In The Fall is a story set in the late 19th Century, on a smallholding in rural Scotland. A boy struggles to understand his parent's decision to send their loyal working horse to the knacker's yard.  He now costs much more to keep than he earns for a family who tread the tightrope between survival and ruin. The boy is surprised and horrified when they finally acquiesce, and the horse is loaded up and sent away.

It is a story of watching, and understanding. A boy watches his parents, and understands what it means to be an adult. A man watches his horse, and understands that all things must age and die. A woman watches her husband, and understands that frequently what breaks our hearts is what is necessary for survival.

Tom Gentle, 28, is the Director. Born in Southern Scotland, he has lived there for most of his life. He graduated from the University of Kent School of Arts, and since then, has made three short films and a feature length documentary. His first short, Lost Girl, was selected for London Short Film Festival and Amsterdam Lift Off Festival, and his feature documentary, Uhuru, had its worldwide premiere at San Francisco Documentary Festival. His latest short, Blindsided, has just begun its festival run. Tom founded Gentle Giant Productions in 2012. 

Rupert Clague, 27, is the Producer. A dual Canadian-British citizen born in Thunder Bay, Canada, he spent his early childhood growing up in Dundas, Ontario before moving to the Isle of Man, a stunningly beautiful if at times overlooked island nestled in the Irish Sea. Upon graduating from King's College London and the University of California, Berkeley, he began his career in documentary film and television. He now works as a freelance Producer for both the BBC and Netflix – making documentaries on everything from Shakespeare to Pop Art to the recent Netflix original series Jack Whitehall: Travels With My Father. He also runs his own independent production company, Handsome Beast.

For all intents and purposes, the story is just about a family's unwillingness to sell their horse. But like much of MacLeod's work, it also evokes his characters' hopeless connection to the old world. The father is haunted by memories of his ancestry, and struggles to reconcile the past and present. The process of ageing, growing weaker and the approach of death seen in the father is matched by burgeoning adulthood and coming maturity seen in his son. And the frequently impossible task of clutching on to one's morality and humanity in a difficult world is recognisable in the Mother – she loves her husband deeply, but knows that as an adult there is frequently no option that does not hurt, and we must simply choose the one that hurts less.

While the source material is set in Nova Scotia, the narrative is simple and universal, so the film will be relocated to coastal Scotland – perfectly matching the rugged landscape of the original story. The film will be produced in Glasgow, an hour from the West Coast of Scotland. Over the two months of our campaign we will be scouting for the sole location of the film – a remote croft set near the cliffs and the sea. We already have several options that we are looking to explore further, and we will also be speaking to film offices, local councils, Visit Scotland, the National Trust and contacts within the industry to find what we need.

The events of the story happen in real time, across a 20 minute period – a brief snapshot of the characters' lives – so the film will have the appearance of one continuous shot, but will actually be a series of very long takes sewn invisibly together. So, as in films like Victoria or for long periods of Children of Men, the camera's view will be passed back and forth between the primary characters. As well as allowing the actors to achieve something truly organic, this also gives the spectator an immediacy – a down in the dirt camera style – that you do not achieve with frequent cuts. We will also begin on steadicam and finish on handheld, so that the flowing, balanced aesthetic at the beginning will be gradually replaced with a more unstable one as the family's world unravels.

Please be assured that your money is in safe hands. We have friends and colleagues at the very highest level of the Scottish film industry, and have already confirmed much of our crew. All are vastly experienced on all sorts of productions, including television series and feature films. Our Executive Producer, who will be overseeing the entire process, has credits on such films as Sunset Song, Trainspotting 2 and The Wife. Our Director of Photography and Production Designer and their respective teams are hugely experienced and highly skilled.

The scale and drama of the piece ensure that we do not need to subscribe to the practice of casting known faces to receive attention at international film festivals. However, the roles demand a great deal of skill and depth, and we will be casting our net far and wide to agencies across Scotland to find the actors we need. We already have a number of people in mind for each part, and we will keep everyone in our team updated as we confirm the roles.

In preparation for this campaign, we put together a little reel of shots (mercilessly stolen from other projects) that you can watch here. This is by no means a road map to the film we intend to make. But each shot has something that gives an indication of the direction in which we would like to go – whether it is movement, shot size, costume, lighting – or simply the feeling that it evokes.

As you can see, we are attempting to raise £15,000 to make this short film possible. There is a chart  below that gives a visual breakdown of where this money goes. We are looking to put as much of it on screen as possible. All crew members have been unspeakably kind in offering to work for free, and spending money on accommodation instead ensures that we are able to shoot in the perfect location that can be some distance away from Glasgow. The shoot will be carried out to the highest standard possible within our budget – the very best cameras and lighting, animal handlers, props and period vehicles.

Most importantly, we have negotiated and agreed a fee for the rights to the short story with  Mr. MacLeod's estate. We have chosen to crowd fund at this time of year to ensure that we get the heavy winds and rain necessary without having to use machinery.

Anything you can do to help us with our goal to get this film made would be massively appreciated. Of course, we need donations to amass the budget needed to make the film. But help comes in many forms - Share it on social media or perhaps email it to friends and family whom you think would be interested. Or donate a perk that you think could attract people to offer financing. Or what about offering your time to help on production of the film itself? Words cannot express how grateful we will be to even receive a simple email of encouragement! Thank you so much.