Burnermen

Aim

A short poetic documentary that explores the enthralling practice of heather burning and the age-old social conflict it has re-ignited.

For generations, heather burning has been practiced by gamekeepers, or ‘burnermen’, to bend the nature of Yorkshire's iconic moorland to their will. In recent years, this practice has received escalating backlash and media attention, with the government imposing further restrictions and environmental groups applying additional pressure for an outright ban.

Detractors claim heather burning takes place simply to benefit the grouse shooting industry and the landowners who profit from it, with drastic effects on our environment. While those who defend the practice claim that, as stewards of the land, it’s their responsibility to maintain the heather carpeted ecosystem that we are so familiar with.

Beyond this conflict, our documentary looks to explore the practice of heather burning and those who enact it, attempting to make sense of the mesmeric spectacle with the apparent cycle of destruction it represents. Capturing the particularities of the burnermen’s work, we want to understand the motivations of these people in the time of climate emergency.

In developing Burnermen we knew that we wanted to capture a heather burn and the work of the gamekeepers with a sense of cinematic scale, where people and landscape act as equal characters. Inspired by Werner Herzog’s Lessons of Darkness (1992), our film is a poetic documentary, so it’s important to communicate information visually in order to create a sense of awe and intrigue around what is seemingly a senseless act of destruction.

The film’s pace will be contemplative, drawing on observational techniques to document the heather burn in detail with limited intervention, allowing us to see the gamekeepers work as they usually would. Nonetheless, we think it’s significant to hear not just from the Burnermen, but also the protestors who oppose the practice and the increasingly vocal local people who have been affected by the ramifications of heather burning. Interviewing these contributors in comfortable spaces will hopefully achieve more personal, candid responses.

Having a rich soundscape is key to emphasising the poetic element of Burnermen. Alongside naturalistic field recordings, we want to create a heightened sense of place with a soundtrack inspired by ambient and noise music. This reflects the different sounds and textures found in a place of such naturally opposing states of chaos and serenity.

Luke Hawdon | Director

I’m Luke, and I’ll be directing Burnermen. Hailing from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, I’ve been lucky enough to grow up close to the countryside for most of my life, and yet smoke from heather burning just beyond the hillside has always eluded me. It's only recently I’ve come to learn about the practice and its environmental effects, with the journey so far being eye-opening, bringing together places and social-political issues I’m passionate about. 

While I’ve always had a fervour for film, engaging with my local independent cinema gave me access to filmmaking through the BFI Film Academy, leading me to the Bournemouth Film School. Since studying at university, I’ve found myself gravitating to documentary filmmaking more and more, having directed other documentary shorts as well working in the camera and lighting department.

William Thompson | Producer 

I'm Will, and I'm the Producer and 1st Assistant Director for Burnermen. Since a young age, I have always had a passion for management and leadership which has led to me becoming interested in the various roles of producing. I have always been interested in nature and a big fan of Blue Planet, with this passion I have become qualified in specialised SCUBA diving with the goal to work underwater in the environmental side of the film industry. I look forward to working with the crew on Burnermen and investigating the subject to achieve our outcome.

Constantin Dima | Director of Photography 

I’m Constatin Dima and I will be the Director of Photography for Burnermen. I’m an eccentric Italian student that has traveled the world, living in Rome (Italy), London (UK), Adelaide (Australia) and now in Bournemouth (UK) to study at AUB, trying to develop my passion for filmmaking, curios to play with moving images and the dramaturgy of light. I’ve already directed a few small projects, docs and music videos, and I’ve been Cinematographer at AUB for Kota Hosina’s film Café’ Infinite (2020). I’m excited to work on the documentary Burnermen, hoping I can help the crew to develop not only the potential of the story, but also the potential of those physical images, and exploring the dynamics between man and environment in this controversial act.

Luca Robinson | Sound Recordist & Designer

Hi I’m Luca, the Sound Recordist and Designer of Burnermen. I was drawn to Burnermen for its personal story as well as its experimental and creative approach to documentary, a genre of film I have always been interested in. I am very excited to work with Luke again and the rest of the crew to bring this story to life. The film has massive potential for an innovative and captivating soundscape which will provide an insight into the catastrophic destruction of Yorkshire’s heathlands and the environmental damage this had on its local population.

Kai Harrison | Editor 

Ayup, I’m Kai, the Editor of Burnermen. As someone who was lucky enough to grow up in the picturesque part of the country that this documentary takes place, I am thrilled to have the pleasure of bringing its dark secrets to life in the edit room. I look forward to working alongside the team to craft this captivating story together, dealing with the subject matter of heather burning, its effects on the environment and people’s lives. Ta-ra for now.

We have the crew, and the plans are coming together, but all we need now is your support! As you can see here, a large portion of our budget will be spent on accommodation costs due to the fact we will be travelling to Yorkshire's moorland to shoot our documentary. This contributes to the largest cost to the production, and is vital so that all our crew can stay in the area for the entirety of our 10 day shoot. 

There is a lot ground to be covered, so for this we require part of the budget to go towards fuel/travel costs. Throughout the shoot, the crew will need feeding to keep them running on 10 hour workdays in challenging conditions. 

Additionally, extra camera equipment such as a second camera and specialist telephoto zoom lenses may be required for what could be only only chance to capture a heather burn. Lastly, we would like to hold a portion of the budget to submit Burnermen film festivals internationally and nationally in order to grow our audience beyond our fantastic donators!

Thank you for taking the time to visit our crowdfunder! If you've enjoyed your stay, we encourage you to donate to directly support our project and the opportunity to receive some exclusive rewards. If you're not able to donate, you can help us by sharing this page on social media. 

Stay up to date with Burnermen by following us on our Facebook - @burnermen2022 and Instagram - @bunermen_doc .

Special Thanks:

Lulu Thompson - Graphic Design - Instagram @creatives.lulu

Max Bartholomew - Trailer Camera Assistant - Instagram @max_bartholomew

This project successfully funded on 16th December 2021