Bournemouth University has been helping to promote the 800th anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta, and were commissioned by Salisbury Cathedral to make four media installations.

RedBalloon, the professional production arm of The Faculty of Media and Communication at Bournemouth University, produced two films, an animation and an interactive for the exhibition, which is expected to attract over 250,000 visitors a year.

The media is being used as a part of an exhibition at Salisbury Cathedral called ‘Spirit of Justice, Power of Words’ which officially opened to the public on 6 March 2015.

Salisbury Cathedral hosts one of only four original 12th Century copies of the Magna Carta, which is internationally recognised as a symbol of mans’ fight for justice, freedom and rights.

Academics, professional staff, students and graduates of BU worked in production teams to create unique pieces of media that help visitors understand how Magna Carta came to be, and why the legacy of some of the key clauses have had impact throughout history, and 800 years later still resonate with us today.  The project was funded by Heritage Lottery Fund and commissioned by design company Haley Sharpe on behalf of the cathedral.

Stephanie Farmer of Red Balloon, executive producer for the project said  “It has been an incredibly interesting project to work on and I feel very privileged to have the opportunity to work with the cathedral team, the design agency and our own very talented and creative people – staff, students and graduates from BU.”

Four pieces were created in total; the first, Immersive film, used archive footage to explore how people across the world still struggle to fight for their rights.  The King John animation describes the feudal system in England in 12th century and how Magna Carta was created to curb the powers of the unpopular king.

Another piece, Interactive Globe, allows viewers to explore data on how countries fare when compared in categories such as prisoners awaiting trial, and corruption.   The final film, My Charter, was created with the help of 6th form students at Sarum Academy who explored what a charter for young people might contain.

The videos for the Spirit of Justice exhibition are just the start, as Steph explains, “We haven’t finished yet! We are just embarking on a second phase of work– funded by The Magna Carta Trust. We’ll be creating a Salisbury iOS App and are also making two more films for the cathedral website.”

The exhibition is open now at Salisbury Cathedral, with more information on the Cathedral’s website. A film created by RedBalloon made for the Cathedral’s open day can be viewed on YouTube.

Originally published on BU News.