Footage #5

Please set the resolution to 1080p and watch them in fullscreen.

This shot is a close-up on the sign on the lifeboat station. I felt it was important to capture this being that Ilfracombe is a seaside town, and that the RNLI is run by donations. It also builds a sense of place and character.

This shot is of the back of an amusement arcade. I tried to focus upon the sign and neon lights by zooming in, but that in hindsight is unnecessary considering the size of the signs. The composition is also wonky (tripod problems again).

This is the same shot as before, except I tried to rectify the wonkiness of the composition (to little effect).

This shot features the sign of the Driftwood Gallery (which was bought out of its previous space by Hirst). There looks like there is distortion in the frame, but it is actually the building - it bulges outwards here slightly. The composition of this shot is not central.

This shot is more central to the frame than the previous composition.

This shot shows the whole exterior of the Driftwood Gallery, including the pavement outside. However, it seems that whenever I film in public, the record button is a transmitter that makes everyone walk through my shot. I like this shot, but since there isn't a big chunk of the recording (20 seconds+) that doesn't have people walking through close to the camera, I will have to reshoot this.

This shot of Echo Beach gallery is slightly wonky (which can probably be rectified in Premiere Pro) and should probably be a bit more zoomed out (so that if a car goes through the frame we can see all of it). There is lots of disruption from cars and members of the public, so this will be reshot.

There is a substantial amount of time in this clip that doesn't involve people walking through the frame, however, I may reshoot from a more straight-on angle.

This shot shows regeneration in the form of the new Wetherspoons building. I focused upon the "another development from JD Wetherspoon" sign as I like the confident tone of the text. There is some movement through the frame from the woman in the pink coat.

This is a closer crop of the "JD Wetherspoons" sign so it may be easier to read. Lots of people (both on foot and in cars) disrupt the frame due to the close crop, but there is enough undisturbed footage for a clip in the final film from this footage.

This crop of the JD Wetherspoon building is slightly more zoomed in than the first shot of this subject. There is some disruption from cars and passers-by, and movement from builders at work.

I noticed this "no football" sign on the grassy verge behind me when I was filming the previous shots. I thought it would be a humorous and quirky addition to the final film. This shot has a distanced composition to include context from the surroundings.

This is a closer crop of the previous shot. There is some slight camera shake from the wind which can probably be rectified in Premiere Pro.

This shot of the Wetherspoons building focuses upon the recruitment poster. Due to the close crop of the shot, lots of cars disrupt the shot.

This closer crop of another perspective of the Wetherspoons building cuts the top of the scaffolding off and features disruption from passers-by and cars due to the crop.

This clip still cuts off the top of the scaffolding and is disrupted by people walking in front of the camera.

This shot includes all of the scaffolding but it would probably be better if it were composed straight-on. I will reshoot for an extra option when editing.

Footage #4

Please set the resolution to 1080p and watch them in fullscreen.

This shot is of the back of a boat called the Ilfracombe Princess and a dingy. Both boats move in the frame due to the small waves. There is also a reflection in the water of another nearby boat. The composition is quit tight due to the high wall that was in front of me and eliminating other objects that could make the frame look cluttered.

This shot includes lots of boats in the harbour. It is quite a close crop and could afford to be zoomed out a little bit.

This shot focuses on the boat named "Ocean Dream". The shot is composed to feature it on the left of the frame, with the right half featuring the sterns of the other boats. I like this composition as it feels visually pleasing to me due to the off-centre composition.

This is the same shot as above, just altered in composition to place "Ocean Dream" a little more centred. I prefer this composition as it allows more space off of the stern of the boat, and doesn't cut any of the boat off as the previous shot did (due to the boat moving with the current).

This shot of the harbour includes some boats in the water, the harbour wall, and some of the shop fronts. I prefer this shot to a previous similar composition as it shows more of the street and the activity on it, and is therefore not so distracting.

This shot is of the Yacht Club. It is shot from a diagonal angle and is cropped funny due to activity in the foreground. It shows the flags above the door but crops half of the bodies that walk in front of it on the pavement. It then seems that I forgot to stop recording as I pick up the tripod and walk down to my next location, recompose the frame, and adjust exposure for the next shot.

This shot shows the sign of Hirst's restaurant and the brickwork of the building. The sign is to the left of the frame, but I believe I can make a better composition of this shot by filling the screen with the sign and having a front-on shot of the whole building. The sign sways in the wind, which is a nice touch of movement.

This is the same shot as before, just recomposed to place the sign in the centre of the frame. I prefer the previous shot.

This shot is of the front of Hirst's Other Criteria gallery, which is next to his restaurant. It shows the sign and the window, which is displaying some of his dot work. People pass through the frame and observe the window, sometimes taking pictures. However, the shot is wonky (although I tried to rectify this in camera) and is too closely cropped. My focus on being able to clearly see the sign has left the whole building not being in shot and cropping off peoples legs.

This is a more distanced shot of Other Criteria and shows people walking past and looking in the windows. At one point a man takes a photo of his grandson outside (he exasperatedly exclaims "Granddad!"). This is a nice shot of people interacting with Hirst's work, but could be shot from a more dead-on angle.

I wanted this shot to focus on the sign and window of Other Criteria without any human involvement, but it seemed like my record button had a transmitter on it that attracted everyone to walk through the frame! Because I wanted a closer shot of the shop front, this meant that I had floating heads pass through the frame.

This shot features seagulls floating in the harbour. I thought I'd capture it as a whimsical shot, but I'm not 100% sure if I like it.

This shot is of the harbour street. People and cars move through the frame. I would prefer if it were not so wonky.

This shot of the Yacht Club is shot from the left at a diagonal angle. People pass through the frame on foot and on bikes, however, a big hair is on the right hand side of the frame. I only noticed this when I moved to another location and took a long time changing lenses and double checking to see if it was gone. It seemed to be inside the camera, and probably got there when I changed lenses at the harbour. This has taught me to always double check in the digital viewfinder for bits of fluff and hair that may be inside the camera. This shot would also be better if it were front on to the building.

This shot focuses on the awning of the Yacht Club, but this resulted in me cutting off most of the building. Many people pass through the frame as floating heads, except for one guy who walked past very close to the tripod and looked down the lens for the duration of time that he was in the frame. Again, this shot would be better if it were front on.

This is the same shot as above only recomposed to include the flags above the door. Again, this shot would be better if it were front on.

This shot includes the beach at the harbour, some of the boats in the water, and the shop fronts. I should have recomposed it to cut out the bit of brick wall in front of the yellow building as that is distracting me.

This shot shows the boats in the harbour and some of the shop fronts, as well as Verity in the distance and the "elephant's head". This shot shows a wider perspective of the harbour.

This shot is of the top of the RNLI building. I chose to capture this instead of the whole building as it features the acronym of the organisation, and it would get lost in an external shot due to distance. The St George flag waves in the wind on the right of the frame. The shot is a little bit wonky but this can probably be rectified in Premiere Pro.

Footage #3

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This shot includes people interacting with Verity. One man is taking pictures of her on his phone (often moving around to get a good composition), while some people fish and talk amongst themselves. I'm not sure if I like this shot due to composition, but it is important to get shots of people.

This shot places Verity on the left of the frame, with the right negative space filled with a clear blue sky. During the clip, a seagull lands on her head, adding some quirky humour to the shot.

This shot is a close-crop of Verity's head achieved by my 55-250mm lens. The seagull from the previous clip is still settled there, and the choice of lens lets us see the bird droppings down her face. There is some slight camera movement that can probably be rectified in Premiere Pro. The seagull stays put during the clip.

This shot of Verity's hand grasping the hilt of her sword is a small detail of the sculpture.

This composition shows more of Verity's sword and upper body. The seagull is still perched on her head. Some birds fly through the frame, adding some movement to a static shot. Composing Verity to the left of the frame is visually pleasing and different than a boring central composition.

Verity's pregnant stomach takes up the majority of the frame in this shot, and I shot it to feature her "gory" side, as this is one of the most controversial aspects of presence in the town.

This shot is of a sign on the gates to the pier. I thought including shots like this shows some quirk and builds a sense of place.

This is the same shot as before but with a slightly different composition. However, it is slightly wonky so I will be using the previous shot.

Again with this shot, I tried to create a sense of place and whimsy by shooting these street signs. However, the shot is slightly wonky.

This is the same shot as before, but with a straighter composition. It is still slightly wonky but may be able to be corrected in Premiere Pro.

This shot focuses on the last sign on the lamppost, a "Do Not Feed The Seagulls" notice. It is slightly wonky and I do not like the inclusion of the bottom of the blue sign in the shot.

This shot focuses in more on the sign, but it cuts off too much of the top of the sign and therefore is not central in its composition.

This composition is better, but may need some slight correction for camera movement and cropping in Premiere Pro.

This shot of Verity is shot towards her "natural" side and is composed to feature her from mid-stomach to just above the hilt of her sword. I don't like this cropped shot of her due to the composition and the rooftops in the background.

This shot features more of Verity, again, shot from the perspective of the previous shot. This composition includes her from above the knee to the middle of her sword, and therefore shows more of the background nearby. I am not 100% confident in this composition, and feel that I need a full-body shot of her in-situ.

This shot is of a pub that is being renovated. I focused on the scaffolding and signs that say it is being refurbished, but I should have a shot of the whole building too.

This is the same shot as above, but with the composition altered slightly.

This is the same shot as above, but with the composition altered slightly to make the signs more central in the frame.

This shot is of the pier as shot from the harbour. It includes a ship docked, as well as Verity from behind and the infamous "elephant's head" headland. The pier creates a diagonal line in the frame that acts as a line of focus, drawing the eye towards the boat. Seagulls fly in the frame, as well as the small waves and people walking on the pier, including movement in the shot.

This shot shows the boats in the harbour in the in-between period between low and high tide. The shot includes the colourful buildings at the end of the harbour. The composition could be altered slightly to erase the harbour wall, road and shops on the right of the frame, as I find the movement there distracting.

Footage #2

Please ignore the audio, set the resolution of these videos to 1080p, and watch in fullscreen.

This shot composes Verity on the left of the frame. I used a 55-250mm zoom lens to get a close crop of the face, which was shot from the dissected half. The crop allows us to see the bird poop that has dropped down her head, which gives Verity a quircky characteristic. However, there is some camera movement due to the slight breeze which should be able to be corrected in Premiere Pro.

This shot is almost identical to the previous shot but for a slightly darker exposure.

This composition allows more of Verity's body to be shown, including her pregnant stomach (and foetus) and her arm raising the sword. It mostly focuses on her dissected half, but also includes her "normal" breast. I have placed her slightly to the left of the frame for a more interesting composition. This closer crop was achieved by using a 55-250mm lens. A seagull flies through the frame at one point, which gives the clip movement within the frame.

This clip shows a little chapel on a hill overlooking the harbour. The chapel and hill is slightly off-centre to the frame. This shot would be better if there was more of a breeze to create movement in the frame with the flag.

This shot includes both Verity and the chapel on the hill. It shows Verity from her raised forearm to just below her knee. To include both in the shot, Verity is on the left of the frame, with the chapel on the right. I like the composition of this frame but again wish there was a bit of a breeze in order to make the flag move.

I do not like this shot of a tidal pool. I do not like the composition, as I used the wrong lens to capture this, and I also do not like the carpark in the background.

This shot was captured further away from Verity with my 18-55mm lens in order to capture more of her surroundings and human interaction with her (people observing). There is a diagonal line created by the railing that draws the eye towards her. It then appears that I forgot to stop recording, as I turn the camera to another subject, refocus and re-expose.

This shot includes people fishing off the pier. I should have gotten down on their level of the pier and closer to them, or alternatively used a different lens.

This shot is also of Verity and the chapel. I prefer the previous shot as it does not include streetlamps, however in this composition Verity and the chapel are closer together as I shot it from a different angle. A seagull flies through the frame, adding some movement.

This shot is of the "elephant's head" headland. There is movement in both the foreground and background from the sea, either the motion in the foreground of the small waves, or the waves crashing upon the beach in the background. Some oyster catchers fly into the frame and a man casts his fly into the frame, creating more movement.

I thought I would shoot some small details of my surroundings - possibly quirky - that build a sense of location. This shot is of some seaweed on the wall of the pier. Due to the tides, this wall is submerged for almost half of the day, allowing the seaweed to have formed. I do not like this composition, as it is too distanced.

I filmed this shot with my camera on my lap, which resulted in camera shake. I changed to my fixed f1.8 50mm lens in order to have a shallow depth of field, but the combination of filming with the correct shutter speed to make movement natural, the minimum filming ISO as 200, and the bright lighting meant that this didn't work.

This shot is a close crop of the seaweed on the wall and the sea lapping over the steps. I filmed this with the camera on my lap, which resulted in camera shake.

I placed my camera on the ground to get this shot of a fishing rod resting on the floor of the pier. There is too much floor in the foreground.

This shot of barnacles and seaweed on the pier is better than my other shots as there is a slight shallow depth of field. The inclusion of the barnacles in the foreground make the shot more interesting to me, as it adds another subject and more texture to the frame.

I like this sign on the pier as it is quirky and creates a sense of place. Even though all the legs on the tripod were fully extended, the composition is not straight and central.

This shot is better, but still not completely straight and central.

This shot of Verity shows her face-on, showing the line where she is cut down the middle. It is here where we get the full shocking effect of her by seeing both sides of her. She is central to the frame and it shows part of her sword down to above her knees. There is some slight camera movement which should be able to be corrected in Premiere Pro.

 This shot is a close crop of Verity's face from a dead-on angle. The close crop, achieved by using my 55-250mm lens, shows us purely her gruesome (to some) face. I used a central composition so she took up the majority of the frame, as I feel this composition gets her full effect. There is some slight camera movement which should be able to be corrected in Premiere Pro.

This is the same shot as before, just changed in composition to have Verity slightly to the left of the frame. I prefer the previous composition, as she is more arresting that way.

Second shoot

Referring to my shotlist, I went back to Ilfracombe to shoot around the harbour. I chose to focus on this location for the day as I was keeping in mind Shawn's advice to "shoot the shit out of everything" - I ended up getting 80+ clips just from this location!

I followed the shotlist and got shots of Verity from different distances, compositions, and crops. I like to use my "signature style" (I don't feel confident in myself to say this is my signature style, but I suppose it is. I need to stop thinking so low of myself!) of an off-centre composition with negative space when shooting her as it is more unexpected than a central composition, and also complements the modern art movement that she is a part of. However, I did use a central composition when zooming in on her head, as it was more visually pleasing her her to fill most of the frame with equal distance on both sides.

Around the pier, I found some signs ("danger of drowning", "pull your fishing lines in when a boat approaches", "do not feed the seagulls") that I feel build a sense of place and character. Hopefully these quirky inclusions will amuse people in the final cut.

 Some of the shots of the harbour and buildings around it came out a bit wonky. For some reason, even when all the legs of my tripod are fully extended and the top plate back in properly, the images come out wonky. I did try to rectify this on location, but some of it may be salvageable in Premiere Pro. I included shots of Hirst's gallery and restaurant, but feel that I need a better shot of the restaurant and the restaurant sign.

I also shot the exterior of an art gallery (this gallery was in the unit that Other Criteria is in, but Hirst bought them out to have Other Criteria next to his restaurant. They relocated to a bigger space a few minutes walk away), the RNLI shop, and a Wetherspoons building that is currently being built. The Wetherspoons building especially shows that regeneration is happening in the town.

One problem that I found was that whenever I pressed the record button it seemed like sod's law - loads of people crossed the frame really close to the camera, which ruined the shot. I don't mind people on the other side of the road on the pavement. Maybe because I didn't have my eye to the viewfinder or something they thought I wasn't physically using my camera; also many people probably don't know that DSLRs can film as well as take stills. I do think I probably have a good section from each clip where people don't pass so close to the camera.

This guy's going on my wall of shame

 
I will need to formulate a shot list of remaining things I want to capture.

Second shot list

I am going to Ilfracombe tomorrow to shoot for my film. I will be using my Canon 600D and my 18-55mm, 55-250mm, and fixed 50mm lenses, three memory cards, and a tripod to achieve this. I will record atomos audio on another day.

• Verity - close ups of head, longer shots including more body
• People interacting with Verity
• Small details, quirks - notices and signs
• Harbour - boats, shops
• The Quay (Hirst's restaurant)
• Other Criteria (Hirst's gallery)
• Art gallery exteriors
• Wetherspoons building site

14th April Visit

On the 14th April, I went to Ilfracombe to get "voxpops" of people along the high street. I used my new dictaphone with headphones to judge the quality of the audio and what could be heard.

I targeted shop owners as they possibly would have benefitted from Hirst's presence in the town, and for their own personal opinions. I also thought they would be more willing to help out than if I stopped people in the street, and the audio quality would be better inside a building than if I was stopping people out on a busy road.

I used the questionnaire as guidance for what they should say and asked them to verbally answer the questions, as I would not be reading the questions out (for easier editing purposes). Some people read out the questions ("What's my name? Well, I'm...") whereas others just spoke their answers like I suggested. I got over 10 voxpops from various shops including a butchers, estate agents, the cinema, and a dance shop.

I did the speaking this time and found people to be very helpful and willing to take part and contribute their time. I also felt more in control and confident than when we did the questionnaires. Also, when I was in the cinema and introduced myself, one member of staff said "We know all about you!" Flick (who wrote lots in her questionnaire answers) is friends with the staff in the cinema and had told them about me. It was weird being "recognised"!

14th April audio transcriptions

Pedlar's

I'm Nick Pedlar, I'm a partner in business of Chas N Pedlar Son in Ilfracombe who have been established for 150 years nearly, and we've been in the same position here since 1880. I've been in business now in Ilfracombe for over 50 years, personally, and I’ve lived here all my life, so that tells you how old I am!

[BACKGROUND NOISE: OTHER CONVERSATIONS] I just love living here: sun, clean air, lovely buildings, and much loved by those who are still about. Now we're seeing many new people coming, and they're coming just because of the area and enjoying that as well.

Favourite thing about Ilfracombe? The scenery, the hillsides, the sea, wonderful countryside around us as well, but it still has a busy community, very much involved in many things as well, as a community it comes together extremely well.

Are there any improvements? Yes. Ilfracombe, certainly, in this day of the motorcar, more and more, we could, parking in Ilfracombe needs to be improved, and with that would come a 20% increase I think in our footfall in the high street. The town which has got, which is still a seaside town, has got very good shops and a very good high street, certainly from my point of view when I’ve looked around other parts of the country, Ilfracombe stands out as being quite a good area for shops.

What do I think of Damien Hirst's Verity? I think the workmanship on it is quite brilliant. I like the statue for what it is, I don’t necessarily think I approve of the content, however, as far as Ilfracombe is concerned, she's brought a lot of people here, [PHONE RINGS] and it is certainly changed the type of holiday-maker that has come to Ilfracombe as well.

Arabesque Dance Boutique (sneaky recording)

… just before easter, this year they opened three weeks before Easter, it says everything. And there's new businesses opening up down there all the time. All the galleries in Ilfracombe have opened, well most of them have opened since Verity went up. It had an effect.

DAD: I did hear the parking was up 30% during the winter months.

Oh it was, almost immediately. I mean, when they took her down overnight and she was led down on her back in the car park with a barrier around her and her legs sticking out of a tent, drew more visitors than I’d ever seen down there, taking photographs of her legs. Some people knock it, but it's had a positive effect. I've never heard anyone say “ooh I’m not coming because there's a naked woman!” Did you get all that?

Big Apple

My name's Philip Charaland (sp), I'm over 60, I've lived in Ilfracombe for 30 years, I'm not just a visitor.

What's my favourite part of Ilfracombe? It's the harbour, a historic place, very beautiful.

Are there any improvements? Yeah. We could sort of have some all-weather facilities, that would help holiday makers, because it's just impossible here during the uh, if it rains, there's nothing to do at all.

What do I think of Verity? I think it's great! It's contemporary of course, and it's topical, controversial, but it's um, Damien Hirst has made a valuable contribution to Ilfracombe and this statue is actually very stunning, it puts us on a par with the colossus of Rhodes. There's nothing quite like it is there?

Butcher [backGROUND noise, cars passing by]

Gay Lugsdun. I'm aged between 50 and 59, I’ve lived here all my life, born and bred here as well. Well, like you say, lot of people come in here visiting because of the actual scenery, the walks, the people, the pier, it's a beautiful place to come to, so relaxing.

About Ilfracombe, my favourite part, are the town, the tours – where you go walking – the harbour, just beautiful in the summer, in the winter it's just awesome.

There is a lot of improvements that could be made, hensely once again with the parking, its always a bugbear that is parking for holiday-makers, for people who come into town shopping themselves. There should be more bins here, collection should be made better. The shop fronts should be made to be cleaned up properly, its left a little bit tacky sometimes.

Personally my view is I don't find it attractive at all, Verity, but it is a fantastic thing for Ilfracombe, because its brought in customers and bought in holiday-makers, out of season times, a lot of the restaurants and guest houses and cafés have stayed open right through to November because of people coming here visiting, so whatever you think, whether its ugly or not, its brought a lot of people here to Ilfracombe, so it's fantastic it really is. So come visit 'combe, it's lovely!

Cinema [BACKGROUND NOISE – slushy machine]

I'm Emma Shawney, I'm 31. Yes I do live in Ilfracombe since the age of 12, I don't know how many years that is. It's peaceful in the winter, it can be quite boring but it's very peaceful in the winter. It's got gorgeous beaches and scenery. There's a hell of a lot of improvements, but the list is well too long in my head... there's a hell of a lot of things that can be improved with Ilfracombe.

I like Verity, I just think she's in the wrong place! I think she could do with being up on Hillborough, I think it's Hillsborough, by the swimming pool area, she would have been a good beacon thing up there, but I don’t think she'd be visited as much but she would be a really good thing in that area instead of down by the pier.

Estate agent

“Please circle your age” 50-59! “Do you live in Ilfracombe” Yes. “how long for?” 12 years. “What do you like about Ilfracombe?” It's a beautiful town, lots of friendly people, and a nice place to work. “Are there any improvements you think could be made?” Not really, there's the place is as it is, there's holiday season and a quiet season, and I don’t think there’s any improvements that need to be made. The Wetherspoons I suppose is an improvement but it wouldn't affect us as a business. “What do you think of Verity?” I haven't really got any views on that, it doesn't affect us and I think it looks hideous on the harbour, I think it actually ruins the view of the harbour.

Estate Agent

Right, well my name is Patsy Knott, my age is 60+, yes I do live in Ilfracombe and I’ve lived here for 44 years. “What is my favourite part of Ilfracombe and why?” I think Ilfracombe s a beautiful place to live, the scenery is fantastic, the people are really friendly and nice and to be honest I wouldn't want to live anywhere else!

I think there's certain parts of the town that could do with a bit of improvement. For example, I think the high street, you get one end where all the shops are occupied – fine – then you get another little but where they become vacant, and it just makes the town... not sort of flow, if you know what I mean. We are actually having Wetherspoons built now down on the front, which is fantastic because the Collinwood hotel was a bit of an eyesore. The council are now, or have demolished the bus station in ilfracombe which was another really bad part of Ilfracombe and that's all being done, so I think, you know, they're doing their best to bring the town up to a certain standard.

With regards to Verity, I think she's been amazing to the town. My daughter's father-in-law, he's on the council, and he is saying how much the car parking fees have increased, and I know from walking down the pier myself, there's always people down looking at Verity. When I’m doing my job as an estate agent I’m out around with people and it's quite interesting when you're in some properties that look down onto the harbour how amazing she actually looks. So, yeah, I think she's a good thing to have in the town, it's certainly brought a lot of tourism in and, you know, everybody knows about her.

I'll just tell you a little story: I was in America last year in a pub, as you do, and we've been talking about Verity to some friends we'd met on holiday, and the barman in the bar was doing an art degree and he knew all about Damien Hirst , and these people said to him “Patsy, she knows Verity because she comes from the town where she is”, and he could just not believe that I come from the town where Verity was and where Damien Hirst lives, so I thought that was quite interesting. So it is a world, well-known all over the world about Verity, so yeah, I think it's great.

Alan Jackson [MUMBLY, BACKGROUND NOISE]

Alan Jackson, my name. Uh, 60+ I’m afraid. “How long have I lived in Ilfracombe?” 35 years. Lets put it this way, I wouldn't live anywhere else. I can't put my finger on what it is, but it's just a lovely place to live. Any improvements? Yes, lots, lots and lots, but... Need things for people to do in the winter, long, long winters, quite a lot of young people around, nothing to do. There needs to be something more in the town for them, I don’t know what, but something. “What do I think of Verity?” I think it's the best thing that's happened to the town, really, to be quite honest. It's certainly done it no harm anyway.

Estate agent

I am 21 and I currently don't live in Ilfracombe, I live in Combe Martin. I've worked in Ilfracombe and been to school in Ilfracombe since I was about 11. favourite part about ilfracombe – not too sure about that one. The walks up around the hills are nice but Ilfracombe town needs a lot of work doing on it, it's looking a bit tired. I like Verity and Damien Hirst it's really good, a lot of people don't like it [PHONE RINGS] but I think it's definitely worthwhile.

[SNEAKY RECORDING]

I think it's very rough on the high street still, it looks really rough now, which is a shame, compared to what it used to be.

Dad: cos there's a lot of pound, charity-type shops isn't there, it could do with a bit of...

21: uplift

Other: some money spending on it.

Dad: Well, I suppose if he's investing down at the harbour, hopefully it'll have a knock-on effect.

Other: we'd like to think so.

21: we do have some smart galleries and that opening up now, haven't we? Which are nice, and shabby-chic shops, which I like. But a lot of them are complete and utter rubbish!

Charity books [BACKGROUND MUSIC]

Certainly 60+, try 84. I've lived in Ilfracombe 15 years, so came here to live. There are many things that are favourite parts of Ilfracombe, mainly the serenity, it's much quieter, we originally came from Birmingham – terrible place. So it's a much pleasanter place to live. Yes there are a lot of improvements that could be made, mainly the infrastructure of roads, predominately roads is one of the problems, and of course parking, which is a summer problem, basically.

I personally think Verity is an insult to Ilfracombe, because it's got nothing to do with Ilfracombe as a fishing town that it was. As an architectural piece of work it's very good, an artistic piece of work it's good, but totally in the wrong place, totally in the wrong town, and I wish it wasn’t there. It does obviously get a lot of money as far as I can see from car parking, people come and park, look at it and go, whether it helps the town financially, I’m not sure.

Shabby-chic shop

I'm Jade Chaper, and I'm 18. I do live in Ilfracombe and I've lived here for about 13 years. What my favourite part of Ilfracombe is... the scenery, there's nice views, but there's a lot of improvements that could be done, it could be a lot cleaner. And my opinions of Verity is it's quite nice, but I don't see the point of it being there, but it's something else for the visitors to look at.

Dad: do you think it's made a boost to tourism or anything like that?

Yeah, a lot of people come here to look at Verity. It's alright, I don't really see the point but it does bring a lot more people here, it's something to come here to look at.