ORAL HISTORY. NOEL LEE. PROJECTIONIST.

Noel Lee, born Invercargill 1922.

Tape 1, side 1
Begins by discussing his parents’ occupations and their background. Mentions his sister and school at St George School, Technical college and his apprenticeship as an electrician.

Discusses his love of films and knowing how ‘things went’. Recalls first film. Mentions the Regent Theatre, Invercargill. Mentions Stan Fraser the projectionist who taught Lee. Recalls his first conversation with Fraser about his camera from Whitcombe and Tombs. Discusses collecting film to screen at home. Mentions getting his projectionist’s licence. Describes the projector they used. Mentions Ted Barker, a work colleague at the Regent. Mentions the screening of The Ten Commandments. Mentions Kerridge Odeon running the cinema and the advent of cinemascope. Discusses Stan Fraser’s background.

Tape 1, side 2
Screening of the Coronation Film 1953 discussed. Mentions vaudeville shows and ice shows. Discusses 3D shows, mentions the Embassy. Discusses the beginnings of his own career. Discusses filming documentaries and news items. Talks about the Pictorial Magazine series, Compass and the filming he did on Stewart Island. Talks about the Milford Road film. Explains ‘cutaways’. Discusses his change over to video.

Tape 2, side 1.
Continues talking about working with video, and the new generation of ‘filmmakers’. Discusses flying and filming. Discusses a trip to Antarctica to film a documentary piece. Recalls the number of news items he made. Discusses his retirement from television in 1994.

Broadcast 01/04/1998.