Dàna Series 5

The fifth series of Dàna in as many years has been transmitted on BBC Alba, marking the end of another stint filming, directing and editing two hours of telly for Solus Productions. Not content with getting to poke around Europe last time, we opted to shoot the latest series in Morocco. 

Taking a break to stike a pose in the coire below the summit of toubkal

annie, coinneach, matt and rich putting the work in on skyline ridge

As with the preceding series, there were big challenges involved on location which were only overcome with the help of a hard-working, generous and expert crew. Returning to the fray on safety and ropes duties was Rich Parker, this time joined by Matt Barratt. Appearing on camera for the first time alongside Coinneach was Annie MacNeil, a Barra native who adapted to the rigours of adventure filming in terrific style.

We were helped in our efforts by a team of Moroccan drone pilots, fixers and drivers, and having the support of locals to guide us and offer insight into their culture made for an eye-opening trip. 

goofing off after successful filming at tafraoute’s painted rocks

annie seconding a pitch of steep ice below toubkal

Between filming at altitude, camping in the desert and navigating working during ramadan, there were plenty new experiences which proved testing and remarkable in equal measure. I was pleased to not feel too greatly the ill-effects of altitude while operating above 4000m, but was humbled by the demands of managing camera kit in a windy desert environment. For all the challenges presented by the places we visited, some of the best shots in the series are of the climbers dealing with the most dramatic weather events they encountered. 

matt climbing on skyline ridge to get ropes in place for filming

annie and matt sorting through kit in the desert

Although our collective efforts were aimed squarely at gathering the most compelling sequences we could, as is often the case, some of the best memories are of moments not captured for posterity. The desert area around M’Hamid, with its striking jagged landscape and exotic wildlife possessed a very serene character in the dark. Sharing a helping of Scotland’s most famous export in this alien arena was novel in the extreme, while enjoying dinner around a fire at a berber camp was a trip highlight. 

the striking formations around m’hamid

striking, but very loose

It was a privilege to be given the chance to experience new environments and a culture which differs enormously from that of the places Dàna has visited in the past. I’m grateful to everyone who helped bring it all together, and am pleased that our holiday film is available in full HD on the iPlayer. 

Sona

In June and July of this year, I was fortunate to be asked by Beezr Studios to direct and shoot a terrific three-part Gaelic series called Sona, following Vicky Kilgour and Duncan MacDonald as they explore Scotland’s west coast in search of mindfulness, wellbeing and a good time. 

throwing the camera into the sea in protest

Presenters vicky and duncan en route to our digs

As it typical of Scottish high summer, many of the days on location were spent trying to keep torrential rain out of cameras while engulfed in a could of midges. Luckily, the robust and charismatic team assembled by Beezr were sufficiently professional to keep the vibes high in the face of poor conditions. 

We shot the programme in Argyll, Knoydart and Skye, which served as a good reminder of how much the landscape in Scotland can change region to region. The temperate rainforests of Argyll filled the frame with saturated deep greens, while the rugged outcrops of the rough bounds presented high drama in spades. Along with Ewen and Magnus, I shot the material on Sony cameras and logged a lot of flying time capturing drone footage as well. 

DECKHAND GRAHAM

HARRY AND MARTHA, PRODUCTION DREAM TEAM

REBECCA SEEING US OVER TO DOUNE FOR THE NIGHT

It was a filming block comprised of highlights, though waiting on a chartered boat to shuttle us to our accommodation while enjoying a pint in Scotland’s most remote pub was uniquely satisfying. In a year which has been heavily occupied with international filming trips, for which I’m grateful, it was a treat to be embedded in the highlands for the programme, sampling everything we could of what home has to offer. 

ENJOYING A well-earned PINT, TWELVE HOURS INTO A DAY NOt yet over

filming on the boat over to doune

The programme is available to watch on iPlayer, and I would recommend you binge it enthusiastically at the earliest opportunity. 

Sites Unseen

Early in 2023, I was commissioned by Unesco RILA, based in the University of Glasgow, to produce a short educational film about the Highland Clearances. 

The brief was to create a clear and accessible summary of this period in Scotland’s history, with the help of local contributors and a presenter fluent in Gaelic, so that the film could be produced in both Gaelic and English. The piece required extensive research and careful scripting in order to arrive at a balanced overview of a complex subject. 

Filming links

charging all the kit

Enlisting the expert help of Coinneach Rankin, who gamely took the project on, we headed to the UNESCO North West Highlands Geopark and began filming, with the temperatures still low and the highlands still devoid of the NC500 hordes. 

Coinneach and I had two days to film all our links in both Gaelic and English, and to produce pieces with two contributors. Following this, I was left to my own devices to hoover up appropriate landscape scenery using ground camera and drone. 

In the absence of a voiceover booth, a well insulated van can work well

getting hammered by scottish weather filming gvs

The piece is available to watch below.

Music Video - Katie MacFarlane

I was recently asked by Gaelic singer, Katie MacFarlane, to produce a music video for the lead single from her debut album. We opted to use two locations, one outdoors, which would highlight Katie’s fantastic performance, and another which would feature the band and focus the attention on the terrific arrangement. 

For the first location, we headed to a local Glasgow park at the crack of dawn, to capitalise on the morning light. In the afternoon, we set up in the Pearce Institute in Govan to film with the full band. The room was lit entirely with my own lights, a combination of Aputure and Amaran LEDs. The final result was an uncluttered and eye-catching video, which firmly places the emphasis on the wonderful music recorded by Katie and her band. 

The video was shot on a Sony A7IV using a Sigma 50mm prime, and edited in Premiere Pro.

Dàna Series 3

Following a lot of height gain, mileage and hours spent in Premiere Pro, Dàna series 3 has materialised on the iPlayer. The challenge of shooting, directing and editing this series was no less than in previous years, and as such, it’s satisfying to have another round of programmes out in the wild. 

Filming on the old man of stoer

coinneach climbing the stack

This series involved filming on The Old Man of Stoer, marching through the Cairngorms, scrambling round Torridon in all weathers and heading up to Shetland to film climbing on sea-cliffs. Each location presented its own set of hurdles and opportunities for capturing great material and as always, my favourite sequences are those which took place above the water. The constant motion of the sea can lend even quite mundane shots a great sense of movement and drama, so if you manage to nail a few elements - the most important of those being where you are in relation to the climber - the results are fantastic. 

me and malky hanging out at the top of the route

owen climbing in shetland

The days we spent in the mountains required a lot more from everyone physically. The pressure of having to make a television half-hour in a short space of time is amplified by the heavy rucksacks that have to be carried a long way over rough ground, often for several days in a row. For instance, undertaking the journey we did in the Cairngorms episode would be a trying enough proposal under ordinary circumstances. The reality of having to film the journey at the same time is some seriously early starts and late bedtimes, with very little time to stop during the day. However, the satisfaction you feel in getting back to the car park with an episode in the bag is mighty, and the constant moderate suffering helps to bond a crew in record time. 

filming on the black carls of beinn eighe

the crew on beinn eighe

The Dàna team has remained more or less unchanged since the first series, and as such, we’re getting very good at covering a lot of ground in a day and getting good results on the fly. A lot of the areas we film in would usually require days of prep in order to mitigate the hazards enough to make filming viable, but thanks to the expertise of the team, we’re able to arrive at these places and leave six hours later with a comprehensive sequence in the bag. In this respect, working with the crew continues to be a brilliant masterclass in how to operate effectively, comfortably and efficiently in a mountain environment. 

a small crew comprised entirely of legends

filming in the lairig ghru

Once we were finished recording the episodes, I blocked all the light out of the spare bedroom, researched the viability of having a saline drip installed next to the desk and commenced the edit. No experience could be more different from the days on location than sitting in a dressing gown and staring at Premiere for ten to twelve hours a day. Repetitive strain injury aside, the assembly is usually straightforward, as the narrative is established during the filming process and it’s just a case of selecting the best pictures from the course of each journey. With Dàna, the edit is kept simple by hard graft on location. 

what a finished offline edit looks like

Once again, directing the series has left me with a collection of memories that will define the year for me when I look back on it. The sun rising in the Cairngorms at 4am, filming pieces to camera balanced on top of a sea stack and enduring driving wind and rain in Torridon are all things I’m unlikely to forget. As always, I’m tremendously grateful to Solus Productions, Kenny, Rich, Kirk and everyone else who worked hard on the series for making the endeavour possible. 

celebrating a successful shoot on shetland

Leirsinn

At the beginning of summer I was contacted by Lochaber stalwart and musician extraordinaire, Ewen Henderson, with a view to filming landscapes at various locations round the Highlands and Islands. The job required walking into mountainous areas in the small hours of the morning or late at night in order to get the best light for filming with a drone. Given the high chance of getting drenched in the process, living off supermarket sandwiches for a week and forgetting to bring a head torch, taking on the work was a no brainer. 

Filming on rum at the height of summer. This photo was taken much later in the day thaN it appears.

The first filming block coincided with a June heatwave, which despite being welcomed by beer garden revellers, made for challenging filming conditions. This briefly led to the postponement of most of the filming, but with ferries booked and accommodation ready in Rum, there was no turning back. Despite hot and cloudless weather, the trip was a success, with sunset filming on the ridge yielding great results. 

The mighty coire mhicfhearchair

Next up was Coire MhicFhearchair on Beinn Eighe, a spectacular spot which presents easy pickings to the determined camera operator. Once again, alpine tactics were required in order to avoid filming in harsh, direct sunlight and I set off from the van at 3am, after spending much of the night listening to a thunderstorm roar outside. The early start proved prescient, and by 8am the drone’s SD card was filled with compelling mountain scenery. With the necessary shots in the bag, I took the opportunity to tackle the two munro summits on Beinn Eighe in sweltering heat. Dehydrated and sweating buckets, my dishevelled state was further emphasised by the unflustered runners doing training laps of the mountain in preparation for the CeltMan triathlon, due to take place later that week. 

Filming in the coire

liathach seen from beinn eighe

In the final block of filming, I visited Lochaber in order to film at Creag Meagaidh and Glencoe. Typically, it was soaking wet while filming in Glencoe, though this made for dramatic footage and confirmed that the DJI Mini 3 Pro is perfectly capable of acting as an amphibious vehicle. A late night walk into Coire Adair at Creag Meagaidh yielded some lovely results, as differing temperatures between the valley floor and the peaks made for some striking cloud patterns. 

‘atmospheric’ filming conditions

Standing on top of crowberry tower after a successful mission to lochaber

Overall, it was a fantastic project to work on, and I’m grateful to Ewen for trusting me to roam the wilds unsupervised and see what came of it. The visuals were captured for his Blas commission, ‘Leirsinn’, which is touring throughout the festival and is sure to be a tour de force of original Highland music.