‘Running Home’ is a documentary capturing a gruelling 157km ultramarathon in support of MNDA. The film presents the challenges on the day whilst also raising awareness for Motor Neuron Disease. A disease my Grandad had, unfortunately passing away in the build-up to the run. 

Our aim for this project was to capture the lead up to the run and the day itself. We also ensured that a narrative was clearly conveyed through the film. Emotions fluctuated during the project, from feeling the effects of the challenge to losing a loved one, it was crucial we conveyed these highs and lows through videography, music and storytelling. 

• November – Reached out about project. Excited opportunity for both me and Drew.
• December – Filmed training scene, tested out equipment. Ran the challenge.
• January – Composed a lot of the music, Interviews filmed.

• February – Studio recording over demos, filming in Leeds for introduction.
• March – Further interviews, starting editing Sequence 1.
• April – Back and forth edits with feedback. Music balanced with dialogue.

I took a lead role when it came to project management. To ensure the project was delivered on time and executed to a high standard, I followed the 5 phases of project management.

1. Initiation

Me and Drew met up in person to discuss the details of the project and what we wanted out of it. Having a collective vision gave both me and Drew the direction to start work.

Outcomes:

• Strong emotional narrative
• Awareness of MNDA
• Eye catching visuals, landscapes
• Character captured – fully transparent throughout the run

Career Benefits:

• Opportunity for Drew to enter film festivals
• First time Drew and Evan are working with a composer
• A quality project for my portfolio
• Material gained for social media and expansion

2. Planning

When it came to structuring the film, storyboarding was an important step. This helped us understand changes in emotions and energy as a team.

We spent the most amount of time on the introduction. A lack of pre planning and storyboarding at first meant that this section wasn’t engaging enough.

We went back to the basics with a pen and paper, drawing up new introduction ideas. I also drew a mood graph of the energy at each section of the film. This came in useful when composing each piece of music.

We also tested out camera equipment. It was Drew’s first time shooting in 16:9 format so we experimented by shooting the training section. Drew was very pleased with the results and the footage made it into the training section of the film.

Story boarding serves as a blue print to follow, this allows us to visualise sequences and shots we wanted to capture (Vakhtin, 2023). It was important we planned the different shots on the day so we set out locations Drew would meet me on the run. (AllTrails.com, 2025) (Appendix 19)

Preparation took place behind the scenes for the event itself. From organising support runners to locating road interceptions for Drew to film, It was important this planning was carried out. I was running with a tracker, allowing Drew to monitor my location.

From starting the project, the process and planning was strong. Ensuring we had at least one meeting a week to feedback to each other about the progress and upcoming developments meant we were hitting all our targets.

Communication became an issue from the end of March. Drew signed a deal with BRC as the lead videographer so he became increasingly busy.

Due to the nature of this project not being a priority for Drew, tasks took longer and communication faded. Because he wasn’t getting paid he needed to prioritise jobs that were making him money. (Cohen, 2000)

I managed to communicate my frustration whilst maintaining a good relationship with both Drew and Evan. I made sure we set clear deadlines for tasks to be complete and follow up on unread messages with a phone call.

Spotting

When given the documentary, I first watched through and added markers with notated feelings that were conveyed.

The process of ‘Spotting’ allows the director and composer to study the film and decide where the critical points are. This determines where, when and how the music is presented (Brantingham, 2017).

Hans describes film scores as ‘musical conversations’. Ensuring there is a question that is resolved with an answer. The use of spotters helped me dictate what the ‘question’ was and how it would be resolved. (SOUTH TELEVISION , 2021)

This video gave me an introduction into setting spotters. At first I struggled navigating Logics movie features but soon got the hand of it after this explanation. (Ryan Leach, 2023)

Dialogue vocal processing – using effects like reverb and delay to demonstrate environment and emotion. I also used automated reverbs and delays to transitions between sections.

Sound Bridges – when a sound is played before its corresponding scene, this helps transition between sections smoothly, keeping momentum. There are three different types: (MDLBEAST, 2025)

Dialogue sound bridge – a voice is played over a different scene. We did this a lot with interviews, playing clips over the top before showing the interview frame. This creates depth to the overlayed scenes giving narrative.

Sound effects sound bridge – Giving the audience clues to what’s next through sound effects. I do this when describing the river, I played the recording of the river sound before. I also used this technique to foreshadow what’s to come, with delays to the vocal suggesting fatigue, dizziness and space.

Music sound bridge – Introduces the emotion for the next scene. I do this by cutting from an interview to a river crossing shot. I blend a drum hit to feed into the river sound.

I made the decision to score media music rather than production music for this project.

Previously Drew had only used production music found online. This collaboration allows us to detail emotions more effectively and experience a new work process.

I decided to use hybrid flow for this project. I knew that time would be valuable so having tracks ready to give to Drew to edit would save time. (Native Instruments , 2021)

I also found having completed the challenge, the weeks after I was able to relay those feeling and emotions I felt on the day. This gave me detailed compositions that related to the scenes.

Conveying aspects of time, energy and distance were very important, scoring to picture helped me understand the pace of the scenes.

I used scoring to picture as edits were sent to me. The tracks I gave to Drew and Evan were used as montage sequences. This was great to convey energy but didn’t work over more delicate storytelling sections like interviews and dialogue. For these sections I used synth pads, light guitar parts and sampled layered like vocals and whistles. 

To track the progress of the project I ensured that at the end of each meeting we set new goals and tasks that needed completing. This kept momentum for the project. After each meeting or session, I wrote down what had been completed and what’s left to complete. I could then send this into the group chat to ensure everyone knows their next task. (Boogaard, 2023)

5. Project closure

Towards the end of the project I received feedback from my collaborators. They were happy with the compositions, there were just a few sections that need to be bought up in volume. (Appendix 19)

Unfortunately due to timing I was not able to produce the whole project. Delays from my collaborators meant that the whole documentary was not edited. We ensured that the 12 minutes was reached.

My research before composing included listening to scores composed around running themes. From Hollywood actions scenes, using large orchestras to convey a dramatic ‘hero’ backing, to soft rock 80’s simple 4/4 time signature providing a well-paced tempo. I looked at scores through history to find inspiration.

I took inspiration from composer and producer Daniel Lopatin. More specifically, his work in the recent film ‘Marty Supreme’.

I was drawn to the tense, yet atmospheric film score he had written. His track, ‘The Scape’ combines breathy flute with fast-paced percussion which creates a sense of urgency and excitement. Paired well with the escape scene on screen.

Lopatin talks on ‘Score: The Podcast’ about the relationship between the director and composer. In this case, Lopatin states that his relationship with director Josh Safdie was unique, creative and collaborative. Ensuring each collaborator has the same end goal in mind is important to execute the project. (Appendix 8)

Another musical influence for this project is the album ‘History Of The Future’ by The Orb. The unique blend of ambience soundscapes with 90s dancefloor creates an often emotional, dynamic atmosphere. ‘A Huge Evergrowing Pulsating Brain’ is a great example of dynamic movement and building an atmosphere. 

I took inspiration from this by layers vocal recording I had taken and manipulating them to create a dark ambience. I layered this with sampled drums I recorded to create that 90’s repetitive drum groove. 

‘The Finisher’ follows the success of ultra runner Jasmin Paris and her completion of the Barklee Marathon. I was inspired by Drew Darby’s filmmaking, especially setting the scene and the build-up to the event. He gave the audience a sense of scale through map animations, which showcased the challenge she was about to face. Presenting the challenge in detail ties the audience to the story and increases engagement. 

14:50 minutes into the film, a key scene stuck out to me. The footage shows Jasmin training on the Scottish moors. The dramatic landscape and high energy editing style paired with atmospheric, calm ambient music created a calm environment without being overly dramatic. 

Run Again showcases Dave Pen’s journey to completing ‘The Spine’ race whilst documenting his life on tour as a musician. Fascinated by the coexistence of music and running I was fortunate enough to sit down and talk to him about his documentary. (Appendix 9)

‘They’re completely the parallels’ Dave explains to me.

Director and videographer Alexis Berg excellently coveys Dave’s dependence on both and the contrast between the two. Dave’s music is used throughout the film. Often atmospheric and dark, the music pairs well with large landscape shots from the open moors.

Inspired by the story of a musician who runs, I decided to ensure my music work was documented and presented in the film. Drew filmed the making of some tracks which contextualise the music.

Appendix 1

Appendix 2

Appendix 3

Appendix 4

Appendix 5

Appendix 8

Appendix 9

Appendix 10

Appendix 11

https://www.thegreenroomleeds.com/equipment