Brand New Series - Throwback Thursdays - “There Might Be Giants”
Welcome to the fourth instalment of our new film article series, Throwback Thursdays!
This is a weekly article presented over the month of February, where film-maker Paul Darroch re-visits a selection of short films held within Oak Tree Productions’ dark vaults from the times past.
Since being a teenager in the late 1980s, I had a keen interest in environmental matters (back then it was all about banning the use of CFCs to help save the ozone layer). Two decades on and I was even more acutely aware of the global implications of climate change. Therefore, having now a few years of film-making experience under my belt, I set my sights on producing a short video exploring practical solutions to creating a greener and more sustainable future.
But what exactly?
One day on the way to visiting family in the Scottish coastal town of Largs, I noticed a recently constructed wind farm located close to the town of Ardrossan in North Ayrshire.
With my small but trusty Panasonic video camera to hand, I decided to take a last minute “brief” detour (in reality, I ended up filming over an hour’s worth of video comprised of 15 large wind turbines from as many different angles as possible).
Now what to do with the footage?
I had previously worked with my fellow cineaste and good friend, Stewart Gardiner, on two short films (“Engaged” and “The Report”) with Stewart as writer & director and myself as producer & editor.
After knocking a few ideas to and fro, we eventually agreed to collaborate on a quasi-documentary exploring wind turbine technology’s contribution towards combatting climate change, as well as some of the concerns expressed by conservationists about its impact on the natural environment.
Bearing in mind Oak Tree Productions’ remit to create high quality entertainment that is both innovative and varied in terms of theme, style and content, we worked on a storyline inspired by Miguel de Cervantes' classic novel "Don Quixote" – the link being the concept of chasing giants that turn out to be (or not be) very large windmills.
Being a University Graduate of English Literature, Stewart was assigned to creating the poetic words in homage to Cervantes’ masterpiece. Having also a background in acting, I was more than happy to lend my voice over skills as The Narrator.
Enjoying the challenge of creating the music for “Don’t Look Yet” earlier in the year, I also set towards the task of composing and performing another short score to traditional piano.
The title of the film is both a reference to Don Quixote’s pursuit of giants, as well as a nod to one of my favourite bands, They Might Be Giants.
The end result was a relatively experimental piece of film-making (quite possibly too much for some palates) which, just like the aforementioned Knight of Castilla-La Mancha, was also very much about the enjoyment of setting forth on yet another bold adventure.
We hope you enjoyed reading the fourth instalment of our Throwback Thursdays series.
Watch this space next week for our final instalment!
Title: There Might Be Giants (2007)
Plot line: A Don Quixote inspired adventure of mystery and discovery into the world of wind farm technology
Running Time: 4 min
Narration by Paul Darroch Words by Stewart Gardiner
Music Composed & Performed by Paul Darroch
Story by Paul Darroch & Stewart Gardiner
Produced & Directed by Paul Darroch
Copyright Oak Tree Productions All Rights Reserved
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31438229/
https://www.facebook.com/OakTreeProductionsCompany
https://twitter.com/Oak_Tree_Prod/status/1760660953648050252
https://www.instagram.com/oaktreeproductions2000/
