{"id":298,"date":"2016-04-07T11:32:27","date_gmt":"2016-04-07T10:32:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/damonfairclough.com\/?p=298"},"modified":"2016-04-07T11:32:27","modified_gmt":"2016-04-07T10:32:27","slug":"slaters-gonna-slate-scriptwriting-for-llechwedd-slate-caverns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/damonfairclough.com\/index.php\/copywriting\/slaters-gonna-slate-scriptwriting-for-llechwedd-slate-caverns\/","title":{"rendered":"Slaters gonna slate: scriptwriting for Llechwedd Slate Caverns"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the beginning of my freelance career I decided to call myself a \u201ccopywriter, content creator and creative thinker\u201d. You need something to put on the business cards after all. It alliterates in satisfying fashion and its internal rhythms remind me of the clickety-clank of an old mechanical typewriter. Not that I can remember such things\u2026<\/p>\n

But does it really tell the whole story? Well, sort of\u2026 assuming you take the catch-all term \u201ccontent\u201d to mean every kind of writing that isn\u2019t traditional advertising copy. Blogging, journalism, arts reviews\u2026 I do all these things and more. They all involve the creative use of language. In this buzz-wordy digital age, they\u2019re all \u201ccontent\u201d.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s scriptwriting too. I\u2019ve done my fair share of that.<\/p>\n

Video scripts for Toyota<\/a>, radio ads for MBNA<\/a>, even short plays performed at theatres such as the Sheffield Crucible<\/a> and Liverpool Everyman<\/a> \u2013 from shameless sales pieces to serious art, I\u2019ve scripted them all. But one of my most exciting script projects of recent times was completed just a few months ago, and the end product was finally launched at the end of March in the same week as my first freelance anniversary.<\/p>\n

Llechwedd Slate Caverns<\/a> is a historical visitor attraction sunk deep into the mountains below Blaenau Ffestiniog in North Wales. Since 1972, the caverns have been telling the story of the Welsh slate mining industry, welcoming visitors into the chilly voids 500 feet below ground and leading them through these spectacular man-made spaces.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

In June 2015 I went along to the caverns to experience the tour for myself. I learnt that the old audio-visual technology \u2013 equipment which had done sterling service in aid of the Llechwedd story for a number of years \u2013 was going to be replaced by some far more up-to-date kit. And I was invited to develop a new script for the Llechwedd deep mine tour \u2013 a story that would bring the slate miners\u2019 tales to life and help create an emotional bond between the present and the past.<\/p>\n

Whether writing for TV, film, radio or stage \u2013 or slate mine \u2013 scriptwriting is often a matter of working as creatively as possible within parameters established by budget and technical capability. In this case, the project was being managed by Anthony Roberts of ZED Creative<\/a>, who talked me through plans for high quality projections, animations, audio and augmented reality \u2013 all offering a world of possibilities \u2013 balanced by restrictions on where certain equipment could be placed, time limits and so on. The aim was to develop a visitor experience that would be both educational and seriously entertaining \u2013 something that would live long in each visitor\u2019s memory while never skimping on the historical facts.<\/p>\n

Once I knew how many caverns were involved and where certain activities had to be located, I could begin to add some storytelling flesh to the technical bones. My story would be set in 1856, seven years after slate was discovered at Llechwedd. After travelling down into the caverns via the steepest cable railway in Britain, visitors would follow the voices and images of a single slate mining family; by listening to these individual experiences and witnessing some vivid visual effects, I hoped that the Llechwedd story would come alive like no other tour of its kind.<\/p>\n