A Ray of Light II Going Live on Monday, December 8th

Ready and waiting for you!

It's not been easy sitting on A Ray of Light II for so long, it seems like forever really, but I'm excited to say that it will finally see the light of day on an internet near you sometime around midday UK time on Monday, December 8th.

If you haven't already seen them, please do take a bit of time to check out Lockie's two "Making Of" featurettes below:

The three weeks in Mallorca shooting the film was a big challenge to say the least, exhausting both physically and mentally and at times emotionally draining and it shows in the film.

Whereas the first film was a pretty straightforward affair, this was anything but and has a far more expansive, documentary feel to it. As opposed to taking a retrospective look at things that have already happened, A Ray of Light II gives you an insight into things as they happen and an intimate and deeply personal look at how Brad's life has changed in the two years from the first film.

It's a longer film, coming in at just under 29 minutes, the cinematography is better, the sound is better, the story is better and the overall look of the film is a vast improvement from the first, which people still comment very favourably on. The post production of the film was a big job, much bigger than I expected and I think the time and effort I took to get the film how I wanted really shows in the finished result.

A small group of people have already seen the film outside of the premiere and feedback from both has all been overwhelmingly positive so I'm pretty confident if you liked the first, you'll hopefully like (maybe even really like) A Ray of Light II.

As with the first film, A Ray of Light II will be free to view online wherever you are in the world (barring maybe North Korea), that doesn't mean it was a cheap production, far from it! With that in mind, Vimeo's "Tip Jar" feature will be enabled so if you enjoy the film and want to show your appreciation, feel free to chuck a few quid/dollars/yen/whatever in there, every little bit helps recoup costs but of course there is no obligation.

I do ask though that if you enjoy it and value the film and/or the project featured within, that you share the film on your Social Media, Blogs and Websites with a description of why you're sharing it, the more people aware of the work of small, independent Conservation orgs like Asociacion Ondine, the better, they really are a shining light in the marine conservation world.

So, set a reminder, mark your calendars, A Ray of Light II is out this coming Monday. As always, feedback is warmly welcomed!

Behind Blue Glass and Monetizing Video

 Xisco Perez and I on his boat, "Katy"

I was having a chat with a very good friend of mine on Saturday in Manchester, who I had gone to visit as, due to my life being consumed solely by work, I had not seen for two years. He was telling me about how glad he was I was following my dreams and how he has always struggled to find that one thing which he knows he could achieve and which would give him the life fulfilment he and everyone else craves.

Of course, the issue got on to finances and how everything we do is dictated by money, or rather, the lack of it and it reminded me of my own experiences but also something I read a couple of years ago that issued a stark warning that as soon as you set out on the journey to build a career out of something you would do for fun anyway, people automatically expect that you should punish yourself by not being paid properly and living a life overshadowed by constant financial stress, which is, of course, complete and utter nonsense. I work harder than most people I know, I work longer hours then most people I know and now that I have finally launched Scarlet View Media, putting a value on my time, expertise, energy and effort is not just an act of principle, it's also an exercise in analytics and maths. I understand that a part of making a promise to myself to maintain my own standards through everything I do, means not doing things on the cheap, sacrificing quality and therefore, that also means there will be times when I turn down opportunities because a potential client simply isn't willing to pay what the job is worth.

This all took me back to the production of Behind Blue Glass and A Ray of Light which took place either side of "Of Shark and Man" and both of which represent stark differences in how ready I was to run productions with such lofty artistic and creative ideas. Behind Blue Glass was shot with a four man crew, three of whom, myself included, had never made a film before and A Ray of Light was just me with Brad helping on a couple of the organisational things.

Behind Blue Glass cost around €3200 to make or at least that was the budget we had, that had to cover four people, all food, transport, salary, board and diving for almost three weeks, the pre-production phase and also the post-production phase and what I actually earned myself by way of being paid for the enormous amount of time and energy I put in, over a period of four months, is roughly the same as what I would charge now, for a day's work and works out on the BBG time sheet, at less than £1 an hour...

Before you start feeling too sorry for me, I should point put that it was entirely my fault because that's what I asked for, making the biggest and most common mistake first time film-makers are guilty of, assuming people won't pay you properly so pitching at way, way less than you should so you can convince the people funding your film to let you do it.

Despite grossly undervaluing myself, my time, my energy and my expertise, the production of Behind Blue Glass was an invaluable learning process for me, it is far from perfect, mistakes were made but what I really love about it is it has a heart and soul, a group of friends setting out to do something really, really difficult and succeeding, not only that but the content is actually, really, really good, an in-depth look at the story of Great White Sharks in the Mediterranean and the human interest aspect of positive shark/human interactions. In May Brad and I held a screening of the film in Mallorca and the room was packed, there weren't enough seats in fact and the feedback was really, really positive, a few people picked up on things like parts where the sound could have been better (wind...I HATE wind) but given that we had a bare minimum of resources available the end result is still pretty impressive. Behind Blue Glass is a film made by passion, endurance, good will and positive energy and it shows.

A Ray of Light was an infinitely simpler, more streamlined and artistically successful production, aided by the fact I had come off the super intense, non-stop crash course in film-making that was making "Of Shark and Man." I went into it knowing how I wanted it to look, what I wanted the message to be and how I wanted to express myself as an auteur and it also introduced my natural style of film-making. A Ray of Light is different to Behind Blue Glass in that a lot of BBG was scripted, a constructed narrative delivered into camera in a very pure documentary style and that was originally what I had intended for "Of Shark and Man." It was only two days into production in Fiji that it became clear that I was more natural just being me, no script, just genuine emotion, feeling and honesty, captured in a conversational style, as though there is no barrier between you and the viewer.

This stylistic imprint now defines how I make films, they must be honest and they must be aesthetically appealing, to me, film is not just putting an image on screen, each shot counts and each shot should tell the story in itself, its composition, framing, focus points and colours, anyone can point a camera at something, not everyone can engage you in a story. A Ray of Light was shot primarily when the people involved weren't aware they were being filmed, a window into that point in time in which one man's story is told, a story we ultimately found out cut a little too close to the bone for some of the glossier yet more impotent NGOs out there. It is popular though, the feedback has been quite incredible and at the time of writing, it is closing in on 13,000 views and it is that number which encouraged me to write this blog...

A Ray of Light helped raise almost €40,000 for the Mallorca Stingray Survey and cost about £700 to make, not including payment to me as the Director, Producer, Cameraman, DoP and Editor, had that been included, it would have cost around £5000-6000 to produce. The reason I don't include that is because it didn't exist, I didn't get paid because I paid for the production out of my own pocket, that £700 came out of money I had earned for an order of Behind Blue Glass DVDs.

We live in a world where, like music, people all of a sudden feel entitled to films for free, why should you have to pay for music and films when everyone who makes them is a millionaire right! It's also easier to put a film out now than ever, more people are doing it than ever which is great but does that mean there are loads of great films out there now? No, there are still the same amount of great films, there's just more really, really bad ones making it harder for the good ones to get seen.

I was chastised by a scientist a while back for suggesting that the worlds of art and science should work closer together to make use of each others expertise, science is about analysis, statistics, solid facts, years of research, art is about expression, emotion and story telling but this particular individual felt that no, the scientific community should be responsible for its own film-making and media output, presumably on the assumption that, because they know the results of their research on the subject matter, they also know the best way to present that in an engaging and thought provoking way to the lay man which is, of course, complete nonsense. That is why I suggested the two worlds should work closer in the first place.

Making films can be pretty easy, making good ones though, isn't, making good films which appeal to an audience who may otherwise not be interested in the subject matter, is really, really difficult and that is challenge with conservation related media. Conservation isn't about scientists and how they spent years in a lab researching something, it's about how law makers, game changers and the man on the street take the information provided by the scientific community and put it to use to make the world a better place. The scientist in question didn't seem to grasp that dry statistics, white coats and laboratories doesn't really stir the emotional loins of the average person.

The one thing that makes good films happen, good films which can help make the world a better place, is money. Films cost money, the people who work on these films deserve to be paid properly and they need to be marketed properly, its hardly rocket science. That brings me back to the 13,000 number...

Introducing Vimeo Tip Jar and more Creator Services from Vimeo Staff on Vimeo.

If every person who had viewed A Ray of Light had made a voluntary donation of £1 then the film would have raised an extra £13,000 which would go towards recouping my costs, marketing and promoting "Of Shark and Man" and making more films to highlight important environmental issues. It would also show that people accept and appreciate that there is value in work like this and it deserves to be rewarded by helping the film-maker have the luxury of perhaps a few less sleepless nights worrying about the next bill to come through the letterbox, food, stuff like that...

People have complained for years, myself included, at the quality, or rather the complete lack of it, in media representation of sharks and the ocean environment, through expensive, yet completely soulless, cynical and contrived shows and series like "Shark Men," "Whale Wars" and most of the stuff we see on Shark Week and the simple way to get better, is to support the people who make better quality media. Shows like the aforementioned ones are merely pretty wrapping around the commercials, they're not there to save the world, they're there to make you watch the adverts and buy shit you don't need, that's all.

How do you do support the film-makers who want to make the stuff you want to see? Financially, that's how, if the money isn't there to make proper shark related films, then they won't get made, simple, so if you watch the video above, I have decided to add Tip Jar to A Ray of Light, Love Sharks Love Fiji and The Sanctuary so if you like it, you think it's well made, you like the message or the way it's filmed, please make an affordable donation which will help me keep making these types of films and giving a voice to all of us who want a better world for our marine creatures.

To go back to Behind Blue Glass as well, in 2013 Vimeo are launching a Pay to View service meaning that finally, regardless of where you are in the world, for a very fair one off payment, you can stream the film whenever you like for the rest of your life. As soon as Vimeo implement it, I will be adding BBG to it and will of course be announcing it here, the mailing list and on the Facebook Page.

I make these films for the message and I make these films for you, I appreciate your support, it is one of the main things that keeps me going and I hope you also see the value in financially supporting independent film. Nobody is owed a living, but I do believe that effort, hard work, get up and go and artistic creativity do deserve to be rewarded.

I would love to read comments from you all about this, particularly from other film-makers and also all the people who make an effort to watch low budget productions as well.

Over to you...

A Ray of hope for Mallorca's Stingrays?

 

Pic by Gonzo

If you weren't already aware, I'm currently in Mallorca for what was intended to be a holiday with friends where I could recharge my batteries in the sun and get away from the laptop and editing duties for a bit.

What started with that intention however quickly morphed into me coming over to shoot a little short film about a brilliant grassroots conservation project being led by my very good friends and partners in crime, Brad and Bea, well, I say "crime" but by that I mean coming up with hugely ambitious projects we don't have any money to do and which take up all our time but which we somehow manage to get off the ground anyway.

The current project being developed by Brad is the Mallorquin Stingray Survey, a brilliantly simple concept which encourages ordinary people to volunteer to take part in twice monthly dives in a Marine Protected Area (MPA) in which they count the Stingrays encountered on that dive in that specific area and where possible, take photographs and videos to help create an idea of how many are there and if possible, why they are there.

The target species is the Common Stingray and once again we can count on the involvement of our friend and expert on Mediterranean Elasmobranchs, Gabriel Morey, to help with all the science behind the data we collect.

 

I am of course here to capture footage, not just of the dives, but of the people and not to simply tell people what we are doing, but to give an honest portrayal of conservation in action, actual conservation, where people leave their homes and go outside and commit to spending months, maybe even years, grinding through the sun, wind, rain and all other obstacles that life throws at you just to try and do something good. I am not getting paid (it's actually costing me money to do this) and this project currently has zero financial support (something we hope to change) with Brad and Bea and everyone else involved digging into their own pockets to try and make it work. That means early mornings, late nights, trips around the island and the constant putting out of fires (metaphoric, not real, at least not yet anyway.)

Long time readers of this blog will know I am a cynic regarding many things, not least people's ideals of what constitutes action and involvement in environmental causes and during a two hour filmed interview with Brad yesterday (remember those Mike?!) we spoke a lot about the frustrations that "doers" encounter when faced with the overwhelming majority of "talkers" who inadvertently, sometimes even intentionally, get in their way and place barriers in their path, despite claiming to be on the same side. We discussed what motivates the tiny handful of people like Brad and Bea who sacrifice their time, finances and quite often sanity, just to try and do something in which they passionately believe and also the goals for the future we have in regards to trying to have at least a tiny, but positive effect, upon marine conservation in the Mediterranean. Not only are they my friends, they are also two of my ultimate conservation heroes, I don't have many, and they are in elite company.

 

So what about the actual dives we've done so far? Ray-wise, pretty incredible, over three dives we've seen about a hundred, including some very big, fat, pregnant ladies which is great! Aside from the Rays and considering this is a protected area, there is nothing, of course there are a few fish here and there but an area like this should be utterly teeming with life and it really is not.

The Mediterranean is in severely dire straits and without the Rays, El Delta, the area in which we are doing the surveys, would not be worth diving despite being a beautiful location with crystal clear water, it's no good having great viz but nothing to see.

That is why projects like this and people like Brad and Bea are absolutely vital to the Med standing any chance of not becoming completely desolate, bereft of any life, in ours or our children's lifetimes. If you want to learn more or see how you can help then contact Brad at brad@ondineescape.com and if you're coming to Mallorca this Summer and fancy a dive with these Rays, you can do exactly that with the island's best dive operation.

Here I am then, on "holiday" and editing two hours worth of interview with a bad back from lugging gear around in the hot sun and sleeping on the floor under Brad's stairs but it's more than worth it and fingers crossed, you enjoy the little film when it's done.

speaking of little films, I actually will be able to tell you when "Behind Blue Glass" is actually available to purchase on DVD but as is often the case, I am waiting on that info to reach me, hopefully in the next week or so so keep an eye out for that. As for big films, "Of Shark and Man" remains at the same stage as last you heard from me, I return to the UK early June to do a little more filming for the intro which will allow me to complete that then progress ill really pick up. It's a long, frustrating and tough journey but you won't hear me complaining.

To finish off, as we are all now on Facebook, if you are a "Shark and Marine Life Saver" or you like Rays, Mallorca or even just have a thing for long haired, Aussie dive instructor hippies, please let Brad know that you appreciate what it is he is doing and ask how you can put your "shark and marine life saving" expertise to good use in helping with this very worthy project.

If you're one of the many NGOs who has corresponded with Brad on this and other projects in the last two or three years and who still hasn't actually done anything to help, a) why? and b) sort it out please because we simply cannot afford to do it on our own using our own money, this is local conservation done by local people with real, tangible benefits to the local community here and that is what you market yourselves as supporting so contact Brad and he'll tell you how to help.

There might be a short little video with some stuff shot by Gonzo and Brad on the dives but that depends on whether we have the time to do it so if we do, it will be going out here.

Hasta La Vista

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