Film articles Cornwall - The Wrecking Season

The Wrecking Season

A film by Jane & Nick Darke 

The north coast of Cornwall is o­ne of the best collection points in the world for long-haul drift. When a southwest gale blows for three days, artefacts and natural objects from across the world - from Labrador down to the Amazon Basin - wash up o­n these shores.

Playwright Nick Darke comes from generations of beachcombers, or wreckers. He traces everything he finds along the coastline back to its source, via the telephone and the internet.

Over many years, he has built up a unique picture of coastal communities around the Atlantic, making friends with fishermen, scientists, oceanographers and fellow beachcombers along the way.

This film follows Nick o­nto the beach during o­ne stormy winter and records all his discoveries.

The Making of the film

flicKerNOW recently caught up with the writer of The Wrecking Season, Nick Darke to talk about the making of the film.

The wrecking Season was made with an unusual production model. Due to the subject of the film a traditional model with a structured production schedule wasn’t possible. The production began with the help of a grant from the arts council that enabled a camera to be bought. The filming was o­ngoing for 3 years.

Jane Darke was the camera operator for the most of the project. This was a necessity because a paid cameraman would not have been viable due to it being impossible to schedule the shoot, as the filming had to be done when the conditions for wrecking were most suitable.

Archive footage from the 1960s - shot by Nick and Jane’s father - was also used and archive footage from the 1930s was included with images of Jane and Nick’s father wrecking.

Over the next three years a large amount of footage was acquired and a first cut produced.

By this time there was no money left to further develop the project.

A year later Mike Cunliffe saw the first cut and contacted Jane and Nick with an offer to raise some money to put into the film. An agreement was made and “the money was raised almost overnight” according to Nick

Jeremy Gibson was also essential to the completion of the project. Along side the financial help, Mike and Jeremy also enabled the use of the post production facility at Denham Productions.

Nick said  “it is great that Jeremy and Mike are now living in this area with a passion for Cornwall and the contacts and ability to raise finance and help with productions." 

Mark Jenkin  was also of great help to the production. To quote Nick again, "Without his technical knowledge, editing skills and support for the project, the film would never have been completed.”

Asked why he thought The Wrecking Season has been so successful Nick said that the film had a broad appeal because the film was not o­nly about Cornwall but also other parts of the world. He said the film “Makes Cornwall the centre of the universe but you see the rest of the universe as well. This is what gives the film appeal outside of Cornwall.”

Nick also said that the film was also interesting because the subject matter was something that the filmmakers’ new a lot about. He feels it is very important that films are made about a subject that the filmmaker is familiar with.

Nick say’s that his next film will again be about a subject that he knows a lot about – it could even be The Wrecking Season 2.

Credits

• written & narrated by Nick Darke
• camera by Jane Darke with Henry Darke, Mark Jenkin & To Darke
• music by Paul Berrington, Jimmy Green, Ru Hill, Paul Hutchinson, Dave Rudge & Keith Waithe
• edited by Mark Jenkin
• executive producers Mike Cuncliffe & Jeremy Gibson
• produced by Boatshed Films
• directed by Jane Darke

With the assistance of Falmouth College of Arts and Arts Council England

Visit The Wrecking Season website for more info. or to buy a copy of the DVD.