Production Log
Timeline
People suspect that the Loch Ness Monster is in fact a Plesiosaur an aquatic dinosaur that
went extinct 66 million years ago. The lifespan of a Plesiosaur is unknown to us but it’s
unlikely that it’s lived 66 million years.
The first written account of a monster in Loch Ness is in a biography of St. Columba from
565 AD. Apparently the monster bit a swimmer and was prepared to attack another man
when Columba intervened. They ordered the beast to “go back”, it obeyed and over the
centuries only occasional sightings were reported.
In October 1871, D. Mackenzie of Balnain reportedly saw an object resembling a log or an
upturned boat "wriggling and churning up the water," before disappearing at a fast
speed. The account was not published until 1934, when Mackenzie sent his story in a letter
to Rupert Gould shortly after popularity in the monster increased.
In 1888, mason Alexander Macdonald of Abriachan sighted "a large stubby-legged animal"
surfacing from the loch and propelling itself within fifty yards of the shore where Macdonald
stood. Macdonald reported his sighting to Loch Ness water bailiff Alex Campbell and
described the creature as looking like a Salamander.
In 1933 the Loch Ness monster became more well-known and, on a road, next to Loch Ness
a couple called Mr and Mrs Spicer saw an enormous animal which they compared to a
“dragon or prehistoric monster” and after it crossed their car’s path, it disappeared into the
water. The incident was reported in a Scottish newspaper, and numerous sightings followed.
In December 1933 the Daily Mail commissioned Marmaduke Wetherell, a big-game hunter,
to locate the Loch Ness Monster. Along the lake’s shores, he found large footprints that he
believed belonged to “a very powerful soft-footed animal about 20 feet [6 metres] long.”
However, upon closer inspection, zoologists at the Natural History Museum determined that
the tracks were identical and made with an umbrella stand or ashtray that had
a hippopotamus leg as a base Wetherell’s role in the hoax was unclear.
Then in 1934 English physician Robert Kenneth Wilson photographed the alleged creature.
He took the iconic image known as the “surgeon’s photograph” which appeared to show the
monster’s small head and neck. The Daily Mail printed the photograph, sparking an

international sensation. Many speculated that the creature was a Plesiosaur, a marine
reptile that went extinct about 66 million years ago.
Palaeontologist Neil Clark found fairs and circuses were common in the Inverness area,
especially from the early 1930s. He theorised elephants may have been allowed to swimin
the loch while the travelling carnivals stopped to give the animals a rest.
In the 1960s several British universities launched expeditions to Loch Ness, using
sonar to search the deep. In each expedition the sonar operators detected large,
moving underwater objects they could not explain. However, the monster’s
existence wasn’t confirmed for certain.
In 1969 a Loch Ness Monster prop started being built for the 1970 movie the
private life of Sherlock Holmes. The prop sadly sank to the bottom of the loch
during filming, but in 2016 a Norwegian organization called Kongsberg Maritime
sent a high-tech robot down into Loch Ness to scan the depths . The robot sent
back images of a mass fitting the exact description of the Loch Ness Monster
which turned out to be the prop.
In 1972 underwater pictures of The Loch Ness monster surfaced which showed an immense
creature with diamond shaped flippers.
Then in 1975, Boston’s Academy of Applied Science combined sonar and
underwater photography in an expedition to Loch Ness. A photo that after
enhancement, appeared to show the giant flipper of a plesiosaur-like creature.
Lots of photographs allegedly showed the Loch Ness Monster, but most were discredited as
fakes or as depicting other animals or objects. For example, in 1994 it was revealed that
Robert Kenneth Wilson’s photograph was a hoax pushed by a revenge-seeking Wetherell
and in fact the “monster” was a plastic-and-wooden head attached to a toy submarine.
After that, in 2018 researchers conducted a DNA survey of Loch Ness to determine what
creatures live in the loch. No signs of a plesiosaur or other such large animals were found,
although the results indicated the presence of numerous eels. This opened the possibility
that the monster is an oversized eel. Despite the lack of conclusive evidence, the Loch Ness
monster remained popular and profitable and even in the early 21st century it was thought
that it contributed nearly $80 million annually to Scotland’s economy.

Facts
Loch Ness is a lake in the Highland council area in Scotland. With a depth of 788 feet or 240
metres and a length of about 23 miles or 36km. Loch Ness has the largest volume of fresh
water in Great Britain. The loch lies in the Glen Mor or Great Glen, which divides the
Highlands and forms part of the system of waterways across Scotland that civil engineer
Thomas Telford linked by means of the Caledonian Canal which opened in 1822.
The area of Loch Ness covers more than 700 square miles or 1,800 square km
and forms several rivers, including the Oich and the Enrick. Its outlet is the River Ness, which
flows into the Moray Firth at Inverness. Standing waves, caused by differential heating, are
common on the loch. The sharp rise and fall of the level of the loch is one reason for the
insufficiency of the waters; another reason is the great depths of the loch near the
shoreline.
Like some other very deep lakes in Scotland and Scandinavia, Loch Ness is said to be
inhabited by an aquatic monster. Many sightings of the Loch Ness Monster have been
reported, and the possibility of its existence perhaps in the form of the long-extinct
plesiosaur continues to make people question.
The Loch contains 263 billion cubic feet of water even though Loch Ness is not the
deepest loch in Scotland, that’d be Loch Morar. Nor is it the largest by surface area which
would be Loch Lomond. Loch Ness has also claimed the title of the 'largest body of water' in
the UK as there is more water in Loch Ness, than in all the lakes in England and Wales put
together.
Possible things the monster could be
Plesiosaur
Bird wakes
Eels
Elephant
Greenland shark

Wels catfish
Other resident animals
Trees
Seiches and wakes
Optical effects
Seismic gas
Questions for interview
3x interviews
What’s your name and age?
When did you first hear about the loch ness monster and how?
Do you believe in the Loch Ness Monster…have you always believed this?
What do you think the Loch Ness monster is?
What do you think the appeal of the Loch Ness Monster is?
Research
Links to find inspiration on how to start the documentary:
https://youtu.be/szg3dIZ8xDc
https://youtu.be/R2DU85qLfJQ
https://youtu.be/OxuICHXjDp0
Links on how to make the credits:
https://youtu.be/ayxE2mVaW-4

Script
*Establishing shotof Loch Ness – day*
Hostvoiceover: What lies in the watery depths of Earth has always remained
somewhatof a mystery to us. No caseis this truer than Loch Ness, the largest
volume of water in the UK. Loch Ness holds more water than all the lakes in
England and Wales and has a depth of 788 feet and a length of 23 miles. The
loch lies in the Glen Mor, which divides the Highlands and forms partof the
systemof waterways acrossScotland. Butthe real interest lies from what’s
inside the famous lake itself…
This is, Loch Ness: Below the Surface.
*The title and my name appear over the establishing shots of Loch Ness*
*Footage of Loch Ness frombelow the water surface – daylight creeping
through*
*Ambient water noises and bubbles in the background*
Hostvoiceover: Rumours of a Monster in Loch Ness started as early as 565 AD,
in a biography of St. Columba. The biography claims that an alleged monster
bit a swimmer and was prepared to attack another man before Columba
intervened, and when he ordered the beast to “go back”, it obeyed. However,
it wasn’tuntil 1933 that the sea serpentbecame as widely known as it is today.
*Cut to a mid-shotof me next to water looking into a camera – day*
*Stop the water noises*
Host: This is becausein 1933, theLoch Ness monster was seen on a road next
to Loch Ness by a couple called Mr and Mrs Spicer. They supposedly saw an
enormous animal which they compared to a “dragon or prehistoric monster”
and after it crossed in frontof their car, it disappeared into the water. The
incident was reported in a Scottish newspaper and after that, numerous
sightings followed. In December 1933 theDaily
Mail commissioned MarmadukeWetherell, a big-game hunter, to locate the
Loch Ness Monster. Along the lake’s shores, he found large footprints that he
believed belonged to “a very powerfulsoft-footed animal that was about20
feet long.” However, upon closer inspection, zoologists at the Natural History
Museum determined that the tracks were identical and made with an umbrella
stand or ashtray as well as a hippopotamus leg as a base.

*Put the surgeons photograph in framebut not completely overlapping me
while I’m speaking*
Host: Then in 1934 English physician RobertKenneth Wilson photographed the
alleged creature. He took the iconic image known as the “surgeon’s
photograph” which appeared to show the monster’s smallhead and neck.
The Daily Mail printed the photograph, sparking an international sensation.
Making many speculate that the creature was a Plesiosaur, a marine reptile
that went extinct about66 million years ago.
*Use photos fromcarnivals and elephants swimming*
Host: Also, during the 1930s, a palaeontologistcalled Neil Clark found that fairs
and circuses werecommon in the Inverness area. This made him theorise that
the elephants used in the fairs and circuses may havebeen allowed to swim in
the loch, while the travelling carnivals stopped so the animals could rest.
*Use images from the expeditions*
Host: Then in the 1960s, several British universities launched
expeditions to Loch Ness, using sonar to search the deep. In each
expedition the sonar operators detected large, moving underwater
objects they could not explain. However, the monster’s existence
wasn’t confirmed for certain.
*Show images of the movie poster and the scene with the Loch Ness
Monster in it*
Host: In 1969, a Loch Ness Monster prop began construction for the
1970 movie the private life of Sherlock Holmes. However, the prop
sadly sank to the bottom of the loch during filming, but in 2016 a
Norwegian organization called Kongsberg Maritime sent a high-tech
robot down into Loch Ness to scan the depths. The robot sent back
images of a mass fitting the exact description of the Loch Ness Monster
which turned out to be the prop.
*Cut to diamond shaped flipper photographs*
Host: In 1972 underwater pictures of The Loch Ness monster surfaced which
showed an immense creaturewith diamond shaped flippers.
*Use images of the team and bull elephant seals*

On April 1st in 1972, theworld wokeup to hear the news that Nessie had been
found dead in the loch the day before. Itwas headline news around the world
and a lot of people questioned the reports saying it was clearly a joke for April
Fool’s Day, but no, the reports wereaccurate. Something really had been
found dead in the Loch. The finders had taken it all incredibly seriously. They
were a team of scientists associated with Flamingo Park Zoo in North Yorkshire
and they had gone to Scotland to join with the Loch Ness Phenomena
Investigation Bureau in a search for the monster. While they werehaving their
breakfaston the morning of Friday the 31st
of March when they weretold that
the management had received a call about something floating in Loch Ness.
The team sprinted to gather their gear and rushed to the bank of the Loch
from there they could see a hump. Team leader Terence O’Brien led the
recovery mission, and shortly after 9am the “Loch Ness Monster” was
beached. The Flamingo Park Zoo was informed of their historic find. Itwas
decided they would bring it back to Yorkshirefor examination. Then, the
general curator of Edinburgh Zoo called Michael Rushton, came to Dunfermline
to examine the corpse. He figured out that “Nessie” was in fact a bull elephant
seal, native to the South Atlantic. Itturned out to be Flamingo Park Zoo’s
education officer called John Shields, who created the hoax purely as a prank
on his colleagues to mark April Fool’s Day. He explained that an elephant seal
had been broughtfromthe Falklands to Dudley Zoo where it had died soon
after its arrival. He shaved off its whiskers, padded its cheeks with stones and
arranged for it to be deep frozen. The seal went into the Loch, and he made an
anonymous call to the team hotel to spark the death of “Nessie”.
*Insertimage of the expedition and what was captured*
Host: Three years later in 1975, Boston’s Academy of Applied Science
combined sonar and underwater photography in an expedition to Loch
Ness. They captured a photo that after enhancement, appeared to
show the giant flipper of a plesiosaur-like creature like in 1972.
*Show surgeons photograph and maybe animate it being crossed out*
Host: Lots of photographs allegedly showed the Loch Ness Monster, but most
were discredited as fakes or as depicting other animals or objects. For
example, in 1994 it was revealed that Robert Kenneth Wilson’s photograph
was a hoax and in fact the “monster” was a plastic-and-wooden head attached
to a toy submarine.

*Use images fromthe expedition, images of eels, and plesiosaurs*
Host: Most recently in 2018, researchers conducted a DNA survey of Loch Ness
to determine what creatures live in the loch. No signs of a plesiosaur or other
such large animals werefound, although the results indicated the presenceof
numerous eels. This opened the possibility that the monster is an oversized
eel. Despite the lack of conclusiveevidence, the Loch Ness monster remained
popular and profitable and even in the early 21stcentury it was thought that it
contributed nearly $80 million annually to Scotland’s economy.
*Use general footage of Scotland (maybethe highlands) as a transition
between and over next part*
Host: Not everyonebelieves in the possibility of a monster in Loch Ness, so I’ve
conducted a few interviews to see whatpeople believe and why.
*Cut to interviews*
*Render drone shotfootage of Loch Ness on the green screen* (makesurethe
chair can’tbe seen in the footage and that they’renot wearing green)
Host: What’s your name and age?
Guest: …
Host: When did you first hear aboutthe loch ness monster and how?
Guest: …
Host: Do you believe in the Loch Ness Monster…haveyou always believed this?
Guest: …
Host: What do you think the Loch Ness monster is?
Guest: …
Host: What do you think the appeal of the Loch Ness Monster is?
Guest: …
*Cut to footage of loch ness*
*
Host: The existence of a monster in Loch Ness remains a mystery to us.
Perhaps we’ll never find proof that this possible Plesiosaur owns thewaters of

Scotland like the dinosaurs did 66 million years ago, but one thing for certain is
that it’s an interesting story, nonetheless.
*Cut to credits*