Scrapped Ideas/changes to project

-Unfortunately due to conflicting schedules, the interviews with my friends has proved difficult to carry out so that will have to take a side step unless we figure out an way incorporate their views into the sequence.

-We were also unable to gain access to an interview with a church representative so this will have to be scrapped too and we have decided to just indicate in the documentary that our proposal was rejected.

-The witch who initially agreed to let us film her coven and rituals has also pulled out due to personal reasons which are understandable and we will also try to indicate this in the documentary.

Proposed dates for shooting

Friday 23rd November 2012:
Neill walking through the Forest
Nature visuals - Trees, Skyline, Clouds, Water

Saturday 24th November 2012:
Ann Glaister Tarrot reading for Neill
Ann Glaister interview

Sunday 25th November 2012:
Sally Walker Interview
Jennie Douglas Interview
David Anga Interview
Church Cut-aways

Proposed Shooting list

ACTUALITY/SEQUENCE:
Ann Glaister performing a tarrot reading for Neill
Neill walking through the forest
Sally Walker in her Shop.
Neill meets Sally.
Neill meets Ann.

INTERVIEWS:
Ann Glaister - Wise-woman
Sally Walker - Witch
David Anga - Christian
Neill Morris - Wiccan
Jennie Douglas -Atheist
David Anga's friends (TBC)

CUT-AWAYS/SYNC:
Church building
Forest scene
Sky line/ Clouds
Water/Stream/River
Sally Walker shop
Ann Glaisters house

ARCHIVE:
Neill's pictures of his hometown
Monty Pyton clip
Ancient witch prosecution events
African witchcraft materials
Church rejection emails
Gemma Whipp's uncle's email about wiccan.

Production Meeting

Myself an Neill discussed a few things that we could do to push the documentary further.
As a christian, I suggested giving an interview section so I could talk about my views regarding the Wiccan beliefs and also if it as changed through the course of the documentary project.
I also suggested the prospects of getting other religious views aside from Christianity.
I have a couple of friends who are muslim and atheist and could try to arrange an interview with them.

Proposed Interviews

So far the confirmed subjects for interview are:
Neill, giving his story on his journey as a wiccan.
Myself, giving my christian views on wiccan.
Our colleague Lizzie Glaister's mum, who is a tarrot reader and practising wiccan.
Sally Walker, a practising witch/wiccan.
Neill's partner Jennie Douglas, giving her views on wiccan and it's impact on Neill's lifestyle.

Thats a Wrap!

We wrapped things up on the production side of the documentary yesterday. We spent our last day of production filming our interview of Sal the owner of The Village Witch and getting our forest scenes an the cutaways of the church as well as interviews with Dave and my Fiancee Jennie.
Both Dave and I had a lot of fun filming the documentary and everyone we met was great and will defiantly add a lot more to the finished product.

Now onto the Edit!!!

Neill

Production

So production started yesterday, I had to get some cut aways in the forest and some scenes of me walking through them but this didn't go to well so me and Dave are going to try and rent a 7D out on monday to get the last of them shot which wont be a problem.
Today went great! Lizzie's mum Ann is amazing! She did a wonderful job, even more than we asked for. We got a tarot reading from her we got cut aways and we got an interview with her as well. She knew a LOT about Wiccan and Witchcraft and she will be a valuable section in the documentary.

Questions, Schedule and shot list

Today I have finished the Questions for my interviewees and the shot list for every day of filming and also the Schedule.

New Script

Waking The Witch Documentary Script

Here is a link to my script I have written for the documentary you can download it from the link also.

Update

After my tutorial with Helen I have contacted a couple of people who are Wiccan to see if they would be interested in being in the documentary, but I have not heard anything back from them as of yet and I only have their email address for a form of contact so only time will tell.
I have been redoing the script with the church and the woman who ran the Wiccan website taken out of it and it actually going quite well. I plan on having it finished today along with my hazard forms my questions and the scripts for what I will be saying about Wicca.

A light at the end of the tunnel

So a huge THANK YOU to Lizzie and her mum Ann for helping me out with the documentary. Lizzies mum Ann has agreed to give me a tarot reading for my documentary which make it personal to me and also tarot is a massive factor when it comes to Wicca. There are many forms of Divination and tarot is one of the main ones. So once again thank you to Lizzie and her awesome mum Ann.

Neill

Documentary Unit: Commission

The pitching results have been released and unfortunately my idea hasn't been commissioned but I have been paired to work with my colleague Neill Morris on his documentary title 'Waking the Witch'.

'Waking the Witch' will be a 10-minute documentary on the beliefs of Wicca and Witchcraft. 

It is proposed to be aired on the national television BBC one and scheduled for Sunday night viewers aged in their late teens and older. 

Looking into what Wiccan beliefs consist of; how they are perceived in the society, the criticism faced of the early church and it's current reaction towards them.

The documentary style will consist of using visual anchors, Interviews, Cutaways and Actuality shots, Archive footage e.t.c.

Coming apart at the seams

Today I got more bad news and that is the girl I was going to film about wicca and to show her coven has pulled out as she can not get the time off to film and he coven did not want to be on camera.

Neill

Church Update

So I just got a phone call from the Dean of Rochester who I was talking to about filming the Cathedral and also about an interview in the documentary about the churches views on Wicca and Witchcraft today.
He has told me that he and none of his colleagues are willing to go on camera to represent the church and will not grant me permission to film parts of the Cathedral from the outside.
His reasons for this are that he doesn't want to be pregidous to the Wiccan community on camera.

I have also not heard back from the Religious Studies department at Mid Kent College after I sent them an E-mail and have tried calling them a number of times with no luck.

So back to the drawing board.

Neill

Script & research

Today I have finished the first draft of our shooting script for the documentary. I am currently waiting on confirmation from the Cathedral in Rochester on if they will agree to meet me to do an interview for the documentary and also from the Wiccan and her coven.
I finally got around to watching some of the series called "How God made the English" and I have to say it was amazing! It was visually amazing to watch as well as being pack full of information. This defiantly give me a lot of ideas on how to structure my documentary and ways of filming it.

Neill

Church +more

Today I got an email from Rev. Dr. March Beach the Dean of Rochester regarding filming at the cathedral and also interviews. It said in the email to give him a call but after trying twice he was too busy so I have given him my number to give me a call when he is free.
Also thanks to Gemma I found the ad page on myUCA and I have put an add up for if there are any students who practise wicca or any form of paganism to contact me.

Neill

Church and Uni. of Kent

Today after talking to Helen I contacted the Diocese of Rochester for another form of contact to the church so I hope to hear from them soon. I have also contacted the University of Kent's Religious Studies course to see if their would be someone there who would be interested to talk in the documentary and give their view point across. 

I have started a very rough version of the shooting script today also.

Neill

Update!

I have been given the go ahead by a Wiccan in Dartford who has accepted my offer to do an interview for the documentary. She is also going to talk to her coven to see if they will allow me to film them doing parts of a ritual for cutaways etc.
This week I am going to work on the script and also the schedule to see what we can work around with Daves work and also with the contributors.

Neill

Contact

So this morning I have contacted the Rochester Cathedral and the Briaga Coven in Deal, Kent. About doing interviews for the documentary. I hope to hear a response from them soon so we can get the ball rolling. This weekend I am going to get a basic shooting script structured and fingers crossed will have a response from the people I have contacted today.

Neill

Waking the Witch

The day that changed my life was the day I discovered Wicca.

“Waking The Witch” will be a 10-minute documentary to show on BBC1 and broadcast at 10.40pm on a Sunday. The intended audience is for the ages of 20+.

The documentary will be about Wicca and Witchcraft and how it is perceived today. It will follow me through my journey to show the world:

·      What is Wicca and Witchcraft?

·      The differences between them and what links them together.

·      Judgment and prejudice of the Wiccan and Witchcraft community.

·      What does the public think of Wicca and Witchcraft?

·      What is the churches view on Witchcraft and Wicca today?

I will cover these points by talking to experts in the field, the Church and the general public. I already have a witchcraft expert and practitioner who is very willing to contribute to the documentary. I have also put a post up on a Wiccan forum asking for people who are interested in having an interview to share their stories and experiences.

The unique aspect of my documentary is that according to my research there is not a single documentary made that covers the points about Witchcraft and Wicca and how they are seen in today’s world. All documentaries I found about this subject only talked about the Burning Times or the Salem Witch Trials.

The documentary will have a crew that follow me on my journey to discover what people still think of Witchcraft today. This will include and is not limited to:

·      Interviews.

·      Cutaways.

·      Actuality.

·      Sequences.

·      Archive photographs.

·      Voiceovers.

·      Music.

·      Graphics.

I also plan on bringing in actors to recreate scenes that would happen during spell craft and rituals, as it is against the Wiccan and Witchcraft beliefs to show live rituals or spell craft on film.

With this documentary I want to show that Wicca is a nature-based religion that works with witchcraft, magic and a God and a Goddess. That it is not Devil worshiping as most of the world believes.