Film director Stuart St Paul wants to make his movie in Britain’s remotest island community, the Shetland Islands. And he says it could be a movie Shetland can be proud of. Following a planning visit to the islands, after a search that took in Australia, Tuscany and Galway, he describes Shetland as the place he likes, full of unseen movie visuals that he can use as a canvas on which to set the Hitchcock-style mystery drama. Anywhere else he says, would simply be "making do."

"Devil’s Gate is a film, not about Shetland, but about a girl who goes back to the isolated island she was born in, and ran away from. When I look anywhere in this movie I want her to be exposed to the elements, the stark nature of the land, the isolation. I want the audience to feel vulnerable and in danger; they must feel for her, feel trapped. I don’t want to see houses or trees, and when it rains it should pour. When it blows, it should blow you over. So for me, other places would just be making do."

The director points out that Devil’s Gate is a cinema movie, not a TV film and on the big screen the visuals are extremely important. "The ability to see small clumps of land in amongst sea, to feel you are far away from the mainland with no means of escape is what the film demands. This is not Shetland, but it is something Shetland can produce. More importantly, these are not visuals we are familiar with from TV watching. Shetland holds unseen movie visuals."

He praises Shetland’s incredible light and skies, but foresees a number of difficulties that need to be resolved to make filming possible in the islands. Time of year will be a crucial factor. The film needs darkness as well as light, so early or late winter is preferred to long hours of summer daylight. Although windy and rain would help the production, snow would not, so snow-risk periods need to be avoided.

"I can bring wind and rain machines, but I cannot cover such a vast land in snow making machines. The reason for these is that one cannot depend on the weather. If I shoot half a scene one day in rain, and the next day there is no rain, to make it match, I have to recreate this."

As there are no ready-equipped movie-making units stationed in Shetland, equipment would have to be trucked from the mainland by a 200-mile ferry link. The cost of getting film vehicles and personnel where they are needed is costly. The director has already discovered it is cheaper for him to cross the Atlantic than to fly to Shetland.

The film has a tight budget, far below Hollywood budget levels, so has to do everything at reasonable cost, not inflated prices. Low budget, the director says, really means tight budget.

"Having a movie does not mean big bucks. I have seen the words low budget mentioned. They are always mentioned, and I think it is done because everyone thinks movies have money. They do, for the movie. Not a penny is wasted or misspent. It is only low budget because we have only five main actors, no big studio builds, and no extras. The crew are expensive and talented people. No waste means our commercial funders get the value for money, and the cinemagoer gets value on screen."

Indie film crews work long hours. Stuart St Paul says they have a lot in common with crofters in terms of the hours they regularly put into the job.

"With independent movies, money is not wasted on infrastructure and over staffing. Independent movies and films often are more frugal than TV and TV films; they have smaller non-union crews, not the ‘broadcast company’ staffing and training levels. We work longer hours than broadcast employed staff would, just like a crofter would on his own land if he had to."

St Paul’s plan is to bring a small but highly talented crew to Shetland, but a further constraint is juggling the availability of star cast and key crew members.

"As we plan our schedule and when we can shoot, against daylight hours and tide timetables, we also have to look at star actors diaries and availability. And it is not just actors, but crew. My lighting cameraman rang me while I was in Shetland to ask if he could take a commercial in Mexico. That will pay him in three weeks more than double what I will pay him in 7 weeks. My camera operator emailed me to tell me he had been offered the new Bond film, and to ask if our dates clash."

Although the place in the movie will be Devil’s Gate and not Shetland, the islands get a chance to star as themselves in a documentary on making of Devil’s Gate, released as extra support material when the movie goes from cinema to home distribution on DVD. Slated Shetland co-producer Penultimate will be recording that material as a part of their contribution to the project once filming is underway.

The director’s next move is to report to the movie’s commercial funders about what he has seen in Shetland and the suitability of the islands for the project. Even with so much in Shetland’s favour as a location, the film could still end up being shot elsewhere through external factors, such as generous tax inducements that made locations very attractive to film funders.

"None of this means Shetland is definite. If the figures don’t stack up, I will be forced to visit Canada where British films can be shot, receiving Canadian tax credits and very experienced crews and facilities are on tap. The Isle Of Man is also on the possible list as they offer financial incentives and have units there now. It is never easy. However, I have seen the place I like, and I know I could make a movie Shetland would be proud of."

The cast of Devil’s Gate is unnamed as yet, but St Paul has said he intends to make use of substantial screen talent. Richard Harris has been suggested as a possible male lead.