A couple of years back we featured a beautiful film on the blog — Port Talbot, Land of Steel. The director of the film Chris Thomas, and his talented director of photography, Lee Thomas, reached out to share their latest work; Our Plastic Beach.

Shot on location on Anglesey, the short film features some stunning Welsh seascapes and aims to raise awareness of the growing issue of plastic pollution on the UK’s shores. You can watch the video below, and then read on for some background on the project from Chris.

What inspired the project?

A few years ago, I shot a little documentary for the Marine Conservation Society which opened my eyes to the problems of plastic pollution. When you start looking for plastic or litter on a beach, you just find that it’s everywhere.

Some may argue that beach cleaning just isn’t enough, perhaps going as far as it not making any difference at all. Despite these arguments, what’s always drawn me to beach cleaning is people’s strong and passionate desire to help remove pollution from our shores. Every piece of waste that is taken away means there is one less dangerous item for wildlife and for habitats to be restored.

What are your connections to the Welsh coast?

Anglesey is home to my mother’s side of the family so I spent a lot of time growing up and exploring many of the beaches as a kid. I’ve always found the beaches in Anglesey beautifully unique with its baron and rocky surroundings. When I came up with the idea, Anglesey was immediately calling.

Where was it filmed?

We shot most of the film on Porth Nobla Beach on the Isle of Anglesey. The interior location was at our family home in Holyhead.

Why do you think the issue of plastic waste is important right now?

Plastic waste is a serious issue and as a result of Covid-19 there has been a resurgence of single used-plastic. There’s a need for people to be more conscious of plastic usage and to try and use reusables if possible.

Tell us about the team working on the film.

You can’t make a film like this without having such talented and brilliant people involved.

We were fortunate to cast Lucy Shaw (Girl) and Alyson Marks (Gran) who were a real joy to work with. Lynne Ryan (Mum) was based in Holyhead so it was wonderful to have local talent involved. The Anglesey Beach Cleaners also made an appearance which was a lovely touch.

Our film crew consisted of 5 people; myself (Director), Lee Thomas (DOP), Joshua Armstrong (Camera Assistant), Richard Standen (Props) and my girlfriend Roisin Murphy who was all hands on deck. We’re all good friends and have worked together on previous projects so it was such an enjoyable shoot.

Post-production consisted of regular collaborators; Ben Cowan (Editor), Mark Hills & James Utting (Sound), Vlad Barin (Colourist) and Tom Player (Composer) who all took the project to another level.

Tell us about the equipment you used to shoot the film?

We had the wonderful support from Leanne Gullifer at Focus24 who supplied us with the equipment we needed. We used the Alexa mini with Kowa Anamorphic lenses.

Do you have any other projects in the pipeline?

Unfortunately I can’t say much about my next project, but we were meant to be shooting in the US back in May but due to the current circumstances, this has now been postponed to next year – if things change that is.

Thanks Chris!

Follow Chris on Instagram here. and Tom here.