A young man from the Borders has become a sought-after filmmaker after trying to impress his grandparents.
Marc Edwards, a marketing officer, used cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) software to transform old photographs of Jedburgh into a dynamic video montage.
His grandparents, George and Isobel, were delighted — as was the wider community — prompting Marc to create similar videos featuring nearby towns like Kelso and Galashiels.
His work is now being used in local school history classes and shown at social gatherings for older residents.
Marc explained: “I was picturing my grandparents’ reaction if I could make this work – and when I put the old photographs through the software, the results were mind-blowing.”
Within days of first posting the videos on social media, Marc’s work gathered widespread praise, along with tens of thousands of views, shares and likes.
The montages, which feature street scenes dating back as far as the late 1800s, are now being shown in local classrooms as part of history lessons.
And requests from other communities, as well as sporting clubs, across the Borders are landing in Marc’s inbox most days.
He added: “The reaction has been amazing – teachers are telling me that the videos have helped with children’s understanding of local history.
“I’ll certainly continue making the videos – AI is amazing, and who knows what we’ll be able to do in a year or two?
“I’m just happy that what I’ve done so far has touched and pleased so many people.”
As well as schools, Marc’s videos have become hugely popular at older people’s gatherings.
At the Older People Active Lives (OPAL) project in Galashiels, more than 20 pensioners gathered to watch the historic montages.
Ann and Monica are both from Galashiels – and were thrilled with their opportunity to reminisce.
Monica said: “It was amazing to see the old railway station – I can still remember being sent down, as a girl, to meet my dad off the train when he came back from Dunkirk.”
Ann added: “So much has changed – it was lovely to see all the old buildings.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
Although praise has come from far and wide, Marc’s biggest fans are granny and grandad, Isobel and George Somerville.
A delighted George said: “We were both so impressed when Marc first showed us what he had done.
“I still don’t understand how he gets everything to move, but I enjoy watching them.
“The videos are a great reminder of what our towns used to look like.”
Source: BBC