National Media Museum Review
We went to the National Media Museum in Bradford on Sunday afternoon. It covers everything from film, TV and radio to photography and the web.
We didn’t set of until nearly 2 o’clock and had a bit of trouble finding the place as Bradford’s signposting system is quite bewildering, even with a map. Be warned as well that parking in Bradford on Sunday afternoon is a nightmare - it took ages to find a space and this is in January - I dread to think what it’s like in the summer. However, I reckon it was worth it.
It doesn’t have that dusty, eerie feeling that a classic museum always has. It feels busy but relaxed. In many ways it’s a cross between a contemporary art gallery and a cinema. We didn’t go to see a film but it has three screens - one showing new movies, one showing classic movies and an IMAX theatre. The gallery areas are free to enter so you can just wonder around at will.
There are two zones for temporary exhibitions. The first was of 19th century rural photography in Norfolk which was good for me because I could see the Broads as they were when they were working rather than as a tourist attraction. The second was contemporary landscape photography, but not the classic moors and mountains you’d expect. The images were mostly of industrial and urban landscapes, ugly in the flesh, but somehow transformed by the photographer into romantic and beautiful images. Obviously they change these exhibitions fairly often, but I think they go to a lot of trouble to ensure they are balanced and interesting.
My favourite exhibition was on animation. They had WOMBLES. They had MORPH. They had the MARTIANS from the Smash adverts. They had GORDON THE GOPHER!!! They had CAPTAIN SCARLET! Just brilliant.
There were other exhibitions on the evolution of photography and television with old TV sets, cameras and video recorders - they were really interesting. There was also a demo showing how bluescreen works so all the kids could see themselves on the Tellytubbies set and working TV cameras that you could play with. Another good bit was the historic TV moments exhibition where I watched the moon landing footage - it was really grainy. Who can tell where it was filmed?
The coffee shop was pricey (I guess they have to make their money somewhere), but the coffee was good considering it came from a machine and there was a nice selection of cakes. The hot food counter was closed when we visited but looked shiny and clean which is always handy to know. There is also an indoor picnic area which is very generous of them - it had big glass windows looking out over the Alhambra Theatre so they haven’t skimped on the view either.
All in all it was a very enjoyable afternoon, made all the better by the fact that the museum is open until 6 o’clock on a Sunday so you don’t have to rush. It only takes a couple of hours to go around the galleries so you can still have a long lie in before going for a leisurely visit.