DonOakley
- Camera
As an intrepid young cameraman for the National Film Unit, Don Oakley travelled to remote parts of New Zealand and brought to the screen scenes of the recently-rediscovered takahē, Opo the dolphin, and life in the backblocks. In a lengthy career, he also filmed in the studio and overseas, rising to be chief cameraman of the NFU.
Screenography
Biography
When Don Oakley joined the National Film Unit in September 1948, most of the unit's filming was for the Weekly Review. Items ranged from short news clips to full-reel documentaries. The first film Oakley shot was for one of the items in Weekly Review No. 392, released in March 1949. By the end of the year he had received his first screen credits as cameraman. Firstly for New Settlers (released as Weekly Review No. 414), a film showing the arrival and settling-in of displaced persons from Europe, and secondly for Golden Bay (released as Weekly Review No. 434), showing life in the district beyond the Takaka hill.
“We were advised by Southern Scenic Airways that to assure maximum co-operation from the whitebaiters at Martin's Bay we should take a bottle of whisky in for them. I did this and attach receipt. I would be pleased if you could arrange reimbursement of the amount - £1.17.6.”
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