Draft 2 PhD Introduction - ResearchSpace@Auckland

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Firstly, [Ward] had commitments with another project [presumably In Spring
One Plants Alone], and could not spend as much time as he or I would have
liked. Secondly, a production of this type should have had an assistant editor,
but as finances would not allow this, I took on that function in the latter stages.
Lastly, it was necessary for me to ensure a certain degree of continuity was
maintained throughout editing, because Chris King [the editor] had to work
outside of normal working hours, and generally the whole process was rather
fractionated (due to the peculiar arrangement I had with Orly Productions over
editing facilities). 365
Editor Chris King became involved in the film in 1976, just after he had left South
Pacific Television and had started working for Orly Productions. He was approached
by White, whom he had met while they were working together on a documentary at
South Pacific Television in Christchurch, and King explained they were “looking for me
to put together a short reel of some footage that had been shot for a drama” since the
film-makers were trying to get finance from the Arts Council to complete the film. One
of the reasons King believes they were interested in getting him to work on the project
was that “I had access to the only six-plate Steenbeck in Christchurch that wasn’t within
the confines of Television New Zealand”. 366 King was sympathetic to the project
because at the time, he was making “horrible” commercials to make money to support
his young family, and Ward’s art-school approach struck him as an interesting change.
King, who loved the “tactile” nature of editing film, recognized that “both Tim and
Vince had a certain […] energy about them”, so he approached his employer to ask for
permission to work on the film. The understanding was that King was allowed to work
on free-lance projects providing they were not of a commercial nature, and since his
employer was under the impression he was putting together “a ten-minute or twelveminute
reel” of student film, for which he would earn very little, his employer agreed on
condition that “it didn’t interfere” with his “liability to the company money”. 367
Initially, he put together a short sequence to accompany funding applications consisting
of the scene where Malfred meets her boyfriend in the greenhouse. King believes that
the version of this scene shown to the Arts Council was somewhat different from its
365 White, “Production of a Film Drama,” 15.
366 Lynette Read, interview with Chris King, 2 February 1999.
367 Lynette Read, interview with Chris King, 2 February 1999.