Preparing for Winter // October 2019 Update
Right in the midst of our crowdfunding campaign on Seed and Spark, we are preparing for a long winter of being in the edit bay. Also, we would like to send a sincere thank you to everyone who has contributed to the campaign so far. With one more shoot left in 2019 to be titled Utah 8, since this will be the crew’s eighth trip to Utah for this film. This shoot will fill in some of the necessary but currently missing scenes for the film.
A documentary film truly comes together in the edit bay. It’s a long, slow, and sometimes painful process of trial and error. Some days it feels like no progress is getting made, while on other days, dynamic scenes come together and flow way too easily.
On Strange Soil currently rests around 12tb and we are estimating that by the time this film wraps up, it will land around 15tb. What that means is roughly 95% of the footage shot for this film will never see the light of day. That is the process of making a documentary film, to allow for the most powerful footage, interviews, and landscape photography to shine through. Every shot, every frame, every musical beat, serves the purpose of moving the story forward and there is the intention behind every editing decision made.
When we set out on this filmmaking journey almost 3 years ago, we anticipated roughly 10 trips to Southern Utah to capture and tell a complete and powerful story behind this public lands film. Bringing together a community around this topic is something that we’ve always wanted to accomplish. The whole original purpose in creating On Strange Soil was, and remains, to take action and have our voices heard. To stand up and protect our wild places for generations to come rather than feel helpless. On Strange Soil represents what’s currently at stake in our modern society as the population grows, development increases. Our film shows the importance of responsible management in protecting the places that speak to our souls, make us feel wild, and ground us.
If you’d like to support On Strange Soil and join our community, please consider making a contribution to our Seed and Spark campaign. We look forward to bringing you more updates from behind the scenes of the filmmaking process. Thank you for your support