RAF Nocton Hall History

RAF Nocton Hall was a 740-bed hospital under RAF control from the 1940s until 1984. It was used by civilians and forces personnel until 1984, when it was leased to the USAF as a United States Air Force wartime contingency hospital. During the Gulf War, over 1,300 US medical staff were sent to the Hall and many were billeted at RAF Scampton. Fortunately only 35 casualties had to be treated. In its later days 13 American personnel remained to keep the hospital serviceable. RAF Nocton Hall was handed back to the Her Majesty's Government by the USAF on 30 September 1995.

Health, Safety and Behaviour

When filming there are a few things that we need to do to make sure everybody is safe and nobody gets injured. We are going to do the following to ensure our safety:

·         Make sure that each of us has an emergency contact number in case anything was to go wrong and make sure that we have each other’s phone numbers.

·         Everybody must be calm and take responsibility for their own actions

·         Everybody will be dressed in relation to the weather, wearing suitable footwear so we do not slip, fall and become injured.

·         No one is to act stupidly, running around our location, climbing etc. Make sure we are careful in where we step and what we do.

·         Make sure each member of the group knows how to use the equipment so that nothing gets broke and nobody hurts themselves with the equipment.

We have visited the location to make sure we know of any potential dangers when we are shooting. This will help us to make sure that nobody gets hurt and the opening to this thriller is a good one. We must also make sure that each of us act responsibly and respect our surroundings.

Audience Research Questionnaire

Are you male or female?

Male           

Female       
 
What is your age range?

12-14         
15-17         
18+  

What is your ethnic background?

White British                  

Mixed British        
Asian                    
Black African                  
Black Caribbean    
Chinese                
Other                   

Do you watch thrillers?

Yes   
No     

Do you like thrillers?

Yes   

No     

What location would best suit a thriller?

Woods
Abandoned
Everyday Setting
Bedroom
Other

(If yes) What type of thriller do you like?

Crime thriller                  

Action thriller                 
Psychological thriller      
Religious thriller             
Medical thriller               
Mystery thriller               
Legal thriller                   

Who do you watch thrillers with?

Family        

Friends       
Other          

Where do you tend to watch films?

 

At home               
At the cinema       
Other                   

Where do you hear about films?

Newspaper  

TV              
Internet      
Radio
Magazines  
Other

What makes an advert catch your attention? (Pick Two)

Bold colours         

Bold title              
Dramatic music    
Pictures                
Special effects      
All                        

In the beginning of a thriller do you like a main event taking place to set the story?

Yes   

No     

Do you prefer old fashioned thrillers (e.g. Psycho) or the newer thrillers (e.g. Cabin In The Woods)?

Old fashioned       

New                     

What music do you prefer at the start of a thriller?

Bold and Dramatic         

Quiet and Tense            

At the beginning of a thriller do you prefer?

Dark and mysterious      

Weird and eerie
Other          

How much would you consider on paying for a movie?

£0 - £5
£5-£10
£10-£15
£15-£20

Does the opening of a thriller to you have to be?

Action packed       
Gun fighting        
Mysterious  
Other          

Results

 

 

 

We handed our questionnaire to 15 different people to gain knowledge and feedback on what people look for in a thriller. There are a few things that immediately stood out when looking at the results. We found that most people enjoy thrillers and that people want the main plot to be set straight away. This is interesting and will try to do this in our thriller. Another thing we realised is that the people we asked would prefer a newer thriller compared to an old fashioned thriller. When considering the location we found that an everyday setting was the most popular closely followed by an abandoned theme, if we could combine both of these i feel that we could get the look we want. Asking and looking at the results of these questionnaires have given us a good insight to what people want and what we need to include.

Media Pitch

This is our media pitch, it is something we have to do so that we have chance to dicuss our ideas with different students, this could help us adapt our ideas to be the best they can be.

 

 

IDEA 1

This idea starts with a self set up camera from the protagonist, it’s meant to be his last video diary from the events that have been happening since he took a diary from a museum he visited a while ago, there will be jumpy cuts to him in the museum to explain the storyline , then he leaves his camera on whilst he sleeps, as the film gutters the little girl appears in his room staring at him, and then at the camera, then no one is in the room, he has been taken. We wanted to make this idea a psychological thriller because we wanted depth to our film, playing on spirits hunting him down and also the way he will constantly be being taunted by the spirit. The location of the museum will be Ayscoughfee Museum.

IDEA 2

This idea will play on the history of the building, we will use Lincoln Mental Asylum as our location, as two teenagers (one with a camera) decide to go and look around an abandoned asylum, they hear music being played, they try to find the source of the music, not realising what they have walked into going into the building, as they get closer to the source the music gets louder and cuts become faster, until they find the music being played from a room, however they are not alone, there is a girl in a straight jacket, rocking back and forth, waiting for something or someone to find her, she then runs at the two teenagers, to which it will cut to black.

IDEA 3

For this idea we have chosen our location to be RAF Nocton Hall, we would like to play on its history of it burning down in the second world war, to start we will use a typewriter to set it back to an olden style, we will use the typewriter to type out of the past time of the building, it will then cut to the protagonist walking towards the building and into it, there will be music playing from inside the building that will gradually get louder as he gets closer to the room, as he is walking, there will be cut shots to the man rocking back and forth, looking possessed. When the character finds the room, he will walk in and ask the guy if he is alright, when he gets no reply, he decides to turn off the music, this aggravates the man in the chair, who goes crazy and attacks the protagonist, however it will cut to black as he stands up, this will hold tension and give it a jumpy ending.

Actors and Costume

 

We wanted to keep the amount of actors to a minimum, not only would it make it easier to film with the short amount of time we have but also so the audience build a better connection to the single character while staying focused on the plot.

 

Kieran Hill - The army captain's son that was left in the fire

 

Jacob Anderson - Below: The protaganist who explores the building, discovering where the music is coming from.

 Costume.

This is a mood board that we created after thinking about what we would like our characters to look like. We decided that we would like Kieran Hill, the son that was abandoned in the fire, to be in smart atire

 

This is a mood board that we created after thinking about what we would like our characters to look like. We decided that we would like Kieran Hill, the son that was abandoned in the fire, to be in smart attire, almost like he was still making an effort for his farther. We also thought that it would be a good idea to include some burns, as he was abandoned in a fire it will make the story line easier to understand and have better continuity.

We also then thought that because the general idea of Jacob Anderson going into the building is because he has heard the rumours of music being played from the abandoned building and wanted to find out for himself if this was true. So we thought that it would be a good idea to dress him in casual attire.

 

 

Prop Planning

 

This is a mood board that we originally created to gather our ideas on what sort of props we would like to use. Some of these will feauture in the thriller opening but others will not.

When thinking about props we need to try and put things in the scene that are almost old, this is because we are doing an old scene at an old location we need to think very carefully about our plot and the props we will need to make this plot seem realistic. As our plot surrounds a boy who was left in a fire by his father when Nocton Hall burnt down we need to consider this fire. We have done this by burning some of the photos we are going to use and making sure they look old and realistic to this time period by coffee staining them and crumpling them up.

 

We are then going to have an old television in the room, maybe some kind of old bedding and a vinyl player, the vinyl player will be playing music through the scene and will get louder as the teenager gets closer to the room.

 

In an earlier scene a typewriter will also be used to introduce the beginning of a thriller, this has been used in other movies such as Sherlock Holmes, but we feel it is very fitting to this thriller opening. We have made sure that we are paying attention to detail by making sure we have the correct header on the letter that we are writing.

Lighting Plans

As our location are old shelters undround, and the room we would like to do has only one old window which is mostly covered in overgrowth from outside, we will have to rely on non-natural lighting, so we have got ourselves three 800 watt redhead lights, doing our lighting like this will benefit what we want to do as we can increase or decrease lighting in certain areas to helps us manipulate the audiences focus. Also if it was to get dark we would be fine as we could increase the intensity of light.

800 Watt Redhead Light

 

Sound / Sound effects

After looking for music on various sites, we found this off the movie 'Insidious' and we thought it would suit our thriller well to give an eerie feel. It is called Tiptoe through the tulips by Tiny Tim. As well as this music, we will use diegetic sound of the typewriter and also the scratching of the vinyl as it is turned off later on in the thriller. Listening to this song we realised that we need to include other tension bulding music. Such as breathing.

Thriller Script

Reading out of the letter at the start whilst the typewriter is going on:

'Nocton Hall was home to 1300 U.S staff and 35 Casualties from World War 2 it however sadly burnt down in 1841.

11 lives were lost within the burning rubble of the hall.

It was rumoured that Cpt. Thomas Johnson luckily escaped the fire, having to leave his only child, Benjamin Johnson.

The body was never found...

To this day locals report music being played from the building, even though the remains of the building has been abandoned for 178 years.

Sincerely,

William T. Turner"

 

 Then as Jake turns the music off we considered whether or not he should say anything, we then realised that without any dialogue it would help build the tension in the opening scene.

Actual Shooting destination - location shots

The last location we visited was RAF Nocton Hall, after visiting this we feel it has the best feeling to it and a chilling history behind the place, this location is more accessible than the others and also is a little closer.

 

This is a picture of the front of the building, even though it was dark, you can still see the sheer height and setting of the building.

 

Whilst we were inside we found a room we though would be good to use, its a very open and high room, making lighting easy to place and is very clear, making it safe to film  in.

 

 

This is a overhead shot taken off Google, it helps show location and helps show how the house is very alone and shut in with trees around the area.

 

 

 

 

Shooting Day Agenda

7:00 - Makeup

9:00 - All getting picked up from Tesco garage in Bourne by Max.

10:00 - Arrive at RAF Nocton Hall, then all go in and take a quick look around the inside of the building.

10:30 - Set up so we are ready to film as quick as possible and take some practise videos to see what it will look like.

11:00 - Start our actual filming, taking our time with the shots and making sure everything is professionally done.

12:00 - Filming.

13:00 - Filming.

14:00 - Filming.

15:00 - Filming.

16:00 - Finish filming, make sure we have every shot we need and then pack up and get back to the car.

Spalding Museum - Location shots

We knew this location as we had discussed it before, the exterior of the building is perfect for what we wanted, it has a nice old feel to it, however the inside is very reconstructed as it a museum, so we feel we wont be able to shoot our idea here.

The is a shot from outside of the building showing the beautiful design of the building and the dying tree in front adding to the effect

 

 

This is a shot of the 'Ice House' in the garden of the museum, we thought we could use this as a cool idea and play on claustrophobia as an idea for a plot.

 

Lincoln mental asylum - location shots and planning

 

 

When considering where we wanted to film our production we had a few ideas of what the building had to include; we wanted the building to be large, old and almost abandoned. We were very precise in what we wanted to make sure we really did the best opening we could. Here are a few locations we visited and final RAF Nocton Hall, the one we decided would work best.

We wanted to pick a large, old style building because we wanted it to have history and a story behind how it has got to be how it is, so we first chose Lincoln's Mental Asylum.

 

This picture is of the side of the building, the way is set out makes for a weird and eerie feel, the buildings connected by only one tunnel.

 

This picture shows off the water tower, a large white building standing higher than the others.

 

This is a shot of the back of the building, I have edited it slightly to give it more of a creepy feel