A video about engineers recovering the internal copper dome of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament by lifting it out in one piece. The dome was undamaged after the 22 February 2011 earthquakes, but lost most of its supporting columns. Engineers have decided to remove the dome to ensure it will not be damaged during further aftershocks.
A video of an attempt to demolish a damaged garden wall by pulling it down with a tow-rope attached to a car.
Chimney Book takes rubble from the Christchurch earthquake, and turns it into the building blocks of a film exploring life in the quake zone. Christchurch musician Blair Parkes took bricks from his chimney — destroyed in the 22 February 2011 aftershocks — painted a letter or symbol on each, then scanned them into his computer. Sound and word form the spine of the result, which is part diary, part experimental film. Parkes explores his experiences of living in Christchurch since the quake through words like 'dust', 'memory', 'place', and a question: 'is it over?'
A video of people shopping on the opening day of Re:Start Mall. Re:Start Mall is a container mall set up in Cashel Street after the 22 February 2011 earthquake. It is made up of shipping-container shops, with the Ballantynes Department Store reopening as a retail anchor.
A video of a tour through the Christchurch central city Red Zone. The video includes footage of Victoria Square, the Town Hall, Oxford Terrace, Armagh Street, New Regent Street, Gloucester Street, Colombo Street, and Cathedral Square. It also includes footage of excavators demolishing the ChristChurch Cathedral.
A video of a tour through the Christchurch central city Red Zone. The video includes footage of Manchester Street, Gloucester Street, Hereford Street, Lichfield Street, High Street, Worcester Street, and Cashel Mall. It also includes footage of Cathedral Square and the surrounding buildings, taken from the roof of the new Press Building on Gloucester Street.
A video of a media tour inside the earthquake-damaged Hotel Grand Chancellor. The video includes footage of the eastern side of the ground floor of the hotel, the stairwells, some of the rooms, and the view through an opening in the side of the building. It also includes an interview with Jack Harris from Fletchers Construction about the work that is being done to support the structure.
A video of a press conference with Anglican Bishop Victoria Matthews and Dean Peter Beck, about the interim plans for the earthquake-damaged ChristChurch Cathedral. In the press conference Matthews announces that the Cathedral will be deconsecrated, that parts of it will be demolished, and that the rest will be made safe. These measures will allow the recovery of artefacts and heritage items from the building.
A video of a tour through the Christchurch central city Red Zone in July 2011. The video includes footage of Colombo Street, Gloucester Street, the ChristChurch Cathedral, Worcester Street, the Press Building, the Whitcoulls Building, Cashel Mall, and High Street. It also includes an interview with Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee.
A video capturing an aftershock from the Canterbury earthquake on 22 February 2011, 1:04pm. After the 6.3 magnitude earthquake at 12:51pm, Ben Post set up his camera on a tripod and left it running. The movement of the water in the fish tank during the quake suggests that the shaking is up and down. The camera also shows this effect; due to the lightweight material of the tripod, the camera is shaken about more than the surroundings.
Aerial footage of the Christchurch central city, taken in April 2011, several months after the 22 February 2011 earthquake. The video shows damage to the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Manchester Street, the Press building, the Octagon Live restaurant, St Elmo Courts, Cashel Mall, the Regent Theatre, the Arts Centre, Woolsack Lane, and the Farmers Building car park. It also shows USAR members meeting in Cathedral Square.
Gerard Smyth's acclaimed documentary about the Christchurch earthquakes is the story of people coping — for better or worse — with the huge physical and emotional toll that the quakes, and continuing aftershocks, inflicted on them, their homes and their city. It began as a home movie while the devastation of September was surveyed (with thanks given that no-one had been killed); but, as shooting of the recovery continued, the February quake compounded the destruction and claimed 182 lives (including their researcher and 16 colleagues at CTV).
A video of a tour through the Christchurch central city Red Zone. The video includes footage of Armagh Street, Madras Street, Latimer Square, St John's Anglican Church, Hereford Street, the Octagon Live restaurant, the Design and Arts building, the High Street mall, and the Grand Chancellor Hotel. It also includes footage of construction workers cutting up metal beams, and clearing rubble from a building on Manchester Street.
A video about the reactions of animals at the Orana Wildlife Park to the 22 February 2011 earthquake. The video includes an interview with Nieka George, Primate Keeper, about the reaction of the spider monkey Jackie Chan, who had arrived from Wellington Zoo three days prior. It also includes an interview with Aaron Gilmore, Head Keeper of Exotic Mammals, about the reactions of the giraffes. Both species were initially alarmed by the earthquakes, but have got used to them quickly and have barely reacted to the aftershocks in the following weeks.
A video showing part of the demolition of the Ozone Hotel in New Brighton. Steve Taylor comments "She put up a good fight. The Ozone in New Brighton was damaged in the February earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand. Here is the main corner of the structure being, as they say, deconstructed. At the end there is a reverent bow by the excavator. Just before this the claw had caught on the floor/ceiling and the whole building shook from side to side, but it still stayed in place."
This 2011 episode of the Russell Brown-fronted media commentary show examines how Christchurch is dealing with the aftermath of two devastating earthquakes. First up: the CEISMIC Digital Archive is working to preserve the memories and experiences of Cantabrians, and The Press editor Andrew Holden explains why his newspaper is donating everything it has published to the project. Then CERA CEO Roger Sutton talks about the key role of media relations, and filmmaker Gerard Smyth describes shooting his acclaimed chronicle of the quakes: When a City Falls.
Aerial footage of Christchurch recorded the day after the 22 February 2011 earthquake. The footage shows damage to the Smith City car park, the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, the CTV Building, the PGC Building, the Durham Street Methodist Church, the Lyttelton Timeball Station, the roads alongside the Avon River, and the ChristChurch Cathedral. It also shows New Zealand Army road blocks outside the hospital, crushed buses on Colombo Street, a Royal New Zealand Navy vessel in Lyttelton Harbour, rock fall on the Summit Road, collapsed cliffs in Sumner and Redcliffs, tents set up in a park, flooding in New Brighton, and liquefaction in QEII Park.