Lately, I’ve spent a lot of time shooting nature-related content and making ambient music. My recent experiments have consisted of filming parklands, clouds, and different sources of light, while accompanying these images with mostly ambient music that I have created.

I keep coming back to this approach and am therefore leaning towards creating an audio/visual project that explores my relationship with nature. Audio and Visual because to me they are both of equal importance; I don’t want the audio playing a supporting role to the visual, and vice-versa.

Visually, I would shoot and edit footage of a particular place; forests, parklands, and waterfalls are all under consideration, while the audio would be the ambient/new age music that I have been creating. The result is something I am calling a collage; and at the moment I’m leaning towards creating 3/4 4 minute collages. I feel this is achievable, however, this could easily change if I find the idea itself becomes redundant.

I’m interested in lo-fi media, and would like this to be the aesthetic of the project. For the visual side, I would like to shoot with something that achieves a vintage look. For my experiments I have been using my iPhone, but I have come to the realisation that the picture is too clean for what I want. I am likely going to use a camcorder. For the audio side, I would manipulate the overall sound to try and replicate the quality of a cassette, which is something I naturally do whenever I make music. I am choosing this form as to me, nature-related footage and ambient/new age music go hand in hand.

I’m thinking of this project as my way of investigating why I am drawn to nature. I think about film in terms of possibilities, and want to explore the potential of cinema. I’m still wrestling with how to do this project in a way that could be more formally interesting, without being contrived or a distraction.

The main inspiration for this has been my own experiments with audio and shooting. I tend to visit parks whenever I am within close proximity, and always voice record on my iPhone to capture any sounds that I could end up sampling; the wind, birds chirping, a gentle stream. I also like to shoot natural-related footage, my rule is that if it captures my attention, it is worth documenting, and I will follow this approach for this project.

Other influences have been The Art Of Landscape, a VHS series from Readers Digest during the late 80’s to early 90’s that follows a similar approach I’m taking, though their content isn’t necessarily limited to nature and often uses classical music to accompany the imagery. Sounds Of Nature – a new age cassette series from the early 90’s has also influenced the way I think about mood in this context.

During the experiment stage, I came to realise that I am very drawn to nature; its imagery, sounds, mood and atmosphere. I’m hoping this project will be an honest account of my relationship with it.