Photo. The causeway to Oak Island. What`s hiding underground? Shakespeare`s lost manuscripts? © Travel Explorations.
Petter Amundsen and the Norwegian author Erlend Loe have earlier written a book with the title The Organ Player. It`s about hidden codes in the literature of Shakespeare and the connection with Oak Island near Halifax in Canada.
On telephone 17 April 2008 a representative from the company Videomaker informed that the Norwegian version of the movie will be released in the autumn. The company will produce several versions of the movie. It`s planned to release a English version in the end of the year. The movie is already sold to USA, Canada and England, according to information on AS Videomaker`s website.
Will the world history be rewritten based on this movie? Will it lead to discoveries of secret manuscripts and big treasures? The time will show, but perhaps the revealing in the movie can answer some questions.
AS Videomaker cooperate with The British Shakespeare Company in London. This company are working on their first film Sweet Swan of Avon. As well as many historic recreations the film will include excerpts from The Tempest, Henry IV part I, Henry VI part I, Hamlet, Richard III, Titus Andronicus, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, Cymbeline, Twelfth Night, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Troilus and Cressida and All's Well That Ends Well. The company has done its first week of filming at Jesus College, Oxford followed by a week at locations in Norway. These included the Akershus Castle in Oslo and Ramma Gaard.
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Photo. Cover of the book as Petter Amundsen and the Norwegian author Erlend Loe wrote with the title The Organ Player.
© Travel Explorations.
This book is also about the connection between Shakespeare and Oak Island built on Petter Amundsen`s theory.
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Based on a Press Release from AS Videomaker (website: www.Videomaker.no), Oslo, Norway, 8 April 2008, it`s hereby published information about the mentioned movie.
A DOCUMENTARY BY JØRGEN FRIBERG (Press Release from AS Videomaker, Oslo, Norway):
SWEET SWAN OF AVON - A MOVIE ABOUT THE GREATEST MYSTERY IN GLOBAL LITERATURE
Format: HD
Duration: 4x50 min
INTRODUCTION – ABOUT FORM AND CONTENT
The movie is based on PETTER AMUNDSEN’S discovery of ciphers in literature – mainly in the first edition of SHAKESPEARE’S collected works – also known as the FIRST FOLIO (FF) – which was published in 1623.
Through his spectacular theories Petter claims to have solved one of the greatest mysteries of global literature. For almost 400 years, WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S manuscripts have been considered lost. Church organ player PETTER AMUNDSEN claims to have found concealed CIPHERS that show the way to the location where the manuscripts are hidden. In SWEET SWAN OF AVON we follow AMUNDSEN’S hunt for the manuscripts, and the secrets behind the man and the name WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE.
FILMATIC ROOMS
The film moves within 6 visual rooms:
• Petter’s study room
• Petter hunting for the treasure
• Reconstructions
• Scenes from plays and poetry
• Interviews
• Graphic elements
PETTER’S STUDY ROOM
The movie follows PETTER, who searches for and finds ciphers in literature. These takes take place in Petter’s office and library. In this setting, a large work-desk is both the main stage and a battlefield for his discoveries. Maps are unfolded and books opened. The images are dynamic, from large totals to extreme close-ups. These takes/illustrations have to be so clear in what they communicate that we are certain that everyone understands what is going on. At the same time they should give us a feeling of PETTER’S what goes on in Petter’s mind.
We have to get to know PETTER the person, not only the cryptographer. We describe the little man solving the great mystery. PETTER works as a church organist. Takes of PETTER by the organ will create an esthetic, poetic and associative sphere. His daily doings will function as a backdrop for the discovery of the ciphers.
TREASURE HUNTING WITH PETTER
PETTER’S second function in the movie is to be a guide on the physical journeys. We have to travel to several locations around the world in order to validate the theories. While playing the role as a guide for the viewers, Petter is also an explorer who sees these things for the first time. These sequences will be made as realistic and observational as possible, to make sure there is no doubt that this is actually going on.
RECONSTRUCTIONS
We will be touching upon many different historical events and situations, which demands reconstructions. For instance, we show the first meeting between William Shakespeare and Francis Bacon. Another reconstruction takes place in a printing-house where we see how books were printed back then. Letters are placed with extreme precision into a compositor, before the paper is printed in the roller.
Visually we want to stay close to the details that are important for the situations. These reconstructions will take place at a 17th Century location, and does not contain any principal dialogues.
SCENES FROM PLAYS AND POETRY
In order to illustrate some of the ciphers that lie hidden in Shakespeare’s literature, we will have actors from The British Shakespeare Company performing the texts. The excerpts from plays and poetry will be presented on a naked scene. The cipher should protrude clearly and undisturbed.
INTERVIEWS
In addition to interviewing PETTER, we will also conduct interviews with actors, historians, cryptographers and SHAKESPEARE specialists. These interview objects function both as opponents and as allies of Petter’s theories.
The interview scenes should say something about the theme, the time and the person being interviewed. The interviews will hence be conducted in rooms and settings which enhance their role in the film.
GRAPHIC ELEMENTS
In order to be able to tell the story in an exciting and informative way, we will use graphics. It is still important to underscore that the graphics does not only have a purely practical function, but should also help create and emphasize moods. It will create a center of attention and draw the viewer into the story.
We use graphics both as a separate element and integrated in film, images and other illustrations.
VISUAL ENTIRETY
We are aiming at a complete visual expression in the variation between the filmatic rooms we move through. Color tones in the graphics are in harmony with the 17th Century reconstructions, which in their turn should fit with Petter’s study room. The effects are toned down, and all the takes have an undertone of mystery.
EPISODE 1
• Here we are introduced to the mystery surrounding SHAKESPEARE’S lost manuscripts.
• We also get to know that humans have been using CIPHERS to deliver sensitive information for thousands of years.
• Church organist PETTER AMUNDSEN claims to have discovered where, and implies why, the manuscripts are hidden. In Shakespeare’s first collected works, the FIRST FOLIO, he has discovered and
deciphered CIPHERS that imply that the science philosopher FRANCIS BACON had a central role in the authorship. It dawns on us that we have to look in the CIPHERS in order to find the manuscripts.
• AMUNDSEN finds more CIPHERS on SHAKESPEARE’S tombstone which could imply that FRANCIS BACON may have made a financial agreement with WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE.
• Using the same techniques, AMUNDSEN discovers that a Masonic organization may have been behind the publication of SHAKESPEARE’S collected works. This mysterious organization goes under the name THE BROTHERS OF THE ROSE CROSS.
• The clues show that FRANCIS BACON may have been the leader of this organization. The ciphers portray him as the AUTHOR, POET and INVENTOR of this ROSENKREUZ-project: WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE.
• WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, a project in which SHAKESPEARE himself only seems to have been the public face.
• CLIFF OUTRO: THE BROTHERS OF THE ROSE CROSS claim to have buried a literary treasure. Is this where they might have hidden SHAKESPEARE’S manuscripts?
EPISODE 2
• SURVEY: THE BROTHERS OF THE ROSE CROSS are encouraging people to search for the hiding place. AMUNDSEN discovers CIPHERS, and these convince him that the treasures might still exist, and that they are preserved.
• The episode starts by speculating about how the BROTHERS OF THE ROSE CROSS might have been working. FRANCIS BACON is unlikely to have written SHAKESPEARE’S works alone. It is probably more likely that they have been working together in a large editorial group where several people have contributed. But at the end of the editorial line, one person has standardized the language.
• AMUNDSEN shows us that this person most likely was FRANCIS BACON.
• AMUNDSEN’S clues give us more reasons as to why the BROTHERS OF THE ROSE CROSS have operated in secret.
• The monarchy of England at this time was not unlike a dictatorship, where people were incarcerated for their opinions and hung for what could be interpreted as disloyal deeds.
• The great vision of THE BROTHERS OF THE ROSE CROSS was to spread knowledge to people in all layers of society. THE BROTHERS could thus promote ideas that were politically and religiously incorrect. In a time where only a few could read and write, SHAKESPEARE’S plays in particular worked as public enlightenment.
• A man like WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE could more safely front these works, unlike FRANCIS BACON, who with his high political position would have been considered a traitor to the crown. Also, a man of the people would give the message a bigger force of impact.
• AMUNDSEN is convinced that the knowledge of THE BROTHERS OF THE ROSE CROSS could provide information about where the treasure is hidden.
• In BACON’S final book, NEW ATLANTIS, he describes a group that navigates after a cross of stars in the sky which leads them to an ARK (box) with Biblical books. Another book published by JOHN HEYDON tells an identical story where only a few things have been switched out. Where BACON talks of SOLOMON’S HOUSE, HEYDON uses the term LAND OF THE ROSICRUSIANS.
• SHAKESPEARE’S FIRST FOLIO also implies that we are to navigate after a rather special star.
• CLIFF UTRO: The stars provide the COORDINATES to a specific location on the globe.
EPISODE 3
• SURVEY: AMUNDSEN starts out on an expedition to the location where the COORDINATES lead him. He knows that if he has made his calculations correctly, he will be able to make discoveries within a margin of one foot. The expedition team measure up, and strikes gold.
• The location of the coordinates is in The New World. THE BROTHERS OF THE ROSE CROSS saw that Europe was in moral decay, and that none of their noble visions could be fulfilled there. THE COORDINATES to the star sign take AMUNDSEN to an island where, incidentally, an ancient pirate treasure is said to be located. For over 200 years a treasure hunt has been going on here, demanding six human lives. The treasure is yet to be found, but traces have been found of the same conservator that BACON has described. And remains of parchment have been found after deep drills into the ground. Only two letters are intelligible, but the ink has been dated to SHAKESPEARIAN times. AMUNDSEN is afraid that all the treasure hunting may have destroye parts of the Rosenkreuzian heritage.
• After a long process, AMUNDSEN receives permission to make excavations. He finds rocks that seem man-made in all the locations he excavates. But no manuscripts are discovered. Time runs out, and he has to leave the island.
• Back home the last pieces of the puzzle fall into place through the discovery of new CIPHERS in the FIRST FOLIO.
• After having gained first-hand knowledge about the location, it dawns on AMUNDSEN what he has actually found. It could be more than mere manuscripts…
• Introduction to the TEMPLAR TREASURE. For centuries, the KNIGHT TEMPLARS was one of the most powerful and influential organizations in Europe. The organization had vast resources in form of gold and other valuable items. The myths say that they guarded a treasure of Biblical proportions. When the organization disappeared in 1307, all values were gone without a trace. Legends claim that they were brought to Roslyn Chapel in Scotland. Today there are large, empty storage-rooms underneath Roslyn Chapel. Could the treasure have been moved?
• CLIFF UTRO: The entry to POINT X on the island found through the latest CIPHER.
EPISODE 4
• This episode is kept open for the time being. A possible frame story might be a journey with AMUNDSEN back to the island.
• We will speculate further about what might be found on the island, and not least try and understand the correlations behind – and how a treasure might have been buried here. After several decades with treasure hunting, the land-owners are certain there are large subsoil corridors, but it is uncertain whether these corridors are natural or manmade.
• England’s biggest mining expert, THOMAS BUSHELL, disappears for 3 years of his life all together. According to himself he had completed his Master Solomon’s House. BUSHELL accredits all his knowledge of mining to his great mentor and friend, FRANCIS BACON.
• Was there a higher purpose behind the preservation of a selection of valuable items for the future? The movie will touch upon this.
• It is unlikely that we will have the opportunity to dig for the treasure. The final attack at point X will have to be left to the local governments when the time to present the solution is ripe.
THE PROJECT
This is a unique documentary film project. Every step in this strange story can be verified and documented. This is the most exciting movie I have produced in my 21 years as a documentary producer.
This story will perhaps not provide the whole and full truth, but it will lead us several steps closer.
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Stein Morten Lund, 18 April 2008 (based on several sources, mainly based on AS Videomaker`s Press Release).
Additional information
AS Videomaker, Oslo, Norway:
Website: www.Videomaker.no
The British Shakespeare Company, London, England:
The company is the best known and most successful open-air Shakespeare company in Great Britain. As a performer of Shakespeare's works, the company are second in size and reputation only to the RSC. It`s considered by BBC as being "Britain's largest and best loved open-air Shakespeare Company". The company have performed in London's West End, at major repertory theatres and even at Royal Palaces. It has also performed private shows for British and international businesses, and in aid of several major charities. Website: www.britishshakespearecompany.com
Read more on our global travel guide Travel Explorations on www.TravelExplorations.com about the connection between Shakespeare and the Oak Island mystery.
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