{"id":171,"date":"2017-11-26T19:04:37","date_gmt":"2017-11-26T09:04:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pilens.com.au\/modris\/?page_id=171"},"modified":"2017-12-10T20:50:56","modified_gmt":"2017-12-10T10:50:56","slug":"panel-beater-to-cameraman","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/pilens.com.au\/modris\/national-film-and-sound-archive\/panel-beater-to-cameraman\/","title":{"rendered":"Panel Beater to Cameraman"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is part of an interview Series for the National Film and Sound Archive Aural History Programme.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

My name is John Fife (JF<\/strong>) and I have with me Morrie Pilens (MP<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

MP: And now I\u2019m in Melbourne!\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0And I don\u2019t know anybody.\u00a0 And I haven\u2019t got any English \u2013 or very little, very basic.\u00a0 So we land there and somehow we finish up living in a boarding house in St Kilda, like every other bloody migrant!\u00a0 I have a job in Heinz green pea factory in Chapel St, because I had previous experience (laughter).\u00a0 So I\u2019m working in a coolstore there.<\/p>\n

From there I work at Electrolux and I\u2019m working with piece work, what have you.\u00a0 And then the big decision came in the 50\u2019s.\u00a0 Everybody got the sack from Electrolux and so did I, and I\u2019m walking the street for a week or two thinking \u2018Oh shit, what am I going to do?\u2019<\/p>\n

I look in the paper and the only jobs advertised are panel beating.\u00a0 And I say \u2018what the bloody hell is panel beating?\u2019\u00a0 So I walk up to one joint which was in high street in Windsor, and I said \u2018Oh yeah, I\u2019m a panel beater\u2019.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t know what that meant but I sort of gathered it had something to do with cars.<\/p>\n

*The first thing I get is a front guard off a big chev?\u00a0 Which is about 16 guage, which is as tough as hell and they ask \u2018Have you got your own tools?\u2019<\/p>\n

*I said no.\u00a0 So they give me this big ? \u2026. And I said \u2018Can I have a rubber mullet?\u2019 and they\u2019re looking at me like \u2018Oh yeah, you know nothing boy!\u2019\u00a0 (Laughs).<\/p>\n

Anyway, I lasted there three days.\u00a0 By this time I already sort of computed how it works.\u00a0 So I got another job in standard car factory which made Mayflower cars.\u00a0\u00a0 Firstly I was assembling \u2013 putting on and taking off things and what have you\u2026\u00a0 Next thing they give me a door that\u2019s slightly damaged.<\/p>\n

\u2018Oh, you can fix that?\u2019\u00a0 \u2018<\/p>\n

Oh, kinda\u2026 !\u2019<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Mayflower \u2013 there isn\u2019t a curve in it.\u00a0 Every panel is straight.\u00a0 There\u2019s just tiny little elevation in the panel to keep it straight.\u00a0 Which means if you\u2019re going to put a dolly underneath and hammer on top of it and hit twice, it becomes an oil can.\u00a0 Because it takes the tension off.\u00a0 Did I stuff that door up!<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 So your total training as a panel beater had come back from this one incident in Germany.\u00a0 You\u2019ve had one month\u2019s apprenticeship in Germany on and off\u2026<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 And you\u2019ve conned your way into the factory here\u2026<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah!\u00a0 So finally I got a job with place called Southern Panel.\u00a0 And I got a car that tried to get between two tanks.\u00a0 By this time I knew how to use a sledgehammer, and I\u2019ve seen how to use a roller and what have you.\u00a0 I was at Southern Panel for about two years.\u00a0 Doing well, it was fine.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Good learning experience?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah, then I open up my own shop in partnership with another guy\u2026 and partnerships don\u2019t work, so that\u2019s alright.<\/p>\n

Then I opened up a panel beater, subletting one in a Doncaster motor garage.\u00a0 There\u2019s a bloke called Ray Peterson who was running the tow trucks in here, and I hired the back part of his shop and paid him commission off the wrecks that he bring in.\u00a0 That was a good time too because you had to pay cops to ride shotgun on you, because there was a shooting war between tow truck drivers, and sabotages, and oh boy!\u00a0 Was it tough!\u00a0 Except that I had bloody cops running shotgun for me.\u00a0 And I had plenty of work.<\/p>\n

My marriage went kaput by this time.\u00a0 My wife and my child left.\u00a0 So I was just standing there and thinking \u2018what the bloody hell am I going to do now?\u2019\u00a0 and I went out freelancing in panel beating.\u00a0 Subcontracting.\u00a0 You go out and say \u2018I\u2019ll do that job for you.\u00a0 20 quid or 50 quid.\u2019<\/p>\n

I did that for quite a while \u2013 I was doing alright, making money.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t have family to support, didn\u2019t have mortgage, it was alright.<\/p>\n

I was working in Burwood when a car came in and while working on it I opened up the boot and thought \u2018what the hell\u2019s all this?\u2019\u00a0 He\u2019s got a 16 mil camera there, and lights\u2026 and I thought what\u2019s going on?\u00a0 So I waited till the owner turned up, which was Geoff Bell.\u00a0\u00a0 Geoff Bell at that time was supplying \u2018Nightwatch\u2019 for channel 9.\u00a0 He was running around filming accidents, fires, murders, what have you.\u00a0 And each time he shoots a story it\u2019s seven guineas.\u00a0 And he told me all that.\u00a0 When he came in I said \u2018What\u2019s all this?\u2019 and he explained it all.\u00a0 And I thought shit, I can do that!\u00a0 So I went out and bought myself a Bolex.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Your first camera.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 My first camera.\u00a0 Bolex.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Tell me about it.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 \u00a0Went up to channel 9 and they said \u2018oh no\u2019, and channel 7 didn\u2019t want to know me.\u00a0 By this time I\u2019d already had a little bit to do with ABC radio \u2013 because in the meantime I\u2019ve been doing still photography, street photography, and with it I\u2019d got myself on with ABC radio as a stringer providing \u2018on the spot\u2019 reports from various places.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 But you didn\u2019t really have a journalistic background?<\/p>\n

MP: \u00a0\u00a0Yeah, wait a minute \u2013 journalistic background\u2019s the same thing!\u00a0 You\u2019re a cameraman.\u00a0 You as cameraman go out, shoot and write at the same time.\u00a0 Not like now, where the journalist jumps on the bandwagon.<\/p>\n

JF: \u00a0\u00a0Oh.\u00a0 And you bought these skills from back home.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 There was no such thing as a journalist going out with a cameraman.\u00a0 Forget it!\u00a0 Cameraman gets a camera, you go out and do your shooting.\u00a0 Then because your equipment\u2019s so heavy you do your interviews later on.\u00a0 That was it.<\/p>\n

*JF:\u00a0 So you supply a roll of film and a dope\/dump? sheet?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 And that\u2019s it.\u00a0 Anyway –\u00a0 I\u2019ve got this link with the ABC radio.\u00a0 The first job I did was a holy statue which had been moved from St Kilda to Donvale\u2026<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 That\u2019s a film job?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah, that\u2019s a film job.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Just take me back a little bit \u2013 you\u2019re doing the panel beating but somehow you\u2019ve got this link with ABC radio because you\u2019re a sort of spotter round the town?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 No no, I was spotter round the town while I was doing still photography for weddings \u2013 if I run into anything\u2026<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 So you\u2019ve got a still camera, you\u2019re doing this as well as your panel beating?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yes, on contract basis.\u00a0 Not full time panel beating.\u00a0 Contract panel beating.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 And did you shoot stills for anything else?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yes, whatever I could.\u00a0 I walked into The Herald.\u00a0 I had an accident.\u00a0 It was quite a good accident!\u00a0 Truck or something like that.\u00a0 I thought I can flog it to the herald.\u00a0 Got to the pictorial editor and said that I used to do a bit of press photography in Europe, which I did, and they said \u2018Oh, no, we don\u2019t use substandard.\u2019<\/p>\n

*And I said \u2018You know, this is Nica?\u2019<\/p>\n

And he said \u2018Oh, no, we use Graphic\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n

And I said \u2018Well I\u2019m sorry, I haven\u2019t heard of graphic.\u2019<\/p>\n

Graphic was a square black box with a beer bottle in front of it as a lead, and a wooden shutter and a half plate that you push back behind it.\u00a0 You opened up the slide and went \u2018Cerlick\u2019 and you shut the *slide and then you got the picture!\u00a0 So as far as they were concerned, Nica was substandard.<\/p>\n

So I went to The Sun and said I was looking for a job in photography and what have you.<\/p>\n

He said \u2018What experience have you had?\u2019<\/p>\n

I said \u2018A little bit of this and that\u2019\u00a0 and he said \u2018Oh no no no, we don\u2019t do that.\u00a0 That\u2019s substandard for us, you know.\u00a0 We use Graphic.\u2019\u00a0 I didn\u2019t say a bloody word, you can\u2019t win.<\/p>\n

*Anyway, he said \u201cWhat equipment DID you use?\u201d and I said we used Nica.\u00a0 Sometimes we used two *Nicas, one with a long lens and one with a wide lens.\u00a0 And if we go for anything special we use rolaflex *or rolacorp?<\/p>\n

\u2018Oh no no, we wouldn\u2019t have anything less than half a plate.\u00a0 So you haven\u2019t got the experience, you\u2019re using the wrong equipment.\u00a0 Goodbye.\u2019<\/p>\n

So I work in street photography where you stand on the corner and take street pictures, and if people want them they can go and buy one.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 You mean you\u2019re taking pictures of pedestrians?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yes, it was allowed then.\u00a0 It\u2019s not now.\u00a0 There used to be half a dozen guys on the street corners taking pictures.\u00a0 Then you can go to weddings, for each wedding that you take you get about 7 and 6 a roll of film.<\/p>\n

JF: \u00a0\u00a0I just want to get an idea what these street photographers are doing.\u00a0 Do you show up any time of the day or night?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Maybe in a park or a city thoroughfare and you just stand there.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Just taking photos of anybody?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Who owns the camera?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 You own the camera.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Right.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 You own the camera and they supplied the film and they supplied the commission.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Who were they?\u00a0 Who was the company?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 A place called Progress Films.\u00a0 There were about half a dozen companies in Melbourne that were doing that.\u00a0 Then they stopped it on the street, you had to pay a concession if you wanted to in the park.<\/p>\n

And then of course the instant booths came in, and you could make a funny face, and that killed the street photography.\u00a0 But you were still doing weddings.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Right.\u00a0 So to your bow now \u2013 you\u2019re doing a little bit of panel beating, photography.<\/p>\n

Tell me about that Bolex camera you bought \u2013 the first camera.\u00a0 What did you pay for that?<\/p>\n

MP: \u00a0I paid a hundred and fifty pounds.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 That\u2019s a lot of money.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Oh yeah, oh crumbs yeah.\u00a0 That sort of equipment was costing money.\u00a0 So not everybody can go and do that\u2026<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 And this is a clockwork\u2026?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Clockwork, wind up, yeah.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 A hundred foot spool?<\/p>\n

MP: \u00a0\u00a0Yeah.\u00a0 Non reflex.\u00a0 Which means you\u2019ve got to know what you\u2019re doing –\u00a0 your footage, how far from here to there, you\u2019ve got to know your exposure, \u00a0your parallels, you\u2019ve got to know what you\u2019re bloody well doing!\u00a0 Because every time you press your button, there goes another few feet of film.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 If you\u2019re two foot of film down, are you keeping count in your head?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 No, there\u2019s a counter<\/p>\n

JF: \u00a0\u00a0Right.\u00a0 So you\u2019ve set yourself up with a hundred and fifty pound camera.\u00a0 And it takes a fair bit of skill to use that camera.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Of course.\u00a0 But that was second nature to me because I\u2019ve used cameras before.\u00a0 I used 35 mil cameras not for physically making big films but to clean, to oil, to maintain, to set up.\u00a0 I had hands on experience.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 So through your links you\u2019ve got a bit of a job at the ABC now.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 So I got into ABC doing this first job.\u00a0 ABC employed freelance guys, stringers.\u00a0 Now, a stringer \u2013 is an accredited freelance operator, be it journalist, still photographer, cinematographer, radio guy\u2026 which means that a company authorises you to be identified that you\u2019re working for them.<\/p>\n

But you don\u2019t necessarily have to work exclusively for one company as a stringer.\u00a0 You can be a stringer for 3, 4, 5 different companies.\u00a0 Because each of those companies may have different interest in it.\u00a0 You know, ABC might have one sort of interest and then radio station might have another interest, or newspaper has another interest and so on.<\/p>\n

But since, I have sold a lot of 35 mil pictures to The Age and The Sun, because I always had that camera in my pocket.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 So in fact The Sun actually started to buy your pictures even though they\u2019d given you the boot?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah!<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Your still photos\u2026<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 It\u2019s not worth it, they pay peanuts for it.\u00a0 Let\u2019s put it this way.\u00a0 Two editions of front page on The Age, on the helicopter crash \u2013 in an oil rig.\u00a0 My pictures.\u00a0 I got $100 for it.\u00a0 It\u2019s peanuts.\u00a0 It\u2019s nothing.\u00a0 It\u2019s ridiculous.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 But at the same time while you\u2019re doing this little bit of freelance for the local newspapers, you\u2019re getting your news experience aren\u2019t you?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Well, yes you are.\u00a0 You\u2019re just getting wiser, you know.\u00a0 You know how to look for things.\u00a0 Like in the very early stages I had two radios \u2013 one that I could tune from one station to another, and the other was tuned right to the very end, which was D24.\u00a0 So you monitor D24 and the cops tell you what they do, you know they talk to each other so you just go and have a look at it.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 You\u2019re actually monitoring the cops \u2013 in your back bedroom almost?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 No, you do it driving in the car, or in the back bedroom or wherever.\u00a0 You just keep listening to it.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 So as a stills cameraman and a stringer, it was down to you to listen to the cops and get out there as quick as anybody else, to get the picture.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Right.\u00a0 As a still photographer it wasn\u2019t worth it.\u00a0 There was $20 or something like that for a picture.<\/p>\n

JF: \u00a0\u00a0Right.\u00a0 So you\u2019re doing that but you\u2019re also a bit of a spy for ABC radio?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah, give the story to ABC radio for which you get 5 and 6.\u00a0 You establish your value and your reliability to the point when you ring, you give the story, and they don\u2019t bother checking because they know it\u2019s right.\u00a0 And it takes quite a while to establish that.\u00a0 The trust.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 So your credibility\u2019s growing.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yes.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 So, to find these stories, aside from listening in to the police radio, it\u2019s keeping your eyes open around the town.\u00a0 Is that what it\u2019s all about?<\/p>\n

MP: \u00a0\u00a0Yeah, it\u2019s just flapping around!\u00a0 Keeping your eyes open \u2013 I\u2019ll jump ahead\u2026 I can\u2019t remember what *year it was.\u00a0 Some big Fires on a Friday or Saturday.\u00a0 There are a couple of fatalities.\u00a0 Rick Taylor from ABC rang me up and said \u201cMorrie, I\u2019m hiring you for the day.\u00a0\u00a0 Just drive around and see what you can find.\u201d<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Can we come to that a bit further down the track?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 So besides the panel beating you\u2019ve got the stills photography, you\u2019ve met Geoff Bell and thought stringer is the life for me\u2026<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Well, not full time!\u00a0 I was still doing panel beating and it worked together very well.\u00a0 I only take panel beating jobs if I want to.\u00a0 I\u2019m on the phone if anyone wants to hire me, which means eventually ABC would ring me \u2013 as a film cameraman, accredited stringer.\u00a0 I used to average 3-4 stories a week through the ABC.<\/p>\n

They would ring me up if they were short of cameramen, if there was something that they wanted their cameraman to get there in a hurry.\u00a0 When eventually I was in the ABC working with the unit, the procedure was:<\/p>\n

The cameraman will sit in the cameraman\u2019s room downstairs, and wait for the telephone to ring.<\/p>\n

So the telephone rings and the cameramen all dive for it, and whoever gets it first gets the job.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ll run upstairs to the newsroom to get the assignment.<\/p>\n

The journalist sitting, typing with two fingers will say (speaks in monotone at pace of two fingered typist!) \u201c T h e r e\u00a0 I s\u00a0 a \u00a0t r a I n\u00a0 o n\u00a0 f I r e\u00a0 a t\u00a0 B r I g h t o n\u00a0 s t a t I o n.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A\u00a0 s s I g n m e n t\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 r e q u I r e d \u2026 Fire, people being evacuated, ambulance arriving.\u00a0 What\u2019s the number of the next story?\u00a0 JVC 372.\u00a0 Bert, give it to the cameraman.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s your assignment!<\/p>\n

So you get that assignment and you go down to the garage with the assignment, and you get a car.\u00a0 You hop in the car \u2013 no petrol \u2013 you go to the pump and put some petrol in, then proceed to Brighton to the burning train.\u00a0 Can you imagine that train waiting for you?\u00a0 (Laughs).<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Either the train is going to wait and burn for you or\u2026.\u00a0 This doesn\u2019t seem to be a very efficient way of doing things.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 That\u2019s the way it was done.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 This is how the ABC were treating their staff cameramen at the time?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 The news.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Right, so the journalists inside were sitting there basically dreaming up what they wanted and almost telling the cameramen to go out and shoot it to their script.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 To what they imagined.<\/p>\n

JF: \u00a0\u00a0Right.\u00a0 But this isn\u2019t the life for Morrie Pilens is it?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Well, actually what happened was that Tony Edgleton said to me\u2026<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 \u2026That name rings a bell<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 He was press secretary to Bob Menzies.\u00a0 He was the one that was on Holt\u2019s thing.\u00a0 I was very friendly with him, I worked with him at the ABC for along time.\u00a0 He was a very good newsman.\u00a0 He was in charge of organising Liberal Party elections.<\/p>\n

Anyway, Tony said \u2018Morrie, really you are much more valuable to me on the road.\u00a0 You\u2019re just useless like the rest of us down here.\u00a0 I\u2019ll give you a beat.\u00a0 I\u2019ll give you Geelong exclusively \u2013 would you be interested?\u2019<\/p>\n

I said \u2018Nah.\u2019<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Why?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Because I don\u2019t know Geelong!\u00a0 I\u2019ve got to start from scratch.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 So you decide to stick as a stringer?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Well at that stage I was supposedly applying for a job with the ABC which takes all sorts of problems by the time you get there – because ABC\u2019s film section was run by ex airforce photographic unit.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 The film section?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 The chief was bloke from ex RAAF.\u00a0 Photographic unit.\u00a0 And the guy who was actually in *charge of hiring and firing was a well known \u2013 oops, I\u2019d better not say that \u2013 Keith Porteous.\u00a0 Nah, I\u2019m not going to say it!<\/p>\n

laughter<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Well shall we go on to Morrie at 81 being locked up for defamation\u2026<\/p>\n

laugher<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 I want to get this right.\u00a0 You\u2019ve decided to carry on as a stringer.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 And you\u2019re going to get paid if they use it, or how does this work?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 No, you get paid to use it.\u00a0 You supply it and if they use it you get paid.\u00a0 If you assigned, and they don\u2019t use it, you still get paid.\u00a0 If you\u2019re not assigned, on spec, they just replace your film.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Are they giving you the stock?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yep.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Okay.\u00a0 So you are a recognized stringer for the ABC<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 I\u2019m a recognized stringer for the ABC, yes.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 And the deal is \u2018here\u2019s some stock Morrie, go shoot whatever you want.\u2019<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yes.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Where\u2019d you get the film processed?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Cinevex (Film Laboratory).<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 So they didn\u2019t have their own film processing unit?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 No, that\u2019s another story.\u00a0 Cinevex started when I started, in a back bathroom by two guys \u2013 buggered if I can remember their names \u2013 that were doing processing 16 mil black and white film in their bathtub, for the ABC.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Down in Elsternwick?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 No, that was later.\u00a0 It was St Kilda first, and then Elsternwick was last I think.\u00a0 CInevex is very big.\u00a0 But why \u2013 because the existing film lab would take 2 days to process!<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 And these guys would do it quick smart?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 whistles to indicate very quickly!<\/p>\n

Hundred feet of film in the bathtub, no problem.\u00a0 Terrific, you know.\u00a0 And finished up inventing and building their own black and white processing machines.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Were these Aussies?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 Oh, yeah.\u00a0 Because there are a lot of amateur guys around, you know.\u00a0 Quite a few 16 mil film clubs around.\u00a0 The Rolls Royce of amateur filming was 16mm.\u00a0 Because 8mm was just, forget it.\u00a0 Cinevex started in a bathtub!<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Two men, in a bathtub\u2026<\/p>\n

MP:\u2026. Supplying ABC film instantly!\u00a0 On everything, 2 hours.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Which in those days was pretty quick.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Oh, come on!\u00a0 That was absolutely\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 Even newspapers couldn\u2019t compete with it.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Is that right?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah, of course not.\u00a0 They had to make bloody run \u2013 reset the whole thing, you know.\u00a0 It just didn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Were there many stringers running around town?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Well, at that stage Lloyd Rankin was main stringer (he was ex army signal corps I think)<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 He ended up working for channel 0?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 No no no, Lloyd Rankin\u2019s never worked for anyone else but ABC as a stringer.\u00a0\u00a0 Then we had *Lockhov Lord?\u00a0 I can\u2019t think of his other name.\u00a0 He was president of the 16 mm society, he lived in the hills somewhere.\u00a0 I would say there were about half a dozen perhaps.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 What year are we talking?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Oh, this is the early 70s.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 So 9 and 7 are on air by then.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Oh yeah, they on air.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Have they got stringers working for them as well?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 (Laughs)\u00a0 Anything shot by ABC outside the metropolitan area \u2013 imagine the metropolitan area, Bulla at one end and stopped at other somewhere\u2026.\u00a0\u00a0 Shot by the ABC, had to be supplied to channel 9 as well.\u00a0 So I shot film for ABC and got it on ABC and channel 9.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Were you getting paid twice?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 No.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 So what, if you shot something for the ABC outside the metropolitan area\u2026<\/p>\n

MP: \u2026\u00a0 Oh yeah, channel 9 automatically said \u2018We want that!\u2019<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 What, were they given a print?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 It would be a bit of\u00a0 a slow down wouldn\u2019t it, did the ABC sort of slow it down before they gave it?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 No. \u00a0No.\u00a0 That was just in the Cinevex they just run the print automatically because that was the deal somehow between ABC and 9.\u00a0 To help.\u00a0 They pooled up and coming technology.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 And the poor Packer family!<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 So let me get this right.\u00a0 ABC would tell channel 9 the story had been shot, and 9 would say \u2018Give us a print?\u2019<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 No, channel 9 would ring ABC and say \u2018What are you shooting outside metropolitan area?… We want that, we want that\u2026 thankyou.\u2019<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 So when your film was taken to Cinevex\u2026<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 That\u2019s it<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 You hand it over, but a print is made for channel 9\u2019s news.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 That\u2019s alright isn\u2019t it.\u00a0 Because you help an up and coming technicality.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Was 7 in on the same deal?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 No.\u00a0 They weren\u2019t quick enough to jump on the bandwagon.\u00a0 7 had their own problems, they had a news editor who was an ex cadet shooting officer, and he didn\u2019t really have a clue what he was doing.\u00a0 *Stuart Lake (?).\u00a0 Oh GOD!\u00a0 (laughter).\u00a0 Boy oh boy.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s running channel 7\u2019s operation in Melbourne<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 We\u2019ve got a little ahead of ourselves haven\u2019t we.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yes, miles ahead.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Because in fact, while you\u2019re stringing for the ABC, where\u2019s the link for you with eventually doing stuff for channel 7?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 That comes after I leave ABC.\u00a0 I say \u2018Now I\u2019m going to go stringing, freelancing.\u2019<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 But you\u2019re not on the ABC\u2019s payroll full time at any stage, are you?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 No, well, full time temporarily.\u00a0 Because I had an application in ABC for a job.\u00a0 To apply for a job with ABC you apply for an existing job that has to\u2026\u00a0 you\u2019ve got to go through about 3 little loops before you\u2019re even considered for it.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know how it works, but it was a temporary position, that you may or may not get to go to the permanent position.\u00a0 Which is just (blows raspberry) \u2013 the whole thing.<\/p>\n

*I did have an interview with Keith Porteous?, the chief camera, news department film section, and being an ex Royal Air Rorce Officer, I don\u2019t think he was very impressed with me basically.\u00a0 And secondly, you couldn\u2019t get a job with ABC unless you were a Pom.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Yeah?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0\u00a0 You couldn\u2019t have a bloody wog going down there and working for ABC.\u00a0 Goodness me, oh, not on!\u00a0 It changed, but it took a while.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 So it was a bit of an old boys school?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Oh yeah.\u00a0 Definitely old boys school from the beginning.\u00a0 You had to know somebody who knew somebody who knew somebody, and then you had to have your background checked out so that you\u2019re the right kind of person.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 So it was a bit beaurocratic?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Oh yeah, very beaurocratic.\u00a0 So I went back around, then by this time there was a bloke called John *Carnomower? who was TCN 9\u2019s representative in Melbourne.\u00a0 They hired him and paid him full wages to work in Melbourne.\u00a0 And he was going back to Sydney because his father was running some sort of fishing business and what have you, and he wanted to get out of it anyway.\u00a0 So he recommended me to TCN 9 as a Melbourne representative.\u00a0 So I got the job.\u00a0 I got an office in channel 9.\u00a0 A little broom cupboard or what have you.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 And this is going to be full time?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 This is full time.\u00a0 But it was a funny full time because they said \u2018Look, we\u2019ll only select what we want, but you try and be nice to other people so that you are in circulation so that you can meet people, and if you have to shoot something for somebody else you shoot it, you know.\u00a0 We keep a close eye on it.\u2019\u00a0 It was alright.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 This is nothing to do with channel 7, this is channel 9?<\/p>\n

(Note, verbal reference to TCN9 should be ATN7)<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 This is channel 9 in Sydney.\u00a0 So I work for TCN out of channel 9\u2019s newsroom.\u00a0 News editor was Peter *Moghan.\u00a0 His offsider was Graham Freudenberg. \u00a0!\u00a0 I got on with Fraudy very well.\u00a0 We had great discussions of propaganda and Goebbels and Germany and what have you.\u00a0 I\u2019m jumping ahead now.<\/p>\n

And Freudenberg used his skills that he learned from all this, from Dr Goebbels and what have you, to prepare Mr Whitlam for his \u2018It\u2019s Time\u2019 election campaign.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Did he?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 And proof of the pudding is, when I was filming \u2018It\u2019s time\u2019 at Springvale Town Hall, and Whitlam was doing his speech, and I just went out to the foyer to go on the balcony and get a home shot, there\u2019s Graham Freudenberg in the foyer, walking up and down that foyer, and conducting Whitlam on the stage.<\/p>\n

Including poses, including movements in his hands, he was walking up and down and saying blah blah blah blah, one, two,\u00a0 blah blah blah.\u00a0 And was physically conducting him from the foyer.\u00a0 Of course, Whitlam couldn\u2019t see him, there was nobody there.\u00a0 But you could tell that whatever Whitlam\u2019s doing, whatever Whitlam\u2019s saying, it\u2019s been drilled into him.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Right.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Up to the point where there\u2019s complete repetition.\u00a0 And then I looked at it and went up \u2013 I didn\u2019t film him, unfortunately! \u2013 anyway, went out from the top and I\u2019m watching Gough \u2013 and if that isn\u2019t Dr Goebbels with his bloody hands, talking with his hands, I\u2019ll eat my hat!<\/p>\n

Laughter<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 So Fredenberg had been over with Goebbels?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 No no no.\u00a0 Freudy was very left wing.\u00a0 He\u2019s a good journalist.\u00a0 He just liked to use his skills to get things done the way he wants them.\u00a0 We talked about how Goebbels could sway the masses.\u00a0 Hitler could persuade masses and we could dissect it.\u00a0 I had some books and gave them to him to read, and he had some books.\u00a0 I got on very well with him.\u00a0 He was just an interested person.\u00a0 He was a film director.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 And he was running the channel 9 effort?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 No, he was second in command at channel 9.\u00a0 And then he left that job and went to somebody\u2019s secretary, and somebody\u2019s secretary.\u00a0 Anyway.\u00a0 Lost touch with him but\u2026 in the very early piece it was quite interesting, you know.\u00a0 Sorry for jumping around.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 That\u2019s okay.\u00a0 We\u2019re back in the channel 9 newsroom.\u00a0 You\u2019re actually shooting for TCN 9?<\/p>\n

(Verbal reference to TCN9 should be ANT7)<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 I\u2019m shooting for TCN 9.\u00a0 TCN 9 sent me a big bloody sound camera as well.\u00a0 Pro 600.\u00a0 So what I do is go out, shoot, if there is an interview I con bloke whoever\u2019s going to interview \u2013 so with the Pro 600 with optical sound, there are certain procedures.<\/p>\n

*Say for instance, a typical thing was a bloke called Gunn, who was in charge of Australian Wool Board\u2026 There was some sort of problem with the Wool Board and what have you, big story.\u00a0 So I arrive at press conference, bloody Pro 600, and Bell and Howell.\u00a0 So I just shoot couple of shots with Bell and Howell, then everybody goes through press conference.\u00a0 When we finish press conference I walk up to him and said \u2018Look, I\u2019m by myself, I\u2019m with TCN, I\u2019ve got to do an interview, could we do it this way?\u2019<\/p>\n

So he\u2019s just sitting there, put your camera down and say \u2018Look, it\u2019s no good talking for half an hour.\u00a0 Just the crux of the matter.\u00a0 If you could talk to me for 30 seconds, whatever you want to say.\u00a0 And to start it all I\u2019m going to ask you a question, and you\u2019ll have to wait about 3 seconds before you start talking to me, to the camera, for cutting purposes.\u2019<\/p>\n

So rolling camera, say \u2018camera rolling\u2019, then ask him the question, stop.\u00a0 He comes to the answer, he gives you blah blah blah.\u00a0 He says \u2018That what you want?\u2019\u00a0 I say \u2018Yes, thankyou very much.\u00a0 Goodbye.\u2019<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 So you\u2019ve shot this, you\u2019ve got no journo with you\u2026<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 No.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 And in fact channel 9 in Melbourne have probably just got the same shot themselves, but you\u2019ve got to just shoot an exclusive bit for Sydney, so that\u2019s gonna work.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Then what happens?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 I just pack it up and send it off to Sydney.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Do you take it out to the airport?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yes.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 So do you have a cut off time during the day, or if it doesn\u2019t make tonight\u2019s news it just gets on tomorrow night\u2019s news?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 But eventually what I organised was \u2013 laughs.\u00a0 I\u2019ve got to get to this one, because this will illustrate what\u2019s happened\u2026<\/p>\n

TCN would say they want golf coverage.\u00a0 They want hundred feet for TCN, hundred feet for Adelaide and hundred feet for Tasmania.\u00a0 So I go out there and I\u2019ve got to pick out who I\u2019m going to shoot.\u00a0 And I roll off hundred feet of one guy, and roll off hundred feet of another guy, and roll off hundred feet of last guy, and last guy happened to be Norman from Nide.\u00a0 And he gets his ball in the rough, which is across the bloody fairway.\u00a0 So I set my camera up, at this stage I had a Pathe which is a reflex camera, and I set it up and I\u2019m just lining it out there and few frames he\u2019s going to get himself out of there.\u00a0 He comes up to me and says \u2018You get away from here\u2026 get your camera out.\u2019<\/p>\n

And I said \u2018Okay, I\u2019ll get somebody more important!\u2019<\/p>\n

I just lining the camera down there, standing there.\u00a0 It was a silent camera.\u00a0 And off he goes, as soon as he starts I just pressed the trigger, and I let it roll.\u00a0 And I\u2019m looking all over the place.\u00a0 And he had three goes, finally got out.\u00a0 So, okay, bye.\u00a0 Lovely.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately I sent that to Tasmania instead of Sydney!\u00a0 And Sydney got newspaper pictures of me being threatened with a golf club.\u00a0 He say \u2018where\u2019s that bloody fellow\u2019.\u00a0 I sent it to Tassie!<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 So you\u2019re shooting one event for Adelaide \u2013 you\u2019re sending the tape to Adelaide, as a film.\u00a0 You\u2019re sending the film to Tassie, and you\u2019re also sending it up to Sydney as well.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Wow.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 That\u2019s silent footage. \u00a0You know, that\u2019s nothing.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 But you\u2019ve got to do one story for three markets.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 That\u2019s alright.\u00a0 You can do that.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 But what happened if you had to do an interview for each of those markets.\u00a0 Did you get the talent to do the same interview\u2026<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 \u2026 three times!<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Are you serious?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 No problem.\u00a0 Because all depends how you approach people.\u00a0 My best friend was the chairman of Melb Metro Board of Works.\u00a0 Now what was his name.\u00a0 He lived in Warrandyte.\u00a0 His name will come to me\u2026<\/p>\n

Anyway, there was some problem with cracking pipes and what have you, everyone *doing hot interviews and what have you so all finished.\u00a0 Coxy!\u00a0 Alan Croxford.\u00a0 So I got to him after the press conference.\u00a0\u00a0 I said \u2018Look, I\u2019m working for TCN Sydney, and I\u2019m covering Tasmania and Adelaide.\u00a0 I would like to have an interview with you, but I have to do it three times.\u2019\u00a0 I explained that \u2018what I\u2019d like you to do, instead of all this bullshit that\u2019s been going on, I\u2019d just like you to answer one question in about 30 or 40 seconds.\u2019<\/p>\n

And he said \u2018Yeah, that\u2019s alright, that\u2019s okay.\u2019<\/p>\n

So we do one, do two, do three.\u00a0 That\u2019s alright.\u00a0 And he said \u2018Gee Morrie, I learned something from you.\u2019<\/p>\n

And I said \u2018Well, that\u2019s the way it is.\u2019<\/p>\n

So he called me months later, and there were three other executives there, and I had to explain to the executives how I did the interview, instead of stupid bloody questions and talking for an hour.\u00a0 You just say something and you stop.\u00a0 Because that\u2019s where you want to cut.\u00a0 And then you say something, and stop.\u00a0 Answer a question and then you\u2019re going to stop.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 So you\u2019re teaching them the sound bite.<\/p>\n

*MP:\u00a0 Yeah, exactly.\u00a0 And I got a bottle of bloody scotch out of him!\u00a0 Did the same thing with Reiler?\u00a0 Reiler asked me, after I did one of those band things.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 These days of course they let people ramble on.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 You got so much bloody tape here!<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Film?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Film you couldn\u2019t do that.\u00a0 Oh well, they still did.\u00a0 Because once the journalists came in, that was the end of it.\u00a0 Because they just keep talking.\u00a0 They think you never gonna catch anybody out in 400 feet *of film.\u00a0 Like the first job Sam Liebske? did with me.\u00a0\u00a0 I was still with ATN 7 working out of Channel 9\u2019s office, and Peter Moughan said \u2018Look\u2019<\/p>\n

I said \u2018I\u2019m going off to Maffra.\u2019<\/p>\n

Peter Moughan says \u2018No, we\u2019ll give you all the film from Maffra, if you do some jobs in town.\u2019\u00a0 I said okay, no problem.<\/p>\n

*So I got Sam Liebske on his very first day out.\u00a0 We shot 400 feet of the \u2018Santamaria,\u2019 we interviewed 4 people and each one was 400 feet of film.\u00a0 I kept telling Sam \u2018You can\u2019t use all that, you know.\u2019\u00a0 And he wasn\u2019t taking notice because, you know, they just want to talk themselves.\u00a0 And what happened was when the film came in from Maffra, Peter Moughan did not give me that film \u2018til 12 oclock at night.\u00a0 Bastard!<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Why?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 He just wanted to delay.\u00a0\u00a0 When he came back about 3 o\u2019clock I could have had it and could have had it airing \u2013 so you learn that you don\u2019t trust people.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Just going back to this idea of being a film cameraman then, you\u2019re very aware of timing, and you\u2019ve got to get what you want very quickly in an interview?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah, basically, finished cost on air is a dollar a foot.\u00a0 So if you shoot a hundred feet of film and you\u2019re going to have fifty feet going on air, that\u2019s 50 dollars.\u00a0 That\u2019s a lot of money<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 I\u2019ve just got to turn the clock back now.\u00a0 I\u2019m thinking 12 feet of film ran 20 seconds, something like that.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yes.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 So you would try and get your soundbite with, say, the head of the board of works, pretty quickly?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Don\u2019t waste my film.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 And you tell him that, you know.\u00a0 \u2018Say it quickly and say it precisely, and once you\u2019ve said that, stop!\u00a0 Because we have to cut there.\u00a0 And then I\u2019ll ask you another question, and we wait for three seconds, give me another answer, and stop.\u2019\u00a0\u00a0 And it works beautifully.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 I want to clarify for the purpose of the tape, because we have been talking about working for channel 9 in Sydney, but in fact you were working for channel 7 weren\u2019t you.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry.\u00a0 ATN 7 in Sydney I was working for, not channel 9.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Right, okay.\u00a0 So we\u2019ve just got to wind all the way back in our minds that ATN 7 you were working for, not TCN 9.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 So at that stage, 7 in Sydney and 9 in Melbourne were supposed to be sister stations.\u00a0 There was no network numbers established.\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s why I\u2019m working with Melbourne channel 9, and ATN7, Sydney.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Why didn\u2019t channel 9 in Melbourne just shoot something and give it to ATN 7 in Sydney?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 It\u2019s too complicated somehow, I don\u2019t know why.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Well it would have put you out of a job for a start<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 So 7 Sydney decided to amalgamate with 7 in Melbourne.\u00a0 So I get instructions from 7, we going to break with 9, working with 7.\u00a0 Your office is going from channel 9 into our transit in High st, Kew.\u00a0 Your job is to soften up 7 so we can communicate.<\/p>\n

So I stupidly turn up at 7, try saying hello.\u00a0 I go out and shoot some film and offer it to them.\u00a0 One of the jobs I shot for them was Ryan (Ronald)\u00a0 and Walker thing.\u00a0 Just after they escape.\u00a0 And I had the Pro 600 *which I put on the tram line, and I grabbed an Age reporter, Jake Darmetty?\u00a0 He was a bit of a character.\u00a0 Told him what to say, to do, to bloody stand up for me.\u00a0 With Pentridge in the background.\u00a0 So we did twice \u2013 one for ATN and one for 7.\u00a0 So I gave it to 7.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Are you telling me you just rocked up to a newspaper journalist and said \u2018do this for a tv channel\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah, and here\u2019s 5 bucks.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 What?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah eh.<\/p>\n

Laughter<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 No problem.\u00a0 I just tell him what to do and how to do it, and there\u2019s no problem.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 You\u2019ve just walked up to a newspaper journo\u2026<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 I knew him well\u2026<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 but he would do that, with\u2026<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 No problems!<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 There\u2019s really no conflict of interest with his newspaper anyway<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 None whatsoever.\u00a0 It actually enhances if his head\u2019s appearing on the bloody television.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 But he would just do a stand up, as a report, so there\u2019d be no need to do a voice over or anything like that.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 No voiceover,\u00a0 it\u2019s silent footage.\u00a0 And then he cuts in as a stand up, about 30 seconds you know.<\/p>\n

JF: \u00a0So who would actually speak the voice over?\u00a0 Would that be from the studio floor?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 I do the film, I don\u2019t know, it\u2019s out of my hands.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Alright, but in fact, if we were to be looking at that story today \u2013 we whiz back 30 odd years and look in the archive \u2013 the voice over is done by someone else.\u00a0 And then up pops this newspaper journo from Melbourne, who you\u2019ve flicked 5 bucks to, to do HIS report about what\u2019s happening on the spot.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 That\u2019s how it works John!\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t jump in front of it because of my accent otherwise I would have done it myself!<\/p>\n

Laughter.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 They were different days weren\u2019t they?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Oh crumbs, they were bloody good days, yeah.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Who were some other characters who were on the road in those days?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Oh, Diamond Jim, Mel\u2026 some political journalists, Mailing and<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 But the cameramen, where did they all come from?\u00a0\u00a0 That were running around the town?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Well, it\u2019s very interesting because the cameramen that worked for the television stations all had some different backgrounds.\u00a0 Like, Lloyd Coulson was an ambulance driver.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 That\u2019s the man who ended up with channel 10.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 No.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Okay.\u00a0 Didn\u2019t he end up in the processing department?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 No, Lloyd Coulson was at 9, he got the sack and he died.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 So. Lloyd Coulson, ambulance driver, becomes cameraman.\u00a0 Morrie Pilens, panel beater becomes cameraman.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Oh yeah, wait a minute.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Who else is there?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 There\u2019s another background in there.\u00a0 Ray Rowe.\u00a0 Got into job because he and his father were sitting all night listening to police radio and ringing up channel 9 and giving tips where to go to.\u00a0 So eventually he got himself a job as a cameraman.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 And I think we should add for the record, Ray Rowe ended up at channel 9 for many years, and now works for the ambulance department again!<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yes, because he got the sack from 9, like everybody got the sack from 9.\u00a0 Ray Rowe started out as an ambulance chaser and he was desperate to get a job.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 And he ends up as a cameraman.\u00a0 So you\u2019ve got Ray, Lloyd, yourself… What about Geoff Bell?\u00a0 He\u2019s still driving around as a stringer.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Oh yes yes.\u00a0 But he wasn\u2019t interested in working for anybody, because he had a bit of a private income from his father\u2019s factory.\u00a0 And he was just chasing accidents and doing well.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Doing well.\u00a0 Right.\u00a0 As a stringer cameraman in those days could you make a living at it or did you have to be doing something else?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Oh, no you couldn\u2019t\u2026 well, for instance, Geoff Bell was making a very good living because he had this \u2018Nightlife\u2019, you know.\u00a0 And then channel 9 decided that they were paying him too much money for it.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 So \u2018Nightlife\u2019 was in fact just chasing ambulances.\u00a0 Did they just do that one night a week?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Just on the weekends.\u00a0 That was one night a week but Geoff was chasing other stuff during the week as well.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Right.\u00a0 But you\u2019re now working for channel 7 Sydney.\u00a0 What would you have been paid then?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 I can\u2019t really remember.\u00a0 It would have been basic, with a little bit of mileage.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Had they given you a car?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 No.\u00a0 Just camera.\u00a0 Some camera, I used silent camera of my own.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 So you\u2019re driving your own car to all these\u2026<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Or you can charge\u2026.?<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 So you\u2019ve got a black and white, sound optical\u2026<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll talk about the equipment a bit later because I think that would have made a big change to things<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Oh crumbs yes.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 That\u2019s something to talk about another day.<\/p>\n

So you\u2019ve lopped up now to channel 7, you\u2019re shifting camp.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah, well, I\u2019m crawling to them!\u00a0 I\u2019m really sucking up to them, left right and middle.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Because you\u2019ve worked alongside of them in a way, and you\u2019re a competitor in a way\u2026<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, and things are doing well, and we\u2019ve established contact, and channel 7 got happy with ATN 7 Sydney\u2026<\/p>\n

Before we finish this I must tell you one story seeing it\u2019s Caulfield Cup day.\u00a0 Do you know how we covered the Caulfield Cup?\u00a0 On the top of the roof \u2013 this is for channel 7 Sydney.\u00a0 On top of the grandstand, I\u2019ve got camera on tripod, a hundred feet of film, all loaded.\u00a0 Because we used to wind our own film.\u00a0 Four races, you needed that little bit extra.<\/p>\n

With three lenses I\u2019m filming the race.\u00a0 Started the race, going around the corner, switching lenses, going around the corner, switching lenses, coming down towards the finish, finish, just run off a little bit, wait, just wait til it comes back into the enclosure.\u00a0 You get him coming in through the gates down there, take your film out of there, put it in the can, wrap it around with sticky tape and go to the edge of the roof, and say \u2018HEY!\u2019 (Whistles).\u00a0 And throw it down!<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Yeah?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 And there\u2019s a taxi guy waiting for me, to take it to the bloody airport.<\/p>\n

Laughter<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Besides that, at the airport I\u2019ve got a guy who\u2019s taking the film and giving it to the pilot.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Right.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 And an hour later, two hours later, it arrives in Sydney.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 And this isn\u2019t just about being a cameraman is it.\u00a0 This is about being a man who\u2019s going to fix the problem, and sort out the taxi\u2026<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 No, this is a news film cameraman.\u00a0 Because the best bloody story in the world\u2019s no good in your camera.\u00a0 Really.\u00a0 You have it, get rid of it!\u00a0 And how you get rid of it\u2019s up to you.\u00a0 I\u2019ll tell you the story about the helicopter crash, how I got that film.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 I\u2019m familiar with that story, again it\u2019s one that we\u2019ll come to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is part of an interview Series for the National Film and Sound Archive Aural History Programme.\u00a0 My name is John Fife (JF) and I have with me Morrie Pilens (MP). MP: And now I\u2019m in Melbourne!\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0And I don\u2019t know anybody.\u00a0 And I haven\u2019t got any English \u2013 or very little, very basic.\u00a0 So … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Panel Beater to Cameraman”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":167,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-171","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/pilens.com.au\/modris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/pilens.com.au\/modris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/pilens.com.au\/modris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pilens.com.au\/modris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pilens.com.au\/modris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/pilens.com.au\/modris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":361,"href":"http:\/\/pilens.com.au\/modris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/171\/revisions\/361"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pilens.com.au\/modris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/pilens.com.au\/modris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}