In the Company of the Mother Tree
Saario, Antti
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2912-1354 and Ferrett, D
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8421-6308
(2025)
Gans’n Dhama Wedhen.
[Composition]
| Item Type: | Composition |
|---|---|
| Creators: | Saario, Antti and Ferrett, D |
| Corporate Creators: | Black Cat Films (Adam Laity), o-region |
| Abstract / Summary: | AUDIO SOUNDTRACK [only] The soundtrack for the film combines a bilingual vocal layer in English and Kernewek (Cornish), and an 6OA ambisonic spatial soundscape to foreground more-than-human presences (e.g. the “Mother Tree,” lichens, mosses, mycelium, river…) so that listening becomes a primary mode of encounter rather than an adjunct to the film's image. This version is a binaural stereo decoding of the 60A ambisonic soundtrack. The project’s compositional approach is grounded in eco-philosophical and practice-based research. Drawing on Braidotti’s affirmative ethics and Ferrett’s dark sound ecology, the piece cultivates an ethical, relational mode of attention that embraces both enchantment and complexity: affective listening, field recording and ambisonic spatialisation are used to decentre human perspective and to transduce site-specific sonic agencies into a shared immersive experience. Rather than offering “pure sensorial spectacle,” the work engages audiences analytically and somatically, seeking to transform viewers from passive observers into active co-present participants in a collective dome environment. In doing so, it explores how fulldome media can counter hyper-individualised media bubbles by fostering common worlds and environmentally responsible imaginaries. 'Gans’n Dhama Wedhen' was written, directed and filmed by Dr Adam Laity; the original score and spatial audio were composed and produced by Dr Antti Sakari Saario (Falmouth University), with field recording by Saario and Dr D Ferrett (Falmouth University); Ferrett also provided the tree voices and narrative consultancy. The film was produced in partnership with o-region, Black Cat Films, Screen Cornwall, the Thousand Year Trust, Falmouth University/AMATA and Real Immersive. Together, the collaboration demonstrates a research-led model of immersive nature filmmaking and soundscape composition in which spatial sound and bilingual voicework guide attention, deepen ecological understanding and invite audiences to listen with, rather than merely look at, temperate rainforest life. |
| Official URL: | https://o-region.co.uk/news/gansn-dhama-wedhen-in-... |
| Date: | 30 June 2025 |
| Funders: | UK Government (UK Shared Prosperity Fund), Centre for Blended Realities/E3 Funding |
| Additional Information: | This is the AUDIO only binaural stereo decoding of the immersive 6OA ambisonic soundtrack. There is a separate FURR entry for the film. Screen Cornwall’s 2023 UK Shared Prosperity Fund funded call invited filmmakers to submit proposals for a ten-minute ‘360 media immersive nature experience that transports audiences into a virtual experience of Cornwall’s ancient temperate rainforest [at Cabilla] through sound and image’ (Screen Cornwall, 2023). Screen Cornwall's 'immersive nature commission' was part of the organisations ‘Launching a Cornish Public Service Media’ programme, funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The call for proposals was developed in partnership with Falmouth University (Dr D Ferrett and Dr Antti Saario). The successful proposal for the call was by film maker and director Dr Adam Laity (Black Cat Films) and o-region productions. The film was produced as a partnership between o-region, Black Cat Films, Screen Cornwall, Thousand Year Trust, Falmouth University & AMATA and Real Immersive. • Written, Directed & Cinematography by Adam Laity • Composition & Audio Production by Antti Sakari Saario • Field Recording by Antti Sakari Saario & D Ferrett • Tree Voices & Narrative Consultant by D Ferrett • Produced by Brett Harvey & Simon Harvey • Exec Producer Laura Giles Link to AMATA’s audience survey relating to the work: https://forms.office.com/e/rX9b2HWbhA Some of the sounds used in the immersive composition and recorded at Cabilla by Saario and Ferrett, feature in Penguin’s audiobook 'Our Oaken Bones' by Merlin Hanbury-Tenison, and have been aired on BBC Radio 4’s 'Today Programme' as well as appearing in the latest episode of Gillian Burke’s 'If I Ruled the World' podcast, ‘Episode 36: I would restore Britain as a Rainforest Nation’. |
| Subjects: | Film & Television Performing Arts > Music & Sound Sustainability & Environment |
| Department: | Academy of Music & Theatre Arts |
| Depositing User: | Antti Saario |
| Date Deposited: | 06 Aug 2026 10:22 |
| Last Modified: | 06 Aug 2026 10:22 |
| URI: | https://repository.falmouth.ac.uk/id/eprint/6559 |
![]() |
View Record (staff only) |
Tools
Tools