Sydney couple Epiphany Morgan and Carl Mason have just finished travelling the world, filming 365 mini documentaries in 365 days.
In a project that began as a personal journey, but turned into one for their audience, the couple spanned 30 countries across six continents: Asia, Africa, South America, Australia, Europe, North America and South America. They finished their global journey, called 365 Docobites, in Australia with their own interview.
23-year-old Morgan was a film graduate working in a production company, while 27-year-old Mason was a senior editor at an advertising agency when they decided to throw it all in and chance the dream. That dream consisted of 76,000 km’s, 9 terabytes of unedited footage and 17 hours of edited footage.
On a strict $40-a-day budget, sourced from crowdfunding, sponsorship from travel organisations and tourism boards, along with their own frequent flyer miles, the couple lived on a diet of rice, potato chips, kebabs and occasionally a luxury item from McDonald’s.
“There were several moments when we didn’t think we could go on. Four or five months in, when we were about to run out of money and we didn’t know where we were staying or where we were going in the next few days. And we thought: ‘What the hell are we going to do?'” Mason told Mashable.
Carl and Epiphany.
Image: 365 Docobites
Their love of travel and filmmaking was behind the idea that sent them around the world filming strangers, after Morgan came across a photography book with 365 pages and thought it would make a good idea for a documentary.
The actual production was exhausting, with the filmmakers not missing a day on the journey.
“It is really hard to explain to people that travelling the world and having all of these amazing experiences was really difficult,” Morgan told Mashable. “It was the most amazing thing we could ever imagine doing, but it was equally the most terrifying, stressful. We were having panic attacks weekly, sometimes daily.”
Their subjects, who were sometimes random strangers and other times organised meetings, would sit with them for 20 minutes for a 2-3 minute finished Docobite. They filmed a drag queen in New Orleans, ate pistachios with a Palestinian family in the West Bank, crashed an ultra orthodox wedding in Jerusalem, camped amongst lions in Botswana and danced with improvisation artists in a park in Ireland.
And although the uptake of the project was slow initially, due to a lack of time promoting due to their gruelling editing schedule, the stories of strangers and the realisation that humanity shares the same qualities, despite location, started to make an impact.
“Initially, we didn’t really know what it was going to turn into, and it turned into something much bigger than we thought it would,” Morgan said. “We all need and want the same thing, and we all have a right to those things and deserve those things. It turned into a much more precious project.”
“The more we travelled the more we realised that was true, and how much we could show it with the films,” Mason added. “What kept us going is the thought that maybe we were having a positive affect on people.”
Eventually, the followers came and the pair challenged themselves to go into unknown areas with their camera and the results paid off.
“For the first six months, we were just walking up to people on the street. In the last six months, we also started going to places it was more challenging to walk around with a camera,” Morgan said. “Often the random ones are the most fascinating, as they aren’t prepared to be filmed.”
“What we found is if you don’t give anyone time to prepare and put them on the spot, they are going to tell you the truth because it is the first thing that comes into their head,” Mason agreed.
The filmmakers used their craft to wipe away judgement and are insightful after their year abroad. “We are all human, and if you know that, suddenly you are not fighting against each other, you are fighting for each other and there is a lot of good that can come from that kind of thought process,” Morgan said.
Soon, the duo is opening up their platform so filmmakers across the world can add content to it. This will allow stories to be told from all ends of the globe, despite where Morgan and Mason are residing.
“We think that someone across the other side of the world is living an entirely different life. But in fact, we are all so similar,” Mason said. And the best way to demonstrate that is by bringing the world a step closer through Docobites, the pair believe.
Morgan and Mason shared their favourite Docobites with Mashable. They struggled to get it down from a shortlist of 50, before finally settling on these beauties:
1 – “It’s a very beautiful thing, all of that struggle”
9 – “I’m gonna prevail, believe that”
80 – “She said, I love you mummy!”
93 – “The people run this city”
128 – “I wanted to get pushed out of my comfort zone”
283 – “I must take responsibility for my actions”
309 – “A lion ate a man”
317 – “Every stranger has become a potential tiger”
329 – “I prefer to spray my can”
351 – “My husband was taken away”
204 -“I was a shy, shy child”
337 – “I want to bring a better future”
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