Many years ago I was working with the ABC Natural History Unit on the 6-part series Nature of Australia. One of my roles was to research stories and locations then work with the cinematographer setting up hides, building sets, drinking red wine and so forth.

Writer/Executive Producer the late John Van Den Beld had written in a scene for the final program covering the introduction of rabbits into Australia and the damage they had subsequently done to the environment. These days, however, rabbits are a very nervy species, having been shot at, poisoned, bombed with baited carrots and trapped for decades.

I spent several months touring eastern Australia by car, trying to locate the perfect place to film a rabbit community. Mostly without luck. On several occasions in the barren eroded hills of Bacchus Marsh, cinematographer Keith Taylor and I dug deep trenches and set up hides near warren systems. Then we’d sneak into the hide at about 3 am and wait, camera pointed to the east across the burrow entrances so the pre-dawn glow would back-light the little bunnies in that time-honoured tradition of wildlife film making.

Unfortunately each time the cutesy little bunnies refused to emerge until we’d dismantled the hide and prepared to move on, requiring me to make a series of difficult phone calls to John in Head Office at the ABC. “What the *&^%$#* do you mean you’ve got no rabbit footage? Do you realise how much these expeditions are costing me?” Or words to that effect.

Finally – and it was to be the absolute last ditch stand – Keith and I found the perfect location on French Island in Victoria. It’s a mosquito-ridden hole of a place with multi-engined mossies that can pick you up and carry you away and black snakes, copperheads and tiger snakes always ready to be trodden on in the bracken.  

But from a rabbitty perspective this place was perfect. A complex colony with about 35 rabbits including many kittens and some young batchelors who were setting up burrows on the outskirts of the main warren. We had a tractor dig a pit in which to set up the tripod, pitched the hide over the hole and, enormously pleased with ourselves and our efforts, decided to have a pre-shoot, celebratory dinner at the French Island Lodge before getting few winks of shut-eye in preparation for the 3 am start.

As we enjoyed a glass of fine red and waited for our meal, a group of about a dozen craggy, wizened up old geezers in filthy Drizabones and flat felt hats stumbled into the bar and demanded beers all round. It took a few minutes and a few questions to discover that the geezers were actually the Mentone Ferreting Association and this evening was the start of their annual ferreting trip to French Island. And where had they first loosed their furry ferrety friends? No, it couldn’t be. Yes it was. They had selected the warren system out near that tent arrangement and their elite SAS-class ferrets had taken out all but one of our 35 rabbits.

The one question I had neglected to ask – and which none of the locals had seen fit to advise me about – was “Is there by chance an Annual Meeting of a Ferreting Society being held here over the next few weeks?”

John Van’s response to my phone call could be heard at the far end of the island and with some trepidation we packed up the gear into the huge trailer and took the leaky ferry back to the mainland. Not at all a happy experience, but one I’ll never forget.

How many people are we interviewing?

I recount the rabbit anecdote because I thought of it just last week when we were shooting some interviews at Denby’s new Red Hood Studio in Collingwood.

During the week before the first shoot, I spoke several times on the phone with the production coordinator and I specifically asked her if we were to shoot a single person interview or an interview with two people. I explained that we could easily set up for either situation but that we needed to know for sure because interviewing two people having a chat would require a very different set up. Absolutely one-person interview, she said, and repeated this each time I asked. I told her we had set up for the single interview but that the backdrop was not wide enough for two people so we would need quite some time to re-rig it for two people. No, it’s definitely a single interview.

OK, we set up for the single, knowing that the bloke being interviewed was only in Australia for a couple of days and that we only had access to him for two hours tops.

Come the morning of the shoot and everything’s meticulously in place. Camera and sound checks done we await the arrival of the interviewees and the gentleman who will be interviewing him. They’re late. Our two-hour window is shrinking to less than an hour.

They arrive and announce that it can’t possibly be done as a single interview, it absolutely has to be a chat between two people. Denby and I looked at each other and at the production coordinator and I tried to maintain my cool look even though my brain was screaming at me “How are you going to solve this one, David?”

I explained that we were not happy having to do this but that we had no option but to shoot the whole thing as a two-shot. They only had time for a single take so there wasn’t even time to do reverse questions, noddies and so on. In short we were put on the spot but we video’d the interview and it went beautifully. The two guys were energetic and articulate and in the end the clients were delighted with the result. Denby and I knew we could have done so much better if we’d rearranged the set for two guests and three cameras, but hey, they loved our work and paid the bill so who’s complaining?

I guess there are lessons to be learned from every shoot but the golden rule that emerged for me is that you can never ask too many questions. The problem in the case of the interviews was that the production coordinator – and this is in no way intended to sleight her – had never coordinated a video production before and so she didn’t have any way of appreciating the implications of my seemingly innocent question “Are we interviewing one person or two?” If there’s any blame to be laid it’s to me because I clearly hadn’t asked her how much video experience she’d had. I assumed she knew about video shoots and would have asked the guests what they needed. And as a notorious executive producer who need not be named (not John Van Den Beld) once instilled in me “David, if you ASSUME you make an ASS out of U and ME.” Another homely aphorism I’ll take to my grave.

Dr David Smith runs imaginACTION in Melbourne. www.imaginaction.net.au

Denby Smith manages Red Hood Studio in Collingwood.   redhoodstudio@yahoo.com.au

By David Smith

Dr David Smith is a physiologist-turned-film maker. David was Associate Producer of the IMAX feature Australia Land Beyond Time and was Senior Researcher on the ABC TV series Nature of Australia. He wrote and hosted David Smith's Earthwatch on ABCTV and was 'resident zoologist' on the Don Lane and Bert Newton Shows.

In 1987 David set up his company, imaginACTION pty ltd (www.imaginaction.net.au) and has sinced written, directed and/or filmed numerous documentaries and educational multimedia projects. He has also written six books, including two Penguin eco-thrillers. Over the past five years David has moved towards medical and health-related projects, including trauma surgery, schizophrenia and emergency medicine.

David is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts and a professional member of the AFI and has always been keen to share his knowledge, especially with young budding film makers. David can be contacted at david@imaginaction.net.au.