An occasional blog on topics related to my work. For a behind-the-scenes look, subscribe to my Patreon page.
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After several iterations of increasingly detailed tweaking of the edited form of the footage, there must come a point (else the film would never be finished) where you say, “OK – this is it”. From this point forth, the visual and audio clips are set in stone on the timeline, never again to be tampered […]
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Diary Of An Adventure Filmmaker: How To Overcome Creative Block
Sometimes, when you’re working on a creative project, the way forward is not at all clear. And sometimes it’s impossible to see it at all. As you may remember from the last update, this is where we found ourselves with the still-untitled Patagonia film project. What do you do in this situation? Go for a […]
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Diary Of An Adventure Filmmaker: Reaching The Rough Cut, And What To Do When It Sucks
There comes a point in any major artistic endeavour when you have to stop what you’re doing, take a few steps back, and take a dispassionate look at what you’ve got. After 4 weeks (already!) of full-time editing work on the Patagonia film, this is where we’re at. Scott, Leon and I went through the process […]
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Diary Of An Adventure Filmmaker: How To Choose Between The Infinite Ways To Tell Your Story
Leon and I have rarely argued on our expeditions and film projects together. Last week, however, we ran into a bit of a disagreement. Specifically, we disagreed on how the Patagonia film should end. With a week to kill before flying home, after completing the horseback journey up the Rio Santa Cruz we had embarked […]
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Diary Of An Adventure Filmmaker: Two Ways To Build A Story When Editing Your Footage
In my previous adventure filmmaking update, I ran through the process of whittling down the raw footage from an expedition to a manageable amount with which we could begin crafting the story. This specifically referred to the film we shot in Patagonia, journeying along the Rio Santa Cruz on horseback; the film for which we’re taking the […]
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Why I’m Not Qualified To Comment On The Armenian Genocide
So last weekend I went back to Armenia, the place around which so much of my early life as a traveller revolved. Ostensibly, my visit was to be present for the commemoration on the 24th of April of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Among countless others did I descend upon Yerevan to be […]
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Diary Of An Adventure Filmmaker: How To Cut Your Raw Footage Down To Something Workable
It’s a deceptive beast, making a film. Because if you do it well, the result is an effortless and immersive experience. It totally engrosses the viewer. And it belies the amount of time and work that goes into its creation. The viewing experience can also somehow give the impression that a film emerges fully-formed from […]
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Anatomy Of A Successfully Crowdfunded Documentary Film’s Kickstarter Campaign
This in-depth article is a post-mortem of 2015’s successful Kickstarter campaign for the A Tale Of Two Rivers film project. I’ll be looking at every element of the campaign – financial details included – and sharing some of the insights we learned along the way about running successful crowdfunding campaigns. The campaign aimed to raise post-production funds for two feature-length adventure films, […]
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We Did It! (Community Action 1, Mass Media 0!)
I’m up early this morning to begin working in earnest on two new film projects… which have just been successfully funded on Kickstarter! At the close of play last night, we’d raised the astonishing total of £26,329 – over 110% of our goal – to do this project properly. And that’s all thanks to the community […]
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With 59 hours to go, here’s more on the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ of A Tale Of Two Rivers
If you’re lucky enough to have a long weekend off for Easter, I hope you’ve got some fun things lined up for it! As it happens, Tenny and I are at a good friend’s wedding in Shropshire, England, and I’m dashing off this post while getting dressed up in a borrowed suit to pretend I’m a […]