“After getting the commission and having said yes I’d love to do it – I hadn’t seen the film, I had no idea it was nearly two hours long and of course silent, is really silent, there’s nothing there, nothing to help you…” (Simon Fisher Turner, composer)

In this film, Simon talks to us about the challenges of creating a new score for the BFI’s recent restoration of The Great White Silence. Shot over the period 1910-1912 by Herbert Ponting, this remarkable film depicts Captain Scott’s fatal quest to claim the South Pole. By connecting materially with the actual artefacts of the expedition, such as the ship’s bell, gramophone music from the time, hymns from the team’s memorial service, and the sound of silence recorded in Scott’s hut in Antarctica, Simon explains his highly original approach to the project. Add to this mix his own recordings of sea, wind and wildlife, a string quartet and male soloist; he shows us how eloquently he manages to bring Ponting’s incredible imagery to life.