I often find that rural filmmaking goes under the radar. Being from rural England myself, I’m constantly trying to push for it wherever I can. While I was back home in the UK over the Christmas holidays, I’d been brewing this idea for some time and I knew that if I didn’t make the film straight after Christmas, the next opportunity might not come for another year.
That film became Huntsman, a short independent shot in Somerset, England.
Set the morning after New Year’s Eve, the film follows a young boy as he attempts to salvage his relationship with the girl he’s seeing. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that the truth is far more complicated.
Huntsman was shot entirely in rural England with a British cast and crew. It exists within the world of rural hunting but maintains a careful neutrality throughout. I wanted the characters to embody different sides of the debate, only for them to become the debate themselves eventually.
The film focuses on Tomas Baines and Bella Salmons’ performance from one another and they certainly deliver. Still, at the film’s core, Huntsman explores modern relationships and the idea that, for many people, desire is driven more by the chase — or the hunt — than by connection itself.
I find that we’re all constantly chasing after what we want, but for some of us, it’s right in front of us.
With the UK government discussing a ban on hunting, it felt like the right moment to tell this story. That said, Huntsman does not take a pro-hunt or anti-hunt stance. It remains deliberately neutral, leaving the audience to decide where they stand. As this is not a politically motivated film — it’s a film about a boy who loves a girl, and it’s a film about who we are as human beings.
I often find myself frustrated when an educational message begins to overpower a film’s narrative. With Huntsman, I aimed to preserve a strong sense of story and spectacle while still conveying the emotional, human feeling we crave when watching films. More than anything, I wanted the film to spark conversation — and ideally, thoughtful, diplomatic discussion. Because now more than ever, we need to start listening and empathising with one another, instead of shouting at one another.
I’m fully supportive of films that educate and highlight global issues, but I also believe that a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. In other words, spectacle and engagement are essential if an audience is going to absorb ideas and educational messages on a subconscious level.
Huntsman is a film which carries this educational message, but it’s up to you what you’ll take away.
During pre-production, the tension became very real. While location scouting, we visited countless pubs and venues that initially seemed eager to host the shoot. However, once the
film’s subject matter was explained — despite its neutral stance, the crew encountered significant backlash. This ranged from arguments and online abuse to threats of burning down establishments if filming went ahead, underlining just how deeply divided and emotionally charged the debate around hunting remains.
If anything, that reaction confirmed that this was the right story to tell. So, we kept searching.
Rural filmmaking is challenging enough on its own, but when animals are involved, the difficulty increases significantly. Add a politically sensitive subject into the mix and the process can quickly become dangerous. Still, despite the risks and complications, when you push through, take the proper precautions and get it right, the results can be marvellous. I found that the DOP (Jake Langley) can get stunning backdrops within the frame and the sound mixer (Riley Tysoe) can get clean audio without urban distractions in it and lastly it makes it easier for the colourist for Huntsman (George Baker), to take his work to another level as these natural and vivid colours are already in the frame, he’s not trying to put something in that’s not there.
I’m a firm believer in getting outside to make films. Using the sun as a key light is something that simply can’t be bought, and it’s a tool studios rely on constantly. It’s just about learning how to shape it, warp it, and position it correctly on your subject rather than trying to replace it.
As someone who continues to push for more films to be made in the countryside, Huntsman was a particular challenge from an independent production perspective. Much of the film was shot in the Quantock Hills, as with my previous film Scrutiny of Friendship, but this time we were entirely surrounded by vast, striking landscapes that became inseparable from the emotional tone of the story.
A lot of inspiration for this film came from paintings, and I wanted the characters to almost feel like they were part of those paintings, which are all around in the film. With the rooms that they’re in filled with rich heritage mixed with the natural light, it almost did feel like a painting.
Ultimately, Huntsman engages with traditional British customs through a modern lens. By keeping the film neutral, my hope was that it could be accessible to everyone. In a world that feels increasingly polarised — where films and media often push a clear agenda — I wanted audiences to find their own meaning in the film and draw their own conclusions, or find the solutions for themselves, because just like the film, what we want is often right in front of us.
Ralph Hutchins is a Writer and Director from Somerset, England, with a real passion for filmmaking. His work focuses on telling authentic stories, often with a dark twist, drawn from real-world experiences. Alongside his creative projects, Ralph is a strong advocate for preserving the rural landscapes of England and believes in the importance of keeping filmmaking and these rural areas rooted for future generations. You can find Ralph on Instagram @rdjfilm or at his website here
