Representing The Real – Securing Our Subject
Representing The RealAfter an arduous and drawn-out selection process for our documentary, we decided to focus on Julie Macleod, a Tibetan Buddhist living in Eskdalemuir near the Scottish Borders. Julie has become a media representative and spokesperson for the Kagyu Samye Ling monastery amidst a moral and legal battle over firearms ranges in the local area.
Securing Our Subject: Julie Macleod
It was no easy feat in securing Julie as the subject of our documentary, and required several weeks of work behind-the-scenes in order to make that first initial contact. First and foremost, I had a contact given to me by Molly McLachlan – herself raised Buddhist, with connections in the Scottish Buddhism community – called Kate Roddick. Kate occasionally holds specialist courses at Samye Ling, so wasn’t as intrinsically involved with the monastery as needed to gain access. She did, however, know someone to point me in the direction of – chair of the community council, Nicholas Jennings.
Nicholas Jennings is a former member of the Samye Ling monastery, and now chairs the Eskdalemuir Community Council – and was key figure in the contentious and widely debated decision process over approval for a firearms range within 2km of Samye Ling. I spoke to him over the phone and he was extremely helpful in providing me with detailed information and special access to case-sensitive, legal documents regarding the court proceedings and rulings over the case.
It was Nicholas who referred us to Julie Macleod, who had expressed interest in speaking to us. It was from there that I was put in touch with Julie and arranged a call with her to gauge her availability, boundaries, and character.
Julie was a good-mannered, well-spoken woman with evident passion for the preservation of the peace at Samye Ling. I made sure to ask Julie questions about what she was comfortable discussing – including her personal life, upbringing, what not – and made clear we would accommodate her availability. Julie is in semi-retreat, so has a tightly scheduled day in order to commit herself to immersion into Buddhist practice and teachings. Retreat is an essential aspect of Buddhism, and something most Buddhists undertake to varying degrees, so I wanted to remain respectful and allow Julie to dictate when she was available to be interviewed.
Due to the fact Julie is in her sixties, and her partner in his seventies, we wanted to take extra precautions and opt for filming outdoors in Julie’s garden at the back of her house. Incidentally, there is a firearms range at the back of Julie’s house, so whilst we have to relinquish some control in filming outside – hello Scottish weather, please be nice – it’s safer for everyone involved and shows just how deeply it has affected the local residents and Julie herself.
Since speaking to Julie, I have remained in frequent contact with her via email. We have arranged to interview her between 2-4pm on both Friday 18th and Saturday 19th of March. Whilst we only have a limited window to get all the footage we need, our pre-production has been so extensive I am hopeful it will be more than enough.
Filming at Kagyu Samye Ling Monastery
Trying to contact Samye Ling itself via various email addresses has actually proven itself to be the more challenging undertaking than securing a specific subject for the documentary. The monastery is mostly closed to the public as a result of the ongoing pandemic, so communication channels have often been limited and infrequent.
Despite this, I have been in contact with Ani Sonam – a Buddhist nun at the monastery, and another key figure in the Samye Ling and Gardner’s Guns debate and legal battle. Gardner’s Guns being the private company operating several firearms ranges within Eskdalemuir and the Dumfries and Galloway area.
I am still awaiting confirmation of our proposed shooting schedule, but I am confident that Samye Ling will want to be featured in a documentary so closely tied to their community and a long-term member.
Next Steps
As our documentary shoot is fast approaching, we are in the midst of an intense pre-production period. We only have one opportunity to get all the necessary footage to construct our portrait documentary film, and so have invested a lot of time and effort into ensuring this is doable and plausible come shooting days.
In my next post on pre-production for our documentary shoot, I will go into further detail about how we planned our documentary and all the behind-the-scenes logistics. Here’s to a successful shoot!