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Afternoon all,
Longish post ahead, so apologies in advance. Here's a link to the footage should you wish to avoid the long haul: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLA...R1gqTLisvFDhDA
For those still here...I've been a lurker on here for seven years, mainly because I thought I had little to add that wasn't being said by others more eloquently and usefully. I now though have something (maybe) useful to contribute.
On aug26/27 this year I took a camera around some of the key locations in the case, partly to work out how to use the camera and editing package, partly out of interest. I've always been interested in the geographical aspect, the buildings and streets, how the sites are linked in space and time between them. I'm the kind of person who gets mildly excited by seeing stone lintels above doors with dates of construction on them (don't ask, I can't explain). The first time I visited Whitechapel was about sixteen years ago, and the sheer compactness and close proximity of sites really struck me. I thought this would be a useful set of footage for people unable to visit themselves (not so much for people familiar with the area, but knock yourself out).
A few notes...
1) Footage was shot on a chest mounted GoPro 3+ in HD, hence the bouncy camera. On youtube, you may have to adjust the setting in the bottom of the picture, it looks like a little wheel, but it is in 1080 glorious detail.
2) I've assumed a moderate level of knowledge of the case
3) Feel free to turn my voice off. I thought it would be useful for some people, so I dubbed over (being lazy, just used the mac's microphone which makes it sound echoey). Plus, I had a bad cold when I recorded the overdubs...
4) Each video is annotated to show particular sights. There was no useful ambient sound I'm afraid; the camera i amounted in a waterproof housing, so it was just clicky noises of the harness moving that was recorded.
5) This is in no way intended to replace tours. By far the best approach is to visit yourself (not least because the camera has the effect of making things appear more distant than they are). For those unable to go or simply planning, the vids may be of use.
6) I used the georeferenced OS maps and Goad's Fire Insurance maps to locate sites. I am quite possibly incorrect on some, and if it bothers you enough please tell me and I may go back and correct it (depending on how pedantic it is..)
7) I've mainly used modern street names so people can compare and put the 1888 name in brackets, but not always. If it bothers you, well, see point 6.
8) My babblings should not be taken as being for/against any suspects: the suspects who lived in the area obviously have more references (Levy, Kosminski, Hyams for example, read nothing more into it than location).
9) I haven't made a big deal of the murder sites (nothing wrong with that, but I wanted to get a sense of geography). Houses, witness sightings and police beats are a lll highlighted or mentioned too.
10) Apart from 1 clip (a small section of Buck's Row to Hanbury St) all clips are in real time. I estimate I covered between 100-120 m (or yards) each minute at my pace.
11) I have undoubtedly made some errors, I'm sure I referred to Commercial Street as Commercial Road at one point, and forgot to highlight Schwarz's house. I will be blamed for something.
12) The order was simply the order they were shot, so number 1 does not deal with chronological events for example. There is a brief description of the roads taken with each video.
13) Any thoughts or improvements, please share.
Thoughts from the exercise:
Physically experiencing the space is important. Around Mitre Sq and Berner Street for example, realising how close the witnesses and events were helps understand how incredibly lucky the murderer was not to be seen or caught with that many people around. The police beats must have left hardly any time (assuming the police were truthful in their timings...). The tightness of space does make me question the geoprofiling approach- while I ascribe to the theory JTR was local, I would like to know how useful the geoprofiling is in small areas, that is when a criminal's ability to travel long distances is limited.
Finally, i couldn't pin down the 'Church Street' where witness Mrs Long lived. It makes a difference to why she was walking east along Hanbury street at that time. I thought she may have been referring to the far end of Hanbury Street, which might make more sense. Please correct me if you know better.
H
Longish post ahead, so apologies in advance. Here's a link to the footage should you wish to avoid the long haul: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLA...R1gqTLisvFDhDA
For those still here...I've been a lurker on here for seven years, mainly because I thought I had little to add that wasn't being said by others more eloquently and usefully. I now though have something (maybe) useful to contribute.
On aug26/27 this year I took a camera around some of the key locations in the case, partly to work out how to use the camera and editing package, partly out of interest. I've always been interested in the geographical aspect, the buildings and streets, how the sites are linked in space and time between them. I'm the kind of person who gets mildly excited by seeing stone lintels above doors with dates of construction on them (don't ask, I can't explain). The first time I visited Whitechapel was about sixteen years ago, and the sheer compactness and close proximity of sites really struck me. I thought this would be a useful set of footage for people unable to visit themselves (not so much for people familiar with the area, but knock yourself out).
A few notes...
1) Footage was shot on a chest mounted GoPro 3+ in HD, hence the bouncy camera. On youtube, you may have to adjust the setting in the bottom of the picture, it looks like a little wheel, but it is in 1080 glorious detail.
2) I've assumed a moderate level of knowledge of the case
3) Feel free to turn my voice off. I thought it would be useful for some people, so I dubbed over (being lazy, just used the mac's microphone which makes it sound echoey). Plus, I had a bad cold when I recorded the overdubs...
4) Each video is annotated to show particular sights. There was no useful ambient sound I'm afraid; the camera i amounted in a waterproof housing, so it was just clicky noises of the harness moving that was recorded.
5) This is in no way intended to replace tours. By far the best approach is to visit yourself (not least because the camera has the effect of making things appear more distant than they are). For those unable to go or simply planning, the vids may be of use.
6) I used the georeferenced OS maps and Goad's Fire Insurance maps to locate sites. I am quite possibly incorrect on some, and if it bothers you enough please tell me and I may go back and correct it (depending on how pedantic it is..)
7) I've mainly used modern street names so people can compare and put the 1888 name in brackets, but not always. If it bothers you, well, see point 6.
8) My babblings should not be taken as being for/against any suspects: the suspects who lived in the area obviously have more references (Levy, Kosminski, Hyams for example, read nothing more into it than location).
9) I haven't made a big deal of the murder sites (nothing wrong with that, but I wanted to get a sense of geography). Houses, witness sightings and police beats are a lll highlighted or mentioned too.
10) Apart from 1 clip (a small section of Buck's Row to Hanbury St) all clips are in real time. I estimate I covered between 100-120 m (or yards) each minute at my pace.
11) I have undoubtedly made some errors, I'm sure I referred to Commercial Street as Commercial Road at one point, and forgot to highlight Schwarz's house. I will be blamed for something.
12) The order was simply the order they were shot, so number 1 does not deal with chronological events for example. There is a brief description of the roads taken with each video.
13) Any thoughts or improvements, please share.
Thoughts from the exercise:
Physically experiencing the space is important. Around Mitre Sq and Berner Street for example, realising how close the witnesses and events were helps understand how incredibly lucky the murderer was not to be seen or caught with that many people around. The police beats must have left hardly any time (assuming the police were truthful in their timings...). The tightness of space does make me question the geoprofiling approach- while I ascribe to the theory JTR was local, I would like to know how useful the geoprofiling is in small areas, that is when a criminal's ability to travel long distances is limited.
Finally, i couldn't pin down the 'Church Street' where witness Mrs Long lived. It makes a difference to why she was walking east along Hanbury street at that time. I thought she may have been referring to the far end of Hanbury Street, which might make more sense. Please correct me if you know better.
H
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