Shoot - City Centre 1:500 model

This model is now temporarily housed at the back of the second floor of Liverpool Central Library. It is a vast and important model of Liverpool. The model istelf is largely white, which gives it an oddly futuristic feel.

And they let me film it with insects! Luckily we didn't lose any in it (though a cockroach had a good go at getting wedged under a building on Castle st).

My friend Neringa helped me manage and motivate the cockroaches, crickets, stick insects, snails, locusts and house spiders that we took to the shoot. And they looked great, especially the spider, who i'm now quite fond of.

Many legs make light work

R.I.P Bob Too

Of course, Im not just filming the models, but I have some actors to explore them too. We filmed the Liverpool one model with crickets, stick insects, a locust, and a tanzanian yellow legged millipede called Bob. Bob was undoubtedly the star, the Steve McQueen of our film. Unfortunately he thought he was in the Great Escape too, and promptly escaped somewhere in my office. I haven't seen him since but i'm know he's out there... I'm sure of it.

Anyway, following Bob's exodus, I quickly ordered another millipede. He arrived on Friday morning. I christened him "Bob Too", after George Costigan's famous northern rogue in Alan Clarkes sex comedy 'Rita, Sue & Bob Too'. However, on saturday morning i found him curled up. he died in my hands. I think. Well he weren't moving anyway.

This was the only footage I made of him. *sob*.

Shoot - International Garden Festival part B

This is the model of the International Garden Festival site near Otterspool as envisioned prior to its launch in 1984. It is a beautiful model - with green grass and trees punctured by the primary colours of tents and attractions, all laid out along the Mersey. It shows the scale of the development.

In reality the whole site has changed so much. How do things go to rack and ruin so quickly? I think two models should be produced whenever a project is proposed - one of the vision, and one of that vision after 20 years of neglect.

Shooting this model, sans insect, was probably my favourite moment so far, as it is simply such a beautiful failure. This was also the first time I had seen the model since 4 years ago and it looked even more breathtaking than i remember. It seemed now to mark a stage of things coming together for me.

Shoot - International Garden Festival part A

The International Garden Festival model is in two parts - a landscape and the festival hall. This festival hall has recently been demolished.

As this film project has developed, I have been more keen to show the model in the context of its display, storage, or neglect, hence I was happy to film this one in its crate. The context of display here and now raises questions about its purpose, importance and longevity.

Finally, note the strange 'beauty competition' feel of the people inside the hall. Was this envisioned as a naturist resort?

Shoot - Social Housing Model

National Museums Liverpool gave me access to their stores in order to film some of their model archive. This is one that really caught me - a haunting model of a social housing project called Bevington Street. It is gone now. It is the only model that I use in the film that has a purely social residential purpose. I feel it is great contrast to the Liverpool One model, where even the residential aspect seems to be there simply in the interests of commerce rather than community. This also has a high level of detail and hand painting.

Suffer the little people

Here are the survivors. Born in the 1980s. Cast in lead. Painted by hand. And then forgotten... Saved from the jaws of death by Bren O'Callaghan. They are the lucky ones. Many didn't make it. *sob* They will be marked by graves.

All That Remains...

Clayton Square is gone. Well not exactly. I have it in a box in my office. Hibernating. Bren from the BBC bravely rescued these pieces of architecture from the builders skip. I daren't move them as they are very brittle and the glue is old. But they will be used very soon. ANd they will once more be inhabited. But not by people...