Falmouth Beaneath The Waves Film Festival - A Roaring Success!

A great turnout for the first ever UK Beneath The Waves Film Festival

Last Thursday (the 6th) saw me making an appearance at the Falmouth stop of Beneath The Waves Film Festival, the first time the UK has hosted one of these events and it was a really, really great night!

Six films were shown, "Bertha's Blues," "Mikono Ya Wivuvi," "People of the Coral Triangle" and "A Reef's Tale" along with, of course, A Ray of Light, there was also a competition for local film-makers and photographers, along with three guest speakers, Fergus Kennedy, Jeff Goodman and yours truly, all packed into a hugely enjoyable two and a half hours.

Photo by Nicky Crawford

The turnout was superb, almost a full house, the response to the films was very positive and there was a real sense of people genuinely wanting to learn more about the issues raised in the films. The organisation of the event was absolutely top notch as well so full credit for the success of the evening must go to Phil Doherty, Lucie Buckland and Sarah Paul, all of whom dedicated a great deal of time and effort into the evening and they did a phenomenal job, I would love to see them involved in a similar event next year, it was an absolute pleasure to spend the evening with them and also Fergus, Jeff and Jeff's partner.

A word also about the venue, a fantastic independent cinema in the beautiful town of Falmouth, called The Poly, a traditional, art house cinema staffed almost entirely by volunteers. Places like this need, nay deserve the support of anyone with an interest in film and are a far more enjoyable place to watch a movie than a faceless multiplex costing an arm and a leg to get into. I very much hope that Thursday isn't the only time I get to watch one of my films in this awesome place, in fact, I will be making an effort to ensure that happens again...



Beneath the Waves Film Festival - Summer and Fall 2013 World Tour Movie from Triakis Films on Vimeo.

The festival is currently on its world tour and details of venues can be found here along with regular updates and I strongly advise you make the effort to go if it comes within reasonable travelling distance from you!

In other A Ray of Light news, yet another film festival has requested its inclusion in their event, this time, in Australia as part of the Cairns Underwater Film Festival taking place on Saturday, August 24th at The Cairns Civic Theatre. The event's organiser is the very cool Mike Ball so it is guaranteed to be a great event. More news on that to come!

Once again, huge thanks to all at Beneath The Waves, The Poly, Lucie, Phil and Sarah and last but certainly not least, all who came on Thursday!

Phil, Sarah, Me, Lucie, Fergus and Jeff

June 6th in Falmouth...Get Yourselves There!

 One of many international screenings of A Ray of Light

Bit of a heads up for you English people, especially those of you lucky enough to live in the Cornwall area...

On Thursday June 6th, the international touring film festival, Beneath The Waves finally reaches our shores and not only will A Ray of Light be screened on the night (which it is at every Beneath The Waves screening around the world) but I will also be there in person, to give a brief talk about this film, "Of Shark and Man" and a little bit about how I ended up in a position to call myself a professional Film-Maker and Cinematographer.

The Falmouth Beneath The Waves Film Festival is being held at The Poly on June 6th and will feature films and still photography from some passionate and brilliantly talented people and, if I am correct in thinking, is followed by drinks and a chance to meet new people and discuss, amongst other things, the films on show earlier in the evening.

If you can't make it to Falmouth, I will be at Robin Hood Watersports on June 12th to screen A Ray of Light and do a bit of a presentation as part of their open night as they launch their new travel centre.

The London Eco Film Festival was apparently a huge success. Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it to the event but I am told photos from the night will be available soon.

I'm really excited about the Falmouth Film Festival, I love Cornwall and it will be the first time I will have seen one of my films in a cinema setting so it should be a great evening and one at which I would love to see as many of you as possible!

Thanks to everyone who has so far taken part in the shark feeding discussion on the last blog which, for the most part, has been a really well informed, balanced and intelligent discussion. If you know someone who has opinions on the issue and wants to discuss it away from the crazies and angry lunatics you find on social media, feel free to invite them over!

Finally, if you haven't already, make sure to get your hands on a copy of the current issue of Sport Diver and check out my five page, cover article about the experience of my final dive on Shark Reef!

Of Shark and Man update and more good news about A Ray of Light!!

 Missy, hard at work editing

How's about an update?

Of Shark and Man

Serious progress has been made over the last few weeks to the point where I am now 1 hour and 14 minutes in with only three main sections left to edit. I was always wondering if the film would hit ninety minutes and it looks like the first cut will go slightly beyond that. That is not me trying to stretch the film out by the way, it's merely that I want to cover everything properly and not just fly through everything to get you to the commercials quicker! 

I really dislike the modern day trend of just glossing over everything, giving you the minimum you need to class the film as "factual" and then trying to create some kind of drama where there is none. This film is jam packed with content, talking points and even a bit of controversy and I want to do the story justice so I'm not concerned about its length.

I have a few bits and pieces I want to film which will only take a couple of days and two of the remaining three sections are quite straightforward although one is very complex but I am tentatively saying that the first time line for Of Shark and Man will be completed by July. Yes, you read that right, this is the first time I've put a completion timescale on the edit, that's pretty big news.

The animation team have been hard at work and I have to give extra special mention to Lian for her heroic efforts so far and to Faeez for offering to help animate a bar graph for me. They are an incredibly talented group who I am over the moon to have on board as part of this film, thanks to them, a vital aspect of the story will be presented in a fitting way. I cannot wait to see their finished work!

When the first cut is done, I will colour correct and grade it, before recording the voice-over with Adam and Liam at the Banter Media Studios in Manchester. Following that, Mark and I will sit down to the arduous task of sound design and soundtrack, including composing and recording bespoke pieces for the film as well as using music from other talented musicians, including Chris Zabriskie, an ever present in all my film work.

Aside from actually constructing the film, I have also been coming up with a plan for promotion and release. I will start work on the second Teaser Trailer next week, focusing more on the sharks this time. This will be accompanied by something else connected to the film's promotion which will go a long way to determining how successful this film can be so please, make sure to keep an eye out for that.

I do have a few things I am very keen to do, when the first cut is done the first thing will be a small batch of individual test screenings for industry friends, other film-makers and objective voices, so that I can look at ways the edit can be improved. When those improvements are made, I will then move on to a few small scale test screenings for members of the public so I can evaluate their feedback and again, if any changes need making, I can make those changes.

That's when things will get interesting. Some of you reading this will be contacted about receiving a pre-release copy of the film to watch and review on your blogs, websites, video channels, newsletters and websites. I already know most of the people who will be contacted and you will know a lot more about it nearer the time.

After that, it will be an official premiere screening for members of the press and public before the film festival submissions start.

It's all getting rather exciting now!

 A Ray of Light

Another film festival has requested A Ray of Light to screen at their event. The London Eco Film Festival which takes place on Sunday May the 12th and I will be there if I am able to attend. At this stage, it's not listed on the website but that's only because I haven't sent the DVD yet, that will be going next Tuesday. This will be the first public screening in the UK of "A Ray of Light"

On Thursday June the 6th, the UK stop of the Beneath the Waves Film Festival in Falmouth, at The Poly, will be screening A Ray of Light and not only that, I will be introducing the film and even doing a Q&A session afterwards. Please feel free to come along, watch some films by some talented people and ply me with alcohol in the bar afterwards.

Have a top weekend!