Digital Media Level 3 Semester B

Looking into historical figures and local hauntings, I have come up with different ideas for the basis of the story outside of a completely fiction story.

Edward King House

The story of Edward King House has 2 ghost sightings. One of which is a woman in white connected to a skull bricked up in the walls. When removed, the building started to scream. The other story is 2 robbers went to rob the house, but decided to stop after seeing a large man with the home-owner. Years later, when confessing, the robber was informed there was no one with the owner. Both of these ghost could be potential characters for the event, as well as the old robber who could recount the event.

Guildhall

The Lincoln Guildhall has had many reports of different noises and hauntings in the building. By building on the stories of these narratives, I can create my own story. The already existing factors will allow me to use the location as a starting point to draw people in to the event using the true accounts.

HOME Nightclub

There is a story of a ghost of a blonde girl appearing in HOME Nightclub, as well as reports of people being called, with no identified caller. This hauling interests me as it shows a more modern case of a haunting, with a modern ghost. Being more modern, this story stands out from the rest, and may attract a younger audience, especially due to it’s night club origin.

Houdini

100 years ago (1917) Harry Houdini first performed the buried alive magic trick. Using the idea of magic tricks, the ghost could be of houdini. Tis connection to history will allow for a story to be built around why there is a ghost, and basing the story on a true character will draw the audience in for them to learn more about the person.

 

One idea for the story is to make it completely based in fiction. This allows me the creative freedom to make the narrative myself, and control the environment that the audience experiences. By controlling the fictional story, it allows me to create a unique experience that will not be related to anything else. The freedom will also allow the actors to have more control over the experience, as there is no history in their characters. Without being bound by facts, the actors will be able to create a more natural and fluid experience for the audience. A fictional story will further make the experience unique, as the story will not be accessible anywhere else.

However, a method to further draw people in is to base the experience on a true story. Either by looking at a historical event, or by using one of Lincoln’s own ghost stories, the experience will be based on fact and work with the time and location to attract more people to the experience. Lincoln has many ghost stories, such as Edward King house’s Guardian Angel and White Woman, and one or many of these could be a strong basis for my piece. These ‘true’ hauntings will improve the audience appeal, due to the local connections, and draw more people into the event. If the locations of these hauntings can be used for the event, the connection will be further improved as well. These locations will also improve the idea of the ghosts and the hauntings even in the case of a fictional story, as there will already be the connection to the idea of the spirits and the occult.

Historical events could also be used as the basis for the story. Using real historical figures as the characters for the event will allow for the audience to communicate with a real person as if they had returned. Whilst this can be used to draw the audience in, due to the appeal of a local key figure, or famous person, portraying a historical figure my be difficult for the actor. First of all, similarities in appearance will be necessary between the actor and the character. Secondly, the actor will have to present the character in a way that is believable to the audience. And thirdly, the actor will have to be will versed in knowledge of the character, as the interaction between the audience and the actor is paramount to the performance. The actor must be prepared to answer any questions to audience may have in order to sell the complete experience.However, if this is done pre-recorded, then the actor will one need to portray the character convincingly, as all the information will be scripted.

The idea for the project is to build on the existing concept of the ghost walk and adapt it to further play on the idea of hauntings and ghost appearances. To do this, I plan to create a ghost-tour style installation that will follow the structure of a ghost tour; where a tour guide leads a group of people round room by room, giving them information about different hauntings and spiritual occurrences. However, to separate this experience from existing ones, during the tour, the ghosts themselves will appear as projections to the audience. This will separate them from the tour guide and audience, as they will not really be there, giving them a more ghostly feel.

These projections could be pre-recorded, creating a thoroughly scripted experience, and will make the timings essential to the overall experience. However, I have also considered live-streaming the projections. This would allow for the ‘Ghost’ characters to have a further element of interaction, as they can respond to the audience instantly, and catch the audience off guard.

Further elements of projection could also be included into the overall experience. Instead of only having projection ghosts, different forms of projections, such as moving pieces of information, or using projections to create poltergeist-esche activity could be used. This could turn the ghost tour into an overall haunted house, opening the idea up to be more inclusive of different elements.

The story for the piece will be completely fictional and written exclusively for the project. It will either be a general story or based in with the location in which the project is to be held. This would be the more ideal option, as it further connects the environment to the project, creating a more immersive experience for the audience, as the location adds to the character of the piece.

The original idea for my piece is to create an interactive exhibit between a live actor and a projection of a person, representing a ghost. This interaction will be different to standard ghost appearances, as the ghost will be a person, but will not have a physical form. This will create an added degree of realism to the idea of the ghost, as they will only be image.

As a projection, the ghost can appear around the room, and move between projections to make it feel like they are actually there, whilst only being an image. This allows the ghost to scare the audience, as they will have abilities that a normal person will not. the positioning of the ghost will also allow it to have a degree of interaction with the audience, like telling them to turn round when it moves, making the experience more direct then a ghost tour.

The idea of a ghost tour is the basis of the idea. Instead of a tour guide telling the audience about the ghost stories, the ghosts themselves can appear to tell there own tales. This can be done as a horror style piece, or a comedy piece. The horror version can show blood and gore, showing murders; whilst a comedy version can have the ghosts correcting the guide about their lives and deaths. Both versions of the tour could be run to attract different audiences to the event.

As they are not live actors, special effects can be used to make them more ghostly. Dismemberments and floating effects can be used on the ghosts, making them stand out from the tour guide. It also allows for further illustrations of the stories to feature, as these can be shown and told simultaneously, as apposed to just being told to the audience.

To create this piece, research into different ghost stories will be conducted. This will allow me to build the exhibit up from pre-existing a ‘true’ material, added to the sense of supernatural realism I hope to create with this piece. By basing the stories on ‘true’ occurrences, locations and background information can be further explored, to make the stories as creepy as possible, or to have them easily corrected by the ghosts.

This idea comes form another idea I had, but would not be possible at this time due to time restraints and lack of resources. This first idea was to have a stage play in which a live actor is an exorcist, and needs to remove a ghost; played by a projected actor, from a building. The exorcist learns about the ghost’s past and why he haunts this location. Whilst this cannot be achieved, the idea of a live actor and a projected one creating a narrative is the core, and is being implemented in the form of the new style of ghost tour.