Capturing Lives Up Close
By Ben Cornwell
Documentaries are by no means a new form of film. But their popularity appears to have grown in recent years, particularly with streaming giants such as Netflix venturing into the genre. But what is it about this particular style of film that draws in such a large audience? There are too many possible reasons to note, maybe it is just down to our curiosity and desire to know what is happening in the world around us, like the subconscious act of people watching. But what many people may not know is that Hastings was lucky enough to have an award-winning production company move to town five years ago.
Whalebone Films was established by Chloe White and her husband Will Davies in 2014. They specialise in producing creative, engaging and high-quality content for online, tv, cinema and radio. As well as their own creative projects, the company also work on films for brands, educational organisations and charities including The Guardian, BBC, Oxfam and, Save the Children to name a few.
Will and Chloe
The pair have both previously attended filmmaking related courses. Chloe studied on a Documentary Film post-graduate course at the University of the Arts London. She now occasionally delivers classes for the same course, whereas Will studied on a sound recording course at the National Film and Television School. Will’s course focused mainly on sound, but it did also give him enough editing and filmmaking skills that he felt that he could take on the role of Creative Director for Whalebone Films.
In 2016, while on a year-long cycle ride from England to China, Chloe and Will received a phone call to say they were able to go out to South Africa to film their documentary, 1001 Days. They flew over straight away with their bikes and met the producers there with all the kit. The production company has been working on this feature film for almost six years. The film, now in its post-production stage, is told through the eyes of a group of South African women who live in one of the poorest urban areas in South Africa – Alexandra – where two-thirds of the women are abuse survivors. It follows the charity Ububele as they go from home to home, supporting new mothers in their community through the first 1,001 days of their childrens’ lives.
The project was funded by several organisations such as the handmade cosmetic company, Lush, and the Bertha Foundation. Although the film wouldn’t have been completed without the support and success of their Kickstarter campaign, which raised over £8,000 for the project.
After their bike trip, they decided that they needed to move away from London for somewhere smaller. But they wanted their new home to still inspire them creatively and so they settled down in Hastings. They never considered it as somewhere they would stay forever, but after five years, they have no plans of moving anytime soon and now have a studio set up in the Old Town. It certainly has inspired their work as their films, The Bold Fisherman and Canary were filmed in the local area. The former is a short for the BBC, filmed over lockdown and capturing Europe’s largest beach-launched fishing fleet.
Travelling all over the world from South Africa to Italy is something that the couple has always enjoyed doing as they get to speak to new and interesting people and see the most incredible sights. But it has become harder to travel in recent years as they have had to balance their filmmaking with their other job, being parents to their two young children. Juggling work and caring for your children is difficult for any parent, but it is even harder when you are needed to travel across the globe for different shoots. Recently, Will has been filming in both Canada and Italy, while Chloe stayed home to look after their three-year-old son and their eight-month-old baby.
Whalebone Films have several projects lined up for the future, one of which is a series of four half-hour films for the streaming service Topic that explores toxic environments across the globe. The series follows Roxanne and another Sussex local, Rachel, who both suffer from electromagnetic hypersensitivity (an allergy to electrical devices), a town called Asbestos in Canada which was once home to the largest asbestos mine in the world, Fukushima and its recovery in the ten years since the nuclear disaster and an area outside of Naples called the Land of Fire which is used as an illegal dumping site.
Another idea they are thinking of pursuing in the future is a film suggested by one of Whalebone Films’ producers, Hastings local, Jodie Taylor. She suggested that they make a film about the UK’s first over-60’s women’s basketball team from Manchester as they try to reach their goal of winning the European Championships.
Creating a documentary film differs in many ways from that of a fictional film. In fiction, the director would start with a script that features a clear beginning, middle and end to the piece. Whereas in a documentary, while the director may have some idea of specific shots they want to capture and people they want to speak to, the interviews can often lead the film into a unique direction that may not have been initially considered.
Will believes the filmmaking process is similar to creating a marble sculpture. The initial film is like a large chunk of marble that is constantly being edited and chipped away at until you end up with that final masterpiece.
“The film is always in there somewhere; you just have to find it.”
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