- What inspired your subject matter?
The film was inspired, as you will see in it, by the landscapes of Sussex England. I've always spent my time at home dreaming of far away destinations but in the last 2 years I have really grown close to what is around me. I wanted the film to show how not all scenery has to be the 'biggest' and the 'most dramatic' to inspire and shape the lives of the local people.
- How did you plan your piece?
I work in a very visual way when planning a piece. Ideas for shots could pop into my brain and then an idea will stimulate from that. I planned the locations that I wanted to film and wrote questions for the interviews that I intended to do. But as always when I make films, and i feel this is especially important with documentary, you cannot plan for everything to go the way you plan so there always has to be a certain amount of flexability in the idea you have in your head and actually putting into something that other people that watch and experience.
- What challenges did you face?
The main challenge with this film was that I am currently working full time saving so that I can go traveling around the world for 18 months with my camera! So for me the biggest factor was time, especially as I only stumbled across the scholarship about 10 days ago. I managed to fit in time to go out filming whenever I could but of course this is not always how you would want to operate because it would have been nice in some instances to be out for dawn or dusk for that special quality of light.
Another challenge was with the camera I am using. I recently have moved into the world of DSLR filmmaking but one of the biggest pitfalls of these cameras is the sound. This was a problem for recording the interviews as you may notice in the film there is some wind interference occasionally and the quality is not brilliant but currently i cannot afford external audio equipment.
- What is your ambition as a documentary maker?
As a documentary filmmaker I feel you really have the power through the medium of film to make a difference. With the natural world being the biggest passion in my life and its conservation being something that I have always intended to do with my life I feel like making environmental films is the way I could do this. I have a theory however, that unlike a lot of environmental docs that only focus on the bad things that humans are doing for the world and its ecosystems, you have to also show the positives to give people a sense of optimism about the future otherwise what is the point of conservation if everything is doomed anyway?
It does not bother me whether my films are shown on TV the internet or cinemas just as long as they have the power to reach out and communicate the the masses and help educate and infuence the world to be a more environmentally and economically stable place.
