Information
- BFI identifier19188
- Date1924 (Release)
- Production countryUnited Kingdom
- SynopsisACTUALITY. A rough cut of the documentary feature THE GREAT WHITE SILENCE (1924), with flash and scratch titles, documenting the British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott. Reel one: The expedition departs from New Zealand; the first icebergs; the pack ice; hunting seals; sailing through the ice. No title. People on jetty at Lyttelton, New Zealand, waving as the `Terra Nova' approaches (68). Closer shot of stern, with men on board looking out (77). Slow pan along ship to the prow, as it sails by (105). Scene in dockyard: large box (probably containing motor sledge) marked 'Birmingham, England' being lowered into the ship (132). Smaller boxes being lifted out of the hold (147). Ponies in wooden crates being hauled on board (191). Group of sailors on deck with pet rabbit 'Wilfred', then men walk away (212). Men on deck listening to gramphone, man playing banjo and another playing the bones, while a man in white dances. They applaud at the finish and he takes a bow (298). Second man (Anton) performs a Cossack-style dance to a mandolin (375). Two men on deck boxing, others watching. End of 'round' and their 'trainers' wave towels at them. The bout resumes, then ends (490). Two other men, both dressed comically (one with large posterior, one with large stomach), box on deck, then wrestle (514). 'Trainer' washes the face of one of them (543). CS Captain Scott standing beside man in boater and spectacles on bridge of ship (567). Face-on shot of Kathleen Scott, Captain Scott in centre and man with spectacles and boater (possibly Scott's agent J.J. Kinsey) on right, standing on the bridge (598). View through ship's rigging of people on jetty waving and the ship sails away (632). Men on deck waving and giving three cheers (648). View through rigging showing a crowded steamer following (658). View of another steamer following (665). Cruiser with flags signalling 'God Speed', and an excursion steamer (678). Men on deck waving (682). Men and dogs on deck (696). CS seamen at work on prow with ropes and anchor (729). Men and dogs on deck (742). CS sailor at wheel alongside the man with spectacles, now wearing a peaked cap (754). Two men on deck, one with sextant, one with notebook (773). Herbert Ponting among the dogs with his still camera (794). CS Dmitri, the dog driver, with two of the dogs, 'Osman' and 'Vida' (824). CS ponies in stalls (832). Still photograph of Oates with the ponies (839). Rennick giving Wilson a haircut on deck, then joined by Meares to also cut the hair (874). Oates giving Meares a crew-cut (903). View from stern of land (New Zealand) in distance as sunset (920). Line of men on deck hauling rope (948). View along deck as ship sails in rolling seas (1056). Full sails (1078). Seagulls in the sea (1107). Men on prow looking out at the first iceberg (1168). View of berg as they sail past, with men looking out (1204). Distant shot of iceberg (1235). CS iceberg (1258). Further shot of craggy iceberg (1277). Men leaning over rail of ship, with sea and pack-ice beyond. Camera pans from prow of ship (1316). View from close to the port side as the ship ploughs through an ice floe (1361). Still of the 'Terra Nova' viewed port side on, in heavy ice (1371). Still showing three men atop the sail of a mast looking out over a sea of ice (1381). Party of four (one of whom is Wilson) walking away from the ship at edge of ice, three of them carrying a rope (1394). CS men dragging seal carcasses across the ice to ship, where they are then hauled up by rope (1428). Seal carcass dragged by five men, who are joined by three others with another seal (1442). CS prow of the ship ploughing through sea and ice [with jump-cuts] (1482). Similar shot, but positioned higher up, showing prow above the ice, then tilting down to show the ice breaking (1579). Same camera position, but now showing open sea (1594). Still of Ponting on a plank jutting out from the ship to take the ice-breaking shots (1604). View from on deck looking past the backs of men's heads out to sea (1646). View from port side as the ship passes through ice floes (1687). Reel two: The Ross Ice Shelf; McMurdo Sound; landing at Cape Evans; ponies; motor sledges; cutting ice blocks; Mount Erebus; Herbert Ponting; seals. View out across sea and ice showing Ross Ice Shelf in distance (22). Closer shot of ice shelf, panning to right (with jump cut) to show the edge of the shelf at Cape Crozier and Mount Terror rising above it (38). Angled section of ice shelf (45). Three shots (with jump cuts) of the wall of ice (70). Model of Ross Island, showing Mount Terror and Mount Erebus (86). Rock cliffs of Cape Crozier (98). Panning shot across ice shelf, with mountain beyond (139). Further shot of the model of Ross Island, showing McMurdo Sound to the right (151). Hill rising above sea with sun in sky, camera panning right and left (161). Sun over ice shelf (183). View across sea to rock and snow of mountain beyond, panning right (202). Two similar shots (227). View down from prow as ship moves through sea freezing to ice, lit by the evening sun (260). Close view down at ice congealing into 'pancake' effect from moving ship (with jump cuts), to open sea, then more 'pancake' ice (312). Still of 'Terra Nova' beside a small iceberg (323). Still of Mount Erebus (338). Line of men pulling on a rope as a large container is hauled off the deck of the ship and onto the ice (359). Pony in crate is lowered down and led on to the ice (385). Line of white ponies on the ice, with one in foreground rolling around on the ground (417). Two men in full polar gear lead two ponies harnessed to sledges (436). Various shots of men with ponies and sledges, finishing with three men with ponies setting off into distance (478). Three ponies standing while two men pack a sledge and a third removes the cover from one of the ponies (512). Men and ponies going into distance, a whitened sky (525). Procession of men and ponies (530). Men with ponies and sledges approaching, 'Terra Nova' in far distance (546). Motor sledge with caterpillar track drives slowly past camera, led by P.O. Evans and driven by Day (572). Motor sledge driven by Lashly (585). Rear view of motor sledge hauling supplies (602). CS men and motor sledge, with expedition hut behind them (617). Man steps onto moving motor sledge (643). Rear view of motor sledge going past, led by man with rope (654). Man (Keohane?) leading motor sledge (677). Various shot of dogs pulling manned sledges, with 'Terra Nova' in far distance (708). Running dogs pulling manned sledges, 'Terra Nova' in distance (719). Dog team in far distance (729). Men cutting out blocks of ice with picks beside the 'Terra Nova' which they then slide along a plank onto the ship (799). Further scene of ice-cutting (831). Closer shot of ice blocks being loaded onto slipway (862). Men cutting up ice blocks, with the ship behind them (877). Men piling up briquettes in front of the largely completed hut (894). Wilson, Cherry-Garrard and Atkinson come out from the hut, turning their backs to the camera, looking at Mount Erebus in the distance; they look at the smoking volcano through binoculars; a fourth man joins them (994). Black (1001). Same action repeated, darker print - the men come out of the hut and turns their backs to admire the volcano (1047). CS sailor with black cat ('Nigger') in his arms (1069). Cat makes an attempt to jump through the sailor's looped arms (1073). It does so (1083). And again (1089). Herbert Ponting hauling his sledge over a ridge of snow. He puts down his skis and takes off his belt (1121). Ponting approaches again, going through the same action, then setting up his tripod and placing the motion picture camera upon it (1161). CS Ponting with camera. He opens the side to show the mechanism and the film magazines within. He takes off two sets of gloves and starts to turn both handle and panning handle (1213). Weddell seals lying on the ice (1232). More basking seals, with rock face behind them (1250). Seal on ice by sea's edge (1253). Various shots of seals diving into ice holes (1288). Another seal avoids ice hole (1305). Seal's head pops up from water and it starts to clamber up on to the ice (1332). After a struggle the seal succeeeds in clambering on to the ice (1387). Various shots of seals on the ice and slipping into the sea (1429). Closer shot of a seal (1439). Seal resting amid rocks at sea's edge (1511). Seal manouvres itself over rocks to get to the sea (1543). CS seal on rocks, turns round and goes back (1583). CS seal on rocks, moves towards the camera (1596). Group of adult seals and pups on ice (1661). Pup suckling (1705). Three seals on ice (1714). Mother seal and pup (1735). Mother seal sets off across ice and pup follows (1746). Mother and pup (1753). Various similar shots of mother seal with twin pups (1791). Reel three: Seals; unloading equipment; Killer whales; the Southern Party; the Antarctic winter; football; ice formations; dogs; ponies; skuas. Face-on view of seal climbing out of hole in ice (69). Seal in ice hole rubbing the ice with its snout; pan left to pup, trying to clamber out (99). CS mother climbing onto ice, followed by pup (110). Reverse view of pup (149). Mother and pup as mother goes back into the water (153). Various shots of seals looking out of ice holes (278). Seal shoots out of the water onto the ice (296). Seal enters ice hole (315). Two seals menacing one another with open mouths (330). Sledges and equipment being unloaded from the 'Terra Nova' onto the ice (364). Men and equipment on the ice beside the ship (381). More equipment being unloaded (387). Men loading equipment onto a sledge (434). CS front of sledge with a mileometer wheel attached (457). Two Killer Whales, one in far distance (513). Another Killer Whale (535). A pack of Killer Whales (554). LS ice sheet with a seal at its edge; the seal slips into the water while a Killer Whale swims nearby (571). Same scene, with one seal on the ice and one in the water. The first seal slips into the water. Killer Whales swim nearby (582). Harpoon is fired from the ship to the left of the camera position, towards a surfacing Killer Whale (583). Killer Whale at ice edge dives (589). Closer shot of Killer whale surfacing near ice edge, then diving (595). View over ice and sea of Cape Barne at sunset showing the effect of 'frost smoke' (613). Another view of this with the sun lower (624). The 'Terra Nova' at sea, about to sail way, with ice shelf in distance. Boat being rowed midway between ship and land (641). Group shot of most of the Southern party. Panning from left: Lashly, Day, Oates, Wilson (Nelson and Lieut. Evans obscured behind him), Scott (holding a ski stick), in a group Bowers, Atkinson, Wright, Simpson, then Cherry-Garrard, Meares and Taylor. Camera pans back right over group, then further right to show Atkinson, Oates, Debenham (with Day behind him), Gran, Nelson, Hooper with Anton on his back, Keohane, Dmitri, Crean, P.O. Evans and Lashly. Several of them men clown around and move position [Missing from the group are Forde (apparently, though he appears in the still photographs that were taken), Clissold (who was sick) and Ponting (taking the film)] (692). Model shot of Mount Erebus with light dimming into darkness (718). Still of ice-cliffs (727). Still of Scott seated in his room (741). Still of Evans looking through a telescope (748). Four stills of clouds formations (791). Line of men coming out of the snow-covered hut to play a game of football go past the camera one by one: Debenham, ?Simpson, ?Nelson, ?Meares, Oates (moves to left not in procession), Wilson, Bowers, Taylor, ?Atkinson, Hooper, ?Day, Lieut. Evans, Gran, Cherry-Garrard, Lashly, Crean, Dmitri, P.O. Evans, Keohane, and finishing with Scott who carries the ball (834). Scott kicks off for the game. Various shots of football match played on the ice (903). LS nine men on skis, on level snow, approaching the camera (924). A cavern in the ice, with two men (Taylor and Wright) at the base of it (942). Same cavern, only larger, viewed from the outside with the two men within (963). Closer shot of cavern, with Taylor and Wright scaling the outside slope to the right of it (977). Taylor and Wright standing atop the cavern, camera tilting up to the top of the ice formation (989). Main shot of ice cavern, with the two men on the ground (1002). Cavern with the two men to the right at the base of the slope; camera tilts upwards (1015). The men standing at the top of the slope (1033). Still taken from interior of cavern looking out (1052). Still of collapsed berg (1066). Still of 'Matterhorn' berg with Clissold standing on top of it (1080). Still of Castle berg (1094). Second still of Castle berg (1111). Various shots of the expedition's dogs (1153). Dmitri throws pieces of meat out of a box to the tethered dogs (1209). Two of the dogs fight and man tries to separate them (1217). Two dogs are led away (1226). Various shots of dog teams being attached to sledges and setting off across the ice, with Scott at the head of one of the dog teams (1345). Dog team lying down, then all get up, pan to men standing around sledge (1356). Pony ('Nobby') being led out of the hut by Wilson, shown to the camera and fed by him (1368). CS Wilson and pony, joined by Scott who pats the pony (1389). Bowers leads out another pony ('Victor') from the hut and stops before the camera (1411). P.O. Evans leads his pony ('Snatcher') from the hut to the camera position (1423). Pan shot of the hut, with skiing and other equipment standing outside; man with pipe standing beside hut; another man leads out another of the ponies (1457). From same camera position, two further ponies are led out (1472). LS hut to left of picture, with men leading ponies away from it towards the camera, walking the ponies for exercise; some of the ponies roll on the ground (1519). Skuas by sea's edge, pecking on a fish (1544). Skuas splashing in the water (1583). Skuas feeding on a seal carcass (1601). Skua with two eggs in a hollow on the beach - it takes a long time to settle down on them (1665). The skua settles itself on the eggs (1687). Reel four: Skuas; penguins at Cape Royds; Ponting photographing penguins; skuas stealing penguin eggs; penguin chicks. Various close shots of skua egg hatching (78). CS chick by egg as that hatches (92). Two chicks together, eventually one runs off (130). CS two chicks, one just hatched (153). Various shots of skuas with chicks (242). Colony of Adélie penguins on rocks at Cape Royds, with mountain in distance (278). Various shots of penguins on rocks (349). Still of 'Glad Eye' penguin (358). Still of 'Stony Stare' penguin (367). CS two penguins, with one laying stones at the feet of the other, who walks away, then comes back (394). CS two penguins, one picking up stones for the other, which then sits on the nest (419). Various shots of nesting penguins (591). Penguin lifts its head back and flaps its wings (595). Group of penguins (598). Female penguins with heads lifted back and flapping their wings (615). Various shots of nesting penguins (653). Two penguins fighting amid a group (664). More nesting penguins (687). One penguin pecks at the back of another as it nests (714). Two penguins fighting, others squawking at them, then one of the fighting penguins leaves (727). Penguin colony, with tent in snow in background, Herbert Ponting walking through the penguins carrying a still camera. Some of the penguins peck at him and he brushes them away, then looks through the viewfinder (775). Ponting with still camera (781). Ponting kneels among nesting penguins, rubbing one of them on its back; the penguins runs off, and Ponting picks up one of the eggs (819). LS over ice sheet with three men and a group of penguins running two and fro (835). Penguins runs to and fro as the men run round them. They come towards the camera, then run away (881). Penguins running and sliding on the ice, followed by a man, the 'Terra Nova' in the distance (897). CS penguins in snow (922). Men chasing penguins across ice (928). Still of two penguins (936). Various shots of skuas stealing eggs from penguin nests (981). Penguin colony, with a penguin apparently searching for its missing egg (997). Same shot, but with egg in the nest - a penguin touches the egg with its beak, then walks away with a stone in its beak. Skua flies down and steals the egg (1030). Two exposed eggs (1033). Skua steals an egg (1036). Colony of penguins at Cape Royds in the snow after a blizzard (1065). Panning shot of nesting penguins in the snow (1084). Further shots of penguins in the snow (1143). Various shots of penguins' heads emerging from the snow (1254). Various shots of penguins attending to their chicks (1466). Young penguin almost fully grown but still downy (1484). Another such penguin, which walks off (1509). Various shots of groups of penguins (1596). Four three-week old chicks surounded by three adults (1609). An adult goes to and fro past the four chicks, chasing away another adult (1638). Group of penguins on rocks, being driven on by two men mostly out of shot; pan right to sea (1662). MLS penguins popping in and out of the water at ice edge (1673). Various shots of a group of penguins on rocks with sea and an iceberg in the distance (1750). Reel five: Departure of the Polar party with support teams; the Polar party demonstrate sledge hauling; return of the first support team; the Polar party demonstrate putting up a tent and life inside; reject scenes - digging an ice cave, securing water samples from open sea and below the ice, Captain Scott, examining penguin and seal carcasses. Continuation of final shot from previous reel, with jump-cuts (95). Three men, each with a pony and a sledge, in wintry conditions. Camera pans right as each in turn moves off (117). Single man with pony and sledge (124). Rear view of three sets of man, pony and sledge heading off into the white distance (the Polar Party and support teams), getting progressively smaller. Fade (155). Model of Mount Erebus with four tiny, animated sledges moving in a line from the base of the volcano (167). Rear view of party of four, each with sledge and pony, heading off into the distance, the final sledge with a second man walking alongside (171). Scott (nearest camera) and Wilson with three ponies and a sledge. Scott folds one of the ponies' jackets (190). LS with mountain in background, ice cliff to the right, as group of four men manhauling a sledge approach the camera [sequences 190-492ft staged beforehand for the camera] (248). Closer shot of the four - Scott (left) and Wilson (right) the pair in front, Evans (left) and Crean (right) the pair behind - pulling laden sledge past the camera. Three of them stumble (273). LS party walking towards camera (343). The four men pass by the camera, hauling a sledge (361). The four men pulling sledge late in the day (long shadows, dark image), walking past camera (376). The four men on skis, ice cliffs behind them, walking from a position in the distance towards the camera. They continue past the camera, which pans to a rock outcrop ahead (416). Three men (representing one of the support parties) manhauling a sledge go past, stop, and start to unload by some rocks, piling up the boxes (which all advertise 'Colman's') (478). Continuation of action, but much darker, as one man puts up a plain flag to mark the depot (492). Rear view of four men (the returning First Support Party) pulling a sledge with sail across an uneven snowfield into the distance, up a slope, and then out of shot to the left (554). Four men with sledge and sail walk from mid-distance (level white, with low rock outcrop in centre) towards camera, using ski sticks but not skis (598). The four men stand in a row before their sledge and pose for the camera: Atkinson, Cherry-Garrard, Keohane and Wright (615). [Section 615-1167ft staged beforehand for the camera] Return to scenes of Scott, Wilson, Evans and Crean pulling their sledge. They stop, unharness themselves, sticks their skis in the ground, then lay the floor on the tent on the ice and weight it down with baggages. They put up the tent poles and pull the tent over the top; Scott picks up a block of snow. They lay blocks of snow around the edges of the tent, then put cooking pots and other materials into the tent (766). Three of them tie up the remainder onto the sledge, then enter the tent, brushing the snow off their boots first. The tent door is shut (802). Four men seated in tent - from left to right, Evans, Bowers [instead of Crean who features in exterior sequence only], Wilson, Scott, with Evans preparing to cook. They change their footgear and hang up their socks, while Evans prepares the primus stove and places a large pot upon it (884). Evans pours the hoosh out into large mugs, which are handed out. They eat the hoosh with spoons (940). They put away the dining gear [jump-cuts] and roll out their sleeping bags, getting into them - left to right: Evans, Scott, Bowers and Wilson. Evans does some sewing, Scott has a pipe, Wilson writes in a notebook. They settle down to sleep (1067). They come out of the tent [with Crean instead of Bowers], take it down, and pack up the sledge, loading the skis on top (1167). [Reject scenes:] Two men carving a small ice cave with picks, and cleaning out the snow with shovels (1247). Rennick and Lillie on the 'Terra Nova' lowering apparatus into the sea for taking soundings and securing water samples from the bottom of the sea (1279). They examine the apparatus, revolving it (1297). View across bay at Cape Evans, with tents on beach, small group of men by rowing boat, camera pans left to show 'Terra Nova' anchored off-shore (1306). LS view of hut with stores piled up outside, and ponies standing to the right. Some men with dogs go past, down the slope to the camp by the sea's edge (1328). Man digging out the small ice shelter, shovelling ice into a container (1348). MLS smoke rising from Mount Erebus (1354). CS Scott posing for the camera, carrying a stick and looking out across the ice (1359). MS Scott walking towards the camera (1370). Pan shot of mountains taken from the 'Terra Nova' (1380). Nelson kneeling on ice, with apparatus to be lowered into a hole in the ice. He takes off a small water bottle (1395). View from opposite angle, as he lowers the apparatus into the ice (1413). Rear view of Nelson seated on sledge, turning handles to pull up the apparatus (1431). CS Nelson kneeling and examining canister, before making notes in notebook (1460). VLS view of ice shelf (1461). Dissolve from brief still of Clissold, the cook, to still of the polar party at a meal in their hut during the winter (1462). Wilson and Cherry-Garrard (left, with glasses) on the deck of the ship with bird carcasses, Cherry-Garrard holding up the skin of a penguin (1488). Wilson on ice with a seal carcass, which he proceeds to skin (1516). Standing at a flensing-table, Wilson sharpens his knife, then starts to strip away the blubber from the sealskin (1530). Similar shot from a different angle (1551). Very dark shot of a sunset at sea, taken from the 'Terra Nova' (1587). Note 1: This is a rough cut of the 1924 feature film release, THE GREAT WHITE SILENCE. The order of scenes is generally that of the finished film, with a section of scenes that were dropped entirely held at the end of reel 5, 1167-1587ft. Scenes in the main body of the film are generally longer, with extra shots and occasionally extra whole sequences missing from the finished film. There are also flash titles (two different designs) which mostly match those used in THE GREAT WHITE SILENCE, and a few scratch titles. Apart from the latter half of reel 5, the most significant scenes that do not appear in the finished film are: from reel two, further scenes of ponies and sledges, further scenes of the motor sledges, the whole ice-blocks sequence, more of the men admiring Mount Erebus, Herbert Ponting opening his camera, further seal shots; from reel three, the complete Southern Party featured in the group shot rather than just the first panning shot, the complete procession of men going to play football, further scenes of ponies, and of skuas; from reel four, further penguin scenes, skuas stealing eggs. The film contains nothing of the titles and still photographs documenting the journey to the Pole itself and the return, which are in the finished film. A fuller description of the rough cut with all intertitles is held in the NFTVA's Antarctic file. Note 2: Herbert Ponting was photographer to the British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, which was led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott. The expedition left New Zealand on 29 November 1910; it reached land (Cape Evans) on 4 January 1911; the Polar Party set out on 31 October 1911 and reached the South Pole 18 January 1912. Ponting filmed the expedition up to the departure of the Polar Party, which he filmed up to Safety Camp on 3 November 1911. He remained filming and photographing Anarctic wildlife until March 1912, when he returned home on the Terra Nova. His film was originally released in a 2,000ft version as WITH CAPTAIN SCOTT, R.N., TO THE SOUTH POLE (made from film returned to Britain in May) in November 1911, then with a second installment (in two 1,500ft parts) in September/October 1912. The films were released in the USA in 1913 after the news of Scott's death as THE UNDYING STORY OF CAPTAIN SCOTT and ANIMAL LIFE IN THE ANTARCTIC. The films do not exist in these original formats. In 1914 Ponting bought all rights to the film, and lectured with the film for a number of years. The footage was then re-edited for release as a feature in 1924 under the title THE GREAT WHITE SILENCE. This was then re-edited as a sound feature in 1933 under the title 90° SOUTH and again in 1936 as THE STORY OF CAPTAIN SCOTT. The NFTVA holds all three feature film versions, as well as the rough cut shotlisted above. References: H.J.P. Arnold, Photographer of the World: The Biography of Herbert Ponting (1969) Herbert Ponting, The Great White South; or, With Scott in the Antarctic (1921) Ann Savours (ed.), Scott's Last Voyage: Through the Antarctic Camera of Herbert Ponting (1974) Robert Falcon Scott, Scott's Last Expedition: The Journals (1913) (Shotlist)
- Work historyRough cut of THE GREAT WHITE SILENCE (1924)
- SubjectAntarctica
Cape Crozier
Ross Island
Cape Royds
Ross Ice Shelf
McMurdo Sound
Expeditions
Water sampling
Pack Ice
Ice Sounding
Snow
Icebergs
Skua gulls
Adélie penguins
Killer whales
Weddell seals
Ice Breaking
Siberian ponies
Sledge Dogs
Motor sledges
Sledge hauling
Camera operators
Football
Skiing
Tents
Animal skins
Mount Erebus
Mount Terror
Cats
Volcanoes
Adelaide
Cats
Hairdressing
Ponies
Mountains
Siberia
Penguins
Research ships
Water - Credits
- Cast
Title
British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913 (Archive)
Category
Non Fiction- +British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913
Work - 19188 - 1924 (Release)
United Kingdom - Film - Non Fiction
Hierarchy Display