The Keep- Episode 3 Summary:

The Keep: Episode 3- Ultimatum

The stranger arrives in the village surrounding the Keep and takes refuge in a small room for rent.

Magda finds Theorfore, who has become several decades younger. He explains to her that the demon, Molasar was responsible and wishes to help him so that he might help them.

After visiting the village, Magda comes across the Stranger, named Glakken, who presses her for information on the occurrences within the Keep. He explains that the demon, Molasar, has has escaped from his prison within the Keep and that he, himself, had sealed Molasar away many years ago. He had awaited the day in which Molasar would inevitably be released and had come to seal him away again, if not destroy him completely.

In the Keep, a semi-formed Molasar confronts Theodore. He explains that he needs to go into the depths of the Keep and retrieve a key which will disable the final bonds on prison and he will be free as Molasar is unable to retrieve it himself. In order to convince Theodore, Molasar promises that he will seek out and destroy the Nazi empire if he does this, which Theodore blindly agrees to.

Theodore then goes into the village in search for Magda, who he finds has become romantically involved with Glakken. Glakken tries to warn Theodore not to help Molasar escape as he would bring nothing but destruction. Theodore feels threatened by Glakken and proceeds to report him to Woermann and Kaempffer, accusing him of the murders of the german soldiers.

Glakken is being brought in by several german soldiers when he puts up a fight and is shot, seemingly fatally wounded, and falls into the river which surrounds the Keep.

The Keep- Episode 2 Summary:

The Keep: Episode 2- Convergence

After another german soldier is killed, and Kaempffer himself is threatened, A message written in an unknown language is found written in blood on a a wall. the villagers are made to interpret. After being unable to do so, one of them advises the Woermann about an old philosopher and professor by the name of Theodore Cuza, who they think will be helpful in finding out what might be killing the german soldiers.

German soldiers arrive a the Cuza household and force both Theodore and Magda to come with them to the Keep.

Theodore and Magda Cuza arrive at the Keep, where Theodore is set straight to work on interpreting what the killer might be. Not far away, the stranger approaches by bike, dealing with several german-patrolled road blocks on his way.

Several german soldiers attempt to rape Magda during the night when the killer arrives, having taken an incomplete form and rescues her. She is then carried by the monster back to her father. Theodore is given an ultimatum by the monster, revealed to be named ‘Molasar’, where Theodore is allowed to live if he helps Molasar escape the Keep. He then leaves Theodore after decelerating his age so that he is a young man again.

'The Keep' Title Evolution

Here are a few images showing a small evolution of the main title for my project. This includes from when I was trying to create an aesthetic resembling 1980s media to the new visual and sound direction reflecting war films from the 1950s and 1960s.

Some other experimental ideas are included as well:

This last image is a roughly edited version of some of the shots I got when location scouting. I inserted the backdrop of the mountains in order to better establish the setting as well as placing small trucks to give the 'Keep' an illusion of greater size than the pill-box I shot actually was.

The font used for this last image is also what I feel should be the final font used for my pre-production project as I feel it greatly perfectly reflects the type of style used in the older war films, particularly 'Where Eagles Dare'.

'The Keep' Title Sequence Test Shots/ Location Scout

My idea for the title sequence for 'The Keep' was to have multiple close-ups of a stone building, standing in for the eponymous Keep itself intercut with shots of mountainous landscapes in reference to the setting of the Transylvanian Alps in Romania.

It is most likely that I will be unable to acquire shots of mountainous landscapes myself, therefore I shall probably use stock footage to fill in these areas.

I decided to try and get some test shots for the title sequence. As it happens, there are several old buildings such as pill-boxes which were used during the Second World War around area where I live. These disused buildings from a time gone by would be perfect for my idea, making it look like an old fortress.

Obviously, the pill-boxes themselves are quite small, meaning that I should use close-ups on various parts of the building using varying angles. This should hopefully give the illusion of a far bigger structure.

Here are some examples of the shots I managed to get:

I was able to get some videos, showing what kind of shots I am planning to use. These will be included as an edited video in a future blog.

New Aesthetic for Pre-Production- 'Where Eagles Dare'

Upon feedback advising me to look for an aesthetic for visual and sound creative elements that is more suitable for the time period which the story is set in, I started to look into old war films from the 1950s and 1960s.

After searching I came across the opening sequence to the 1968 film 'Where Eagles Dare' starring Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood. The film itself centres around a rescue operation where the two leads, along with a squad, infiltrate a Nazi-controlled fortress in order to rescue an American who is holding vital information.

Upon watching the opening credits, I immediately noticed the blood-red text that appears on screen, displaying the names of the cast along with the main title. The text is almost gothic in its design, somewhat representative of the iconography of Nazis portrayed through British and American media at the time. I feel that this style of graphic would be very suitable for my own project, not only in reflection of the time period and this film's own visual style, but representative of both the evil force that is also present is 'The Keep'. It is also worth note that main title appeared with informational notices underneath, something which I should replicate for my own project for the sake of authenticity.

What struck me most about the opening titles was the score playing through them. The music was not as bombastic as some of the other older war films I looked at, instead being a slow, building march. The opening few notes, played by a selection of brass and string instruments almost seem filled with dread; a direct contrast to the more heroic and almost uplifting scores of several other war films. This dread is almost reflective of the war itself. Even when the music starts to sound more heroic, it does not sound uplifting. I feel that this direction for the score would be suitable as, although set during the Second World War, I am adapting from a Horror story. Therefore the sense of dread inlayed within the score would suit the story whilst still being reflective of the older war film aesthetic.

Here is the opening to 'Where Eagles Dare':

I will continue to look at other war films from around this time but I am very happy with this sort of style which I hope to pay tribute to within my pre-production project.

Feedback From Pitch Presentation:

The main piece of feedback I was given after presenting my Pitch was to rethink my ideas about giving the project an 80s aesthetic.

As the source material is set in the early 1940s, during World War Two, it does not entirely make sense why a story set in this time period would have the aesthetic of being made during the 1980s. My initial idea for this mostly stemmed through inspiration from the film adaptation of 'The Keep' from 1983. I feel that this film's direction and aesthetic eluded me into thinking that my own project should feel the same way.

However, looking at these ideas now, this would have not been very original and would have felt like I was copying the previous adaptation and not making it my own.

Therefore, I will need to rethink this approach, perhaps instead looking and taking inspiration from previous works more suited to this time period, creating a visual and sound aesthetic inspired by this instead.

Other feedback included being advised to not worry about including certain elements such as camera, and sound equipment as I am not actually planning on creating this project for real. This gives me the opportunity to give more focus to the other creative elements to be included in the Pre-Production Portfolio.

Pre-Production Pitch Presentation

This is the pre-production pitch which was presented, outlining my intentions and ideas. Some of the slides have been reused from a previous presentation.

 

Year 3 Dissertation Research Workshop Notes

Have you identified how each chapter will help answer the question/ enquiry?
This should be reflected in the chapter titles.
The focus of the chapters directly relate to the question/ enquiry; chapters build on each other to answer the question/ enquiry.
Not three many essays

Do you have a research plan for your chapters?

Question is sound.
Chapters clearly reflect the question in stages.
You have planned what you need to research for chapter 1.

To help you in the writing stages:
-Do enough research
-Follow a chapter plan
-Follow some form of paragraph structure.

What is the general structure?
The main body of an 8000 word thesis is broken into chapters (usually 3 depending on the enquiry):

Introduction

Chapter 1- (Beginning) May contain definitions of terms used in the question, basic theory, background information or historical ideas or contexts.

Chapter 2- (Middle) Utilises and builds on information from Chapter 1 e.g. application of theories, current discussions or current context, or any information.

Reminder of Paragraph Structure:
-Paragraph Focus
-Introductions of quotation
-Context of the quotation
-'Quotation'
-(Reference)
-Interpretation of quotation
-Analysis & conclusions drawn from quotation
-Conclude point of paragraph & lead onto focus of next point in next paragraph.

Pre-Production- Keep Characters

Part of the pre-production process will involve the casting of actors in each role. Luckily, as this is an adaptation of a source material, I already have good descriptions of the characters and thus the type of actors I should look for. 

Below is a list of the primary characters from 'The Keep' along with their attributes. I have also included pictures of the characters/ actors from the 1983 film adaptation as well in order to show a visual representation and to compare:

(Capt.) Klaus Woermann

(As portrayed by Jurgen Prochnow)

Woermann is a captain in the German Army who is sent with his troop to take up residence in the mysterious Keep in ten Transylvanian Alps, Romania as a vantage point between two vital locations.

He sees the Nazis for who they really are, having seen the atrocities they have committed and thus wants nothing to do with them, despite being repeatedly offered to join the party.

It is Woermann who witnesses his men being murdered in the Keep and calls German Command for help.

Attributes:

Hair- Brown, short

Build- Large, slightly overweight.

Age- 35- 45

(Sturmbannführer) Erich Kaempffer

(As portrayed by Gabriel Byrne)

Kaempffer is a man who idolises the Nazi party and will try to enforce their values upon everyone he sees. When Woermann sends for help, Kaempffer is the man sent to help him, along with his extermination squad. He does not believe in the stories behind the killings and proceeds to accuse and try to kill the villagers surrounding the Keep.

Attributes:

Hair- Blonde, short

Eyes- Blue

Build- Tall, slim.

Age- 35- 45

Magda Cuza

(As portrayed by Alberta Watson)

Magda is the daughter of Theodore Cuza, dedicated to taking care of her terminally ill father. She becomes involved with the man known as 'The Stranger' and learns of the evil power that haunts the Keep.

Attributes:

Hair- Brown, long

Build- Slim

Age- 30- 40

(Dr.) Theodore Cuza

(As portrayed by Ian McKellen)

Theodore Cuza is a Jewish proffessor struck with a terminal illness and angry at the Nazi party for the way in which he and his fellow Jews have been treated. When the great power of the Keep offers him a chance to be rid of the Nazis forever after curing him of his illness, he forms an alliance with the evil power.

Attributes:

Hair- White/ grey, mid-length

Build- Skinny

Age- 45- 60

Glaeken Trismegestus/ 'The Stranger'

(As portrayed by Scott Glenn)

'The Stranger' wakes suddenly as the evil power held within the Keep is unleashed and travels far to Romania to confront that of which only he knows the true power.

Attributes:
Hair- Red, short.
Build- Slim
Age- 30- 45

Molasar

The physical manifestation of the evil power in the Keep. Molasar slowly rebuilds himself after feeding on his victims before being able to free himself from teh Keep. He tricks Theodore Cuza into helping him get an artefact which acts as the final lock on the Keep's prison of which he is contained.