The story of the Little Ships and the WWII rescue of British and allied troops from the beaches of Dunkirk was brought to life last night (May 16) with stunning projections, set to a soundtrack, on the Clock House at Ramsgate harbour.
The projections were created through historic images and archival footage collated through painstaking research by Broadstairs resident and Illumiscape Ltd boss Howard Griffin.
Howard used projection mapping -a technique that uses projectors to display images or video onto non-flat surfaces like buildings- to bring to life Ramsgate, first in the 1930s, into the declaration of war with Germany and then the events of the Operation Dynamo rescue of May and June 1940.
The Clock House display is the second major project for Howard, who taught for 27 years at the University of Kent before launching his projection business at the end of last year.
The first was the Gravesham Light Show but prior to that he was also involved with Walking with Ghosts, an immersive installation projecting World War One soldiers as they left Britain to go to mainland Europe. The project was part of the IWM 14-18 NOW Legacy Fund,
Howard (pictured above) said: “This (Ramsgate) is a kind of follow on project from that, having learned a lot about how to put it in practice.
“It takes a lot of research, going through the stories. It is about personal stories rather than just facts and figures, using accounts of those that were there.
“It shows people watching that these were just ordinary people, like them, doing extraordinary things.”
Much of the footage was provided by the Imperial War Museum and Howard also carried out research at Ramsgate Library and trawled through the British Newspaper Archives looking not just at the war years but also the years prior to the conflict and the 1950s.
He said: “Those stories are brought to life through narration and imagery. I used AI to create some of the imagery from the 1930s as there is very little footage of Ramsgate at that time but there are quite a few photos so the AI turns those photos into footage and creates movement which brings it to life.
“The initial research takes a long time, it is a bit like doing your ancestry, you go down a rabbit hole. There is a little bit of information, then some more, and then you find some about someone else and it goes on.
“All my work is driven by music so one of the first things I do is identify the sound track that gets across the sentiment that I want to deliver in the piece, then I start on the visual imagery.”
The Ramsgate Clock House projection includes big band music from the 30s and then moves into a more sombre tone as Neville Chamberlain is shown announcing the declaration of war.
A ‘ticking timebomb’ piece in the projection leading to Operation Dynamo is inspired by works from German composer and music producer Hans Zimmer.
The projection mapping on the clock house returns tomorrow (May 18) and will play on a loop from 9.30pm to around 11pm.
The project was made possible thanks to funding from the National Heritage Lottery Fund.
So proud of all the hard work our staff at RTC have put into bringing about this event. Thanks to all the organisations and everyone involved.
reminds one of the artist Peter Fillingham’s projection on the East Cliff some years ago
The events in Ramsgate this weekend have been brilliant, congratulations and thank you to everyone involved.
And the road closure by the harbour is fantastic, what a difference it makes to have space for pedestrians, extra outdoor tables with a clear view of the beautiful harbour. It would be so nice if restricted access and a pedestrian friendly street could be permanent.
Just to add that this National Lottery Heritage Fund installation is part of a larger project ‘let’s do the time walk again’ funded by NLHF, with Canterbury Christ Church University leading a partnership group which includes the Clock House, Dickens House Museum, Sandwich Town Museum and Deal Museum…