david warth | wildlife documentary filmmaker
STARTING OUT
I started out about twenty years ago and all my friends thought I was completely mad. But I said, “No, no… I'm going to go make documentaries”. And they all thought, “Wow… he's lost it big time”.
It was their belief that a person couldn’t just go and do that, without going to film school. Anyway, I bought myself a camera and learned how to use it and how to get a really good result out of it. It was only a prosumer sort of camera and it wasn't that flash. After a long series of events, I ended up in the wilderness in Tasmania where I spent a year living alone making the documentary “Tarkine, the Forgotten Wilderness”.
HUNTING
My connection to nature is really strong, because I've been in nature for as long as I can remember.
My dad used to be a hunter, so as soon as I was strong enough to hold a gun, I had a gun in my hand. Back in England, I would go out in freezing cold conditions, shooting ducks + geese. It was bitterly cold and I could barely stand it. I’d be out there at three o’clock in the morning, waiting for the sun to rise on the mud flats… snow and ice everywhere. I was just a little kid. We weren’t allowed to talk or move. I was a fairly sensitive kid and I came to realise that when I shot these things, it just didn’t feel right. I thought… “what the hell am I doing? I love these creatures.”
I was totally conflicted.
But I loved being out in nature and hunting took me out into nature. And then, there were a few defining moments where I realised that I don’t need an excuse or a gun to go out in nature.
That was the end of hunting and, the beginning of all this.
Hunting was a great upbringing for what I’m doing now.
SELF TAUGHT
I’m 99% self-taught.
There are a lot of resources out there to accelerate your learning, but there is nothing like hands-on experience.
In the early days, I got this little Sony VX1000 camera. It had lots of quirks, as in things it didn’t do well, and then there were things it did do really well. But in the right hands, in the right light and in the right situation… it was fantastic.
I was shooting down in the Tarkine and I put a little 12 volt TV in my 4WD camper. I'd go out filming all day and at night I’d return to the camper, cook myself a feed and then sit and watch what I used to call “Tarkine TV” to see if I got the footage or if I didn’t. I could see where I went wrong with a shot, where the light wasn’t right or identify what actually worked. That was a very good learning curve because I was constantly out shooting and watching, every day for a year.
After a while, you really get to know the light and you also get to know what your camera is capable of. You learn all the really good angles that you can use. As a bonus, I had all the hunting skills from my upbringing. It was absolutely fascinating, and to be alone for a year in the wilderness was wonderful. I felt really alive, really connected. Deeply connected with the environment, the wildlife, the seasons, the elements and the energy of the land. I was completely vibrating at the same energy as the environment. You become one with it all. It’s the most amazing feeling.
SELF DOUBT
There’s always self-doubt.
I think everybody has it and we are often our worst critics. We criticize ourselves far more than our friends or anybody else does. My friends thought I was completely crazy and that what I was doing was impossible, but I just went into it. I dedicated myself and started filming.
One day, I was filming in a place where a family turned up. I was there with my camera, filming away. And they said, “what are you doing?” to which I replied, “I'm making a documentary.” And right then, it was like I had two little voices in my ear: a little guy on the left who said “no you’re not – you’re having yourself on, you haven’t got a clue and this is rubbish!” and a little guy on the right who said “you know what you're doing! You can do this. You know you can do this”. As I stared at these people, this little argument was going on in my head. In the end, I stuck to my guns and said it out loud “I’m making a documentary.” It was a defining moment for me.
Saying it out loud was important. I was making a statement: “I am making a documentary”.
Basically when you're a hundred percent committed to something, then the universe really moves with you. You know, you may run into lots of obstacles, (because that's just what life's like), but there's a real movement of energy, once you commit. If you don't commit, if you're messing about, then you go nowhere. But if you really commit, there's a lot of energy that starts to move. But you have to really make your statement and declare that you’re going to do it. There is often lots of plusses, lots of minuses and lots of other people's ideas. And of course, as I had with my friends in the beginning, what others deem to be impossible.
But it wasn’t impossible. I did it.
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with formal training, you know. It can be great. But there's a tremendous power in really wanting to do something. And if you really want to do something, then you will work it out. You'll do it + you'll make mistakes all over the place. There's no two way about it. I call filming the “game of mistakes”. There are so many factors that have got to be right to get that image. It only takes one little thing and it won’t work out properly. It's just one of those things. Gradually you actually find out what works and what doesn't work.
And you will mess up.
The thing you must come to terms with is you will make mistakes and that's not a bad thing. And there's an old saying that says “if you’re not making any mistakes, then you're not trying anything new”. So, you know, you can be very good at one thing, but when you branch out and start venturing into different areas, it is the unknown. There's nothing abnormal about making mistakes. It’s totally normal. They are stepping stones.
I went to a strict school and if you made mistakes, it was frowned upon. But without risk, there's not a lot of opportunity, you know? If you want to avoid risk, then basically you're in for a fairly quiet life.
I think creative people generally have a desire to take risks, to go out there and challenge themselves. And I think that's half of the turn on of the whole thing - to really challenge yourself and to see if you can do it. You start by make a few mistakes + a few failures, and then you have a few little wins. That feels extremely good. But you don’t get to that point by staying safe.
A lot of people have asked me “how do you know if you're doing the right thing?” And I say - it's all about energy. If you've got 110% energy, you're doing the right thing. That is your thing. And, without that kind of energy, success is not really that possible.
You need to be dedicated and super interested in what you are doing. I wake up before dawn every morning. I can't wait to get out there. I love it. And you know, almost every day I return with beautiful footage. Some of the shots I will keep in my heart + soul for the rest of my life. There are a few shots that I've taken in my life that I will never forget. They're just so incredibly beautiful or captivating, that I will never forget it. And I guess all artists and creatives have those moments where it all comes together and you get that fabulous result where you go: wow… check that out.
I film very personally with these creatures. I get really close up with massive lenses. And I use my skills to get very close. And I'm looking right into their eyes and I'm seeing things that relate to my life on the planet. I'm seeing my deep connection to all these creatures. Because we're all connected, we're all family. Sometimes you have an interaction with them - they will know you're there and they will do something where they actually connect with you. And boy, that's powerful.
I work very hard. Basically, I work seven days a week. But I find it so rewarding. I can't wait to get out of bed. It's dark and I wake up bright as a spark and think …. “I wonder what the weather's doing today?”
If the wind is blowing in the right direction and its squalling, raining + blowing 25 knots and the tide is right, I may get an interaction so I'm quite happy to go and stand on the Cape and get soaked, with the camera all covered up. If there's a chance of capturing the footage I’m after, then absolutely - I'll do it.
TARKINE DUCK STORY
Once I was in the Tarkine wilderness, filming hundreds of these beautiful ducks coming in at high tide. They would come right in close to where the seaweed had washed up after a storm. And there were loads of maggots in the seaweed. They would wash out at high tide and the ducks would feast on them. So I waited for the tide to be right in the late afternoon on golden hour and I buried myself in rotting seaweed + maggots + slime.
I got the most fabulous footage. The ducks came within three metres of me. They couldn't see me at all. At one point, I even had a crow land on my shoulder; squawking away, deafening me. He couldn't see even me.
But the funniest part of that was after that shoot I had to go to the bank. I didn't have time to change my clothes, so I jumped in the 4WD and hammered it to get to the bank on time. I arrived in camouflage, unshaven and covered in slime. I got there just before closing time, and when I went through the doors all the tellers stepped back from the desk and gasped. I approached the counter and said, “it's all right, I'm a wildlife filmmaker.”
FILMING AND ACTIVISM
When I began filming wildlife, I thought my dreams had come true. I was going off to all these amazing places to film on this wonderful adventure. But then, when I arrived at these places, I found half the place had been clear-felled, wildlife had been poisoned, water supplies had been ruined. And so when you become a wildlife filmmaker, it's very hard not to become active as a conservationist. For me, it went hand in hand. And as my creativity increased, I also became very strong and passionate with a deep concern for what's going on with the planet. It has been somewhat of a double-edged sword and I know I've got myself into disfavour by some of the films that I've made, where I've criticized governments and I've criticized industry. I know that I've lost contracts because of that. Still, I was deeply concerned about it so I stepped up and use my skills to highlight it. And I will continue to do that.
In nature, you see life and death. You see everything. And then, you get it: we're only here for a short while. And so why not try your best to help the planet, to make things better? I believe there is a lot of delusion in our own species as well as a lot of wisdom that we’re missing out on.
CONSERVATION
At the moment, all we do is consume the environment. We cut forests down. We dig everything up. We're now fracking Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory. This is the driest inhabited continent on earth. We have the least amount of water of any continent and they are fracking it. As if the Aboriginal people hadn't had enough done to them! Now they are going to have their water supply wrecked. Where is the sense in that? And Scott Morrison is giving the oil and gas industry a billion dollars of our money. So really - where is this all leading? What will we tell the kids about how it was managed? At this stage, we cannot tell them anything. Just that we’ve got a problem, and unfortunately it’s going to be your problem.
When the kids went on their climate strike, I filmed it all. They were so intelligent and articulate, with such good hearts. And then Scott Morrison responded with “get back to school, you shouldn't be doing this - you need more learning and less activism”. But it's THEIR world. Nobody is listening to the kids. We should be listening to the kids. We should be asking them “what sort of world do you want?” and tailoring it for them.
MUSE
There have been lots of brilliant people on this planet and I believe there is every chance that their energy is still here. So when you need a muse, if you're 110% committed, I have a feeling that there are energies out there that will provide you with inspiration. I really feel that.
When they talk about the muse, it's real. But a muse will not take interest in you if you're messing about. You’ve got to be really, really into something, I think there are people who will take an interest in you and they may not necessarily be flesh and blood anymore. It may just be spirit, but I really feel that that's a definite possibility. But they won't waste their time unless you're really sincere. I have a feeling that we are helped a lot. And I also feel that we get a lot of help that we don't recognize right throughout our lives.
words by david warth | @david_warth_independent | https://www.davidwarthwildlife.com
edited + curated by cassie douglas