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“Hi Alice.”
“Hallo Ken. Are you going to point that camera at me again.”
“No, I just wanted a word with you this time. Have you ever used a movie camera yourself?”
“I’ve been with a lot of people that have, but no, I’ve always been on the receiving end.”
“On my journeys filming the various things that happen around the island, people have said that they find you very friendly towards them and I wondered if you would join me and help with the filming.”
“But I don’t have any experience of being behind a camera.”
“It shouldn’t be a problem, I would teach you how to use one.”
“I would be only too happy to help if you think I could be useful.”
“It’s not just the practical business of using a camera, it is also that the camera man or woman has to have an empathy with their subjects. People have to be at ease when the camera points at them. That’s why I have asked you. I think you could move between everyone with a camera and they would trust you. Also you may be able to move more unobtrusively into places that would be more difficult for me.”
“Like into the ladies toilet?”
“Not quite like that. I was thinking more of it being an extra pair of hands, you know, two cameras in different locations.”
“How would it all work then?”
“Well, the general principle is that I film on a regular daily basis anything and everything that I notice that could be of interest for an episode of that week. Sometimes I concentrate on a particular subject, person or family. For instance yesterday I was caught up with another delivery of the farm animals coming on to the island. That took up most of the day and I could have done with some help. And there is often more than one event worthy of getting onto film have happening at the same time in different places.”
“How long will it take for me to learn?”
“Not long to get the general idea. So much is automatic on the cameras these days. You need a steady hand, steady movement and an eye for the composition of what you see in the viewfinder. Of course, you also have to be in the right place at the right time.”
“When can we start?”
“We can start now if you are willing.”
“Right, let’s go then, I see you have the camera with you, are you ever without it?”
“I try not to be, but I will start you with a smaller one like this. I’ll spend about half an hour with you showing you a few things and then you can take the camera and play with it until you get more used to it and then we’ll have another chat. Everything we take gets downloaded onto the computer, edited and the best bits taken for the final showing. The good news is that we can record on this digital camera and then re-record again and again so we don’t have to worry about wasting film.”
Here, you hold it like this and let’s assume that you were about to take a shot of this track with these chickens. You could start over there with a shot of the hen house and pan back to where they are scrabbling at the foot of this fence.”
“What do you mean by ‘pan back’.”
“Panning is simply moving the camera to the left or right across the view.”
“Like this?”
“Yes, but you were too fast. Look, you can play back straight away what you have recorded. Flip this little screen and you can see that it was uneven, jumpy even though it has a built in stabiliser. You did not give the viewer enough time to see all that was happening. I will show you how to zoom in so that you will have a close up of say one of the chickens at the end of the shot.”
“I can see that it would not get an Oscar or an Emi or whatever they call them. But it sounds interesting, I’m keen to get started.”
“Hallo again. It’s a fine morning. Some of the best filming can be done in the early morning or late evening. How did you get on with the camcorder?”
“OK I think, I took it home and looked some things up in the instruction book first and then I took it into the infants school yesterday for Lynda’s afternoon session there. The kids were a bit self conscious at first but they soon got used to it after they had a glimpse of the recording.”
“Let have a look. Yes, its quite good, I like the sequence where they are splashing around with the water experiments, I see that you had the sound on as well. They are not at all self conscious there are they? Everything is quite natural, so we can use that. Consider it as your first successful assignment. You see, that is exactly what I need, I can’t so easily burst into the school lesson and yet it is an essential part of what goes on here. You have been a great help.”
“You are very encouraging, and it is quite an enjoyable occupation. Can I come round with you this morning and see how you do things?”
“Yes, I was going to suggest that myself. I have two things to do today. I thought I would pop up to the farm where there are some newborn lambs and then I’d like to interview Jock to see if there is any truth in the rumour that he has a whisky still.
Jim told me that you worked in publishing. Didn’t you get involved with pictures then?
“Yes, I did in terms of selection and what would be suitable layout but of course I didn’t come into contact with the camera side of the process, or sound.”
“No, but your experience will help regarding the composition of the movie even though it is a somewhat different concept.
“Do you want to get shots of an actual birth of a lamb today?”
“Possibly, although I did get some pictures last night in the barn. It seems they often give birth at the most inconvenient times, but a daytime birth would be helpful.”
“I hope so, I have never seen one.”
“A high proportion so far have been twins, it seems that it is quite normal.”
“There’s Gerry, lets see what he’s got for us.”
“Hallo, Gerry did you eventually get some sleep last night.”
“Only a little. I’m just going up and around to see if there are any lambs left abandoned. Would you like to have a look with me?”
“Yes indeed. Alice here is helping me with the filming so it will be a chance for her to practice.”
“Why would a sheep abandon its lamb?”— Alice enquired as they strode up the hill.
“It happens, Alice, not often but sometimes for some reason it just will not take milk from the mother. In some cases, if a sick lamb is one of twins, we can take it away from its mother, leaving the healthy lamb with her. A mother will always bring up a single lamb better than twins. If another sheep has produced a dead lamb it is possible to use the skin from it to put over the sick lamb or one that has been abandoned and the mother of the dead lamb will suckle it and foster it up as if it were her own.”
“Can you feed them with the bottle?”
“Oh yes, but then they tend to become dependent upon you. Farmers don’t always have the time you know.”
They had a long scout around the field but there were no stray newly born lambs to deal with, or sheep requiring immediate help.
“I’m sure you arte pleased that there are no sheep in need of attention today but I’m a little disappointed. I’ve never seen a birth.”
“Tell you what there will almost certainly be another lambing this evening, I you would like, I’ll give you a ring when one is due and you can come round and see.”
“Thank you very much, I really would like that.”
They made their way round to Jock’s place intending to try and find out whether he really was producing whisky. He was tending some plants in his garden.
“Hallo Jock, how are you today?”
“Och, quite well thank you.”
“Is everything growing well?”
“Aye, it’s a good soil here and the warm weather helps.”
“It seems you have vegetables as well as flowers.”
“Aye, I have many more varieties now that Ian is supplying me.”
“Will you be self-sufficient with the vegetables?”
“Aye certainly, in the season, there should even be a surplus.”
“So you’re OK for food. How about drink, Alice and I were told that you may be making whisky here, we wondered how you are progressing?”
“Ah, well now, I’m not sure about that. Are you sure you heard right?”
“Did we hear right?”
“Och, it’s a difficult thing you know, not an easy thing to make good whisky.”
“Is it illegal?”
“It could be, I don’t think anyone makes it here.”
“So you couldn’t offer us a little drink then if we asked you nicely?”
“Of course I can, any time, come inside. Morag and I would be glad for you to have a wee dram with us.”
Jock offered them a glass of whisky from a nearby bottle. They talked around many things concerned with the island during their earlier days but avoiding the matter of the still, not knowing whether it was fact or fiction. After about an hour Alice could not restrain herself any more.
“Jock you’re very kind but you didn’t make this did you?”
“No, but it’s a very good whisky.”
“It certainly is but it wasn’t made here was it?
“Nobody makes it here”— he repeated.
“Jock, Alice and I know that nobody else makes it here, but we think you may know how to do it. Do you know how to make it?”
“Ah, well now, it’s not that easy you know?”
“I guess not, what do you have to do?”
“You’ll need a simple closed container in which you can heat up the liquid and another vessel to receive the condensate. That’s the easy part.”
“I don’t need these things Jock because I’m not going to make any but do you have them?”
“I did have some old bits and pieces around at one time.”
“Could we have a look at them sometime?”
“It’s all of a jumble out there in the shed at present. I’ll get them out another time.”
As they departed Alice commented that although he was not forthcoming in admitting anything, she believed he was experimenting with a still if not actually using one.
“You know, he surely wouldn’t use the word ‘condensate’ unless he had some good understanding of the process.”
“I think he genuinely believes that even though it must be on a very small scale, he is nevertheless engaged in some unlawful trade.”
“I agree, I think it was the cameras — he was frightened that his activities would all be revealed to his disadvantage.”
“Yes, he’s lovely really, and so genuine, I think he’ll come round to letting us see the apparatus and give more detail eventually, but he needs to be sure that it’s safe.”
“Sure, these things take time. With some luck we may even be able to use the cameras eventually.”
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