From skiing to fishing to power schemes ... you could say John Ball's film-making interests range far and wide.
But what the Pukawa man is always passionate about is telling the stories of the Turangi-Tongariro area through film.
He's continuing that passion at present, working on what he says will be "a social history" of the Tongariro Power Development.
It follows his previous two films, Ruapheu - A Tribute to Our Skiing Pioneers and The Angler's Paradise, a history of the Taupo trout fishery which he finished in 2009.
John says while many of the technical aspects, such as the dams and tunnels of the power scheme are well known, there is no history of the people who worked on the scheme.
"The monument that we have today is the result of the effort of thousands who were actually hands-on in the project."
It is, by extension, also a social history of the Turangi community because the town and the scheme were so closely intertwined, and many of the scheme workers joined service clubs, sports clubs and local organisations, while their spouses and families ran businesses and provided services such as nursing and teaching to the town.
"The same people made Turangi what it is today too."
John says with 28 years having elapsed since the last part of the scheme, the Rangipo Power Station, was opened now is a good time to record the workers' experiences.
"Although there are a lot of extremely good films about the Tongariro Power Development - I have four at my home at this time - future generations will want to know about who built it.
"The most common thing people say when I ask for more names, is 'oh, he's passed on'. There are still a lot alive though, and there's still a lot of people here that can tell a heck of a story."
John has had the idea of a film on the scheme for a long time, but the impetus to finally begin came after he got talking with Turangi local Kerry Scott who was involved with the project from the initial consulting and investigation work through to completion.
Because of that long involvement, Kerry was an ideal person to offer an overview of the project , John says.
"He was a great guy to pick on in that sense and very few [others] have had quite the length of term here, from the dropping of the seeds until the final switch was turned on at Rangipo in 1983."
John anticipates the film, which will use Kerry's experience as a starting point, will be between 30 and 40 minutes long. He hopes it will be the first chapter in a series of films, possibly looking at the social history of the power scheme and the people who worked on it, the immigrants' experience, the growth of Turangi and the contribution of Ngati Tuwharetoa.
He points to the fact that there were only three deaths during the 25 years of construction in often-dangerous conditions involving thousands of workers, as an example of "a culture of awareness and respect" between workers that prevailed in those pre-OSH days.
"Some say there was a culture of looking after each other. Some say you learned to look after yourself.
"I think industrial relations were relatively good during that 25 years, although there were a few little blips here and there. Everyone had a fair wage and was treated with dignity.
"Most people look at it as one of the good times in their life. But also there have been comments that there was an importance to their job, it was so important to the nation. So trying to explore that culture a little bit will be important."
John has already conducted several interviews for the film and spent days digging through the archives at Tokaanu Power Station as part of his research.
He'd like to have the film finished within six months, saying that although the film on the history of the Taupo fishery took 16 months' work, the Tongariro power development story only covers 25 years, the majority of the archive material is available in Turangi and most of the locations are within an hour's drive.
Making the films is a financial drain for John so he's thrilled he's been granted some funding through Creative Taupo, which goes part of the way towards covering his costs.
"The ultimate goal is to make a much more complete film of the power development."
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