't work very well he played his part alright!

The films were edited by Oliver Bishop as well as Richard Philbin, who did a wonderful job of putting it all together and adding sound effects and graphics.

Making these films was extremely challenging and unfortunately as far as I'm aware aside from one live broadcast to a school that partnered with the museum the films have never seen the light of day. With that in mind I felt now was the right time to upload them so I can reference and share them easily. Although making them did drive me slightly mad, I look back on them now with a sense of pride, as I feel like they are quite a good reflection of all of the techniques I learnt regarding creating digital work over the course of the pandemic.

Episode 1 focuses on the Victorians and teaches children how to make their own thaumatrope; an optical toy that is one of the origins of animation. The artifact the children had to identify that had lost its label was a 'witch charm' that had been hidden in the walls of a house to protect against evil spirits. Because this was the item of choice there are references to magic throughout the Build It Basement episode.

I hope you enjoy the films and thank you for watching!

Tom