First of all, could you tell us a bit about yourself – where are you from and what was your role in TMW?

I’m Michael Price, and was the composer of the score for The Mountain Within. I’ve been involved in film music for more years than I care to remember now, as a composer, arranger, music editor, you name it, and have been lucky enough to work on some amazing films. And now I’ve worked on another one!

When and how did you get involved in TMW?

Kyle Portbury, the Director, called me up in Spring 2008 with what I first thought was a spoof job. “So, how do you feel about climbing up Kilimanjaro, writing music as you go, while we all make a film?” I presumed he’d gone a little mad.

Had you worked with any of the crew before?

I’d worked with Kyle, Gregory the producer and Kate the editor before on a short film, shot in Cornwall, where I’d spent the week with them on set. It seemed like such a different way to work, and I felt much more involved in the project than I often do, being with the whole crew for the shoot, so I was very keen to try again.

What did your role involve?

As the composer you’re responsible for writing, conducting and recording all the music that’s heard in the film. I’m very lucky to work with an amazing group of people, from the superb orchestral players, through the engineers at Abbey Road, especially Andrew Dudman, then the people that work closely with me on the writing of the score; Anthony Weeden who orchestrated it, and Rael Jones who produces everything with me, and plays all instruments known to man. I guess my job is to make sure that all those amazingly talented people have some reasonable tunes to work on!

For this project, some crew members took on different and/or extra roles to those they would normally take on – what were some of the strangest things you had to do on TMW?

In theory I was supposed to be helping record production sound on the mountain, but I turned out to be the most useless sound guy ever. I was also enormously inept with a camera, so mostly I ended up sorting out the video diaries we were sending back to people who were following our progress. There are pictures somewhere of me sitting freezing on a rock at 13,000 feet with a laptop on my knees trying to connect to the internet with a solar-powered satellite dish. I’ll never be rude about BT Broadband again.

What were your thoughts about Kilimanjaro and the climb before you arrived in Tanzania?

I found it very hard to imagine how difficult it was going to be, as going up and down a few climbs in the Lake District was the most I’d ever done. I imagined it would be bigger than the Lake District. And it was.

How did you feel when you arrived at the base of the mountain?

I think we were all so stressed and focused on trying to make the best film we could that I often forgot to look up at the mountain. It didn’t really dawn on me for a few days what a crazy thing we were doing.

Had you been on Kilimanjaro or to altitude before?

No. I usually avoid going to places where there isn’t enough oxygen . . .

Had you met any of the climbers before the climb?

I’d been on a couple of training walks, including one on Snowdon where I’d met many of the team. There was already an amazing bond of humour between the climbers and their buddies, but I don’t think anyone could have predicted how much everyone’s characters would have been tested.

Was there a particular event on the mountain that sticks out in your memory?

I’d love to say being on the summit, but I can barely remember staggering there. I think there were hundreds of tiny moments of humanity, humour and courage, and whenever I see the film now, I remember new ones.

How did you find working at altitude?

Like trying to work after ten pints of Yorkshire bitter. People aren’t meant to be that high up – it’s unnatural.

How do you feel that the crew as a group handled the extremes of Kilimanjaro?

I think we were often inexperienced, under-prepared, out of our depth, and yet everybody in the crew found something very special inside them and we were able to support each other through it. I think we’re all better people for having been made so vulnerable by the climb, but still helping each other to make a beautiful film that I’m very proud of.

Tell us about reaching the summit?

I was effectively carried there by one of the absolutely amazing porters, who even held my hand on the way down. I wouldn’t have got there without him. It seemed to be one of the reasons why the porters were so supportive and encouraging of Jamie Magee – they have such courage and strength themselves, and they recognise that courage in other people.

If you had to summarise the summit attempt in one word, which word would you use?

Extra-terrestrial.

Do you feel more of a connection to the film (because you took part in the climb), compared to other films you have worked on?

Hugely so. I’m now a slightly scarily passionate advocate of the film, and the whole experience, and being able to express some of that in the score with all my favourite players and colleagues is too good to be true.

What is the most important lesson you have learned from making TMW?

That we constantly limit ourselves, and we limit other people when we pre-judge what they can do. Sometimes it takes a special group of people with unselfconscious courage to show us what everyone is capable of.

Help for Special Olympics

THE LOCAL Special Olympics program received a $850.75 boost from a two-night showing of “The Mountain Within”.  It documents seven disabled individuals’ trek up Mount Kilimanjaro in summer 2008.

More than 155 people came out to the two showings of the film Sept. 4 and all the proceeds were donated to the local special olympics here.  Gregory Rinaldi of Brag Productions says the film will be released to theatres in the UK soon.  Rinaldi plans to bring the film back to North America next summer,

Meanwhile, the film will be entered in as many film festivals as possible.

By MARGARET SPEIRS of the Terrace Standard

http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_north/terracestandard/community/Help_for_Special_Olympics.html

Photo courtesy of Kate Coggins

Welcome to a new feature we will be running on the site.  It took a huge amount of hard work and determination to make The Mountain Within (TMW for short) so we decided to interview some of the crew members to give you an insight into the different types of obstacles that the crew on the mountain and the post production team had to overcome.

To kick off we’re starting with our Director – Kyle Portbury.

First of all, could you tell us a bit about yourself – where are you from and what was your role in TMW?

My name is Kyle Portbury, and I am the director of The Mountain Within.  I am from a little town in Victoria, Australia called Warburton where I grew up with my parents and older sister.  I was fortunate to have a British mother who wanted to visit her family often so Dad and Mum would regularly expose us to life in a bigger world.

When and how did you get involved in TMW?

In about February 2008 I premiered a short film at the Curzon cinema in Soho.  The Enham Kilimanjaro Challenge climb initiators happened to be in attendance, liked what they saw and approached me to discuss filming the climb.  I pitched them the idea of filming it as a feature documentary where we could really do some things that haven’t been done in the genre in a long time.  They liked the direction and we set off on the adventure of making a climb into a dramatic story.

Photo courtesy of Kate Coggins

Had you worked with any of the crew before?

Yes I have worked with a number of the crew before.  The composer, Michael Price, and I had worked on a couple of projects before and were keen to push our director/composer creativity to another level.  My longtime producer Greg Rinaldi has basically produced everything I have done and Kate Coggins had edited one of my short films.  Having a core of people you know and understand was a real blessing because when you get out into extreme locations everthing that can go wrong does and you need to know that essentially your key people get you and can work together to problem solve out of any situation.

What did your role involve?

I am only a young director who is still working out how to tell stories.  I guess having said that directing for me involves finding the story to tell in the first place and then working out how to best tell that story.  How do you do that… get the best people you can in each of the key roles and listen to them.

For this project, some crew members took on different and/or extra roles to those they would normally take on – what were some of the strangest things you had to do on TMW?

I am a pretty hands on director but even for me, scrabbling along with our cinematographer, Gordon, on the side of a cliff with the wireless shotgun mic while he ran with a steadicam rig was pretty crazy, especially when you looked sideways and saw the drop off. I also ended up shooting the entire summit sequence as our main unit camera went down due to the cold on the summit.  Filming at 20,000ft was definitely a new one for me.

Kyle and Gordon following the action

What were your thoughts about Kilimanjaro and the climb before you arrived in Tanzania?

I was really excited to get to climb it.  It is such an inspiring mountain, you see photos of this thing poking out of the clouds with giraffes and elephants in the foreground, who wouldn’t want to climb it.

How did you feel when you arrived at the base of the mountain?

What have I got myself into… ahahaha.

Had you been on Kilimanjaro or to altitude before?

This was my first time in Africa and I think the highest I had been was about 12,000ft.

Had you met any of the climbers before the climb?

Yes we spent about 6 months getting to know them and getting them used to us and the cameras.  They are such an amazing group of people and to get to the point where we got to see that meant a lot of time with them, so by the time we got to the mountain, cameras around was just a normal part of life.

How did you find working at altitude?

Both exhilarating and exhausting.  Making a film anywhere requires a certain level of physical and mental agility, when you throw altitude into that mix you have to work twice as hard to get the same result.

How do you feel that the crew as a group handled the extremes of Kilimanjaro?

Whatever the mountain threw at them, they handled it as a team and brought back a story, you can’t ask for much more.  Everyone had a day where they were not running at their peak but everyone stepped up to cover this, it was an incredible team effort and sheer determination that got this film in the can.

Did you reach the summit?

Yes.

Tell us about reaching the summit?

I was filming when we reached the top, it was a funny feeling you know, you expect that it will be this big moment but actually you just hurt, you can’t breathe and you look around and everyone else is thinking the same thing you are.  You sit and reflect for a few moments, you think about the ones who didn’t make it and then you muster the strength to get back down… awesome.

Was there a particular event on the mountain that sticks out in your memory?

There were so many but the one that sticks out would have been the final climb to the summit.  It was pitch black and I can still remember looking up and seeing an endless trail of lights that seemed to ascend forever.  When you can’t breathe and your legs feel like they weigh a tonne that sight is terrifying…

Photo courtesy of Kate Coggins

If you had to summarize the summit attempt in one word, which word would you use?

Surreal.

Do you feel more of a connection to the film (because you took part in the climb), compared to other films you have worked on?

Every film is a unique and special experience, what I think is different with this one is you have the added bonus of having not only succeeded in shooting a film which is a huge undertaking in and of itself but you have also climbed one of the world’s highest mountains.  You get the personal sense of achievement in getting to the summit and the collaborative achievement of making a film so it is a pretty special film.

What is the most important lesson you have learned from making TMW?

Patience.

If you have any questions for Kyle please post them in the comment window below.

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