The Cine Technician (1953-1956)

October 1955 CINE TECHNICIAN 149 The General Secretary Writes: " A Major Achievement That Reflects Credit on Our Members " THE LAUNCHING OF TO those of us, including myself, who were invited to see the launching of the Independent Television programmes it is clear both from the first night, and subsequently, that technically the new television programmes got off to a relatively good start. It is a major achievement, and reflects credit on our members that, despite inadequate preparatory time there was not a hitch on the opening night. It is regrettable that such blemishes, as any new programmes must clearly have, are attributed by an Associated Rediffusion spokesman to the claim that 70 per cent of tneir staff are trainees. The company must have a queer definition of trainees. Whilst it is true that all the staff other than those who come from the B.B.C. must, of course, have joined the company without previous television experience, the years many of them spent in the film industry stand them in good stead. Further, some of our members to whom I have spoken have been full of praise for the magnificent way in which even the genuine trainees operated. And what probably is not known is that many of our members were working up to 80 hours a week to get the service going. All the more credit to them, therefore, for their achievements. There is a Myth There is a myth which some of the companies may very well seek to perpetuate that there is a vast difference between television and film work and that an experienced technician on the latter is nevertheless unsuited without an extensive period of training to pull his full weight on television. Whilst, of course, there are always things to be learnt, and indeed may be some to be unlearnt, in moving from one medium to the other, some of the most capable television technicians are those who have come from the film industry, as anyone who has walked round Highbury Studios, for example, would know. ITV Incidentally, as far as the programmes themselves are concerned it is interesting to note some of the comments of the Press. The Observer, for example, in its issue of the 2nd October, picked on A Month in the Country as I.T.A.'s major cultural effort. This was a film programme shot at Shepperton Studios by Robert Hamer and made by a full film crew. If Robert Hamer and other A.C.T. members at Shepperton Studios can turn out the best programme to date it is clear that someone is over-exaggerating in saying that film technicians and television technicians are separate animals. Fancy Names That is one reason why I don't like the trend towards giving what A.C.T. feels are fancy names to many of the jobs in television. At the B.B.C. where this practice first started, it was felt that this was one of the devices used to try and shake off the Trade Unions and to seek to prove that any connection between films and television is purely coincidental. Why, for example, does an Assistant Director have to be called an Assistant Director in films and a Floor Manager in television, or a Sound Mixer in films called a Sound Balancer or Engineer (Sound) in television? This simply creates unnecessary confusion which must be straightened out. The adage that " unity is strength " is exemplified by the success of the fourteen trade union and professional bodies interested in television in their negotiations with the I.T.A. over the programme content of recorded material in television as is clear from the following Press statement issued just prior to the first day of commercial television: The fourteen organisations which have been concerned in securing safeguards for the British character of commer cial television have now received assurances from the Independent Television Authority — assurances which the fourteen organisations regard as completely satisfactory — regarding the manner in which the I.T.A. intends to carry out its statutory obligation to ensure that proper proportions of the recorded and other material included in the programmes are of British origin and of British performance. Safeguards Committee The fourteen organisations have decided to maintain their close co-operation in the future not only to discuss with the I.T.A. any points arising from the above settlement but also to act as a general Radio and Television Safeguards Committee, which name the Committee has now assumed. We just made our self-imposed deadline of reaching agreement with the Programme Contractors' Association before the 22nd September. The A.C.T. Executive Committee decided that it could not let the new service commence without at least provisional trade union safeguards for its members. These safeguards were obtained by agreements with the programme companies that pending negotiation of a new agreement A.C.T.'s agreements with the B.F.P.A. and the Newsreel Association, as the case may be, shall be the minimum terms under which members in the grades concerned shall be employed. Draft Rejected These have been the only television agreements reached, apart from the successful negotiations by Equity and the Musicians' Union, for those employed by the Programme Contractors and the I.T.A. The interim settlement was not easily obtained and during the course of its negotiation our representatives rejected a draft agreement submitted by the Programme Contractors which was completely (Continued on page 154)