Collaboration Final Project Viability Study

KNE20076630

1589 words

For my final project, I intend to collaborate with a videographer to create an environmental art video that showcases the natural and cultural identity of the Isle of Man. The project aims to explore three main concepts: the relationship between humans and the natural environment, connections between natural landscape and human emotion, and the contrast and similarities between electronic music and nature. My goal is the investigate these ideas through music and visuals in a meaningful way.  

Visually, the piece will move through four general stages: stillness, movement, human element and connection. This is intended to provide a structure to guide the music and create more of a coherent narrative throughout the video. The main footage will consist of natural scenes captures around the island, with the hope of including farmers, fishermen or any people who work with nature but this depends on availability and consent. As this is quite an art-forward piece, I feel having four movements also has some nice connotations with nature (seasons), and music (common time signature, symphony movements, phrasing). 

My primary responsibility for this project is the music production. Having full creative control of a soundtrack means having the ability to completely transform the emotional tone of a video and that puts a responsibility on me to deliver the right music for the project. My main tasks for the production will include recording foley, sound design sessions to create immersive soundscapes through ensuring synth racks are flexible enough to be used for a range of emotion, and of course arranging and writing any individual parts. I will also be using small amounts of spoken word sporadically to help any viewers follow a more clear narrative.

From a production perspective, I plan to incorporate natural and urban foley from the recording locations into the music to develop a soundtrack that can blend with or contrast against the visuals in impactful ways. I would like the music to be fluid and able to change timbre or tempo to reflect the video. However, I plan to use the footage as my main inspiration when it comes to making an arrangement so any parts, ideas, recordings or soundscapes that I can develop before hand will be very useful for time management. This takes direct inspiration from artist Yosi Horikawa who is known for creating tracks from mostly only found sound and foley (J, 2013).

Although quite different from what I hope to achieve, Baraka (Fricke, 1992) and Awaken (Lowe, 2018)are both artistic films that I have found inspirational for this project as much more grandiose and high-budget versions of showcasing nature and people accompanied by music. I hope to create something more music forward and exploring the relationship between humans, emotions and the environment through music is something that I think will be challenging but rewarding as this is something I find personally fascinating.

The target audience for this project is not any particular age, gender or physical demographic but instead people with an interest in niche artistic films. This type of film could be shown at film or art festivals, exhibitions or galleries and I myself have enjoyed similar experiences at places like the Design Museum or Tate Modern in London, or at The Tetley in Leeds. However, the aforementioned films Baraka and Awaken were released to a general audience and were recieved very well by a lot of people which goes to show the difficulty of defining a target audience for an artistic piece that can speak to many people in different ways.

The decision to base the project on the Isle of Man comes from both personal and practical reasons. I am from there so know the landscapes and I am confident we can get some really great footage, travel and accommodation will be simple to arrange and I also believe filming on an island could enrich the concept and add an extra layer of thought to some of the themes. 

fig1. Peel Castle (Isle of Man and Guernsey agree heritage link, 2020)

At present, I have a photographer/videographer, Jamie Raatgaver, who I know personally and has expressed excitement about the concept. He is an experienced nature photographer/videographer but specialises in wild life photography and has spent the last couple of years honing this skill whilst living on a wildlife reserve, his equipment would also allow us a variety of macro, micro or wide shots. He used to live on the Isle of Man with his family but is currently working in South Africa so his availability to actually film has been and is by far the biggest concern with my project. However, if he is able to participate it would be for free which is massively helpful for the logistics of the project and I know his skills would make for a great final result. Currently he is available for filming early next year however this could change depending on his work schedule so we have agreed a date of the 15th of December to come to a decision by.

              

Fig 2. 3. And 4. (JR, n.d.)

Successful execution of the project depends on being able to travel to the Isle of Man by flight or ferry during the shooting window and is very weather dependant, so the filming period will have to have some flexibility to account for this. In terms of travel once we are on the island, I can provide transport with my car as we intend to film at a variety of locations across the island. The route I plan to take would start in the north and follow these points; Point of Ayre, Snaefell, Tholt y Will, Ballaugh coast, South Barrule Plantation, Niarbyl, Sound, and then back up the east coast to finish in Douglas. The entire island has also been a UNESCO site since 2016 so extra consideration will be taken to double check that we only film where we are allowed as it is protected (Biosphere Isle of Man, 2024). Equipment needed includes; my DAW and laptop, portable outdoor microphone, camera(s), studio microphone, and an audio interface including cables. All of this is readily available apart from the outdoor microphone for recording foley, for this I have decided to go for the Zoom 32-bit float recorder for it’s price point and because I have some experience using one.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths:

This includes my strong familiarity with the location, meaning there is no need to hunt for shooting sites, and a pre-established relationship between collaborators. My personal interest in the themes is also a motivating factor.

Weaknesses:

Weaknesses centre around my lack of experience producing music for a project like this and my limited work with spoken word. Recording outdoors during a time of year known for bad weather also poses challenges.

Opportunities:

Opportunities lie in the chance to explore abstract ideas and potentially create something unique, as well as the personal goal of completing a piece of work connected to where I’m from. Using live foley also provides an opportunity to create a coherent and immersive artistic experience.

Threats:

The threats to this project include uncertainty around the videographer’s availability and the possibility that poor weather could prevent filming on the planned dates.

Budget

The estimated costs for the project are relatively low:
– Petrol for transport: £20–£40
– Boat/train travel for one person: £60–£70
– Zoom microphone: £89 (new) (32 Bit Float Recorder – H1ESSENTIAL, 2025)

Rounding up, the total project budget will be approximately £200.

Target Timeline

• Confirm project by 15/12/25
• Record foley/start production over Christmas break
• Discuss shooting plans in detail during Christmas break
• Film during the week starting 27/01/26
• Complete editing by 01/03/26
• Complete music by 01/03/26
• Use March for final adjustments

The next task I need to do, and the most pressing, is to confirm the collaborator’s availability. I also need to secure consent from farmers or fisherman who may be filmed and confirm dates they will be available. Purchasing the portable microphone is also a priority and I will continue researching hardware and software that may help me to achieve the project goals.

Contingency

As it is a very real possibility I may not have Jamie to work with, I have made my contingency a way to still complete the general idea of this project. If Jamie is unavailable, the Isle of Man has a strong community of artists, not least of all photographers and with the aforementioned UNESCO site status of the Isle of Man many more people from around the UK often visit for this purpose. My contingency plan is to find a different photographer and essentially complete the same project with still images as the visual media. Writing music to still images would definetely be challenging for me but an exciting prospect none the less. This alternative would probably be easier to organise in terms of finding a collaborator, as photography in this instance will require less of a commitment in terms of editing and shooting. 

There is also the possibility to adjust the project so that Jamie uses photos or videos from South Africa to complete the project, this would be a stronger change in direction that I would like to avoid. However, if any problems come up with my main contingency plan or something changes, I think this would be a very exciting prospect with some new planning and inspiration.

J, A. (2013, June). Groovement Interview: YOSI HORIKAWA // JUNE 2013. From Groovement: https://groovement.co.uk/2018/05/groovement-interview-yosi-horikawa-june-2013/

Isle of Man and Guernsey agree heritage link. (2020, July 8). From BBC.co.uk: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-53336950

Biosphere Isle of Man. (2024, November). From unesco.org.uk: https://unesco.org.uk/our-sites/biospheres/biosphere-isle-of-man

Fricke, R. (Director). (1992). Baraka [Motion Picture].

Lowe, T. (Director). (2018). Awaken [Motion Picture].

32 Bit Float Recorder – H1ESSENTIAL. (2025, November 25). From CPC: https://cpc.farnell.com/zoom/h1essential/32bit-audio-recorder/dp/DP38072?mckv=sshopping_dc|pcrid|605262956605|kword||match||plid||slid||product|DP38072|pgrid|138313685415|ptaid|pla-1678047449641|&CMP=KNC-GUK-CPC-SHOPPING-9262013734-138313685415-DP38072&s_

JR. (n.d.). JRWildlifephotography. From Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jrwildlifephotography/

Presentation Download