Chat Ed : Welcome to this evening's webchat with Kevin McDonald – the Director of Touching the Void - acclaimed, award-winning, stunning docudrama about a 1985 mountaineering expedition that went horribly wrong, told in the words of the survivors.
Alan : Gets better every time i see it.
emma : i just watched it its really good
abz : wicked film
Kevin MacDonald : Thanks very much guys, glad some of you will have watched the film tonight...
daz : that was one good film
Hayley : Why did you chose to have the real people speaking instead of just showing the scenes?
George Collins : it was incredible
jon : that was excellent!!!!!!!!
clare : it was brilliant
me : very very good
Kevin MacDonald : Because so much of what is great about the story is what's going on inside their heads - it's an interior monologue and that's the kind of thing that's very hard to do in a traditional drama film.
anon : what an incredible film
dean : fantastic
lucie : it was very moving the way you filmed it
waynem24 : great docudrama
Frank : was it difficult to get agreement from the participants for the film?
Kevin MacDonald : No it wasn't. It was quite a long time since the events portrayed in the film actually occurred and initially both of them took part very willingly.
jason : initially???
AndyG : Initially?
Kevin MacDonald : However, once we went back with them to Peru the trauma of what had happened all those years ago came back to them and they began to find it more and more difficult to take part in our filming. It was a very emotional experience for both of them.
jasonM : understandable
k2killer : im an emotional wreck
keithbruce : excellent Kevin well done
incywincy : how difficult was it to recreate
lucie : was it dangerous filming the scenes in the crevasse
scraps : how did you manage to climb the mountain to film?
Kevin MacDonald : It wasn't particularly dangerous unless you count the freezing cold as a danger. It was difficult to film them just because it's hard to film in that environment - it's difficult to breathe in high altitude and the slowness of shooting on snow and ice when everyone is roped together is hard. The actors who we worked with were extraordinarily patient and enthusiastic and put themselves through an awful lot and a great deal of discomfort for the sake of the film. It would have been a lot harder if we had been using stars, particularly Tom Cruise as was muted at one point!
Pav : how long did the shoot take?
Mark : How long did it take to film?
Guy Moorhouse : Did you actually film on Siula Grande?
geoff : Where was this filmed?
Ollie : How long in all did it take to film?
Kevin MacDonald : I interview both Joe and Simon for two days each and then we filmed the reconstructions for a month in Peru in the actual spot, yes, where the adventure took place. Then a month in the Alps, shooting close-ups and other bits of reconstruction.
David Harper : Did you consider getting Joe and Simon to appear together, was this possible?
Kevin MacDonald : Originally at the end of the film we had planned to show Joe and Simon together today back at the base camp they had in 1986, but after seeing this cut into the film we felt that the story naturally ended with Joe's return to the tent. So we used the material of Joe and Simon together in another little documentary, which we called the Return to Siula Grande - that is on the DVD.
nathan : freezing cold! how did that effect the filming equipment?
Jeremy : what types of cameras did you use during filming
Kevin MacDonald : We filmed with 35mm Aaton cameras in Peru and in the Alps we filmed with 16mm Arri cameras. Often the batteries ran down extremely quickly due to the cold and we learned to sleep with the batteries in our sleeping bags at night to keep them warm. We also suffered a great deal from condensation on the lenses because if one part of the equipment was even slightly warmer than the rest it would cause condensation, which would ruin the shot. A lot of times we had two cameras going, one being kept warm so that we could replace the one that was freezing up with ice on it every hour or so.
MattJCP : have you spoken to Joe or Simon much since?
Kevin MacDonald : I've spoken to Joe quite a lot since we made the film, but I haven't spoken to Simon. Simon was very disturbed by the return to Siula Grande and hasn't wanted anything to do with the film since we made it.
muz : Why do the climbing community criticise Simon for cutting the rope?
Dylan : why did the climbing community criticize him when there weren’t really any other options about cutting the rope?
Kevin MacDonald : They criticised him because in the climbing world the rope has a symbolic value as well as a practical one. It symbolises the bond of trust between two climbers.
Matt1 : what else could he have done?
Kevin MacDonald : For most climbers seeing the rope cut would dent their confidence in their own partners who they have to rely on with their lives. In climbing, the rope is never cut. It's a kind of taboo, which Simon broke.
phil41 : it just shows the climbing community that cutting the rope saved both their lives
Kevin MacDonald : Matt - I don't think any reasonable person would blame Simon for what he did - there was clearly nothing else for him to do. A lot of the criticism that was directed at Simon was from people who didn't fully understand the detail of what could have occurred.
Gavin : For you was this film about the desire to live or the experience of near death (or both)
JonSp : There was nothing else for him to do but the moral dilemma is unthinkable
Kevin MacDonald : Heh, for me this film was about the experience of coming near to death. An experience which all of us will face at some point in our lives. I think ultimately it's a life-affirming story, but what makes it truly terrifying is the sense that one gets of the utter loneliness, which will confront us all before we die.
Ollie : What budget did you have for the film?
Ollie : Was The Film council your main funding source?
deano : what was your budget like?
Kevin MacDonald : The budget was about £1.5 million. The Film Council put in about one quarter of this, FilmFour put in another quarter and the remainder was split between Channel 4 and the American TV station PBS.
bigeggo : is that all!
Jeremy : How long was the original film before it was edited
Eamon : Did you edit or omit much of your original footage?
Alex : It looks much bigger budget!
fairyMary : It is a stunning piece of work on whatever budget you acquired.
Kevin MacDonald : Originally we interviewed Joe and Simon for about 20 hours each so there was a hell of a lot of footage that was left out, having said that the original cut of the film was about two and a half hours long. We cut it down to what it is now over a space of a couple of months.
dibergio : How did you film the scenes in the Crevasse?
Valerie : Was any of the film shot in studio?
leveticus : how did you manage to film the crevasse shots
Kevin MacDonald : None of the film was shot in a studio as we wanted it to feel as authentic as possible.
Colin Craig : wow
fly : well it was pretty realistic to me
andy spark : Incredible!
Kevin MacDonald : The crevasse was filmed in three or four different places in the Swiss Alps - that's the sequence I am the most pleased with in the film partly because they look so beautiful, yet terrifying.
kumie : congrats on a fantastic film kevin....an incredible story, brilliantly told....thank you
Saz : It must have been an amazing story to hear it from them first hand, but how did u feel when you first heard about it?
peter taylor : It was gripping, tense, and incredible. Just fantastic!
Kevin MacDonald : I first heard about it from reading Joe's book which I recommend to you all. I sat up and read the book in one sitting overnight about three years ago and was completely dumb-struck by it. I found it so exciting and terrifying. It was like being transported to a totally different world - so alien does the world of high altitude and mountaineering seem to me.
phil41 : is the book called touching the void
Kevin MacDonald : Yes it is.
backscratch : did you feel the film captured the book as well as you hoped?
Kevin MacDonald : My aim wasn't really to capture the book but to capture the reality of these two people's experiences. My film was based on interviews with Joe and Simon, not on the book itself.
Marquis : Do you climb? - would this story inspire or dissuade you?
rachie : Kevin - I loved your film - it captures the book and experience brilliantly.
Kevin MacDonald : I don't climb... and have no intention of ever doing so. I don't think this story could ever do anything to encourage anybody to climb! It's just that I don't really understand, even after spending so long with climbers, what it is that motivates them - it's so damn uncomfortable and cold!
joe 90 : why do people take insane risks like that
Kevin MacDonald : joe - I think as Joe says at one point, the closer you are to death - the more you feel alive.
JasonS : Amazing musical score for that film...what was the inspiration?
Guy Moorhouse : Boney M!
JoeB : Boney M lol
Kevin MacDonald laughs
manwithn0name : Loved the Boney M part.. ' I thought I was going to die to Boney M
rowan : awesome!
andy spark : What a way to go... lol
Kevin MacDonald : Boney M was a track which Joe actually did hear in his head so that has its origins in his actual experience. I was hoping it would re-fuel a Boney M craze.
Adrian : it won't!
Dom : I am singing the song as I am reading this.
Kevin MacDonald : The rest of it was done by Alex Heffes and another composer from New Zealand called Evan Smith who did the more abstract electronic stuff in the second half of the film which I think is particularly effective at portraying the inner emotional state of the character. Alex's music is more lush and romantic and human.
George Collins : Kevin, do you think that if you were Joe, would you have been able to descend the mountain?
Kevin S : how close to death was Joe?
Kevin MacDonald : Joe was extremely close to death. I think that he had reached the absolute end of physical endurance when he was found by Simon; he was incredibly lucky to survive. While we were making the film I always used to say to Joe that I would never have been able to do what he did. His response was always to say that survival is a basic instinct and that all of us would fight much harder to stay alive than we might imagine in the comfort of our own homes. Still, I do often think that I would have just curled up into a ball and tried to go to sleep.
Johnny : I thought it was very powerful when Joe realised he truly did not believe in God/ the afterlife, did he elaborate on this in the interviews?
Kevin MacDonald : A little bit. I think that for him and for me this story is about the fact that there is no greater Being in the universe - no one out there looking after us. The message of the film is you have to do it yourself - you can't expect a bolt of lightning to come and save you. I think that's a very positive, humanistic message.
unitelex : Can't believe he went climbing again!
Kevin MacDonald : Joe did say that all the time he was away, his mother, who is a strong Catholic, was praying for him and when he got back and told her what a remarkable escape he had she said 'I was never worried because your guardian angel was with you'.
Yoiuh : Is it out on DVD?
Kevin MacDonald : Yes it is :)
hollis : Were the black & white shots meant to reflect Joe's actual vision at that point?
unitelex : delirious
Valerie : Thank you for a wonderful film
Kevin MacDonald : Not directly no, although at times they are used to represent the snow blindness that he was suffering from.
manwithn0name : Any extras on DVD
Martin Hanson : What's your next project?
Boomy : Your future plans?
Kevin MacDonald : There are three extras I think, one is the documentary I mentioned earlier which is the most interesting I think. Another is a short featurette called What Happened Next in which Joe and Simon recount what happened after the moment the film ends and… I can’t remember the other one!
john knight : Kevin, what are you working now?
Kevin MacDonald : I'm working on a couple of different documentaries and a feature film called The Last King of Scotland which I'm hoping FilmFour are also going to do. It's a thriller set in the 1970s in Uganda in and around the Presidency of Idi Amin.
Adrian : Is it about Kenny Dalglish?
Kevin MacDonald laughs
Kevin MacDonald : No, that's the sequel ;)
Guy Moorhouse : All the best with your future projects Kevin. Thanks.
Mojo Pin : ill watch out for them
Paul C : Kevin, you're a genius ;)
andy spark : Thanks :)
Chris : Great film!
Mick : Cheers Kevin
dibergio : thanks!
JasonS : Thanks Kevin
Nick B : great entertainment
Gavin : A very humanistic film – thxs
Car : Well done. Excellent work
Kevin MacDonald : Thank you very much all of you for chatting with me, it's been a pleasure and I'm glad you liked the film.
JasonS : wonderful awe inspiring film
leveticus : good stuff
Kevin MacDonald leaves the room
