University staff member’s documentary to screen on TV3

University staff member’s documentary to screen on TV3

Peter Simpson of the University of Auckland’s Film, Television and Media Studies (FTVMS) Department will have his latest documentary, High School, screen on TV3 on Monday 11 November at 7:30pm.

The documentary, co-directed with Luke Wheeler, was filmed in 2012 in the classrooms and corridors of Long Bay College.

The one hour documentary is the first in a TV3 series called The Story examining aspects of New Zealand’s public infrastructure.

Using hand-held cameras Peter, the senior technician in the Department of Film, Television and Media Studies (FTVMS) and Luke, both recent graduates of the Departments Masters Screen programme, captured a years’ worth of grit and emotion from the staff and students.

Peter notes that there have been several documentaries made from the students’ point of view but very few that show what it is exactly a teacher does.

“Our thinking was let’s go and get into a school for a year and just follow some teachers and see if we can get an unbiased view.”

“It seems teachers actually do deeply care about their students and generally by-and-large they’re very passionate about the job. You have to be passionate about the job to be a good teacher because it really is all encompassing,” Peter says.

“It’s a calling I think and that’s kind of one of the reasons we wanted to do the documentary, everyone has an opinion on teachers and teaching but unless you have experienced what it's like to stand in front of 30 expectant students every hour on the hour you don't really know what it's like."

The project was not without its hurdles. The pair initially were thankful to secure the support of principal Russell Brooke and the schools board of trustees but then had to negotiate the need to maintain students’ privacy with the desire to provide an interesting fly-on-the-wall look at a typical New Zealand secondary school.

“It’s a pretty big thing to put yourself on camera because you’re teaching and you’re going to be on TV. It’s quite a vulnerable state and you open yourself up to criticism. We were very grateful to those who allowed us to film them.”

“It’s a Decile 10 school but as one of the teachers says kids are kids, it doesn’t matter where they come from they all have similar issues.”

Peter and Luke ended up with 200 hours of footage to cut down to an hour for broadcast.

“The observational style of the documentary means the whole thing might hinge on just a couple of moments and you never know when those moments will occur so you’ve got to have the camera running all the time capture them.”

Certain students were especially compelling to Peter during filming, notably the story of a student with a difficult past who was struggling to make NCEA level 1 and the realisation of his dreams which hinged upon him passing.

“It really does show the lengths teachers will go to educate kids. It also highlights the quandary they have, how much time can they commit to struggling students without disadvantaging those who otherwise might benefit more from that time.”

High School will broadcast on TV3 next Monday November 11th 2013 at 7.30pm.
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