Stories take take time to tell, as rivers take time to flow. I have a profound sense of connection to the River Murray. My ancestors farmed on its banks. I worked as a canoe guide on it for years. I paddled its 2000 mile course years ago. I've come back to make a film series that explores my journey with the river through all those years. I use prose, poetry, photography and the great soundscape of the river to capture this physical, emotional and spiritual journey.

VISION
A combination of original moving and stills footage from my descent in 2005/2006. Some of this was retrieved from old mini-dvd tapes that I recently had digitised. The stills were taken on a range of cameras, including by my daughter Bess on a point-and-shoot cheap, waterproof camera. Those were the days. Recent footage is on GoPro and iPhone 14 Pro. There are also old photographs and artworks from Australian library collections - and credited in the films. Some of the footage is from other rivers and streams in the Great Dividing Range.

NARRATION
Most of the narration is scripted. I've reconstructed the story from memory, field journals, old annotated charts, etc. There are some 'live' passages when I speak to camera in the field - mainly on trips specific to this project. Several of the poems are from the collection I published after the original descent in my book 'The Song of the Wounded River'. Others are new poems written for this series.

SOUND
Construction the soundscape is one of the most pleasurable parts of the whole project. Sound, even more than vision, brings the project to life. The soundscape was mostly recorded in the field on my return trips to the River Murray. Much has been recorded on a Zoom H5 recorder or via a Rode VideoMic Pro+ (a fantastic, lightweight field mic coupled with the iPhone). Also, some sound is from the condenser mic on a GoPro Media Mod (a surprisingly good field sound recording outfit when you have nothing else). The narration is recorded with a Shure SM7B mic (brilliant). Music tracks have been sourced from Artlist and the track and artist are always credited.

MUSIC for this Episode
'Heavy Clouds Drawn Back' by Be Still The Earth
'Let Me Be Me' by Reed Pitman
'In The Clouds' by Be Still The Earth