Eras of the Castle’s History

• AD555, the death of St Helier
• 1550, the initial construction of the Castle and why it was built.
• The English Civil War 1600s
• Charles II and his contributions to the Island
• 1781, The Battle of Jersey
• Nazi Occupation 1940-1945

Ideas

As a group, we believe that the majority of the Castle’s history revolves around the Georgian era and the Battle of Jersey in 1781. From this, we came up with two ideas that we could use for our film.

• The Life of a Gunner in the Castle
• The Story of the Battle of Jersey

From here we decided on the pros and cons of each idea when it would come to writing a script and planning a film shoot.

From these we decided that we want to create a documentary film following the day of the Battle of Jersey.

Basic Description of the sections that we want to include in the film:

1- La Rocque, the place that the French landed in the early morning of 6th January 1781. The rocks that surrounded their ships and the channel that they took to reach the beach. Voice over of why the French decided to attack on January 6th in the first place.

2- The French entering the town from the East. Moving shot travelling down the roads that the French could have possibly taken, talk about the men that they murdered to ensure that they would keep the element of surprise.

3- French capture the Lieutenant Governor, Moyse Corbet. Shot of Capital House, perhaps use AI to create the look of the French force surrounding the building.

2- Elizabeth Castle, the view towards the island, how the castle defended itself from the French troops. Captain Mulcaster receiving and pocketing the surrender orders for the garrison then firing a single warning shot at the French contingent on the other side of the causeway.

3- South Hill (Fort Regent), the view from the flanking forces on top of mount Bingham. With the French in the market square, Peirson ordered some of the militia to position themselves on top of South Hill and fire down on the enemy.

4- Gallows Hill (West Mount), Major Peirson’s entry point into the Royal Square. The place that Peirson gathered his forces before marching onto the French (perhaps a shot of what can be seen from the top.

5- Market Square, the arena for the main battle (Royal Square). Audio of cannon and musket fire, video talking to the camera with details of what happened.

6- ‘The Death of Major Person’, the painting by Copley and the story by behind its characters. Voice over about Peirson’s death and where he was taken to die. The death of the Baron de Ruellecourt and how he was shot eight times. The story of Pompey, a black servant taken under the employ of Peirson while his master Captain Christie was on leave in Bath.

7- The legacy of the Battle, Musket Ball marks in the walls; the graves of Major Peirson and Baron de Ruellecourt; Mulcaster street. Voice over of how the island pays their respects today and how they commemorate the battle every year on the anniversary.

Link to more information about specific characters involved in the Battle.

Mood board of Possible Shots