AV News 187 - February 2012
We worked together on a slide-tape programme called 'Who Can Deny Them
Tomorrow!' about Scotland, its inventors, its industries and its hardships. In
it is a wonderful and emotive magic moment created by Iain. The narrator is
detailing all the inventors who have emanated from Scotland.
The details are progressively shortened and the names speeded up, as
the music increases in pace and volume, until the voice is swamped by the
music! The feeling of pace and excitement generated is superb and gives
one the impression that there are thousands more of these incredible people
all evolving from this one small country. In reality we had run out of names at
this point! The programme won the 1985 National Championships.
Flushed with our success, Iain suggested I might be interested in
producing another programme with him. I agreed and some time later a
reel-to-reel tape dropped through my letterbox. At the start of the tape was
Iain's voice saying "Now you will be sitting in your studio in the evening - will
you do me a favour and draw the curtains and put out the lights - that's right
- put out the lights - go on humour me! This is an experience from my younger
days … and if you think that my voice in 'Who Can Deny Them Tomorrow'
was over the top just wait till you hear this!"
What followed would take three years to turn into a slide-tape programme.
It would involve joining forces with Walter Jones in producing the images. I
reduced Iain's original running time from 15 minutes to 8 minutes while
retaining his inspired concept of four interrelated sequences. The three of us
lived hundreds of miles apart and had to make the programme without
meeting together. Iain handed over complete production authority to Walter
and myself. At the 1990 Nationals the three of us sat together. Walter was
the only one who had seen the complete sequence. I had not seen the
majority of the images and Iain had seen neither images nor heard the final
tape! Iain was on tenterhooks waiting to see whether we had ruined his
original idea. I think we got the seal of approval, as his only comment, later
on, after it had been awarded a small prize, was that it should have come
first! One year later it won the RPS International Festival and has since gone
on the win a further three international events, the latest being the last IAC
International after conversion to the digital format.
As Walter wrote: "I have no doubt whatsoever that the real reason for the
success of the programme is the highly charged narration that Iain has
produced." The programme can be summed up as follows:He won his love: joy!
He lost his love : despair!
All he has left is philosophy: emptiness!
He never found anyone else.
Iain was first and foremost an ideas man with an intense passion for
audio-visual activities - sometimes a little too intense as a number of people
in our movement found out! I summed him up as a 'flawed genius' although
we got on very well and it is sad to think that we will no longer benefit from
his bountiful ideas and probing questions and observations.
Page 48