Mouth Wide Open: A Journey in Film with Ted Coubray

Seven decades after he began shooting films, Ted Coubray got his close-up in Mouth Wide Open. The documentary emerged shortly after his death in late 1997. It captured the hive of filmmaking activity that was 1920s Aotearoa — and Coubray's role as a pioneering cameraman, who even directed his own movie (horse racing hit Carbine's Heritage). The arrival of synchronised sound upped film budgets considerably; Coubray was one of the first in Australasia to create his own sound camera. In this opening sequence, he demonstrates one of his many camera-related inventions. 

"...mouth wide open, struck with stupor, surprised beyond expression..."

– Reaction of French film pioneer George Méliès to the very first public screening of motion pictures, in December 1895

Key Cast & Crew

Ted (Edwin) Coubray

Subject

Annie Collins

Producer, Editor

Jonathan Dennis

Director, Interviewer

Howard Spry

Sound Recordist

Wayne Vinten

Camera

John Anderson

Field Director