Historical Research

Historical Research

The background of our film is loosely built around the Pagan festival 'Samhain'. This is an important part of the year for Pagans as it marks the 'Feast of the Dead'. Samhain was the time of the year where the veils of underworld and our world are at their thinnest, where the dead spirits could mingle with us living humans. In Pagan ideology, death is not something to be feared, but celebrated as it is a key point in life as is being born. Samhain is what those who are aren't pagans would know as Halloween.




Inspiration for the film comes from the stories of the primitive pagan barbarians, who would sacrifice humans with the award of demonic power. In researching some ancient Northern European customs, it is believed that on summer solstice; the longest summer day, human sacrifice rituals had taken place. The purpose of these savage rituals is to connect with nature or 'the other side'.

It is said to be a danger in calling on to random spirits, but by covering ones self in the blood of the sacrificed will give power in the spiritual realm, but if not protected by the blood, demonic oppression can occur.

For our film, three characters will have sinned or tampered with an unwelcoming presence, the acts of those seeking the three characters blood will be inspired from the brutish last rites of Satan's worshipers.

Costume Production

Costume Production

Collecting Materials.

We took a day out with our Media Studies class in a hunt to find materials to use for our costumes. We went to Helen's Bay filling large plastic bags with seaweed, and sea shells. We collect just about enough to facilitate the production of these products. The seaweed had to be kept in the school's green so wouldn't dry up and become brittle, when the costumes with seaweed incorporated are created they will more than likely be stored in the green house to keep them in good moist condition. 
The shells we collected were brought to the sinks in the Art rooms where we rinsed all of the sand and dirt off of them so they could be moved to the next stage of drilling.
These materials fit the short film very well as they give the nature of the scene's location more recognition.

Along with the shells and sea weed, we will also use fabrics in the costume. We utilised our school's Art and Design resources for thick fabrics with rough textures such as hessian for the main body of the costumes, we also utilised old curtains and bed sheets to help us create out costumes.

One of the costumes we are working on creating is inspired by one of the Pagan Wildmen's attire shown below.

I admired the technique the costumer designer made by having multiple acorns (from my interpretation) beaded on strings hanging from the outfit. I wanted to adapt this aesthetic to my own costume in relation to the film's setting being the beach, so with all of the shells we collected, we spent multiple hours drilling small 4mm holes in each shell to then put on string to hang from the costume. This costume design has quite the eery, spooky element to it, which was an initial aim when writing for the film.

1.  Shells collected from beach
2.  Sand washed off of shells
3.  Shells drilled with 4mm drill bit
4.  Shells beaded on string, knotted to secure
5.  Hot glue gun to attach shells to the piece
6.  Additional shells glued to the chest of the costume representing armour.

Another costume that had inspired the head wear for our project, was this mask worn by an Eastern European Pagan Wildman. It is quite evident in the photo that a fabric has been manipulated to create the large head shape. Another method we discovered to create large helmets/masks with ease was by using paper mache, which involved creating a mould from paper to then wrapping the mould in thin strands of paper lathered in wall paper place, after around 3 solid layers of newspaper were covered around the mould, and 3 days to dry, we were left with a solid rounded mask outline, quite similar to the mask above.
The next stage was to paint the mask a darkish brown to match the other garments of the costume, I painted the mask with brown acrylic paint, I finished off the mask by drawing a mouth and teeth  using black and white acrylic paint, and a sharpie to outline the teeth with.

1.  Large ball created with newspaper (mould).
2.  Wallpaper paste + water used to form pieces over the mould.
3.  Strips of construction paper cut out.
4.  Strips covered in paste and applied to mould.
5.  4 layers applied over mould.
6.  48 hours to dry
7.  Once dry, newspaper mould is removed leaving mask.
8.  Mask painted brown, with mouth and teeth also.

 I have focused on aspects from each of these costumes to then go and create to add to our own. From the first photo, the costume has a straw skirt, we acquired straw from our school's art resource. To create a straw skirt quickly and effectively, we will:

1.  Measure strands of straw to cut out.
2.  Use an old belt to attach the straw to
3.  Use duct tape and glue to effectively join the strands of straw to the belt.

The second photo uses shredded rags as an over coat of the costume. We will distress old blankets and utilise the spare hessian to create an overcoat for a costume

With the photo to the right, I will focus on the skirt worn, taking inspiration to make my own. I am thinking of using this 'dress/skirt' costume as an undergarment.

Overall Schedule for February and March

February 

March

All of March and from then on will be spent on editing the movie on Final Cut and recording any additional audio, including foley, that is necessary.

There is audio recorded on an iPhone that will also need to be put in to the movie, such as when Eamonn is running up the hill. The actor had an iPhone by his side in order to record his dialogue.