Bruck monster tidies up

Anti-litter movie The Curse of the Bruck Monster is now online, with a display including bruck monster productions and models used in the film being held at Shetland Museum and Archives on Friday.

The initial idea for the project was led by pupils at Anderson and Brae High School, whose brief was to create an anti-litter movie to be shown in the cinema.

Their final idea was a trailer-style advert for a spoof 50s-style horror film.

Local film-maker JJ Jamieson of ShetlandVideo.com was commissioned to make the film, and with the help of film-maker Greg McCarron, brought the bruck monster to life.

Mr Jamieson said: “This was a fantastic project to work on. The pupils came with a cracking idea which gave me a wonderful opportunity to create a fun and memorable film with a serious message.

“We really have had a great time creating the film and promotional ‘outtakes’ and the bruck monster and town hall models.”

As well as the pupils involved in the creative process, many familiar local faces appear in the film and promotional ‘outtakes’.

Mr Jamieson added: “Everyone was more than happy to volunteer their time and were really good sports about some of the things we asked them to do and outfits we asked them to wear.

“I think some of them may have been a bit worried until they saw the final films and we are grateful that they trusted us during the filming process and that everyone was so enthusiastic and delighted to be part of it. I think this shows just how passionate everyone is about our environment and any efforts to keep it clean.”

The film has been warmly received at a screening in Mareel and the display in the museum will show three promotional ‘outtakes’, The Curse of the Bruck Monster film and a new film, The Making of the Bruck Monster, which shows the process of making the bruck monster model.

As well as this there will be a copy of the film poster and the model of the bruck monster and town hall used in the film.

The bruck monster model was based on the litter collected during the hefty litter pick by Cecilia James between Voe and Lerwick in 2012.

The statistics gathered from this shocked and inspired the pupils and so the bruck monster idea was born, based on the actual litter collected from Shetland’s roadsides.

Jamieson and McCarron recreated the bruck in miniature before threading it together to make the monster mobile.

John Hunter, exhibitions officer, at Shetland Museum and Archives, said:

“Having heard about the film, we were delighted when approached about the bruck monster model.

“Rather than just display the model on its own, we have found a space in the upper foyer to create a focus display, enabling us to show all of the films, two models used in the film and the film poster, which was inspired by a Konga poster in our own collection.

“The fact the film concept came from local school pupils and the film was produced locally all adds to its appeal, and shows just what we can achieve in our island community.

We fully support the message in the film and hope it will encourage people to dispose of their litter responsibly.”

The display will be held in the museum from Friday to the 23rd of August.