The University of Portsmouth has partnered with the Mary Rose Trust to bring a community project to life, showcasing the creativity and engagement of local partnerships and organisations through video content.

The project, ‘Anchored in the Community’, highlights a year of inspiring initiatives that have connected and engaged communities throughout the City of Portsmouth and was made possible by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The exhibition, which ran from Sunday 16 February – Sunday 23 February 2025, gave visitors the opportunity to experience a variety of interactive activities.

Students studying BA (Hons) Film Production, BA (Hons) Television Production, and BA (Hons) Post-Production for Film and Television at the University of Portsmouth dedicated countless hours to record and edit short films for the exhibition over a twelve month period. Their work included filming with the Mary Rose’s partners: Funk Format; My Dog Sighs; Motiv8; Portsmouth Music Hub; Seekers Create; Clarke Reynolds; and Aspex Gallery. Each individual project captured the spirit of collaboration and creativity, reflecting the Trust’s ongoing connection with the local community.

Staff from Portsmouth Music Hub and students from St John’s Cathedral Catholic Primary School had the chance to visit the University of Portsmouth’s volumetric capture green screen studio, located within the Centre for Creative and Immersive Extended Reality (CCIXR), where their performances were recorded in 3D. This film formed part of the showcase exhibition at the Mary Rose over the half term week.

In the School of Film, Media, and Creative Technologies, we take our civic duties very seriously, and this project had all the elements that we look for when it comes to connecting with the local community, and providing excellent teaching and learning experiences.

Charlie Watts, Associate Head for Global Engagement and Educational Partnerships for the School of Film, Media, and Creative Technologies

Charlie Watts, Associate Head for Global Engagement and Educational Partnerships for the School of Film, Media, and Creative Technologies at the University of Portsmouth, said: “In the School of Film, Media, and Creative Technologies, we take our civic duties very seriously, and this project had all the elements that we look for when it comes to connecting with the local community, and providing excellent teaching and learning experiences.

“As the project duration was twelve months, it was a significant commitment on our part to make sure we could accommodate it within our workloads. However, seeing what the students have witnessed and achieved, and taking into consideration all the knowledge and experience they’ve gained, it was absolutely worth every minute!”

Connor Cleary, also from the University of Portsmouth’s School of Media, Film, and Creative Technologies, said: “It was an absolute pleasure working on this project, I think this was an extremely valuable exercise for our students, not only working with industry professionals in the field, but liaising with real-world clients.

“I firmly believe that practice-based development is the best method of learning the craft of film production and this project truly embodies this. I would like to thank the Mary Rose Museum for the opportunity to work on this, to all the partners and creatives who took their time to work with us, and finally, the students who took part in creating and developing this project.”

“Connor and I are really proud of all of the students, and at some point, we will be revisiting the project to make a longer documentary film, watch this space!” Mr Watts added.

The collaboration follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Mary Rose Trust and the University of Portsmouth which took place in May 2024.

The partnership has been paramount in providing numerous opportunities for joint research, innovation, teaching, student placements, and community projects such as ‘Anchored in the Community’ which continues to encourage meaningful engagement and collaboration.

Dominic Jones, Chief Executive Officer for the Mary Rose Trust, said: “We are indebted to the staff and students at the University’s School of Film, Media and Creative Technologies for supporting our community engagement work over the last year. It has given us an excellent resource and has captured the real essence of what we have achieved in the community.

“It also underpins the  continuing commitment to the Memorandum of Understanding between the Mary Rose Trust and the University of Portsmouth.

“We are enormously grateful for the support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund which has enabled us to undertake this community work.”