Deciding On My Theme & Early Research

After coming up with a few ideas for my project theme during the previous post, it's imperative to settle on a direction as soon as possible so I can begin compiling research material and building a narrative.

To that end; I've decided to select the outbreak of the black death in Weymouth as my theme. I feel this will allow me to create a relatable narrative, given the recent Covid-19 outbreak, and will allow my project to really stand out by basing it on a more niche historical moment within Dorset's history.

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With a theme now in place, I need to first compile some research material about the event itself. I decided to scour the internet for any kind of historical information that will help shape the town of Weymouth in the 1300s. There's a lot of key points I discovered during my search which will influence my project, so I've compiled them into a list of reference bullet points below:

• The term Black Death was not used until the late 17th century - This means if my narrative is to obtain any historical accuracy, the plague cannot be referred to as the black death.

• It spread west along the trade routes across Europe and arrived on the British Isles from the English province of Gascony - The 'patient zero' of my narrative will need to arrive in Weymouth by way of a ship returning from the French providence of Gascony.

• The plague was spread by flea-infected rats, as well as individuals who had been infected on the continent. Rats were the reservoir hosts of the Y. pestis bacteria and the Oriental rat flea was the primary vector - Of course it's crucial to know the plague's origins and how it was transferred. I also appreciate the name of the bacteria, as it may make a compelling narrative title.

• The most immediate consequence was a halt to the campaigns of the Hundred Years' War - This will be a great way of once again maintaining historical accuracy to expand on the narrative and cement the animation in a particular time period. I could have peasants in the background around the town discussing recent battles in a 'did you hear' kind of conversation.

• The main export, and the source of the nation's wealth, was wool - We know the plague entered England via a sailor returning from a French trade route, but in terms of what they were shipping I've discovered that wool was the main export. This means the ship the sailor was stationed on was most likely carrying wool.

• Flea bites carry the disease into the lymphatic system, through which it makes its way to the lymph nodes. Here the bacteria multiply and form swellings called buboes, from which the term bubonic plague is derived - This is important to note, as the symptoms of the plague were very specific. To indicate that characters are infected within my animation, I will need to give them these 'buboes'.

• According to the chronicle of the grey friars at King's Lynn, the plague arrived by ship from Gascony to Melcombe in Dorset—today normally referred to as Weymouth - I'm really glad to have discovered this information, as of course the town of Weymouth hasn't always been called that. I'll need to ensure that the town is in fact referred to as Melcombe in my narrative.

• If it is assumed that the chronicle reports the first outbreak of the plague, rather than its actual arrival, then the arrival most likely happened around 8 May 1348 - This gives us an actual date for the arrival of the sailor, further helping to hone in the time-frame for this outbreak.

• Various methods were used including sweating, bloodletting, forced vomiting and urinating to treat patients infected with the plague - This is important to note depending on the path my narrative takes. I have a few ideas for a script, and these may very well come into play.

• Another practice was the use of pigeons when treating swellings. Swellings which were white in appearance and deep were unlikely to break and were anointed with Oil of Lillies or Camomil. Once the swelling rose to a head and was red in appearance and not deep in the flesh, it was broken with the use of a feather from a young pigeon's tail - Another obscure treatment method, but also one I could incorporate in some way into my narrative.

• The Great Mortality, as it was then known - Lastly, as we discovered the plague wasn't referred to as the black death until the 1700s, this is the historically accurate name for the plague and what it will be called in my narrative.

Now that I have some basic information to work my narrative around, I can begin compiling some research material into the key details: The characters & environment itself.

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Plague Symptoms

The first area of research will be around the actual symptoms of the black death. Of course as the main theme of my narrative, I want any characters suffering from the plague to maintain accuracy. This way if I choose not to directly address the illness afflicting the villagers (especially given that it's called The Great Mortality as opposed to the bubonic plague), it should still be apparent to my audience what's going on.

I've therefore compiled the below reference images which highlight the most obvious afflictions of the plague:

The most common symptoms

Artwork of plague sufferers

More specifics on symptoms

A full list of symptoms

With the above references, I should be able to craft believable characters suffering from the plague and have this be apparent just from their looks & mannerisms.

Weymouth (Melcombe Regis)

My narrative will take place in two distinct areas of the town of Weymouth (or Melcombe Regis as it was known at the time); the port where our 'patient zero' arrives, and the poor district of the town where the plague ravages the population.

I therefore decided to split this section into two, beginning with a compilation of reference images of medieval ports:

Medieval Port #1

Medieval Port #2

Medieval Port #3

Medieval Port #4

Medieval Port #5

Medieval Port #6

Medieval Port #7

Medieval Port #8

Medieval Port #9

Medieval Port #10

There's a great variety to these reference images. Using them I should be able to create some accurate concepts for the ships, the surrounding buildings, the construction of the dock itself, surrounding markets and props etc.

My only concern would be that it was difficult to find references of a distinctly 'poor' looking port. I have no doubt that the docks of 13th century Weymouth were crowded and full of buildings, but these references do make it seem much more clean & organised than I'd originally envisioned.

Now we move onto the poor district of the town where our plague sufferers will live. I wanted this to be distinctly isolated, on the outskirts of the town, so it was a distinct contrast to the hustle and bustle of the docks. If the district appeared cut off from the rest of the society, it's my hope that this will convey a feeling of isolation.

Below is a gallery of reference images I've obtained for this locale:

Poor District Reference #1

Poor District Reference #2

Poor District Reference #3

Poor District Reference #4

Poor District Reference #5

Poor District Reference #6

Poor District Reference #7

Poor District Reference #8

Poor District Reference #9

Poor District Reference #10

These images again provide some great references, especially the ones for the interior of the house, the full rotation of the house, the markets and the wide angle views of the town. With these I should be able to create some concepts which perfectly encapsulate my vision of an isolated, poor district of villagers doing their best to get by.

The Peasants

The world I'm creating will of course need people to populate it; going about their everyday lives, gossiping, arguing, falling victim to the plague etc. It's therefore imperative that I obtain some good reference material for medieval villagers!

History shows that physically, people didn't look too dissimilar to how they do today, with the main differences of course being their lack of hygiene and their clothing. I've been able to compile the below gallery of reference images which should assist in creating some characters grounded in the 1300s:

Peasant Reference #1

Peasant Reference #2

Peasant Reference #3

Peasant Reference #4

Peasant Reference #5

Peasant Reference #6

Peasant Reference #7

Peasant Reference #8

Peasant Reference #9

Peasant Reference #10

These reference images have provided exactly what I needed in order to come up with some great peasant concepts. The clothing references in particular will be key to grounding my characters in the time period I'm aiming for. There's also some great variations in the attire of the people in the images, meaning I should be able to produce a multitude of characters fairly easily who all look distinct from one another!

The Plague Doctor

Now I appreciate up until this point I haven't given any indication of wanting to include a plague doctor in my narrative; but while researching the black death I of course came across plenty of images of these distinct physicians, and am really drawn to their aesthetic. I'd love to try and create my own stylized version of a plague doctor, and may even have them be central to the narrative itself!

To that end, I've compiled a gallery full of different depictions of plague from which to draw inspiration from:

Plague Doctor Reference #1

Plague Doctor Reference #2

Plague Doctor Reference #3

Plague Doctor Reference #4

Plague Doctor Reference #5

Plague Doctor Reference #6

Plague Doctor Reference #7

Plague Doctor Reference #8

Plague Doctor Reference #9

Plague Doctor Reference #10

Hopefully after looking at the above images you can agree that, artistically, these are fantastic characters to concept. There's so much variety in this small collection of images that I'm really excited to begin creating my own version! I particularly like the image where the mask resembles a bird's skull, or the one whose cloak features gold embroidery.

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Now that I've decided on my theme and completed some initial research, I'm in a great position to begin creating concepts for my characters and environments!