Because of my true-to-nature approach, it was a logical progression to try out filming, which I was a bit familiar with already, having spent many hours on every summer holiday making Super-8 “feature films” with my children - spoofs of James Bond, and the Monty Python films.
Most films about butterflies deal exclusively with their life-cycle. One can see why; the transformation from caterpillar to adult butterfly, via some miraculous chemistry in the pupa, is surely one of the natural world’s most breathtaking events. Noone knows exactly how it happens; - and many would probably want it to remain that way.
But the fact is…
1996 we devoted to accumulating enough material to offer a view of the West European, including British, species, as seen from my bio-geographical standpoint. The resulting film, “Puzzles of the Past” won an Award at the 1998 International Wildlife Film Festival in Missoula, Montana.
I suppose Evolution is partly what the films are all about. The miracle of natural selection and the beauty that the passage of time has created on earth are what inspire me.
Now that DVD has well and truly arrived in Europe, Cinebutterflies will be moving to issue or reissue its material in that format in the coming months.