For this one we shot remote interviews in America and Australia with great characters. I collaborated with excellent science communicator and animator Lily Shepherd and we made this short film about the discovery of B and T cells. It was a fun project to work on. You have to be happy when a 91 year ofld scientist swears (gently) in your film.
I have produced a series of short films for The Lancet medical journal. The first one, about a new vision for death and dying, has received 45,000 views.
I shot one interview in person London, and one remotely in Kerala India. It’s a way of working that I never thought possible, but I have since filmed remotely in Nigeria and Australia, and it’s been a revelation that you can build great rapport in a remote interview. I would love to visit Kerala one day though.
I spent a month working at sea in February and got to produce some short films about the interesting coral environments in Western Australia. I met some really interesting scientists, and I would love to return one day
It was a real privilege to attempt to tell Lucy’s inspiring and complicated story for the BBC.
iPlayer description:
Lucy Evans' personality changed overnight. She faced months of delusions & psychosis before the shocking truth emerged.
It’s a story no one else can forget, but Lucy can’t remember. To everyone watching she was a different person, she became extremely loud, singing, manically colouring in until her hands bled, and saying she was a dinosaur. There was a lot of confusion over what was happening, hallucinations, delusions and a lack of inhibition marked an extreme period of Lucy’s life.
What would you do if a friend changed personality overnight? What could be causing it? Since getting the diagnosis Lucy is determined to ensure other people get the right diagnosis too.
Though the disease is treatable, brain injuries leave a complex legacy, and Lucy struggles with significant memory issues. She is making a film for her future self to tell her story and capture her positive view on life. She has emerged from this terrifying period with inspiring attitude and incredible determination to make sure everyone knows about this disease.
My film explaining this research expedition has received over 160000 views on YouTube and Facebook
I produced this feature-length documentary for BBC Radio 4
A Thankful Village is a place where every soldier returned alive from World War One. Songwriter Darren Hayman is visiting all fifty-four of them in search of a second story.
I got to work with the Schmidt Ocean Institute again, sailing around the Phoenix Islands Protected Area. We were exploring never-before-seen deep corals, and the incredible ecosystems they support. My job is engaging the public with the research happening on board, sharing the incredible stories behind the cutting edge science.
Here are some 4K mini-highlights
My favourite film of the trip is here
'We didn't even think about recording his voice'.
Had the great privilege of telling the story of how researchers and people with ALS are using film as a way of dealing with the impact of terminal neurodegenerative diseases.
What can a steam-powered brass band teach us about our place in an ever expanding universe? This film shoot saw us repeat a historic experiment, using trumpets and trains to shed light on how waves work, why sirens sound weird when they speed past us, and how we know that stars are moving away from us.
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I spent a month on the Pacific ocean in December 2016 exploring brand new underwater volcanoes and seafloor ecosystems. These trips increase our understanding of some of the remotest, scarcely-visited and inaccessible environments on the planet. Through articles, photos, livestreams and films we reached millions of people, taking them to parts of the ocean that no-one had seen.
I was a serial herb killer, until I learned these great tips from the Gardener's Question Time team. Turns out, it's not that complicated... With these simple tips you'll have beautiful fresh herbs that last with minimal effort.
Dancing in public can be scary, but letting go, and busting moves is a great release. Working with my pal and ace movement choreographer Polly Bennett, we made a film to get people dancing in that most intimidating environment... the wedding disco! Thanks to an ace group of fake wedding attendees, who brought their dancing A-Game in the sober light of day.
I wanted to dig into some of the structures of storytelling and show how everyone has a story they can share. We used the excellent BBC Radio4 programme 'Short Cuts' as a starting point to pick great story segments, then link them with key advice on storytelling from Josie Long. All mixed within the pages of an animated book. It was a really fun one to work on and hopefully will contribute to more people spinning yarns.
I was asked to make a short film about conversation for Radio 4. I chose to focus on 'The Listening Project'. An inspiring programme where ordinary people interview their friends, and loved ones. It's quite a unique form of media and can create some very inspiring, real, moments. I'm fascinated by layering visual elements on audio stories, and wanted to create an animation made from audio wave forms. For me this represents how we all have these conversations inside us. Hopefully this film celebrates the act of sharing. So go on, give it a share! It's good to talk, and even better to listen.
I've been a vegetarian for a few years now and really wanted to make a film to show that it's not hard, and definitely not dull Using a mixture of unusual ingredients, bold colours and text we made a Facbeook-friendly film that hopefully will inspire some chefs to mix up their food, and lower their Carbon footprint.
I love the guys at 10:10 they are a really cool small charity making waves, and taking on the biggest problems facing the planet. I enjoyed making this short film, and I got to weatherproof my draughty windows in the process.
I was really inspired by the work of the Paper Cinema and their amazing production of the Odyssey. I went to a workshop to learn some of their live animation techniques, and combined them with stop motion in this piece. I wanted to use the medium of anxious doodling to tell this story, and collaborated with the awesomely talented artist Alice Clarke. We spent a lot of time cutting drawings out, gluing them onto cardboard and patiently moving things around. Extra thanks to Gavin Farlie of GJF Productions who did some excellent puppetry.
Watch the film on the Radio4 website here
I've been collaborating with ace multimedia journalist Meera Senthilingam on some multimedia features for the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Piece one on Chemsex in the MSM community:
Meera has spent a longer time researching the topics, and writing the features. I have three days budgeted to work on coming up with some visual concept for the films, film them and execute the edit. It is a very tight turnaround, and I’d obviously like more time, but there is also great creative power in having boundaries. You can get a lot done in three days.
There are plenty of people like Arif and Duncan whose stories deserve to be heard. It’s possible to do these quickly, particularly when collaborating with someone, like Meera, who has had more time to get deeply involved in the topic, and who understands multimedia. Anyway I’m pretty happy with how they turned out.
It was a real privilege to tell Arif’s story of forced migration from Afghanistan, and to be allowed access to Duncan’s world, who opened up about the struggles and difficulties he’s faced with Chemsex. It’s essential to show the human side of these stories, to help people engage with the research questions that go alongside them.
I want to make more of these short portraits, so get in touch if you have a story you want to tell. But more than three days is preferable THANKS!
I was asked to come up with a concept to tell the great story of Balcombe, a village targeted for fracking by Cuadrilla in 2013. The town responded by protesting, resisting and pledging to go fully renewable.
We painted their story in light under the guidance of light artist Sola, and with the help of the awesome schoolkids and local villagers.
It was a privilege to tell the story of a committed community, not just saying no to something, but saying yes to doing things differently. We had to change the structure of the film a bit as government cuts to solar subsidies threatened to kill the project. But they are back and planning to expand their solar offering. You can get involved here.
The second of my 'how to' films for BBC Radio4 is now live. It's been going down really well on Facebook and was one of the most popular on the Radio4 website in it's first week. It was a fun one to direct, talented bunch of actors, and I'm really pleased with how it's come out.
Go and watch some Passion in Practice Shakespeare if you get a chance, it's really cool.
"Thou weedy, fat-kidneyed, bug bear..."
Posted by BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday, 1 March 2016
I spent 30 days embedded on the ship R/V Falkor, a scienctific research vessel sailing around the pacific ocean. I was documenting a group of scientists seeking out underwater volcanoes known as hydrothermal vents. It was a really cool project. The deep ocean is a uniquely challenging environment to work in, from battling seasickness in a typhoon, to competition for wifi. The trip was a huge success, the scientists discovered some really cool stuff, and will be returning next year with deep dive cameras to film and sample the incredible life that thrives at these newly discovered vents. We made lots of films, wrote blog posts, took photos, did stop motion animation (on something that never stopped motioning) and ran a competition to engage audiences with the project. Part 2 coming in 2016, stay tuned!
