aquatic explorers follows 21-year-old Millie’s odyssey of discovery, into the world of Maritime Archaeology. But will her childhood dream live up to expectations?
Have you always longed to be a Marine Archaeologist? Of course you haven’t. But Millie has. And people are sceptical. Family, friends, social media acquaintances, all doubt the chances of making a career out of it. Millie has doubts too.
So, she is embarking on an odyssey. A small one, as student documentaries aren’t big budget and twenty minutes won’t enable her to rival The Odyssey. But, nevertheless, using the narrative arc of the Hero’s Journey, Millie’s experiences and voyage of personal discovery will help her determine whether Marine Archaeology is really for her.
We all have childhood dreams and Millie wants to make hers a reality, inspiring others never to give up. Even though at school she was told she couldn’t do history because of her dyslexia, she wants to prove that if you really set your mind to something, you can make it happen.
Creative investigation
Aquatic Explorers will be a 20-minute participatory documentary, following Millie’s journey into this mysterious world. It will combine interviews with expert divers and Maritime Archaeologists to present a unique and appealing audio-visual experience. We want to show what it feels like to be doing a job you dreamt of your whole life.
Just as the Marine Archaeologists will inspire Millie, they will also inspire the viewer.
71% of the earth’s surface is water. If you go deep enough, there is all kinds of treasure to discover. With your help, Millie can make this film, make her journey and see what lies beneath…
WHO WE ARE
We are an all girls team of 5 committed filmmakers from The University of York's department of Theatre, Film and Television. Now in our final year and for our final project, we want to make a unique film a film that will really stand out and bring to light how important the aquatic world truly is.
We all feel that the work of these incredible Maritime Archeologists so often goes unnoticed and we want to use this opportunity to tell their incredible stories.
We are so excited to be able to bring our talents and experiences to make this documentary, but we can't do this without your charitable donations.
Where will the money go?
Crew Travel: £300
In order for our contributors to have time to carry on with their incredible work, we have planned to travel to them. Our shoot is six days, so we are planning on driving ourselves to reduce waiting times and ensure our equipment is safe. Due to the amount of equipment and number of crew members, we will hire a van to do this.
Dives: £200
We want our audience to experience the most exciting aspects of the underwater world and the history that lies beneath the surface. To ensure this we will be panning dives with BSAC instructors which will require additional costs for food as well as boat and dry suit hire.
Catering: £300
We want our crew and contributors to be taken care of on the shoot so will provide food and drinks throughout the six days of shooting.
Exhibition: £200
We want our film to be seen by as many people as possible to celebrate the amazing work of these maritime archaeologists and the beauty of the world below. To do this we will need to use some of our budget to apply for film festivals across the world so we can share this amazing story with all of you.
Accommodation: £200
The majority of our contributors are in Southhampton and because the journey from York to Southampton is 4.5 hours, we will need to stay overnight in an Airbnb.
Specialist equipment: £350
We are very fortunate to be provided with essential equipment for this project. Reaching our maximum target would also allow us to hire specialist equipment such as an underwater camera and sound recorder, so we can capture Millie on her dives.
Contingency: £450
Due to the nature of the pandemic, we must be prepared for all eventualities. If we are unable to film on location due to an extension to the lockdown, we will be filming via video calls. In order to keep consistency, we must ship out camera, mics, and green screens to make the film the best it can be. This would be the main chunk of our budget, if this were to happen, so we must prepare for this. We also need additional money as a safety net in case of any other mishaps during filming further to the one we have highlighted.
Rewards
If you are kind enough to donate to this project, we are offering some great rewards to say a big thank you for your help.
Help us succeed and follow us!
Donating as little as £1 would make a huge difference to our project, but donating isn't the only way to help us succeed! Please share this project with anyone you think would support us – on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, by email, telephone or on your blog.
Follow us to keep up with what we’re doing:
Instagram -https://www.instagram.com/aquatic__explorers/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AquaticExplorersDocumentary/
Thank you so much!
