Munro Film (In Production)

[MichaelMcGuire]

http://vimeo.com/21200962
Preproduction Teaser
http://vimeo.com/34488716
clip one
http://vimeo.com/37107670
clip two


In June 2011, I left the village I grew up in on the south-east coast of Scotland and began walking north-west towards the mountains.

The idea was to spend 5 months living in a tent and walking across Scotland to climb the Munros, the 283 mountains in Scotland that rise above 3000ft, while documenting the experience and the people that I met.

It took 6 long and draining days to reach the first mountain, Ben Lomond, the most southerly Munro. At the cloud covered top, I wondered what the hell I was doing and almost turned back. In reality, my dream was more like a nightmare.

But somehow I found the will to keep going. I experienced the sublime and the surreal, the joy and the despair of a journey that often felt like a futile and absurd quest. After 4 long months and climbing 173 mountains, late-October snowfall forced me to reluctantly stop.

I was already over month behind schedule caused by adverse weather and the technicalities of filming, so I reasoned that the film would be better off if I retreated for winter and return in spring 2012 to complete the journey over a further two months.

With now over 100 hours of footage, I am currently finding and shaping the story that will form the basis of a feature documentary film. The story is still unfolding, but do not expect a banal account of calories consumed and self-styled adventurism to reach the extremes of human endurance.

The footage in the video above is some of what I have already captured. I hope it gives you a sense of my journey and that you might like to see the finished film.

Intertwined with the story of the journey, my film aims to capture the essence of Scotland's wild places and landscapes, while exploring various ideas and themes surrounding our connection to, and estrangement from wilderness and our human roots in an age of cheap thrills, fast food and reality TV.

I met many interesting people along the way and it is these people that will bring the film to life. However, I need help if the film is going to get finished and ulimately reach cinema screens.

Before production began I had a very successful crowdfunding campaign on thanks to some very generous people who helped me buy essential film equipment. I was also lucky enough to be supported by RAB http://rab.uk.com/ who supplied some excellent outdoor clothing and equipment.

But I now need help to fund the next stage of the journey and everything afterwards including editing, postproduction costs, music licensing, distribution and marketing costs, and festival fees.

If you like the sound of my project and would like to help then please consider contributing towards this campaign.

More: here

by James Urquhart
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As a keen outdoor-est myself I'd love to see this pull through so I'm rising awareness. I've always found interesting people from all over that enjoy and find escape in Scotland.