![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Join our community of arts, culture and creative professionals by signing up free to the Guardian Culture Pros Network. How we made the Centenary Connections first world war app How we made kscope, an image-sharing app for university applicants How we made the Romans app for iPad, iPhone and Android Ian Bennett is a lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University More App stories Length of the project: three months’ planning, 15 months’ development Size of the team: one (me!) I’m also working on various “spin-off” projects from the Owen app and have now been asked to produce something similar focusing on the life and work of poet and composer Ivor Gurney, as well as an app that features the words and images of contemporary military conflicts, enabling those who experience modern warfare to share a platform with great voices such as Owen. I’m extremely pleased with the result and I’m delighted with the reception it has received among reviewers and users. This resulted in the opinion that if I wanted to get this produced then I would have to do it myself, together with those readers and academics who so generously donated their time to the app. There were plenty of favourable comments but nothing tangible. Initially I tried to obtain funding to ease the process but this proved to be exceptionally difficult. Without this discipline it might still be swirling around in the vortex that accompanies such projects, all the while threatening to suck you down into the abyss along with all the other projects that didn’t see the light of day. More so given it was, essentially, produced by one person (me).Ī typical day would involve illustration in the morning and page design or build in the afternoon, interspersed with audio and video recording sessions and subsequent editing of those files. ![]() Indeed, the contemporary serving officers and partners of those still serving (who read some of the poems for the app) found that Owen’s words have a powerful resonance even today.Ī task of this size and complexity (45 poems, 15 readers and four academic commentators) consumed huge amounts of time and energy, so it was essential to structure the process to ensure all elements were ready when needed for the build process. During the many hours of recording, all who took part voiced similar feelings of emotion, thoughtfulness and of being incredibly moved. It was never the intention to try and represent Owen and his situation but rather use his words to conjure up the assumed setting. The words would provide a glimpse into both the physical experience and of the soldier’s state of mind. In all likelihood the first person to open and read a letter recognisable as being from the front would be a mother or wife. The approach was to assume the position of a soldier, not necessarily Owen, writing words both descriptive and artistic which he then sent home. Some said that “it must be voiced by a young man” while a large majority found it a unique and stimulating perspective. Using a female voice for the poems upset the traditionalists. Much like throwing a pebble into a stream, the ripples continued to flow outwards to trigger other ideas and attract interest. It was a process that helped to “sell” the idea to prospective contributors and supporters the more it progressed the more it developed. The app not only had to provide the essential ingredients but also look the part so a lengthy process of design evolution began. ![]()
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