(MP3002) individual project log 3

I’ve just come from my initial meeting with Brian Conquer. He signed a release form for the documentary and read the treatment I had written. Going through the treatment with Brian it became apparent I’d made some mistakes that made him angry. I had gotten the name of his druid grove wrong and named other so-called druid as a member of the same grove when in fact they were not. I was able to placate him and I learnt from it. If I do present a prospective interviewee or contributor with my ideas I need to ensure I have all my facts straight and research the subject properly – that said Brian seemed to take it in his stride and put me straight on the mistakes I’d made. He also gave me feedback on my treatment and felt that it would be a nightmare to film at Stonehenge. It would be very busy there and its very unlikely I would get anywhere near, also Brian felt it wouldn’t be very authentic – that it is often quite staged and further more he wouldn’t be attending. The reasons for that are Brian’s failing health and the fact that his Grove do not attend the ceremony at Stonehenge. My idea has always been an observational style documentary on winter solstice and what I want to do is capture the real solstice I don’t want some plastic American solstice where everyone is dressed up for the camera. The angle I wanted to take was real people and real lives, pagan Britain in modern times. Now, where I went to meet Brian was the chalice well and it became apparent to me after reading their what’s on brochure that they have their own solstice celebrations so the idea I have forming in my mind is to base the film at and around the chalice well grounds and Solstice Celebrations they have instead of at Stonehenge. There are several reasons I feel this would work. Firstly Brian works there and spends a lot of time there. Secondly there would be interplay between him and his colleges. Third after talking to staff members it came out that the people who attend celebrations at the well are local characters who know each other so there is a sense of community. Fourth and finally my gut feeling is that this idea is more substantial and revolves around community and relationships whilst still keeping the winter solstice central. It seems as though there could be more of a story here!
Now the snag…there is a blanket no filming policy in place at the well, which seems excessive. I spoke to the trustee’s who have asked me to put my ideas in writing and email them so that they can make a decision on whether to give me the go ahead to shoot there.