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| Issue 46: December 2000 |
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Auckland Expansions
This summer the Film Archive presents two exhibitions in Auckland, Tiki
Touring Tipi Haere and In the Neighbourhood.
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Film Archive Documentation Collection |
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Both exhibitions draw on the Archive’s collections. Tiki
Touring Tipi Haere pays homage to the great New Zealand summer
as recorded through the lens of amateur and professional film makers.
The focus of In the Neighbourhood is New Zealand music
videos in all their glory – the cliches, the trends and the
directors behind the three minute fusions of sound and vision.
The Film Archive’s presence in the city of sails is based around its office
on Karangahape Road. Since opening in May 1999 there have been over 4500 visitors
and, to cater to the demand, the office is expanding. Michael Brook, who has
run the office sole charge with Saturday assistance from Peter Larsen (Silo
Theatre’s new manager), will be joined three days a week by Zoe Roland,
a filmmaker who has previously worked with the Archive in Wellington.
The Auckland office is popular with secondary and tertiary students who make
up almost half the user numbers and Michael Brook says for general users of
all ages ‘nostalgia’ is a big hit.
“One visitor was a man whose grandfather played for the 1905 All Blacks.
He brought his own grandson in to show him his great-great-grandfather playing
in the historic test against England at Crystal Palace.”
Michael says local producers are making more use of the Auckland office and
a significant number of recent deposits have come through the office. These
include collections from Billy Apple, The National Maritime Museum of NZ, Elam
School of Fine Arts, Dominion Breweries, Lion Breweries and Ramai Hayward.
Tiki Touring Tipi Haere
12 December 2000 – 25 January 2001
Artspace, Level 1
300 Karangahape Rd
In the Neighbourhood
28 October 2000 – 18 February 2001
New Gallery, Auckland City Art Gallery
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10th Biennial Conference of the History and Film Association of Australia
and New Zealand
The New Zealand Film Archive and the School of English, Film and Theatre, Victoria
University of Wellington are delighted to invite historians, film scholars and
practitioners to the 10th Conference of the History and Film Association of
Australia and New Zealand to be held in the Film Centre from November 30 to
December 3, 2000.
This year’s Conference is the first to be held at a film archive and will
focus on three themes: the control and dissemination of images – particularly
in respect of issues facing indigenous people throughout the world; the role
of film and television in the creation of a sense of place; and the role of
the same media in establishing a sense of time and our understanding of history.
The three-day conference will bring together teachers and writers from seven
countries and is the final event in a crowded millennial year for the Film Archive.
—Frank Stark, Chief Executive, The New Zealand Film Archive
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The Long & Winding Road
The Bank of New Zealand Travelling Film Show winds up its first year on
the road with screenings in the Wellington and Horowhenua region during October
and November.
The free screenings will double as Bank of New Zealand Last Film Search Return
Screenings. Local films found during the 1999 search will screen alongside Archive
treasures such as the newly preserved The Wreck of the Star of Canada.
Bank of New Zealand Travelling Film Show 2000
Screening Programme
Wellington
Wednesday 25 October @ 5.30pm
Cinema 3, The Film Centre
Free tickets available from The Film Centre
Levin
Thursday 26 October @ 6pm
Regent 3 Cinema
Free tickets available from Bank of New Zealand, Levin branch
Otaki
Friday 27 October @ 6pm
Civic Theatre
Free tickets available from Bank of New Zealand, Otaki branch
Upper Hutt
Wednesday 1 November @ 6pm
Maidstone Cinemas
Free tickets available from Bank of New Zealand, Upper Hutt branch
Lower Hutt
Thursday 2 November @ 6pm
Little Theatre
Free tickets available from Bank of New Zealand, Lower Hutt & Petone branches
Makara
Friday 10 November @ 6pm
Makara Hall
Free admission at the door.
For more information contact The Film Archive.
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Otherwise Fine: Four Seasons in One Show
Images of the weather have an enduring presence in New Zealand’s moving
image history: the dramatic news footage of the Wahine disaster; the oppressive,
rain-soaked atmosphere of Vigil; the uncommonly clear skies of the
Government Publicity Office’s scenics of the 1920s; or the All Blacks’
famous victory over the touring Scots at a waterlogged Eden Park. Dave Dobbyn’s
Outlook for Thursday summed up our national obsession with climatic
forces that we have no control over, global warming notwithstanding.
The Film Centre’s summer exhibition, Otherwise Fine, explores
the myriad ways the medium of film, video and television has portrayed, celebrated
and despaired of New Zealand’s weather.
The exhibition is presented thematically. “Atmospherics on Film” looks
at how filmmakers create weather effects; “Singing in the Rain” features
music videos; “Fluke of Nature” chronicles the catastrophic impact
of the weather on our history; “Saved by the...” takes a light-hearted
look at the benign impact of sun, rain and wind, especially in the sporting
arena; and “In the Land of Sunshine” explores how New Zealand shows
itself to the world.
Visitors to the exhibition can hone their skills for a career as a TV weather
presenter in the TV Lounge while continuous weather reports keep us all updated
on what’s purported to be happening in the skies above.
Opens early December 2000 and runs until March 2001
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Pathé Girl
British film archivist Jenny Hammerton undertook an internship at the Film
Archive in 1994. Now senior cataloguer with British Pathé,
she is returning to New Zealand to attend the Film and History Conference.
During the conference Hammerton will present a screening of Eve’s
Review, a weekly women’s film magazine run by Pathé
in the 1920s. Miranda Kaye asked her why Pathé created a
special ‘women’s’ newsreel:
“Eve’s Film Review was a cinemagazine made by
Pathé between 1921 and 1933 designed to have particular appeal
to the female cinema-goer. Fashion and beauty were the main subjects
featured but this weekly film for women also showed women at work,
at play and in the home. British cinema audiences of the 1920s were
predominantly female and the cinema was definitely seen as a space
for women’s pleasures at this time. Pathé were picking
up on this when they created a special film for women and echoed
the themes of popular women’s print magazines of the day.”
Hammerton described Eve’s Review as a glimpse into the lives
of women, showing not only ordinary women living everyday lives, but also “extraordinary
women flying planes and driving racing cars.” The films were made by men,
she admitted, and there is some sense that they were critical of women’s
achievements but “the fact remains that the images were there for women
to take inspiration from.” There is much to learn from these revealing
and entertaining films, according to Hammerton and, as she points out, plenty
in them for men to enjoy too. As Frederick Watts, the originator of Eve’s
Film Review, observed “we know that Adam, too, has more than a sneaking
regard for Eve’s tantalising subjects that pass all too swiftly across
the screen!”
Hammerton is also presenting a conference paper discussing how early Pathé
films represented New Zealand to the British people. “The British Pathé
view of New Zealand”, she said, “was always seen through rose tinted
spectacles. Green rolling hills, sheep farms and snow capped mountains immediately
spring to mind as depictions of a country ‘down under’”. New
Zealand was presented in Pathé films to look “very much like Britain,
a place where Brits would feel immediately at home with people very much like
themselves.” Maori culture was rarely shown, Hammerton said. “There
might be film of a welcome ceremony for a British Rugby Team or a news item
covering a royal visit to Rotorua, but on the whole the picture presented of
New Zealand was of a home from home.”
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Produced in New Zealand for the World
The story of Rudall Hayward’s life in motion pictures is as interesting
an epic of New Zealand history as any he himself filmed. – Robert
Sklar, Landfall 98, 1970
Beginning in 1909 as a nine-year-old assistant to the projectionist at Hayward’s
Theatre in Waihi, Rudall Hayward spent a lifetime in film. He died in 1974 in
Dunedin while on the road promoting his last feature To Love A Maori
and is remembered as New Zealand’s most influential pioneer filmmaker.
Hayward set out to tell local stories and to put New Zealand history on the
screen. Assisted by his first wife, Hilda, he made seven features, numerous
2-reel comedies, newsreels and competition films.
With his second wife Ramai, Hayward travelled extensively making educational
and travel documentaries – they filmed from Albania to Red China, and their
subjects ranged from village life in Samoa to the life cycle of the New Zealand
eel. Living in England during the 1940s Hayward also made several feature films
including the Goodwin Sands, a 1948 feature for Dixey Productions.
Like his contemporaries Rudall Hayward was an inventor and a pioneer. Frequently
they did not have the necessary equipment, or it broke down. Hayward’s
catchcry was “it’ll go, I’ll cook it up, it’ll get by”
and usually it did.
Earlier this year Ramai Hayward deposited a substantial collection of Hayward
material at the Film Archive. Original posters for many of Hayward’s early
films including The Bloke From Freeman’s Bay (1921), The Te
Kooti Trail (1927) and Rewi’s Last Stand (1940) are special
jewels in the collection.
The posters will form the centrepiece of an exhibition at the Film Centre celebrating
Rudall Hayward’s centenary and career. During the exhibition a selection
of Hayward documentaries will screen in the TV Lounge.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a cinema screening programme including
Hayward’s first feature My Lady of the Cave (1922), the early
talkie On the Friendly Road (1936) and the sound remake of his 1925
film Rewi’s Last Stand (1940). For screening details contact The
Film Archive.
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Recognising Excellence
Bank of New Zealand’s eight-year sponsorship of the Film Archive is a finalist
in the country’s most prestigious sponsorship competition, the National
Business Review Arts Sponsorship Awards.
The partnership between the Bank and the Archive began in 1992 and has continued
through the Last Film Search and this year’s Travelling Film Show 2000.
The Last Film Search and the Travelling Film Show have resulted in over 8,000
films being deposited with the Archive and have attracted a total audience of
more than 50,000. As well as screenings on all five islands (North, South, Stewart,
Waiheke and the Chathams) the Search travelled to Australia, Canada, Britain
and the United States in pursuit of our endangered film heritage.
The financial value of Bank of New Zealand’s support has now reached more
than $2.5 million, one of the biggest and longest-lasting sponsorships ever
in the country’s cultural sector. It is also highly significant internationally,
with archives from many countries expressing keen interest in the project and
the integral role of the sponsor.
Archive Chief Executive Frank Stark said he was very optimistic about the
result of the NBR awards and about the next phase in the relationship with the
Bank. “One of the most remarkable things about our partnership is that
after eight years we are currently engaged in really ambitious discussions about
the next few years. The national consciousness about the Archive and its work
stirred by the Last Film Search have opened up a whole new and exciting set
of possibilities.”
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Saving Tape
Part 1 – A Pocket History
Weddings, Birthdays, Graduations, Sporting Highlights, Backyard blockbusters.
Since the 1970s people have recorded these events on videotape. But can
you still watch them? This article is the first in a series by video conservator
Jamie Lean exploring the issues surrounding the preservation of videotape.
Videotape has never been as durable as film and has the added problem of needing
relatively complicated machines to play it. Add to this the fact that there
have been dozens of different formats developed, and superceded, over the last
40 years, and the future for historic video starts to look somewhat clouded.
The early days of video involved big heavy cameras on tripods attached by cable
to enormous video recording decks. These systems were almost solely the province
of television stations and film production houses. The videotape used was 2”
wide and the reels required were large, heavy and expensive for even short programmes.
From the early 70s artists, government departments, schools, sports organisations
and businesses experimented with smaller video formats. These included 1/2”
open reel machines similar in operation and look to reel to reel audiotape players
and the 3/4” tape format known as ‘Umatic’ which used a cassette
shell similar to a VHS cassette, but much larger. The camera was still separate
and attached by a heavy cable while the so called ‘Umatic Portapak’
was designed to be used in the field. It required two people, one to operate
and carry the camera and one to carry and operate the recording deck.
In the late 70s consumer video began to take off with a format war between JVC’s
VHS (1/2” tape) and Sony’s Beta system. VHS won the battle for the
consumer dollar while the technically superior Beta format went on to become
the television industry standard.
From the 1980s the popularity and relative cheapness of the VHS format meant
that recording events in sound and vision became accessible to a greater number
of people. The tape recording and playing mechanism became part of the camera
and cameras became lighter, cheaper and more sophisticated.
While VHS has remained the standard within the home, new smaller tape formats
such as Video8 and Hi8 now dominate the video camcorder market. All of these
are about to be overtaken by the digital revolution in the form of DVD (digital
video disc) players for the home and DV (digital videotape) cameras for making
home movies.
Next: Part 2 -– What is Videotape?
Tape Tips no.1: Videocassettes should be stored on their edges (like a
book) in a cool & dry place and away from magnetic fields such as those
found in TV sets and stereo speakers.
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From Dances with Wolves to Smoke Signals: Reinventing
Indians On-Screen
One of the highlights of the Film and History Conference is the
visit of Cheyenne/Arapaho director Chris Eyre. His first feature
film, Smoke Signals, won the Audience Award and the Filmmaker’s
Trophy at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, and screened to appreciative
audiences in the 1999 New Zealand Film Festival.
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Director Chris Eyre and actor
Irene Bedard on the set of Smoke Signals |
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Smoke Signals has been celebrated as the first feature
film written, directed and produced by American Indians. The film
is based on the short stories of Sherman Alexie (Tonto and the
Lone Ranger Fist Fight in Heaven) and tells the story of Victor
and Thomas, two young Coeur d’Alene men, who embark on a bittersweet
journey from their reservation to collect the ashes of Victor’s
father. Reviewer Roger Ebert has noted, “the film is so relaxed
about its characters, so much at home in their world, that we sense
it is an inside job.”
Since the beginning of American cinema, hundreds of films have been made about
American Indians, but few have been made by Indian filmmakers. As Chris Eyre
said to Filmmaker Magazine, “it’s crazy that there’s
never been a movie that has been the voice of Indians. It’s always about
how the over culture wants to portray Indians, and it’s usually in the
romantic vein. There’s Native America, and then there’s America’s
Native America.” In an interview with Cinefilm’s Prairie
Miller, Eyre suggested that things began to change for Indian actors and filmmakers
after Kevin Costner’s film Dances With Wolves: “It was proof
to Hollywood that, hey, movies with Indians are popular again.” Making
Smoke Signals gave Eyre the “sense that we were making something
that was ours. And inventing ourselves”, he said. “The actors in Smoke
Signals told me it was a very trusting thing. You know, you can ask an
Indian to say “Ugh”. But it’s different if an Indian asks an
Indian to say “Ugh”. You know?” Not surprisingly then, Eyre feels
it is important that Indians make films. He said to Newcity, “things
that are important to me are not the same as a director who’s not Indian.
It’s self-representation. I think that’s the strength of Smoke
Signals.”
Chris Eyre will address the issue of Indian filmmaking in his keynote presentation
on Friday December 1, one of the many conference events open to the general
public. Entitled ‘From Dances with Wolves to Smoke Signals:
Reinventing Indians On-Screen’, Eyre’s talk covers the history of
Indians in American cinema, and the issues surrounding the Hollywood business
of putting ‘Native America’ on screen.
Smoke Signals will screen at the Embassy Theatre during the Conference.
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Supercollision
Paul Swadel trades as Supercollider, in partnership with New York based computer
animator James Cunningham, and works as a TV commercial director. Their film
Infection won Best Short and Best Craft at the 2000 NZ Film Awards
and was in competition in Cannes and Sundance. Supercollider has two feature
projects, Bernier & Eleanor and The Venus Map, in development.
Peter Larsen from the Auckland office talks to Paul.
What drew you toward digital filmmaking?
I did an artist in residence stint in Kyoto Japan back in 92/3
using some of the first nonlinear digital gear. My enthusiasm in
that area led the Waikato Poly, where I was teaching, to set up
a decent Avid lab. I started making some Avid ‘data-storms’
that were transferred to 35mm as shorts. And then began making Computer
Generated Images (CGI) with animator James Cunningham five years
ago.
How does working in a purely digital environment differ from traditional
modes of filmmaking?
Our last project Infection was ‘in production’ for ten months. Obviously
classical narrative, structure and character still apply. The major difference
is that we create the characters from scratch and have them inhabit a constructed
world. There are no limits. And because there is not the compromise of a ‘shoot’
having to be squeezed into a tight schedule, everything can be consistently
tweaked and improved. With CGI you can revisit a shot and change the lighting
at will. If feedback reveals narrative or character inconsistencies they may
be clarified. With a normal film, what you shoot on the day is what you’ll
have to cut. With CGI, production and post-production sort of meld into the
same thing.
How does digital filmmaking affect storytelling?
I’m consistently amazed at the way audiences will identify with the oddest
of characters because those characters happen to be (James C’s favourite)
an eyeball walking around on two hands or three fingers with an eye popping
up under a fingernail.
What conceptual possibilities are open to the digital filmmaker?
As long as the narrative follows the mutant logic set up by whatever world has
been created then the audience will follow and understand.
Any advice for would be digital filmmakers?
We made DELF with no dollars, got turned down for Blinder, but made
it anyway, then got $55,000 for Infection. Best advice for any filmmaker
is to make films and treat any grants as a bonus. The key thing is to forge
ahead and make stuff. Too many people seem to wait around for a grant: that’s
dangerous, there’s not a lot to go around. Better to have a heap of constantly
improving DV films (and the experience) than to be bitter and twisted and possibly
filmless. Best advice is learn your craft and make stuff. Plenty can be done
with a mouse in a bedroom (whole films ie Infection). Glenn Standring
made Lenny Minute in 1992 on an Amiga computer and it went off to Cannes.
Digital filmmaking is in its infancy. How do you see the future?
I don’t necessarily think it’s in its infancy. Media Arts have been
massive in Europe for decades, large festivals and heaps of dollars are poured
into new media research for its own sake. I think cinema is here to stay for
a while. Even friends with killer DVD and video projector setups at home still
go to the movies – partly because of the ritual and partly because of the
celluloid. What we will get / have got is democracy in terms of the average
Joe creating world class stuff at home. That is if the average Joe has the passion
and die-hard determination to do so. After all that’s where good art comes
from.
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News Clips
Dietrich delights
The recent Marlene Dietrich exhibition and screenings at the Film Centre were
so popular that repeat screenings had to be scheduled and the exhibition’s
season extended.
Blossom
A selection from the Alan Roberts Collection of Early European Cinema Treasures
screened to a delighted audience at the Century Cinema, Napier during the Hastings
Blossom Festival. A highlight on the programme was Roberts’ own film of
a 1950s Blossom Parade.
Settling in Dunedin
The Archive’s newest Vaccess site opened in Dunedin at the end of July.
Hosted by the Otago Settlers Museum, the site focuses on historical films and
films from the Otago region. As with all Vaccess sites, visitors can search
the entire Film Archive database free of charge.
Films of War
A temporary Vaccess site has been installed at the National Portrait Gallery
in Bowen House, Wellington. The site features films of New Zealanders in wartime
and coincides with the Gallery’s exhibition Faces of War, running
until March 3, 2001.
International Relations.
The Film Archive will attend the AMIA Conference being held in Los
Angeles this November. Delegates also attended the FIAF and SEAPAVAA
Congresses in June/July.
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