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JohnHutchinson

  • Camera
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National Film Unit cameraman John Hutchinson was well known for his films of royal tours and rugby. An early highlight of his 20 years behind the camera was filming the fire that destroyed Ballantyne’s store in Christchurch, but he quite literally reached new heights with his thrilling short film Jetobatics (1959).

Image credit: Archives New Zealand, ref AAQT 6401 A39924

Screenography

Giants of the Past
1967 Camera Short film
Pictorial Parade No. 150 - Air Force Day 1964
1964 Camera Short film
Royal Return
1963 Camera Short film
From Indonesia to India
1962 Camera Short film
Royal Occasion
1962 Camera Short film

Biography

Enlisting in the Army while under age may be indicative of a longing for adventure, but the adventure that characterised the life of John Hutchinson was that of the motion picture cameraman. After being thrown out of the army he saw war service with the RNZAF. In 1946, at the age of 21, Hutchinson joined the National Film Unit.

Awards

1959 Edinburgh Film Festival
Diploma of Merit: Jetobatics

“Anywhere in the world Hutch would have been camera tops. But he stuck to New Zealand.”

— The Dominion, 30 September 1965

Related images

Kell-fowler-David-Fowler-and-John-Hutchinson-gallery-image.jpg
Kell Fowler is to the left of the cameras; David Fowler is (obscured) crouching by the tripods; John Hutchinson in the black suit, is standing to the right of the man in the white coat on the ground below the stand.
Archives New Zealand
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John Hutchinson on camera at Whenuapai in 1957 
RNZAF
NFU-profiles-gallery-image-3.jpg
NFU crew for the 1963 royal tour (from left): Kell Fowler, David Fowler, John Hutchinson, Graham Pomfret-Brown, unknown, unknown, unknown, Derek Wright, unknown, unknown.