Draft 2 PhD Introduction - ResearchSpace@Auckland

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when she discussed it with Ward, he was “very interested” in the idea. 321 (He later used
it in the opening sequence of Vigil).
In Spring One Plants Alone took much longer to make than Ward had envisaged –
twenty-seven months, instead of the few weeks originally planned. When it was finally
completed and released, it cemented his reputation as a promising young filmmaker by
winning the Silver Hugo Award at the 1980 Chicago Film Festival and being the Grand
Prix Winner at the 1982 Cinéma du Réel Festival. Ward had now learned what he
needed to know about the craft of filmmaking, largely through trial and error, and was
starting to work with professionals in the field, rather than through the teaching he had
received at Ilam. He was now ready to begin his career as a fully-fledged professional
filmmaker.
Summing-Up Ward’s Art School Years
Arguably, the chaotic art school training of the 1970s was well-suited to a highly
creative individual like Ward, who perhaps could not have developed so fast and so
independently if his course had been more organized. While the lack of available
equipment and the lack of specific training and direction given by the film school held
some disadvantages, they encouraged (or forced) Ward to be innovative in his use of
limited resources and to seek out people in the industry who could help him achieve his
goals. One consequence of the lack of equipment, which Ward later turned to his
advantage was the absence of any lighting gear: “You had to learn to see in natural
light, and I think that’s why the films I make have a special look”. 322
There were, however, also some more direct inputs from his education at Ilam, such as
the training in painting in his first year which helped to develop the strong visual sense
that later characterized his films, and also introduced him to the German Expressionist
painters and filmmakers. Art school also encouraged him to experiment, even if his
experiments, such as displaying a smashed-up motorcycle as a work of art, created
controversy. A third benefit was the collaborative nature of the projects he worked on
in the Moving Image Department at Ilam. He was fortunate in that the calibre of his
fellow-students was unusually high and that he was able to find, in Tim White, someone
321 Lynette Read, interview with Jocelyn Beavan, 26 January 1999.
322 Scott, "Writing Poetry for the Screen," E1.