Sunday 30 May 2010

Difficulties

I think that my film planning so far is going pretty well. I need to do as much as I can now, because I am going away for the summer and I won't have much of a chance to do work. However, my main problem is that I cannot think of a good ending for my film. I think that the ending will make or break the film, so it's important to have something affective to end on. However, at this time I cannot think of anything that would work well enough.

Wednesday 26 May 2010

More Pictures Of Cadair Idris



A few more images of Cadair Idris. The mountain itself looks like something out of a fairy tale, and I think it's a really good location for inspiration!

Pictures Of Cadair Idris






Unfortunately, at this time, visiting the mountain is going to be difficult, due to long lasting summer plans, but I have collected various images of the mountain to look at.


Decisions Based On My Research

After researching the cwn annwn, I made a few decisions about the nature of my film. I found out that one of the prime times for the dogs to hunt was during the winter, and I think that a wintery setting would really help to reflect the mood of my film. This is because snowy scenes have the potential to be depressing and sombre, but also magical. So I now know that I want to set my film in the winter, probably around christmas time, as it is a date that features throughout all the different beliefs.


I also discovered that the main hunting grounds for the dogs was the mountain of Cadair Idris, and this might be a good place to look into for the setting of my film. At the very least it will give me a place to look at for background inspirations.

Tuesday 25 May 2010

The Cwn Annwn

The Cwn Annwn are a major part of my film, and so I need to do a lot of research into them to ensure I get everything right! Here is the research I have found:


The cwn annwn were the spectral hounds of Annwn. Annwn was the name of the underworld of welsh mythology. They were a branch of the wild hunt, which was presided over by Gwynn ap Nudd. Christians dubbed the creatures the 'hounds of hell', and theorised they were owned by satan, with the otherworld being hell. However, in welsh mythology, the otherworld was a paradise, not a hell or the home of dead souls.


The dogs were also associated with migrating geese, because their honking in the night sounds like barking dogs.


The cwn annwn are believed to hunt only on specific nights. More specifically, the eves of St. John, St.Martin, Saint Michael the archangel, All saints, Christmas, New Year, Sain Agnes, Saint David and Good Friday. Others believe that they hunt throughout Autumn and Winter,and others believe that they only hunt from christmas to twelfth night. I believe that it is far more likely that they ran through autumn and winter, however, because the other two beliefs feature christian holidays prominently, not all of which previously had a pagan holiday there. This suggests that these beliefs were introduced after pre-Christian Wales.


The hounds are sometimes accompanied by a fearsome hag called Mallt-y-Nos, Matilda of the night.


The hunting grounds for the dogs are said to be the mountain of Cadair Idris, where it is believed that the howling of the dogs foretold death to those who heard them. According to the folklore, their growling is loudest when they are at a distance. These dogs cannot be seen by ordinary humans, even though earthly dogs howl with fright upon seeing them.



Another source mentioned that the dogs ride through the skies in autumn, winter and early spring, which might be something to keep in consideration.



Pre-Christian Wales

Because the Mabinogion is based on pre-Christian Wales, I felt that it was important to research this time period and the beliefs. This is because my film is going to be set in this time period, so knowing as much as I can about it will be extremely useful.


Some of the earliest evidence of a pre-Christian religion in Wales are the stone circles. The most well known one is the Stone henge in England, but another can be found in Pembrokeshire, Wales, as well as many other Welsh locations. It was believed that these sites were used for religious rituals, but there is no evidence of this remaining.


The making of metal was believed to be an act of magic, and the early welsh people smelted various kinds of metals such as gold and copper for offerings to their gods. The religious leaders of the time were known as druids, and they existed even beyond the Roman invasion of Britain. The Celtic religion was tolerated under Roman rule for the most part, even if the rule of the druids was over. However, the worship of celtic gods was tolerated because it proved to be no threat to the roman rule. However, the religion did not survive after roman rule.


Various characters from the mabinogion are prominent in welsh beliefs and mythology, though there are some things that tend to be different. In the mabinogion, the cwn annwn belonged to Arawn, who resided over Annwn. However, in the actual mythology, they are associated with Gwynn Ap Nudd, the king of the fair folk.


One of the main things to note, however, is that the stories of the mabinogion were written long after Wales was dominated by the christian religion. The gods of pre-Christian Wales were changed to heroes and kings to satisfy any religions conflicts.


Possible deities of the time include:


Arawn, the king of the otherworld realm of Annwn. It is debated on whether or not he or Gwynn ap Nudd ruled over the otherworld, but Arawn appears prominently in the first branch of the mabinogion.


Afallach: The father of Modron, he was associated with the Island of Avalon.


Blodeuwedd: A woman made of flowers to be the wife of Lleu Llaw Gyffes, in the fourth branch of the mabinogion. She betrays him and is turned into an owl.


Ceridwen: An enchantress, and the mother of Morfran and Creirwy. She possessed the cauldron of poetic inspiration, and she once swallowed her servant who is reborn through her as the poet Taliesin.


Cyhyraeth: A ghostly spirit that has a disembodied moaning voice that sounds before a persons death.


Gwenn Teir Bronn: A Breton holy woman who supposedly lived in the 6th century.


Gwyn ap Nudd: The king of the Tylwyth Teg, or the fair folk. Described as a great warrior with a blackened face. He is associated with the wild hunt.


Llefelys: The king of France in mythology. His brother Ludd is the king of Britain.


Ludd Llaw Eraint: Known as Ludd of the silver hand, he is a legendary hero, and the father of Gwynn ap Nudd. In some tales he is known as the king of Britain, while his brother rules France.

Mabon ap Modron: The son of Modron. Both he and his mother were likely deities, descending from a divine mother-son pair.


Modron: May have been the origin of Morgan Le Fay. She is the mother of Mabon,who was stolen from her when he was three days old and rescued by King Arthur. She is a fertility and harvest deity, and she appears as a washerwoman.


Rhiannon: Rhiannon was a queen who appears in the Mabinogion. She is often compared to the horse goddess, Epona.

The Mabinogion

The Mabinogion is a collection of eleven welsh stories based on pre-Christian Celtic beliefs. The tales can be found in two separate manuscripts, and have been translated into English. The tales aren't all from the same time period, but the belief is that the first tales were written around 1060 at the earliest. However, the tales themselves were meant to be communicated orally, and could have been around for much longer than this. It is speculated that they could have been the origin of the Arthurian tales, as King Arthur and his court appear at least once in the tales. Whether they are or not, however, does not change the fact that they are a very important piece of early welsh history and story tale culture.


The reason I am looking at the Mabinogion, is because the cwn annwn appear in the book several times, and reading it might be able to give me some insight on the beliefs of that time, and inspiration for my film.

Monday 24 May 2010

Film Proposal Concept Art




For the final film proposal I also had to hand in more concept art to give everyone an idea an idea of how my film would work. A lot of the work I sent in came from the initial concepts I put up previously, but I also created some new concept pieces, mainly digital pieces.

University Project: The Proposal

Part of my last university project of the year was to produce a film proposal for my final film. I had to write a detailed synopsis of my film and produce concept art as a practice proposal. After my last post I did a lot of thinking about my story and how to develop it more. I had to consider what would be asked of me when I put together my film proposal. As follows is what I wrote for my film proposal:




For my final major film I plan to create a piece based on welsh mythology. I have always been fascinated with mythology of any type, and during the summer after my first year, I decided that I wanted to make a film based on welsh mythology.


After reading a book by Diana Wynne Jones, called 'Dogsbody,' I decided that I wanted my film to focus on the 'wild hunt' of welsh legends, a pack of dogs called the Cwn Annwn. These dogs of legend were white all over with red tipped ears, and they traditionally ferried souls to the otherworld. After deciding this, I wanted to explore something to do with death, and perhaps the way we deal with loosing our loved ones to something unknown.


From this vague idea, I began to work on a story of some kind, and eventually came up with a rough plot that I plan to work on and refine into my final film.


Synopsis:


A young girl is standing in a graveyard on a cold winters night. Her mother has passed away and she sits dejectedly by the grave. All of a sudden she hears a noise, and as she looks up a dog leaps over her and disappears into the ground by her mothers grave. As the animal rises, it appears with a small blue light, the theoretical 'soul' of the deceased mother. As the dog leaves with the soul, the girl realises what happens, and unable to let her mother go, follows the dog. As they run together they are joined by more dogs and more souls. They embark on a journey to the otherworld, the young girl coming across many bizarre things as she does so, but never loosing sight of the dog that holds her mothers soul.


Finally they reach the gates of the otherworld, where the souls are guided past the gate and onto a place that the girl can't see. As they near the gate, the girl slams into a barrier. She cannot go any further. Confused at the lack of its companion, the dog waits on the other side of the gate, and the girl falls into despair as she realises she can't pass the barrier to retrieve her mothers soul. The dog looks up and from behind the girl a figure appears. It is Gwynn ap Nudd, the lord of the otherworld. She pleads her case desperately, and the dog passes back through the gate as she does so. She makes a grab for the soul, but is not allowed to do so. Gwynn ap Nudd tried to explain that her mother cannot come back. That she belongs in another world and they cannot exist together. Finally the girl accepts her mothers death and allows the soul to pass to the otherworld.


As of yet, I am unsure of how the ending should go, but a rough idea is:


The scene fades to black and the girl opens her eyes on the side of a cliff. She is woken up by the mythical bard who resides in the valley. He gifts her with a flower and moves on. The girl is left to make her way down the cliff and back to her home.


- - -


Obviously the idea is very much a work in progress. But this is the general idea of the story. I want the girl to be able to accept her mothers death, and I don't want the ending to be entirely happy. The dead don't come back to life. Whatever people believe, the dead don't exist with the living, and I want this to be true in this story. The girl doesn't get her mother back, but she learns an important lesson. I don't want there to be dialogue in this film, just music, and possibly sound effects. I want to challenge myself and make the character animation a focus in this story.




Sunday 16 May 2010

The Beginning Of An Idea

After drawing the first concepts, I began to form an idea for my final film.


I have been thinking about having the young girl standing at the grave of a loved one. She is all alone, and she suddenly hears a strange sound. Out of the jumble of graves, a dog appears and leaps into the ground of the grave. When it comes back out, it is carrying a blue orb, and darts off with it. The girl realises that it is her loved one, and begins to chase the dog across the countryside. She is joined by more and more of the pack as she runs, until they reach the underworld and she discovers that she cannot go any farther.


So far, that's all I have for an idea. It needs a lot of work, but it's definitely a start! I need to put together an ending. I think the most difficult thing is creating an ending that is effective, especially in the short time that the film is allotted. However, I have a very clear image of the dog jumping into the grave, and the chase across the countryside.