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Title: TRAWLING IN THE DEEP

Reference number: 3308

Date: 1948c

Director: filmed by David Craig

Sound: silent

Original format: std. 8mm

Colour: col

Fiction: non-fiction

Running time: 37.23 mins

Description: Record of a fishing trip on the trawler 'Mary Craig' from the perspective of the skipper. Attention paid to technical aspects of the trade, weather conditions, instruments, traditional skills. Filmed over a number of journeys from the late 1940s to mid 1950s.

Shotlist: [Shotlisted from timecoded VHS copy]

pan over pipeline; man and woman making netting (0.51) men splitting cable; unloading cable from lorry; coiling cable on deck (1.52) Shot of trawler Mary Craig [A203] moving through Aberdeen harbour (2.38) c/u name "Mary Craig"; man climbs onto the boat; tracking shot of other traffic as Mary Craig leaves the harbour, shot of harbour mouth; brief shot gull against a blue sky (3.46) c/u compass; young man operating wheel; telegraph at "full"; c/u [echo sounder?] pen recorder readout; c/u equipment with four needle gauges (4.27) ms man checking gauge connected to rope paid out into water; ls coastline (4.47) men mending a large net and men repairing (adjusting?) a winch, intercut with brief shot men sharing a mug of tea; man tying end of net with a knot with two long loops, holds it up and grins (6.35) shots of net as it is lowered into the water; shots of top of net with round attachments disappears into the water; c/u operation, using a hook to lift a rope from the water and locking it against the boat; c/u two ropes/cables in water (8.47) man in oilskin and beret on deck, operating winch (9.14) ms lifting metal plate; net floating, filled with fish; crew using hooks, then winching the net on board; man unties the knot at the cod end, releasing the catch onto the deck; pan over variety of fish (10.48) men gutting and sorting fish into boxes, throwing the guts into baskets; c/u fish in boxes (11.28) another catch breaks the surface; men gutting and sorting; ms men gutting fish, man guts a large plaice [most men are wearing gloves and protective coats, some not] (12.46) men in blue protective coats hosing down fish as they are transferred between baskets; men clean fish under a jet of water in a large tank, using their long wader-like boots to move the fish; man cleaning fish individually (13.20) more fish are cleaned, tipping them into new baskets (13.53) larger fish are examined and passed through a hatch; baskets are handed down through the hatch to a man below (14.19) brief shot sky; trawler in rough weather; catch surfacing (15.04) large catch of similar fish emptied onto deck; men throwing fish towards other side of boat; c/u waves (15.45) blank, leader (15.57) sunrise over the sea, birds wheeling near the boat (16.23) sea water flowing over the sides of the boat in a rough sea (16.40) men sitting on the side of the boat are poured mugs of tea from a big kettle (17.20) c/u gull standing on the boat; gulls fight over fish guts in the water (17.46) five men mending the net; three men working on a second net (18.36) raising metal panel; shot showing catch rising up through the water (19.24) crew pull the net onto the boat; a loop is used to raise the net mechanically; c/u nets are opened; men working with the nets over the side (21.00) man holds up a large, dark grey fish; c/u mouth and teeth; ms fish bites steel cable [possibly a snapper] (21.22) men gutting fish (22.29) red sunset (22.26) catch on the surface; the catch is brought in and processed; brief shot man pouring fish guts into a can, holding them up for the camera (24.44) shots of boat pitching in heavy seas; shots of waves (26.28) ls cliffs of the coastline; gannets "divebombing" the water (27.21) net surfaces and is pulled onto the boat, everyone is involved; fish are emptied onto the deck and the nets put in to the sea again; fish are processed on deck; man holds up two large grey fish; fish are cleaned, and pass down a chute into a hatch (30.20) fish are thrown into the cleaning tank after gutting (30.38) shot over the foredeck; ls lighthouse; tracking shots of coast (31.06) tracking shots from trawler entering harbour; Aberdeen fish market (31.50) shot of man in wheelhouse (31.54) Mary Craig is moored, and baskets of fish unloaded, as corrugated sheets [used in storage?] are also brought up (32.39) ints. fish market; pan over many boxes of fish; more shots of unloading (33.37) gulls; ints. fish market, flooded with sunlight (33.45) gvs crowded auction; boxes of fish are marked with slips of paper; c/u auctioneer (35.03) boxes are loaded on carts and wheeled away; large fish are hooked under the gills and dragged to the buyer's lorry; ms lorry piled with fish; other lorries packed with boxes of fish (35.56) boxes are delivered directly to an open room in a factory; c/u fish are headed and filleted (36.37) shots of trawler "Grampian Glen" [A518] leaving Aberdeen harbour. The End. (37.23)