On the surface, my Capstone Project is a website for fans who love to visit filming locations for their favorite fandoms. It’s an invitation to virtually accompany me (and my friend Ann) on a weekend trip around London. Essentially, the website is history lessons disguised as fandom tourism.

 

Underneath the flashy surface is an underlying question: Can a deeper connection be made between a fandom and a particular filming location if the fan learns about the cultural and historical significance of that place?

 

The website is divided into sections for different aspects of the trip and my research: 

• the Home page explains why the website was created and how it is set up, and also has an About Me section below; 

• 2015 London Adventures are long-read articles that are written as a memoir of my trip and are separated into four days/articles; 

• Spotlight Locations are shorter articles, each focusing on one specific location in a movie/television show and delving into the significance of the scene, the history of the filming location, what it means to me as a fan, and includes direction on how to virtually visit the location; 

• the Virtual Visits page has articles similar to the Spotlight Locations in format, but are locations I have not specifically visited and is a purely virtual visit; 

• a Gallery of pictures that didn’t fit into the articles but I wanted to share; 

• a Sources page for all of the research sources used for the articles and overall project; 

• and the Reflection Paper written for the Capstone requirement.

 

The articles all use my own photographs and screenshots from my collection of DVDs, as well as a small number of photos from other sites that are marked as such.

 

The website is hosted on Wix.com. I am currently using the free version because it fits my needs, though I may invest in the additional options a paid version offers. I used Wix.com for a previous class project, and modified that site according to my vision for this project.

 

Project specifics aside, this was one of the most enjoyable and difficult creative projects I have ever taken on. It is far from perfect, and I have plans for that, but I am proud of what I have accomplished.

 

How it came to be

 

The 2015 trip that inspired not only this project but others completed for my PDMW classes over the last two and a half years, is where the question of how visiting and/or learning more about a filming location can have a direct effect on a fan’s connection to that particular fandom or piece of fandom media it appeared in.

 

While writing a traditional research paper to answer the question was an option, I had a more visually appealing idea in mind. I had been mulling over this idea since writing a research paper about how travel forms a connection to place through people and an understanding of the history of that place for the Research Methods class, and then turning it into a magazine article for the Professional Document class in spring 2019.

 

With the idea that I would create a physical magazine settled on, I then looked more closely at the question of connections between place, history, and people. What if I narrowed down “people” to be “fans”? What if the “place” was a specific filming location for fandom media? The 2015 trip was organized by my friend Ann (who I had met through the Lord of the Rings fandom) and based on some of my favorite fandoms. That trip forever changed how I view the particular movie and television show scenes where the locations we visited appear, but I had never taken the time to consider why that was.

 

The next three classes that I chose were Freelance Writing (where I created a blog), Writing for the Web (where I learned to maintain and use social media to advertise) and Visual Rhetoric (how using pictures can enhance understanding), and each worked to move my idea from a physical magazine to a web-based magazine, or a website.

 

One of the television shows (Versailles) I had been watching announced a fan convention in Paris, France as I was refining my idea, and I considered how I could use that opportunity to get another fan’s perspective when visiting filming locations connected to that fandom. The Versailles fan group I associated with through Twitter had planned a trip to the Palace of Versailles the day before the convention and it seemed too perfect an opportunity to miss.

 

I made travel plans with Ann, who would again play host, and booked tickets for the plane trip and convention. There wasn’t enough time to go through the IRB and so my research would be observational only for other fans, still using my own experiences as the focus. The research would include touring Versailles and Vaux-le-Vicomte in France as well as locations in London and Wales connected to Doctor Who, Torchwood, and others - these would be new experiences to compare to my old trip and see if the connections I suspected were real.

 

And then the pandemic closed borders and restricted travel, and my trip was postponed indefinitely, forcing me to adapt my idea to “the new normal.”

 

If it was the experience of the 2015 trip that inspired my idea, then why not use the project to take the time to look deeper into those four days? So that’s what I did.

 

Before writing the articles that were based on my travel journal, photographs, and memories, I first needed to research fan studies, the phenomenon of film-induced travel tourism, and fandom studies in general. This research is what went into the proposal for the idea, and what gave me better insights when writing about my experiences. I was able to understand my place as a fan, as part of a bigger culture that enjoys traveling to filming locations, and how to interpret my experiences to answer the question of connections.

 

How my classes made it possible

 

If I had to describe my Capstone Project in terms of program relevance, I would say that it is the culmination of every class taken and every lesson learned. From the first accelerated summer course to the last self-study spring course, I carefully planned out how I would approach my graduate education, even when I only had a vague idea of what direction I wanted to go in. One class I was set on taking was Writing About Place/Travel Writing, and while I hadn’t intended to take it last, it worked out well.

 

I researched and created ways to escape from my comfort zone and identify when I am using other learning opportunities (i.e., learning a new language) to procrastinate in Theory & Craft of Writing - something that has been and will always be a battle for me. I brushed off my interview skills in Advanced Grammar and used that in Professional Writing when I talked to other creative women in fandom over 40 to explore their inspirations and motivations.

 

I’ve talked about how much Research Methods and the Professional Document classes contributed to this project, as well as Freelance Writing, Visual Rhetoric, and Writing for the Web. Rounding out the list with Travel Writing/Writing About Place was key to how I was able to deal with the disappointment of having to change my idea and cancel the research trip with the final project by virtually visiting and researching the locations I had planned to physically visit.

 

New and old skills for the future

 

Having already created a simple blog, I was not worried about editing the existing website to make it more like what I could imagine it to be, but I did not anticipate that the templates I had been used to working with would not fit my needs. Using a free Coursera course, YouTube, Google, and the Wix.com Help feature, I was able to move beyond templates to use the Wix Editor to accomplish (most) of my goals. There are still some Editor features that I have trouble with, but those skills will come with practice.

 

For editing the pictures and screenshots on the website, I used a combination of the Microsoft Photo editor installed on my laptop and Canva.com, a program I use often at work. 

 

The new and old skills acquired and used to create my Capstone Project are ones I will continue to build on as I move closer to my goal of not only creating content for and maintaining my own website as a second job, but will vastly improve my current career as an Office Manager. Ultimately, I would like to be a full-time writer and I believe this Capstone will be an important part of my portfolio.

 

The Good, the Bad, and the Limitations

 

I am rarely satisfied with my work, no matter the time and effort put into it, and I always end up making changes right up until the eleventh hour. In the case of this project, I know I have put in the time, and my effort is 100%, but I also know that my disappointment and frustration with having no control over the pandemic’s effect on life (and the original idea) set me back and made reaching my first deadline impossible.

 

I’ve always prided myself on the ability to go with the flow, but this time I couldn’t see beyond my nose for a long time. When I was ready to begin work, I became overwhelmed by how much there was to do. I made long lists of Spotlight Articles and felt paralyzed by it. The idea that had seemed so clear before suddenly seemed like a tangled mess and I turned to productive procrastination to take control. Productive procrastination in this case turned out to be a combination of de-cluttering my house and learning to speak and write Mandarin Chinese.

 

It was talking out the project with family and friends, and with Dr. Villa and Dr. Dymond, that finally allowed me to find a way to begin organizing my thoughts. I still had days when it seemed wrangling Chinese characters was easier than writing an article in English, but I knew my idea was a good one, and the project was important.

 

Whether the travel restrictions are here to stay or are only temporary, I believe that many people will be rethinking their future travel plans, and may choose to stay home more often than they used to. My website is not the only one to invite readers along on an adventure, but the list narrows when considering how the adventures are presented. I am not offering a toe-dip in the shallow end with pictures and a few paragraphs selling the location to readers, but instead I want the reader to cannonball into the pool and really get to know the locations and find a deeper appreciation for it when they see it in their chosen fandom media.

 

Even for someone who isn’t a fan of the same movies or television shows, my hope is that the way I share my adventures, as a story, will open up a reader’s heart and mind to something new. And for this particular project that focuses on filming locations in London, there’s more than a good chance that many of the locations I visited (as I mention in the articles) have appeared in many other forms of media, from documentaries to action films to love stories.

 

If a person cannot travel on his/her/their own, reading about someone else’s travels is a fun alternative, whether it is a fictional journey in a good book, or a real one like mine. Now more than ever, this kind of “escape” is important, and I am excited to be able to share my story for others to enjoy, homebound for the pandemic or not.

 

Mistakes were made...and corrected when possible

 

“Less is more” is something I began telling myself as I was editing the articles and website formatting. When writing and choosing photographs, I wanted to include everything but had to admit that it wasn’t possible without creating an incoherent jumble of words overwhelmed by too many images.

 

A good example would be the collages within the articles, especially the article header pictures. The idea was for the header to include pictures from the article that would be a teaser and draw people in to find the picture they liked while also reading through for the story. Within the articles were both stand alone photographs and up to 4 picture collages to illustrate things mentioned within certain paragraphs. It made sense to present the images this way, in the beginning. I had so many photographs to include, and putting them together in one collage could show how much there was to see in just one location.

 

What I hadn’t considered was firstly how busy those collages appeared to be, and secondly how much they affected readability, especially when viewing the articles on a mobile phone. Once I began to separate out the pictures (as much as possible) I could feel the flow of the articles moving more smoothly. Choosing one picture for the header had an almost immediate calming effect on me when I opened the articles, and I’m sure a reader will feel the same.

 

For the articles, less is more came in when considering how to begin the Day One article. My original thought was that since each day started at the beginning/early morning, I would start the article with the beginning of the journey to London as it started in Northern Ireland. I think for a first draft it made sense to include it so I could see where the story should actually start - in the air, with minimal backstory about staying in Northern Ireland. By rewriting the beginning, it tightened up the introduction and made London the focus, rather than sharing time elsewhere.

 

Adding more shorter Spotlight Location articles will be one of the first things that I address moving forward. There is a lot of information in the main long read articles, as well as more of my personal thoughts about those locations and fandom, that I would love to use in shorter pieces. Much of writing online is about keeping it short and simple, and by expanding on those Spotlight Locations already written, I believe the website will have more to offer to a wider range of readers.

 

Looking ahead

 

It has always been my intention, since deciding to go with the online format, to maintain and update the website after graduation. I believe it is an excellent example of my writing and as I learn more about designing a website, it will showcase those skills as well.

 

Fandom, researching history, and travel are all big parts of my personal life as hobbies that can also enhance my writing career. While this website is not meant to be monetized, I believe I could submit articles of a similar nature to other online magazines and using the website as a portfolio example is key.

 

I am going to connect this website to the website I created for Freelance Writing, and reorganized and maintained for Writing for the Web, so both will be under one brand name to make advertising through one social media account streamlined.

 

A change to the website that will happen soon after I present to the Committee is to the Home Page. It is now an area to explain the website as my Capstone Project, but that information will be moved to a separate page to make the Home page more visitor friendly, with sections for the articles highlighted as long reads or spotlight features. I would also like to set time aside to figure out how to add and write alt-text for the pictures for people who use readers when online.

 

Even as I write this reflection, I am still analyzing my website to see where improvements and edits can be made beyond edits and suggestions made by the Committee and from friends and family who have explored the website. That’s a good thing in my opinion because despite the ups and downs I’ve experienced since beginning this Capstone Project, I am still eager to do more and still looking for more examples of how connections can be made between fans and a fandom filming location.

 

Can a deeper connection be made between a fandom and a particular filming location if the fan learns about the cultural and historical significance of that place?

 

In my experience, writing these articles and researching beyond my limited knowledge of the places I visited in 2015, I believe that knowing more about a place makes it more important overall to a visitor. For a fan visiting a filming location without the deeper knowledge of historical and cultural significance, it is all about the fandom or specific scene.

 

Standing in the car park and looking up at the roof where Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes fell to his (apparent) death was an incredible experience as a fan, but I knew nothing about St Bartholomew’s Hospital at the time.

 

Now, having researched St. Bart’s, I want to go back and do more than just stand and look up at an empty roof. I want to visit the museum and see the Sherlock Holmes plaque, take a closer look at the Henry VIII Gate, and touch the stones of the remaining medieval church tower from the original buildings. All of that history combined with the fact that one of my favorite television shows had filmed there makes, for me, a complete picture and a deeper appreciation of the location itself, and how lucky the show’s cast and crew were to film there.

 

Sometimes the nature of the location overwhelmed the fandom connection, such as the Natural History Museum, but capturing screenshots and comparing them to my own pictures has cemented the connection to Paddington Bear in a way I hadn’t considered. Thinking now of my time spent at the museum, I remember the crowds, the beauty of the artwork and decorations, how big Dippy was to stand in front of. And I think of how nice it must have been to film in the museum at night with no crowds, and how the artists creating Paddington worked with the architecture to bring the CGI bear’s mad dash down the stairs to life. My interest in returning to the museum isn’t related to Paddington but because we only saw a small portion of the rooms open to the public, but I believe I will think of Paddington while I’m there.

 

Having completed a Capstone to answer this question, I am also interested in how I would write a research paper on the topic with the intent to submit for publication. I collected many more sources than I used to build my fan-fandom-travel-film location studies foundation, and plan to go back and read what I hadn’t before to see where my research could fit in. The interest in fandom research in general is growing every year, and I would love to contribute to that with my findings.

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