Updated Final Film narrative: Dundee promo

 Updated Final Film narrative: Dundee promo                                                                                      08/11/22

McManus museum: https://www.dundee.com/activity/mcmanus-dundees-gallery-museum

After discussing the narrative with my tutor and how much of a focal point Dundee was to the film, I am now developing the structure of my film to showcase the city and it's cultural significance.  Dundee has a number of milestones, including being one of Britain's first whaling ports, home to 10% of Britain's game development studios, the birth place of DC Thomson and a major hub for medical research.  From my visit to the McManus museum, I have also been inspired to create some more animated references to Dundonian heritage, such as the city's silversmiths and the prominence of the Black Watch in the city's history.

A nickname for Dundee was once "Juteopolis" due to the prominence of the Jute factories and trade, and I already have a reference for this in my list of test shots.  I also aim to draw reference to the city's love for dragons according to local folklore.  There is a local story of how a farmer had sent his daughters to try and get a pail of water, only to meet a grizzly fate at the hands of a dragon which resided by.  The farmer then alerted the lover of one of his daughter's, whose name was Martin, and then he raised an angry mob to kill the dragon, and the monument of this is Craigowl Hill, which commemorates Martin's victory over the beast.  This poem accompanies the monument: 

‘Tempted at Pitempton

Draigled at Baldragon

Stricken at Strathmartine

And killed at Martin’s Stane’

Admittedly, the more references included in the film, the more I will have to animate, and I have no intentions of straying from the film's ultimate flaneur narrative.  Other elements I will aim to draw from in the film include the silver industry which reached its peak in the mid 18th century.  Noteworthy silversmiths from Dundee include John Austen, Alex Cameron, William Constable and David Manston.  At this point, there are six major industries present in Dundee that contribute to the local economy.  They are energy, tourism, retail, life sciences, creative industries and contact, with strengths in training.  

The city's prominence with Jute was well established because of it's extensive trade with Dundee and the fact that the crop could be bought inexpensively, and at its peak, the Jute industry employed half of Dundee's population.  Dundee even had the largest jute mill in the world at Camperdown Works, which housed its own train station, foundry and school.   Dundee also owed much of its prominence to the fishing industry, which led toward the prominence of the whaling industry.

1903 Map of Dundee: https://svjmedia.nl/internationaljournalism/6512/the-dundee-frenemies/

Dundee Whaling Ship: https://thecourieruk.shorthandstories.com/scotlands-whaling-history/

Whale Sculpture: https://www.scotsman.com/heritage-and-retro/heritage/giant-whale-sculpture-arrives-in-dundee-after-four-day-sea-journey-in-poor-weather-3423857

Gourepore Jute Mills: http://www.dhtcollections.com/item/Brand_ViewofGoureporeJuteMills_427_0_26331_1.html

Camperdown Jute Mills: http://www.dhtcollections.com/item/Brand_ViewofGoureporeJuteMills_427_0_26331_1.html

Jute ship: https://www.open.edu/openlearn/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=1643&extra=thumbnailfigure_idm173

One of the most prominent parts of local culture and historical reference that I aim to draw from is from local Pictish Stones, which are the craft of the Picts, a tribe dating back to at least 297 AD.   Pictish stones are intended as personal memorials of individual clans and myths.  The meaning of the stones has been open to much interpretation, and I will aim to create at least one animation of a Pictish symbol to draw the protagonist further through Dundee's history and culture.  The Picts were originally known as a warrior-like tribe, and were said to have spoken their own language, though also shared the knowledge of Latin with the other nations that resided in Britain.   Their stones have always resided in their original locations, near churches, by roads or on hilltops.  The stones are usually made of sandstone, granite, slate or whinstone, and have three distinctive styles: decorative, narrative and relief.  Even the way the stones are formed are indicative of their communications, whether they are carved simply with symbols or whether the carvings are more detailed and populated.  If the stones contained a cross, they were believed to be of a Christian descent.   One of the most prominent groups of Pictish stones are located at Aberlemno near Forfar, which depict a battle as well as several Christian images, a comb and a snake.  These pictish styles will be a great influence because I can draw from their carving styles and imperfections to create a unique animated sequence that is a depiction of local myths and folklore which the protagonist will be exposed to.   The animation will largely be drawn from what is known as Symbol stones, which will connote the value of life and past-time.  Even though Christianity has influenced a lot of Pictish stones, I will not be including any references to religion to keep the film more open-minded.

Aberlemno Pictish Stones: https://aberlemno.org/the-stones.php

Woodwrae Stone: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodwrae_Stone

St Vigeans Pictish Stone: https://arbroathfestival.com/programme/st-vigeans-new-stone/

On a further note, the word "Daedal" is derived from the mythological prisoner Daedalus, and who created feathered wings to escape the prison with his son Icarus, and Daedalus is Greek for "skilfully wrought".  

Pictish stone with harp: https://www.davidlyonsphotography.com/image/I0000UU31112tm3Q

Pictish stone symbols: https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/media/4037/symbols_big.gif

I chose the Pictish stones for animation reference because they were the method used by the Picts to pass on their mythologies and mysteries.  Some of the stones were said to have been painted using natural minerals The symbols are also a unique choice of animation reference due to their rustic drawing quality, and carved nature making them subject to fading.  This style of animation could be done with either 2D or 3D software, but I prefer to use 2D because of it's resemblance to the original designs.  

One place of interest that I will use for reference to the printing industry of the city is the West Ward Works, which is currently used as an Art Hub for local creators.  The building was originally built as a fireproof mill in 1806, and was utilised by DC Thomson as a printing press until 2010.  Recently, the space has been used as the host site for the Dundee Design Festival and had space for three galeries, a cinema, and an auditorium.  The site is clearly a vital monument of the print industry and will act as a metaphor for the city's past and present life. 

 

West Ward Works art hub: https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/historic-dundee-printworks-become-new-aps18m-culture-hub-1452991

Bibliography

Harris, P. (2018) Post-industrial Dundee is reinventing itself as a hub of creativity, City Monitor. New Statesman Media Group. Available at: https://citymonitor.ai/economy/post-industrial-dundee-reinventing-itself-hub-creativity-3481 (Accessed: November 8, 2022).

Brown, R. (2020) Here be dragons! the story behind Dundee's famous dragon statue, SeeDundee. DC Thomson. Available at: https://www.seedundee.com/see/here-be-dragons-the-story-behind-dundees-famous-dragon-statue/ (Accessed: November 8, 2022).

Dundee and the Jute Industry (no date) naturalbagcompany.co.uk. The Natural Bag Company. Available at: https://naturalbagcompany.co.uk/jute-news/dundee-and-the-jute-industry/ (Accessed: November 9, 2022).

Kolesnik, S. (2021) Dundee - Scotland's lost industrial empire, ArcGIS StoryMaps. Esri. Available at: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/89b65e8f684a47bab7ccc058e0bb1570 (Accessed: November 9, 2022).

Gilbert, I. (1995) The symbolism of the Pictish Stones in Scotland: A study of origins. Dorchester: Speedwell Books.

Daedal definition & meaning (no date) Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster. Available at: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/daedal (Accessed: November 10, 2022).

Pyrgies, J. (2021) Pictish symbol stones: From pagan beast to the Cross, ARCHAEOTRAVEL.eu. Archaeotravel. Available at: https://archaeotravel.eu/pictish-symbol-stones-from-pagan-beast-to-the-cross/ (Accessed: November 10, 2022).

Treggiden, K. (2017) An old dundee mill will become one of Britain's largest creative spaces, The Spaces. Available at: https://thespaces.com/dundee-mill-to-become-one-of-britains-largest-creative-spaces/ (Accessed: November 10, 2022).