The Hop Farm in Kent is famous for the growing of hops which are used in beer production. Labourers were brought in from surrounding areas including London to pick the hops during the harvest season. The hops were then dried in oast houses.

The Hop Farm is now a major tourist attraction in the area. Part of the farm has been made into a museum using three of the original oast houses to depict the lives of the people who worked there during the 1950’s and 1960’s.

Each of the three oast houses contains a different 'set' showing a recreation of a scene from this era. Three videos were created using a combination of existing original film footage, CGI graphics and location filming at The Hop Farm. In the foreground of each of the three videos, a professional actor narrates one of the following stories:
 
‘Hopping Down in Kent’
‘The Hop Growers Year’
‘Memories of Hop Picking’.

Each oast house contains a control system, 46" monitor, audio/video storage device, amplifier and speakers. When there is no one is present the background video plays until a visitor enters the oast house. The "entry" is picked up by a PIR and the main video starts to play. If visitors remain in the oast house the main video will loop and the background video will play after they have all left. In this way, the story starts from the beginning when visitors enter the oast house and captures their interest with one of the above stories.

Links:
This exhibition can be seen at The Hop Farm, Paddock Wood, Kent.  The Hop Farm
Project creation and Video Production: Pilot Studios
Exhibition Fit-out: DWA