For our winning tender on ‘Spirit of the Highlands’ we created 36 individual films in response to over 300 crowdsourced authentic stories from around the Highlands and Islands culminating in exhibition at the newly completed Inverness Castle.  Mixing short-form documentary with location ‘snapshots’, the project wove together cultural themes, experiences and over 50 towns, communities and organisations – in particular those who were underrepresented in the existing tourism landscape – to form a genuine and robust campaign with a multi-year lifespan for it’s three co-funders Visit Scotland, Nature Scot and Highlife Highland.

Production took place over a year in various locations across the Highlands and Islands. We wanted to capture the places and stories in different seasons and represent the true nature of the Highlands and Islands at different points of the year. One trip took us to Uist for a week in September, we travelled from Lochboisdale to Benbecula and carried onto Lochmaddy before heading back south for the boat to Mingulay. Towards the end of the project, we spent time in Cowal, Dunoon and Oban. Every place we filmed felt special as were the people, whose stories we brought to life.

We commissioned Scottish Folk musicians Charlie Grey and Joseph Peach to create a Spirit original score. Through a process of discussions, on what the sound of the Highlands and Islands is, and multiple demo tracks, we found the piece that was spot on for not only our films, but as an overall sound for the project. The final score was recorded at Lyth Arts Centre, Wick,

We worked on the post from our Elgin studio. We created multiple cutdowns and formats, as well as additional motion graphics.

• directed by tom duncan
• produced by dianne stevenson
• camera/aerials by ryan daglish
• camera/production assistant steffan kirkpatrick
• motion graphics by jonny harris
• original music composed by charlie grey & joseph peach