Shooting a 10-mile walk on a budget

Taking a look back at late 2022, GAY TIMES (GT) and Berghaus had been busy developing an LGBTQ+ campaign for quite some time, the main aim being to amplify diverse representation and get more LGBTQ+ people to get into the great outdoors. That process eventually birthed an online campaign and gorgeous outdoor video shoot that just so happened to take place in the most southern part of the South Downs: overlooking the Seven Sisters, somewhere along the coastline between Seaford and Eastbourne. For this particular project, GT and Berghaus connected queer Scottish adventure and mountain sports photographer, Hamish Frost, with queer climbing and social group, Queer Climbers London.

The partnership was an extension to an existing Berghaus project: The Ascension Series; a series of films that shine a light on individuals that have overcome expectations and defined themselves in the outdoors. Set against epic backdrops, Hamish’s episode explores the side of himself that he had kept hidden from the outdoor community for a long time: his queerness. It’s an incredibly touching story of confidence and connection, and yet another reminder of the importance of diversity and representation in communities.

At the time, Sophie was a full-time in-house producer at GT and quite regularly brought Ned onto various branded content campaigns to direct, shoot and/or edit…. It was a great combination when budgets were somewhat stretched, and allowed us a decent amount of creative freedom by tag-teaming the various briefs alongside the GT creative and accounts teams. It also meant we could flex our production company and agency partnership skills a bit too, something we’ve since gone on to offer more and more.

We have a bit of a challenge with this brief: how do we tell the stories of LGBTQ+ people in an outdoor environment (in the UK)… in February, with a bunch of camera equipment and roughly 10 miles to cover at the same time? The answer: keep it light, and enjoy the walk! Sophie & Ned are both avid walkers/outdoorsy people, so it felt like a project that was made for us from the get-go.

As for filming location, our minds immediately jumped to the usual Lake or Peak Districts, but instead opted for somewhere much closer to London, and only a short train journey away. Situated just over an hour from London and previously home to Joe Wright’s Atonement (2007) film set, the Seven Sisters walk quickly became the most sensible option for us – not only is it gorgeous (particularly so on a sunny day), it’s also quite an achievable walk for anyone who’s interested in getting out for the day (the shorter version, at least – Seaford to Eastbourne is a pretty admirable feat!).

An inevitable British train strike left us with no option but to make the drive down, and after a decent stint of pre-production and creative development, off we went from London Bridge in two vehicles – one car jam-packed with eager LGBTQ+ climbers from Queer Climbers London, the other with campaign photographer, Hamish Frost, Ned and Sophie… With every single person dressed head-to-toe in Berghaus. 

Having completed a recce a few weeks prior, we had pretty good steer on where we needed to be and, due to the nature of the shoot, we didn’t have the luxury of setting up lighting to compensate for the winter daylight hours. So, kicking off in Seaford, we made our way up the first, surprisingly steep hill and quickly found our way to the iconic Seven Sisters view – this was our main “scene”, where we ended up capturing most of the video and imagery needed for the campaign. We also massively lucked out with the weather – not a raindrop in sight.

Next up was Cuckmere Inn, a brilliant spot for a pint and a bite to eat, which marked the halfway point of our shoot day. The brief had called for a range of landscapes, so we took a slight detour over to Exceat, a nearby town that edges Friston Forest, to capture some different footage and step away from the otherwise–very-coastal views for a short while. It did the trick, and added a nice bit of greenery and earthiness to the film overall.

After that, we pressed on with the longest and final stretch of our walk – another incline through the Seven Sisters Park – back to the cliff edge. This is where a lightweight camera setup was absolutely crucial, because had we gone much heavier, we’d really have struggled to finish the day from a timings and fatigue perspective. Alas, after quite the climb, we made it to the end point to capture our final sequence as the sun began to set… Admittedly, it wasn’t quite the sunset we’d hoped for, but we absolutely love the final frame nonetheless…

Words by Sophie Christophersen