The Cine Technician (1935-1937)

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148 The Journal of the Association of Cine-Technicians Feb. -March, 1937 Shooting in the Shetlands Towards the end of last June a complete production unit set out from the Rock Studios for the tiny Shetland island of Foula ; set in the wide Atlantic, too small to be marked on any but the most detailed maps, hammered by pounding rollers and swept by stormy winds that blow in all directions, turned and twisted by the hills of Foula. The Kame, 1300 feet, the Snoug, 1400 feet, Soberlie, the steepest of them all, and Hamnafeld (all old Norse names) we will always remember. The film, "The Edge of the World," is a hundred-per-cent outdoor picture, based on the evacuation of the island of St. Kilda in the Hebrides, showing the lives of the islanders, their fight against Nature's heavy odds, the disputes over leaving the homes their families have occupied for centuries, and their eventual capitulation. Into this is woven a simple love story. The film was directed by Michael Powell, the unit consisting of : — Camera — Ernest Palmer, "Skeets" Kelly, Karl Kayser, Jerry Bellhouse and John Behr. Sound — L. Tregellas, Len Shilton and Bill Martin. Production — Buddy Farr and George Black. With us also were Bill Osborne (props.) and Tom Sullivan (electrician). While the camp was being established on the island, we spent a week shooting in Lerwick on the mainland, midst the neverending syrens of the fishing fleet, and on board the "Golden Beam," a trawler, off Scalloway, on the other side of the mainland. Sound was parked in a hold, with fish all around and twenty tons of ice stacked in the background. Every now and then a miniature avalanche indicated the gradual melting of this ice. We all enjoyed our week on the trawler, which had a great cook. Arrived on F'oula, we settled in our camp near the Voe (the only landing place on the island for boats) — five huts, each to sleep four men and a mess hut for dining and recreation. When we arrived, there was practically no darkness and we found it difficult to sleep. However, soon, owing to the distances we walked to locations (Foula is only 3 miles by 2, but almost roadless, boggy, rough and hilly), we worked like Trojans, ate like horses and slept like logs. The islanders, all crofters, depend mainly for a livelihood on the sale of their Shetland wool ; living is cheap, rents from five shillings to three pounds a year including fuel (peat) and water. Old age pensions help and some of the younger men spend the summer with the fishing fleet. Foula has a population of one hundred people, almost all of whom worked with us as carriers or in various scenes, thereby bringing to the little island such pro.sperity as it had never known. There are two roads of a kind on tlie island, but these do not stretch very far, so that although we had a Morris Minor and traillers, most of our moves entailed hand-carrying of gear over irregular, peaty and marshy ground, up hills and along valleys. One day set up on the edge of a cliff, the next at the other end of the island, under a tarpaulin or in a tent. We parked our sound gear in barns, byres, under tarpaulins, in the cabin of a small yacht, in a tent and in tlie open air. Owing to its topography, the weather of Foula can change rapidly, and it was often a case of cover up from sudden LIONEL K. TREGELLAS showers. It was a place where one had to use unorthodo.x techniques, as we were shooting under conditions never met with ordinarily. On most days the pounding of the sea on the cliffs could be heard all over the island, and a day free from strong winds was a novelty. Towards the end of our stay, the wind was strong enough to blow us off our feet, and during the gales of our last two weeks sleeping in wooden huts was a terrifying experience, as we had no way of telling just what our huts would stand. A few years ago a house was actually picked up and blown out to sea. About two weeks before our departure, the gale season started, gale warnings being broadcast almost every night. For over a week we were out of touch with our depot ship, its radio being out of order. It was unable to reach or communicate with us. People at home became worried, the B.B.C. broadcast news that we were marooned and sent us greetings which we picked up on our radio in the mess hut, gales meanwhile raging outside and a few ominous cracks appearing in the roof of the hut. Fresh food became short, and the date of departure problematical. These gales often rage for weeks at a stretch. We were naturally worried concerning the large amount of equipment we had, which we might have had to leave behind, even if we ourselves could have been taken off. However, "it's an ill wind" ! Being marooned, we became news, and rated headlines all over England and Scotland. Our ship eventually arrived, and under great difficulties we managed to load our gear during a lull in the weather, arriving home little the worse for our adventure. During these gales we had tinned foods for emergency use, as it is impossible to tell on Foula when supplies will arrive ; the island mail-boat crosses once a week to the mainland, if weather permits, but it has often been held up for weeks. Even our own boat, the "Vedra" (captain, Mr. Vernon Sewell), was often unable to cross. The seas and tides around Foula are always strong, and we could see the breakers over the treacherous Hoevdi rocks, where the "Oceanic" was wrecked. During our stay we covered every part of the island, and should know as much about it as the islanders themselves. Some nights we showed our "rushes" (two weeks old), on a portable projector, and the islanders crowded in, many of them never having seen a movie. There are no real bolts and bars on Foula. Everyone trusts everyone else, which shows how far from ci\'ilization it must be. It boasts a small shop which, in anticipation of the Southerners' visit, got a large stock of Woodbines, so we inaugurated a Woodbine week. As a matter of fact, we had two cigarette famines, owing to the hold-up of the boats, and were glad to smoke even musty pipe tobacco. We had keys to the shop and could help ourselves, putting our names on a piece of paper. A ;\Iarconi radio transmitter whicli we had installed enabled us to keep in touch with London at all times. It is impossible to finisli witliout paying a tribute to tlie kindliness, help and understanding of the inhabitants of this little island of Foula, simple-living folk, but well-read and intelligent, interested in everytliing we did, and appreciative of our company and the financial help our visit gave them. They were sad when we left them, as we were sad also to leave them, our companions for eighteen weeks, but, I am sure we all feel, our friends for always.