Bristol traffic is thundering past as Sarah Cox and Hilary Light stand outside the St Mary Redcliffe Sixth Form College building.

To anyone passing by, it must appear a fairly unremarkable scene of modern life in Bristol city centre.

However, Sarah and Hilary are seeing the lines of vehicles, the nearby blocks of modern flats and nearby St Mary Redcliffe Church through different eyes.

"This used to be a busy shopping area, a bit like the Gloucester Road," says Sarah.

Hilary adds: "There was parade of shops opposite what is now the Mercure Hotel. There was Pets Paradise, and out the back there were sheds, which was presumably where they kept the puppies."

Like so many parts of central Bristol, the once bustling shopping area around St Mary Redcliffe was changed forever during the German bombing raids of World War II.

Sarah and Hilary can visualise what it used to be like because they have been studying old footage of the area, as part of a remarkable project that will allow Bristolians to become time travellers in their own city.

Called A Time Traveller's Guide to Bristol, it will cover the century from 1910, and focus upon six areas of the city: Redcliffe Hill; Park Street; The Harbour; Castle Park; Stokes Croft; and the Eastville stadium, where IKEA is now situated.

"As well as having a website, there will be an iPhone application so that people will be able to stand in a location such as Castle Park, look at their mobile phone and travel back in time by seeing images of how it used to be," explains Sarah, creative director of Arthur Cox, the award-winning Bristol-based production company that is making the film.

Arthur Cox – which is named after Sarah, and the company's other creative director Sally Arthur – is now seeking old film, photos and audio of the six areas.

Hilary, who will be researching and co-ordinating material for the project, says: "There are probably lots of people in Bristol who have old film and photos showing these areas that they think are just a few personal memories, but actually provide a unique historical insight into life in Bristol."

The film will be about half an hour long, with each area being covered for three to five minutes, and will be edited in a similar format to a much shorter film Sarah made with funding from South West Screen and the Lottery Digital Archive Media Fund in 2007.

When Sarah shows that film, called A Time, and A Time, it becomes clear that the new film will not consist of a succession of old film clips edited together.

"It could be described as a digital archaeological time scape, which Bristol can be seen as different layers over the past century, as well as in the present and future," she says.

What comes up on the screen is more like a video collage or film tapestry, where instead of materials of different textures and colours, there is a montage of various images from different eras.

The new film will also feature interactivity, as it will be possible to click on to a building and go inside to discover more about its history.

Arthur Cox is working in conjunction with Bristol Museums, Galleries and Archives and Mobile Pie in the film project, which is supported by Destination Bristol, and Brunel's SS Gt Britain.

Sarwat Siddiqui, the community history curator for Bristol Museum Service, says: "What is great about A Time Traveller's Guide to Bristol is the way in which the old footage is being linked with the present day.

"This is very much in keeping with the vision for the new Museum of Bristol.

WWe don't want the city's history to be told in an abstract way by museum curators, but by the public as its their city."

Posters and flyers from Arthur Cox seeking old film footage of Bristol will soon be on display around the six chosen areas.

"We're particularly keen to hear from people with memories of the area around the old Eastville stadium – whether of seeing Bristol Rovers, or of watching speedway, or greyhound racing – as it's been difficult to locate footage of events here."

As part of the project, Sarah and the team will be involving young Bristolians in producing new film and photographs of the different sites, and in imagining what they might look like in the future.

Anyone interested in taking part can contact Sarwat Siddiqui at the City Museum and Art Gallery museum on 0117 922 3571.