Section 7 (1972) - Production report

All in a day's work

By Arthur Baystring, Pictures: Robin Morrison
From the NZ Listener, November 1, 1971

I must confess I didn't know what to expect when I came and I have been pleasantly surprised. One always comes back to this thing of budgets, but I think, for instance, that New Zealand is at least on par with Australia. This was one of the things that pleased and surprised me - but I would say the overall standard of television here is higher than over there - Ewen Solon

The scene is a not-very-modern, not very-efficient-looking office. There are a couple of desks, a typewriter a few filing cabinets and very little spare room. On the wall are faded road-safety posters warning about the- dangers of skidding and of mixing drinking with driving.

Only three or four feet away the scene switches completely. Old green wallpaper lines the walls of and untidy living room. A door opens into a kitchen which is even more untidy. Splashed across the wallpaper of the living room are posters of Mick Jagger. Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix.

Both sets are in Northern Television's Studio One and are for an episode of the NZBC's new drama series. Section Seven. Not to associate With, the script under production, is the sixth out Of 11 episodes. The first set is the probation office which serves as the fulcrum for the series. The second is a student drop-out flat around which this particular episode is set. Written my Hamish Keith, Not to Allodate With concerns Kelly Wales, a student who has become involved with drugs. The story opens with him being discharged from Oakley Hospital and beginning his rehabilataion under the supervision of his Probation Officer, played by Ian Mune.

Most of the morning is taken up with rehearsing two small scenes, one in the flat and one in the office. The first centres round Abigail Smith, who plays the girl who is supposedly the bad influence on Kelly and whom the episode title refers to. She is being taught how to make a roll~your-own cigarette for the opening sequence of the episode. There is a Cat Stevens record playing on a cheap record player beside her. The song, Baby It's a Wild World, is an appropriate soundtrack for the story.

If this were next week the studio would be full of op-art sets and go-go girls. Drama alternates weekly with the pop show Happen Inn. In the weekends the equipment is either out filming sports or other outside broadcast work, or a studio audience is here watching Personality Squares in Production.

The Section Seven scenes being shot today involve only a couple od dozen lines and progress is slow and painstaking. But, as one of the camermen remarks, this is the difference between a good and a mediocre production.

There are about a dozen actors involved in this episode and about 20 in the production crew from producer Tony Isaacs down to makeup and wardrobe. During rehearsal and shooting the producer is seldom down on the studio floor, Instead he is upstairs in the contol room watching on monitor screens. With his are his Technical producer, vision mixer, sound operator and production secretary.

The man directly behind in control of the action is floor manager Ian Hebbend. He and the camermen wear head mikes by which they can communicate with Tony Isaacs an pass on his instructions. The camera routines have to be as well-rehearsed as the actors lines. Each angle and position is precisely worked out and at times the three cameras gliding around resemble characters in some modern ballet.

Midway through the morning one of the cameras develops a fault and the actors and technicians relax while it is fixed. Ian Mune and Ross Skiffington, who play probation officers, sit at their desks and go over their lines the tenth or twelfth time

Work resumes but by the time the producer calls for a break for lunch, shooting is an hour behind schedule. Ian Hebbend is confident they will pick upon the time that afternoon.

After lunch Craig Ashley and Abigal Smith rehearse a scene half a dozen times and small modifications to the script are made - a word is dropped, a gesture changed because it doesnt look right. Eventually it is filmed and the segment is re-run on the monitors which hang from the roof among a maze of various kinds of lighting equipment. All eyes watch the screen and wait for the producers Judgement. He passes it and they swing over to the probation office for the next scene.

Ewan Solon, who plays Ian Mune's supervisor Hugh Laking, is not due to go before the cameras for an hour but for some time he has been relaxing in the artists' waiting room. He is completely at ease and exchanges greetings with people who walk past and invariably smile in recognition

Later, when he is on camera, he effortlessly assumes command by doing nothing more than what is asked of him. The dialogue flows faultlessly and, with the camera off him. he is again unobtrusive. He stays out of the way until he is needed, sometimes joking with the crew but usually just watching the proceedings with a deadpan expression.

In answer to a question he agrees that the pace is slower than he's used to, but points out that the BBC have rather more in the way of facilities and space at their disposal - and money.

To New Zealand viewers Solon's career has been a procession of, in many ways, similar roles - Lucas in Maigret, Smith in The Revenue Men and now Laking in Section Seven. Did he feel any danger of being typecast? He agrees that to New Zealand audiences it might seem like it but he says he has done a variety of roles since The Revenue Men including the lead in an Australian production, Dead Man Running, which was challenging and totally different to what he had been playmg.

Solon is required for another rehearsal. He excuses himself and slips into his role again.

Upstairs, in Studio Two, producer Michael Hockley is going through a complete rehearsal of the day's On Camera which begins screening at 2 p.m. During the morning there has been more rehearsing and taping interviews for use on the programme.

On Camera's accent, says the producer, is on variety. There's quite a bit of serious stuff, like discussions an women's lib and so on. but there's a lot of ligher stuff.

One segment of the afternoon's programme is concerned with slimming and grooming. This is presented to the viewer in a rather complicated way. Four women, aged between 20 and 50 and weighing from 11 to 20 stone, have volunteered their services. Part of the On Camera budget has gone into a full-scale health course for them, involving marriage, sauna, deportment, speech exercises and basic wardrobe. Thus, each week, viewers can see largesse turn into finesse.

The series has proved popular with viewers and some results have been spectacular. In an earlier series one volunteer went from 20 to 14 stone in the 14-week period.

On Camera also features a lot of musical items. Michael Hockley says it serves as an important outlet for musical talent. Happen Inn offers exposure to a certain type of music but there would otherwise be little chance of television exposure for music of a broader appeal.

He often films folksinging items which are shown either as On Camera inserts or fillers. On today's On Camera a man demonstrates an instrument he made by hollowing out a carrot and inserting a clarinet mouthpiece in the end. As an encore he repeated the feat with a pound of good kiwi butter.

Later in the afternoon Michael Hockley produces a slightly more orthodox musical item involving the piano, drums, guitar, trumpet, xylophones and glockenspiels of the Auckland Teachers' College Marimba Band.

Once the filler is in the can the crew immediately move to something. else, Studio Two handles, in addition to On Camera, Northern Televison's sports programmes, the weekly Column Comment the This Day news programme which follows Network News on weekdays, and any inserts for Gallery.

Studio Three, the continuity studio, handles programme promotions which are trailered every week night around nine. Reg Chlibnall does his giardening in this studio and Handy Hints is also shot. Any spare time in the studios is taken up with dubbing.

Executive producer Rod Cornelius says the Auckland studios are putting through half as much work again as they did in the previous year. On the wall of his office there is a chart giving the studio bookings for the year. It is completely covered in coloured dots and he has to look for some time before he finally finds a blank space signifying that they have a spare Saturday sometime late in December.

With all the pressure on the studios there is often not enough time for setting and striking of sets for various shows, and this and the lighting is often done on an all-night shift. With some shows the setting up can be quite a business. Happen Inn for instance, uses six sets a week.

Back in Studio One, shooting is still going on in the flat. The tension of working in front of the cameras for hours at a time is beginning to show. Craig Ashley. who went to Oakley and talked to several Junkies to get the feel of his role, is beginning to look like the real thing. They finish late, but all their shots are in the can.

Ewen Solon on Section Seven

in any television not evry script can be a winner - you must have peeks and and lows. I think some is Section Seven scripts are excellen any standards- and i repeat, by any standards. I think it should be borne in mind that the canvas we're working on is fairly restricted - the Probation office has its limitations. It is more concerned with the everyday problems of people adjusting themselves to live within and to accept the law. The series is not a vehicle for me. I am not extended as as an actor and I suppose my main contribution is just being there. If I had any criticism of the show as a generalisation I would say the regular characters remain a little underdeveloped in the characterisatlons and relationships throuqhout the series.

Ewen Solon on Future of New Zealand TV

lt's a matter of whether the resources are being used to their best advantages. I think there possibly can be improvements here. We have various little cells ot enormous potential with little integration. I think there should, for instance, be a common pool of acting talent from both theatre and television. Actors have got to be trained in the theatre. If an actor has been fundamentally trained then he can make the adjustment from stage to TV pretty quickly but l think it difficult to train specifically for television. Other resources could be pooled. We have a National Film Unit which is in world class. It seems a shame that TV has to make do with equipment which might perhaps be regarded as old hat within the National Film Unit. New Zealand has the potential to go into the export market with TV drama using of course the natural scenic backdrops and providing you have good strong stories. There is a wealth of dramatic material available in the development of New Zealand which would lend itsell to outdoor sagas and which would be very saleable. It would be expensive, but some- one's got to say Well let's have a crack at it - it's no use going ott halt-cock or unprepared.

Ewen Solon on Independent TV

It's difficult tor an actor to say what ought or ought not to be. I would be all forr a second channel provided it was going to contribute to the development of local talent. lt it was just going to buy cheap overseas programmes and screen them all the time it would reflect a blatant evasion of social responsibility. lf a second channel is independent there should be some sort of control. It should be legislated that at least 50 per cent of content is from local talent. This is the only way that, in the long run, TV can be built up. Certainly, with the introduction of commercial TV in Britain the standard of TV drama rose but, oddly enough, this was due to the ratings. The BBC found that its ratings dropped considerably so they set out to combat this by raising the quality ot its programmes. Of course in Britain commercial TV is strongly controlled by the independent authority and this is very important. Alfer all, the primary aim of a o=commercial TV station is to make money. In Australia one sometimes gets the impression that the programmes have been designed to go round the commercials rather than the commercials to go into the programme. I personalty think that in New Zealand's case, under the present circumstances, a second channel may prove to be an expensive luxury.

Ewen Solon on Change in New Zealand

The last time l was here tor any length of time was in 1945 so naturally there has been a good deal of growth and development since then. I still find political apathy, which worries one. l think we still tend to isolate ourselves and ultimately this could prove to be a fool's paradise. l think we need closer contact with South-east Asia, both culturally and politically. We should be able to contribute and to receive a great deal. Not only do we seem to be unaware of what's happening outside but we don't seem to care much. There seems to be in some departments a natural inferiority complex which worries me. I think it's time we thought of leading rather than following. After all we did it with butter and we did it with the All Blacks (until last year anyway) and I think we can do this in other areas. Primary products have been developed almost to a peak but we can develop a tourist industry comparable to any in the world. There is a strong feeling of Keep New Zealand as it is but this is absolutely impossible to do. There's no reason why a fully-developed tourist industry should be in any way detrimental to the New Zealand way of life. Again, you need control, but I think it's a natural line to follow.

Section Seven: A Probation Offcier's casebook

By Arthur Baystring, From the NZ Listener, February 14, 1972

Criminal Justice Act 1954

Section Seven, Conditions of release

Where any person is released on Probation, the following conditions shall apply

(a) Within twenty four hours after his release on Probation, he shall report in person to a Probation Officer for the district in which the court office is situated.

(b) He shall report to the Probation Office under whose supervision he is, as and when he is required to do so by the Probation Officer. -

(c) He shall give to the Probation Office reasonable notice of his intention to move from his address, and if he removes to any place within the district to another Probation Officer he shall, within forty eight hours after his arrival in that district notify that other Probation Officer of his arrival and the nature and place of his employment.

(d) He shall not reside at any address that is not approved by the Probation Officer

(e) He shall not continue in any employment or continue in any occupation that is not approved by the Probation Officer.

(g) He shall be of good character and commit no offence against the law.

Whoever designed the court-room certainly knew his theatre. A courtroom is a very theatrical place and it is so designed to be weighted in the judge's favour - psychologically and theatrically the defendant is in the worst possible position. The speaker is professional actor and stage designer Ian Mune who takes one of the leading roles in Section Seven-and he should know what he's talking about. As probation officer John Sitwell he spend a good deal of time in court during the series and before shooting began he spent several mornings watching proceedings in the Auckland Magistrate's Court and getting the feel of his role

The judge sits high up overlook the court, upstage centre so to speak , so that he looks down on everyone, he explains. Below him is the court clerk who is, in a way, the sorcerer's apprentice. The defendant stands facing the judge with the Jury opposite him and the public behind him. It is very difficult for the defendant to make any points in a real court because if he talks to the jury he has to turn away from the judge and therefore will be out of order, but if he faces the judge then he turns his back on virtually every

I've seen a number of people in court who just haven't known where to talk and I'm sure this is Why many otherwise articulate defendants get up there and can hardly Say a word.

For the Section Seven series designer Anthony Stones and his team built an actual courtroom, modelled on the Auckland Magistrate's Court. So effective was this set that the police actually inquired about borrowing the prop for use for training police cadets in court Procedure

All the continuing characters in the series are employed by the probation Service. Ewen Solon plays Hugh Laking who is the Senior probation Officer. His position is mainly administrative and much of the field work is done by the two officers under him. John Sitwell (Ian Mune) is a university graduate in his 30s who has been with the service four Years. Elizabeth Reynolds, played by Glynis McNicoll, is younger, unmarried and deals mainly with female, offenders.

Lawrence Hepworth plays the District Probation Officer -- Laking's superior officer. Roger Scott (Ross Skiffington is a young Assistant probation Officer and Yvonne Lawley appears as Miss Jennings. the office secretary.

Although Ewen Solon is the star, the characters of the two probation officers under him -- Glynis McNicholl and and Ian Mune -- become more prominent as the series progresses.

While the creators emphasise that Section Seven is a fictionalised portray of the Probation Service, great pains have been taken to ensure authenticity. In the planning stages drama chief Douglas Drury and script editor Michael Noonan worked closely with the service in Wellington. To ensure accuracy in court scenes Chief Inspector E. C. Welsh from the Auckland Central Police Station advised on police proceedings.

Seventy per cent of probationers in New Zealand are under 25 and most of the stories in the series deal with young offenders. Situations range from a girl who has been found unlawfully on board a ship to a young man trying to re-adjust to life after Spending a year in prison. Another centres on a mild-mannered man who, for no apparent reason, attacks his wife with a garden spade.

Although the setting is never specified it soon becomes obvious that the series takes place in Auckland. One episode focuses on a Tokelau lsland family trying to come to terms with New Zealand life and another features a Jumping Sunday in Auckland's Albert Park. In the latter episode the hippies are played by members of Auckland's Living Theatre Troupe.

A large number of scripts were commissioned for the 11-episode series and among those finally produced were stories by Hamish Keith, David Ballantyne, Fiona Kidman, Rebecca Cameron and Michael Noonan. Producers used in the series were Donald Hope Evans, Tony Isaacs, David Stevens and David Istance.

Because of the problems peculiar to a television series and the need for a link between episodes, Hamish Keith was commissioned as continuity writer in addition to working on individual scripts. He had previously written two scripts for Pukemanu but he says that Section Seven-for which he wrote or co-wrote six scripts-was far more demanding because of the 30minute time slot.

A half~hour play is a brutal thing to write. he explains You have to keep the story going which introduces new characters but at the same lime must develop the continuing characters. I think it is fair to say by the end of the series the part of Sitwell has become the major character.

Ian Mune thinks Sitwcll is a good character to play because he is contradictory He's a bumptious bastard, he explains. He hates being pushed around and he thinks he's a knight in shining armour. So when he gets into a situation he's capable of becoming too involved, or of making an error of judgement. He could be a great liberal or a great fascist but he finds that in being one he's often not far from becoming the other.

A good deal of the conflict in the series arises when Sitwell clashes with Hugh Laking (Ewen Solon) who not only has to keen his probation officers in line, but at the same time resist departmental pressure from his own superior.

Ian Mune sees the characterisations as somewhere between the British and American television styles. In American television you get characters who every week are involved in amazing adventures and the next week have forgotten they ever occurred, he explains. This Name of the Game sort of portrayal is basically incredible. In British television the characters generally evolve far more and the tendency there is towards the serial more than the series. Section Seven has eschewed the American thing but hasn't gone quite as far as the British, although later on the series it does get a bit more flow. But New Zealand audiences are so critical of local productions - and thank God for that - that I don't think they'd buy the American razz-a-ma-tazz.

Hamish Keith also draws a strong distinction between British and American television drama. British TV he sees as having grown up from the theatre while the United States small-screen drama has its roots in the film industry - and probably in some of the worst aspects of that. He thinks that the reason why New Zealand TV drama was so long in getting off the ground was that it tended to be based on the theatre when really there wasn't the theatrical background here to support it.

He would like to see New Zealand TV drama based more on a documentary approach and cites the Canadian series Wojeck as a good example Section Seven is not a dramatised documentary, he says. We have taken the usual dramatic licence, but I think it is reasonably close to true life and the workings of the Probation Service.

Donald Hope Evans, producer of four of the scripts, says that while none of the stories are based on actual case files they could very well be. He says that everybody learned a great deal from the series both on the production and the acting side. As far as the acting went, Ewen Solon was very helpful, particularly at the beginning of the series. He is a thorough professional and he gave a lot of coincidence to the less-experienced people.

Solon himself is modest about his contribution. The series. is not a vehicle for me, he says. I suppose my main contribution is in just being there. He goes on to say that he thinks some of the Section Seven scripts are excellent by any standards - and I repeat, by any standards.

Ian Mune found Solon invaluable: He's a fantastic actor to work with because he's very 'television'. You learn innumerable small things from him, for instance the way he holds a fade-out. When the camera holds on your face and you've no lines to speak you tend to feel lost but Solon handles it quite naturally. He can communicate a thought, v1rtually without changing his expression.

For people like Donald Hope Evans, Section Seven meant six months of non-stop pressure from the beginning of rehearsals until shooting was completed. Preparation had begun 12 months before this.

It's the most ambitious production ever attempted by the NZBC in terms of logistics and production, he says. And all the time there were problems cropping up which, because of the short deadline, had to be coped with immediately so that shooting could continue.

As one rather light example of these hitches he cites the case of one actor - who shall remain nameless - who disappeared after shooting a scene and who couldn't be found when his next call came up. A major manhunt ensued, the producer recalls, and he was found at 6.30 that night, 2 1/2 hours after the scene was supposed to be shot but fortunately not too late to do it. We filmed the scene, he apologised profusely and we forgave him.

Coming after the successful Pukemanu series, Section Seven has a lot to live-up to. Donald Hope Evans points out that, in a way, Pukemanu was unique because of its rural setting. He thinks that because Section Seven is based in the city and deals with crime, the series will invite comparisons with overseas series.

How close is Section Seven to that other 'SS', Softly, Softly Hamish Keith feels that probably there is as much that is distinctively New Zealand in the series as there was in Pukemanu. There was a problem in staying away from Softly, Softly situations and what might be called television clichés, he admits, but he's quite satisfied that these traps were avoided.

I personally feel that Section Seven may not have the impact of Pukemarnu but that the series is probably more consistent and more professional.

SECTION SEVEN: Central Television, Monday February 14, 8.55 . Northern Television, CHTV-3 and DNTV-2 in successive weeks