Institute of Amateur Cinematographers

News and Views From Around The RegionNov - Dec 2018

Solent ampWeymouth

Laurie Joyce

AlanWallbank

Ian Simpson

Frome

Masha ampDasha

SoCo CompResults

Gloucster ampTeign

UNICA

Dave Jones

Lee Prescott

12 Watch

Anne Vincent has stepped down fromthe position of the Southern CountiesRegion Chairman due to poor health butwill remain as a Honorary Member of theCommittee along with Phil Marshman whoalso becomes an Honorary Member of theCommittee

I have been asked to stand asChairman which I duly accept and alongwith my fellow Committee members willhelp our region rise to the challenges oftoday

Feel free to contact myself or othermembers of our committee

The new committee contacts are onthe last page of this magazine

It brings me to say to you all in theRegion and further away A Very HappyChristmas and a Happy New Year to youand your family

David Martindavidmartinsocogmailcom

Hello and welcome to another editionof SoCo News

The results of two competitions arefeatured in this edition There are a fewfilms that seem to be topping many of thecompetitions

Itrsquos hardly surprising really as theyhave been produced to a very highstandard

I had the pleasure to judge the TeignCup again this year with my good ladywife Sue

Coming up with the top five or sixfilms was not too difficult as a groupSelecting a first second and third wasalmost impossible even using a scoringsystem

In the Teign Cup reported on page 8we placed ldquoCount To Threerdquo from Bristolthird But had then to place two otherfilms first and second

We discussed and debated for hourswe re watched the two films and couldsee many many reasons why each onecould be the winner

We re looked at the scores again asthey had both come out with the samehigh score and suggesting a joint winnerseemed a cop out

Both films were of broadcaststandard one was a Drama the other aDocumentary

I have been a judge many times andnever had this hard a decision to make

Eventually we placed Solentrsquos dramaldquoSomeone To Watch Over Merdquo in secondplace This is a very well crafted Dramawith exceptionally high standard ofcinematography and direction The maincharacters were well acted to a standardrarely seen in non professional films

I think Solent Movie Makers have setthe standard very high for other clubs tostrive to emulate

The winner was Bristolrsquos documentaryldquoWhy Is America Called Americardquo NoIrsquove never wondered before either

The film had such high productionvalues that it could be broadcast on theHistory Channel without anyone beingaware it was made by non professionals

Every aspect of it was so slick andprofessional the presenter was top rate

Also in this edition of SoCo NewsDiana Taylor writes about the making ofldquoMasha amp Dasha Two Hearts In Onerdquowhich has won a collection of awards andwas so so close to being placed in theTeign Cup

The standard of some competitionentries are certainly going up in leaps andbounds

Keep Smiling Pippipcrittengooglemailcom

Arou

nd the Clubs

Around the Clu

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CLUBSCLUBS

Solent Moviemakers are currently celebrating thetremendous success they have had with their filmSomeone to Watch Over Me

Firstly it won the Southern Counties RegionalCompetition on the 8th September at Weymouth

It then won Surrey Borders Inter Club Competitionon 5th October

And finally it came 2nd in the Teign CupCompetition on the 13th October in Torbay

The film was made by our members Howard BlakePaul Vernon Mike Power Graham Lines Tony Shadickand Derek Kinally (RIP) with actors Graham Cranmer andEden Elkins

In the photos you can see Howard Blake beingpresented both winning trophies

Jeremy Holder

WinnerWinner 2019 Penny Cup Competition

The showing of the winning films from WeymouthPenny Cup Competition will be held on Wedenesday 3rdApril 2019 at 730pm at the Centenary Club Weymouth

This is a National Competition for Amateur Films up to15 minutes long Last year we divided the films intosections Drama Comedy Drama Documentary

This made the films easier to judge Any genre of filmis acceptable and depending on what films are entered wewill put the films into categories again

There is a pound5 entry fee but there is also a pound25 prize forthe overall winner and the opportunity to hold the PennyCup for a year if practical

The closing date for entries will be Monday March 4th2019 Entry forms will be available soon So please putthese dates in your diary and think about making a film toenter or choosing a film you have already made to put in

Keep Amateur Film Competitions aliveJohn Simpson

Peter Heaven writes hellipI have just received a phone call from an elderly

gentleman who wishes to dispose of a Prinz Super 8 filmprojector and a screen

Please reply directly to Tony if you are interestedI warned him that it was unlikelyhellipTony Jenkins55 High StreetWickBristolBS30 5QQTel 0117 937 3982

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nd the Clubs

Around the Clu

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STONEHOUSE amp STROUD VIDEOUNIT

Youtube and Vimeo

Regrettably we were (almost) loosing after six yearsour photogenic lsquoTeen actor Brad Christy who has gainedan Apprenticeship in Electrical Engineering Coupled withhis College studies his ldquospare timerdquo has become quitelimited

Many congratulations are due to him not the least ofwhich is because he had gained recognition as a TeenActor both locally and over a much wider field Seeminglyhis new work colleagues have also watched his filmsApparently they were amazed (true word for once) andhas boosted his esteem in their eyes from Director leveldownwards True We are all very pleased for him Hisparents are ldquoover the moonrdquo as the saying goes they cannow actually see him grow into adulthood by watchinghis six films from first to last

Brad has been with us since the age of 11 years andhas appeared in six of our films encountering all sorts ofstrange characters abducting ghouls dark forebodingfigures Alien critters and has taken them all in his stridewith the ability to visualise exactly what the Directors andfilm makers had in mind He is ldquoa naturalrdquo making theprocess look simple and as we all know IT IS NOT

A while ago he was put forward to a London Agencyhandling matters for a Spielberg production which nowseems to have ldquodied a deathrdquo Seemingly he lost outanyway as he ldquodid not live in London (area)rdquo Sad

He has now decided to stay with us but anyinvolvement will obviously of course be subject to hiswork and studies his future life

As the noted Director John Huston said whenconfronted with Victoria Falls in full flood ldquo+^~Krdquo Wersquolljust have to work around thatrdquo

We have three maybe four future productions linedup but one in particular is dependent on finding a) Aninterested intelligent child a boy b) A musty old darkforeboding cellar [Maybe we should stick toldquotraveloguesrdquo] ndash no way Hosea

Lee Prescott

Laurie Joyce (1940-2018)

On Wednesday 19 September many members of theReading Video and Film-makers gathered to say goodbyeto one of their most respected members

He had borne his illness with such positivity andhumour that it was an example to us all

Laurie had been an active member of the Club foralmost 30 years had served on its committee and actedas chairman initially from 1995 -1998 and then again from2009 -2012

More recently he had been the prime mover behinddeveloping an introduction to video training programmewhich had attracted many new members and at the sametime reduced the average age of members by a significantamount He would help anyone and was a great mentormotivator inspirer and teacher His approach was alwayscan do constructive and never critical

Over the years his ability as film-maker had beenrecognised by receiving many awards at competitionsstaged by the Club SoCo IAC and at the Guernsey Lily

He will be remembered by his friends for his sense ofhumour and significantly one of his last actions was todonate a competition trophy for the best film to make yousmile a very appropriate memorial to a prolific andtalented film maker

Brian Hibbitt on behalf of the Reading Film and VideoMakers

LL J J (1940-2018) (1940-2018)

When actress Reneacutee Adoreacutee began to showsymptoms of tuberculosis Dolores del Riacuteo was selectedfor the lead role of the MGM film The Trail of 98 directedby Clarence Brown The film was a huge success andbrought favourable reviews from critics That same yearshe was hired by United Artists for the third version of thesuccessful film Ramona directed by Carewe The successof the film was helped by the same name musical themewritten by L Wolfe Gilbert and recorded by Dolores delRiacuteo with RCA Victor Ramona was the first United Artistsfilm with a synchronized sound feature but was not atalking picture

In late 1928 Hollywood was concerned with theimpending arrival of sound films On 29 March in MaryPickfords bungalow United Artists brought togetherPickford del Riacuteo Douglas Fairbanks Charles ChaplinNorma Gloria Swanson John Barrymore and D WGriffith to speak on the radio show The Dodge BrothersHour to prove they could meet the challenge of talkingmovies Dolores del Riacuteo surprised the audience by singingRamona

Although her career blossomed her personal life wasturbulent Her marriage with Jaime Martiacutenez ended in1928 The differences between the couple emerged aftersettling in Hollywood not untypical In Mexico City shehad been the wife of Jaime Martinez del Rio but inHollywood Jaime became husband of Dolores del Rio amovie star The trauma of a miscarriage added to themarital difficulties and del Riacuteo was advised not to havechildren After a brief separation Dolores filed fordivorce Six months later she received news that Jaimehad died in Germany As if this were not enough Doloreshad to suffer incessant harassment from her discovererEdwin Carewe who never ceased in his attempts toconquer her

Dolores del Riacuteo in Evangeline (1929)In late 1928 she made her third film with Raoul

Walsh The Red Dance Her next project was Evangeline(1929) a new production of United Artists also directed by

Carewe and inspired by theepic poem by HenryWadsworth Longfellow Thefilm was accompanied by atheme song written by AlJolson and Billy Rose andplayed by Dolores del RiacuteoLike Ramona the film wasreleased with a Vitaphonedisc selection of dialoguemusic and sound FX

Edwin Carewe hadambitions to marry Dolores with the intent that theybecome a famous Hollywood couple Carewe prepared hisdivorce from his wife Mary Atkin and seeded falserumours in campaigns of his films But during the filmingof Evangeline United Artists convinced Dolores del Riacuteo toseparate herself artistically and professionally fromCarewe who still held an exclusive contract with theactress

In New York following the successful premiere ofEvangeline Dolores del Riacuteo declared to the reportersldquoMr Carewe and I are just friends and companions in theart of the cinema I will not marry Mr Carewerdquo FuriousCarewe filed criminal charges against Dolores Advised byUnited Artists lawyers Dolores reached an agreementwith Carewe out of court In spite of this settlementCarewe started a campaign against her He filmed a newsound version of Resurrection starring Lupe Velezanother popular Mexican film star and alleged rival ofDolores del Riacuteo

Having finally broken off professionally from CareweDolores del Riacuteo was prepared for the filming of her firsttalkie The Bad One directed by George Fitzmaurice Thefilm was released in June 1930 with great success Criticssaid that Dolores del Riacuteo could speak and sing in Englishwith a charming accent She was a suitable star for theldquotalkiesrdquo

In 1930 Dolores met Cedric Gibbons artistic directorof Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer at a party at Hearst Castle hewas also one of the most influential men in HollywoodThe couple started a romance and finally married onAugust 6 1930

The Dolores del Rio-Gibbons were one of the mostfamous couples in Hollywood in the early thirties Theyorganized famous Sunday brunches in their fabulous ArtDeco mansion considered one of the most modern andelegant in the high circles of Hollywood Shortly after hermarriage Dolores fell seriously ill with a severe kidneyinfection The doctors recommended long bed rest Whenshe regained her health she was hired exclusively by RKOPictures Her first film with the studio was Girl of the Rio(1931) directed by Herbert Brenon

In 1932 producer David O Selznick called the famousfilm maker King Vidor and said I want Dolores and JoelMcCrea in a love story in the South Seas I donrsquot havemuch of a story for the film but be sure that it ends withthe young beauty jumping into a volcano Bird ofParadiserdquo was shot in Hawaii and Dolores del Riacuteo becamea beautiful native The film premiered on 13 September1932 in New York earning rave reviews Bird of Paradisecreated a scandal when released due to a scene featuringDolores swimming NAKED This film was made before the

Production Code was strictly enforced so some degree ofnudity in American movies was still fairly common

As RKO got the result they expected they quicklydecided that del Rio make another film a musical comedydirected by Thornton Freeland Flying Down to Rio (1933)In the film Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers first appearedas dance partners It featured Dolores del Riacuteo oppositeFred Astaire in an intricate dance number called Orchidsin the Moonlight

But after the premiere RKO were worried about theireconomic problems and decided not to renew Dolores delRiacuteos contract In 1934 as an independent producerSelznick offered Dolores the lead female role in the filmViva Villa But when Dolores del Riacuteo read the script shedid not agree with the historical vision of the characterShe rejected the character citing Mexican reasons FayWray finally took her place in the film

In 1934 Jack Warner met Dolores del Riacuteo at a partyand offered her a starring role in two films for WarnerThe first was the musical comedy Wonder Bar directed byLloyd Bacon Busby Berkeley was the choreographer andAl Jolson her co-star Dolores del Riacuteo and Jolson weregradually stealing the show Dolores del Riacuteos charactergrew while the character of Kay the other female star ofthe film was reduced

Francis even threatened to stop filming The film wasreleased in March 1934 and was a huge blockbuster forWarners

At the age of 76 Dolores del Riacuteo appeared on the stageof the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre on the evening ofOctober 11 1981 for a tribute at the 25th San FranciscoInternational Film Festival During the ceremonyfilmmakers Francis Ford Coppola Mervyn and GeorgeCukor spoke with Cukor declaring Dolores del Rio theFirst Lady of American Cinema

This was her last known public appearance In 1982she was awarded the George Eastman Award given byGeorge Eastman House for distinguished contribution tothe art of film

Regardless of their marriages at different times in herlife she was romantically linked with actor Errol Flynnfilmmaker John Farrow writer Erich Maria Remarque filmproducer Archibaldo Burns and actor Tito Junco

Her relationship with Orson Welles (1939-1943)ended after four years largely due to his infidelitiesRebecca Welles the daughter of Welles and RitaHayworth expressed her desire to travel to Mexico tomeet Dolores In 1954 Dolores received her at her homein Acapulco After their meeting Rebecca said My father

considered Dolores the great love of his life She is a livinglegend in the history of my family

She is considered the pioneer of the two pieceswimsuit After her death actor Vincent Price used to signhis autographs as Dolores del Riacuteo When asked why theactor replied I promised Dolores on her deathbed that Iwould not let people forget about herrdquo

On 11 April 1983 Dolores del Riacuteo died from liverfailure at the age of 78 at Newport Beach California It issaid that the day she died an invitation to attend theOscars was sent to her She was cremated and her asheswere moved from the United States to Mexico where theywere interred at the Dolores Cemetery in Mexico Cityspecifically on The Rotunda of Illustrious Persons

There is much more to the story of Dolores del Rio butspace here prevents the rest of an incredible almost ragsto mega riches story all based on beauty and TALENT

Joanna (1925) What Price Glory (1926) Resurrection(1927) The Loves of Carmen (1927)

Ramona (1928) Evangeline (1929) Bird of Paradise(1932) Flying Down to Rio (1933)

Wonder Bar (1934) Madame Du Barry (1934) InCaliente (1935) Journey Into Fear (1943)

Wild Flower (1943) Mariacutea Candelaria (1943) (1944)Bugambilia (1944)

(1946) The Fugitive (1947) The Unloved Woman(1949) Dontildea Perfecta (1951)

El Nintildeo y la (1953) La Cucaracha (1959) Flaming Star(1960) Cheyenne Autumn (1964)

More Than a Miracle (1967) The Children of Sanchez(1978)

The Making of Masha and DashaTwo Hearts in One

Screened at the Teign Cup competitionTeignmouth 2018

Having finished a short documentary last year I waslooking for another project

A relative has a regular slot on community radio Shehappened to interview Juliet Butler who had heard abouther radio studio and Juliet wanted to promote her bookldquoThe Less You Know the Sounder You Sleeprdquo

Juliet studied Russian at Exeter University and leftwith a degree in Russian in 1982 she decided that herfuture lay in the Soviet Union

She applied for a job in the British Embassy and wentto live in Moscow While Juliet was there she met aRussian photographer who she married however he wasnot allowed to leave Russia as he had served inAfghanistan Juliet stayed in Russia for the next twentyyears It was while she was working as a free lancejournalist that she met Russiarsquos most conjoined twinsMasha and Dasha Krivoplyapova

The film tells the tragic story of how Juliet nurturedthe twins and shared her family with them until they diedin 1953 She was the only western journalist allowedaccess to the twins

I was fascinated by the story and wanted to make thisdocumentary During the 1980rsquos I was working on the BBCflagship programme ldquoNewsnightrdquo as a film editor and Iwas editing some quite momentous events in historymany stories covered the break down of the Cold War

I edited Breznevrsquos funeral and the fall of the BerlinWall which were just two of the many events that weretaking place then I had also travelled on the trans Siberianexpress in 1983 Moscow to Beijing which cut acrossSiberia to Outer Mongolia so I had a strong interest in thiscountry

I filmed an interview with Juliet about her experiencein Russia and one of the interesting personal facts thatemerged was that Juliet was a twin and I am a twin so itmade it very poignant that the film was about conjoinedtwins

I was impressed with the fact that Juliet had run anews bureau in Moscow supplying news to foreignjournalist at a time when it was very difficult to workthere I may have been editing the material that she wassending over

Juliet was instrumental in providing me with thearchive and most of the pictures used had been taken byher husband who has since passed away

We worked very well together and to date the film hasbeen selected for 12 international film festivals

It won the Jury Special Award at the GermanyInternational Film Festival in Munich 2018 and was shortlisted at the Redline International Film Festival Torontofor an international documentary award 2018

Juliet introduced the film at the PortabelloInternational Film Festival London September 2018

Diana Taylor

Link to FilmLink to Film

Production Code was strictly enforced so some degree ofnudity in American movies was still fairly common

As RKO got the result they expected they quicklydecided that del Rio make another film a musical comedydirected by Thornton Freeland Flying Down to Rio (1933)In the film Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers first appearedas dance partners It featured Dolores del Riacuteo oppositeFred Astaire in an intricate dance number called Orchidsin the Moonlight

But after the premiere RKO were worried about theireconomic problems and decided not to renew Dolores delRiacuteos contract In 1934 as an independent producerSelznick offered Dolores the lead female role in the filmViva Villa But when Dolores del Riacuteo read the script shedid not agree with the historical vision of the characterShe rejected the character citing Mexican reasons FayWray finally took her place in the film

In 1934 Jack Warner met Dolores del Riacuteo at a partyand offered her a starring role in two films for WarnerThe first was the musical comedy Wonder Bar directed byLloyd Bacon Busby Berkeley was the choreographer andAl Jolson her co-star Dolores del Riacuteo and Jolson weregradually stealing the show Dolores del Riacuteos charactergrew while the character of Kay the other female star ofthe film was reduced

Francis even threatened to stop filming The film wasreleased in March 1934 and was a huge blockbuster forWarners

At the age of 76 Dolores del Riacuteo appeared on the stageof the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre on the evening ofOctober 11 1981 for a tribute at the 25th San FranciscoInternational Film Festival During the ceremonyfilmmakers Francis Ford Coppola Mervyn and GeorgeCukor spoke with Cukor declaring Dolores del Rio theFirst Lady of American Cinema

This was her last known public appearance In 1982she was awarded the George Eastman Award given byGeorge Eastman House for distinguished contribution tothe art of film

Regardless of their marriages at different times in herlife she was romantically linked with actor Errol Flynnfilmmaker John Farrow writer Erich Maria Remarque filmproducer Archibaldo Burns and actor Tito Junco

Her relationship with Orson Welles (1939-1943)ended after four years largely due to his infidelitiesRebecca Welles the daughter of Welles and RitaHayworth expressed her desire to travel to Mexico tomeet Dolores In 1954 Dolores received her at her homein Acapulco After their meeting Rebecca said My father

considered Dolores the great love of his life She is a livinglegend in the history of my family

She is considered the pioneer of the two pieceswimsuit After her death actor Vincent Price used to signhis autographs as Dolores del Riacuteo When asked why theactor replied I promised Dolores on her deathbed that Iwould not let people forget about herrdquo

On 11 April 1983 Dolores del Riacuteo died from liverfailure at the age of 78 at Newport Beach California It issaid that the day she died an invitation to attend theOscars was sent to her She was cremated and her asheswere moved from the United States to Mexico where theywere interred at the Dolores Cemetery in Mexico Cityspecifically on The Rotunda of Illustrious Persons

There is much more to the story of Dolores del Rio butspace here prevents the rest of an incredible almost ragsto mega riches story all based on beauty and TALENT

Joanna (1925) What Price Glory (1926) Resurrection(1927) The Loves of Carmen (1927)

Ramona (1928) Evangeline (1929) Bird of Paradise(1932) Flying Down to Rio (1933)

Wonder Bar (1934) Madame Du Barry (1934) InCaliente (1935) Journey Into Fear (1943)

Wild Flower (1943) Mariacutea Candelaria (1943) (1944)Bugambilia (1944)

(1946) The Fugitive (1947) The Unloved Woman(1949) Dontildea Perfecta (1951)

El Nintildeo y la (1953) La Cucaracha (1959) Flaming Star(1960) Cheyenne Autumn (1964)

More Than a Miracle (1967) The Children of Sanchez(1978)

The Making of Masha and DashaTwo Hearts in One

Screened at the Teign Cup competitionTeignmouth 2018

Having finished a short documentary last year I waslooking for another project

A relative has a regular slot on community radio Shehappened to interview Juliet Butler who had heard abouther radio studio and Juliet wanted to promote her bookldquoThe Less You Know the Sounder You Sleeprdquo

Juliet studied Russian at Exeter University and leftwith a degree in Russian in 1982 she decided that herfuture lay in the Soviet Union

She applied for a job in the British Embassy and wentto live in Moscow While Juliet was there she met aRussian photographer who she married however he wasnot allowed to leave Russia as he had served inAfghanistan Juliet stayed in Russia for the next twentyyears It was while she was working as a free lancejournalist that she met Russiarsquos most conjoined twinsMasha and Dasha Krivoplyapova

The film tells the tragic story of how Juliet nurturedthe twins and shared her family with them until they diedin 1953 She was the only western journalist allowedaccess to the twins

I was fascinated by the story and wanted to make thisdocumentary During the 1980rsquos I was working on the BBCflagship programme ldquoNewsnightrdquo as a film editor and Iwas editing some quite momentous events in historymany stories covered the break down of the Cold War

I edited Breznevrsquos funeral and the fall of the BerlinWall which were just two of the many events that weretaking place then I had also travelled on the trans Siberianexpress in 1983 Moscow to Beijing which cut acrossSiberia to Outer Mongolia so I had a strong interest in thiscountry

I filmed an interview with Juliet about her experiencein Russia and one of the interesting personal facts thatemerged was that Juliet was a twin and I am a twin so itmade it very poignant that the film was about conjoinedtwins

I was impressed with the fact that Juliet had run anews bureau in Moscow supplying news to foreignjournalist at a time when it was very difficult to workthere I may have been editing the material that she wassending over

Juliet was instrumental in providing me with thearchive and most of the pictures used had been taken byher husband who has since passed away

We worked very well together and to date the film hasbeen selected for 12 international film festivals

It won the Jury Special Award at the GermanyInternational Film Festival in Munich 2018 and was shortlisted at the Redline International Film Festival Torontofor an international documentary award 2018

Juliet introduced the film at the PortabelloInternational Film Festival London September 2018

Diana Taylor

Link to FilmLink to Film

The Making of Masha and DashaTwo Hearts in One

Screened at the Teign Cup competitionTeignmouth 2018

Having finished a short documentary last year I waslooking for another project

A relative has a regular slot on community radio Shehappened to interview Juliet Butler who had heard abouther radio studio and Juliet wanted to promote her bookldquoThe Less You Know the Sounder You Sleeprdquo

Juliet studied Russian at Exeter University and leftwith a degree in Russian in 1982 she decided that herfuture lay in the Soviet Union

She applied for a job in the British Embassy and wentto live in Moscow While Juliet was there she met aRussian photographer who she married however he wasnot allowed to leave Russia as he had served inAfghanistan Juliet stayed in Russia for the next twentyyears It was while she was working as a free lancejournalist that she met Russiarsquos most conjoined twinsMasha and Dasha Krivoplyapova

The film tells the tragic story of how Juliet nurturedthe twins and shared her family with them until they diedin 1953 She was the only western journalist allowedaccess to the twins

I was fascinated by the story and wanted to make thisdocumentary During the 1980rsquos I was working on the BBCflagship programme ldquoNewsnightrdquo as a film editor and Iwas editing some quite momentous events in historymany stories covered the break down of the Cold War

I edited Breznevrsquos funeral and the fall of the BerlinWall which were just two of the many events that weretaking place then I had also travelled on the trans Siberianexpress in 1983 Moscow to Beijing which cut acrossSiberia to Outer Mongolia so I had a strong interest in thiscountry

I filmed an interview with Juliet about her experiencein Russia and one of the interesting personal facts thatemerged was that Juliet was a twin and I am a twin so itmade it very poignant that the film was about conjoinedtwins

I was impressed with the fact that Juliet had run anews bureau in Moscow supplying news to foreignjournalist at a time when it was very difficult to workthere I may have been editing the material that she wassending over

Juliet was instrumental in providing me with thearchive and most of the pictures used had been taken byher husband who has since passed away

We worked very well together and to date the film hasbeen selected for 12 international film festivals

It won the Jury Special Award at the GermanyInternational Film Festival in Munich 2018 and was shortlisted at the Redline International Film Festival Torontofor an international documentary award 2018

Juliet introduced the film at the PortabelloInternational Film Festival London September 2018

Diana Taylor

Link to FilmLink to Film

Regional Competition1st Place Someone to Watch Over Me by PaulVernon [Solent MovieMakers ]2nd Place Voices of Volunteers by Robert Page3rd Place Why America is called America [BristolFilm and Video Society]Highly Commended Second Sight by Stonehouseand Stroud Video UnitHighly Commended Looking Good by Alan Wallbank[Portsdown Video Makers]Highly Commended Chobe Game Lodge by TrevorWilliams[ Wimborne Movie Makers]Highly Commended Great Day OutCommended Dorothy Remembers by Tony andEileen ColburnCommended In Pursuit of Flowers Bristol Film andVideo SocietyCommended Englandrsquos Smallest City by JohnGreene [Gloucester Film Makers[

Baby Dolphin1st Place Diamond Dog by Leon Silavant2nd Place Last of the Summer Wine by Ray Amey3rd Place One Minute with Water by Ray AmeyHighly Commended Can We by Guy

Dolphin1st Place Dog Days by Leon Silavant2nd Place Sudden Death by Oli Seaman3rd Place How To by Tom and Ivy RobertsHighly Commended Count to Three by Bristol Filmand Video SocietyHighly Commended Twinkle Twinkle by Bristol Filmand Video Society

Where titles are shown in blue and underlined youcan click this link to see the movie

WinnerWinner

SoCo 2018 Competitions Results amp Video LinksSoCo 2018 Competitions Results amp Video Links

Paul Vernon receiving Regional Cup and certificate for filmSomeone to Watch over Me

Eileeen and Tony Colburn receiving their certificate forDorothy Remembers

Ray Amey receiving certificate for films Last of the SummerWine and One Minute with Water

Tom and Ivy Roberts receiving certificate for film How To

The SoCo Regional Competition The Dolphin andBaby Dolphin Results Presentations and showing of filmstook place at The Centenary Club Weymouth on 8thSeptember 2018 This year the IAC Vice-Chair JohnHowden presented the certificates and trophies

There has been 14 films put into the RegionalCompetition The standard has been high and Ron DaviesFRPS FACI(M) EFIAP FIPF has worked hard to to putthem in order and make positive critiques of them allEntries for the Dolphin and Baby Dolphin numbers areslightly down These are humorous short films Thewinners of the Dolphin and Baby Dolphin areautomatically put into the National Mermaid and MiniMermaid Competitions These competitions are Judged atthe IAC Conference

The Results are on the SoCo Website and belowhttpsiacsocowebscom

We have had another busy year at the clubMembers entered 34 films in the 11 competitions

which were heldon November 5th our friends from theWorcester Club will have the task of finding the overallwinner for the City of Gloucester Trophy ever an easything to do with films being on many varied themes

Two Public Shows were held in our club room andincluded the ever popular vintage steam railways inMarch Then on October 1st we had an evening of localarchive films Always well received

Many thanks to Mike Morris who spent many hoursputting that show together with help from our recentlypurchased 8mm cine film scanner

Our Video Road Shows kept us busy with 16 done thisyear and 6 bookings for 2019 and already we have 1 for2020

Our 2019 Programme is being prepared and willinclude our hosting the Inter Club Competition in March

More on that next timeJohn Greene Gloucester Film Makers

Gloucester Film MakersAr

ound the Clubs

Around the Clu

bs

CLUBSCLUBS

Teign Film Makers Club

As predicted in the previous newsletter Teign FilmMakers Club (TFMC) members assembled at the firstmeeting of the new season on Monday 3rd September tocatch up with each other and premiere this yearrsquos clubproject Our most ambitious and dramatic yet it involvedmore club members than previously as well as some verytalented amateur actors

The first technical meeting was hosted by RogerWestern who presented an evening dealing with therecording editing and adding of sound to our films PeterHiner also produced a video describing how to deal withunwanted sound particularly excessive ambient soundBoth presentations generated lively discussion andmember involvement

October is usually a busy month for TFMC and thisyear was no exception with a total of three meetings andthe Teign Cup competition

The programme included a new club event for firsttwo meetings of the month during which on 1st Octobermembers filmed a pre-prepared script and secondlyduring the following meeting on October 15th theyedited and showed various versions of their footage Nowork on the material was allowed between meetings anddiscussion followed the screenings

It was agreed by all that the experience was bothenjoyable and beneficial to all members involved and willform part of the programme from now on

The club held the Teign Cup competition on theafternoon of Saturday 13th October

Attracting a total of sixteen entries with an overallrunning time of nearly two and a half hours the qualityand content of the programme was once again very highand the audience had plenty to enjoy

Judged by Pip and Susan Critten our grateful thanksonce again to you both the top three were as follows-

1st Why is America called America - Bristol Filmand Video Society

2nd Someone to watch over me - SolentMoviemakers and

3rd Count to three - Bristol Film and Video Society

On the day Pip gave brief reasons for their choice ofthe top three prior to the awarding of trophies

Pip and Susan have produced comments for all entriesand these have been distributed

The club wishes to thank all of those who enteredwithout whom there would be no competition

As well as the entrants club Chairman Ivan Andrewsalso thanked those attending for their support the clubmembers involved in the preparation and presentation onthe day and Tony Colburn for the production of theprogramme disks

Finally the club is delighted to announce that theirrecently completed film lsquoSarahrsquos Worldrsquo came first in theAustralian widescreen competition Well done to allinvolved in its production

Teign Film Makers Club welcomes visitors both localand not so local and if you want more information aboutthe programme events and updates please visit thewebsite-

httpwwwteignfilmmakerscluborg

Judge Pip Critten with Graham Egarr Deputy Chairman ofBristol Film and Video Society who is receiving the third

place award from Ivan Andrews Teign Chairman

Susan Cockwell of Bristol Film and Video Society holds thewinners cup with Ivan Andrews Teign Chairman

Itrsquos good to talk ndash and boy can film makers talkWhile any film festival should be a delight for the eyes

UNICA is also a treat for the ears Once a year a couple ofhundred enthusiasts gather to watch movies andexchange ideas news gossip jokes hellip and usuallygrumbles But at UNICA 2018 there were hardly anymoans

We were in Blansko a small town in the south of theCzech Republic The local cinema had been taken over forthe week So had the culture centre across the road (Themayor even closed the road for our safety) On part of thesmall grass park outside was a shelter for smokers and amuch larger tent with tables benches and a busy grill

In the tent were two huge tv monitors One showedwhatever film was on the cinema screen at the momentThe other displayed the film title and a runningcountdown of how long it had still to run Such displayswere all over the cinema foyer and the coffee bar area

We watched film programmes from 27 countries Wealso enjoyed two excursions

One full-day included an exploration of wonderfulcaves an underground boat ride a cable-car ride a visitto a brewery museum and two excellent meals A shortertrip took us first to a stunning church whose automatedcarillon played for us then to more caves which had beenused until quite recently as an emergency bunker in thecase of nuclear war

But between films we mainly talked supped Czechbeer or coffee and enjoyed each otherrsquos company

The jury watched all the films discussed them publiclythree times a day and eventually awarded prizes Theteam included a Czech a Finn a Spaniard an Austrian andour own Mike Whyman They were popularly known asldquoThe Magnificent Fiverdquo People enjoyed their remarks andinsights

The British programme won Best film by a young person lsquoPulsersquo by Gage

Oxley A bronze medal for lsquoMia A Rapture 20

productionrsquo by Gary J Hewitt A bronze medal for lsquoNot the End of the Worldrsquo

by Jack Bennett ndash who made the charminganimation while studying in Bristol

The award for Best Programme went to Sweden TheFellini Medal for the film with an important message onthemes of UNESCO went to lsquoI Have to Save the World aLittlersquo by Peppe Andersson also from Sweden

UNICA goes to a different country each tear In 2020Britain is the host nation and it will be a remarkableoccasion If you want a warm-up think about hoppingacross the channel to the Netherlands A train direct fromAmsterdam airport takes you to Zeist where UNICA will bein a modern hotel which has its own proper cinema Lookfor details after 1 January on wwwunica2019nl

If you want a taste of UNICA tryhttpsyoutubeTWjVozplG4g which is one of the

ldquovideo magazinesrdquo issued almost daily at the event About11 minutes 49 seconds into it you almost see a kilt-basedwardrobe malfunction

Dave WattersonUNICA President

The Magnificent Five ndash UNICA jurorsMartin Stoll (CZE) Tarmo Hottanen (FIN) Alfons Hereu (ESP) Thomas Schauer (AUT) and

Mike Whyman (GBR)

Dave Watterson UNICA President presiding over theclosing ceremony

A few years ago about 201213 I entered the So-CoRegional Competition and made the decision not to bepresent on the screening and presentation day That wasa big mistake because to my huge surprise I won Ientered again the following year and thought it best tomake the journey to Centenary Club in Weymouth

It is easy to find if travelling by train as itrsquos on the righthand side adjacent to the railway line just before the trainruns into the station I wasnrsquot placed that year but at leastI was pleased with my film

I havenrsquot returned since then but really thatrsquos noexcuse especially when the Weymouth Club works so hadto put on the event and itrsquos relatively easy for me to getthere This year I did go because I had entered a filmUnfortunately I had to drive down from Portsmouth dueto strike action on the railway

What really pleased me was the fact that the SolentMoviemakers won the competition as the commentsabout their club in the last So-Co News mentioned thatthey were struggling when it came to club night activitiesbut talking to their members at Weymouth I had theimpression that they still have a positive outlook

For my film I received a lsquoHighly Commendedrsquocertificate which I was rather pleased with but it was thejudgersquos comments that were of interest

It mainly concerned my voice over for the openingscenes that were not as fluent as the person who we seefor the remainder of the film so on the judgersquos suggestionI cut down the introduction to a minimum I feel this hasmade a big improvement to the filmrsquos opening sequence

I then went back to my latest project and realized thatmy voice delivery was similar to the one criticized soredid it all again and what a huge improvement

I appreciate that not everyone likes to hear their ownvoice but I decided from the time I started making filmsmainly documentaries that I would have to do pieces tocamera I am not though a natural speaker and find itimpossible to do ldquooff the cuffrdquo dialogue so that means Ihave to write scripts and memorise the wordingThankfully I have had a very patience cameraman whosometimes has to endure countless retakes until I amword perfect I recently redid a piece myself and got itright on take twenty two

At Weymouth I met a lady from the Teign Club Sheand her husband voice over their films but suggested thatshe couldnrsquot do pieces to camera My advice is to give it ago even if itrsquos only the introduction as itrsquos nice to see theperson behind the dialogue

One annoying problem I have is that my voice breaksup the more I speak and has done for the last twentyyears That makes it difficult to repeat successive dialogueso that it all sounds the same

Not everyone likes the sound of my voice but I feelexactly the same with some TV presenterrsquos I do like theprogrammes presented by Simon Reeve as he gallivantsaround the world Then we have Rob Bell on walking oldrailway lines Now thatrsquos what I would love to do butalmost impossible as a lone film maker

I just love to film railways but not so much thelocomotives more the coaches and architecture ofstations especially those in preservation or those beingused as homes or businesses Perhaps this interest hassomething to do with the fact that I spent all my workinglife on the railway On that note it was nice to see fellowtrain driver Phil Marshman at Weymouth

For salePanasonic AVE5 Visionaudio mixer two camera

input pound15Panasonic MX12 VisionAudio mixer two camera

input pound25Buyer collect from Frome SomersetErnie McKennaTelephone 01373 451885 - 0744 675 9640

Considering the Invitation Suggestion of past IACChairman Mr Mike Whyman FACI commending peopleto write about their cinema interests and connections Iwrite my story This commences just six years after theend of the ldquoSilent Erardquo

Way back in the past when I was just five years old aBig Man came to our house with a small machine(95mm) with ldquowheelsrdquo top and bottom He fixed a whitecloth about the size of four gents handkerchiefs to a wallwith four drawing pins He put the machine on the tableand threaded what to my eyes was ldquotape stuffrdquo When heswitched it on and made it work the machine ldquotalkedrdquoand made moving pictures in black and white appear onthe white sheet

The pictures showed how they made and packedthose triangular slices of Kraft Cheese I was fascinatedand enthralled I couldnrsquot understand it at all so I asked BigMan what it was and how it worked He tried to explainbut I still couldnrsquot grasp it He then explained about theCinema etc All way over my five years old head

My Mamma was a bitreligious a regular churchattendee She had neverbeen to a Cinema Somefriends persuaded her to gowith them for her first andonly time Whatever shesaw ldquo42nd Streetrdquo I nowthink it was she walked outsaid it was disgusting thecostumed dancing girls Iexpect This resulted in mynever being allowed in aCinema hellip Banned I donrsquotknow what shersquod think thesedays

Jump to WW2 which had just started when we movedfrom the tranquilities of our Lancashire mining village toPort Sunlight Wirral then Cheshire My new mates allwent to the ldquoKids Clubrdquo every Saturday at the RialtoCinema Bebington just frac12 a mile away Cinema was stillbanned and I was not permitted to go

This caused my mates to view me as somewhatpeculiar and led to a dust up or two blood being spilledMy Aunt eventually got my Mother to change her mindsince she was told that NO half naked damsels wouldappear in any of the films Aww Being censored (U) andsuitable for Kids

So along we all went every Saturday to fight RedIndians screech at Hop-a-Long Cassidy ldquohersquos behind yourdquosail with Don Winslow of the American Navy and fly theUniverse with Flash Gordon to help defeat ldquoThe Mekonrdquoand sing along with Roy Rogers and his horse ldquoTriggerrdquoand so on

The Blitz started on Liverpool (just across the RiverMersey) and Birkenhead just over 5 miles away We werebombed out of our first two homes but my visits to theRialto Cinema continued until on one Saturday (no airraid sirens ndash warning) when I was ten years old my mateswere around the same age a ldquoJerryrdquo plane zoomed upover the high tree topped adjacent railway embankment

(still there but The Rialto has long gone) and dived downonto the 300 yards three and four deep Kids queuing

This was the second time I had been subjected to asimilar occurrence so I knew what was coming My matesand I were near the front of the queue I screamed ldquoliedown get downrdquo Cannon shells hit the Cinema wall justabove us we were cut and bruised badly by flyingmasonry Many Kids further along the queue were killedtheir little bodies spread eagled and blood ndash etc ndasheverywhere Picture It Very quickly came the PoliceldquoDadrsquos Armyrdquo Ambulances noise howls crying

Picture It The Rialto Cinema did not open We wereall sent home on our own no counselling in those daysWe were tough Kids we had to be

The Rialto Cinema was open for us the followingSaturday First a Priest took a short service Sounded oddwith the cinema organ Then we were again helping ourScreen heroes

I volunteered to join the RAF During my serviceapart from the duties I became detailed to help a few filmproduction crews notably that for ldquoReach For The SkyrdquoMy interest in films and cinema was completely renewedIn the process I made some friends amongst some verywell known people mostly all now gone to that GreatUniversal Cinema In The Sky

After I resigned from the RAF and married I couldnrsquotsettle down in my old job I saw an advertisement by theRank Organisation and applied was successful and stayedfor twelve years becoming involved in various aspects andadministration It was supposed to be a five days a weekjob but it became virtually seven My home life was beingeroded

In the first week following my resignation after wordgot out I received 41 job offers from other film companiesand film organisations ndash true

My wife issued an ldquoultimatumrdquo IF I went back orreturned to FILM

So I changed direction completely but still maintainedmy interest as a ldquoHobbyrdquo

Lee Prescott

Britain has as many video clubs as therest of the world put together hellip

hellip and nobody knows why

Without doubt the psyche of society has changedover the lifetime of most SoCo readers When I was 15years of age it was nothing for me to work from 8 am untilmidnight in Topical Press Fleet St In the year 1952 myjob was to distribute photographs on foot to all thenational daily newspapers Youngsters such as me backthen were treated as though invisible hellip there being aubiquitous acceptance of authority sanctioning thetreatment of juniors similar to that of the gentryrsquostreatment of servants below stairs ldquoUs and themrdquo wasrife and this had been intensified by previous wars everyfifteen or twenty years and the somewhat oppressivediscipline that went with them Every male back then wasconscripted into one of the three forces Forces clubswere everywhere There were also sixty people in mymotorcycle club nearly 60 in the local photography clubeven more in fishing clubs hundreds in dance clubshellip andamateur filmmaking was unheard of The population wasjust on 50 million back then We lost just under half amillion during WWII

As the decades rolled by gadgets became morepopular and one of the first to make a billion was theWalkman a personal cassette player Conversation onthe electric trains was a no-no This custom-inflictedisolation was seemingly alleviated by the Walkman However clubs were considered neutral ground with acommon interest and for that reason proved a veryhealthy pastime hellip no argument there Many moregadgets later there appeared to be a growing dissuasionof interest in clubs and then came the crowning glory ofthe computer and finally the Internet This was followedby the Internet nation who are now running this country If we want to know view listen to have somethingexplained we think Internet Who needs a club Add tothis the fact that most cameras will produce an excellentpicture even if accidentally operated by a 2 year old wethen have a perfect reason for not bothering to join a cluband save a few bob in the process So what are theymissing

In the August 2018 issue of SoCo Jeremy ActingChairman of Solent MovieMakers stated a number offacts about his club hellip and he metaphorically hit so manynails on the head I thought he was talking about ours Irsquomsure that 99 of his readers were nodding withcommiseration However Jeremy there is a differencebetween your club and ours We are lucky enough tohave a Chairman who wants to be a chairman and has 50yearsrsquo experience of making films and we have a ViceChairman who is just starting out on a filmmaking careerand is yet a teenager The committee comprises a wealthof professional experience and two of its members areteachers well versed in the psychology of todayrsquos youth We have members totally averse to making filmscollectively and members who are totally averse tomaking films on their own hellip yet they work together talkto each other and share the chores on club evenings

We too considered knocking competitions on thehead but after a lengthy discussion decided that were we

to do so the number of films produced wouldlikely peter out If that happens then our club is doomed At our last competition there were two entries and threeprizes to be won To just sit around and talk is akin tomeeting in a pub or restaurant a street corner or a park Clubs thrive on activities and any club without achairman we all know has just entered a minefield Ourclubrsquos almost been there Three years ago we had a massexodus the then members calling it a day when theyperforce lost a wonderful chairman who engaged in thepursuance of his career was transferred to the mainland Without you Jeremy your club would fall apart so wesalute you Sir

Being an octogenarian I can speak for the elderlyHere are some facts

1 Traipsing around with a camera and tripod canprove exhausting

2 They leave the tripod indoors and take home alot of unusable footage hellip canrsquot enter that

3 Most feel theyrsquove done it all We know itrsquos notquite true but it sounds plausible

4 Having lsquodone it allrsquo new ideas are ever harder tofind (This is caused by too much TV and notenough pencil and paper scratching around forthose ideas)

5 Their mental attitude is that of having a desireto please and be part of the club which theylove

6 They look to the Committee to come up withthe ideas

7 Traipsing around with a camera and tripod canprove daunting to the elderly

Wersquove all been young and bright at some time in ourlives when energy flowed endlessly and we could work allday on a crust of bread Club-wise there aretwo requirements the finding of new younger membersand accommodating those we have

As the elderly are less likely to generate footage it isbetter that the club provide the means for them to do soand that means having all the members work collectivelyto produce a film together Thatrsquos what our Committeearranged for us We set about making a one minute filmwhich took all evening from talent to gaffers cameramenand soundmen director nearly every member wasemployed

Hard to swallow but itrsquos a fact of life not everybodywas ldquodelightedrdquo with this activity You can please some ofthe people some of the time etc so goes the adage Theresult was we generated footage hellip and for those thatfind traipsing difficult they could make a little personalfilm of their own about the activities of the evening Theone minute film was shown at the following meetingdiscussed hellip and we all went back to the drawing board No hellip it wasnrsquot much good but wersquod made a film togetherand set about making another This was much muchbetter We discovered we had some marvellous talentwould you believe Oh hellip forgot to mention hellip we have aprofessional soundman who gives us talks and he teachesprofessionally so hersquos a ldquotop drawerrdquo asset

The wisdom of making a film together does away withthe competitive element hellip and the critique which isinterpreted as blame and even effrontery in someminds is faceless and void of liability It is thus possible toreally rip into the critique without offending It is this partof a collective effort that enables one to teachlearn thefiner points of videography by example hellip worth athousand words

Irsquove interviewed lettered men in my time and uponasking a basic question received an answer nothing shortof waffle hellip people forget Irsquove attended a lecture alongwith professors who design electronics thought theyknew it all and entered the room with wry smug grinsbordering on arrogance The lecturer opened his talkwith ldquoCan anybody here tell me the input resistance of ageneral purpose silicon transistorrdquo and nobody knew After this sobering moment his now subdued audiencewere given a refresher course This was a clever questionwe donrsquot of necessity need to know the input resistanceof a transistor when designing the networkof components surrounding it It is similar in nature tothose people with a lifetimersquos experience of filmmakingon AUTO to be asked about the effectiveness of a gammaknee One would possibly receive the reply rsquoThe bestthing for that is a crepe bandagersquo

What is the most difficult thing for anageing club to achieve

Generally speaking what proves almost impossible isthat of getting onersquos own members to support theirchairmancommitteeclub and turn up at arrangedfilming venues It is something of a mystery Theflippancy with which elderly members are tarred with thesame brush is a little unkind The general consensus ofopinion would read along the lines of

If they are retired they canrsquot be bothered and if theyare of working age they canrsquot spare the time This is notentirely true If your committee prepares the groundcarefully enough covering for all contingencies whengiven a task for their video cameras the elderly willattend given sufficient lead time

Elderly people of eighty go to places like China for aholiday A train takes them to the airport and a planetakes them to China then a taxi takes them to a hotel andthey are waited on hand and foot The next day they startfilming Thatrsquos the mystery hellip they start filming Itrsquos aclandestine film yoursquoll rarely see it

The committee offered to arrange the shooting of afilm during the summer break of several weeks and askedfor a show of hands Too few showed any interest and itwas dead in the water two minutes after it was suggested Half the members were present the other half on holidaygathering footage

We all know that any exterior filming must beplanned storyboarded scripted choreographedinteriors lit meal breaks arranged and everything mustbe scheduled Due to the lack of interest in turning up ata venue we make our films at the club hellip a veryimpromptu affair We watch it at the next meetingsometimes If your club has talent that accepts a part

then learns their lines and comes back prepared torehearse members willing to direct film record soundattend to lighting etc you are truly blessed

The greatest synergy ever is to combine a video clubwith a drama group wherein both stage and screenversions are made There would be outdoor scenes andplaces could be hired for the internal scenes Estateagents have lots of empty houses on their books and theircurrent owners want a sale adding ldquoBeautiful interior sopristine and desirable it was used as a film setrdquo

I worked with a producer who wrote a screenplay andhad me working on the script for months He obtainedpermission to use footage from NASA talked an excellentcomposer into giving him copyright free access to hiscompositions and various works and then he ldquoboltedrdquo thelot together for a fabulous intro We hadnrsquot picked up acamera at that stage He then got a friend down the roadto overfly the area with a drone More free footage Alocal fishing boat was used for another scene As it was afilm being made by the local community the Skipper didit as a favour Magnanimity abounds in some areas Anadvert was placed in the local rag a hall hired for theevening and I was instructed to take a shoulder mountcamera to the auditions [People expect filmmakers tohave big cameras]

ldquoHow many do you think will turn uprdquo I askedldquoNo ideardquo he said lsquoCould be ten twenty hellip we only

need seven and Irsquove already hired the leading ladyrdquoAbout fifteen minutes before the start time we heard

the first of many footfalls and fifty people turned uphoping to get a part in the film hellip staggering He showedthem the opening scenes of the film and explained theplot The screened footage was second to none it wasNASArsquos The shots were synchronised to the frame withthe music A few people did a screen test Everybodyrsquosname was taken plus stand-ins and two hours later heasked for a critique and got it from a retired ITV producerwho made some very sound suggestions Rehearsalsfollowed a week later The reasons causing the producerto move back to the mainland were business related butit was one of the finest lessons on how to produce a filmfor next to nothing that Irsquove ever received

Organising something like that isnrsquot a case of beingclever or being able to organise extremely well itrsquos noteven money What causes a person to do this is passionthat inner driving force that railroadsobstacles transcends despondency and the missilesthrown into onersquos machinery by doubting Thomasrsquos Hewas a dynamo He needed a large house found out whoowned it and knocked on his door showed him thefootage hellip that footage was the key to opening all thedoors hellip and the chap nodded

Dave Jones

[Part two of this article will appear in the next issue]

Philip Marshman115 Dursley Road Trowbridge Wiltshire BA14 0NR

01225 764752fromephilmardemoncouk

FROME FIVE MINUTE FESTIVAL 2019

If you have cause to ring me you may find that my BT phone will ask you who you are The reason for this because Iwas sick to death of people ringing me up trying to sell me stuff and worse If you give your name or video club itwill put you through to my answer machine If Irsquom there Irsquoll answer it So please use it

Once again Frome Film and Video Makers are hosting the Frome Five Minute Festival AKM Music have provided thetrophy

We will be doing our own catering once again so please indicate on the entry form if you are attending and how many Ourvenue the Catholic Hall has wheelchair access Incidentally this not our club room Our club meetings are at the FromeCanoe Club in the old Market Yard next to the Cheese and Grain

The competition is pre-judged but only the Judges and myself will know who has won The competition is divided intocategories (see entry forms)

It is our policy to show all the entries but we reserve the right not to show every film in the event that the running time ofthe programme exceeds the time available We shall rely on the advice of the judges when making any decision in thisregard

We can manage most tape disc stick and card entries in Standard or High Definition but we canrsquot manage 4K See rules 5and 6 for the technical requirements This will allow us to drag and drop the original files to ourmedia player thus ensuring the best quality picture and sound

The closing date for entries is February 4th 2019 The show will be on Saturday March 30th 2019 at the Catholic HallPark Road Frome Somerset BA11 1EU starting at the earlier time of 3 pm sharp

If your entry is available to view on the web please include the web address on your entry form and we will link our website to it

Philip Marshman Competition Officer

F R O M E F I L M amp V I D E O M A K E R Swwwfromevideowebscom

Entrants Details

Name _______________________________________________________________Address _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Post Code ___________ Telephone ______________ E-Mail _____________________Club (if appropriate) _____________________________________________________Youth Section SchoolCollege (if applicable) _____________________________________

How did you find out about our competition ____________________________

Clearance of copyright is the responsibility of the entrant (See rule 8)

I agree to honour the rules of the competition

Signed _______________________________________________________________

Please send your entry with entry fee(including the cost of return postage if you can not attend) to

Mr P Marshman 115 Dursley Road Trowbridge Wiltshire BA14 0NRBy the closing date of February 3rd 2018

Please try to attend the show It is a very enjoyable event - ask anyone who has been

If attending to help with the catering please indicate how many will be in your party _________

Considering the Invitation Suggestion of past IACChairman Mr Mike Whyman FACI commending peopleto write about their cinema interests and connections Iwrite my story This commences just six years after theend of the ldquoSilent Erardquo

Way back in the past when I was just five years old aBig Man came to our house with a small machine(95mm) with ldquowheelsrdquo top and bottom He fixed a whitecloth about the size of four gents handkerchiefs to a wallwith four drawing pins He put the machine on the tableand threaded what to my eyes was ldquotape stuffrdquo When heswitched it on and made it work the machine ldquotalkedrdquoand made moving pictures in black and white appear onthe white sheet

The pictures showed how they made and packedthose triangular slices of Kraft Cheese I was fascinatedand enthralled I couldnrsquot understand it at all so I asked BigMan what it was and how it worked He tried to explainbut I still couldnrsquot grasp it He then explained about theCinema etc All way over my five years old head

My Mamma was a bitreligious a regular churchattendee She had neverbeen to a Cinema Somefriends persuaded her to gowith them for her first andonly time Whatever shesaw ldquo42nd Streetrdquo I nowthink it was she walked outsaid it was disgusting thecostumed dancing girls Iexpect This resulted in mynever being allowed in aCinema hellip Banned I donrsquotknow what shersquod think thesedays

Jump to WW2 which had just started when we movedfrom the tranquilities of our Lancashire mining village toPort Sunlight Wirral then Cheshire My new mates allwent to the ldquoKids Clubrdquo every Saturday at the RialtoCinema Bebington just frac12 a mile away Cinema was stillbanned and I was not permitted to go

This caused my mates to view me as somewhatpeculiar and led to a dust up or two blood being spilledMy Aunt eventually got my Mother to change her mindsince she was told that NO half naked damsels wouldappear in any of the films Aww Being censored (U) andsuitable for Kids

So along we all went every Saturday to fight RedIndians screech at Hop-a-Long Cassidy ldquohersquos behind yourdquosail with Don Winslow of the American Navy and fly theUniverse with Flash Gordon to help defeat ldquoThe Mekonrdquoand sing along with Roy Rogers and his horse ldquoTriggerrdquoand so on

The Blitz started on Liverpool (just across the RiverMersey) and Birkenhead just over 5 miles away We werebombed out of our first two homes but my visits to theRialto Cinema continued until on one Saturday (no airraid sirens ndash warning) when I was ten years old my mateswere around the same age a ldquoJerryrdquo plane zoomed upover the high tree topped adjacent railway embankment

(still there but The Rialto has long gone) and dived downonto the 300 yards three and four deep Kids queuing

This was the second time I had been subjected to asimilar occurrence so I knew what was coming My matesand I were near the front of the queue I screamed ldquoliedown get downrdquo Cannon shells hit the Cinema wall justabove us we were cut and bruised badly by flyingmasonry Many Kids further along the queue were killedtheir little bodies spread eagled and blood ndash etc ndasheverywhere Picture It Very quickly came the PoliceldquoDadrsquos Armyrdquo Ambulances noise howls crying

Picture It The Rialto Cinema did not open We wereall sent home on our own no counselling in those daysWe were tough Kids we had to be

The Rialto Cinema was open for us the followingSaturday First a Priest took a short service Sounded oddwith the cinema organ Then we were again helping ourScreen heroes

I volunteered to join the RAF During my serviceapart from the duties I became detailed to help a few filmproduction crews notably that for ldquoReach For The SkyrdquoMy interest in films and cinema was completely renewedIn the process I made some friends amongst some verywell known people mostly all now gone to that GreatUniversal Cinema In The Sky

After I resigned from the RAF and married I couldnrsquotsettle down in my old job I saw an advertisement by theRank Organisation and applied was successful and stayedfor twelve years becoming involved in various aspects andadministration It was supposed to be a five days a weekjob but it became virtually seven My home life was beingeroded

In the first week following my resignation after wordgot out I received 41 job offers from other film companiesand film organisations ndash true

My wife issued an ldquoultimatumrdquo IF I went back orreturned to FILM

So I changed direction completely but still maintainedmy interest as a ldquoHobbyrdquo

Lee Prescott

Britain has as many video clubs as therest of the world put together hellip

hellip and nobody knows why

Without doubt the psyche of society has changedover the lifetime of most SoCo readers When I was 15years of age it was nothing for me to work from 8 am untilmidnight in Topical Press Fleet St In the year 1952 myjob was to distribute photographs on foot to all thenational daily newspapers Youngsters such as me backthen were treated as though invisible hellip there being aubiquitous acceptance of authority sanctioning thetreatment of juniors similar to that of the gentryrsquostreatment of servants below stairs ldquoUs and themrdquo wasrife and this had been intensified by previous wars everyfifteen or twenty years and the somewhat oppressivediscipline that went with them Every male back then wasconscripted into one of the three forces Forces clubswere everywhere There were also sixty people in mymotorcycle club nearly 60 in the local photography clubeven more in fishing clubs hundreds in dance clubshellip andamateur filmmaking was unheard of The population wasjust on 50 million back then We lost just under half amillion during WWII

As the decades rolled by gadgets became morepopular and one of the first to make a billion was theWalkman a personal cassette player Conversation onthe electric trains was a no-no This custom-inflictedisolation was seemingly alleviated by the Walkman However clubs were considered neutral ground with acommon interest and for that reason proved a veryhealthy pastime hellip no argument there Many moregadgets later there appeared to be a growing dissuasionof interest in clubs and then came the crowning glory ofthe computer and finally the Internet This was followedby the Internet nation who are now running this country If we want to know view listen to have somethingexplained we think Internet Who needs a club Add tothis the fact that most cameras will produce an excellentpicture even if accidentally operated by a 2 year old wethen have a perfect reason for not bothering to join a cluband save a few bob in the process So what are theymissing

In the August 2018 issue of SoCo Jeremy ActingChairman of Solent MovieMakers stated a number offacts about his club hellip and he metaphorically hit so manynails on the head I thought he was talking about ours Irsquomsure that 99 of his readers were nodding withcommiseration However Jeremy there is a differencebetween your club and ours We are lucky enough tohave a Chairman who wants to be a chairman and has 50yearsrsquo experience of making films and we have a ViceChairman who is just starting out on a filmmaking careerand is yet a teenager The committee comprises a wealthof professional experience and two of its members areteachers well versed in the psychology of todayrsquos youth We have members totally averse to making filmscollectively and members who are totally averse tomaking films on their own hellip yet they work together talkto each other and share the chores on club evenings

We too considered knocking competitions on thehead but after a lengthy discussion decided that were we

to do so the number of films produced wouldlikely peter out If that happens then our club is doomed At our last competition there were two entries and threeprizes to be won To just sit around and talk is akin tomeeting in a pub or restaurant a street corner or a park Clubs thrive on activities and any club without achairman we all know has just entered a minefield Ourclubrsquos almost been there Three years ago we had a massexodus the then members calling it a day when theyperforce lost a wonderful chairman who engaged in thepursuance of his career was transferred to the mainland Without you Jeremy your club would fall apart so wesalute you Sir

Being an octogenarian I can speak for the elderlyHere are some facts

1 Traipsing around with a camera and tripod canprove exhausting

2 They leave the tripod indoors and take home alot of unusable footage hellip canrsquot enter that

3 Most feel theyrsquove done it all We know itrsquos notquite true but it sounds plausible

4 Having lsquodone it allrsquo new ideas are ever harder tofind (This is caused by too much TV and notenough pencil and paper scratching around forthose ideas)

5 Their mental attitude is that of having a desireto please and be part of the club which theylove

6 They look to the Committee to come up withthe ideas

7 Traipsing around with a camera and tripod canprove daunting to the elderly

Wersquove all been young and bright at some time in ourlives when energy flowed endlessly and we could work allday on a crust of bread Club-wise there aretwo requirements the finding of new younger membersand accommodating those we have

As the elderly are less likely to generate footage it isbetter that the club provide the means for them to do soand that means having all the members work collectivelyto produce a film together Thatrsquos what our Committeearranged for us We set about making a one minute filmwhich took all evening from talent to gaffers cameramenand soundmen director nearly every member wasemployed

Hard to swallow but itrsquos a fact of life not everybodywas ldquodelightedrdquo with this activity You can please some ofthe people some of the time etc so goes the adage Theresult was we generated footage hellip and for those thatfind traipsing difficult they could make a little personalfilm of their own about the activities of the evening Theone minute film was shown at the following meetingdiscussed hellip and we all went back to the drawing board No hellip it wasnrsquot much good but wersquod made a film togetherand set about making another This was much muchbetter We discovered we had some marvellous talentwould you believe Oh hellip forgot to mention hellip we have aprofessional soundman who gives us talks and he teachesprofessionally so hersquos a ldquotop drawerrdquo asset

The wisdom of making a film together does away withthe competitive element hellip and the critique which isinterpreted as blame and even effrontery in someminds is faceless and void of liability It is thus possible toreally rip into the critique without offending It is this partof a collective effort that enables one to teachlearn thefiner points of videography by example hellip worth athousand words

Irsquove interviewed lettered men in my time and uponasking a basic question received an answer nothing shortof waffle hellip people forget Irsquove attended a lecture alongwith professors who design electronics thought theyknew it all and entered the room with wry smug grinsbordering on arrogance The lecturer opened his talkwith ldquoCan anybody here tell me the input resistance of ageneral purpose silicon transistorrdquo and nobody knew After this sobering moment his now subdued audiencewere given a refresher course This was a clever questionwe donrsquot of necessity need to know the input resistanceof a transistor when designing the networkof components surrounding it It is similar in nature tothose people with a lifetimersquos experience of filmmakingon AUTO to be asked about the effectiveness of a gammaknee One would possibly receive the reply rsquoThe bestthing for that is a crepe bandagersquo

What is the most difficult thing for anageing club to achieve

Generally speaking what proves almost impossible isthat of getting onersquos own members to support theirchairmancommitteeclub and turn up at arrangedfilming venues It is something of a mystery Theflippancy with which elderly members are tarred with thesame brush is a little unkind The general consensus ofopinion would read along the lines of

If they are retired they canrsquot be bothered and if theyare of working age they canrsquot spare the time This is notentirely true If your committee prepares the groundcarefully enough covering for all contingencies whengiven a task for their video cameras the elderly willattend given sufficient lead time

Elderly people of eighty go to places like China for aholiday A train takes them to the airport and a planetakes them to China then a taxi takes them to a hotel andthey are waited on hand and foot The next day they startfilming Thatrsquos the mystery hellip they start filming Itrsquos aclandestine film yoursquoll rarely see it

The committee offered to arrange the shooting of afilm during the summer break of several weeks and askedfor a show of hands Too few showed any interest and itwas dead in the water two minutes after it was suggested Half the members were present the other half on holidaygathering footage

We all know that any exterior filming must beplanned storyboarded scripted choreographedinteriors lit meal breaks arranged and everything mustbe scheduled Due to the lack of interest in turning up ata venue we make our films at the club hellip a veryimpromptu affair We watch it at the next meetingsometimes If your club has talent that accepts a part

then learns their lines and comes back prepared torehearse members willing to direct film record soundattend to lighting etc you are truly blessed

The greatest synergy ever is to combine a video clubwith a drama group wherein both stage and screenversions are made There would be outdoor scenes andplaces could be hired for the internal scenes Estateagents have lots of empty houses on their books and theircurrent owners want a sale adding ldquoBeautiful interior sopristine and desirable it was used as a film setrdquo

I worked with a producer who wrote a screenplay andhad me working on the script for months He obtainedpermission to use footage from NASA talked an excellentcomposer into giving him copyright free access to hiscompositions and various works and then he ldquoboltedrdquo thelot together for a fabulous intro We hadnrsquot picked up acamera at that stage He then got a friend down the roadto overfly the area with a drone More free footage Alocal fishing boat was used for another scene As it was afilm being made by the local community the Skipper didit as a favour Magnanimity abounds in some areas Anadvert was placed in the local rag a hall hired for theevening and I was instructed to take a shoulder mountcamera to the auditions [People expect filmmakers tohave big cameras]

ldquoHow many do you think will turn uprdquo I askedldquoNo ideardquo he said lsquoCould be ten twenty hellip we only

need seven and Irsquove already hired the leading ladyrdquoAbout fifteen minutes before the start time we heard

the first of many footfalls and fifty people turned uphoping to get a part in the film hellip staggering He showedthem the opening scenes of the film and explained theplot The screened footage was second to none it wasNASArsquos The shots were synchronised to the frame withthe music A few people did a screen test Everybodyrsquosname was taken plus stand-ins and two hours later heasked for a critique and got it from a retired ITV producerwho made some very sound suggestions Rehearsalsfollowed a week later The reasons causing the producerto move back to the mainland were business related butit was one of the finest lessons on how to produce a filmfor next to nothing that Irsquove ever received

Organising something like that isnrsquot a case of beingclever or being able to organise extremely well itrsquos noteven money What causes a person to do this is passionthat inner driving force that railroadsobstacles transcends despondency and the missilesthrown into onersquos machinery by doubting Thomasrsquos Hewas a dynamo He needed a large house found out whoowned it and knocked on his door showed him thefootage hellip that footage was the key to opening all thedoors hellip and the chap nodded

Dave Jones

[Part two of this article will appear in the next issue]

Philip Marshman115 Dursley Road Trowbridge Wiltshire BA14 0NR

01225 764752fromephilmardemoncouk

FROME FIVE MINUTE FESTIVAL 2019

If you have cause to ring me you may find that my BT phone will ask you who you are The reason for this because Iwas sick to death of people ringing me up trying to sell me stuff and worse If you give your name or video club itwill put you through to my answer machine If Irsquom there Irsquoll answer it So please use it

Once again Frome Film and Video Makers are hosting the Frome Five Minute Festival AKM Music have provided thetrophy

We will be doing our own catering once again so please indicate on the entry form if you are attending and how many Ourvenue the Catholic Hall has wheelchair access Incidentally this not our club room Our club meetings are at the FromeCanoe Club in the old Market Yard next to the Cheese and Grain

The competition is pre-judged but only the Judges and myself will know who has won The competition is divided intocategories (see entry forms)

It is our policy to show all the entries but we reserve the right not to show every film in the event that the running time ofthe programme exceeds the time available We shall rely on the advice of the judges when making any decision in thisregard

We can manage most tape disc stick and card entries in Standard or High Definition but we canrsquot manage 4K See rules 5and 6 for the technical requirements This will allow us to drag and drop the original files to ourmedia player thus ensuring the best quality picture and sound

The closing date for entries is February 4th 2019 The show will be on Saturday March 30th 2019 at the Catholic HallPark Road Frome Somerset BA11 1EU starting at the earlier time of 3 pm sharp

If your entry is available to view on the web please include the web address on your entry form and we will link our website to it

Philip Marshman Competition Officer

F R O M E F I L M amp V I D E O M A K E R Swwwfromevideowebscom

Entrants Details

Name _______________________________________________________________Address _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Post Code ___________ Telephone ______________ E-Mail _____________________Club (if appropriate) _____________________________________________________Youth Section SchoolCollege (if applicable) _____________________________________

How did you find out about our competition ____________________________

Clearance of copyright is the responsibility of the entrant (See rule 8)

I agree to honour the rules of the competition

Signed _______________________________________________________________

Please send your entry with entry fee(including the cost of return postage if you can not attend) to

Mr P Marshman 115 Dursley Road Trowbridge Wiltshire BA14 0NRBy the closing date of February 3rd 2018

Please try to attend the show It is a very enjoyable event - ask anyone who has been

If attending to help with the catering please indicate how many will be in your party _________

Britain has as many video clubs as therest of the world put together hellip

hellip and nobody knows why

Without doubt the psyche of society has changedover the lifetime of most SoCo readers When I was 15years of age it was nothing for me to work from 8 am untilmidnight in Topical Press Fleet St In the year 1952 myjob was to distribute photographs on foot to all thenational daily newspapers Youngsters such as me backthen were treated as though invisible hellip there being aubiquitous acceptance of authority sanctioning thetreatment of juniors similar to that of the gentryrsquostreatment of servants below stairs ldquoUs and themrdquo wasrife and this had been intensified by previous wars everyfifteen or twenty years and the somewhat oppressivediscipline that went with them Every male back then wasconscripted into one of the three forces Forces clubswere everywhere There were also sixty people in mymotorcycle club nearly 60 in the local photography clubeven more in fishing clubs hundreds in dance clubshellip andamateur filmmaking was unheard of The population wasjust on 50 million back then We lost just under half amillion during WWII

As the decades rolled by gadgets became morepopular and one of the first to make a billion was theWalkman a personal cassette player Conversation onthe electric trains was a no-no This custom-inflictedisolation was seemingly alleviated by the Walkman However clubs were considered neutral ground with acommon interest and for that reason proved a veryhealthy pastime hellip no argument there Many moregadgets later there appeared to be a growing dissuasionof interest in clubs and then came the crowning glory ofthe computer and finally the Internet This was followedby the Internet nation who are now running this country If we want to know view listen to have somethingexplained we think Internet Who needs a club Add tothis the fact that most cameras will produce an excellentpicture even if accidentally operated by a 2 year old wethen have a perfect reason for not bothering to join a cluband save a few bob in the process So what are theymissing

In the August 2018 issue of SoCo Jeremy ActingChairman of Solent MovieMakers stated a number offacts about his club hellip and he metaphorically hit so manynails on the head I thought he was talking about ours Irsquomsure that 99 of his readers were nodding withcommiseration However Jeremy there is a differencebetween your club and ours We are lucky enough tohave a Chairman who wants to be a chairman and has 50yearsrsquo experience of making films and we have a ViceChairman who is just starting out on a filmmaking careerand is yet a teenager The committee comprises a wealthof professional experience and two of its members areteachers well versed in the psychology of todayrsquos youth We have members totally averse to making filmscollectively and members who are totally averse tomaking films on their own hellip yet they work together talkto each other and share the chores on club evenings

We too considered knocking competitions on thehead but after a lengthy discussion decided that were we

to do so the number of films produced wouldlikely peter out If that happens then our club is doomed At our last competition there were two entries and threeprizes to be won To just sit around and talk is akin tomeeting in a pub or restaurant a street corner or a park Clubs thrive on activities and any club without achairman we all know has just entered a minefield Ourclubrsquos almost been there Three years ago we had a massexodus the then members calling it a day when theyperforce lost a wonderful chairman who engaged in thepursuance of his career was transferred to the mainland Without you Jeremy your club would fall apart so wesalute you Sir

Being an octogenarian I can speak for the elderlyHere are some facts

1 Traipsing around with a camera and tripod canprove exhausting

2 They leave the tripod indoors and take home alot of unusable footage hellip canrsquot enter that

3 Most feel theyrsquove done it all We know itrsquos notquite true but it sounds plausible

4 Having lsquodone it allrsquo new ideas are ever harder tofind (This is caused by too much TV and notenough pencil and paper scratching around forthose ideas)

5 Their mental attitude is that of having a desireto please and be part of the club which theylove

6 They look to the Committee to come up withthe ideas

7 Traipsing around with a camera and tripod canprove daunting to the elderly

Wersquove all been young and bright at some time in ourlives when energy flowed endlessly and we could work allday on a crust of bread Club-wise there aretwo requirements the finding of new younger membersand accommodating those we have

As the elderly are less likely to generate footage it isbetter that the club provide the means for them to do soand that means having all the members work collectivelyto produce a film together Thatrsquos what our Committeearranged for us We set about making a one minute filmwhich took all evening from talent to gaffers cameramenand soundmen director nearly every member wasemployed

Hard to swallow but itrsquos a fact of life not everybodywas ldquodelightedrdquo with this activity You can please some ofthe people some of the time etc so goes the adage Theresult was we generated footage hellip and for those thatfind traipsing difficult they could make a little personalfilm of their own about the activities of the evening Theone minute film was shown at the following meetingdiscussed hellip and we all went back to the drawing board No hellip it wasnrsquot much good but wersquod made a film togetherand set about making another This was much muchbetter We discovered we had some marvellous talentwould you believe Oh hellip forgot to mention hellip we have aprofessional soundman who gives us talks and he teachesprofessionally so hersquos a ldquotop drawerrdquo asset

The wisdom of making a film together does away withthe competitive element hellip and the critique which isinterpreted as blame and even effrontery in someminds is faceless and void of liability It is thus possible toreally rip into the critique without offending It is this partof a collective effort that enables one to teachlearn thefiner points of videography by example hellip worth athousand words

Irsquove interviewed lettered men in my time and uponasking a basic question received an answer nothing shortof waffle hellip people forget Irsquove attended a lecture alongwith professors who design electronics thought theyknew it all and entered the room with wry smug grinsbordering on arrogance The lecturer opened his talkwith ldquoCan anybody here tell me the input resistance of ageneral purpose silicon transistorrdquo and nobody knew After this sobering moment his now subdued audiencewere given a refresher course This was a clever questionwe donrsquot of necessity need to know the input resistanceof a transistor when designing the networkof components surrounding it It is similar in nature tothose people with a lifetimersquos experience of filmmakingon AUTO to be asked about the effectiveness of a gammaknee One would possibly receive the reply rsquoThe bestthing for that is a crepe bandagersquo

What is the most difficult thing for anageing club to achieve

Generally speaking what proves almost impossible isthat of getting onersquos own members to support theirchairmancommitteeclub and turn up at arrangedfilming venues It is something of a mystery Theflippancy with which elderly members are tarred with thesame brush is a little unkind The general consensus ofopinion would read along the lines of

If they are retired they canrsquot be bothered and if theyare of working age they canrsquot spare the time This is notentirely true If your committee prepares the groundcarefully enough covering for all contingencies whengiven a task for their video cameras the elderly willattend given sufficient lead time

Elderly people of eighty go to places like China for aholiday A train takes them to the airport and a planetakes them to China then a taxi takes them to a hotel andthey are waited on hand and foot The next day they startfilming Thatrsquos the mystery hellip they start filming Itrsquos aclandestine film yoursquoll rarely see it

The committee offered to arrange the shooting of afilm during the summer break of several weeks and askedfor a show of hands Too few showed any interest and itwas dead in the water two minutes after it was suggested Half the members were present the other half on holidaygathering footage

We all know that any exterior filming must beplanned storyboarded scripted choreographedinteriors lit meal breaks arranged and everything mustbe scheduled Due to the lack of interest in turning up ata venue we make our films at the club hellip a veryimpromptu affair We watch it at the next meetingsometimes If your club has talent that accepts a part

then learns their lines and comes back prepared torehearse members willing to direct film record soundattend to lighting etc you are truly blessed

The greatest synergy ever is to combine a video clubwith a drama group wherein both stage and screenversions are made There would be outdoor scenes andplaces could be hired for the internal scenes Estateagents have lots of empty houses on their books and theircurrent owners want a sale adding ldquoBeautiful interior sopristine and desirable it was used as a film setrdquo

I worked with a producer who wrote a screenplay andhad me working on the script for months He obtainedpermission to use footage from NASA talked an excellentcomposer into giving him copyright free access to hiscompositions and various works and then he ldquoboltedrdquo thelot together for a fabulous intro We hadnrsquot picked up acamera at that stage He then got a friend down the roadto overfly the area with a drone More free footage Alocal fishing boat was used for another scene As it was afilm being made by the local community the Skipper didit as a favour Magnanimity abounds in some areas Anadvert was placed in the local rag a hall hired for theevening and I was instructed to take a shoulder mountcamera to the auditions [People expect filmmakers tohave big cameras]

ldquoHow many do you think will turn uprdquo I askedldquoNo ideardquo he said lsquoCould be ten twenty hellip we only

need seven and Irsquove already hired the leading ladyrdquoAbout fifteen minutes before the start time we heard

the first of many footfalls and fifty people turned uphoping to get a part in the film hellip staggering He showedthem the opening scenes of the film and explained theplot The screened footage was second to none it wasNASArsquos The shots were synchronised to the frame withthe music A few people did a screen test Everybodyrsquosname was taken plus stand-ins and two hours later heasked for a critique and got it from a retired ITV producerwho made some very sound suggestions Rehearsalsfollowed a week later The reasons causing the producerto move back to the mainland were business related butit was one of the finest lessons on how to produce a filmfor next to nothing that Irsquove ever received

Organising something like that isnrsquot a case of beingclever or being able to organise extremely well itrsquos noteven money What causes a person to do this is passionthat inner driving force that railroadsobstacles transcends despondency and the missilesthrown into onersquos machinery by doubting Thomasrsquos Hewas a dynamo He needed a large house found out whoowned it and knocked on his door showed him thefootage hellip that footage was the key to opening all thedoors hellip and the chap nodded

Dave Jones

[Part two of this article will appear in the next issue]

Philip Marshman115 Dursley Road Trowbridge Wiltshire BA14 0NR

01225 764752fromephilmardemoncouk

FROME FIVE MINUTE FESTIVAL 2019

If you have cause to ring me you may find that my BT phone will ask you who you are The reason for this because Iwas sick to death of people ringing me up trying to sell me stuff and worse If you give your name or video club itwill put you through to my answer machine If Irsquom there Irsquoll answer it So please use it

Once again Frome Film and Video Makers are hosting the Frome Five Minute Festival AKM Music have provided thetrophy

We will be doing our own catering once again so please indicate on the entry form if you are attending and how many Ourvenue the Catholic Hall has wheelchair access Incidentally this not our club room Our club meetings are at the FromeCanoe Club in the old Market Yard next to the Cheese and Grain

The competition is pre-judged but only the Judges and myself will know who has won The competition is divided intocategories (see entry forms)

It is our policy to show all the entries but we reserve the right not to show every film in the event that the running time ofthe programme exceeds the time available We shall rely on the advice of the judges when making any decision in thisregard

We can manage most tape disc stick and card entries in Standard or High Definition but we canrsquot manage 4K See rules 5and 6 for the technical requirements This will allow us to drag and drop the original files to ourmedia player thus ensuring the best quality picture and sound

The closing date for entries is February 4th 2019 The show will be on Saturday March 30th 2019 at the Catholic HallPark Road Frome Somerset BA11 1EU starting at the earlier time of 3 pm sharp

If your entry is available to view on the web please include the web address on your entry form and we will link our website to it

Philip Marshman Competition Officer

F R O M E F I L M amp V I D E O M A K E R Swwwfromevideowebscom

Entrants Details

Name _______________________________________________________________Address _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Post Code ___________ Telephone ______________ E-Mail _____________________Club (if appropriate) _____________________________________________________Youth Section SchoolCollege (if applicable) _____________________________________

How did you find out about our competition ____________________________

Clearance of copyright is the responsibility of the entrant (See rule 8)

I agree to honour the rules of the competition

Signed _______________________________________________________________

Please send your entry with entry fee(including the cost of return postage if you can not attend) to

Mr P Marshman 115 Dursley Road Trowbridge Wiltshire BA14 0NRBy the closing date of February 3rd 2018

Please try to attend the show It is a very enjoyable event - ask anyone who has been

If attending to help with the catering please indicate how many will be in your party _________

The wisdom of making a film together does away withthe competitive element hellip and the critique which isinterpreted as blame and even effrontery in someminds is faceless and void of liability It is thus possible toreally rip into the critique without offending It is this partof a collective effort that enables one to teachlearn thefiner points of videography by example hellip worth athousand words

Irsquove interviewed lettered men in my time and uponasking a basic question received an answer nothing shortof waffle hellip people forget Irsquove attended a lecture alongwith professors who design electronics thought theyknew it all and entered the room with wry smug grinsbordering on arrogance The lecturer opened his talkwith ldquoCan anybody here tell me the input resistance of ageneral purpose silicon transistorrdquo and nobody knew After this sobering moment his now subdued audiencewere given a refresher course This was a clever questionwe donrsquot of necessity need to know the input resistanceof a transistor when designing the networkof components surrounding it It is similar in nature tothose people with a lifetimersquos experience of filmmakingon AUTO to be asked about the effectiveness of a gammaknee One would possibly receive the reply rsquoThe bestthing for that is a crepe bandagersquo

What is the most difficult thing for anageing club to achieve

Generally speaking what proves almost impossible isthat of getting onersquos own members to support theirchairmancommitteeclub and turn up at arrangedfilming venues It is something of a mystery Theflippancy with which elderly members are tarred with thesame brush is a little unkind The general consensus ofopinion would read along the lines of

If they are retired they canrsquot be bothered and if theyare of working age they canrsquot spare the time This is notentirely true If your committee prepares the groundcarefully enough covering for all contingencies whengiven a task for their video cameras the elderly willattend given sufficient lead time

Elderly people of eighty go to places like China for aholiday A train takes them to the airport and a planetakes them to China then a taxi takes them to a hotel andthey are waited on hand and foot The next day they startfilming Thatrsquos the mystery hellip they start filming Itrsquos aclandestine film yoursquoll rarely see it

The committee offered to arrange the shooting of afilm during the summer break of several weeks and askedfor a show of hands Too few showed any interest and itwas dead in the water two minutes after it was suggested Half the members were present the other half on holidaygathering footage

We all know that any exterior filming must beplanned storyboarded scripted choreographedinteriors lit meal breaks arranged and everything mustbe scheduled Due to the lack of interest in turning up ata venue we make our films at the club hellip a veryimpromptu affair We watch it at the next meetingsometimes If your club has talent that accepts a part

then learns their lines and comes back prepared torehearse members willing to direct film record soundattend to lighting etc you are truly blessed

The greatest synergy ever is to combine a video clubwith a drama group wherein both stage and screenversions are made There would be outdoor scenes andplaces could be hired for the internal scenes Estateagents have lots of empty houses on their books and theircurrent owners want a sale adding ldquoBeautiful interior sopristine and desirable it was used as a film setrdquo

I worked with a producer who wrote a screenplay andhad me working on the script for months He obtainedpermission to use footage from NASA talked an excellentcomposer into giving him copyright free access to hiscompositions and various works and then he ldquoboltedrdquo thelot together for a fabulous intro We hadnrsquot picked up acamera at that stage He then got a friend down the roadto overfly the area with a drone More free footage Alocal fishing boat was used for another scene As it was afilm being made by the local community the Skipper didit as a favour Magnanimity abounds in some areas Anadvert was placed in the local rag a hall hired for theevening and I was instructed to take a shoulder mountcamera to the auditions [People expect filmmakers tohave big cameras]

ldquoHow many do you think will turn uprdquo I askedldquoNo ideardquo he said lsquoCould be ten twenty hellip we only

need seven and Irsquove already hired the leading ladyrdquoAbout fifteen minutes before the start time we heard

the first of many footfalls and fifty people turned uphoping to get a part in the film hellip staggering He showedthem the opening scenes of the film and explained theplot The screened footage was second to none it wasNASArsquos The shots were synchronised to the frame withthe music A few people did a screen test Everybodyrsquosname was taken plus stand-ins and two hours later heasked for a critique and got it from a retired ITV producerwho made some very sound suggestions Rehearsalsfollowed a week later The reasons causing the producerto move back to the mainland were business related butit was one of the finest lessons on how to produce a filmfor next to nothing that Irsquove ever received

Organising something like that isnrsquot a case of beingclever or being able to organise extremely well itrsquos noteven money What causes a person to do this is passionthat inner driving force that railroadsobstacles transcends despondency and the missilesthrown into onersquos machinery by doubting Thomasrsquos Hewas a dynamo He needed a large house found out whoowned it and knocked on his door showed him thefootage hellip that footage was the key to opening all thedoors hellip and the chap nodded

Dave Jones

[Part two of this article will appear in the next issue]

Philip Marshman115 Dursley Road Trowbridge Wiltshire BA14 0NR

01225 764752fromephilmardemoncouk

FROME FIVE MINUTE FESTIVAL 2019

If you have cause to ring me you may find that my BT phone will ask you who you are The reason for this because Iwas sick to death of people ringing me up trying to sell me stuff and worse If you give your name or video club itwill put you through to my answer machine If Irsquom there Irsquoll answer it So please use it

Once again Frome Film and Video Makers are hosting the Frome Five Minute Festival AKM Music have provided thetrophy

We will be doing our own catering once again so please indicate on the entry form if you are attending and how many Ourvenue the Catholic Hall has wheelchair access Incidentally this not our club room Our club meetings are at the FromeCanoe Club in the old Market Yard next to the Cheese and Grain

The competition is pre-judged but only the Judges and myself will know who has won The competition is divided intocategories (see entry forms)

It is our policy to show all the entries but we reserve the right not to show every film in the event that the running time ofthe programme exceeds the time available We shall rely on the advice of the judges when making any decision in thisregard

We can manage most tape disc stick and card entries in Standard or High Definition but we canrsquot manage 4K See rules 5and 6 for the technical requirements This will allow us to drag and drop the original files to ourmedia player thus ensuring the best quality picture and sound

The closing date for entries is February 4th 2019 The show will be on Saturday March 30th 2019 at the Catholic HallPark Road Frome Somerset BA11 1EU starting at the earlier time of 3 pm sharp

If your entry is available to view on the web please include the web address on your entry form and we will link our website to it

Philip Marshman Competition Officer

F R O M E F I L M amp V I D E O M A K E R Swwwfromevideowebscom

Entrants Details

Name _______________________________________________________________Address _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Post Code ___________ Telephone ______________ E-Mail _____________________Club (if appropriate) _____________________________________________________Youth Section SchoolCollege (if applicable) _____________________________________

How did you find out about our competition ____________________________

Clearance of copyright is the responsibility of the entrant (See rule 8)

I agree to honour the rules of the competition

Signed _______________________________________________________________

Please send your entry with entry fee(including the cost of return postage if you can not attend) to

Mr P Marshman 115 Dursley Road Trowbridge Wiltshire BA14 0NRBy the closing date of February 3rd 2018

Please try to attend the show It is a very enjoyable event - ask anyone who has been

If attending to help with the catering please indicate how many will be in your party _________

Philip Marshman115 Dursley Road Trowbridge Wiltshire BA14 0NR

01225 764752fromephilmardemoncouk

FROME FIVE MINUTE FESTIVAL 2019

If you have cause to ring me you may find that my BT phone will ask you who you are The reason for this because Iwas sick to death of people ringing me up trying to sell me stuff and worse If you give your name or video club itwill put you through to my answer machine If Irsquom there Irsquoll answer it So please use it

Once again Frome Film and Video Makers are hosting the Frome Five Minute Festival AKM Music have provided thetrophy

We will be doing our own catering once again so please indicate on the entry form if you are attending and how many Ourvenue the Catholic Hall has wheelchair access Incidentally this not our club room Our club meetings are at the FromeCanoe Club in the old Market Yard next to the Cheese and Grain

The competition is pre-judged but only the Judges and myself will know who has won The competition is divided intocategories (see entry forms)

It is our policy to show all the entries but we reserve the right not to show every film in the event that the running time ofthe programme exceeds the time available We shall rely on the advice of the judges when making any decision in thisregard

We can manage most tape disc stick and card entries in Standard or High Definition but we canrsquot manage 4K See rules 5and 6 for the technical requirements This will allow us to drag and drop the original files to ourmedia player thus ensuring the best quality picture and sound

The closing date for entries is February 4th 2019 The show will be on Saturday March 30th 2019 at the Catholic HallPark Road Frome Somerset BA11 1EU starting at the earlier time of 3 pm sharp

If your entry is available to view on the web please include the web address on your entry form and we will link our website to it

Philip Marshman Competition Officer

F R O M E F I L M amp V I D E O M A K E R Swwwfromevideowebscom

Entrants Details

Name _______________________________________________________________Address _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Post Code ___________ Telephone ______________ E-Mail _____________________Club (if appropriate) _____________________________________________________Youth Section SchoolCollege (if applicable) _____________________________________

How did you find out about our competition ____________________________

Clearance of copyright is the responsibility of the entrant (See rule 8)

I agree to honour the rules of the competition

Signed _______________________________________________________________

Please send your entry with entry fee(including the cost of return postage if you can not attend) to

Mr P Marshman 115 Dursley Road Trowbridge Wiltshire BA14 0NRBy the closing date of February 3rd 2018

Please try to attend the show It is a very enjoyable event - ask anyone who has been

If attending to help with the catering please indicate how many will be in your party _________

Entry Form

Title _________________________________________________________Running time (must not be more than 5 minutes complete) ______ mins

Category (one only) Animation | Comedy | Documentary | Drama | HolidayTravelogue | OpenWildlifeNatural History | Youth (all entries by entrants 18 years and under)

Format Mini-DV | Mini-HDV | DVD | Stick | Bluray | SDHC (please see notes on page 2) Edited on _________________ Originating Format __________

Is your entry BampW | Colour | Colour amp BampW | 169 (Playback) Video Sound Mono | StereoIs your entry on the web (ie YouTube) Link ___________________________

Have you used a mono microphone to record any of the sound YESNO Please circle as appropriate

Please write here any notes for the projectionistExample - There is no sound until the word presents appears on the screen

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Please write a short description of your entry that we may use in the festival programme____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

F R O M E F I L M amp V I D E O M A K E R S

PRESENTS

THE FROME FIVE MINUTE FESTIVALCompetition Rules

1 It is a competition for non-professional films only A non-professional film is deemed to be one made for love and theentrants own work

2 The entry can be on Mini-DV Mini-HDV DVD VCD Bluray or SDHC3 Entrants must enter their films in one of the categories listed on the entry form All entries by individuals or groups

under 18 must be entered in the youth category4 The entry must not run over five (5) minutes complete5 Only one production on each cassette or tape More than one entry will be allowed as a file on a Disc SDHC card or

USB stick clearly identified6 Tape entries must have at least 10 seconds black leader at the beginning and end of the film On tapes the safety

tab set to protect the recording and your name and address on the cassetteDisc SDHC and Card entries should have 3 seconds (but not less) of black leader and no black after the final fadeout Discs must be finalised (Please do not stick labels on discs)

7 No restriction on subject except good taste If the organisers decide that the production is not suitable for publicshowing the entry will be returned

8 Copyright material should be minimal Clearance of all copyright material is the responsibility of the entrant and theorganisers may ask to see verification of the copyright clearance

9 All entries must have been completed within the last two years and previous entries will not be allowed unless it canbe shown that substantial new work has been done on the production

10 The competition fee is pound6 per entry plus a contribution towards return postageChequesPostal Orders to be made to Frome Cine amp Video Club

11 There is no limit on the number of entries you may submit but each must be entered on a separate entry form Seealso rule 5

12 The Decision of the judges is final Appraisals will be provided on all entries13 Members of Frome Film and Video Makers may not enter the competition14 The closing date for entries is February 4th 2019

The show will be on Saturday March 30th 2019at the Catholic Hall Park Road Frome Somerset BA11 1EU

starting at 3 pm (1500)

Why is it that for family members and friends the actof watching your home movies is up there with slideshows as the worst form of torture you can inflict onthem Are we all that bad at our hobby Are all our videosthat boring and irrelevant

If we disregard all those unedited straight from thecamera random collection of shots those sickeningmoving scenes the interminable panning of scenery andpeople if we disregard these all too common attempts atmovie making and only consider those videos where aconscious attempt has been made to tell a story then whydo we still fail to enthuse Why is it that our videoscontinually fail to get a place in our Club competitions

The answer to this question is multifaceted there arethe technical aspects the production standards followedand the creative aspects These days a few hours spent onthe net can often solve or answer some the technicalaspects of movie making and it is just up to us to practicewhat we have learnt

As far as production standards go well that comesfrom continually viewing and analysing other peoplesrsquovideos from watching TV shows from going to thecinema and also for some like me it was one of thereasons I joined a video club

During all this viewing of other peoplesrsquo works wefind that some videos will grab us and others wonrsquot Thinkabout it Why did I like that video but couldnrsquot bebothered with another If you analyse these videos Irsquomsure you will find that the ldquolikedrdquo video engaged yourattention right from the start held your interest and gaveyou a satisfactory ending

But you say we all know a good story has a beginninga middle and an end Further we know that movies thesedays can have this order all mixed up or as the famousFrench film director Jean-Luc Godard once reported ofa conversation he had with another film maker

ldquoMovies should have a beginning a middle andan endrdquo harrumphed French Film maker GeorgesFranju hellip ldquocertainlyrdquo replied Jean-Luc Godard ldquoButnot necessarily in that orderrdquoThe human need to tell stories whether it be a

humorous one at the pub or a great literary classic hasbeen discussed by everyone from philosophers toliterary critics throughout the ages

Also there is a human need to tell stories that have astructure a beginning a middle and an end Oneexplanation of this need for a structured story is becausehuman life has a defined beginning and end As aconsequence humans require everything else they dealwith in their lives to also follow this structure

An alternate explanation however is that everythingis just a progression of events and that an individualduring their lives will interact and influence only a verysmall set of these events

The vast majority of events exist as a matrix thateither does not or only weakly influences an individualrsquoslife In this view time is only a mental concept of humansand so beginnings middles and ends have a meaning onlyin relation to a set of interconnecting events eventswhich can influence other events around them in directand indirect ways

As the reader you may say ldquoall of this philosophicaldiscussion may be well and good but what has it to dowith videographyrdquo Here the answer lies in which of theabove two explanations you are more comfortable withwhen telling your story in your video If you like theformer explanation then your video will follow theconventional linear approach where a beginning excitesthe viewer by introducing characters location andconflict a middle then develops the characters and theconflict and the ending then resolves some or all of theconflict Diagrammatic examples of this structure are

In the first diagram the beginning foreshadows anevent which when resolved leads naturally to an end Thisis the simple linear story telling common in jokes fairystories and most of our family events and holiday videosFor example

On Christmas Eve the children put out theirstockings and head for bed hoping that Santa doesnot forget them In the morning they rush to the treeto see if Santa has been The conclusion is the treeand floor disappearing in fragments of franticallyripped open presents

The second linear story telling example deals withmore than one event linking the beginning and the endAn example of this model could be a holiday videoencompassing many different places visited or activitiesundertaken

If life is not viewed as a time sequence but rather as acollection of events then the resulting video could bepresented as a collection of related events that is more inthe mould of Jean-Luc Godardrsquos comment where thestructure may be more circular and interpretation of thevideo depends more on the understanding of the inter-connecting events than where is the beginning or the endof the story

Model for the Linear Story Telling involving one Event

Model of Linear Story Telling involving a Number of Events

Adiagrammaticrepresentationof the circularstructure isshown on theleft Examples ofthat are wherethe end scene issimilar to thefirst scene ForExample onemovie beganwith an accident

on a bridge and ended with an accident on a bridge In themovie Sliding Doors the heroine near the beginning of thefilm drops her earring in the lift and the film ends with thevery same act

As our videos are often short 6 to 10 minutes induration our beginning and end scenes have to behandled with more efficiency and speed than incommercial cinema For example our beginning has totake less than one minute during which we mustintroduce the theme or character and the dramaticsituation No one can tell you how to make an eye catchingbeginning only your own creativity

As far as an effective ending goes this can be a biteasier to achieve Of these two story formats the formerwith an ending that successfully resolves the conflict willleave the audience satisfied and content If the ending isa fit with both the beginning and the middle the audiencewill accept an unexpected ending and even an unhappyending The classical example of this type of ending is inthe film Casablanca where Rick gives up the love of his lifefor a higher purpose the higher purpose which isdeveloped in the middle of the film So even in the linearform of story telling the ending can be ambivalent so longas it does not clash with what has gone before but buildson it Or to quote William Goldman (script writer of thefilm Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) ldquothe key to allstory endings is to give the audience what it wants butnot in the way it expectsrdquo

Many of the ldquoendingsrdquo that follow the form of storytelling where there is no structure only a pattern of inter-connecting events (see diagram on left) often have no

clear beginning and may have non-endings where littleconflict is resolved Here the beauty of the story is in theldquojourneyrdquo not the ldquodestinationrdquo Many a travelogue andnature video fall into this category The success of thesevideos depends on their content interesting specialistaudiences

Flowers and butterflies even if they arephotographed superbly may not hold the interest of ageneral audience So when making your next traveloguetry and introduce a problem to solve eg weatherproblem or bad travelling companions or an activity to doby a certain time or before the weather breaks

Whatever story you wish to tell in your next video beaware that there are other ways of structuring the videothan the conventional beginning middle and end Oftenthe use of flash-backs or flash-forwards can capture theaudiencersquos attention immediately then itrsquos up to thestrength of your story telling to hold that attention untilthere is a resolution or perhaps no resolution Many TVprograms now use a ldquoforetellingrdquo structure that quicklysummaries what the program is about so as to createinterest right from the beginning

Whatever model of story telling you choose please donot choose the random walk model as diagrammaticallypresent on the right Here the beginning and end of thevideo are separated by a random collection of eventswhich may or may not be related to any theme Such amishmash of shots with no clear relationship to thebeginning or the end will not only confuse the audiencebut quickly lead to boredom the very audience responsewe are trying to avoid

So how can you check out your video for audienceappeal If you have teenage children or grandchildrenshow them your video they are your toughest critics Ifyou get a ldquonot badrdquo from them after watching your latestedited ldquomasterpiecerdquo then you know you have a potentialcompetition winner

The secret of a good sermon is to have a goodbeginning and a good ending and to have the twoas close together as possible - George Burns

Ian Simpson

Model of the Circular Structure forStory Telling

Model of Interconnecting Events leading to a possible End

Model of Unplanned Unedited video presented as a Seriesof Unconnected Events

WWWHimalayas A different world ndash yeshttpsvimeocom288393864

All action Kidshttpsvimeocom286847460

Dolomites - a timelapse adventurehttpsvimeocom287060201

Boys (will be)httpsvimeocom293033666

Action Movie Kid This is a collection of incrediblyclever shorts featuring a young boy and his imaginationbecoming real Creating CGI effects with a locked offcamera is hard enough this guy uses hand held footageThe effects are as good as you will see in multi millionpound movies

httpswwwyoutubecomwatchv=Q0iyaCl3yng

Action Movie Dad is the guy who makes fake actionmovies using his son as the star and special effectscreated on the computer The effects are simply amazingThis video is a ldquoMaking Ofrdquo for one of his films ldquoGet In TheBoatrdquo

httpswwwyoutubecomwatchv=C3f3el-uJ3Y

Cut amp Drag is a Youtube channel with lots of tips andadvice regarding the art and craft of video editing

This is a link to the channelhttpswwwyoutubecomchannelUC6F4votWjjnP

mSnQU0uGAHA

This particular episode takes a look at some of theediting rules that film editors might find of interest Theseries is very well made and a great FREE source oflearning

httpswwwyoutubecomwatchv=ym3DB9_Yhycampindex=4ampt=0samplist=PLrFDmKBmQ0eWyfrP22kcgYOL58xgQGhVM

Why is it that for family members and friends the actof watching your home movies is up there with slideshows as the worst form of torture you can inflict onthem Are we all that bad at our hobby Are all our videosthat boring and irrelevant

If we disregard all those unedited straight from thecamera random collection of shots those sickeningmoving scenes the interminable panning of scenery andpeople if we disregard these all too common attempts atmovie making and only consider those videos where aconscious attempt has been made to tell a story then whydo we still fail to enthuse Why is it that our videoscontinually fail to get a place in our Club competitions

The answer to this question is multifaceted there arethe technical aspects the production standards followedand the creative aspects These days a few hours spent onthe net can often solve or answer some the technicalaspects of movie making and it is just up to us to practicewhat we have learnt

As far as production standards go well that comesfrom continually viewing and analysing other peoplesrsquovideos from watching TV shows from going to thecinema and also for some like me it was one of thereasons I joined a video club

During all this viewing of other peoplesrsquo works wefind that some videos will grab us and others wonrsquot Thinkabout it Why did I like that video but couldnrsquot bebothered with another If you analyse these videos Irsquomsure you will find that the ldquolikedrdquo video engaged yourattention right from the start held your interest and gaveyou a satisfactory ending

But you say we all know a good story has a beginninga middle and an end Further we know that movies thesedays can have this order all mixed up or as the famousFrench film director Jean-Luc Godard once reported ofa conversation he had with another film maker

ldquoMovies should have a beginning a middle andan endrdquo harrumphed French Film maker GeorgesFranju hellip ldquocertainlyrdquo replied Jean-Luc Godard ldquoButnot necessarily in that orderrdquoThe human need to tell stories whether it be a

humorous one at the pub or a great literary classic hasbeen discussed by everyone from philosophers toliterary critics throughout the ages

Also there is a human need to tell stories that have astructure a beginning a middle and an end Oneexplanation of this need for a structured story is becausehuman life has a defined beginning and end As aconsequence humans require everything else they dealwith in their lives to also follow this structure

An alternate explanation however is that everythingis just a progression of events and that an individualduring their lives will interact and influence only a verysmall set of these events

The vast majority of events exist as a matrix thateither does not or only weakly influences an individualrsquoslife In this view time is only a mental concept of humansand so beginnings middles and ends have a meaning onlyin relation to a set of interconnecting events eventswhich can influence other events around them in directand indirect ways

As the reader you may say ldquoall of this philosophicaldiscussion may be well and good but what has it to dowith videographyrdquo Here the answer lies in which of theabove two explanations you are more comfortable withwhen telling your story in your video If you like theformer explanation then your video will follow theconventional linear approach where a beginning excitesthe viewer by introducing characters location andconflict a middle then develops the characters and theconflict and the ending then resolves some or all of theconflict Diagrammatic examples of this structure are

In the first diagram the beginning foreshadows anevent which when resolved leads naturally to an end Thisis the simple linear story telling common in jokes fairystories and most of our family events and holiday videosFor example

On Christmas Eve the children put out theirstockings and head for bed hoping that Santa doesnot forget them In the morning they rush to the treeto see if Santa has been The conclusion is the treeand floor disappearing in fragments of franticallyripped open presents

The second linear story telling example deals withmore than one event linking the beginning and the endAn example of this model could be a holiday videoencompassing many different places visited or activitiesundertaken

If life is not viewed as a time sequence but rather as acollection of events then the resulting video could bepresented as a collection of related events that is more inthe mould of Jean-Luc Godardrsquos comment where thestructure may be more circular and interpretation of thevideo depends more on the understanding of the inter-connecting events than where is the beginning or the endof the story

Model for the Linear Story Telling involving one Event

Model of Linear Story Telling involving a Number of Events

Adiagrammaticrepresentationof the circularstructure isshown on theleft Examples ofthat are wherethe end scene issimilar to thefirst scene ForExample onemovie beganwith an accident

on a bridge and ended with an accident on a bridge In themovie Sliding Doors the heroine near the beginning of thefilm drops her earring in the lift and the film ends with thevery same act

As our videos are often short 6 to 10 minutes induration our beginning and end scenes have to behandled with more efficiency and speed than incommercial cinema For example our beginning has totake less than one minute during which we mustintroduce the theme or character and the dramaticsituation No one can tell you how to make an eye catchingbeginning only your own creativity

As far as an effective ending goes this can be a biteasier to achieve Of these two story formats the formerwith an ending that successfully resolves the conflict willleave the audience satisfied and content If the ending isa fit with both the beginning and the middle the audiencewill accept an unexpected ending and even an unhappyending The classical example of this type of ending is inthe film Casablanca where Rick gives up the love of his lifefor a higher purpose the higher purpose which isdeveloped in the middle of the film So even in the linearform of story telling the ending can be ambivalent so longas it does not clash with what has gone before but buildson it Or to quote William Goldman (script writer of thefilm Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) ldquothe key to allstory endings is to give the audience what it wants butnot in the way it expectsrdquo

Many of the ldquoendingsrdquo that follow the form of storytelling where there is no structure only a pattern of inter-connecting events (see diagram on left) often have no

clear beginning and may have non-endings where littleconflict is resolved Here the beauty of the story is in theldquojourneyrdquo not the ldquodestinationrdquo Many a travelogue andnature video fall into this category The success of thesevideos depends on their content interesting specialistaudiences

Flowers and butterflies even if they arephotographed superbly may not hold the interest of ageneral audience So when making your next traveloguetry and introduce a problem to solve eg weatherproblem or bad travelling companions or an activity to doby a certain time or before the weather breaks

Whatever story you wish to tell in your next video beaware that there are other ways of structuring the videothan the conventional beginning middle and end Oftenthe use of flash-backs or flash-forwards can capture theaudiencersquos attention immediately then itrsquos up to thestrength of your story telling to hold that attention untilthere is a resolution or perhaps no resolution Many TVprograms now use a ldquoforetellingrdquo structure that quicklysummaries what the program is about so as to createinterest right from the beginning

Whatever model of story telling you choose please donot choose the random walk model as diagrammaticallypresent on the right Here the beginning and end of thevideo are separated by a random collection of eventswhich may or may not be related to any theme Such amishmash of shots with no clear relationship to thebeginning or the end will not only confuse the audiencebut quickly lead to boredom the very audience responsewe are trying to avoid

So how can you check out your video for audienceappeal If you have teenage children or grandchildrenshow them your video they are your toughest critics Ifyou get a ldquonot badrdquo from them after watching your latestedited ldquomasterpiecerdquo then you know you have a potentialcompetition winner

The secret of a good sermon is to have a goodbeginning and a good ending and to have the twoas close together as possible - George Burns

Ian Simpson

Model of the Circular Structure forStory Telling

Model of Interconnecting Events leading to a possible End

Model of Unplanned Unedited video presented as a Seriesof Unconnected Events

WWWHimalayas A different world ndash yeshttpsvimeocom288393864

All action Kidshttpsvimeocom286847460

Dolomites - a timelapse adventurehttpsvimeocom287060201

Boys (will be)httpsvimeocom293033666

Action Movie Kid This is a collection of incrediblyclever shorts featuring a young boy and his imaginationbecoming real Creating CGI effects with a locked offcamera is hard enough this guy uses hand held footageThe effects are as good as you will see in multi millionpound movies

httpswwwyoutubecomwatchv=Q0iyaCl3yng

Action Movie Dad is the guy who makes fake actionmovies using his son as the star and special effectscreated on the computer The effects are simply amazingThis video is a ldquoMaking Ofrdquo for one of his films ldquoGet In TheBoatrdquo

httpswwwyoutubecomwatchv=C3f3el-uJ3Y

Cut amp Drag is a Youtube channel with lots of tips andadvice regarding the art and craft of video editing

This is a link to the channelhttpswwwyoutubecomchannelUC6F4votWjjnP

mSnQU0uGAHA

This particular episode takes a look at some of theediting rules that film editors might find of interest Theseries is very well made and a great FREE source oflearning

httpswwwyoutubecomwatchv=ym3DB9_Yhycampindex=4ampt=0samplist=PLrFDmKBmQ0eWyfrP22kcgYOL58xgQGhVM

Adiagrammaticrepresentationof the circularstructure isshown on theleft Examples ofthat are wherethe end scene issimilar to thefirst scene ForExample onemovie beganwith an accident

on a bridge and ended with an accident on a bridge In themovie Sliding Doors the heroine near the beginning of thefilm drops her earring in the lift and the film ends with thevery same act

As our videos are often short 6 to 10 minutes induration our beginning and end scenes have to behandled with more efficiency and speed than incommercial cinema For example our beginning has totake less than one minute during which we mustintroduce the theme or character and the dramaticsituation No one can tell you how to make an eye catchingbeginning only your own creativity

As far as an effective ending goes this can be a biteasier to achieve Of these two story formats the formerwith an ending that successfully resolves the conflict willleave the audience satisfied and content If the ending isa fit with both the beginning and the middle the audiencewill accept an unexpected ending and even an unhappyending The classical example of this type of ending is inthe film Casablanca where Rick gives up the love of his lifefor a higher purpose the higher purpose which isdeveloped in the middle of the film So even in the linearform of story telling the ending can be ambivalent so longas it does not clash with what has gone before but buildson it Or to quote William Goldman (script writer of thefilm Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) ldquothe key to allstory endings is to give the audience what it wants butnot in the way it expectsrdquo

Many of the ldquoendingsrdquo that follow the form of storytelling where there is no structure only a pattern of inter-connecting events (see diagram on left) often have no

clear beginning and may have non-endings where littleconflict is resolved Here the beauty of the story is in theldquojourneyrdquo not the ldquodestinationrdquo Many a travelogue andnature video fall into this category The success of thesevideos depends on their content interesting specialistaudiences

Flowers and butterflies even if they arephotographed superbly may not hold the interest of ageneral audience So when making your next traveloguetry and introduce a problem to solve eg weatherproblem or bad travelling companions or an activity to doby a certain time or before the weather breaks

Whatever story you wish to tell in your next video beaware that there are other ways of structuring the videothan the conventional beginning middle and end Oftenthe use of flash-backs or flash-forwards can capture theaudiencersquos attention immediately then itrsquos up to thestrength of your story telling to hold that attention untilthere is a resolution or perhaps no resolution Many TVprograms now use a ldquoforetellingrdquo structure that quicklysummaries what the program is about so as to createinterest right from the beginning

Whatever model of story telling you choose please donot choose the random walk model as diagrammaticallypresent on the right Here the beginning and end of thevideo are separated by a random collection of eventswhich may or may not be related to any theme Such amishmash of shots with no clear relationship to thebeginning or the end will not only confuse the audiencebut quickly lead to boredom the very audience responsewe are trying to avoid

So how can you check out your video for audienceappeal If you have teenage children or grandchildrenshow them your video they are your toughest critics Ifyou get a ldquonot badrdquo from them after watching your latestedited ldquomasterpiecerdquo then you know you have a potentialcompetition winner

The secret of a good sermon is to have a goodbeginning and a good ending and to have the twoas close together as possible - George Burns

Ian Simpson

Model of the Circular Structure forStory Telling

Model of Interconnecting Events leading to a possible End

Model of Unplanned Unedited video presented as a Seriesof Unconnected Events

WWWHimalayas A different world ndash yeshttpsvimeocom288393864

All action Kidshttpsvimeocom286847460

Dolomites - a timelapse adventurehttpsvimeocom287060201

Boys (will be)httpsvimeocom293033666

Action Movie Kid This is a collection of incrediblyclever shorts featuring a young boy and his imaginationbecoming real Creating CGI effects with a locked offcamera is hard enough this guy uses hand held footageThe effects are as good as you will see in multi millionpound movies

httpswwwyoutubecomwatchv=Q0iyaCl3yng

Action Movie Dad is the guy who makes fake actionmovies using his son as the star and special effectscreated on the computer The effects are simply amazingThis video is a ldquoMaking Ofrdquo for one of his films ldquoGet In TheBoatrdquo

httpswwwyoutubecomwatchv=C3f3el-uJ3Y

Cut amp Drag is a Youtube channel with lots of tips andadvice regarding the art and craft of video editing

This is a link to the channelhttpswwwyoutubecomchannelUC6F4votWjjnP

mSnQU0uGAHA

This particular episode takes a look at some of theediting rules that film editors might find of interest Theseries is very well made and a great FREE source oflearning

httpswwwyoutubecomwatchv=ym3DB9_Yhycampindex=4ampt=0samplist=PLrFDmKBmQ0eWyfrP22kcgYOL58xgQGhVM

WWWHimalayas A different world ndash yeshttpsvimeocom288393864

All action Kidshttpsvimeocom286847460

Dolomites - a timelapse adventurehttpsvimeocom287060201

Boys (will be)httpsvimeocom293033666

Action Movie Kid This is a collection of incrediblyclever shorts featuring a young boy and his imaginationbecoming real Creating CGI effects with a locked offcamera is hard enough this guy uses hand held footageThe effects are as good as you will see in multi millionpound movies

httpswwwyoutubecomwatchv=Q0iyaCl3yng

Action Movie Dad is the guy who makes fake actionmovies using his son as the star and special effectscreated on the computer The effects are simply amazingThis video is a ldquoMaking Ofrdquo for one of his films ldquoGet In TheBoatrdquo

httpswwwyoutubecomwatchv=C3f3el-uJ3Y

Cut amp Drag is a Youtube channel with lots of tips andadvice regarding the art and craft of video editing

This is a link to the channelhttpswwwyoutubecomchannelUC6F4votWjjnP

mSnQU0uGAHA

This particular episode takes a look at some of theediting rules that film editors might find of interest Theseries is very well made and a great FREE source oflearning

httpswwwyoutubecomwatchv=ym3DB9_Yhycampindex=4ampt=0samplist=PLrFDmKBmQ0eWyfrP22kcgYOL58xgQGhVM

The SoCo News Archive an be found

at eitherhttpwwwtheiacorgukiacregionssocosocohtm

httpbhvideoclubcomlatest-newssoco-news-letters

Please note Articles and opinions published in this newsletter are not necessarily those of the EditorSoCo Committee or the IAC The Institute of Amateur Cinematographers is a Company Limited by

Guarantee incorporated in 1932 registered in England No 00269085

The SoCo Website can be found here httpiacsocowebscom

Chairman David MartinEmail davidmartinsocogmailcom

Vice Chairman Tony ColburnEmail tonycolburnsocogmailcom

SecretaryTreasurer Eileen ColburnEmail eileencolburnsocogmailcom

Competition Officer John SimpsonEmail johnsimpson57yahoocouk

Webmaster John SimpsonEmail johnsimpson57yahoocouk

SoCo News Editor Pip CrittenEmail pipcrittengooglemailcom

Committee MembersLee Prescott

Email anglovideogxytalktalknetMike Sczewczuk

Email mikeszewlivecoukTrevor Matthews

Email tbmatthewsmadasafishcomMelvyn Dover

Honorary Committee MembersAnne VincentPhil Marshman

Copy Deadline for Jan - Feb 2019 Issue

To reach Editor by 15th Dec 2018

MR CHARLES LEEVES-KIMBER Basingstoke

TEWKESBURY YMCA VIDEO CAMERA CLUBMR D ADAMS BrixhamMR ROGER LANE Wimborne

MR IAN SMITH St IvesMR ROY B CHESHIRE Cheltenham

To have your event featured in SoCo News drop an email topipcrittengooglemailcom

For a full list of national and international eventsClick Here

Click for more detailsClick for more details