Filming…

Today I was in front of a green screen for the first time ever. I have only once been filmed professionally before, for the Antiques Roadshow (the BBC version) when I was ten and brought in my great-great Uncle’s Waterloo medal to the Sint-Nikolaaskerk in Amsterdam. In that clip I am largely mute, expressing surprise with my eyebrows when the estimated price is mentioned (something they do only once your in front of the cameras to catch genuine reactions). This was a whole other experience, and one I was rather apprehensive about. The request, by the Knowledge-clips team, was to come and talk about my research in an accessible way. I talked about many of the themes I write about here on the blog, so child brides, the position of women, family practices, etc. After the first take (to my great surprise) they were happy, and although I find it a very unsettling experience, I then watched myself on screen wearing huge noise cancelling headphones to listen to myself talk. My nose looked squint to me, something I’d never worried about in real life and my eyes were constantly flicking from one corner of the screen to another but in general I was quite pleased with the result. I will post it here once it has been edited and put online on the History YouTube page. In the meantime Jacco Pekelder’s clip has just gone live and the knowledge-clips team was buzzing with excitement about how many views and likes it had received so watch it, like it and make their day!