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Title: OUR SKIES ARE WIDE

Reference number: 7207

Date: 1952 / 1953

Director: [filmed by W.S. Dobson (Tertius)]

Sponsor: SYHA (Scottish Youth Hostel Association)

Sound: sound

Original format: 16mm

Colour: col

Fiction: non-fiction

Running time: 26.01 mins

Description: A promotional film made for the Scottish Youth Hostel Association (SYHA). Presents the range of outdoor activities enjoyed by hostellers, including hiking, cycling, horse riding, skiing, canoeing, yachting and socialising and dancing with fellow hostellers.

See also ref. 1886

Credits: Featuring Myra Bealby, Kathy Falconer, Marjorie Jack, Mary Robertson, Jan Shinkfield, Geof Robertson, Ian Thomson, Einar Wahlstrom, Tom Watson, Gideon Watt, Elliot Henderson, Sandy Johnstone, Gordon McFeeters

m.p.s. The Choir of James Gillespie's School for Girls, Edinburgh
cond. Tom Sommerville, Mus.B., F.R.C.O.

Titles by David Wilkie
sd. rec. Gilbert McDonald

Shotlist: title & credits overlaid on shots of hikers and mountain scenery (1.11) shots of hostel building, with Scottish Youth Hostel Association, SYHA, logo on gate (1.28) man and youth set out on hike (1.50) shots of landscape and hikers crossing a burn, consulting their map (2.33) shots of loch and hills (3.07) shots of river and forest (3.28) hikers walking through forest and glen (4.10) hikers rest and take photographs, play mouth organ (4.50) horse riders in distance (4.58) hikers set off, pass three women cyclists on road (5.29) cyclists going up hill towards large stone hostel (5.57) ext doorway of hostel with other cyclists (6.40) int shots of women cyclists checking in at hostel reception, getting bed-linen and supplies (7.25) group of horse-riders approaching hostel (7.41) int shots of hikers unpacking and settling in to dormitory, including joke about older man's holey socks (8.55) shots of horse riders arriving and dismounting (9.27) riders sorting saddles and horse-gear (9.51) grooming horses and scraping horseshoes (10.21) horses being fed and watered in field (10.31) meal preparation and shot of hostellers eating at table (10.48) shots of bearded man eating spaghetti with difficulty (11.03) more shots of hostellers eating at table, consulting maps (11.52) clearing tables, tidying up, washing floor, washing dishes (12.55) shots in communal room: piano player and couples dancing the 'Gay Gordons' (13.23) cu log fire (13.28) cu shots of dancers (13.51) shots of woman talking to group of young Chinese/Malaysian? men (14.07) woman playing cards (14.15) young couple chatting (14.29) [memory sequence:] shots of group of skiers unpacking equipment from 'Allan's' coach in car park (15.14) setting off up slopes, stopping for a rest, eating and chatting (16.47) cu shot of attaching skis, then shots of novice skiers falling (17.32) shots of good skiers at speed (17.43) subjective camera shot of skiing down slope (17.53) mid shots of skiers and clothing (18.06) more shots of good skiers down slopes at speed - [end of memory sequence] (18.33) back to int shots of couples country dancing in hostel (18.59) woman writing postcard (19.06) hiker 'playing' mouth organ and c/us of pianist (19.18) more shots of country dancing (20.09) bearded man talking to group of women (20.40) [memory sequence:] shots of men and boys canoeing in rapids (22.13) wider shot of canoes heading down river (22.30) beach scene, young boys paddling, small boats (22.37) old fisherman with creel (22.44) quayside and fishing boat 'Goodwill' (22.51) shots of small yachts in estuary (23.04) setting sail on small boat, tying up ropes, sailing on estuary (24.07) c/u shots of crew on small boat (24.18) shots of estuary and other boats, then heading back to shore (24.37) evening shots of boats tied up - [end of memory sequence] (24.57) back to shots of fireside sing-song in hostel (25.50) end title and SYHA logo overlaid on ext shot of hostel at night (26.01)