The Luttrell Psalter Film online!

The Luttrell Psalter Film can now be viewed free online:

Luttrell Psalter Film

Here is an introduction from the Director, Nick Loven:

In 2006 I saw, for the first time, some beautiful images which immediately captured my imagination. Images which showed, in loving detail, everyday scenes from almost 700 years in the past. Looking at these images medieval life seemed more real than it ever had before and it was just a small sampling of images from the Luttrell Psalter. Without thinking I said, 'this would make a really interesting film', and before I knew what was happening, with a tiny budget and many volunteers, we were in the process of making the film!

The film is not a documentary. It is not an attempt to show the whole truth of medieval life. It is a kind of experiment and a tribute to a beautful work of art. By recreating the images from the Psalter directly we hoped to answer some questions about how accurate the illustrations were. We also hoped to capture the mysterious and evocative nature of the source material.

We hope you enjoy the film. We would love to hear your thoughts and observations, so please let us know here or email us at mail@wagscreen.co.uk

It is our intention to create a second film based on the Luttrell Psalter, this time bringing the life of Sir Geoffrey Luttrell and his family to film. Any thoughts and suggestions there would also be welcome. Nick Loven

Luttrell Psalter Instruments

We are filming a few short segments about the musical instruments illustrated in the Luttrell Psalter. On Tuesday (28-09-2010) we filmed Dante Ferrara (above) demonstrating the Symphonie. Dante contributed to the musical sound track on the Luttrell Psalter Film. His web site can be found here: Dante Ferrara.

The Luttrell Psalter Film Blog

Because the making of the Luttrell Psalter Film was such an extraordinary journey and because there are so many stories yet to tell, we have started to create a retrospective blog. The blog begins early in 2006 when Nick Loven, the Director (below, with camera), first came up with the idea. Now read on - the making of The Luttrell Psalter Film.

WAG Screen is on Twitter

You can now follow WAG Screen’s Twitterings

WAG Screen’s new committee

Many thanks to our outgoing Chair, Steve Turner and our Treasurer, Keith Loven, for all their hard work.

The new committee members are:

Chair: Martha Milne

Treasurer: Sam Laing

Project Manager: Pauline Loven

Secretary: Jo Sullivan

(picture to come)

A Review of the Luttrell Psalter Film:

Many thanks to Michael Stocking for this review:

‘I suppose I was expecting the standard documentary-style piece, with voiceover, pieces to camera, intercut with a couple of re-creations of medieval life. That's certainly a film they could have made, but instead they've made a deceptively simple 20 minute film recreating scenes from the Luttrell Psalter in an effort to transport us back 600 years. No plot, no narration, not many words at all.

As a result, if you just view the film, it's a very impressionistic experience. Oxen, breath steaming in the cold Lincolnshire air, haul a crude but familiar-looking plough across a field. A young boy vaults up a tree to steal some cherries, narrowly escaping a wrathful farmer. Chickens scratch around a farmyard. A wronged wife belabours her penitent husband with a stick. We're left to have our own opinions on how like these people we are and how unlike. How hard life must have been and how rewarding.

The film took 2 years to make, on a budget that wouldn't normally cover the costumes, and the makers travelled to the North West to film red squirrels, to Wales to find a medieval village, and to London to find a scriptorium. This truly was a labour of love, and it shows on the screen.

For those unfamiliar with the book, the interview with the ever-watchable Michelle Brown is required viewing, and helps relate the book to the film.

So as a piece of film-making, experimental archaeology, pedagogy and indeed art, the film is an unlikely success. I hope the team put a copy online soon and it gets the wider audience it deserves’.

Michael Stocking is the CEO of Armadillo Systems, creators of, amongst other things, the Turning the Pages software that allows libraries to build online collections.

WAG Screen plans to upload the Luttrell Psalter film to Facebook (in HD) when the number of fans on Luttrell Psalter Facebook fan page reaches 1,000! So if you want to see the film - spread the word!

WAG Screen wins an award!

Nick Loven, Chris Roberts and Pauline Loven with the ‘Special Contributions to Museums’ award from Heritage Lincolnshire and Renaissance East Midlands. The award was given jointly to WAG Screen and Orchard House Wardrobe for the films, costumes and artefacts made for East Midlands museums.