There is no denying that we live in an age of social media. We are past the point of discussion, this is a unanimously understood fact. Furthermore, it has now become an unwritten rule that any organisation, museum or otherwise, that wishes to stay relevant must head online and navigate the world of content creation.

Luckily for us we have Charlotte, our Content Creator apprentice, whose role is to make sure we have exciting content to share online with our audiences.

Since Charlotte joined Kirklees Museums in September 2023, she has taken over our social media and has been keeping you all up to date with the day-to-day life of our sites. Recently, however, we realised that no one knew about the people who work behind the scenes. To combat this Charlotte has begun creating a series of day-in-the-life videos for Instagram that give our followers exclusive access to the people that bring our sites to life.

When I asked Charlotte about this project, she said: "I wanted to educate people on the different roles within the museum and inspire younger generations to think about careers in heritage because there are so many more roles than people think."

What better person to start our series with than our lovely Assistant Curator, Joe Murray. Joe's specialism is archaeology, and he splits his time across our three sites.

Filming

On a sunny Tuesday in May Charlotte met with Joe at Tolson Museum to plan the filming of the video. The general idea was to capture the various jobs Joe does and then edit these to create a reel that could be posted to Instagram.

Navigating filming while the museum is open was tricky as was finding the right locations. It was important to get the right lighting, which can be particularly difficult in a museum as natural light and museum artefacts don't usually mix. After finding a good spot in the Roman Gallery, Charlotte started filming some of Joe's responsibilities.

This was a great opportunity to showcase areas and tools that visitors wouldn't usually see. Tools like the museum conservation vacuum (which you can see in the video) are used to gently remove dust from artefacts and keep them looking presentable without scratching or damaging the object's surface.

Going behind the scenes at the museum is exciting, but safety always comes first. Throughout the process, it was important that no sensitive information was visible in any shots, and consulting with Joe on this makes sure that both the objects and people are protected, and the video can be shared online safely.

Editing

After they wrapped up filming it was time for Charlotte to edit the video. Here she takes you through the editing process:

"First, I rewatch all the footage to find which clips I want to use. I upload them into the editing software, CapCut, and arrange them in the order I want, cutting them down to fit seamlessly with each other.

I add captions on specific clips which label the tasks Joe was doing and choose some copyright free light music from Pixabay to create a lighthearted and playful tone. Then I overlay the music on top of the video and make sure to turn the volume down over the clips where he was speaking.

I then download the video into an mp4 format and upload it to Instagram. In Instagram I edit the captions to make the video accessible to everyone. The final step was to press upload!"

The whole process was a big learning experience for us. Taking a leap of faith into this new format was intimidating but it gives us the opportunity to connect with our audiences in a new way. It also helps us to reach new audiences who may not have considered seeking out museum content before. By peeling back the curtain we hope to contribute to changing narratives of what a museum is and potentially change some minds in the process. We look forward to continuing this digital journey and bringing our audiences more exciting content just like this.

Watch Charlotte's completed video Watch Charlotte's completed video.

Look out for part 2 and 3 of Joe's day in the life coming soon on our Instagram @Kirkleesmuseums.

This blog is made possible by funding from Arts Council England.