This clip chosen to be PG
Clip description
This clip re-creates the early days of mining in Australia, when contract workers laboured for long hours underground in dangerous conditions. In sunny scenes above ground filmed in colour, a group of contractors walk to the mine with their equipment. The pits below ground are filmed in black-and-white. As if to illustrate the safety hazards, fire breaks out and the roof caves in. Two workers haul an injured miner up to the surface.
Curator’s notes
The filmmakers vividly capture in monochrome the claustrophobia of the confined spaces down the coal pits. The pit horse represents older mining methods, but also has a dramatic purpose. Its distressed whinnying on the soundtrack and the close-up of it charging through the tunnels emphasises the dangerous conditions below ground.
The narration, read commandingly by Leonard Teale, is initially from the point-of-view of a miner, with the use of 'our’ and 'we’ helping to draw in the viewer. Later, it shifts to the impersonal documentary voice-over that was more common at the time. The phrases 'branch off to the left, branch off to the right’ and 'take it out fast and cheap’ are repeated like a poetic refrain and reprised in clip two.
Thanks to the generosity of the rights holders, we are able to offer The early days of coal mining from the sponsored film Hewers of Coal as a high quality video download.
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This clip is available in the following configurations:
| File name | Size | Quality | Suitability |
|
hewersco1_pr.mp4
|
Large: 19.3MB |
High |
Optimised for full-screen display on a fast computer. |
|
hewersco1_bb.mp4
|
Medium: 9.1MB |
Medium |
Can be displayed full screen. Also suitable for video iPods. |
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australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.
All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.
When you access australianscreen you agree that:
- You may retrieve materials for information only.
- You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
- You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
- The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.
All other rights reserved.
ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.
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