Short Films

Frome - Source to Sewer

Director / Camera Operator / Editor

A short film following the course of the River Frome from where it rises at the foot of the Cotswolds to it's mouth in Bristol city centre. It was made as part of a competition called 'Bristol's Best Kept Secret' at the Wildscreen Film Festival in 2008.

When I first moved to Bristol and discovered the Frome Valley running through Eastville Park and Snuff Mills.

I was amazed that there was such a beautiful and wild place so close to the city centre. I was then equally dismayed when I followed the river to find it buried and forgotten beneath the M32 and then central Bristol. From that moment I wanted to make a film along the length of the river but it was several years later until I got the opportunity.

When I heard about the 'Bristol's Best Kept Secret' competition it was an obvious choice for me. Teams were invited to make a wildlife related film with the conditions being that it had to shot in 24 hours and edited in fours hours. I pitched my idea of a journey down the Frome and was selected as one of 5 finalists. I didn't have long after being selected to recce the entire length which I hadn't done before. As I looked for locations I was thinking of what shot I would have in each place. I wanted the film to be continuously on the move like the river so I wanted to use as many grip options as possible, which was ambitious as I didn't have any funding and the day would be short as it was October. Adam Scott helped me on the day and also mangaed to borrow a mini-jib and ladder dolly from Robin Smith, thanks to both. I also borrowed a life ring and contstructed a frame that I could attach the camera to so that I could float the camera down the river, close to the water.

The weather on the day of the shoot was terrible with very few breaks inbetween heavy rain. Still we managed to make it to 8 different locations and use the jib, dolly and float-cam several times each. By the time we got to the Watershed for the final shot it was a dark and raining again but you can just about make out where it is.

I had talked to Ali Chant about composing some music for the piece quite early on. The only specific qualities I asked for were that it should start quite bright and then turn darker towards the end as it goes underground. I couldn't give him exact timings though for the change in mood so the piece he wrote was slightly longer and I was able to edit it to match the pictures. He did a fantastic job especially as he hadn't seen any of the pictures when he wrote.

We didn't win the competition but the judges praised it highly.