Saving the SS Great Britain

Descriptor: We first see a fast montage of shots of the students making the film, with clips of the SS Great Britain, before focusing in on the separate students and describing what they were responsible for.

Dan: We are undergraduate students doing a media practice course in the University of West of England in Bristol. We were asked by The National Lottery to make a short film about the lottery funded Good Cause, the SS Great Britain. This is Adele, she is our Camera Operator; this is Adrian, he’s our Editor; this is Rich, our Producer; and this is me, Dan, and I’m the Director.

Descriptor: We now see a blue map of the UK on a red graphic background, which zooms to Bristol on the map, where a white caption reads, “SS Great Britain Lottery Funding - £10m”.  We now see a high speed camera shot of the SS Great Britain in the Bristol docks, which takes us from the boat lit up at night-time, to daylight. We then see the ship, from the perspective of being beside it on the water.

Narrator: Bristol docks, the home of SS Great Britain. Thanks to people playing National Lottery games, this ship has been given a new lease of life.

Descriptor: We are now introduced to Tim Watson, a Visitor Service Volunteer, who stands at the side of the SS Great Britain. As he speaks we see a wide shot of the ship from the water, before once again returning to Tim, who stands at the front of the ship, showing the iron hull.

Tim Watson: Welcome to the SS Great Britain, and this is one of the great iconic symbols, not only of England, but of Bristol, and of the golden age of Victorian engineering. It was the first iron hulled, screw driven, luxury, transatlantic liner.

Descriptor: We now pull out from the masts of the ship, before meeting Nancy Chambers, the Deputy Director of Brunel’s SS Great Britain Trust, who explains how important the lottery funding was.  As she speaks, we pan across the side of the ship, seeing the words, “Great Britain”, and “Bristol”, before moving on to various shots of the interior of the ship.

Nancy Chambers: The lottery really was the lynchpin. When they announced that they were going to support the project with a grant of £8.8 million, we then had to raise and match funding for that and in total it cost £13.5 million. The SS Great Britain was an incredible ship, she completely revolutionised ship design.

Descriptor: We now meet a tourist, who has come to visit the ship, and wears a brown jacket and hat. As he speaks we see an archive photo of the ship before the restoration work, before seeing further shots of the interior.

Visitor: I’ve returned to visit the SS Great Britain, I saw it about twenty five, twenty seven years ago, when it was a rusting hulk, so I’m really impressed now with the way they’ve restored the ship and its completeness.

Descriptor: We now see the restored propeller of the ship, before once again meeting Tim Watson, who describes how parts of the ship portray different parts of the history of the vessel. As he speaks, we see further interior shots of the ship.

Tim Watson: With the help of the lottery funding, what we’ve managed to do is recreate in different parts of the ship, the life of the ship for a certain period of time. So when we go into the ship, you’ll look at the first class accommodation and particularly the dining saloon, that's how she looked when she was a transatlantic luxury liner. If you look at the steerage, that’s how it was in the 1860’s, when she was a migrant ship to Australia. So we’ve captured bits of her life, because she had a long, long working life.

Descriptor: Once again we meet Nancy Watson, who describes the attractions of the ship. As she speaks, we see shots of what she describes.

Nancy Watson: Whether it’s trying on hats or smelling the vomit in the stewardess’s cabin, or seeing how the massive engine works, which is three stories high in the heart of the ship, I mean there really is something that everybody can sink their teeth into and, and enjoy.

Descriptor: As we hear Tim speak, we see various internal and external shots of the ship, while he describes the people who have visited the ship since its restoration. We then meet him, once again, at the side of the SS Great Britain.

Tim Watson: And we have people who have been engineers, who have been sailors, or people who have been you know their ancestors went to, went to Australia or to America on the ship. They all come here, you know, to pay homage to this ship, which would not be possible if we had not had the lottery money.

Descriptor: For the final time we meet Nancy Watson, who describes the importance of the lottery money. As she speaks, we see shots of the exterior of the ship, finishing with a wide shot of the ship, taken from the water.

Nancy Watson: The conservation of the ship is now secured and she’s going to be here for the next hundred years as part of Britain’s heritage, so, you know, I just think we really couldn’t have done it without the lottery.

Descriptor: We now see a white background with The National Lottery logo and "Heritage" next to it in text, with a blue caption underneath which reads, “Lottery Funded” before seeing a black background with the University of West England logo and a white caption, which reads, “Produced by Daniel Gianini, Adele Lovett, Adrian Quek, Richard Warren”.