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ABOUT MEMORY LINE PRODUCTIONS Early in 1990 Hugh Macdonald, David Sims and Kit Rollings got together to form Memory Line Series. The idea to record New Zealand's social and technological history had long been a dream for Hugh and David. A partnership was formed and plans were made to produce their first video. An invitation was offered to Bruce Dunn to join them in the production, Rimutaka Incline. Using archive film the team matches scenes, interviews people and re-enacts parts of history to produce these in depth and captivating stories of early New Zealand. All four are ex members of New Zealand's National Film Unit. There are now five videos in the series plus one special release, Toogood Tales. Plans are well under way to produce more of this type of documentary video. Background to the Memory Line Team.
Hugh Macdonald Hugh directed many historical and social films including "After Ninety Years" and "This is New Zealand" the three screen film for Expo 70 in Japan. He has also directed many short films for the tourist market. Hugh also produces films and videos for the dairy industry David Sims David directed many social, art, historical and train documentaries. Some of these you will know i.e. KB Country, Ride of 480, Kingston Flyer etc. etc. He has also directed several short films for the tourist market and has directed dramas. Kit Rollings Kit recorded and tracklayed many NFU films. One of the first Dolby Stereo tracks on a commercial film in NZ. Sound track on the three screen film "This is New Zealand". He has been track laying and mixing many short and feature films. Kit has many awards for his work in sound design. Bruce Dunn Bruce photographed many social, commercial, art, historical, tourist glossies and train films. "The Kingston Flyer" was originally produced as a 35mm short for the picture theatre. You might know it as "A Train for Christmas". He also photographed "The Gift", produced for the National Parks Board Centennial, 1987. A tourist glossy 35mm film for the picture theatre. What goes into a Memory Line Production. Much of what goes into a production is found in the archives of private film collectors or the TV and Film Archives. Some private collections are nowhere near exhausted and could serve new projects for many years to come. Once the theme and structure are sorted out the next thing is to gather what is relevant to the story. Theme for a Memory Line Production Once a theme is decided upon we must stick to that theme or we will get a conflict of interests in the structure of the documentary. Structure is discussed and restructured, maybe ten or twenty times. This is done before any real money is spent on the production itself. Every story has a beginning middle and an end, even, that is, according to the Muppets. The treatment shows and overall scenario of the documentary. It also tries to point the aims and directions the story should follow. Many good stories fall down because the treatment was not first thought out and secondly was not adhered to. Sometimes this means a crew will travel to check and record events unlikely to be available during a normal shoot. It may mean visiting collectors and museums to record old films and pictures which are too valuable to lend out. Final decisions are made and the story is written with all the accompanying picture and sound ideas. Durations of shots and sequences are also written down. Finally we work out if we can do everything we set out to do. A budget is then added to produce the video. Basic production statistics Rimutaka Incline. Vol. One Letting the subject tell its own story and not have endless commentary to spoil the historical enchantment. Denniston Incline. Vol. Two Here we see the matching of styles, the old and the new. Two sister engines showing off their skills. Black and White and colour intercut with tasteful music. Rails in the Wilderness. Vol. Three Everybody has a history to tell, everybody has a story to tell some are more humorous than others, some are sad. There is one funny story told to us by A J Brownlee. The Brownlee's had a mill at Bell Hill near Moana on the West Coast. Toogood Tales. Special Release Selwyn relives moments of glory with "It's in the Bag" and meets with some of the people he worked with. North Isalnd Main Trunk. Vol. Four The ganger's story, on the Raurimu Spiral. The romance and mysteries of late night refreshment rooms - a government pie and a cuppa stewed something. Total Steam. Vol. Five An enthusiast's dream come true. A line up of several sequences with steam at the head. The Future for Memory Line Productions Memory Line Productions have adopted a vastly different theme from anything else available. The social interaction and historical value of our subjects needs no introduction and definitely no editorial comment. We don't need to turn around the sincerity and the enthusiasm of yesterday and mock it with our own styles of today. |
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