Draft 2 PhD Introduction - ResearchSpace@Auckland

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unpaid for”. 402 In the Production Notes Ward explicitly acknowledged his own
obsessive approach, with the publicity emphasizing this as a positive aspect, as evidence
of the film’s special intensity and the director’s persona as auteur.
Ward acknowledged that he learnt a great deal working with such an experienced cast
and crew, “particularly from Anne Flannery”, and admitted that it must have been
difficult for them to take direction from an inexperienced young student such as
himself. However, he “found everybody helpful. Gwen Kaiser, who had had
experience of creating stage and screen costumes, did wonders […]. Alun Bollinger
was always willing to experiment with lighting effects. When we found a location
flooded, Peter McCauley, who plays Wilfred, helped clear up. And so it went”. 403
White also acknowledged the considerable contribution to the film made by Alun
Bollinger:
Alun’s contribution was just so immense and taught Vincent a lot. Taught
myself a lot. He was generous-spirited and a good guy. Alun […] always
believed in what we were trying to do […]. Not a lot would have recognized
what we were trying to do. And there was a real sense of ambition. We wanted
to make something that would make a difference. It wasn’t just all about a
career move or the stepping-stone into something else. […]. We were genuinely
trying to make something that could stand alone. 404
Bollinger and Geoff Murphy were “both used to working on low-budget productions
with the ACME Sausage Company and were a tremendous asset on location – for
instance, both were responsible for set construction. 405 Such cooperation and multiskilling
were characteristic of the 1970s, and provided the necessary basis for the
emergence of the new local film industry.
Visual Style
The cinematography of A State of Siege is striking in that the shot sizes tend to be either
close-ups or long-shots, with few intervening mid-shots, which, as McDonnell has
402 Ward quoted in A State of Siege and in Spring One Plants Alone: Programme Notes.
403 De la Roche, “Joint Work Turns Janet Frame Novel into Film”.
404 Lynette Read, interview with Timothy White, 29 September 1999.
405 White, "Production of a Film Drama," 10.