Many Small Steps / Authentic Adventure Film
Having now finished it’s festival run, it’s good to finally release our wee film out into the wild.
Now, to manage expectations; this film is sort of an accident. I took my backup camera and a basic zoom lens on holiday with me, grabbing little shots here and there, just as a home movie kind of thing.
But as we were hiking up Ben More I told my son that the key to getting up was to take lots of small steps and soon they’ll add up. I said that small steps conquer mountains. (This is essentially a reworking of the old Scot’s saying “Mony mickles maks a muckle”)
Anyway, that wee conversation gave me the idea for a way of stitching the footage together, hence the interview v/o with Ollie.
I have no idea why it has resonated with so many people but maybe because it’s so normal. It’s the opposite of epic. And maybe because what Ollie says speaks to all of us in a way.
Resonate it did though, being shown to audiences at the following festivals
To be fair, I only entered it into two more than that, so not a bad strike rate. I wasn’t even going to enter it into anything, it was just going to live on the family whatsapp chat. But then I saw other things getting selected for festivals and thought it’d be interesting to see what happened.
What happened was that around 1000-2000 people saw it at festivals and when it came to London, it made it into the final 8 for the Peoples’ Choice Awards.
By way of BTS info, this was all filmed on a Sony a7iii, all in Slog3 I think, using just a Sigma 24-70. I filmed the B-roll as it happened, then afterwards sat down with Ollie, as you see, outside out back door to do the talking head. It was essentially just asking him lots of questions and when he said a good wee nugget, asking him to repeat it in a cleaner or more concise way.
And it didn’t finish resonating after the festivals. Opening up to the public, we had some wonderful feedback;
“Probably the most Authentic Adventure film I’ve seen for years ”
“Where UK mountain culture is defined 🏔️”
“It resonates with so many people because its authentic. Capturing a wholesome story which is already unfolding, no excess effort has been made to make the adventure happen, it’s just part of what’s happening in these people’s lives. We’ve seen countless epic adventures unfold on screen, what audiences crave now is pure authenticity. That’s what makes us feel connected.”
“I think it resonates not just because of the sweetness of the hero and the loveliness of the cinematography, but because the theme is so universal. Relevant to children and adults, mountain climbers and those plodding through every other challenge in life. A little gem. 💕”
“It is brilliant. I love it on so many levels, across both work and personal life. Authentic, inspiring, relevant to all. I am off out into to world to see if i can take any small steps forward today.....”
