National Museum of Photography, Film and Television
Encyclopedia
The National Media Museum (formerly the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television) is a museum in Bradford
, West Yorkshire
, England. Part of the National Museum of Science and Industry
, it was the 20th most popular museum in the United Kingdom in 2009, with 613,923 visitors.
The first head of the museum was Colin Ford who was succeeded by Amanda Nevill. The current head is Colin Philpott, a former BBC journalist.
, five storeys high with six-channel sound, on the same day. At the time, it specialised in the art and science of images and image-making. Colin Ford believed that understanding how images are made led to appreciation of the ideas expressed and the intentions and skills of image-makers. To mark the 50th anniversary of the first public television service, two interactive television galleries were developed in 1986. These let visitors operate cameras on a studio set with programmed sound and lighting, use vision mixers, to read a news item from an Autocue and discover how Chromakey works. These exhibits survived until the re-naming of the museum in 2006.
In 1989, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of photography, the museum launched the Kodak Gallery, some of the 10,000 items illustrating popular photography from its invention. This was followed by installation of a standard television studio, first used by TV-am
(for outside broadcasts) and later Nickelodeon
. These studios were the first live broadcasting studios in a museum. Today, the equipment is used to teach students from the School of Informatics at the University of Bradford
, with whom the museum has a partnership for BSc and BA courses in media and television. In 1994, TV Heaven was launched, making accessible the museum's collection of television programmes, most of which not available elsewhere.
While continuing to run the Pictureville Cinema
and exhibitions in a mill on the other side of the city, the museum closed its main site on 31 August 1997 to allow for a 19-month, £16 million redevelopment making the museum 25 percent bigger. The IMAX
cinema was also developed to show 3D films. The new museum was opened on 16 June 1999 by Pierce Brosnan
, making the museum one of the most popular in the UK.
On 1 December 2006, the museum was renamed the National Media Museum.
Entrance is free with the exception of cinema screens and some specialist exhibitions. The museum is open 10 am until 6 pm Tuesdays–Sundays. The museum closes for special tours on Mondays. The museum underwent a £16 million refurbishment in 1998, developing a new digital technology gallery and now hosts the BBC
's Bradford offices, and studios for BBC Radio Leeds
and the BBC Bradford and West Yorkshire Website. This new development created a new glass-fronted atrium, which houses a new cafe
and shop
.
There are seven permanent exhibitions:
Current temporary exhibitions: 12 March – 5 September 2010 Free Admission
Simon Roberts: We English
We English is an investigation of the English at leisure. Between August 2007 and September 2008, Simon Roberts travelled the length and breadth of England, documenting people at play, relaxing and revelling.
Robbie Cooper: Immersion
People are immersed in screen media for longer periods and with more intensity than ever before. From children watching television to people living out second lives through online virtual worlds, Robbie Cooper’s imagery captures the many ways in which people choose to disengage from everyday life.
The museum contains:
The museum is host to courses taught with the University of Bradford
's EIMC Department including BSc Media Technology & Production, BSc Creative Media & Technologies, BSc Computer Animation and Special Effects and BA Media Studies. Subjects include broadcast television using the TV studio on its top floor. The EIMC degree show is in the Pictureville Cinema.
's 1888 films of Roundhay Garden Scene
and Leeds Bridge). It also contains original toys from the BBC
series Playschool – the first programme on BBC2
. The collections are accessible to the public through its Insight study centre. The collection of the Royal Photographic Society
was transferred to the Museum on behalf of the nation in 2003.
The museum incorporates the first permanent UK installation of an IMAX
cinema (with a second screen opening in the UK 15 years later). Opened in 1983 as part of the Bradford Film Festival with the projector visible from a darkened booth of the 4th floor, this screen runs IMAX presentations seven days a week, including IMAX prints of Apollo 13
, The Lion King
, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
and Batman Begins
. In 1999, IMAX upgraded the system and began releasing IMAX 3D presentations. In June 2010 it was announced that the Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation had agreed to deposit the animator's complete collection of some 20,000 pieces with the National Media Museum.
The museum also incorporates the Pictureville Cinema
– opened in 1992 and described by David Puttnam
as 'the best cinema in Britain', Pictureville Cinema screens everything from 70mm to video; from Hollywood to Bollywood; from silents to digital sound, with certifications in presentation including THX
in sound and picture and the Dolby EX system. This cinema is one of only three public cinemas in the world permanently equipped to display original 3-strip 35mm Cinerama
prints. In 2008, the cinema presented the only true recorded public screening of Danny Boyle
's 2002 film Alien Love Triangle
.
The museum hosts Bradford Film Festival in March, Bite the Mango in September and Bradford Animation Festival in November. These attract international speakers and new and classic works from around the world.
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, England. Part of the National Museum of Science and Industry
National Museum of Science and Industry
The National Museum of Science and Industry is a collection of British museums, comprising:* The Science Museum, incorporating the Science Museum Library and the Wellcome collections of the history of medicine at South Kensington in London....
, it was the 20th most popular museum in the United Kingdom in 2009, with 613,923 visitors.
The first head of the museum was Colin Ford who was succeeded by Amanda Nevill. The current head is Colin Philpott, a former BBC journalist.
History
The museum is on the site of a former theatre and art gallery in the centre of Bradford and came about as the result of discussions between Dame Margaret Weston and Bradford city. The National Museum of Photography, Film and Television, opened to visitors on the 16 June 1983. The museum launched Britain’s largest cinema screen, IMAXIMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
, five storeys high with six-channel sound, on the same day. At the time, it specialised in the art and science of images and image-making. Colin Ford believed that understanding how images are made led to appreciation of the ideas expressed and the intentions and skills of image-makers. To mark the 50th anniversary of the first public television service, two interactive television galleries were developed in 1986. These let visitors operate cameras on a studio set with programmed sound and lighting, use vision mixers, to read a news item from an Autocue and discover how Chromakey works. These exhibits survived until the re-naming of the museum in 2006.
In 1989, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of photography, the museum launched the Kodak Gallery, some of the 10,000 items illustrating popular photography from its invention. This was followed by installation of a standard television studio, first used by TV-am
TV-am
TV-am was a breakfast television station that broadcast to the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 to 31 December 1992. It made history by being the first national operator of a commercial television franchise at breakfast-time , and broadcast every day of the week for most or all of the period...
(for outside broadcasts) and later Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
. These studios were the first live broadcasting studios in a museum. Today, the equipment is used to teach students from the School of Informatics at the University of Bradford
University of Bradford
The University of Bradford is a British university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The University received its Royal Charter in 1966, making it the 40th University to be created in Britain, but its origins date back to the early 1800s...
, with whom the museum has a partnership for BSc and BA courses in media and television. In 1994, TV Heaven was launched, making accessible the museum's collection of television programmes, most of which not available elsewhere.
While continuing to run the Pictureville Cinema
Pictureville Cinema
Pictureville Cinema is a cinema auditorium located within the National Media Museum in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.Pictureville is one of the best equipped cinemas in the world. It is equipped for 35 mm, 70 mm, 2K resolution and Cinerama projection. The cinema features Dolby Digital EX, DTS...
and exhibitions in a mill on the other side of the city, the museum closed its main site on 31 August 1997 to allow for a 19-month, £16 million redevelopment making the museum 25 percent bigger. The IMAX
IMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
cinema was also developed to show 3D films. The new museum was opened on 16 June 1999 by Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...
, making the museum one of the most popular in the UK.
On 1 December 2006, the museum was renamed the National Media Museum.
Building and admission
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Bradford offices, and studios for BBC Radio Leeds
BBC Radio Leeds
BBC Radio Leeds is the BBC Local Radio service for the English metropolitan county of West Yorkshire.- Frequencies :It broadcasts from its studios at St...
and the BBC Bradford and West Yorkshire Website. This new development created a new glass-fronted atrium, which houses a new cafe
Café
A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...
and shop
Retailing
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
.
There are seven permanent exhibitions:
- Kodak Gallery – Covering photography from the 1840s.
- Experience TV – 200 objects from museum collections, and hands-on displays.
- TV Heaven – An opportunity to select from 1000 television programmes to watch.
- Magic Factory – The science behind television.
- Animation – The history of animation, with a permanent "Animator in Residence" involved in the museum's workshops.
- Profiles Gallery & IMAX Projector Box – the film collection.
- Games Lounge – Retro games from your childhood to play in the foyer area
Current temporary exhibitions: 12 March – 5 September 2010 Free Admission
Simon Roberts: We English
We English is an investigation of the English at leisure. Between August 2007 and September 2008, Simon Roberts travelled the length and breadth of England, documenting people at play, relaxing and revelling.
Robbie Cooper: Immersion
People are immersed in screen media for longer periods and with more intensity than ever before. From children watching television to people living out second lives through online virtual worlds, Robbie Cooper’s imagery captures the many ways in which people choose to disengage from everyday life.
The museum contains:
- The Pictureville CinemaPictureville CinemaPictureville Cinema is a cinema auditorium located within the National Media Museum in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.Pictureville is one of the best equipped cinemas in the world. It is equipped for 35 mm, 70 mm, 2K resolution and Cinerama projection. The cinema features Dolby Digital EX, DTS...
containing 306 seats - The Cubby Broccoli Cinema (in memory of Cubby Broccoli, producer of James Bond films) containing 108 seats
- The IMAX cinema
The museum is host to courses taught with the University of Bradford
University of Bradford
The University of Bradford is a British university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The University received its Royal Charter in 1966, making it the 40th University to be created in Britain, but its origins date back to the early 1800s...
's EIMC Department including BSc Media Technology & Production, BSc Creative Media & Technologies, BSc Computer Animation and Special Effects and BA Media Studies. Subjects include broadcast television using the TV studio on its top floor. The EIMC degree show is in the Pictureville Cinema.
Collection
The museum's collection contains three million items of historical, cultural and social value, including the first photographic negative, the earliest television footage, the world's first moving pictures (Louis Le PrinceLouis Le Prince
Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince was an inventor who is considered by many film historians as the true father of motion pictures, who shot the first moving pictures on paper film using a single lens camera....
's 1888 films of Roundhay Garden Scene
Roundhay Garden Scene
Roundhay Garden Scene is an 1888 short film directed by inventor Louis Le Prince. It was recorded at 12 frames per second, runs for 2.11 seconds and is the oldest surviving film.-Overview:...
and Leeds Bridge). It also contains original toys from the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
series Playschool – the first programme on BBC2
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
. The collections are accessible to the public through its Insight study centre. The collection of the Royal Photographic Society
Royal Photographic Society
The Royal Photographic Society is the world's oldest national photographic society. It was founded in London, United Kingdom in 1853 as The Photographic Society of London with the objective of promoting the Art and Science of Photography...
was transferred to the Museum on behalf of the nation in 2003.
The museum incorporates the first permanent UK installation of an IMAX
IMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
cinema (with a second screen opening in the UK 15 years later). Opened in 1983 as part of the Bradford Film Festival with the projector visible from a darkened booth of the 4th floor, this screen runs IMAX presentations seven days a week, including IMAX prints of Apollo 13
Apollo 13 (film)
Apollo 13 is a 1995 American drama film directed by Ron Howard. The film stars Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Kathleen Quinlan and Ed Harris. The screenplay by William Broyles, Jr...
, The Lion King
The Lion King
The Lion King is a 1994 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 32nd feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series...
, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a 2005 fantasy film directed by Mike Newell and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the fourth instalment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman...
and Batman Begins
Batman Begins
Batman Begins is a 2005 American superhero action film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman, directed by Christopher Nolan. It stars Christian Bale as Batman, along with Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, Ken Watanabe, Tom Wilkinson,...
. In 1999, IMAX upgraded the system and began releasing IMAX 3D presentations. In June 2010 it was announced that the Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation had agreed to deposit the animator's complete collection of some 20,000 pieces with the National Media Museum.
The museum also incorporates the Pictureville Cinema
Pictureville Cinema
Pictureville Cinema is a cinema auditorium located within the National Media Museum in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.Pictureville is one of the best equipped cinemas in the world. It is equipped for 35 mm, 70 mm, 2K resolution and Cinerama projection. The cinema features Dolby Digital EX, DTS...
– opened in 1992 and described by David Puttnam
David Puttnam
David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam, CBE, FRSA is a British film producer. He sits on the Labour benches in the House of Lords, although he is not principally a politician.-Early life:...
as 'the best cinema in Britain', Pictureville Cinema screens everything from 70mm to video; from Hollywood to Bollywood; from silents to digital sound, with certifications in presentation including THX
THX
THX is a trade name of a high-fidelity audio/visual reproduction standard for movie theaters, screening rooms, home theaters, computer speakers, gaming consoles, and car audio systems. The current THX was created in 2001 when it spun off from Lucasfilm Ltd...
in sound and picture and the Dolby EX system. This cinema is one of only three public cinemas in the world permanently equipped to display original 3-strip 35mm Cinerama
Cinerama
Cinerama is the trademarked name for a widescreen process which works by simultaneously projecting images from three synchronized 35 mm projectors onto a huge, deeply-curved screen, subtending 146° of arc. It is also the trademarked name for the corporation which was formed to market it...
prints. In 2008, the cinema presented the only true recorded public screening of Danny Boyle
Danny Boyle
Daniel "Danny" Boyle is an English filmmaker and producer. He is best known for his work on films such as Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, 28 Days Later, Sunshine and Trainspotting. For Slumdog Millionaire, Boyle won numerous awards in 2008, including the Academy Award for Best Director...
's 2002 film Alien Love Triangle
Alien Love Triangle
Alien Love Triangle is a 2008 comedy-science fiction short film directed by Danny Boyle. It was produced in 2002.The film was originally intended to be one of a trilogy of 30-minute short films shown together...
.
The museum hosts Bradford Film Festival in March, Bite the Mango in September and Bradford Animation Festival in November. These attract international speakers and new and classic works from around the world.
External links
- National Media Museum
- National Museum of Science and Industry
- The official National Media Museum print website containing many images from the museum's photographic collections
- Courses taught in partnership with the University of Bradford
- National Media Museum Blog
- National Media Museum on youtube