RESEARCH: THE HISTORY OF FOX HUNTING IN ENGLAND AND THE CLASS DIVIDE WITHIN THE SPORT

In order to present our opening scene realistically of the genre and the logistics of our idea as best as possible, myself and my production group have independently researched the key different aspects of our concept that will elevate the final opening scene professionally.  

I have decided to firstly research the history of hunting and shooting weekends in England and how this sport has evolved throughout the eras and what position it holds within our society's classes. The backbone of our concept idea has stemmed from the English sporting traditions; shooting and hunting. Using both of these mediums within our opening title sequence, I wanted to find out more about the controversial sport: fox hunting and more so how we can bring societies class issues into our final sequence. 

More specifically, I will be researching the how the ‘sport’ has evolved and whether class holds a discussion within it. The collection of these elements will surely elevate our understanding of how we can transfer the sport and the history of hunting in general to the sadistic side of our idea with using humans as the ‘prey’ and the intention of the hunters, whether that being a classist sport or containing a more historical element to its ‘traditions.'

I used these websites when researching: (https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Fox-Hunting-in-Britain/) and (https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/sep/14/hunting.uk)  

One of the main points that I took from researching into fox hunting specifically was origin of the sport; dating back to prehistoric times, fox hunting began in ancient Egypt and Greek influenced countries that using the dogs to track and trace the prey. However, focusing in on England's history of the sport, it originated in Norfolk from a farmer trying to capture foxes using his hounds as a way to protect cattle. It was not until the strong focus of deer hunting in order to decline their numbers arises in around the eighteenth century where the ‘hunt’ finally earned its right of being names as a sport. 

Using this specific detail to elevate our own ‘hunting’ motif, I think it's really important to translate the hunters motive to actually ‘decline’ the human's numbers. How we could communicate this could be through specific detailed moments throughout the opening which could indicate their overall intention rather than it just being merely a ‘sport’ to them; however, both intentions would be equally successful but just add a different tone to the opening.  

Hunting as a sport in general only really picked up during the industrial revolution when transport became much more accessible for those who lived in cities and towns who could now afford to facilitate the ‘country’ lifestyle. The social element for gentlemen of the time also grew as the sport broadened across the Uk; as the hunt began later in the morning due to social standards of late nights before, the sport attracted a wider variety of young men of upper class and aristocratic origin to take part in the hunt. This social group remained within the upper and middle class, creating a wider divide between classes and opinions of the sport within society which is still very much present within today’s society.  

The controversy within the UK surrounding fox hunting as a sport initially arose from the sport supporting animal cruelty and the sport being overly unnecessary, alongside the decline of foxes within England leading to international imports of the species. In December 1999, an inquiry into the welfare of foxes from hunting with dogs surfaced. This inquired also created a divide within the parliament at the time between the house of commons, who voted to ban the sport entirely and between the house of lords who voted the sport should be indefinitely self-regulated. Fast forwarding five years, the sport was banned specifically from hunting with dogs from 2005.   

This ban against the sport as a whole didn’t stop within the upper-class society, however and hunts are increasingly gaining more and more members; more so within parliaments society throughout history, there has been an extensive line of various ‘rituals’ for instance involving smearing ceremonial blood on the cheeks of a new member which is also known as ‘blooding.’ 

I feel this specific detail could be beneficial within our opening scene and we could involve this satanic ritual within the hunt which could be another key detail to the obscurity of this sport overall and prove to question the upper-class behaviour of these activities once again.  

As I continued my research, I began noticing the undeniable argument around the sport being a clear reminiscent of taking place as the backbone to histories of feudal society. This development forced me to dive deeper into the sport not just concerning animal welfare but it being more of a class issue. This forced me to think more about our opening scenes narrative and the class focus within that; overall this research has offered myself a wider understanding of how class plays into the sport in general and made be question how perhaps we could translate this through costume for example and other areas of film making.  

From what I gathered around the subject of hunting in general are the divides within the class ranking, dating back to the feudal system; an article in the guardian written by George Monbiot (https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/sep/14/hunting.uk) educated myself not only on the subjects' historical elements but also the social divisions within the actual hunt itself. The similarities between the Norman conquest, feudalism, and the rankings between those within the hunt on horseback and those on feet. The fact that the higher-ranking huntsmen were on horses enabled them to physically look down upon those who hunt on feet, and thus share the similarities between the lord's superiority and the serfs (peasants). 

From this research, I have extended my knowledge upon what social rankings will be represented within my devised opening and has forced me to think upon how I could show and not explicitly state these differences through using: costume, hair, makeup, positioning, camera angles, camera movement, editing etc. And more so, how we could completely alternate the power status of the two hunters and our protagonist, and perhaps dipping into the class war as well.