Scuttlers -Street Gang Member - Animation

Images as drawn for the Scuttler animation sequence. Drawn in negative, then inverted in photoshop for a more 'ghostly' appearance when animated.

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Final Film

Photographs

Some of the hundreds of photographs taken for the film.

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See the full gallery on Posterous

See the full gallery on Posterous

Hell Is A City

I've mentioned 'Hell Is A City' before. Crime Noir shot in Manchester in 1960, starring Stanley Baker. I think the look of the film influenced some sections of my final film. The hard black and white. It's all tied in to the fictional/dream thing I've been concentrating on.

Starfish site - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Starfish sites, or bombing decoy sites, were deliberately created simulations of burning towns that were constructed in Britain during World War II. The name came from the code name for one of the sites, "Starfish", itself from the original code, SF, for Special Fire.

Starfish sites were used to decoy German night bombers away from bombing real towns. Towns thus successfully protected, according to some^[who?], include Bristol, Sheffield, and Derby. 'Starfish' decoy sites were part of Britain’s war of deception against German attacks, and were designed to protect various targets, including airfields, factories, and even cities. They were established in July 1940 by the National Decoy Authority, as part of a programme of civil defences known as the 'C-series' of civil decoys. They were operated by lighting a series of controlled fires or other pyrotechnics during an air raid, in order to simulate an urban area targeted by bombs. There were various types of smaller decoy sites, including the “QL” decoy sites, which used lights, and the “QF” sites, which were dummy fire sites. The 'QL' decoys used a grid of muted lights to resemble factories during a poorly observed blackout.^[1]

Contents  [hide]  1 Examples of Starfish sites 2 References 3 Further reading 4 External links

[edit] Examples of Starfish sites

World War II bunker on Black Down

During World War II, a bombing decoy town was constructed on Black Down on the Mendip Hills, which was intended to represent the blazing lights of Bristol. The decoy, known under the code-name "Starfish", derived from the original code, SF (Special Fire), used fires of creosote and water to simulate incendiary bombs exploding. In addition, glow boxes were used to simulate the streets and railways of Bristol; the light bulbs were powered by electrical generators turned by Coventry Climax petrol engines contained in two bunkers.^[2][3] The success of this endeavour is questionable, with no ground indications that the hills were used as targets.^[4]

A Starfish decoy site existed at Long Wood at grid reference NS 540 524 outside Eaglesham in East Renfrewshire, Scotland. Clusters of impressions where basket fires once stood, bounded by fire-break trenches, covered much of the area in World War II photographs, and a prominent structure near the site may have been the decoy control bunker. Anti-aircraft gun emplacements have been noted at the site.^[5] Carrington Moss, near Manchester, was another Starfish site.^[6]

A relatively intact Starfish control bunker can also be seen at Liddington Hill overlooking Swindon. The bunker is at the edge of the small copse on the eastern summit of the hill, which is a landmark easily visible from the M4 motorway.

File:Liddington Starfish.JPG

World War II control bunker on Liddington Hill

[edit] References

1. ^ Hunt, Bob (2004-09-23). "Surface Sites - 'Q' Decoy Site". Portsdown Tunnels. http://www.portsdown-tunnels.org.uk/surface_sites/qsite_p1.html. Retrieved 2009-05-14. 
2. ^ Davies, Les (March 2009). "Starfish and subterfuge". Mendip Times. http://www.mendiptimes.co.uk/. Retrieved 2009-02-24. 
3. ^ Brown, Donald (1999). Somerset V. Hitler: Secret Operations in the Mendips, 1939-45. Countryside Books. ISBN 978-1-85306-590-3. 
4. ^ "Mendip Hills An Archaeological Survey of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty". Somerset County Council Archeological Projects. http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/HES_MendipAONB.pdf. Retrieved 16 January 2011. 
5. ^ "Long Wood, Starfish Decoy Site". RCAHMS. http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/229135/details/long+wood+starfish+decoy+site/. Retrieved 2009-11-16. 
6. ^ Smith, Peter J. C. Luftwaffe Over Manchester: The Blitz Years 1940-1944, p.14. Neil Richardson 2003. ISBN 1-85216-151-5

[edit] Further reading

• Fields of Deception - Britain's Bombing Decoys of World War II, Colin Dobson, Methuen Publishing, 2000, ISBN 978-0-413-74570-5.
• The Bombing of Rolls-Royce at Derby in Two World Wars, 2002, Kirk, Felix & Bartnik, RR Heritage Trust

[edit] External links

• Read about bombing decoys
• Decoy Sites – Wartime Deception in Norfolk and Suffolk by Huby Fairhead
• Night-Time Fire-Based Decoys by Fred Nash
• Read about the Bristol Civil Bombing Site C1H

[hide] v t e Allied military deception in World War II General Double agent Military deception Military camouflage Organizations London Controlling Section Twenty Committee Units 'A' Force 'R' Force Beach Jumpers 23rd Headquarters Special Troops Fictional formations First United States Army Group Fourth Army (United Kingdom) Fourteenth United States Army British deception formations in World War II 6th Airborne Division (United States) 39th Armored Division (United States) 55th Infantry Division (United States) 59th Infantry Division (United States) Operations Operation Accumulator Operation Barclay Operation Bertram Operation Boardman Operation Bodyguard Operation Cascade Operation Chettyford Operation Cockade Operation Copperhead Operation Ferdinand Operation Fortitude Operation Hardboiled Operation Ironside Operation Mincemeat Operation Quicksilver Operation Scherhorn Operation Skye Operation Span Operation Zeppelin Leadership Dudley Clarke Peter Fleming John Cecil Masterman David Strangeways Dennis Wheatley Ronald Wingate Other people Art Kane Bill Blass David Slepian Ellsworth Kelly Ernest Townsend Jasper Maskelyne Joan Pujol Garcia Louis Dalton Porter Victor Jones Other Starfish site

via en.wikipedia.org

A little information of the Starfish Sites which prompted my building of a cardboard cut-out Manchester.

Composite Skyline

One 

of the earlier experiments with photography to capture Manchester on a broader scale. Not used in the final film, but I still like the piece.

A.R.C. Soundtracks

via arcsoundtracks.blogspot.co.uk

Collaborative experimental music from A.R.C Soundtracks, a part of which was used as the basis for the soundtrack of the final piece. This was an improvisational experiment I was involved with and I which felt had the right dream-quality I was looking for.