This amateur instructional film, with a staged scenario involving a film scriptwriter and toothache, is one of several made on small-gauge film by the Newcastle & District Amateur Cinematographers Association (ACA) as an introduction for new members, and probably as a filmmaking exercise itself. Title: Filming the Story A man walks into a sitting room decorated and furnished in a late 50s or early 1960s style, featuring a mid-century modern glass four-arm chandelier ceiling light. He...

This amateur instructional film, with a staged scenario involving a film scriptwriter and toothache, is one of several made on small-gauge film by the Newcastle & District Amateur Cinematographers Association (ACA) as an introduction for new members, and probably as a filmmaking exercise itself. Title: Filming the Story A man walks into a sitting room decorated and furnished in a late 50s or early 1960s style, featuring a mid-century modern glass four-arm chandelier ceiling light. He sits on the sofa and begins to write a film script, its title “The Hollow Tooth”. He ponders a moment and begins to write down the opening shots. In the kitchen, his wife makes a pot of tea and carries it in to him. Obviously time passes, the wife again in the kitchen making another pot of tea. The man is still writing his script. She brings him another cup of tea. Meanwhile, the man is examining an ornamental box on the fireplace mantelpiece, the wall decorated with faux wood wallpaper. He then walks to the G-Plan sideboard, on which a kitsch 50s ceramic lamp stands, and picks up a small trophy. These scenes are repeated. Next, he is dealing playing cards to his wife at the dining room table. They look at their hands and start to play a game. Close-up of a hand-drawn camera set up for a film shoot, with positions of the cameras marked in relation to the subject. A pen points out the cameras on paper. Low angle portrait shot of his wife, followed by a profile shot. Then, there’s a shot of the man looking surprised. Close-up of the script with shots listed up to No. 8, a medium long shot (MLS). The man continues to write. He closes his eyes to visualise the script. The man is seated on an armchair, his head now wrapped in a scarf. He holds his hand to his cheek. His wife walks in, grinning. He shakes his head when asked a question. She makes another suggestion, gesturing with her hand. He shakes his head vigorously, then grimaces and clutches the side of his cheek again. Toothache? The man nods his head and she leaves. He bites his fingernails in thought. In the kitchen, his wife retrieves some pliers from a drawer. He waits, in pain. She arrives and walks towards him with the pliers to pull his tooth. He flinches and moves away. She shakes her head, exasperated. He walks upstairs, still clutching his cheek. He sits down in a Lloyd Loom chair in the bedroom. He pulls some string out of his pocket, ties the string to his tooth, and the other end around a coin. He then dangles the string from the bedroom window, sits down again and waits, his eyes closed in expectation. Outside, on the 1960s housing estate, a Morris Traveller parked in the drive next door, three lads are walking by. They spot the coin dangling from the bedroom window. Close-up of the coin at the end of the string. They rush over to the house and begin to jump up to try to reach the coin. The man with the toothache is still waiting, his mouth wide open. The coin is just out of reach of the boys. Inside, the man is clutching the arms of the chair tightly. One of the boys takes a run at the string, leaps up and finally manages to grab the coin. There’s a quick cut to the man leaping out of the chair. Outside, the boys react to the noise. The string is still attached to the man’s tooth. The tooth remains in place. He shakes his head, rubbing his cheek. Outside, the boys scarper, scared off by the man’s scream. The film then cuts back to the script where shot No. 30 has been written. The man writes “The End”. The script complete, the man gets up to leave the room. Title: The End