Those of you who have attended a Rubber Jellyfish director Q&A may know that my film journey started about five years ago when I was studying bat testicles. Yes, you read that right.

Years beforehand I had read a landmark study that had stuck in my mind about a tradeoff that exists between testicular tissue and brain tissue in microbats (ie the small insect-eating bats common the world over, as opposed to fruit bats). Apparently because microbats are so tiny and light (often less than 10 grams), they have extraordinarily tight energy budgets meaning in this case that they can ‘afford’ to either have large brains or large testicles, but not both (sound familiar, ladies?) 

Me with a to-scale replica of a Chalinolibus gouldii (Gould’s Wattle Bat) brain. The purple model is the same thing, just magnified 500x.

When I learned of this I wondered if in the species where males are packin it downstairs, perhaps the females had larger brains than the males. After all, as females we are lucky to never experience the heavy burden of lugging testicles around the world (life must be so tough for them) and so therefore it stands to reason (or so I thought) that perhaps female microbats could afford to have larger brains than their unfortunate male counterparts. 

My findings, however, found this to not be the case and rather, it appears that regardless of how big a male’s testes are, brain size is fairly equal between the sexes  – at least for each of the Australian microbat species I measured. I am still perplexed about this outcome but there you go. 

What is most fascinating about all of this is that the determinant of what causes large testes size (and as a result in this case, brain size) in microbats is female behaviour. 

In fact, female behaviour drives testes size in all species. In species where females are relatively promiscuous and take numerous mates, males

Closeup of my Chalinolibus gouldii (Gould’s Wattle Bat) brain models. The purple model is the same thing, just magnified 500x.

will have relatively larger testes than you see in species where females are extraordinarily loyal. It’s an evolutionary adaptation not unlike purchasing many raffle tickets (aka sperm) if you really want to win the door prize (aka egg) and there is a lot of competition for it. Gorillas, for example, have absolutely tiny testicles compared to humans. Clearly, there must have been a whole lot of slutty caveladies back in the day – at least as compared to gorillas. Although, to be fair, we have nothing on chimps but that’s a story for another day.

This field of study is called sperm competition and it fascinates me to no end. One day I absolutely will make a film about sperm competition and it will look at a variety of species including humans.

 But anyhoo….

To do this comparison between male and female brain sizes in microbats I had to CT scan a whole lot of bat skulls and then create 3D models of the skulls using 3D modelling technology. It took a lot of work to learn how to do this and my supervisor suggested that once I had completed my masters degree I should go on and do a PhD using CT technology and digital modelling again but to study sea turtles experiencing float syndrome.

It was absolutely hilarious watching such tiny specimens moving through a CT machine large enough for a horse! We literally performed the scans at the University of Queensland Equine Hospital.

I learned that float syndrome is a unique health condition that sea turtles are increasingly falling victim to. One major cause of it is ingestion of marine debris – especially of plastics and other man made items. Early into my research I came across a study out of the University of Queensland where they had examined the digestive tract contents of sea turtles that had washed ashore, deceased. Of the rubber items inside of these sea turtles, 78% was comprised of balloons and balloon fragments which was about double what they had expected to find, based on how common balloons are as a type of litter found on the beach. The high numbers of balloons inside of turtles indicated that sea turtles were not consuming balloons by accident or random chance – they were specifically choosing to eat balloons. Why would they do this? Well, the study accounted for this with a clear as day image of a balloon looking exactly like a favoured sea turtle prey – a jellyfish.  

From there, I continued my investigations and learned that there had been numerous studies demonstrate that balloons are harmful to animals and very slow to decompose in marine environments (if they ever fully do). I also learned that the balloon industry was telling a very different story. Their claim, which I found on balloon store websites all around the world, was that balloons were 100% biodegradable and environmentally friendly. 

A picture is worth a thousand words. Here is the first image of a “rubber jellyfish” balloon that I ever saw, which had appeared in the 2012 academic paper by Schuyler et al. 2012 (reproduced here with permission by the Creative Commons). Viewing this one single image changed the trajectory of my life.

I don’t know if it was my love of wildlife, my stubborn streak, or the fact that I’m a Libra which is supposedly all about fairness and justice, but I couldn’t let this go. It was clear to me that as much as I wanted to pursue a PhD (something I am still planning to do), this particular issue would be better handled through the media and a long-form documentary, where I could really sink my teeth into the issue, felt right.

So there you go. You never know where life will take you. You might be balls deep (har har) into something which you feel will take you along a certain trajectory but which actually takes you down a completely different path. I’ve learned that it’s important to stay curious, to be determined, and to not be afraid to take on something big if it’s the right thing to do and could benefit the world.

I felt inspired today to put a few thoughts to paper regarding film making. While I only have one film to my name so far, the experience was magical. It was a lot of hard work, hundreds of late nights, but somehow it all worked out and now the film has been screened 19 times (with many more planned), is being considered by distributors, has attracted a huge amount of press, and is sparking a global conversation about balloons and the more general environmental consequences of our everyday purchases. I am so thrilled. Quite often people ask for me advice about how they should go about making a film – here are a few pieces of advice I would give to any aspiring film maker.

1. Don’t go into debt to make your film.

When you start looking at articles about gear for documentary films, it can be very tempting to credit card your way into tens of thousands of dollars worth of expensive equipment. It’s always a good idea to have the best quality equipment you can afford, and certainly do your research to find out what is going to be the best choice for your budget, but don’t fall into the trap of thinking you need a $20,000 camera to get started. I filmed Rubber Jellyfish on a Cannon 60D which cost me only $1200 (when I purchased it in 2014). I also had a Go Pro which I used occasionally and for sound, a Zoom H1 and two lapel mics – all relatively inexpensive pieces. I do want to upgrade my equipment for my next project but I have no regrets about creating my first film on inexpensive equipment.  Having said this, once you work out what you will be filming on, do some practice shots before you do anything important and learn how to use your equipment well.

2. Do be determined.

Documentary films, particularly if it’s your first project, can take a very long time. Be willing for this to happen. A film project is like a marriage in a way and you have to be committed. I made Rubber Jellyfish in my first few years as a mother. Life was hectic and there wasn’t always a whole lot of time. I had a poster board blue tacked to a hallway wall with a big list of everything I wanted to film (which I added to all the time as the story unfolded). I made sure that in my planner I always had at least one, usually two, of the things on that list scheduled. Sometimes this was just a “set up an interview with so and so” or it might be “research helium inhalation statistics” or “interview at 10am with the University of Queensland”. Once I completed a task I would take another from the poster board and add it to my planner to make sure that the project was always moving forward. Eventually, just about everything on that list was ticked off and I had a hard drive of raw material ready for editing.

3. Have a social media presence for your project but don’t give a crap about how many people follow each page/feed.

So many people fall into the trap of worrying about how many “followers” they have. Let me be the first to tell you that this just really doesn’t matter very much. It is much more powerful to have a small amount of followers who are enthusiastic about what you are doing and engaged than it is to have thousands of people who are just vaguely interested or not interested at all (did you know some people actually pay for followers??). Worrying too much about your social media following is an ego trap. Just focus on releasing quality content to engage the people who truly care about what you are doing. This will yield the greatest harvest.

4. Do go to networking events and conferences.

For years and years before I had any kind of success, I would go to lots of film industry networking events. Every state in Australia has a state film agency that organises things like this and then there are other larger events, conferences, and workshops, also. I am assuming most other countries have plenty of film industry events as well. Whenever I would go to these events I felt like a loser. There were so many people there that were so accomplished and I felt like a big dork but I still went and I talked to people. At the workshops and lectures, also, you will learn a lot. Many of these events are free and if you have any interest at all in getting into this field of work, go along to as many as you can and be a sponge.

5. Do stay humble.

There are so many people that will help out a first time film maker. Established film makers are usually happy to pass on words of wisdom, offer advice, point you in the direction of grants you may qualify for, etc. When it comes to setting up interviews and filming scenes, most people are also extremely willing to be involved in film projects. One proviso to this, however, is that nobody wants to deal with a dick. Be friendly, be accommodating, be easy to work with, be nice, be humble. It will get you a long way!!

Thank you to Wayne S. Grazio for the use of this photo under a creative commons license