Showing posts with label documentary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label documentary. Show all posts

Saturday, October 9, 2010

On Location Part 2

Today, I spent almost the entire day filming. I went to two locations. I filmed footage of the Jefferson tree and surrounding areas this afternoon and attempted some on-camera footage for the first time. Unfortunately, I had some issues. I believe at one point during, I said "I am under the Jefferson tree where the legends derived from, and it is raining." I am sure that I said shit and laughed a lot too. Haha. I don"t know if I am cut out for this. But I did it so much, that I am sure something good came out of it.

I also had challenges, because the boom mic battery died on me and I had to switch to the lav mic. Oh boy, It sure took a while. Once I returned to the car to put the audio away all snug, I realized I had to leave to pick up my boyfriend from work. So I will be returning tomorrow to finish the rest of the Jefferson tree footage of the forest mazes, old quarry, and old quarry wall.

Afterward, we returned to St. Andrews Anglican Church. It was nearly dusk and I had to rush to re-take all of the previous shots I did without sound. At one point while shooting the cemetery gates, I believe that a frog kept croaking at me. It sounded like it was inside of the stone wall! Soon, it got dark and I continued to film with the LED light. It was creepy, there were noises all around. But the tombstones looked amazing in the dark illuminated by light.

I filmed the end scene of my reenactment and during all this, about four cars pulled up in the dark, saw me and left. I did however see an old 1930 s car, pull onto the street and drive off. Yes, I filmed it. It was awesome, because there is a ghost sighting story about this type of car to be seen on location.

Lastly, while I was packing up, John, my boyfriend, was standing near the equipment facing the church and all of a sudden he says,
"Whoa. Shit!"
I say, "what?"
He says, "nothing."
I say, "what?! Tell me!"
He says, " I thought I saw something walk by."
I say, "Oh, that was my man in black."
He says, "What? Really"
I say, "Yeah, I am filming him in my reenactment."

John did not know the story of the Man in Black. He later told me that he saw a shadowy figure. I say, awesome! That is so cool! Too bad I was kneeling down to put everything away. We had to leave right then because, we had to pick up our son from my parents. Too bad, I will see the Man in Black someday.

~Jenn

Ps. I went to the haunted St. Boniface Museum location this week to talk to the Museum Director. It was great, and I will blog about it soon. Till then, happy haunting!

Friday, October 8, 2010

Something growled at us!

That's right, while on our vigil, we were growled at three times! Tonight was a fun, yet a scary night. We did some screaming, but well, we asked for it. Tonight's investigation was supposed to take place last weekend, however I was faced with some unfortunate circumstances and had to postpone all of my shooting. Tonight at the Jefferson tree, myself and fellow CreComm friend and investigator, Amanda Hope spent hours on location. We scouted for a few hours, got lost in the forest maze, left on a mission, then returned at night fall to film in the dark. It was super fun and super scary.



The crazy thing is, that even though a couple of elderly people set up camp to have some sort of fire, while at the tree, we felt completely off and uneasy.  We decided to venture off to an area, that we never had been. It was our first time, attempting communication there, and quite possibly our last (without boys anyway). It was terrifying! The thing that set us off was being growled at so much and something running towards us that the only way we felt safe was to loudly sing the coconut song from The Lion King!

I am happy to say, that I snapped a ton of photos, like 4 or 5 per a minute, and the orbs in each set, are different. Some move, some disappear. It is exciting. I don't know if you believe, and I know that orbs can be defined as the lens being too close to the flash causing a light reflection. But I ask you, in a few seconds how can some be there and some not. And some move. Believe what you will. I still don't know what to believe. Only, I hope to never to get growled like that at again!

~Jenn

Sunday, September 26, 2010

IPP Progress

Not much to say that has happened this week. I have done no filming, or sighting. I have, however made a contact with my second location to document and am calling tomorrow, to make further plans.

As for the documentary itself, the script is nearly finished, the incredibly first draft anyway. I spent the majority of the weekend, reading, researching, writing, thinking and thus developing my draft. I have also planned the next few weeks and made a schedule. Lots of filming ahead of me. It is almost October and at least two thirds of my doc needs to be filmed outdoors, if not more.
New Jefferson Tree photo, what is this red thing?

I plan to go back to the Jefferson Tree location this week to further the investigation with my good friend Amanda Hope, however we both got sick after our last venture out there and aren't 100% yet. But I have learned that the tree we thought it was, may not be the right one, Apparently the tree we need to find is hidden somewhere in the maze at the park. Not sure if I believe this, but its worth a look.

I also plan to go back to St. Andrews next weekend to re-shoot and do a little research of my own with my guy. Sounds like a great date! Haha, just kidding, but you never know.

Till then,

~ Jenn

Saturday, September 11, 2010

On Location Part 1

So I went out to two locations today, the St. Boniface Museum and the Jefferson (KKK) tree location. I went without a camera, just to scout out these reportedly haunted sites. I brought my digi cam with me to test out shots. Unfortunately ( I am baffled by this) I can not upload these photos to my computer. It appears that they don't exist. I don't understand it, because the images are right there on my camera. I've never had this problem before, so i suppose I will just have to re-take the photographs.

The first location, the St. Boniface Museum, is now somewhat a sanctuary to nuns and the convent that used to reside in the old building. Founded in 1845 the building also used to be a childrens hospital and a Catholic school, which later converted to an all girls Catholic boarding school.  I completely forgot while on location to check out the nearby cemetery which inhabits gravestones that date back to the 1700's.
(I will be returning next weekend)

The second location, at Little Mountain Park, is a secluded off-leash dog park that is fairly steady with visitors. The haunted place, I set out to find was a very old cottonwood tree with one erie branch that hangs near the base of the tree. This one branch stands out from the rest because it lays almost completely parallel with the ground below. The park, including the tree was part of the village, Mount Royal over 100 years ago. The park has remnants of a quarry that once existed.

Taken from Google


I have to say I was unimpressed at both locations with the lack of any sort of feeling that I could have encountered.  The only thing that I feel to be odd, is the lack of photos that I can produce in light of my day.

PS. It was insanely cold on the grounds near the tree at the second location.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Ghost Hunting Day 1

Not really....

Today, as the first step of my IPP (Independent Professional Project) a classmate and I adventured out to case study #1, St. Andrews on the Red Anglican Church. The church built in 1848 is one of the oldest historical sites in Canada. The supposed paranormal activity at this site is astounding and in so, has become my first story to tell.

The church has open visiting hours annually from May until, well.. this weekend. So I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to grab some footage! It wasn't bad. The inside of the church itself isn't really all that cool and pretty small. Except for a stain glass window which is said to be the original from 1881. I filmed it.

We filmed the entire grounds. Nothing really creepy happened, seeing as it was before dusk. Although we did encounter weird 'hammering' type noises that seemed to mirror our every location. There were a couple of times while filming we would look at each other and say, "did you hear that?" Most likely our creep outs were caused by the fact that we knew we were on haunted grounds, but that's okay...

However, in regards to my footage, I spent two hours filming 15 minutes of boring shots! But, that's the way it goes. This documentary is a long process, as it should be, but still totally fun. Exploring the grounds, research, interviews, and reenactments! Now this is right up my alley.

I knew filming just randomly would help heat things up in my mind. I have so many questions. Like why all these children died in 1894, Manitoba archives here I come!

~Jenn

Ps. I met a women on the grounds while filming who told me of another legend. It is said that if you run around the church three times you will see something paranormal and even possibly... disappear.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Time To Get Going

School is one week away and my IPP (Independent Professional Project) is nowhere to be found. For this documentary I have chosen Manitoba Hauntings. One of my topics, recommended by my dad is to get the story on St. Andrews on the Red, located near Selkirk.

According to this site, this spot is number 3 on their top 5 places to visit in Manitoba. Sweet! My first research piece is discovered.

(Taken directly from the site)

3) Selkirk, St. Andrew's on the Red: Dreams of Gates

St. Andrew's on the Red is actually the name of the church in front of the cemetery that is said to be haunted. There has been a man in black and a lady in white said to be drifting through the graveyard at night. A ghost car coming out of nowhere has also been described as well as the sighting of two red eyes staring out through the dark. There also has been a strange connection between those who have visited this cemetery after dark. It is said that they have all had dreams of the cemetery gates rattling.

The sign at the bottom right says - NO TRESPASSING AFTER DUSK

 - Huh!