The Open Competition ... a Feast of Filming!
20th June 2013
... these trains, which look like OO Gauge, are in fact full size, taken from the top of The Shard!
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While these are large model trains from a Garden Open Day film ...
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We have been a little concerned in recent competitions that club members were submitting fewer films for the judgement of their fellows!
Imagine our pleasure when we found that there were to be no fewer than ten films for this Open Evening ... so many that we could not fit them all in before the tea-break ... and therefore our John P would not be able to work out the results until the next meeting! (He usually sacrifices his tea-break to do the Maths - which isn't right anyway!
Imagine our pleasure when we found that there were to be no fewer than ten films for this Open Evening ... so many that we could not fit them all in before the tea-break ... and therefore our John P would not be able to work out the results until the next meeting! (He usually sacrifices his tea-break to do the Maths - which isn't right anyway!
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For the few of our members who were not able to attend last Thursday's meeting, you really did miss a treat. These events are generally competitions, of course, but it seemed to me, at times, that there was so much which was a great pleasure to watch that the results will only really be a side issue!
There were two films from Dave, both on fast and furious activity - one through a sort of mud & water assault course, the other through the rapids of the Olympic White Water stadium. The stills may be blurred, but they're great action shots I think! John A gave us a quick tour of The Shard ... and of course the shots from the top are stunning! From Ian we had 'A Day in Venice', shot in 2008, just pre-hi-def, but that was hardly noticeable in that wonderful Italian light ... Penny filmed a day with her family outing to be with some delightful Meerkats ... and it was given extra humour by her 'team' acting as Johnny Morris-type voices for these amazingly attractive & friendly creatures. We were privileged to see from John P his 'Farewell to Pam' ... very much a family film really, taken in very stormy conditions ... the scattering of ashes from an RNLI lifeboat. (There is a still from the film below ... under January!) Stephen (that's me) showed his blank verse tribute to the Wordsworths and Westminster Bridge. Edward showed our controversial 'Burying My Dad' ... which was much enjoyed by most I think ... and also met again with thoughtful suggestions as how to persuade those who might have seen it as 'down-beat' that it was really all fun & laughter! We may adjust it a bit! Edward also showed his film on his 'business trip' to Las Vegas ... all guns, and helicopters, and breakfasts in the Grand Canyon and the like! (Trouble with resolutions in the editing; sadly, no stills here!) And lastly, from Lyn, we had 'Essendon Gardens Open Day', a record created by three of us, looking at the many many hours of preparation which go into the setting up of such an event ... just for one family, albeit one with trains! This week I was able to take all the films home to extract stills from them, so they will stand a larger presentation - as room allows. Enjoy them ... they are fleeting moments (each about 1/25th of a second!) of a wonderful evening's entertainment! Incidentally, there are some stunning stills in the middle of our hi-def films. It takes a time, but it's often worth extracting them!
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Dave called this film 'Not for Pensioners'. He was right .... it wasn't!
Dave's 'Let's go for a Paddle' was all dramatic close-ups ... and, again, very hard work for participants!
Penny's plucky Harrison, with a bowl-full of very lively Meerkat! No wonder he was a bit nervous!
Either waking up, or going to sleep ... Penny's meerkats knew how to do it!
I think that Dorothy & William deserve a small space here. After all, they've been the inspiration for two films this year!
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There were many great views from John at the top of The Shard ... they really need a big screen to appreciate them fully!
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Ian's Venice ... well, it's not really his, but you know what I mean!
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An Evening with Michael Slowe
6th June 2013
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Anyone who has seen any of Michael Slowe's films will know how lucky we were to have him with us in our club for the evening. He came to show us some more of his films (some of us had seen 'The Last of the Wolfgang' in Chesterfield), five in all, and we had a really interesting and entertaining time!
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Michael in his editing studio. A link to a fascinating article by him is also on this page.
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Michael didn't really have enough time to talk to us in great detail about how he sets about making his films; but what he did say certainly fascinated me ... and, I am sure, those around me. While we have been told for so long by many very good film-makers that you need to plan, script - and set off to your 'project' with a clear plan of what you are going to film, that is what, it seems, Michael does not do. He goes ... and he films ... and talks to his characters ... and uses their speech as the background to the film ... no commentary! And it certainly works very well! Many of us less organised folk were quite encouraged! Of course, you have to be a supreme editor too ... The five films were: 'Melissa', about a wonderful trapeze artist; 'The Leader of the Pack', about a man who controls large troublesome dogs, a dozen or more at a time, with consummate skill & ease; 'It's an Alpaca!', about a wonderfully run alpaca farm in Oxfordshire; 'Hounds & Huntsman', about ... just that! And a short 3 minute film on cinema seats! The rest were between 20 and 38 minutes! |
Melissa - dedication, courage & hard work ...
The leader of the pack!
You couldn't help but take to these gentle creatures ...
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Melissa's teacher - no doubt of equal dedication!
... and they do exactly as he says ...
... which is what happened with their loving owner, who ended up with over a hundred!
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These films were wonderful explorations of everyday people in unusual jobs - jobs demanding particular skills, or dedication, or love ... or all three! Of course, most people are interesting, but we would never see to the centre of their lives without the skills of such rare film-makers as Michael ...
Many thanks for a fantastic evening, Michael! Michael's article 'The Making of The Last of the Wolfgang' is here: http://www.theiac.org.uk/film/makingof/film-making7/the-last-of-the-wolfgang.html Note: The pictures opposite are only my screen-shots taken on about 1/8th second to avoid flash ... and therefore they don't reflect the superb quality of the films themselves! |
The blu-ray quality of this last film on hunting was stunning ... some of the scenes looked like oil paintings!
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The BIAFF Weekend in Chesterfield
It was round about April 20th that an intrepid party from PBFM took to road or rail to attend the BIAFF
Festival 2013 in Chesterfield. There were twelve of us there from the club, an excellent representation I think!
By the end of the weekend we were pretty sore from sitting on chairs to watch films for hours on end ... and we had seen many films that we enjoyed, some that shocked us and some that delighted us. And we had also been very aware of those films that had been made by our own members!
Below are just a few pictures which must represent the time we had there.
Please note that the club's films that were entered for BIAFF are listed on the BIAFF Competition Successes page.
SH May11th
Festival 2013 in Chesterfield. There were twelve of us there from the club, an excellent representation I think!
By the end of the weekend we were pretty sore from sitting on chairs to watch films for hours on end ... and we had seen many films that we enjoyed, some that shocked us and some that delighted us. And we had also been very aware of those films that had been made by our own members!
Below are just a few pictures which must represent the time we had there.
Please note that the club's films that were entered for BIAFF are listed on the BIAFF Competition Successes page.
SH May11th
We original Three Musketeers, who were privileged to be approached and befriended by a lovely group of flim-makers from South Korea.
The famous PBFM 'A Team', receiving their 3 Star BIAFF award for 'Moving On' ... so richly deserved!
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Some of the South Korean party, who were kind enough to give us a copy of their film and other gifts.
It was impossible to take photographs of the group at the round dinner tables, so John & Margaret must represent pictorially the dignity of the club at this Occasion!
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Here we all are ... from John A to John F, with many noble members in between!
The Doris Pickett Plate against St Albans 23rd April 2013
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We do seem to have a special relationship with St Albans Movie Makers ... so much so that, over the last four years, we seem to have taken it in turns to win this particular cup! That must be the reason why St Albans won it this year ...
We did indeed have a really great evening with our visitors and I am sure that everybody was happy enough with the final result. Our noble judge for the evening was Tim Emblem-English, who commented with eloquence, tact and a technical knowledge and interest which was both informative & useful. |
Ted Bateman receives the Doris Pickett Plate from Tim Emblem English for St Albans.
At the beginning of the evening, before the competition, we were treated to a short dramatised film from St Albans on the subject of how they came to lose the trophy for a while last year! It was a beautifully humorous piece of self-mockery ... and produced great laughter. An excellent way to open the evening!
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Details of the EveningNote: pictures are from my photographs of the screen (hand-held, no flash!) this week, not extracted still-frames, which I like to do ... so I have included only those that were good enough! Apologies to the films not included ...
There were four catagories, 'Our Heritage' being the first. St A. entered a really well made film, 'Rivers Down the Drain' which looked at the possible water crisis from draining rivers; while ours was John A's impressive 'Musket, Pike & Drum'. St A won this section. In 'Local Interest' we entered Penny's film, 'A Quiet Place' and St A a super-quick tour of St Alban's pubs! The latter won! Under 'Story', St A showed a stunning piece of animation, clever, bright and amusing, but this was beaten by our wonderful 'Moving On' (featured twice in pictures further down this page!). Finally, in 'Documentary', 'Our Cassiobury Park' was pipped to the post by St A's unusual 'Tea, Tribes & Trinkets'. We greatly enjoyed hosting our friends from St Albans. May the competition long continue! |
A dramatic frame from 'Musket ...'. This was such a good film ... but then so was 'Rivers Down the Drain'!
I loved St A's animated film, and this frame shows the process of animating the right arm ... and it shows how long my exposure had to be!
The nose-flute in 'Tea, Tribes & Trinkets'! More elegant played with the mouth I feel, but there we are!
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Sadly none of my 'Rivers' photos was good enough, but there were many possibles from 'Musket'!
Queen Victoria does the dubbing ...wonderful & comic simplicity in all the drawings!
A scene from 'Cassiobury Park'. All pics of 'that race' were too blurred to include with my necessarily fairly long exposure!
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'The other end' of our very long table ... with John F keeping the troops amused ...
'Our End', our Chairman clearly gripped by the spine-chilling tale that Ian is relating to him!
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Film of the Year Awards: The Results!
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Film of the Year John Astin for 'Moment to Shine'
1st Runner-up John Astin for 'A Heap of Cinders' 2nd Runner-up Ed Kinge for 'My Christmas Present' Graduate Film of the Year Ed Kinge for 'Penny Makes a Card Best use of Sound John Astin for 'Moment to Shine' Best Editing Not awarded Best Documentary John Astin for 'Moment to Shine' Best Titles & Graphics Not awarded Best Camera-work Not awarded Best Dialogue The A Team for 'Moving On' Best Actor/Actress Kim Harrald in 'Moving On' Best Creativity Not awarded Best Story Christine Collins for 'Moving On' The Film-Maker of the Year Ed Kinge Again this year, we were very surprised & greatly puzzled that the judges didn't award best editing, best camera-work and best creativity. There were bags of all three in so many of these films! ...
Perhaps they simply couldn't decide between them! Never mind ... as I said last year, I wouldn't like to do the job ... SH Thanks to Kim for all the photos! |
"From Idea to Screen": An Evening with Christine ... 25th April 2013
Christine, before her audience ...
Quite honestly, you had to be there to gain from all the information that was communicated by Christine on this very important subject ... the subject which covers all the stages in film-making from finding that initial inspiration (surely the most difficult thing!) to showing the fully edited version on the screen on the appropriate club night ...
Again, the subject film for this evening, the exemplar so to speak, was the wonderful film 'Moving On' which Christine had written and directed last year. We were shown film of the original hand-written idea-sheets, early scripts, developing scripts (which had fallen into being typed(!), shooting requirement sheets (detailing outfit/clothing details for all!), location details, props lists, even diagrams of rooms with camera positions! I must confess that, being quite a keen script writer myself, I never include such details. I leave it all to some kind of inspiration & Fortune ... perhaps that's why our team hasn't won five stars at BIAFF yet ...
Anyway, enough of dreams ... it was a great evening and it provoked all sorts of discussion. Was there a Heroine of the Evening? I hear you ask ... Well, yes, there was Christine. But perhaps the True Heroine was Gill Harrold, the lady whose idea was the inspiration of the film itself! S.H.
Again, the subject film for this evening, the exemplar so to speak, was the wonderful film 'Moving On' which Christine had written and directed last year. We were shown film of the original hand-written idea-sheets, early scripts, developing scripts (which had fallen into being typed(!), shooting requirement sheets (detailing outfit/clothing details for all!), location details, props lists, even diagrams of rooms with camera positions! I must confess that, being quite a keen script writer myself, I never include such details. I leave it all to some kind of inspiration & Fortune ... perhaps that's why our team hasn't won five stars at BIAFF yet ...
Anyway, enough of dreams ... it was a great evening and it provoked all sorts of discussion. Was there a Heroine of the Evening? I hear you ask ... Well, yes, there was Christine. But perhaps the True Heroine was Gill Harrold, the lady whose idea was the inspiration of the film itself! S.H.
The picture that contained the vital image was the second one from the left!
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... Where life starts again ...
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2013 Triangle Trophy Competition:
11th April 2013
Potters Bar, Walthamstow, Bourne End
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It was, of course, a crowded affair with members from three clubs in our larger room. It was impossible for me to take pictures of the nine films which were shown, so readers will have to be content with a brief account of this nail-biting competition .... and a few pictures from the three films from PBFM, from our recent archives!
There were three sections - Documentary, Open and Fictional Story - and (to cut a long story short) there was a dead heat at the end ... all three teams were awarded 18 points apiece by the three judges! And then, when each judge was asked to name the club that provided the most entertaining programme, it was a dead heat again!! And so it had to be decided by proclaiming the winner to be the team that won the greatest number of outright winners (3 points) ... and that was good old Walthamstow A.C.C. And did I hear a jocular cry from a Potters Bar member of: "Hey! Who's paying for the coffee?!" No, of course I didn't. We took the result with the courage & pleasure that is expected of every member of our noble club! So, 1st Walthamstow, 2nd Potters Bar, 3rd Bourne End. Which films stick in my memory from the other two clubs? ... Well, everybody enjoyed Walthamstow's 'The Robbery' and I was pretty stunned by Bourne End's 'The Yearning' ... Well done Walthamstow! 
Thinking back to missed opportunities ...
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One of my favourite shots from John A's most impressive Olympics film: the smiling, content policeman ... summing up the atmosphere!
Penny's attractive Craft Fair film was a pleasure to see again!
I really loved 'Moving On' from its first showing ... a great story with a happy ending!
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Holiday Films
March 28th 2013
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To those fine members who put films into this very pleasant evening of Holiday Films, I must apologise for being so tardy in writing up this report! Sometimes Life just doesn't provide the Time and things slip by the wayside for a while!
However, here we are, a few weeks late, to pay tribute to those film-makers ... they were Ed K, who gave us a film taken on a fine sailing vessel in Sydney Harbour (Australia of course!), Andy, who took us on a really gorgeous trip through the Norwegian fjords, and John A who provided us with a dramatic tour of the highly volcanic island of Lanzarote. Stills from these three very attractive films surround this short article! |
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An idyllic Norwegian country scene
One of many ships which travel the Norwegian coastline ...
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Lanzarote - in many ways a harsh volcanic landscape. Do most of us remember pummice-stone in the bathroom when we were little?
The man himself, intrepid traveller ... appearing Hitchcock style!
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14th March 2013
A Viewing of "Clarkson"
a film by Bristol Film & Video Society
A few weeks ago we had the unusual experience (for us) of viewing another club's Show Reel ... and we found it a very interesting & enjoyable experience. On this evening, however, we had arranged to watch a single film, "Clarkson", a production from the members of Bristol Film & Video Society. Its most prominent feature for us had been its use of 'green-screening' - we had had a demonstration of this technique from Edward & Simon last June.
However, this 40-minute historical drama, on the beginnings of the fight against slavery, grabbed our attention right from the opening titles and I think that we were all surprised at how time slipped by and we found that the forty minutes had passed! It really had been a tour de force ... a real education for all amateur film-makers and an amazing demonstration of what an energetic and determined film society can create when they put their combined skills and enthusiams into such a demanding project!
There was, then, a great deal for the interested film-maker and editor to watch and learn from ... but, beyond that, there was the story itself, the acting and the atmosphere ... we talked about the whole experience for some time.
Many thanks to Bristol Film & Video Society for lending us the film and allowing me to extract some stills.
Ron has long encouraged us to look at this site to read more about it!
http://www.bristolvideo.org.uk/clarksonreview.html
However, this 40-minute historical drama, on the beginnings of the fight against slavery, grabbed our attention right from the opening titles and I think that we were all surprised at how time slipped by and we found that the forty minutes had passed! It really had been a tour de force ... a real education for all amateur film-makers and an amazing demonstration of what an energetic and determined film society can create when they put their combined skills and enthusiams into such a demanding project!
There was, then, a great deal for the interested film-maker and editor to watch and learn from ... but, beyond that, there was the story itself, the acting and the atmosphere ... we talked about the whole experience for some time.
Many thanks to Bristol Film & Video Society for lending us the film and allowing me to extract some stills.
Ron has long encouraged us to look at this site to read more about it!
http://www.bristolvideo.org.uk/clarksonreview.html
An imposing backdrop for the opening titles, illuminated by lightning!
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An example of green screening ... the cart was moving!
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I really liked the dark/black background in this meeting ... and the lighting & candle-flames.
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Another meeting, this time of the wealthy ... & wonderfully costumed actors and, again, impressive lighting.
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Perhaps Bristol can provide many perfect old locations. It certainly seemed so!
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It was those backgrounds which were so impressive ...
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Whether green-screened or simply selected from today's landscapes, they gave the film a real sense of history ...
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A last glance at Clarkson, in an over-the-shoulder shot of his work ...
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Altogether, then, it was another very pleasant evening.
Thank you, Bristol! Oh, and in the second half (which was a good deal shorter than the first!) we watched my 5-minute short film on how to green-screen in Magix (see to the right!) ... not as difficult as it first appears! S.H. |
More History ... a 1952 photograph and the moving green-screened-in Hornby train filmed in 2011!
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Thursday 28th February 2013
"Members' Film Night"
a report from John F, with his kind permission,
(from the Spring NewsLetter, which is out now, Members!)
A very enjoyable evening! It was so good to see films which had not been made solely to be entered into a competition to "win a pot”! The acting Chairman (Christine) and the members joined in with helpful and often entertaining comments.
We saw completed films, films “under construction” and clips showing filming techniques, all of which contributed to this entertaining, informative and relaxing evening.
I hope our committee will make sure that similar evenings are planned every year as I feel certain they would encourage new comers to our hobby to join and members to stay in membership.
Thanks must firstly go to our indefatigable projectionist who successfully handled everything that was thrown at him and then to Leo Howard, Bob Chester, Ed Kinge, Ian Luetchford and Stephen Healing for their contributions which took us up the Shard on the opening day, to the South of France to see polo ponies being reshod, to Australia where young children sang in languages far from their “native tongues” ... before coming back to London to see Westminster Bridge and then to make, we hope, helpful comments, on a Dickensian masterpiece “in the making” . Lastly we taken back in time to see some of our members dressed for action in the First and Second world wars!
(We did start by seeing two films from another club’s ShowReel but they faded into insignificance when we heard and saw our own members at work and play.)
We saw completed films, films “under construction” and clips showing filming techniques, all of which contributed to this entertaining, informative and relaxing evening.
I hope our committee will make sure that similar evenings are planned every year as I feel certain they would encourage new comers to our hobby to join and members to stay in membership.
Thanks must firstly go to our indefatigable projectionist who successfully handled everything that was thrown at him and then to Leo Howard, Bob Chester, Ed Kinge, Ian Luetchford and Stephen Healing for their contributions which took us up the Shard on the opening day, to the South of France to see polo ponies being reshod, to Australia where young children sang in languages far from their “native tongues” ... before coming back to London to see Westminster Bridge and then to make, we hope, helpful comments, on a Dickensian masterpiece “in the making” . Lastly we taken back in time to see some of our members dressed for action in the First and Second world wars!
(We did start by seeing two films from another club’s ShowReel but they faded into insignificance when we heard and saw our own members at work and play.)
One of Ian's 1940s Railway Scenes ... Bless 'em all!
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Old Scrooge ... All advice gratefully accepted ... there will be big changes to the start & end of the film!
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A Tribute ... and
An Evening of Films from Spring Park Film Makers
Thursday 14th February
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Firstly, the tribute ... the showing of a very popular club film from several years ago, "A Quiet Smoke", starring our much loved lady, Marie, as a thwarted smoker! And this was to honour Marie's reaching her 90th birthday in January ... with a small gift from the club members to mark the occasion! Congratulations!
Apart from that, it was an unusual evening for the club anyway ... an evening watching other people's films, not our own. And Spring Park Film Makers had been kind enough to lend us their latest show reel, fourteen films in all. Now, the great advantage of watching the films of another club is that you don't have to be too careful about what you say! There is nobody present to be offended by any analysis or criticism that may be made! Sadly no-one to hear the praise either! |
Marie, in the film, looking magnificently upset ... as only she can do!
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But back to "A Quiet Smoke" for a last picture ... you can't really blame Marie for getting cross, can you? ... Robert actually did get a cigarette ... and Bob - well Bob, as Nosmo King, could be one of the most astonishingly irritating people of all time!
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So, following the tribute to Marie, John P took us into the evening of films from Spring Park. There were fourteen in all and it took us the whole evening to view them, with a pause for a chat on each one after it had ended ... a really most educational & pleasurable experience!
The films were: "Thomas Bartlet Made Me" on the moving & refurbishment of church bells "Eggvolution" an extraordinary 'short'! "Cruise to Norway" which certainly whetted my appetite! "A Brief History of a Moth" - a Tiger Moth model, beautifully filmed "Binned" , about a sneak-thief! "Pier of the Realm" ... a nice play on words ... and a seaside experience "Strangers in the Night", a great film on badgers in the garden ... "The Census Taker" a wonderful trip into Victorian black & white "The Combine Harvester" a difficult transport problem in Africa "Borassic Park" , with a touch of Betjamin about it! "In the Deep" , attractive aquarium views "From My Armchair" more fascinating creatures from the garden "The Falkirk Wheel" .... some engineering! "I've got a Citreon" ... Very unusual! Now I know why I go for Toyota! Club members discussed every film, many in close detail and, as usual, we learnt a great deal from the experience! For me, "Thomas Bartlet Made Me" was very good indeed, but then I do ring church bells! And "The Census Taker", a beautifully crafted Victorian view of an early census, was simply wonderful! But we enjoyed them all. Many thanks to Spring Park Film Makers! [P.S. I was so fascinated by "The Census Taker" that I forgot to take any pictures of it ... !] |
An Evening with Geoff Glover ... Professional Cameraman
Thursday 31st January
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Now ... Mr Geoff Glover! ... what does one say about a man like him? He is one of the club's more recent members (about three years I guess, but you know how time slips past!) but he is also the sort of man that every club should have as a member anyway ... a man who has done it all before us!
As soon as I heard that he had been a cameraman on "The Guns of Naverone" (which I had first watched as a teenager in a cinema in Weymouth in about 1963 -with my twin sister) I knew that here was a man to look up to! It had been my favourite war-film for years! |
I snapped two quick photos of Geoff after the evening's close. This, of course, is one of them!
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And what's more, Geoff started off by telling us that he "cut his teeth on Robin Hood with Richard Greene"! ... well, how well do I remember sitting in a small darkened room with a fifties tiny TV screen, watching that very Robin Hood! ... So I hope you will excuse my self-indulgence with some pictures opposite from "The Adventures of Robin Hood" and, of course, "The Guns of Naverone"! After all, they were Geoff's films ... in a way!
Geoff worked for 50 years in films - of all sorts ... feature films & TV. You needed to be there to pick up the details of a very interesting life ... but I shall simply touch upon some of the subjects he chose to mention ...
He told us how he was often away from home for 3 - 4 months at a time ... of the use of rally cars, planes & speed boats for filming ... of the precarious nature of one's job in the industry ... of the alcohol ban on set - and how it was flouted, especially in the filming of "Star Wars"! ...
He told us of the huge importance of lighting - "painting with light" as it was called ... how candles were used ... 20kw lights, in daytime! ... the skills of a 'focus puller', the jobs of a gaffer and a grip. Of course, we tend to use our modern digital wonder-cameras by turning everything to "auto" and letting the camera do the work! Not so in professional filming, where everything is manual, under the command of the director and his RSM-type No 2, the First Assistant! A feature film might hope to shoot two minutes a day on average ... TV filming, right up to six minutes a day!
We were told how few cameras were usually used at a time (one or two)... how actors sometimes left their radio mikes on when they went on a break - with embarrassing results ... how a certain JG, actress, used to turn up late regularly for the filming of a war film, until she was reminded that, in war films, some characters are often wiped out without warning ...!
Many films & TV series were mentioned that I fear I was not familiar with, though those around me were - 'Widows' and 'Jake's Progress' being two in particular ... and we were shown extracts which clearly jogged a few memories into pleasure.
In short, we had a great evening, for which we would offer our thanks to our good friend Geoff ... and we are left to wonder how many film-clips we have seen on TV and in the cinema from the cameras which he wielded in those many years when he worked in that very challenging industry!
SH
Geoff worked for 50 years in films - of all sorts ... feature films & TV. You needed to be there to pick up the details of a very interesting life ... but I shall simply touch upon some of the subjects he chose to mention ...
He told us how he was often away from home for 3 - 4 months at a time ... of the use of rally cars, planes & speed boats for filming ... of the precarious nature of one's job in the industry ... of the alcohol ban on set - and how it was flouted, especially in the filming of "Star Wars"! ...
He told us of the huge importance of lighting - "painting with light" as it was called ... how candles were used ... 20kw lights, in daytime! ... the skills of a 'focus puller', the jobs of a gaffer and a grip. Of course, we tend to use our modern digital wonder-cameras by turning everything to "auto" and letting the camera do the work! Not so in professional filming, where everything is manual, under the command of the director and his RSM-type No 2, the First Assistant! A feature film might hope to shoot two minutes a day on average ... TV filming, right up to six minutes a day!
We were told how few cameras were usually used at a time (one or two)... how actors sometimes left their radio mikes on when they went on a break - with embarrassing results ... how a certain JG, actress, used to turn up late regularly for the filming of a war film, until she was reminded that, in war films, some characters are often wiped out without warning ...!
Many films & TV series were mentioned that I fear I was not familiar with, though those around me were - 'Widows' and 'Jake's Progress' being two in particular ... and we were shown extracts which clearly jogged a few memories into pleasure.
In short, we had a great evening, for which we would offer our thanks to our good friend Geoff ... and we are left to wonder how many film-clips we have seen on TV and in the cinema from the cameras which he wielded in those many years when he worked in that very challenging industry!
SH
Thursday 11th January ... "2012 A Year of Celebration"
John A's lovely closing shot in his Olympic Games film!
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One of the tables at the Essendon Jubilee Tea...
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Firstly, we were treated to Ian's film about the Essendon Street Party for The Queen's Jubilee, which featured a number of club members ... the Essendon & Elstree Clan! It was, to tell the truth, a glorious day ... a sort of miracle of organisation created by both the ladies and gentlemen of the village. The tables were beautifully set out with Union Flags everywhere, including the cakes, and, to top it all, a very attractive mug for everyone to commemorate the occasion - a real collector's item!
Ian's short film captured the happy atmosphere very well indeed. It will be a day to remember! John A's film was the result of visits to the Olympic Park. John is a known master of the filming of 'events', which involves above all the filming of ordinary people doing both ordinary and, for this film, less ordinary things! These days in the Olympic Park were unusually joyful ones in the recent history of the nation ... and John's filming and editing reflected exactly that! The stills below, from the film itself, cannot do more than give you a taste of the film itself ... all sunshine & jollity! |
There were several very cheerful people pouring tea!
Some people just have the knack of dressing appropriately!
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Very colourful & cheerful balloon-girls!
A happy, unstressed worker amongst happy, unstressed people!
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The park from on high
Another one ... with happy visitors!
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Simple, uncluttered decoration for Tower Bridge. They really know how to do it, don't they?! (And the hi-def really showed its quality in this film!)
'Pot Luck' - A bring-what-you-like Evening
January 3rd 2013
Our first evening this year was called 'Pot Luck' ... we could bring along anything we liked really ... and many people did, old & new films.
However, the most fascinating was about early wax cylinder recordings of Christmas, featured on the BBC news recently and about the ancestors of our great friend Daphne (we see all too little of her nowadays!) ... back in the very early years of the 20th century!
However, the most fascinating was about early wax cylinder recordings of Christmas, featured on the BBC news recently and about the ancestors of our great friend Daphne (we see all too little of her nowadays!) ... back in the very early years of the 20th century!
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So ... our first film was taken from a BBC News report about the discovery of what were probably the earliest surviving sound-recordings of a Christmas in Britain. And the family were Daphne's ancestors! Between the 1880s and 1920 her grandfather had been making recordings of his family - especially at Christmas. The BBC had never heard better recordings, made on wax cylinders, from that period! The family had also kept photographs from that time.
To the right you can see two pictures of the original family and also a still shot taken from a modern film, suitably aged, made by the modern family ... this was of a seven-year-old (a great-great grandson) miming over the old recordings! A brilliant idea! Also a picture of the oldest cylinder ... and one of Daphne's relations today. It is well worth your visiting the links below - kindly provided by Daphne - to read about this truly fascinating story and to see the films and hear the wonderful recordings. (Daphne may already have emailed these links to some of you.) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20791473 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20772246 http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/Collections-Research/Collections-online/group.aspx?g=group-20026 It would be true to say that the rest of the films were not quite so historic or significant, but they did provide us with a real variety of filming experience ... and wide examples of why we, as individuals, make films! ... Some of us make films for the tasks set by the film club; some us make films just for ourselves; and most of us are becoming quite skilful at using the material we have got to fit into what is asked for by the club! Phil provided us with no less than three films, if my memory serves me right - one on the amazing canal boat lift - the Falkirk Wheel; one on energetic seaside activities, mostly dependent on wind and surf; and one on the unique Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch railway! From Bob, Tony, Penny, John A (and others I suspect) we were entertained by a film from some years back called "Re-cycle Revolution". It was, of course, a story about the irritations of re-cycling ... in which Penny took her dreadful revenge on Tony & Bob ... By the way, Bob was a wonderfully annoying official called something like Rees Eycle. (I've probably got the spelling wrong, but I expect you've got the idea!) Bob is an expert at being a persistent, but unwanted caller at your door! Christine showed us some lovely out-takes from the recent excellent narrative film 'Moving On' ... see details and pictures below (18th October) of the film itself. Andrew (New Andrew that is!) had made a film of a day in the life of a Barnet hotel; Andrew T had made a film, which included family members, of a triathlon race; we saw Christine's film, taken in the Portsmouth Spire of children (of all ages!) looking through the very high up glass floor. And John P ran a film about a family scattering of ashes from a lifeboat at sea, taken in very challenging weather conditions ... Again, we had a great evening. Many thanks to all those who brought along their films! 
The beginning of Andrew's triathlon ... how do you keep track of all those swimmers?!
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The family ... parents and nine children!
The Wall family ... a proper family gathering!
The oldest cylinder, inscribed "Angels from the Realms of Glory ... sung at The Oaks 25/12/02 by the whole family" ...
Daphne with her present family.
The lifeboat from John P's story.
The Falkirk wheel ... a truly astoninshing feat of engineering.
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The delightfully awful Rees Eycle! (Perhaps we could make a film about Russians!)
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Tony & Penny survey the many re-cyling bins. (This film was made when the idea was in its early days.)
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Phil's title page included a map which showed the considerable length of the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway
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That glass floor in the Portsmouth Spire!
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