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The sequence of the St. Leger which we have quoted is a representative example of a news event which contains considerable excitement in itself. Not all stories are quite as simple as this. It may happen that the producer wishes to feature an event which does not contain a clear-cut plot, and which therefore must be presented in a more subjective way. The main event may be simple and short, and therefore insufficient to carry a whole item. In such a case the producer's problem is to collect associated material which, when shown in conjunction with the main event, will build it up into an interesting news item. Basically, this is the same problem as is faced by the director of the more factual kind of documentary : to convey a not particularly interesting fact in the most entertaining way.
Take an example. Some time ago, there appeared in the press a story of a Welsh building contractor who had hired a helicopter to transport cement up to an inaccessible region on a Welsh mountain-side, where he was repairing the crack in a dam — not a particularly strong story. The main point of interest was the presence of the helicopter, but it so happened that there had been a number of helicopter stories in recent editions of the newsreels and their news value was diminishing. To get over this difficulty, the producer sent out his cameraman with detailed instructions to build a story around the main event. It was to deal with the reason for the use of the helicopter and its contribution in an everyday job, rather than with the newness and wonder of the flight itself. Shots were accordingly taken of the Welsh mountain and the utter desolation of the region ; of someone wearily walking up the narrow footpath and the steepness of the path ; of a shepherd — miles away from inhabited areas — looking in amazement at the flight ; of cracks in the dam ; and finally, shots of the contractor discussing the job on hand with his men.
All these were then edited into a sequence together with the shots of the helicopter dropping the bags of cement on the mountainside without landing. A continuous story was built to give meaning and significance to the whole operation ; the commentary was written to underline this, and the audience was presented with an interesting news event containing a beginning, a plot and a buildup to the main event.
Finally, we must mention a rather different type of news reel. It seems likely that if the newsreel is to survive the competition of the more up-to-date television news service, newsreel-makers will have to adapt their style of presentation to create a rather
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