Award-winning Caithness photographer's documentary crowdfunder goes live
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A talented photographer from Castletown is planning on extending his skills into documentary making to create a film that follows a cyclist from "intensive care to the top of the Alps".
John Baikie is well-known for still photography skills, having run a business for 22 years, winning awards that includes Scottish and UK Photographer of the Year titles across several genres and also publishing his first book in 2018 called The Magic of the North Coast 500. Now John intends to hone his skill set in the area of moving images to create a documentary about an athlete struggling against adversity to take on a mountainous challenge in a project with the working title Ascent: The Climb Of My Life.
John said: "David Smith MBE has been through more adversity than any one human should have to endure. Multiple spinal tumours, paralysis, life-threatening surgeries, and being told many times he may never get out of hospital.
"David is not like any average person though. He has won an Olympic Gold medal for rowing, and two world championships, before turning to cycling, and competing nationally. Now he is recovering from his latest surgery and has taken on the challenge of cycling up some of the toughest climbs in Europe, in the Swiss Alps. We will follow his story from ICU to the top of the Eiger."
John says he has for many years felt a sense of "constant inspiration" from learning about David's mental and physical strengths. "I feel this man's story really needs to be made into a film while he is still smashing his goals. The plan is to take on some of the highest mountain passes in the Swiss Alps later this year – which gives us a great opportunity to tell his life story whilst showing exactly how amazing he is."
John has been a regular contributor to the Caithness Courier for some time now, giving photographic advice as well as insight to his working life. Though he admits that documentary filmmaking is a new venture for him, he has nevertheless shot a number of commercial video projects and has studied filmmaking at university.
"I am ready to start creating films. I love being a creator, and when I am not photographing or filming anything I tend to be on my bike, exploring the country on two wheels – the pedal kind. As a first time filmmaker it is very hard to apply for funding anywhere, so I feel crowdfunding is a great way to get the first documentary made, and hopefully it will be slightly easier for the next project."
John's initial crowdfunder target is to raise £6000 and this will be followed up by "stretch goals" as the project advances towards post-production.
"If we hit £9,000 we will get a professional editor on board to make sure the final product is absolutely top-notch.
"While £12,000 would allow us to have many extras like a musician to compose a soundtrack and acquisition of stock footage from previous sporting events. You get the idea – the more we make, the better the product."
John hopes the film will be ready to distribute and screen around April 2022 but says there may be slight delays due to weather conditions and the state of David's health.
To help fund this project visit John's crowdfunding page at www.kickstarter.com/projects/johnbaikie/ascent-the-climb-of-my-life
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