Instructions For Reading The Book

  • Quicklinks are visible at all times to the top left of the book
  • Click the < > arrows to the Left and Right of the book to move backwards and forwards
  • You can also drag the pages from the corners to leaf through, as you would a real book
  • The bottom 4 buttons starting from the left:

  • 1. Return to Table of Contents
  • 2. Magnify (Double-click to get back to normal view)
  • 3. Play pages as a slideshow (Hit the Pause button to stop the slideshow)
  • 4. Click on the photos to enlarge.

2014 Award for Excellence in Oral History

Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling

The adjudication committee unanimously selected his Dans l"Griff / In Griffintown as this project is complete and multidisciplinary in nature and format, and unfolds in diverse outcomes (film, pedagogical guide, tour, etc.). The committee also appreciated its intergenerational approach to understanding a neighbourhood and how it has changed over/through time. The project speaks to oral history advocacy and activism, offering this family an opportunity to voice their concerns and advance an argument that favours historical preservation.

Center for Oral History and Digital Storytelling

Griffintown inside cover from the air
Photo credit: http://griffintown.org/photos/historic/images/img19xxPortWest.jpg

"Compared to how the young people live now, it is completely different. It is really another world. One can not even compare. It is like another planet. So it is a completely different life. We can see some bricks that date from a very long time ago, but still, it"s a new world, a world of condos in Griffintown. Imagine if the people from 40 or 50 years ago, if they came back to see this, they would be very surprised."

Lise Mercier
merciers family
Mercier Family, The Thomas O"Connell Building ,1165 Ottawa Street. Photo by G. Scott MacLeod.

In Griffintown

A life history documentary on the Mercier family

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to theIn GriffintownDVD Production Notes and Education Guide. This downloadable PDF is designed for educators and viewers interested in documentary films and life histories. My aim with the Production Notes and Education Guide is to share technical insights into the documentary, animation and production processes and to provide a database of historical and cultural information on Griffintown. The Learning Guide is a series of questions designed to help educators explore ideas of home, community, oral history and memory and raise awareness of a range of issues that affect communities everywhere, including urban renewal and the preservation of historic buildings. I hope you will find this package useful and that it will enable and encourage further study and understanding of documentaries, animation and life history.

G. Scott MacLeod, Montreal, 2013
Chez Willie Mercier Photo Archive
Chez Willie animation by G. Scott MacLeod.

Synopsis

As the urban landscape of some of Montreal"s former industrial sectors disintegrates, urban renewal isimminent. In Griffintown , just to the south of the city"s downtown, it is already well underway.

With only a handful of original civic, residential and industrial sites remaining, the once thriving community of predominantly working class Irish and French Canadians has all but disappeared.

But communities endure in memory. And for retired couple Claude and Lise Mercier and their son Stefan, who were born and raised in the neighbourhood, the colourful world of Griffintown is very muchalive.

Mixing the Merciers" family photographs and frank firsthand recollections with his own evocative pencil animations,with In Griffintown , director G. Scott MacLeod opens a window onto this once flourishing community and provides a moving portrait of life "in the Griff."

G. Scott MacLeod

Director and Animator

G. Scott MacLeod
Photo de Alyson MacLeod

G. Scott MacLeod is a multimedia artist in the truest sense of the term. A critically acclaimed painter andphotographer whose work is in many permanent collections, including that of the National Gallery of Canada, he is also a performing songwriter and recording artist.

Engaging his lifelong interest in history, with support from the National Film Board of Canada's Filmmaker Assistance Program and a Main Film Grant , in 2009 MacLeod added filmmaker to his list of endeavors with the release of After the war with Hannelore - A Berliner War Child’s Testimony from 1945 to 1989. The 22-minute documentary had several high-profile screenings, including at Les Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois and Berlin’s Arnsenal 2 Institut für Film und Videokunst and One World Berlin Film Festival.

The Saga of Murdo MacLeod and His First Contact with the Abenaki (2012) and The Abenaki & People of the Dawn (2013) are two of six planned collaborations on Canadian history with celebrated Montreal storyteller Mike Burns.

Based in Montreal, MacLeod holds a BFA from Concordia University where he is currently a candidate for a Masters in ArtEducation.

Artist's Path

"I have tried to define myself in my work through my personal "myth" or what Joseph Campbell refers to as "following one"s bliss" (Campbell, 1990 p. 211). This is a metaphor for pursuing one"s life path through the labyrinth, which for me has been a journey via my learning, art and teaching practices. This journey has given me courage to live, it has made me humble, it has fed and sheltered me, given me a voice, and enabled me to do the same for others, through teaching, outreach and fund-raisers. As a result of this work, I have better understood humanity"s place on this planet and have tried to be a positive influence for political and social change."

G. Scott MacLeod à sa table d'animation
G. Scott MacLeod animating on Mylar. Photo by Alyson MacLeod.
Claude MercierLise_JettéStefan Mercier as a youth
1. Claude Mercier, 12 Notre Dame. Mercier photo archive.2. Lise Jetté, elementary school. Mercier photo archive.3. Stefan Mercier and Georges Jetté. Mercier photo archive.

Project Description and
Pre-Production

Treatment

My mission as a director was to help Claude, Lise and Stefan Mercier develop their life chronologies through their own personal research via their family archives, photos, letters and souvenirs ofGriffintown.

I felt that it was important for the Merciers to elicit their own personal stories, via their photos and memories of Griffintown. From this collected material and my research data, I have tried to translate their life stories into a documentary.

Researching and filming the Mercier's personal histories on site in Griffintown was vital as it helped me understand and contextualize their life histories and showed me this area of the city from a distinctly French Canadian perspective. This life history documentary project gave Claude, Lise and Stefan Mercier the opportunity to go through a process of self-reflection and in due course they have gifted their story to the viewing public. Our collective goal was to give the public tangible insights into the lives of everyday working people who lived in the once-thriving industrial community ofGriffintown.

Directing, animating and composing music for my film projects has helped me realize the range of my interests as a multimedia artist. I believe that fusing these multiple interests, which include animating as well as the various components of filmmaking, will contribute to this new phase of my artistic development from visual artist to filmmaker animator. As I have with my other productions, I will seek to distribute, exhibit, broadcast and sell this work for educational purposes.

Fete-Dieu GriffintownJetté house, 1165 Ottawa,
1. Lise Mercier primary school, Mercier photo archive.2. Fete Dieu, Peel and Ottawa Streets, Mercier photo archive.3. Jetté house, 1165 Ottawa, Mercier photo archive.

I feel fortunate to be producing documentaries and animations at a time when new forms of technology and media can provide artists with unlimited possibilities to innovate and create interesting work. I have found the film and animation field has enabled me to expose my work to a broader audience, contrary to my 2D fine art mediums, which have been limited to gallery and museum settings. This is an exciting change for me, to be without the bulk of material work that comes with large painting exhibitons, e.g. framing, shipping, studio and storage costs. Due to new affordable technologies now available to artists and smaller production houses, I feel I can do world-class projects with less of this material burden, and I will be able to disseminate my work on web-based platforms more cost effectively.

Film Influences

Over the years I have studied feature works from countries like Australia [The Chant of Jimmy Black Smith (1978) by Fred Schepisi]; Ireland [The Secret of Roan Inish (1994) by John Sayles]; and New Zealand [Whale Rider (2002) by Niki Caro]. I"ve also studied animated works from Israel including Valse with Bashir (2008) by Ari Folman, and works from Canada including The Man Who Planted Trees (1987) by Frédéric Back, and The Danish Poet (2006) by Toril Kove.

Research

This 17-minute film was created as part of the thesis requirements for my Masters in Art Education at Concordia University. The purpose of the film was to answer the question: "What do the personal narratives of three French Canadian residents of Griffintown reveal about the importance of public spaces, buildings and communities?" This study focused on a two-generation French Canadian family: Claude Mercier (father) and Lise Jetté-Mercier (mother) [1940s to 1960s] and Stefan Mercier (son) [1970s-1990s]. I conducted a series of interviews that were initiated while viewing a selection of their personal photographs from the 1940s to the 2000s, in order to gain an understanding of their Griffintown community experience. As I am most familiar with ways in which knowledge is constructed through visual means, I used an arts-informed research methodology for my interviews. Specifically, I used a photo elicitation process to trigger their memories and stories about their homes and community life, enabling them to articulate their French Canadian experience in Griffintown. My goal for this research was to create a short documentary film that displayed my data and answered my initial question on the life of Claude, Lise and Stefan. I was interested in acquiring my data through their personal narratives and memories that centered around their family homes and community living in order to reveal the importance of public spaces, buildings and communities.

I collected my data in the form of interviews and video records at their current home on Jean D'Estrées and in front of their previous homes on Ottawa and de la Montagne streets and other locations of personal importance to them in Griffintown. I was also interested in their view of the current condo projects that are changing the face of Griffintown. I believe this research will provide a useful tool in the field of art education, an arts-informed template and framework others will be able to use in similar studies. The final goal of this research project was to create a life history documentary, website and exhibition for educational use.

Famille Jourdenaisdémolition de 1242 notre-dame1242 notre-dame
1. Jourdenais family, 12 Notre Dame.2. 1242 Notre Dame, Griffintown. Mercier photo archive.3. Sewing Machine Shop, 1242 Notre Dame, Griffintown. Mercier photo archive.

Griffintown

Griffintown is an historic Montreal neighbourhood that birthed the Industrial Revolution in Canada and was once home to a large immigrant community. As such, there is value in recording personal narrative histories both as a documentary film and as an educational websitewww.ingriffintown.com. Both of these works help to contextualize Griffintown as a thriving neighbourhood before disintegration and subsequent redevelopment began. I am interested in the Merciers" past and curious about their current views of the urban renewal projects (condos etc.) unfolding in Griffintown.

Production

Film Crew

In Griffintown Production Crew
Vuk Stojanovic (D.O.P.), Julia Innes (Sound) and G. Scott MacLeod (Director) with Stefan Mercier.

My film crew consisted of three people: a director, a director of photography and a sound person. The small crew facilitated easy movement from site to site in Griffintown and drew less attention than a large crew would have. I chose to film the Merciers on the weekend because of the many construction projects in progress in Griffintown during the week so as to minimize external noise while filming. We shot the film in HD video and used both lapel and boom microphones to have these two sound options.

Filming via Photo Elicitation

I filmed the Merciers on location in Griffintown and used photo elicitation methodology with their family photographs because I believed it would successfully elicit their personal memories of Griffintown. During filming, I was struck by how effective this process is as it connected them to their memories of home and to the places and events they referenced in their life history research. It was a great tool and entry point into their collective past.

Stefan Mercier, Wellington TunnelClaude Mercier at the site of Chez Willie's
Claude Mercier, Notre Dame Street
1. Stefan Mercier, Tunnel Wellington, Canal Lachine. Photo: G. Scott Macleod2. Claude Mercier "Chez Willie", rues Ottawa et Murray, Griffintown. Photo: G. Scott Macleod3. Claude Mercier, rue Notre-Dame. Photo: G. Scott Macleod
animation sequence by G. Scott macleod
Animation sequence for "Chez Willie" by G. Scott MacLeod.

Post-production

Pre Editing - Animations

For this project, I have broken with conventional animation and explored new directions, similar to those featured in the work of South AfricanartistWilliam Kentridge. Like Kentridge, I use the same surface for each animation. So rather than a series of drawings to illustrate one of the Griffintown buildings in the film, I simply shot the illustration at many stages in its creation. Rather than using charcoal on paper like Kentridge, however, I have used water-based graphite and colour pencils on Mylar (a material once used by architects) as my primary medium, adding water to bring the drawings to life.

The Mylar sheets were taped to my glass animation table underneath my tripod and digital camera. The drawings were photographed in stages while being backlit from underneath a frosted glass table with a series of four angled lamps. The series of jpegs from each drawing were later assembled in QuickTime sequences to be assembled and edited into the story line.

Offline and Online Editing

My director of photography, Vuk Stojanovic,editedIn Griffintown. Our raw footage was transferred into Final Cut Pro (editing software), which enabled Vuk to create a timeline and estimate the length of the documentary. Jo Meuris stabilized the jpegs for each animation and then made QuickTimes of each sequence. Vuk then placed the QuickTimes in the timeline. Once I felt that the edit served the story, we showed it to the Merciers for their feed back and approval. Ethically, I believe this was an important step as my main goal was to serve the Mercier"s story. Once we had made some minor changes to our final edit, Vuk locked the picture and we began the online phase of the production, which included the special effects and sound editing and design.


G. Scott MacLeod processCamera and Griffintown drawings
>G. Scott MacLeod at his animating stand. Photo : Maria Ezcurra.2. Photo by Alyson MacLeod

Special Effects

At this phase of the production, we added the animation sequences that Jo Meuris reworked in After Effects. Once I cropped the images according to the 16 x 9 widescreen aspect ratio, we finalized all the camera moves and my online editor Rachelle Hamilton did the colour correction and contrast adjustments. Once the assembly and storyline were secured, we decided upon a series of camera moves, moving the focal point right or left on the image or pulling in or out. These movements were necessary to prevent the Merciers still photos and my one-cell animations from appearing too static, which they would if left full frame. In other words, once the photo was placed or the animation drawing unfolded we made the focal point change to maintain a visual flow in the image.

Sound Design and Final Mix

Stacy Le Gallee edited the Merciers narration and then selected sound effects to contextualize my animations and add in any other sound elements that were missing from our footage. The final element was to select music that reflected special moments and historic periods mentioned in the documentary. The challenge when selecting these sound effects and music was to marry both sound effects and music together. Successful sound designs are ironically the ones that do not jump out but rather serve the story and the image behind the story.

Graphic Design

The final stage of this project was to create the DVD box graphics and a promotional poster for our screenings. I once again worked with Jess and Elisabeth CharbonneauatTagTeamStudio.ca. They have done great work on my former projects. They designed all the elements of this DVD from the box layout to the education package and learning guide. What I have looked for in this type of design is a theme or message clearly conveyed, content that is easy to read and a key image that reflects the story. After all the work we put into a production, I believe it"s crucial to make a well-designed and aesthetically pleasing package, especially if it is going to be marketed to the educational sector.

Branding for Griffintown package by TagTeam
TagTeam graphic design package.

a truck in Griffintown
Mercier photo archive.

Bibliography

History

Barlow, Matthew. (2005). " "Forgive My Nostalgia": Looking Back at Griffintown, Montreal, 1960-2004". Université de l"Ouest de l"Ontario, London: Conférence de la Société historique du Canada, 30 mai2005.

Barlow, John Matthew. (2009). ""The House of the Irish": Irishness, history, and memory in Griffintown, Montreal, 1868-2008." Dissertation de Doctorat. Université Concordia, Montréal, Québec,Canada.

Burns, Patricia. (1998). "The Shamrock and the Shield: An Oral History of the Irish in Montreal", VéhiculePress.

Drieidger, Sharon Doyle. (2010). "An Irish heart: How a small immigrant community shaped Canada". HarperCollins.

Maps

Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network (QAHN). Griffintown and Point St. Charles Heritage Trail. Retrievedfromwww.montrealmosaic.com

Architecture

Belisle, Jean. (2009). Portrait des ressources patrimoniales du secteur des bassins pour la société du Havre de Montréal. Vol. 1. et Vol. 2, Portrait du patrimoine, Maître d"oeuvre de l"histoire Inc. 19 juin 2006. Montréal: Société du Havre de Montréal. Hanna, David. (November 2007). Secteur de planification détaillée de Griffintown. Griffintown: Son histoire et son cadre bâti. Service de la mise en valeur du territoire et du patrimoine pour la Ville de Montréal. Moore, Lynn. (2012). "Griffintown revitalization plan unveiled" New green spaces and infrastructure would join condo projects already in area, The Montreal Gazette, October19th.

People

Hustak, Allan. (2005). "The Ghost of Griffintown: The true story of the murder of Mary Gallagher". Montréal: RedladerPublishing.

Sound Project

Gasior, Lisa. (2007). "Sounding Griffintown: Listening Guide of a MontrealNeighbourhood".

Films

Burman, Richard. (2003). The Ghosts of Griffintown, filmdocumentaire.
Régnier, Michel. (1972). Griffintown, Office national du film du Canada documentaire, 26:55 mn.

CREDITS

Réalisation et animations / Direction and Animation
G. Scott MacLeod

Directeur de la photographie et montage / Director of Photography and Editor
Vuk Stojanovic

Prise de son / Sound
Julia Innes

Conception sonore / Sound Design
Stacy Le Gallee

Producteur délégué / Line Producer
G. Scott MacLeod

Clichés / Still Photography
Lise, Claude et Stéfan Mercier et G. Scott MacLeod

Effets spéciaux des animations / Special Effects Animations
Jo Meuris

Stabilisation d"image/ Image Stabilization
Jo Meuris

Mixage / Sound Mix
Stacy Le Gallee

Montage en ligne / Online Editor
Rachelle Hamilton

Titres et générique / Titles and Credits
G. Scott MacLeod

Conception trame sonore / Soundtrack Producers
Stacy Le Gallee et G. Scott MacLeod

Ingénieur du son, mixage et mastering / Soundtrack
Engineering, Mixing and Mastering
Stacy Le Gallee

Consultant musical / Music Consultant
Heidi Fleming/FAMGroup

Photos d"archives/Archival Photos
www.griffintown.org/photos/index.htm

Cartes / Maps
Chloé Trudeau

Traduction française / French Translation
Laure Péré et Jean Bruyère

Traduction anglaise / English Translation
G. Scott MacLeod

Sous-tires anglais / Subtitles
Rachelle Hamilton

Dossier de presse et guide éducatif / Press Kit and Learning Guide
Rob Lutes

Conception graphique / Graphic Design
TagTeam Studio

Webmaster / Web Design
Thornapple Productions

Comptabilité / Accounting
Ted Christeas

Chansons / Songs

Billy Boy (trad.)
Interprétée par/Performed bythe Canadian All Stars
1955 Discovery Records
Musiciens/Performed by Al Baculis - Clarinette/clarinet, Gordie Fleming - accordéon/accordion, Yvan Landry – piano, Hal Gaylor – basse/bass, Billy Graham –batterie/drums

Ça va venir découragez-vous pas
Composition par/byLa Bolduc
Interprétée par/Performed by La Bolduc, septembre/September 1930
Source: Library and Archives Canada/ça va venir découragez-vous pas by La Bolduc [sound recording]/AMICUS 31394001.

Del Mar Sounds Fine
Composition par/by Stacy Le Gallee (1999) Musiciens / Performed by Stacy Le Gallee – guitar and B3 organ, Erik West - bass, Serge Dion - drums

Église Ste-Anne / St. Ann"s Church
Composition par/by Jonathan Moorman
Interprétée par/Performed by Jonathan Moorman

Twelve Gates to the City
Trad. arr. Penny Lang Enregistré/Recorded, 30 mai/May 1998, Café Campus, Montréal
De/From the album Penny Lang & Friends LiveSheWolf Records
Musiciens/Performed by Penny Lang – voix principale, guitare,
Michael Browne - guitare, voix, Jason Lang - guitare, voix,
Bill Gossage - contrebasse, Martin Boodman – harmonica, Jody Golick - saxophone, voix, Linda Morrison - voix, hand claps,
Kim Richardson - voix, hand claps, Michael Lessard - voix, hand claps,
Bob Stagg - hand claps
Réalisé par/Produced by Heidi Fleming, Penny Lang et Simon Pressey

RÉalisÉ grÂce au soutien financier des personnes
suivantes / Produced with the financial participation
of the following people

Remerciements / Thank You Credit
Colette Chaput, Jean Elliott Manning, Lili Sweet, Doris Peterson, Patricia Burns, Natasha Pedros, Julia Innes, Krista MacKay, Jo-Ann Munro, Judith Litvack, Jane Heller, Alyson MacLeod, Janet Lewis, Nancy Blair, Anita Nowak, David Astrof, France Jodoin, Jo Anne Kelly Rudy, Diane Chambers, Tracy and Tammy Viser, Ezra Soiferman, Jeanette Kelly, James Fraser and Howard Bokser.

Remerciements / Special End CreditJake, Fiona, Alexander, David et Lindsay Eberts, Sean Cahill, Dr. Rosemarie Schade, Dana Velan, Victoria Wonnacott, Shannon Kay McCardle, Bärbel et Gunter Schulz, Roger MacLeod, Stewart MacLeod, Janou Fleury, Janet MacKay, Ira Salman, Peter McQueen, Nancy Bleck, Jocelyne Feine, Wei Liu, Dede Murphy, Nancy Stokes, Walter Makowski, Chris Marks, Martha Ivester, Roxanne Dyer, John McKay, Earl Pinchuk, Heidi Coleman, Dale Robinson, Rosa Gullo, Paul Geraghty, Paul Cassar, Marie-Sophie Bourque, Joanie MacLeod, Michel Bruyère, Maria Ezcurra, Tamara Scullion, Scott Huot, Sarah Campbell Besso, Maurice Forget, Jim MacLeod, Andrew Reid, Peter Turner, Scott Ian Bailey, Tom Burke, Christine-Anne Goodyer, Gillett Craig, Uschi Gruber, Maggie Ewing, Loni Cornax, Nathalie Senécal, Monica Baza, Enostore, Django Doucet, Lise et Claude Mercier, Matthew Barlow.

Turning Point

Composition par/by
Rob LutesDe/From the albumThe Bravest Birds, Lucky Bear Records

Musiciens / Performed by
Rob Lutes – acoustic guitar/guitare accoustique, Rob MacDonald – guitare résophonique/resophonic guitar, Josh Zubot – violin/violon,
Rob Fahie – basse/bass



Productrice / Producer
Hannelore Devigne

Remerciements /Acknowledgements
Stéphanie Pascal, Dr. Jean Belisle, Dr. Richard Lachapelle, Dr. Kathleen Vaughan, Dr. Lorrie Blair, Concordia Art Education Department, the Griffintown residents and enthusiasts, Richard Burnman, David Hanna, Dr. Matthew Barlow, Judith Bauer, Harvey Lev, and Esther Hageman.

Ce film est dédié à/This film is dedicated to
Joy MacLeod and Esther Hageman

En collaboration avec/and in collaboration with:

The St. Patrick"s Society of Montreal
The School of Canadian Irish Studies – Concordia University
Father Shaun Gerard McCarthy Govenlock Scholarship
Hexagram, Univeristé Concordia/Concordia Univerist
Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling (COHDS)
THEN/HiER
Koptik
Thornapple Productions
TagTeam Studio




Hexagram at Concordia University

The History Education networkKoptik

Mike Routliffe, Thornapple ProductionsTagTeam Studios

MacLeod9 Productions

© 2013 MacLeod Nine Productions
Montréal, Québec, Canada

www.macleod9.com
www.danslgriff.com
www.ingriffintown.com

In Griffintown - Production Notes + Education Guide
In Griffintown -
Production Notes + Education Guide





Dans L’Griff / In Griffintown from G. Scott MacLeod on Vimeo.


Usage

In Griffintown

Learning Guide

Focus Statement

lise pic stripThrough personal recollections and anecdotes, In Griffintown tells the story of a French-Canadian family living in the working class Montreal neighbourhood of Griffintown in the mid-20th century. The film offers a vivid look at a once-thriving community, which for a variety of reasons has all but disappeared.

This learning guide is designed to help educators explore ideas of home, community, oral history and memory and raise awareness of a range of issues that affect communities everywhere, including urban renewal and the preservation of historic buildings.


Before Screening the Video

griffintown maps and archival photos
  1. Do you know of a neighbourhood that has disappeared or almost disappeared? Where was the neighbourhood and why did this happen?
  2. How do you feel when you look at old photos of your grandparents or parents? How do they react when they see these photos? Is it important to preserve these types of photos? Why?
  3. Do you know of any historic buildings where you live? What is the significance of these buildings? Why is it important to preserve these sorts of structures?
  4. What are the things that make a community? What does it mean to belong? What is the difference between a physical community and an online community? Why is community important?
  5. Is the history of the community where you live written down in a book? If not, how does this history exist? What are the advantages of oral history – stories that we tell about our lives and communities? What are the disadvantages? How is oral history preserved?
  6. How do you define progress? Think about neighbourhoods and communities you know. Have they changed over time? Are the changes for the better or worse? Why?

After Screening the Video

lise pic strip
  1. How did Lise Mercier characterize the relationship between the French-Canadian and Irish-Canadian residents of Griffintown? Why do you think it was mostly harmonious?
  2. What was the Sunday afternoon tradition that the Merciers followed, no matter what else was happening in their lives? What kind of importance do these types of rituals have in creating a sense of family and home? Does your family have any similar traditions?
  3. According to Lise Mercier, how many children did the average Griffintown family have in those days? What impact did this average family size have on the community? How does this compare to the community where you live today?
  4. What types of vehicles does Stefan Mercier remember seeing driving through the neighbourhood? Why is it important for Stefan that the fire station is still in the same location as when he was a child?
  5. What was Chez Willie? What significance did it have for Claude Mercier? What other public buildings are mentioned in the film? Why are these types of buildings important to communities?
  6. Why do you think the Merciers choose to live beside their old neighbourhood? What kinds of emotions do you think this living situation stirs in them? What would they like to see happen to help preserve the history of Griffintown? Do you agree that a museum would be a good idea? What kinds of things would you put in the museum?

Follow-Up Projects

griffintown maps and archival photos
  1. Do some research on the history of Griffintown. What peoples originally settled the area? Why? What kinds of industries existed there? Describe the important role this community played in the history of Canada.
  2. Find a photo from an era you do not know anything about. Write a fictional story about the scene depicted in the photo. Tell the story to the class.
  3. Frank Hanley, Reverend Tom McEntee and May Cutler are three famous Canadians who hailed from Griffintown. Research one of these or another famous former Griffintown resident and write a short biographical report, highlighting the role that the community may have had in making them who they were.
  4. Using a digital video recorder and a few old photos, make a mini biopic about your grandmother, grandfather or other older relative, having them talk about the photos. This process is called photo-elicitation. If possible, visit one of the sites depicted in the photos with your relative and film them telling the story. Was the site preserved? Why or why not?
  5. Many communities around the world have taken steps to preserve historical neighbourhoods. Research one such community and describe it to the class using text and photos. Explain why it is important to preserve these types of historical neighbourhoods.
  6. Choose two or three buildings in your community. They can be historic structures or relatively new constructions. Research and write short histories of each building. Visit the buildings with your class, telling them the history of each one. If you can"t visit the buildings, use photographs for your presentation.

lise pic strip

MacLeod Nine Productions

2319 Hampton Ave #1
Montreal, Quebec, Canada H4A 2K5

www.macleod9.com
Macleod_nine@hotmail.com
514.487.8766

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In Griffintown - Learning Guide
In Griffintown - Learning Guide

collage of the merciers and griffintown