NMM – Weather Reconstructions

Beakus were asked by fimmaker Mike Paterson to create three unique videos for the National Maritime Museum's 'Old Weather' project. The aim is to promote the campaign to crowdsource volunteers to transcribe the weather recordings in hundreds of old ship's log books. The data will feed in and augment existing data of weather patterns through the ages, helping to build up a more reliable forecast for times ahead.

The three films we created are 'Crowdsourcing', 'Sea Observations', and 'Weather Reconstructions' (seen here). We used a variety of styles and techniques from pared-back motion graphics to 3D CGI and motion-tracking.

In this movie we explain why old weather readings are so useful for reconstructing weather patterns around the globe, and therefore helping us to predict extreme weather in the future. Director Steve Smith worked with 3D modeller Darragh Mason on all the elements that would be placed upon a live-action globe set in the offices of the scientist being interviewed by Mike Paterson. The footage was tracked, graded and the elements (including old boats, weather patterns, and the odd cloud) placed upon it.