Paul CHATTINGTON Obituary

Paul was always one of the nicest men to work with, and always good for a chat, i met him in his later years when we worked together on the rugby, it is always a sad day when a colleague passes away, especially such a likeable person that Chatts was, i will always remember that kind face and warm smile.

Paul and I had worked together off and on over the last 30 years and as I remember him today it is as a craftsman as well as a friend .

As a documentary maker I rely on the skills of my crew who not only have to be technical experts but have warm personalities in order to make the people we are filming as relaxed as possible in front of the camera.

Soundees - have to be particularly good with people because they often have to fit microphones on interviewees. It can be a bit of an invasive process feeding wires through people´s clothing but Chats had such good humour and such an easy going manner I can´t recall anyone ever being embarrassed by the process.

He was such a professional.

I recall interviewing a subject on a busy street corner one day with traffic constantly going passed. I´d look at Paul every time a car or motorbike went by trying to catch his eye to see if the noise of the engines were drowning out our conversation. But he just kept looking at the dials on his recorder and never at me.

So eventually I stopped the interview and said to him
"Chats is this too noisy should we go somewhere else?"

He looked up from his dials clearly a bit miffed that I had stopped .. (as if I could possibly doubt him )... and said

"No No.. I´ll tell you when it´s no good. Carry on! Carry on!"

Well I don´t know what microphone he was using that day but I can tell you that when we got that interview on the editing bench the sound was so perfect that if you weren´t watching the pictures you wouldn´t have known there was any traffic on the road that day.

In March of this year Paul sent me a copy of an enchanting story he had written for his grand -children about a little girl called Bella and a talking Dragon she encourages to come out of the cave where he has been sleeping for the last 100 years and take a job in bakery warming the pies with his fiery breath.

At the end of the story he had attached a photo of himself as a small boy in a pedal car.

Chatts - there was always something innocent, genuine and good about you .

I will miss you.
Bryan

Sincere condolences to the Chattington family.
After many years of having Paul tutor the new comers in on set sound and boom skills, he became a long time friend and supporter of The Film School.
I will miss you Paul.
Mark

It was always good to work with you Paul and always entertaining. Condolences to the Chattington family.

To Judith and family. I am so very sad to hear of Paul´s passing. It was wonderful finding out that he was your husband Judith, as I had not seen Paul since Wainuiomata college days and it was so neat to catch up again.
My thoughts and love are with you all.
Michelle

Sincere condolonces to the Chattington whanau. It's been a long while since Chatts and I touched based (apart from the odd Hi! at rugby games), but you should know that he's fondly remembered as a colleague and co-conspirator on many film drama shoots. I've been scouring my archive of slides, and here's one of Paul circa 1986 on the set of The Fire Raiser, a kids drama we shot on the old Close to Home set. He was the boom operator on what seemed an endless run of night shoots. And now the run is really over. RIP old boy. J

Judith and the Family, our thoughts are with you at this sad time.

So sorry to hear about Paul. I have fond memories of travelling together on many film trips around the country. My thoughts are with your family at this sad time.

My sincere condolences on the loss of a real legend, both professionally and personally. Paul will be remembered not only for his undeniable audio talents, but also for his genuine concern and regard for his fellow man. Rest in peace dear Chatts. You will be sadly missed by many.

Very sorry to hear about Chats. Lots of love and prayers to the family