Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This clip shows preparations being made for an outback safari adventure. The opening scene shows two women placing an assortment of equipment and food provisions on the front lawn of their Perth home, accompanied by soft background music and the sound of kookaburras laughing. The narrator, Keith Adams, explains that the supplies are needed for a safari across 'rough and isolated country’. Adams introduces his wife Audrey, sister Margaret and pet dog Tiger as his fellow safari team members.

Educational value points

• The clip is taken from the documentary Northern Safari (1955) made by Keith Adams (1926–), diesel engineer, part-time professional crocodile hunter and adventurer. This home movie records a trip he made with his wife, sister and pet dog from Perth, Western Australia, following the camel trails across the Gibson Desert to the top end of the Northern Territory.

• Home movies provide an important source of social history and, in the case of this film, natural history, because they record life at a particular place and time. They illustrate examples of clothes worn, transport, food, buildings and people’s social and cultural habits at the time the footage was shot. Northern Safari contains the only footage of a crossing of the Gibson Desert in the 1950s and of life in the outback at that time.

• Home movies are usually made to entertain family and friends. The motivation for this home movie, according to its producer, was the disbelief of Adams’s friends about his adventures in the outback. 'I used to tell people about my adventures in the outback and they just wouldn’t believe me, so I decided to take the movie [camera] along on this trip just to show them what it was like’ (www.mediaman.com.au).

• Keith Adams used a handheld 16-mm camera while filming this documentary and his commentary style is informal and friendly. A sense of familiarity is created when he introduces himself and his travelling companions, with each of them shown posing and smiling for the camera. Adams creates interest, tension and humour when he describes the safari vehicle as 'basically unsuitable’ and the dingy as being unable to float if filled with water.

• During the clip Adams presents his fox terrier Tiger as an important member of the safari team. Tiger’s appearance on screen is accompanied by a cheerful soundtrack and Adams describes him as 'remarkable and fearless’. The footage of Tiger adds to the sense of adventure and excitement and adds light-heartedness and warmth to the clip.

• Since the documentary was made in 1955 the type of equipment required to undertake such an expedition has changed dramatically. The 1948 Buick used as their safari vehicle would generally now be replaced with a more suitable four-wheel drive vehicle, the boat would be made of more lightweight, buoyant materials, and appropriate back-up and radio would be standard equipment.

• Northern Safari is widely considered to be the first of this sort of travel film. It would be another 20 years before Australia’s first television travel program, hosted by Bill Peach, was made. The Leyland Brothers, who employed a similar style to Keith Adams, followed this in 1976. The pair of brothers travelled with their wives Margaret and Laraine, recording their day-to-day adventures, visiting places as requested by the viewing audience.

• After the film was completed, Adams spent 30 years travelling and showing the documentary in Australia, the USA, Canada, the UK, South Africa, Rhodesia and New Zealand. The film was well received and he became a millionaire as a result.

This clip starts approximately 8 minutes into the documentary.

The Adams family are laying equipment for their journey on their front lawn.
Keith Adams The items displayed are part of the equipment for this safari and, as the journey will be over some of the roughest and most isolated country in the world, it is essential that only necessities be taken.

We see groceries, a camera and lenses, guns, rope, a trailer and an overturned boat.
Keith Adams The boat is made from 5mm marine plywood, riveted to an aluminium frame. It is a craft that should be condemned for it has no buoyancy tanks and it will not even float if filled with water. Its length is less than 3.5 metres.

The Buick is parked and gleaming on the lawn. We are individually introduced to the safari crew, including Tiger, the dog.
Keith Adams The safari car is almost vintage and is basically unsuitable. It is a 1948 Buick, fitted with a diesel engine, extra springs and large tyres. The only participants for this safari are: my wife Audrey; my sister Margaret; your narrator and producer, Keith Adams. The only other member is our little mate, Tiger, a remarkable and fearless animal forever prepared to do battle. Tiger is a pedigree fox terrier and we think that you will agree, after viewing this film, that he deserves amongst the famous of the canine family.

Tiger barks at kookaburras, laughing in the treetops.