Hugh Chatfield
Class of 2009
This may one of the key turning points in my life. Going back to school full time at age 67 presents it own difficulties. Do I still have a mind? Will I live long enough? ;-)
I enjoyed the course immensely. I met many students and filmmakers. I saw many documentaries. I started on my very first documentaries. I got seriously involved in researching very early Canada - 1816. This date has become a peg in the sand for me. I feel I have some sense of reality in my head about the year 1816 because of this research, and I began to relate other dates relative to this date. During the second SIFT workshop, I got to walk downtown in front of the parliament buildings. There are numerous plaques about the various places on that street and I was amazed to realize that all these dates on the plaques were after my documentary in 1816.
The Docs I produced during the course were:
I enjoyed the course immensely. I met many students and filmmakers. I saw many documentaries. I started on my very first documentaries. I got seriously involved in researching very early Canada - 1816. This date has become a peg in the sand for me. I feel I have some sense of reality in my head about the year 1816 because of this research, and I began to relate other dates relative to this date. During the second SIFT workshop, I got to walk downtown in front of the parliament buildings. There are numerous plaques about the various places on that street and I was amazed to realize that all these dates on the plaques were after my documentary in 1816.
The Docs I produced during the course were:
|
|
|
“Daniel’s Journal - History Rewritten”
This a 30 minute piece about Daniel Daverne - the first secretary stores-keeper at the first military settlement in Canada at Perth Ontario. Perth was founded in 1816.
From about 1820 on, History treats Daniel as a villain, a scoundrel, an all around bad guy. Yet the discovery of a ledger in the rubble of an old downtown building being renovated turns out to be the personal copy book of Daniel Daverne from 1816 - 1820. This copy book revealed a completely different history of Daniel Daverne... and the possibility of a conspiracy by his superior officers to take his lands. I am currently re-editing all three of these into what I might consider their final form. Daniel’s Journal is targeted to be released as a DVD with special features into primarily an educational market. For more of Hugh's videos and documnetaries visit his youtube channel and his online blog. Update: Jan 9, 2012 - The documentary expands! Much has happened with this doc since the above. I have decided there has to be a "trilogy" - targeted for release by 2016, the bi-centennial of the founding of Perth Ontario. There will be: Daniel's Journal - Part 1: History Rewritten (realeasing soon) - Part 2: The Great Perth Historical Archaeological Expedition (early stages) - Part 3: Mysteries Revealed I am into Part 2 - mainly in research and discovery. This part got launched when I received an email from someone calling himself "old wizard", who having looked at my production web site, told me I hadn't discovered all the secrets yet. This led to a story about Daniel's Journal being found by some kids, skipping Sunday School, finding a secret underground tunnel - contining a bookcase with 25 journals in it - Daniel's Journal being one of them. It only took a little research to find out that tunnels certainly existed, but not the one old wizard was talking about. This Doc will cover my search for this particular tunnel. To date, I have many eye witness accounts, circumstantial physical evidence, documented references, and results from some professional "dowsers" - who claim they detected this very tunnel. It is 12-14 feet wide and 11 feet high - and all evidence collected correspond to a single straight line tunnel path. Next step is to prove with scientific instrumentation that there is something down there, followed up by an archaeological dig at a prime location I have already identified and have permissions for. I have 2 professional archaeologists on the team to assist. The really strange part is that evidence of an entire tunnel complex is emerging during the search. Multiple tunnels connecting many locations in town. Curiously, the earliest documented evidence (supported by eye witnesses I have found) is 1883 - that refers to "aging" tunnels. Since Perth was founded in 1816, that gives rise to many questions. Who built them, when, why? Now THAT - is the subject for Part 3. |
|
