Wildlife Film School

The Orkney Isles

Orkney, also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of Scotland. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, Orkney is 10 miles north of Caithness (The Scottish mainland) and has about 70 islands, of which 20 are inhabited. The largest island, the mainland, has an area of 202 square miles, making it the sixth-largest Scottish island. Kirkwall is Orkney’s largest settlement.
In addition to the mainland, most of the remaining islands are divided into two groups: the North Isles and the South Isles. The local climate is relatively mild and the soils are extremely fertile; most of the land is farmed. Temperatures average 4 °C in winter and 12 °C in summer.
Orkney has an abundance of marine and avian wildlife.

The islands are mainly low-lying except for some sharply rising sandstone hills on Mainland, Rousay and Hoy (where you can find both The Old Man of Hoy, and the tallest point in Orkney, Ward Hill) and rugged cliffs on some western coasts. The coastlines are indented, and the islands themselves are divided from each other by straits called ‘sounds’. The islands are notable for the absence of trees, which is partly accounted for by the strong winds.

Experience Required:
You do not need to have any previous film production experience to attend a course. (However a basic understanding about the principles of ‘how a lens works’ as well as ‘shutter speeds’ and ‘exposure’ will help you)
We will take you through the whole process of producing a wildlife documentary film from start to finish including; script ideas, production ethics, script writing, presenter and voiceover-led productions, filming on location, recording audio on location and editing on location; as well as all the necessary logistics and camp-craft requirements to allow you to be able to successfully work in such a remote environment.
We can guarantee that four weeks of filming / working on location will give you an unprecedented amount of time for you to learn and improve both your camera and production skills in some truly fantastic locations. The west coast of Scotland by far is the best location in the UK to both see and film wildlife.

The entire four week long practical section of this course will be operating out of various basecamps situated in different locations throughout Western Scotland. Each course will have a maximum of 4 students working from a vehicle/s. The vehicle/s will have a course instructor and wildlife guide/driver, with the students occupying the rest of the vehicle. This vehicle/s will carry everything logistical we need for our time in Scotland; as well as selection of 4K cameras, lenses, audio recording equipment and other production equipment; plus various grip, tripod and support equipment.
During the whole of your course we will living / working out of a tented basecamp; which will have electrical power via a petrol generator. For your comfort each student will have your own 2-man mountain tent.

As part of your course fees we will supply you with:
•  All 4K camera equipment
•  All ‘on location’ production equipment
•  All ‘on location’ 4K editing equipment
•  All basecamp tents and equipment
•  All staff and instruction
•  All vehicles and transportation overland required during your course

The Natural History of The Orkney Isles

Orkney has an abundance of wildlife, especially of grey and common seals and seabirds such as puffins, kittiwakes, black guillemots, ravens, and great skuas, hen harrier, short-eared owl and many ground nesting birds.
Whales, dolphins, and otters are also seen around the coasts. Inland the Orkney vole, a distinct subspecies of the common vole. There are five distinct varieties, found on the islands of Sanday, Westray, Rousay, South Ronaldsay, and the Mainland, all the more remarkable as the species is absent on mainland Britain.

The coastline is well known for its colourful flowers including sea aster, sea squill, sea thrift, common sea-lavender, bell and common heather. The Scottish primroseis found only on the coasts of Orkney and nearby Caithness and Sutherland. Although stands of trees are generally rare, a small forest named Happy Valley with over 700 trees and lush gardens was created from a boggy hillside near Stenness during the second half of the 20th century.
The North Ronaldsay sheep is an unusual breed of domesticated animal, subsisting largely on a diet of seaweed, since they are confined to the foreshore for most of the year to conserve the limited grazing inland. The island was also a habitat for the Atlantic walrus until the mid-16th century.

There are 19 Special Protection Areas and Areas of Conservation in Orkney. Which is one of Scotland’s 40 national scenic areas. The Hoy and West Mainland National Scenic Area is also located in the islands. The seas to the northwest of Orkney are important for sand eels that provides a food source for many species of fish, seabirds, seals, whales and dolphins, and are now protected as Nature Conservation Marine Protected Area (NCMPA) that covers 1,685 square miles.