Influences for Style and Content

After my second tutorial for this project, i have begun to look at this project a little differently to the others from first and second year. Third year is now my final attempt for gaining experience and getting things right for my project work. The design for this piece of work will be very television oriented unlike my filmic projects of the past.

There are many programmes that present history and architecture together, programmes such as Megarstructures, Cities of the Underworld, Grand Designs, just to name a few. They all have there own individual styles, some using CG more freely than others.


Megastructures - Natural Geographic Channel

Megastructures uses both live action shots and CG to the breakdown the creation process of the structure, using CG to show either simulations or areas within the structure that would be normally hidden from the public. Megastructures uses a voice over throughout the programme to tell the what is being seen in the scene, it also uses interviews with experts to explain some of the more complex information. there is ambient music which plays low in the background throughout the programme. the CG shots are generally a faster pace to that of live action shots which pan across the structures.


Cities of the Underworld - History Channel

Cities of the Underworld is another that uses both CG and live action, this programme uses CG more extensively, then in Megastructures, the show the audience what is no longer their the film or to show what is underground that can no longer be seen. Cities of the Underworld also uses a combination of voice overs and interviews, however this porgramme also uses a presenter which conducts the interviews. The CG work within this programme shows alot of information in a short amount of time, long shots of fast moving cameras which swoop from underground following paths to areal shots from building to the next. Building walls become transaprent to see information of the construction inside, specific areas which are being described are indicated with a yellow glow instead of lables and arrows. Cities of the Underworld also use manipulated movinig painting to represent the history.

Grand Designs - Channel 4

Grand Designs with presenter Kevin McCloud uses very little CG, but uses CG as a way to look forward through designs of new builds.

The style from Cities of the Underworld is an influence to my ideas and design for showing the history of the Temple Church building in London. To use long shots throughout to create a line for the narritive to flow giving information about the building itself and the history that surrounds it culture.

Scenes Idea Outline

1. Blue prints / ground plan of the Temple Church. the building should then grow out of the page to a top view of the temple church. all in grey scale.
voice over - who are the Knights Templar (brief history)

2. from a top view the camera will tilt track and rotate around to the south entrance of the building. as the camera move the colours of the build fade in with the surrounding location of London in which the church is situated
Voice over - the church - Who, Where, When and Why

3. from a shot of the south entrance the camera will rotate clockwise to the north Eastern corner of the chancel.
Voice over - the Chancle - Who, Where, When and Why

4. the outer walls closest to the camera will fade and become transparent to show the interior of the building
Voice Over - the Naive - Who, Where, When and Why

5. the camera will pan and rotate around to a side view and the Naive. as the camera moves the transparency will move down the wall also to give a complete view of the interior. the walls of where the camera moved from will become opaque once again.
Voice Over - the Naive - Who, Where, When and Why

6. camera tracks into the Naive, all walls become opaque agian, camera looks at details of columns in the naive.
Voice Over - the Naive - Who, Where, When and Why

7. a shot of the remodleing of the Temple Church. both interior by Christopher Wren in 1666 after the great fire of london and renivations made after the bombongs of World War Two
Voice over - discuss the changes made to the Temple

A documentry style voice over will accompany this piece of animation to explain the histroy and origins of the church and founders, The Knights Templar.

Storyboard to follow...

Intial Sketches and Photos

Ground Plans of the Temple Church in London

The Temple Church London

Knights Templar effigies in the Naive

Sketch's of the Temple Church London

In the Naive and South Entrance

So, What Project Will I Follow

Project Brief

Create the England Headquarters for the Knights Templar, discover their influence on English the lifestyle and find their hidden past. Was the Templar order as noble as they claim or is there a more sinister side to their existence?

I will create a short documentary piece which strips away the wall the Knights Templar's headquarters and attempt the show an uncovering of the history of the structure and the once new engineering. I will use voice overs to tell the history with traditoinal music of the Temple over long gentle sweeping camera angles.

Working Goals:
- To model the Temple Church in London
- To Break down areas of the model in accordance to its history. i will chose a small area within history to focus on surrounding the Knights Templar and the Temple Church.

Temple Church in London

The Temple Church in London was build by the Knights Templar in the mid 12th century as a headquaters in England, it is located between Fleet Street and the River Thames. The land on which the Temple Church sits once had residences, military training facilities and recriational grounds for members of the order. The Church itself consitists in two parts, the Naive (the circular building) and the Chancle. The round shape to the Church is a designed based on the design on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, to keep wth the tradition of their order. The Chancle, the rectanglur building, was built about half a centry after the Naive.

one purpose of the oringal structure was the initation cerimonies for new recriuts into the order. the cerimony would involve new members entering the tem,ple throuh the western door t dawn, and make their way into the circular Naive where they would take a Monastic vow of piety, chastity, poverty and obedience. at the time the initation process was very secret which later lead to rumours of blasphomy.

After the downfall on the Knights Templar Order King Edward II gave the Church to another order, the Knights Hospitaller who rented it to law colleges.

Temple Church in Dover

So far my research and curiosity has taken me to the temple church in Dover. All that is left of this church is the remains of the foundaftion. While at the site I thougth the size of what was once a church is very small, probably no wider than an average house. I have also found very little history of this building of the Knights Templar, however their is a Church in London built by the Templar Knights that still remains.

The Knights Templar in England

The Knights Templar played a substantial part in England's Heritage, English Kings played a large part in the order of the Knights Templar. King Henry II granted the Templar's land in England including the territory of Castle Baynard of the rive Fleet. The Templar's built Church's cross England with patterns based on their headquarters on Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

The Knights Templar Headquarters was moved from Temple Mount to New Temple, now known as Temple Church in London which was built in the design after the Church on the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem in 1184. it was granted a sacred place a year later.

King Richard I welcomed the Templar's and granted the immunity from accusations and trails foe danegeld, murdum and latrocinium.

king john had finical dealings with the Templar he was also a resident of the Temple in Runnymede

King Henry III entrusted his military force, finical and diplomatic Commons to the Templar's, he even considered being buried in the Temple.

the Templar's lead a very influential reign within England. When the persecution on the Knights Templar began across the Holy Land King Edward refused to believe the accusations made by King Philip IV of France, it was only after the involvement of Pope Clement V that King Eward reluctantly ordered the seizure of the members of the Knights Templar, however only a handful where arrested across England.

The Templar survived in England after King Philip IV disbanded the order. The order the Templar's across England dissolved due the reputation they where left with so many of the members joined the safety other christian orders and found new places in society.

through mythology it is said that there were many secret meetings by members left in Templar Order after the dissolution in hidden locations. Hertfordshire holds a warren of Templar tunnels beneath the town, all centering Hertford Castle where 4 Templar's were imprisoned after there arrest by Edward II through belief that the Templar's were holding lost treasures.
Royston Cave shows carvings depicting Knights, Saint George, and Saint Catherine of Alexandria. Before the persecution it is safe to assume that the Templar's had no need to hid in caves, the possibility for fugitive Templar's to have held secret meetings below the town. after the perscution is a very likely explanation.

The Knights Templar

After some research into the here's some of the history, not all relevant but all very interesting all the same.

The Knights Templar is a Christian organisation that built up to protect people on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Jerusalem, after the first crusade in 1099. The start of the Knights Templar began with few veterans of the first crusade who dedicated their lives to the protection of Pilgrims. The new order very poor, relying on donations to survive. The emblem of the Knights Templar was of two men riding one horse to show there poverty. By 1129 the order was officially endorsed and funded by the church. The Templar's became a favoured charity of the Christendom, receiving money land business and noble-born sons eager to help and join their course. The Templar's where granted exemption from all authorities other then the pope and course cross boarders freely without paying taxes.

Although the primary mission of the Templar was military protect, many new members supported the kings knights and managed financial infrastructures. The Templar's enforced an early form of banking in order to protect Pilgrims. The Pilgrims would handover valuable goods to the Templar's and would receives a letter in it place, once there pilgrimage was over they would give the letter to the Templar's and would receive there valuables. By doing this the Pilgrims would be less likely targets for thieves.

It is argued that the Templar's were the first multinational corporation, they had bases across the Christendom, dealing with manufacturing, imports and exports with their own fleet of ships.

The dimes of the Knights Templar began in the late 1100's often losing out to rival orders, 1244 saw the recapture of Jerusalem by Khwarizmi Turks. The Templar's where forced to relocate to other cities in the north, which they eventually lost. The last main land Strong hold was Tortosa which also fall from the hands of he Templar's in 1291. The Templar order was officially broken up with may being burnt at the stake after false confession ordered from King Philip IV of France in the early 1300's.

It is beleived that king Philip IV dissolved the order of Templar as he was in debt to them, so when the chance of a possible crime that could be held liable to the Knights Templar, he to the opertunity to rid of debt from the whole order.

Ledgends and Relics (some still to be looked further into)
1. the Holy Grail
2. the Ark of Covenant
3. the True Cross
4. Baphomet (Satanism)

There is eveidence that the Knights Templar came to England with of their first churchs built on the Northen Downs of Dover and another, possible strong hold or citidale of theirs based in London, The Temple Church on Fleet Street, and possibly Castle Baynard was a building for the Templars to.

This could be a starting point my project...

1st Tutorial

After talking through my initial ideas, I left the tutorial in a bit of a whirl, I couldn't work out if I got the answers I was looking for or not. having the time now to look back on what was said and looked at, the answers I got take me back to my very first thought for the haunted house idea. from the first moment in the queue of Hex (at Alton Towers) when the idea sprung, I wanted to do haunted house that was haunted and creepy because of its past. I wanted there to be mystery, a curse, strange occurrences all with actual evidence.similar to that of Hex. Hex is a ride based around a curse that was uncovered during excavation and remodeling of the Alton Manor. When looking around I couldn't find anything that appealed to the idea so it evolved to the ghostly stories that I previously briefed.

The direction of the piece for my minor project is the right way to go, with historic buildings with mystry behind them however the ghostly past is not. After spending more time searching the past of UK's heritage, I found a new possibilty for the direction of the narrative. The mystery of the Knights Templar...

Project Breif Idea 2

Theme Park Thrill Seekers

the challenge is to create the ultimate thrill seekers experience. a experience that people will return to year on year. something that is completely new to UK's Theme Park industry that is worthy or comparison to those of the US greats.

Coaster Design, ideas
- two simultaneous tracks that run toward and away from each while laying down as in air, one car on each track at a time for the ultimate feeling of flying with nothing in front of you.
- safety criteria
- harnesses, cars and track design
- queue designs, what should be seen through the queue to entertain and build suspense within the riders

The final piece should be presented as a pitch to coaster designers and theme park owners with all the information they need to build the coaster. Also a simulated experience should be incorporated to show the audience what to expect form the ride.

Project Brief Idea 1

Berry Pomeroy Castle

Using historic and eye witness accounts of ghostly inhabitants of berry Pomeroy castle, bring the castle ruins back to life by recreating the history of the castle for audiences to witness. I intend to take the viewers on a ghostly tours, comparing views of the ruins to that of how the castle was once built.

The Ghosts

1. The Lady In Whitethe Lady in White is believed to be the ghost of Lady Margaret Pomeroy who was imprisoned in the dungeons by her jealous sister, Lady Eleanor. The Lady in White haunts the dungeons, and the raise to St Margaret Towers to the castle ramparts.

2. The Lady in BlueThe Lady in Blue is the ghost from the 18th century, a young woman who had a love affair with her father and gave birth to an incestuous baby. after its birth her father strangled and murdered the baby in one of the tower rooms. the ghost of the lady in Blue is often seen trying to lure men to their death by seeking help in unsafe areas of the castle.

3. Pomeroys LeapTwo Pomeroy brothers where in the castle when it became under siege, in a attempt to save the castle the brothers put on their armour and mounted their horses to ride to the death. they leapt from the castle ramparts, which subsequently has become known as Pomeroys Leap.

Things needed for this project.
- ground plans and arrcitectual drawings and designs of castle and ruins
- images of the castle and current ruins- character design for ghostly presences, the history of the character

3rd Year Brief

Throughout the summer break I have had ideas running through my head for I could enjoy creating for my minor and major projects for the 3rd year. I kept coming back to 3 main idea areas.

1. A Music VideoA whole load of different ideas for thousands of songs got my mind popping with ideas, the last song that i seriously considered for a possible music video project was Enter the Circus by Christina Aguilera. My ideas for this track center around the opening of a circus act which opens as a normal circus and quickly changes to something a little more terrifying.

2. A Theme Park ExperienceIdeas which came for this possible project started buzzing around the confines of my brain on a trip to Alton Towers while queueing for Air, when a saw the two separate tracks for the loading and unloading of passengers I starting coming up with ideas for a ride two tracks that could run simultaneously, throwing passengers between one another for the ultimate thrill ride. as a piece of work this idea could full fill somthing I have wanted to do since being a young kid drawing rollercoasters.

3. A Hunted House / Ghost TourMy third idea also originated while at alton towers and has evloved since looking for a bases. while queueing for Hex I was admiring the architecture and the uses of viedo to tell the story of a curse placed on the mannor which was uncovered by a team of builders remodling the property. I enjoyed the fanstises of ghostly presences and the history huanted manors and castles. trying to find a suitable cursed building myth or ledgendary ghost house has been a challenging task without going into the history of large castle which housed lots of violent ends for poeple, but none very well known. Berry Pomeroy Castle/Mannor house has the best history I have found so far.

Bibliography

http://www.themcs.org/history/Knights%20Templar/knights%20templar.htm
http://newsroom-magazine.com/2008/features/workshop/day-of-the-knights-templar/
http://www.walksoflondon.co.uk/30/temple-church-knights-tem.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Church
http://www.templechurch.com/TC_History/timeline.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar_in_England

http://www.britainexpress.com/London/Temple_Church.ht

http://www.spheriscope.com/templetour/m

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/28742/28742-h/28742-h.htm

http://masonicmatrix.com/temple-church/

Malcolm Barber, The New Knighthood A History Of The Order Of The Temple (Cambridge University Press 1994)

Helen Nicholson, the Knights Templar A New History (Sutton Publishings 2001)