This is the script which i have done for the Radio which would be promoting the Halloween documentary. Micheal is the voice over from the documentary and he will be used as the voice over in the radio.
Opening song: Opening of documentary (Things that go bump in the night) Voice clips: Halloween Voice clips
Sound bed: Halloween theme tune
Voice over Michael: Are you interested in finding out where Halloween originates?
Voice over Michael: Interested in knowing what lurks through the night?
Voice clip: Wolf Howl and Evil Cackling witch
Voice over Michael: Staying home alone on Halloween night? Too scared to open the door?
Voice clips: Zombies Moaning and Halloween House
Voice over Michael: What are your opinions on Halloween?
Voice Clips: People answering the questions from the documentary
Voice over Kelsey: Things that go bump in the night which will be scheduled on Channel 4 at 9.30 on Halloween night.
The two images below are of me recording the radio advert.
During the editing process, we all came up with numerous ideas to make our documentary an outstanding piece of work.
We all worked together sharing our idea's and basically the editing process had a few issues, mainly becuase the computers would sometimes just shut down while your in the middle of doing something which results in loosing most of the stuff you just done.
The editing was done on Adobe Premier Pro which i am confident with using as i use the same programme in different subjects.
The capturing had to be done first which actually took a while as we had quite alot of footage. Some of the footage which we have used and also some of it we had to scrap as it wasn't good enough to be in the final edit due to: Shakey camera work, lack of audio etc. But once it was all caputred we had to cut it down into sections and order of how we want it to be featured in the documentary and obviously had to get rid of the stuff we wasn't going to use.
Once we soted out what we wanted to use we had to put it into order by following the running order.
Another problem was getting the archive footage for the documentary. We had various DVD's which we were going to use as the archieve footage such as: Hocus pocus, Halloween, Nightmare on elm street. We encounted problems as our archieve footage is mainly from dvd's and it's not exactly possible to edit the dvd's and get the footage we would like to use.
However to resolve the problem, we managed to find a website which allowes you to download video footage from youtube. On the other hand this encounted problems for example: Robyn was unable to do this as her laptop wouldn't allow it and i experienced the same problem. So Robyn ended up using a friends laptop to get the footage. On the other hand this helped us in many ways because we were able to find the exact scenes we wanted to use from the DVD's and download them and use them instantly for our archieve footage.
Their were some problems we encounted with downloading such as: Once we put the footage onto premier, and tried viewing it, it became distorted when it was originally in good quality. But in the end we did manage to sort out what was happening and it happens to be the computer was messinbg up so it wasn't anything to do with the downloads.
Anyway then we started to cut up the Voxpops and sorted them all out so they would flow together. This has worked well as we got different people answering the same question and it all just fits together. We decided that these were going to be the opening of the documentary.
After the Voxpops I managed to find a pumpkin carving website. From this I carved out each letter of 'Halloween' and filmed it so it looked as if the letters were flashing up on the pumpkin for example: The 'H' was the first thing carved out then 'HA' then 'HAL' ect until it spelt out Halloween. We then captured this onto Adobe Premier and we edited it so it speeded up to 500% and then put a swirl effect onto it. This has been used after the Voxpops and will be featued as part of the opening.
The interviews have been edited with some cutaways to represent what they are talking about. However once we had edited the interviews we noticed that the Vicar's interview was echoey and quieter due to being in a conservatry which is an echoey place and the sociologists interview was louder due to being in a classroom. We sorted out the sound levels by using Adobe audition so they both matched the same level. Otherwise our documentary wouldn't really work for the audience as they would constantly be having to turn up the volume and then turning it down so now that the sound levels are the same this means the audience wouldn't need to touch their remote.
However most of the editing was done by Robyn, as she took over everything and hardly fedback to Me and Tom what was happening with the editing. On the other hand I felt that if Me or Tom edited something it all got changed becuase Robyn generally wouldn't be happy with what we have done. This made it difficult to working in a group as it was bound to happen that someone would take over and do things the way they wanted it. We did contribute ideas thought for example I contributed the idea of the Pumpkin carving website to have the word 'Halloween' carved into it because that's what our documentary is basically about. This worked effectively as it was animation which would make the documentary appeal to another target audience.
I have also worked on making a short film including the voiceclips of the questionnaire results this also had images in it which shown people being interview. For example Robyn asking me a question and also an image of a microphone to show that they were audio clips. However I had problems trying to upload this video as it just wouldn't work. I had to make a film as there is no way to upload audio clips onto the blog. This film when its finally uploading (If it works) will be featured on the questionnaire results page.
Tom had the role of working on the cut aways for the documentary and sorting out the clips from the films to use as archieve footage.
Overall the editing process has become slightly stressful due to technical problems and team work as we didn't feedback to eachother or anything and we all just had our own set roles. For example I sorted out the Radio Ad and Tom did the print Ad so Robyn just did all the editing.
The images below are screen grabs.
This is a screen grab of the editing taking place.
This is basically a photo of Me trying to make a video for the audio clips as we are unable to upload audio clips onto our blog. However this encounted many problems. The first video i made i used photograghs which were taken on halloween night at a halloween party of many peoples different costumes and also some of the halloween decorations. However this video wouldnt allow me to save it. Then i decided to make another one which basically had a plain black background with the questions flashing on screen that were being asked in the audio clips. This video couldn't be uploaded on to the blog for some random reason.
Therefore i decided to do some of the opening credits where i found a website were you are able to carve your own pumpink. Using this i typed every letter in halloween seperatly until it spelt out the full word and we are going to use this aswell as the video clip of Robyn and Tom carving out a pumpin.
This is the second video i tried making for the blog which contained the audio clips.
This is an image of Robyn editing while Tom is holding a microphone next to her to look as if he is interviewing her. This clip was going to be used in the audio video.
This is an image of Robyn editing.
This is an image of Robyn trying to interview me for the audio clips.
This is an image of Tom doing the time log sheet.
This is basically a screen grab.
This is a shot of Tom doing some editing.
This is a screen grab of the first Voxpop we did. This hasn't been used becuase the camera at the time was shakey.
This is a screen grab of the Vicar. It shows how the mise-en-scene was set up.
During the filming process we encountered numerous problems such as, microphone not working, shaky camera, wind blowing into the microphone, things being recorded over things etc.
The main issue was the voxpop's.
First of all I took a camera to liverpool and managed to film about 5 people for the voxpops then got told to move by the security guards. However I didn't manage to be able to carry round the tripod so the camera was shakey.
The second issue with the voxpops, Robyn Quinn and Tom Lloyd who are also in my group managed to do some voxpops which were very good as they managed to get ages from about 10 upwards to the older generation. With this we managed to film over these voxpops with the interview.
Then we tried a third time and managed to get quite a few however it was during the week day where all the younger people are in school etc and people were rushing round and these voxpops were just simply answers for example, Yes and no answers. Which may be partially our fault for not making them open questions. Therefore we don't believe these voxpops could be used as they dont explain the question being asked as they were just yes, no answers.
Therefore Me, Robyn and Tom are hoping to go and do more voxpops, however this might result in the same problem as last time seems as Two out of Three of us in the group as busy at the weekends, therefore means that the filimg would generally have to be done during the week which means it may not be possible to get younger people to do the voxpops. But hopefully we may get some good ones.
More problems we got was with the presenter. We spent a whole day trying to get the filming right and when we got to capturing it onto the computer we realised that the microphone didn't completely work and all we got was wind blowing down the microphone. Therefore we are going to film this again and at the same time we have also thought of moving locations as none of us drive we would have issues with getting to the original location becuase most of the filming has to be done during our free's in school as we sometimes all have the same free's.
On the other hand the interviews went extremely well their was no issues with the microphone, the camera wasn't touch so it wasn't shakey and we all worked together, Tom took photos of us doing the interview, Robyn asked the questions and I was the one on the camera getting the right framing and making sure everything that we planned to be in the mise-en-scene was in the shot.
Another problem we experienced with voxpops, Me and Robyn went to liscard during our free's to try and get better voxpops seems as people didn't exactly give good answers seems as the questions we usually asked were not as open as they could of been. However while we were in liscard, we asked about 20 people. Some of them agree'd to answering questions however they didn't want to get filmed, some people ignored us and carried on walking, or most people said they were in too much of a rush to answer any questions. Out of this we only managed to get 2 people to do voxpops. However the 2 people we managed to get to do the voxpops were extremely good and gave good explanaitons on their opinions on halloween.
We are planning to go over to liverpool over the weekend, seems as it tends to be much more busier and hopefully we would be able to get a range of ages to answer the questions.
Saturday morning, Me and Robyn managed to get over to Liverpool for about 10.30/11 however Tom was late arriving. Me and Robvyn waited round for Tom then i had to rush into work. However this meant I wasn't there to help them film as I had to rush off to work. On the other hand they managed to get some really good voxpops just as we expected seems as Liverpool is much more busier than Liscard. We also tried asking people to just say Halloween which we wanted to make a collage of people saying Halloween to be in the opening credits.
The first thing we did in preperation for filming the documentary was gather some props to do with halloween such as: a pumpkin, spiders web with fake spiders in and a black rose. These were going to be individual shots for the opening of the documentary then last minute we decided to use something else as it would look more effective.
Interviewing for the documentary worked well. The location for the Vicar could have changed as we interviewed him in a conservatry which made it all eachoey. There we also problems becuase the vicars children were making noise but it didnt effect the filming in any way. The vicars interview worked well as he explained his points in thorough detail.
The other interview we did was with a teacher from our school who teaches sociology. We managed to interview him in a classroom and also in the mise-en-scene we fitted in a few sociology books basically to show that he was a sociologist. One of the problems we had was Mr Quinn had a slight stutter but we managed to edit it so it wasn't noticable. A problem we encounted during the filming of the interview was that we filmed over the Voxpops which meant we had to refilm them.
On halloween night Robyn managed to film two children trick or treating which has been used as archieve footage.
We also went down to a cemetry and got some shots of the church and of the angels and gravestones. These have been used as cutaways.
Overall I believe I have took quite a big part in the filming. Although i couldn't manage to attend every session, But when I did, I took charge of the camera and also had a large contribution to the mise-en-scene as I had the idea of putting sociology books in the shot for the sociologist basically to represent him.
The photographs below are photograghs that were taking to be a feature of the documentary however we decided against that idea.
This first image was going to be used as a cut away to show what teenagers tend to do on halloween. For example: Dress up and go to a halloween party. As we were originally going to show children trick or treating and show the difference between them both.
This image was taken before we were going to do an interview, however we changed our mind how we wanted it to be set up.
This is a picture of Tom and Robyn sorting out the camera so that we could check the microphone was working sufficently before we could do the interview. Just incase the microphone stopped working which would have resulted in us having to film it again.
This image has been taken and was going to be used as an image which would of been featured in a short video which was going to contain the audio clips for the questionnaire results. Basically to show people interviewing.
This is one of the voxpops that we did but it didn't work out well as the man only seemed to answer with single answered questions.
This image is of Tom in Asda.
This is Tom holding the pumpkin.
This is Robyn in asda getting the props from the Halloween isle.
This image is of Robyn setting up the camera.
This is the carved pumpkin.
This is me filming.
This is Me and Tom carrying the camera and clip board on the way to liscard ready to do some voxpops.
During the making of the documentary, due to different bits that were recorded being filmed in random orders, the time log sheet allows us to find the right footage we want to use without watching all of the other footage as we are able to find the correct time of which it was filmed.
Below are the time log sheets:
These time log sheets above are simply the time log sheets that we done which has helped us sort out whether we wannt some of the footage or not.
This is the research that we used for our documentary so that we would know the basic background about halloween so that we could make our documentary more accurate and also our research would help us in the terms of what to base our documentary on.
What is Halloween really all about?
Have you ever asked yourself, "Who in the world ever thought of the idea of walking around in weird costumes, trick or treating, and/or putting a carved-out pumpkin in your window?"
You will agree with me that Halloween is really one of the strangest days of the year, is it not? Perhaps you wonder how the celebration of such a day ever got started. In this pamphlet I would like to answer this question for you!
The many customs we have today in relation to Halloween have their origins in the religious practices of the Romans and the Druids, therefore dating back many centuries. The Romans worshiped various gods and on October 31, a special feast was held in honor of Pomona, goddess of the fruit trees. Later, the Druids, an ancient order of Celtic priests in Britain, made this feast an even more extensive celebration by also honoring Samhain, lord of the dead. This was normally done on November 1 and it was therefore decided to conveniently honor both Pomona and Samhain on October 31 and November 1.
These Druids believed that on the night before November 1 (October 31) Samhain called together wicked souls or spirits which had been condemned to live in the bodies of animals during the year which had just transpired. Since they were afraid of these spirits, they chose October 31 as a day to sacrifice to their gods, hoping they would protect them. They really believed that on this day they were surrounded by strange spirits, ghosts, witches, fairies, and elves, who came out to hurt them. In addition to this, they also believed that cats were holy animals, as they considered them to represent people who lived formerly, and as punishment for evil deeds were reincarnated as a cat. All this explains why witches, ghosts, and cats are a part of Halloween today.
The custom of trick-or-treating and the use of "jack-o'-lanterns" comes from Ireland. Hundreds of years ago, Irish farmers went from house to house, begging for food, in the name of their ancient gods, to be used at the village Halloween celebration. They would promise good luck to those who gave them good, and made threats to those who refused to give. They simply told the people, "You treat me, or else I will trick you!"
The apparently harmless lightened pumpkin face or "jack-o'-lantern" actually is an old Irish symbol of damned soul. A man named Jack was supposed to be able unable to enter heaven due to his miserliness, and unable to enter hell because he had played practice jokes on the devil. As a result, he was condemned to wander over the earth with his lantern until judgment day (i.e., the end of the world). The Irish were so afraid that they would receive an identical plight, that they began to hollow out pumpkins and place lighted candles inside to scare away evil spirits from their home.
When did the modern Halloween celebration begin?
During the Middle Ages (about 600 years ago), the Roman Catholic Church at that time, decided to make the change-over from pagan religion to Christianity a bit easier, and therefore allowed the new converts to maintain some of their pagan feasts. It was agreed, however, that from now on they would be celebrated as "Christian" feats. So instead of praying to thwir heathen gods, they would now pray to, and remember the deaths of saints. For this reason the church decided to call November 1 the "Day of All Saints," and the mass to be celebrated on that day "Alhallowmass." In consequence of this, the evening prior to this day was named, "All Hallowed Evening" which subsequently was abbreviated as "Halloween." In spite of this effort to make October 31 a "holy evening," all the old customs continued to be practiced, and made this evening anything BUT a holy evening!
Halloween today.
You would have to agree with me that also today Halloween is most definently not a holy evening!! This annual event is far from the harmless, innocent tradition it is promoted to be. Many dread this "holy" evening as they think what could happen to them, their property, and/or their children! Consistent with its historical roots, this evening is charecterized by fear, and frequently arouses dormant fears in many. The fear generated by this event is symbolic of the fear which plagues so many in our moden, morally bankrupt world. It is a gripping fear for an unknown and very threatening future, a fear caused by a gnawing inner emptiness.
An alternative for October 31.
For many in this land, this day stands for the very opposite of fear!! On this day in 1517, a German monk and professor of theology, Dr. Martin Luther, courageously published the simple, straightforward truth of the Bible. God's Word, which he has rediscovered after a long and intense spiritual struggle. God used the truth of his own Word to give Luther the inner peace he had so desperately longed for. The Bible pointed him the way to God Himself, and when he found God through Jesus Christ, he found this peace which passes all understanding! He himself stated that it was as if he entered Paradise itself.
As a result of his courageous act on October 31, 1517, the Bible came into the hands of the common people again, and many, who as he, were deeply troubled by sin and it’s consequences, found peace with God as well!
It was God himself, Who used Martin Luther to bring His message of deliverance into the hands and hearts of sinners, in order to bring them back to Himself, and give then TRUE peace!! It is therefore with deep gratitude to God that we wish commemorate October 31, as it reminds us of God's gracious and mighty deeds nearly five centuries ago.
It is the Word of God, and its precious truth, rediscover by Martin Luther, which still gives true peace to many today. In the Bible ALONE will you find the ONLY answer to the deep yearning of your heart. ONLY when God becomes your God through Jesus Christ, you will find rest at last and you will answer to the true purpose of human existence, namely, to honor, serve, and enjoy our Creator!!
Is the God of heaven and earth YOUR God? If not, seek Him TODAY, while He still may be found!!
God, manifested in Jesus Christ, invited you Himself in His Word. Turn to the gospel of Matthew and read chapter 11:28,
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden and i will give you rest!"
Those who insist on seeking inner peace without being reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, will have to endure eternal misery without God. God does not desire the eternal misery of man and therefore He also extends this invitation in Ezekial 33:11,
"As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the deaths of the wicked (i.e. Sinner) but that the wicked turn from his way and live! Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways: for why will ye die?"
Fundamentalist Christians and most other evangelical Christians believe that the Bible is free of error (i.e. inerrant). Many also believe that when followers of non-Christian religions worship their Gods and Goddesses, they are in fact worshipping either Satan or some of his demons. This belief is based on clear, unambiguous passages from the Bible.
Many view all non- Christian religions (Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam as well as Neopaganism) as forms of Satanism. By equating Neopagan religions with their view of Satanism as perpetrators of Satanic Ritual Abuse, many fundamentalists naturally assume that Wiccans, Druids, etc. perform the most hideous and obscene criminal acts at Halloween. These beliefs are profoundly hurtful, untrue, and are not often seen among other Christian groups.
Neither Satanists, nor Neopagans nor anyone else in North America engage in religiously motivated human sacrifice. Wiccans have been known to sacrifice a peach or apple, but nothing higher on the evolutionary scale.
Halloween, or Samhain as it is traditionally called, is one of the commonly celebrated holidays in the Wiccan religion. While it has been adapted into the child-friendly holiday of Halloween that centres on costumes and candy, Samhain is actually a time of remembrance and reverence. Here are some suggestions for celebrating Wiccan Halloween.
The word itself, "Halloween," actually has its origins in the Catholic Church. It comes from a contracted corruption of All Hallows Eve. November 1, "All Hollows Day" (or "All Saints Day"), is a Catholic day of observance in honour of saints. But, in the 5th century BC, in Celtic Ireland, summer officially ended on October 31. The holiday was called Samhain (sow-en), the Celtic New year.
One story says that, on that day, the disembodied spirits of all those who had died throughout the preceding year would come back in search of living bodies to possess for the next year. It was believed to be their only hope for the afterlife. The Celts believed all laws of space and time were suspended during this time, allowing the spirit world to intermingle with the living.
Naturally, the still-living did not want to be possessed. So on the night of October 31, villagers would extinguish the fires in their homes, to make them cold and undesirable. They would then dress up in all manner of ghoulish costumes and noisily paraded around the neighbourhood, being as destructive as possible in order to frighten away spirits looking for bodies to possess
Probably a better explanation of why the Celts extinguished their fires was not to discourage spirit possession, but so that all the Celtic tribes could relight their fires from a common source, the Druidic fire that was kept burning in the Middle of Ireland, at Usinach.
The Romans adopted the Celtic practices as their own. But in the first century AD, Samhain was assimilated into celebrations of some of the other Roman traditions that took place in October, such as their day to honour Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple, which might explain the origin of our modern tradition of bobbing for apples on Halloween.
The custom of Halloween was brought to America in the 1840's by Irish immigrants fleeing their country's potato famine. At that time, the favourite pranks in New England included tipping over outhouses and unhinging fence gates.
The custom of trick-or-treating is thought to have originated not with the Irish Celts, but with a ninth-century European custom called souling. On November 2, All Souls Day, early Christians would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes," made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. At the time, it was believed that the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers, could expedite a soul's passage to heaven.
The Irish used turnips as their "Jack's lanterns" originally. But when the immigrants came to America, they found that pumpkins were far more plentiful than turnips. So the Jack-O-Lantern in America was a hollowed-out pumpkin, lit with an ember.
The night lengthens and we work with the positive aspects of darkness in the increasing star- and moonlight. Many Craft traditions, following the ancient Celts, consider this the eve of the New Year (as day begins with sundown, so the year begins with the first day of winter). It is one night when the barriers between the worlds of life and death are uncertain, allowing the ancestors to walk among the living, welcomed and feasted by their kin, bestowing the Otherworld's blessings. We may focus within ourselves to look "through the glass darkly", developing our divination and psychic skills.
Since the 800's November 1st is a religious holiday known as All Saints' Day. The Mass that was said on this day was called All Hallowmas. The evening before became known as All Hallow e'en, or Halloween. Like some other American celebrations, its origins lie in both pre-Christian and Christian customs.
Today school dances and neighbourhood parties called "block parties" are popular among young and old alike. More and more adults celebrate Halloween. They dress up as historical or political figures and go to masquerade parties. In larger cities, costumed children and their parents gather at shopping malls early in the evening. Stores and businesses give parties with games and treats for the children. Teenagers enjoy costume dances at their schools and the more outrageous the costume the better! Certain pranks such as soaping car windows and tipping over garbage cans are expected. But partying and pranks are not the only things that Halloweeners enjoy doing. Some collect money to buy food and medicine for needy children around the world.
At the turn of the century, Halloween parties for both children and adults became the most common way to celebrate the day. Parties focused on games, foods of the season, and festive costumes. Parents were encouraged by newspapers and community leaders to take anything “frightening” or “grotesque” out of Halloween celebrations. Because of their efforts, Halloween lost most of its superstitious and religious overtones by the beginning of the twentieth century.
By the 1920s and 1930s, Halloween had become a secular, but community-cantered holiday, with parades and town-wide parties as the featured entertainment. Despite the best efforts of many schools and communities, vandalism began to plague Halloween celebrations in many communities during this time. By the 1950s, town leaders had successfully limited vandalism and Halloween had evolved into a holiday directed mainly at the young. Due to the high numbers of young children during the fifties baby boom, parties moved from town civic centres’ into the classroom or home, where they could be more easily accommodated. Between 1920 and 1950, the centuries-old practice of trick-or-treating was also revived. Trick-or-treating was a relatively inexpensive way for an entire community to share the Halloween celebration. In theory, families could also prevent tricks being played on them by providing the neighbourhood children with small treats. A new American tradition was born, and it has continued to grow. Today, Americans spend an estimated $6.9 billion annually on Halloween, making it the country’s second largest commercial holiday.
Mischief Night
In late 18th century America, Halloween was a night for mischief and pranks. Boys would make "tick-tacks," cutting notches in the ends of a wooden spool and winding string around it. The spool would be placed right up against a window, with a nail serving as an axle. When the string was pulled, it made a loud and rapid "tick-tack" noise. Other noisy and startling practices involved throwing corn and decaying vegetables at houses.
While this was considered innocent fun, some pranksters began to go too far, especially with the move from country life to city life. News stories tell of students being expelled from schools, gangs of youths roaming through town covering people in flour, buildings being blown up, and so on.
Halloween in Other Countries
Halloween is celebrated outside of North America, particularly among American emigrants, but not to the extent that it is in the U.S. and Canada.
In England, some of the customs of Samhain are seen on Guy Fawkes Night each NOV-5. The celebration is also known as Bonfire Night. These are in memory of Guy Fawkes who attempted to blow up the House of Commons in London in 1605 CE. He died a gruesome death, imposed by the courts. One city, Lewes in East Sussex in southern England, still burns the Pope in effigy.
All Hallows Eve
Halloween was commonly referred to as "All Hollows" Eve. It originated from the pagan holiday honouring the dead. The Roman Catholic Church created All Saints Day (also called Hallowmas) on November 1st to honour Saints and All Souls Day on November 2and to honour and pray for the souls of the dead. These holidays were created by the church, in part to downplay the pagan holidays. Needless to say, it did not succeed. Halloween as we know it today has grown from the ancient Druid Holiday. Along the way both fun, frights, and satanic twists have been added to the mix
The dark side of Halloween
For the fanciful child, it's a dream come true to dress up as a favourite literary character or fairy-tale heroine on Halloween. On one day of the year, children are permitted to indulge their fantasies – both costume and candy – and the streets are filled with small Snow Whites, witches and goblins. But why do we celebrate this "child's" holiday called Halloween?
Benign as it may now seem to most Americans, Halloween has its roots in ancient, occult religious practices. Donning costumes, playing "trick-or-treat" and displaying jack-o'-lanterns are all carry-overs of pagan traditions. And though our contemporary society would have us believe it is not so, pagan practices – including darker occult rituals – still occur today.
Halloween is a holy day for pagans. This Celtic "new-year's day," known to druids as "Samhain," is celebrated on Oct. 31. Members of the Wiccan religion – a federally recognized, tax-exempt faith – and Satanists hold the day in the highest regard, performing special, often macabre ceremonies at the midnight hour. According to Paddy Slade's "Encyclopaedia of White Magic: A seasonal guide," "At Samhain the veil between our world and the Otherworld is thinnest, and it is thought to be the best time to attract those who have gone before."
Recognizing the evil behind these pagan "celebrations" of communion with nature and spirits, the Catholic Church moved its All Saints Day from May to Nov. 1. The day was set aside to honour martyred Christians. Protestants soon followed, but the occult symbols and practices of Samhain are still dominant.
In a disturbing yet eye-opening interview included in the video, a former Satanist tells of his experience growing up in a satanic coven. Now a committed Christian, the gentleman recalls a childhood of fear and sexual abuse. At age 11, he participated in a Halloween-night ceremony in which a young girl was sacrificed on an altar and her blood shared by adult participants. As an adult, Halloween and its "symbols of death," he says, bring back memories of abuse and horrible images.
This kind of experience is repeated year after year. As a sergeant at the Baldwin Park Police Department in Southern California and a British Parliament member point out, frightening, murderous Satanic practices take place around the world every Halloween. And yet the public dismisses reports of their occurrence, refusing to believe the holiday is anything more than child's play.
Dr Duncan Light
Associate professor and head
Sciences and social sciences
Another of his research interests focuses on Dracula as a tourist attraction! Romanians do not identify strongly with Dracula: many are unhappy that Western countries tend to associate their country only with Dracula and they are keen to point out that Dracula is an entirely fictional character. At the same time, Dracula is something which can earn much-needed foreign currency for Romania. This issue generates various tensions and conflicts between, on one hand, promoting a myth which clashes with senses of national identity and, on the other hand, maximising the revenue generating potential of this myth. He is currently examining these issues as part of a broader study of Romania’s changing approach to Dracula tourism over the past 40 years and I was able to spend most of 2004 in Romania working on this project. Also interested in the ways in which spooky traditions such as bonfire night and Halloween are seen by tourists.
Bishop challenges supermarkets to lighten up Halloween
18 September 2006
Retailers are helping create a climate of fear, says Bishop, as new book gives guidance on a brighter Halloween.
The Bishop of Bolton, the Rt Revd David Gillett, has today published a letter sent to Britain’s supermarket bosses urging them to rethink the way that their stores promote Halloween.
In the letter, which arrived on the desks of the Chief Executives of the UK’s five biggest supermarkets early last week, the Bishop challenged the retailers to ‘cross-merchandise’ traditional Halloween toys and costumes with goods more suitable for those worried about the darker side of the festival. The bishop also commends a new book published by the Church of England written specifically to help churches and schools arrange events for children and young people that focus on the positive messages of All Saints Day, the day following ‘All Hallows’ Eve’.
“This year, I would like you to offer your customers a choice. Amongst your displays, I would like to see products that enable parents, teachers and children to choose a positive, alternative way to celebrate Halloween,” says the Bishop, suggesting that the supermarkets present a range of alternative products such as bright balloons, hair braids and colorful costumes.
The Bishop shares the view of many Christians that large retailers are increasingly keen to commercialize Halloween celebrations in a way that pressurizes parents to purchase goods that promote the dark, negative side of Halloween and could encourage anti-social behavior.
In recent years many churches have begun to organize alternative events for children on or around Halloween, but this is the first time that the Church has offered practical suggestions for parishes on the subject. Better than Halloween also provides essential information on child protection and the practicalities of organizing such events.
The Bishop insists that those in the Church supporting his move towards a more positive approach to the event are not being killjoys, but are simply reflecting the concerns of many parents and teachers across the land: “We want everyone to be able to have an enjoyable time at Halloween, which is why people need to consider the impact of their behavior on their neighbors. It is why we want supermarkets to take a responsible position in relation to the products they promote for celebrating the event. It’s also why we’ve worked on producing the guidance on creating lively, engaging events for children and young adults that will provide a real alternative to the recently imported ways of celebrating Halloween.”
Better than Halloween, priced £9.99, is available from Christian bookshops including Church House Bookshop, 31 Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BN, tel. 020-7898 1300, e-mail bookshop@c-of-e.org.uk, on the web (mail order available) – and who knows, maybe supermarkets too.
These two photogrpaghs below are simply the storyboard for the framing for the interviews.
This first image is the shot we would like to use for the interview with the vicar to make it seem more comfortable. The green bit is a plant to make the place seem more enviromental and we are hoping to place the vicar into a chair infront of the plant to make it look more enviromental friendly and welcoming.
This next shot is the framing we are hoping to use for the sociologist. We are hoping to sit the sociologist onto a desk by a computer with about 2 books in the shot which say sociology to show that he is a sociologist. The officy look is to show that he has something to do with the important role for example a sociology teacher therefore we have placed the interview around a officy enviroment.
The quesitons below are basically the questions that will be used for the interview with vicar: Ian Byrn.
•What are your personal memories and traditions for Halloween?
•How do you think Halloween has changed since you were a child?
•The findings from our questionnaire revealed that the holiday is seen as a celebration focused on children; however we feel that the occasion hits every element of culture. For example: student Halloween parties, adult Halloween events, lantern parades, firework displays, etc. How far do you agree with this?
•what do you feel is the church's view towards Halloween and the celebrations?
•Do you believe that Halloween is centred on good an evil? If yes, why? If no, what are you thoughts?
•Taken from an article in the Daily Mail, ‘Church claims Halloween trick or treaters ‘side with the devil’, how far do you agree or disagree with this statement.
The quesitons below are simply the questions that will be used in an interview with a sociologist.
•What are your personal memories of Halloween?
•How do you think Halloween has changed since you were younger?
•Many people believe Halloween to be an American holiday; we understand that it originated from Ireland. Is our current obsession with Halloween in this country yet another example that Britain is becoming increasingly Americanised?
•Do you think Halloween has just become another excuse for retailers to target potential consumers?
•The findings from our questionnaire revealed that the holiday is seen as a celebration focused on children; however we feel that the occasion hits every element of culture. For example: student Halloween parties, adult Halloween events, lantern parades, firework displays, etc. How far do you agree with this?
Below is the script for the presenter for the documentary. In scene 1 and scene 2 the presenter will be shown on camera, however the reamining will only be voice overs. Voice overs are a key code and convention in documentarys as we rarely see what the presenter looks like. Scene 1:
I’m Michael Shakeshaft and you’re watching Halloween: Things that go bump in the night! Today we are going to discover the origins of Halloween and its evolution throughout culture. What really is Halloween? The roots of Halloween date back almost 2,000 years to the Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the gathering of the harvest and the start of a new year.
Scene 2:
Many believe Halloween to be an American holiday for children due to the consumerism. A recent survey said that 20% of public said that it’s a chance to get dressed up. 33.3% said that it’s something for the children. And 30% of people interested believe it to be a religious festival or a celebration of evil. Celebrated throughout many cultures, Halloween has become a major date on the calendar. Children dress up and parents take them trick or treating. However there are people who shut themselves away from this holiday. Is it fair to impose on these people with children’s traditions?
Voice Over • For many children it is simply the time of the year to don fancy dress in the home or charming the neighbours out of a few sweets.
• But a church magazine has shocked parents by warning their children would be 'siding with the devil' if they go trick or treating this Halloween.
• The article, called Halloween Isn't a Treat - Don't Be Tricked, warns parents trick or treating was amounted to 'extortion and blackmail' and 'condemned as criminal the rest of the year’.
• Residents in the scenic Vale of Belvoir, near the Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire border, were told in the article that the evening of October 31 was simply a 'concentration on evil' which made 'fun of potentially dangerous situations'.
• The article appeared in the Belvoir Angel magazine, which is distributed by the Vale of Belvoir benefice, a group of nine parish churches in the area. But it's sparked anger in local villages, where residents described it as offensive and upsetting.
These are the results which are taken from the questionnaire which had 20 questions and were sent out to 30 people to fill in and complete the questionnaire which will give us results for our overall documentary so that it suits the target audience.
