Explore the making of rings from raw material to finished product. These three short films highlight rings as both physical objects and works of art.
Rings are one of the oldest and most familiar forms of bodily adornment. They serve as declarations of status, markers of significant life events, expressions of identity, and protective talismans. They also have been a source of boundless invention for goldsmiths and their clients.
MAKING AND SETTING THE RING
CUTTING OF A DIAMOND AND MAKING OF A GOLD RING
MAKING OF A BROOCH WITH ENAMEL
WHAT WE DID
The films are meant to help visitors understand how rings are made and appreciate the artistry of objects on display in the adjacent display cases. Installed a pair of wall-mounted touchscreens at the end of the gallery, the films provides a moment of contemplation and hopefully provoke visitors to revisit the surrounding objects.
HOW WE DID IT
Producing a series of original films that met the specific needs of the exhibition would have been ideal. Taking into consideration that the videos needed to be produced on a limited budget and timeline, we opted to licence existing footage that could be adapted to the project's interpretive goals.
Working closely with the curator and conservator, a new script was developed with corresponding visuals and a new narrative. Three rounds of cuts refined the story, with the goal of keeping the films under 2 minute as they are meant to be watched in-gallery.
All three videos use captioning rather than voice over narration. This limits the amount of information that can be displayed, but this is preferable in-gallery visitor experience.
A pair of iPads running a custom video kiosk application allows random access to the three films:
CHALLENGES WE FACED
Locating and licencing content appropriate footage required a significant amount of staff time. All video footage came from the Rijksmuseum and V&A, on of which provided them at no cost. The other charged a considerable amount for the rights and permissions. This highlights the need for public institutions to move towards an open access policy for their digital assets. The licencing fees probably did not cover the staff time it took to process the paperwork.
PROJECT
Produced for The Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition Treasures and Talismans in 2015.
FORMAT
Custom interactive video player app running on iPads.
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Director and producer: Paco Link
Production coordinator: Grace Tung
Curator: Griff Mann
Designer: Mort Lebigre