Sorry folks, 'fraid it's one of those 'down memory lane' pieces again. 34 years ago when I started working in a film cutting room the phrase 'technological change' was not often heard. Film had been around 70 years - it worked well, so why would it not be around another 70 years? The equipment we used to edit 16mm film, the Steenbeck editing table, Pic-sync and Incollatrici tape joiner, were built to last a lifetime. And we, somewhat naively, thought we would be using them for a lifetime.

I was an early traitor. I last edited in a film cutting room 14 years ago. I think a few of my colleagues in the BBC still managed to edit occasionally on film until 1995.

But the reputation of my freelance friend Stefan Ronowicz had enabled him to insist on only editing 16mm film projects using his 'film' cutting room well into 1999. However, even after editing the multi-award winning documentary 'The Valley', to use Stefan's words 'eventually the phone no longer rang'. Budgets could no longer afford the cost of film post production.. Time for Stefan to ring me and ask for my advice on a change to non-linear technology. To move the story forward, a few months later Stefan had a new Avid installed in the front room of his house and was editing away. And now the phone rang …. and rang…...

But one problem remained. Stefan would not get rid of his 2 beloved Steenbeck editing tables. The 6 plate machine was used as a rather large coffee table/ armrest at the side of the Avid, whilst the 4 plate was jammed underneath the table the new Avid was mounted on. How I cursed every time I had to try and crawl underneath that table to do any installation of more drives, etc. (Who else do you know that has over 300 Gb of storage for offline documentary editing?). All because Stefan was convinced that one day he would still cut again on film.

One day when I visited I noticed the 4 plate was lying in the hallway. What had caused this change of heart? Stefan had now found out that although productions may occasionally still shoot on negative, the old 16mm film sound route was a problem. Transfer suites and dubbing theatres had ditched 16mm magnetic film bays. This lack of 16mm magnetic film facilities effectively meant the Steenbeck was now finally redundant. We tried various colleges running film courses and second-hand dealers, including Arthur Daley, but no one was interested in taking it away.

The next time I turned up at Stefan's house the Steenbeck was lying forlornly in the front garden. It was a nostalgic sight. This machine had given more than 27 years reliable service to editing. Many editors would agree a Steenbeck had been the most important asset in a film cutting room.

Stefan's 4 plate Steenbeck was eventually taken to the council dump. It did not depart without a fight. An officious council employee refused to allow Stefan's vehicle into the dump because ' vans aren't allowed to bring waste here mate!'. Stefan produced his log book which showed that his vehicle was classed not as a van but as a minibus. He was grudging allowed entry and the Steenbeck was dropped into the crusher.

And the 6 plate? That's still doing duty as an extremely oversized coffee table and arm rest by the Avid. As Stefan says "Well, you never know, one day a production just might want to…..".

I wonder how long it will be before we find an Avid lying forlornly in a front garden? Or being dumped in a crusher?

Rod Longhurst,
Chairman, Avid Users Group,

Update February 2003. Stefan decided to finally part with his 6 plate and has now passed it on to Bill Billet. And as for a folrlorn Avid lying in a front garden, I do wonder how I am going to get rid of that old version 5 Avid lying upstairs in my spare bedroom...answered by Les Philby taking over ownership.