


‘It’s an album in itself’
Episode 160 – It Takes a Village: Shona Thomson
The creator of Launch! - a film about Scotland’s RNLI lifeboat crews - on why sound was key to portraying what lifeboat stations mean to local communities.
Film-maker Shona Thomson knows that it takes a whole community to launch a lifeboat. To underline the deep connection that locals have with their lifeboat station, Shona wanted an immersive score that would do justice to the archive footage she was unearthing for her film: Launch! On The Sea With Scotland’s Lifeboats.
Acclaimed musicians - Jason Singh, Arun Ghosh, Jenny Sturgeon, and John Ellis - answered the call, taking inspiration from the power of the sea and the sounds and stories discovered in the RNLI’s collection. The resulting score is a 5.1 surround soundtrack designed specifically to be experienced at the cinema. And the resulting film - co-produced by Screen Argyll - has toured communities across Scotland.
In this episode, Shona explains how the film - featuring footage that dates back as far as the 1920s - came together.
Listen to the full-length soundtrack on Spotify
Launch! will be showing at the Oban Phoenix Cinema on 9 March 2024.
To learn more about Shona’s work and contact her about screening Launch! in your community, visit: www.akindofseeing.co.uk
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