It all starts with an idea!

So where did this all start? With an idea of course.

The process took on three strands. Firstly I had an idea about a dog appearing out of nowhere. A dog that would make a lead character follow him/her and by doing so the character would be taken on a journey and ultimately learn something. It was a very basic concept and that was as developed as I had it at that stage. Secondly I had an idea about the character being loosely based on my own grandfather. At least the grandfather that I viewed as a child. He was a man of few words. I didn't remember seeing him show much affection to my grandma. I knew he loved her. He had too. But he just wasn't outwardly emotional. I wondered whether that kind of behavior might come with regrets. Possibly moments that he might have missed that he would regret in later life when the opportunity was gone. Thirdly I knew that I wanted to make something beautiful and I wanted to take my time in doing so. I had been walking my dog in as many different places as possible and I had noticed that we live in such a stunning country that changes so dramatically with the seasons. At that stage I knew that I wanted to shoot a story across all four seasons.

These are all interesting places to start but it didn't give me a clear story. To understand this next stage of development I think it's only fair to say that I wrote the story based on my personal situation. This story came from a place of regret. I started writing. I didn't even realise what I was writing.

The story doesn't follow a character my age nor does it deal with my particular situation but it does deal with a man coming to terms with a loss. A man in a state of mourning. A man reflection on a lifetime strewn with mistakes.

The story very quickly wrote itself and I was gearing up work out how I was going to even start the mammoth task of producing a high production value short film on a minimal budget.