We are very lucky to have the Snowdonia National Park Authority as one of our regular clients. It is hard to beat being able to live and work somewhere so very beautiful and better still to be able to show off our favourite places on film.
2021 is the 70th anniversary of the creation of the Snowdonia National Park and as part of the celebrations we were asked to create two films. This first one is a two minute bi-lingual film that conveyed key messages to visitors as they return to the Park after the Covid restrictions. We wanted to combine strong visuals that would engage the audience with pacey music and simple key messaging. The film was shot between January and March and during that time period we had a beautiful snow moon which became a recurring presence at each location we shot.
The bi-lingual aspect was achieved by producing two versions of the film and two social media shorts that were 30 seconds long to compliment the main film. The social media shorts did away with the sound track and focused on natural sounds.
The second film was shot in August and we were given a selection of old photographs from the 70 year history and asked to compare them to modern day images from the same viewpoint. I roped in my 12 year old son Charlie and the film opens with him at home leafing through the images. We then set out to visit the locations and see how much they have changed over the years. The music was provided by Welsh artists Delith & Angharad, Llinyn Arian.
In 2020 the Snowdonia National Park Authority produced Cynllun Eryri – a management plan that set out its aims for the future of the Park. The plan set out the nine special qualities that make Snowdonia a special place and we were tasked with making this film to accompany the management plan.
Comprised entirely of stock footage from our own library the film is bi-lingual and the voice over artist is Bethan Price.
The Carneddau is a special and varied landscape. A partnership of organisations is delivering a scheme to help people discover, record, care for and celebrate the Carneddau with the help of funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The scheme area includes the high mountains as well as the settlement fringes and valley sides around them.
This film was put together using footage from our own stock library and footage that the client had shot themselves using mobile phones during the Pandemic.
During the lockdown in 2020 we were asked to document the Park on film.
As lockdown measures were eased and the Park prepared to welcome visitors back, we produced this film where we meet local people who tell us what life has been like since March and how visitors can help when they return.
The film was produced bi-lingually and we also produced three social media shorts to compliment the main film. The film had a fantastic response with over 200,000 views in its first week across multiple platforms.
Cwm Idwal in the Ogwen Valley in Snowdonia is a special place. It is a mountain Cwm filled with the crystal clear waters of Llyn Idwal and has long been a favourite place of mine to visit, both as a climber and as a parent, keen to show the mountains to my kids.
In 2015 we made a film for the newly refurbished Visitor Centre (see below) and in 2020 when the visitor centre was undergoing a facelift we were given the opportunity to produce a new film. This time round I wanted to showcase the environment itself whilst connecting with the things that make it special for me and the many thousands of people that visit every year. The Cwm is incredibly accessible and so ideal for parents wanting to show the mountains to their kids as I have done. In the film we follow my good friends Huw & Jo as they take Tom & Martha up North West Face Route to the side of the Idwal Slabs. We also meet Matt as he runs up Y Garn as the Cwm is also a starting point for bigger adventures. Of course the Cwm has to be carefully managed to cope with all of these people and we get a brief meeting with the Ranger and the Path Maintenance Team on our journey.
The focus of the film needed to be the environment itself and so the characters we meet are not the main role, that privilege falls to Cwm Idwal itself. Our filming window was from November to January and snow often makes an appearance, topped up with some shots from our library of the spring flowers and summer colours.
The film is designed to be shown in the visitor centre and to also work online and in social media.
Time-lapse: Kris Williams
All other filming: Rob Johnson
Clients: Snowdonia National Park Authority, National Trust & Natural Resources Wales
Following the success of “Live, Work and Breathe” we created a summer conditions and a winter conditions film for the SNPA. Each film was created to combine stunning visuals with a mountain safety message that encouraged people to visit the mountains in a way that will promote safe enjoyment all year round: