10th February 2011
This was our Holiday Competition slot. We were very lucky to have Simon Sumner from Derby to judge the competition. It was particularly kind of him to come all the way as we only had 3 entries:
“Holiday in Erdington” – a tongue in cheek invitation to a holiday in Erdington by Joe Meehan and Joel Felles - 2nd Place
“Home of the Lotus Eaters” – a holiday in Capri with a quotation from Somerset Maugham by Roger Lawrie - 3rd Place
“Catalan Adventure” – a walking holiday in Catalonia, Spain by Jill Lampert - 1st Place
In the time left over, Simon entertained us with two Derby Movie Makers’ productions which he had edited. He had also assisted with the camera work. The films were both dramas: “Situation Vacant” and “Locked In”.
27th January 2011
The script competition went really well. The best it’s been since I’ve been a member!
• Six Days Sober - Pop video - by Dave Kinneard
• Interview with Death - The death penalty is re-intoduced and we talk to a convicted killer on death row - by Doug Hemmings.
• Two Little Boys - A magic stone shrinks two boys so they can play train divers on their model railway and end up capturing a thief - by Tim Easton.
• Survival of the Fittest - A visit to the post is needed to ensure survival - by Alan Moore.
• Ring, Ring - A couple miss out on a luxury holiday by arguing over who will answer the phone - by Alan Moore.
• And What Did You Have for Christmas? - Some are pleased with their special present - by Alan Moore.
• For The Love of money - A long lost son returns home to shop his drug dealing Dad - by Alan Moore.
• Intervention on Good Intention - A potential kidney donor gets mugged as he thinks about the donor recipient - by Joe & Joel.
• Tangled Conversation - An almost identical phone conversation takes place as the previous day, with cut backs - by Joe & Joel.
• Coffee Shop - A man meets a new woman in a coffe shop. He asks her to meet for a drink, she turns him down but asks him to walk her to the station (you decide an ending!) - by Alan Eades.
• I can help - Accident Claim salesman leaves to the office to see a car accident as an opportunity. It's not what he thinks! - by Roger Lawrie.
•
Joint first place went to - Interview with Death - Doug Hemmings
- I Can Help - Roger Lawrie.
It was very informal. There weren’t any full scripts. Most entrants just read out or described their idea for a film. Some were basic structures where further research would be needed to fill out the script. One was a music video with a particular band who had indicated a willingness to be filmed in rehearsal. There were pitches for science fiction, crime, comedy, family drama etc.
The judging was done by a show of hands, and the result was:
Joint first place went to - Interview with Death - Doug Hemmings
- I Can Help - Roger Lawrie.
after that we had a rather extended tea break, because people were so caught up in discussion about all the ideas they’d been presented with.
That meant that there was just a little time for consideration of which film or films we as a club might want to make. There was plenty of enthusiasm for working on club productions. Both the films that we’ve agreed to have a go at require outdoor shooting, and so we’ll wait for warmer weather.
The evening was rounded off with viewing some of the footage from the previous meeting
13th January 2011
This was a practical evening with a very immediate purpose. The idea was to produce one or more little videos to promote our club - the finished results could perhaps be put on YouTube.
Some members brought along their camcorders and tripods and filmed the goings on and interviewed each other. Gordon had prepared some useful blue screen props.
Our numbers were increased by some members of Lichfield Movie Makers. It was an enjoyable evening, with plenty of opportunity to talk about film making matters as well as working on the project.
At the next meeting we hope to view some of these promo films.
9th December 2010 – Bits, Clips and Chips
Despite snow and ice still lying on the ground, many members managed to get to the meeting, and brought an array of interesting clips and bits.
Equipment brought along included Alan Moore’s new Panasonic HD camcorder which he demonstrated to us. It certainly produces exceptionally good pictures in his capable hands. The camcorder was from the 700 series. It has an internal memory and can take a memory card. It can only take High Definition video, not Standard Definition. The manual controls are via a menu on the LCD screen. Unusually for consumer level camcorders these days, this one has a proper viewfinder as well as an LCD screen. Alan finds that on the whole the camcorder works very successfully without using manual controls.
Taking us back in time, Graeme Tench brought along his Standard 8 cine camera with various lenses. He demonstrated how the cassette works, to those of us who had no experience of such things. It seems extraordinary to think that the maximum running time for each little reel was 4 minutes.
Roger Lawrie showed us a fishing rod he had acquired and adapted to become a microphone boom pole. It is very light, being made of fibreglass, and very much cheaper than the type of pole which is sold commercially for that purpose.
A wide variety of films were brought along – though there was a bit of a theme of transport running through them. Rally cars, a motor show, 1920s/30s aeroplanes in East Africa (taken with a 16mm cine camera) and Trains from Sir Robert McAlpine’s private railway. We were also treated to an episode of Morph, snippets from The Thomas Crown Affair, a BBC advert for the Barcelona Olympics, contrasting trailers for the two versions of “Trons” and a humorous film made by Roger called ‘Hmmm…’.
And all this was punctuated with a delicious meal of Fish ‘n Chips which Mike Gutowski kindly organised.
25th November 2010
This year our Video to Music competition was judged by those club members who were at the competition. Each person was given a voting slip. On the slip was a list of the names of the films, and for each film there were two questions with spaces for short answers. The questions were: "What did you like best about this film?" and "How could this film be improved?"
This method was suggested by Patrick Sprague as a way of getting feedback on our films when we don't use an outside judge.
After each film we were given time to fill in our answers to the questions, and at the end we were given time to write down our choices for which films should come 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Entrants were not allowed to select their own films.
Roger then collected the papers and worked out the results. After the tea break he read out the comments on each film and then announced the results of the competition.
The films were:
|
Night Ride |
Alan Moore |
A funfair at night. |
2 |
Heavy Weather |
Roger Lawrie |
Montage of weather films with
a message to reduce Carbon Dioxide. |
3 |
|
Bicycle Race |
Jill Lampert |
Montage of shots if a Sky Ride cycling event. |
1 |
|
Splish Splash |
Stuart Mann |
A fountain show at Versailles. |
|
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First Sail |
Alan Moore |
A boat being launched for its first sail. |
|
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Get it on |
Gordon Hunt |
A live show of a band singing and playing. |
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In the time that was left over after the competition and we watched an entertaining programme of prize winning music videos from Geof Caudwell (Derby Movie Makers), John Fox (Chesterfield Movie Makers) and Ian McDougall (Reading Film and Video Makers Club). 3
11th November 2010
D or not 3D?. That is the question.
Should we all be jumping on the 3D bandwagon? That was one of the many questions answered by Adam from the Sony Centre. Adam came to give us the lowdown on Sony products, in particular camcorders and tv’s. He brought 2 camcorders which we were encouraged to try. One was a high definition model and the detail it revealed when focused on a twenty pound note, was astounding.
As for 3D, according to Adam, 3D sales are soaring. However, despite this I think it will turn out to be an interesting fad which will plateau, then fade away.
However, it is a reminder of just how quickly technology advances and depressingly, just how quickly our equipment becomes dated. However, I consoled myself with the thought that there is many a good tune played on an old fiddle!
The second half of the evening featured a documentary film about Sutton Arts Theatre made by Roger Lawrie. The film included an interview with longstanding member of the theatre, Hilary Dorman, and provided some fascinating stories about the early days of the theatre and footage of a dress rehearsal of the Wizard of Oz directed by Nick Barnes.
A varied evening for members with something for everyone.
28th October 2010
Gordon Hunt was the speaker for a very instructive session on editing.
He began the evening by explaining to us what he considers to be the key to good editing, which is that the camera should look where we would want to look if we were there. To illustrate this he demonstrated that if we looked at him in the centre of the room and then turned our heads to face the clock on a wall on our left, what we would actually register would be two images: one would be him and the other would be the clock. We would not register the pan which takes place in between. He explained that the brain automatically cuts out the insignificant data in between the two significant images, and so that is what we should be doing on screen. He discouraged the use of the pan except when following the movement of a person or an animal or some other moving thing.
Gordon lucidly explained that film is about illusion. He pointed out that provided we use footage with appropriate directions and head turnings to lead us to things, we can create the illusion of things being there when in reality they are somewhere quite else. He provided a wonderful example of this which was a film of himself driving a car. There were shots of him speaking to camera and of him looking out of the window. The passing scenery included shots of suburban Birmingham, but also exotic places such as an Austrian tunnel or a mountain covered in snow.
In the end we were shown that Gordon had actually just been sitting stationary in his car all the time. The passing scenery was made up of clips from other journeys.
Gordon had also prepared a short film set in an office. He allowed us to watch it through and then he explained to us some of the difficulties he'd come across, when he was editing it, and how he overcame those difficulties. Examples included cutting together two versions of the same speech to make a more satisfactory whole, and dealing with a shot which was too short for his requirements.
He showed us two versions of the film 'Trouble' which a few members of the club had made for the Midland Movie Makers Midsummer Madness competition earlier in the year. Gordon was able to point out the improvements he'd made in the second editing, and to demonstrate the power of inter-cutting parallel action.
The evening was rounded off with a delightful example of the power of illusion in film. Trevor Mall's film "China Break" purports to be a holiday film of his trip to China. The shots are of oriental looking scenes. The twist is that they were all actually shot in Birmingham.
Our numbers were swelled by some visitors from Lichfield Movie Makers, who we were very pleased to see.
14th October 2010
The first two of our annual club competitions took place on 14th October 2010. Each competition was judged by those members who had no entry in that competition.
Micro Movie - Maximum running time: 1 minute
Leave Me Alone |
A. Moore |
Sleepy man goaded into action by his other self |
2 |
Jersey in Just a Minute |
R. Lawrie |
Documentary about Jersey Island |
3 |
I'm Bored |
J. Lampert |
Drama about a magic coat |
1 |
Mini Movie - Maximum running time: 5 minutes
Houghton Mill |
A. Eades |
A brief tour of a working watermill on the Great Ouse near Huntingdon, Cambs |
|
Shardas |
P. Sprague |
A violin recital |
3 |
Hell International Station (a newsreel report) |
G. Hunt |
A newsreel reporting from hell as a trainload of condemned souls arrives. |
|
Climate Change Festival |
J. Lampert |
Documentary about a Climate Change Festival in Birmingham |
1 |
Without Words |
A. Moore |
Portrait of Harvesting without commentary |
|
Men of Harlech |
P. Walker |
Documentary about Harlech Castle and the song "Men of Harlech" |
2 |
Chairman's Cup
Trevor Mall, former Chairman of the club, presented the Chairman's Cup to Jill Lampert for 'When I'm 64'. The Chairman's Cup is an annual award made at the discretion of the chairman. This presentation was for last year's award.
23rd September 2010
Manual or Automatic?
No, we weren’t debating the merits of car transmissions but rather our speaker, Roger Lawrie, was reminding us that camcorders have manual settings which we can and should use to great effect. This was just one aspect of a comprehensive session Roger presented on camcorder and filming techniques. There was something there for everyone, from the beginner to the more seasoned film maker. Preparation, camcorder support, use of zoom, sound, exposure and white balance and much more were covered.
‘Can you ever have too many cutaways?’ Roger asked. We all nodded in agreement that they were vital to smooth over those dodgy shots and accidental jump cuts. Could a gorilla help you? Possibly if it is a gorillapod camcorder support that can be attached to just about anything.
By the end of the evening Roger had provided us with a wealth of information and reminded us of all the techniques we know we should use but are often too lazy to do so. The next competition will reveal just who took his advice to heart.
9th September 2010
This meeting was well attended for the start of the season especially as some members were still on holiday.
During the Summer break the club entered the-
“Midland Moviemakers Midsummer Movie Madness” competition.
This involves making a film with a title which is only announced on the day.
Each club team has to plan, script, shoot and edit their film ready for viewing the same day.
All participating clubs then converge for a evening dinner and film show. The audience chooses the winner.
Our entry was shown at tonight’s meeting and those members who had taken part in making it explained the process, problems and fun to those who hadn’t.
We had hoped to show several of the other club’s entries but it proved almost impossible to obtain them, we did however watch several from previous years.
Members also brought various videos of their own choosing to show, Tim Easton showed a video of an extraordinary garden railway, and Alan Eades showed a video of Kings College Chapel which he made on a tiny ‘Flip Ultra HD’ card recorder, he also edited it with ‘Flip’s own on-board edit package. Results were amazingly good.
The evening was rounded off by a showing of the Out Takes from our Midsummer Madness entry, which gave us all an opportunity to look stupid, It’s interesting to note that the out-takes video ran twice as long as the real video.
This meeting took place after a long break. The meal on 14th December was cancelled because there was general agreement that we weren’t in the mood for celebrating Christmas so soon after the death of John Foster, who was a much loved and very important member and former chairman of the club. The meeting on 14th January was cancelled because there was snow and ice and the weather conditions made it impossible for most members to get to the club.
So it was good to get together again and have a sociable evening. It is a tradition to have an evening with ‘chips ‘n clips’. The idea is that members bring along some of their old movies or clips they have enjoyed taken from YouTube or television. In between watching these, we eat fish ‘n chips (or sausage ‘n chips…or just chips) and have a good time catching up with each other.
This year we had the theme of ‘hot clips’. The idea was that we would bring along our archive holiday movies from hot countries – hopefully this would cheer us up after the cold winter. And indeed it was most enjoyable to see the variety of films that were shown. The evening began with Roger Lawrie’s film “The Birthplace of Modern Civilisation” which was about Crete and the Minoanne culture and Greek mythology. Keith Lewis entertained us with his film about Ayers Rock. Alan Moore brought along an interesting drama called “Dream Lover” – nothing to do with hot weather holidays - but well worth watching. He had made it with Bob Harper who was once a member of Sutton Coldfield Movie Makers. It was remarkable for its use of a wide range of different camera angles. I brought a little film about the Athens Olympics featuring Paula Radcliffe. I also brought a holiday film of Contamines, (which is a skiing resort) in the summer. Mike Gutowski brought some films on VHS, but sadly we weren’t able to get the equipment to play them. Hopefully he will get them converted to DVD or mini DV tape so that we can see them another time.
The Script competition, which was scheduled for 14th January, was postponed until 28th January. Surprisingly it had to be abandoned because of lack of entries. We’ll have to think about whether we want to hold the competition again next year, and if so, whether there’s anything we can do to encourage people to bring along script ideas.
Trevor is still trying to round up members’ contributions towards Sutton Spotlight. This is a project which was inspired by John Foster. His idea was that each of us would produce a short film about some aspect of Sutton Coldfield, and then the films would be gathered together and made into a DVD which would be of interest to the local community.
Jill Lampert
26th Nov 2009
|
MUSIC VIDEO COMPETITION |
26TH NOV 2009 |
|
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Judge: Rob Day of Lichfield MM |
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|
TITLE |
MAKER |
TIME |
PLACE |
1 |
WHEN I'M 64 |
J Lampert |
2.5 |
1ST |
2 |
O FORTUNA |
S Mann |
2.5 |
|
3 |
UNDER COVER |
S Mann |
4.5 |
|
4 |
MONEY |
R Lawrie |
2.5 |
2ND |
5 |
KOPPANGEN |
P Walker |
3.5 |
3RD |
12th November 2009
On Thursday 12th November Gordon Hunt gave us an entertaining and informative presentation on the subject of editing. Gordon has extensive experience as a professional editor working on such programs as Auf Wiedersehen Pet and the Teletubbies.
Gordon’s presentation, fully illustrated with suitable clips, covered a wide range of editing problems and points to watch. These included the importance of reaction shots, the difficulty of editing a conversation if all the shots include both speakers, the importance of ensuring that music doesn’t drown out speech, checking for continuity errors, the use of chromakey and split screen and even making the eyes of a statue move.
He demonstrated the importance of not becoming too attached to any one particular shot. If it holds up the action, or doesn’t fit it must be cut out!
Gordon also discussed some aspects of making a music video. This was particularly pertinent as our music video competition was due to be held at the next meeting. He pointed out that you can quite easily cut a bar from music or a whole verse or chorus from a song to suit your needs. The important thing is to start with the bed of music, and place visuals over it.
Most of the special effects that Gordon showed us can now be done relatively easily by anyone with a digital camera and a fairly basic computer editing system. This includes delightful effects like editing together two shots taken from the same angle, to give the effect of showing someone in two different parts of the same room at the same time.
It was interesting to contrast the availability of these special effects now compared with only twenty or thirty years ago. Gordon described a trip to London that he made in the 1980s to arrange for some simple wipes and a four way split screen effect to be included in the opening sequence for an Auf Weidesein Pet series. It involved a huge amount of work, and a visit to a London editing company who had special facilities. The total cost was £3,000.
Jill Lampert
22nd October 2009
We held a special evening of films by the late John Seedhouse. John died of cancer shortly before Christmas last year. He had been a longstanding member of the club and an outstanding film maker. John's daughter and other members of his family made it a very special occasion by bringing along a great display of photographs of John and certificates of awards he had won for his films. They also kindly produced a wonderful spread of refreshments.
John's daughter Josephine introduced the films by recalling the pleasure John got from film making. She described the joy he felt when his cine film came back after it was developed and then getting down to the business of editing. Once digital video took over from cine film, John rather lost interest in film making, and turned his attentions elsewhere.
Having planned an evening of short films made by John Seedhouse, the show was nearly cancelled due to projector failure. Few own working cine gear as digital now rules. But Bill Green of the film watchers group Birmingham Cinema Appreciation Society brought his luxury lantern, so everyone could enjoy the show.
Over 20 years Mr Seedhouse had won regional & national competitions, and his variety of subjects was ably demonstrated. It included drama, documentary and animation. The full list shown on Thursday was:
Off The Rails: Playing on the tracks proves dangerous.
Head In The Clouds: Disabled lady becomes a flier.
Gramalkin: Witchcraft thrives in the country.
Behind Bars: Old lag escapes from prison in cartoon.
Vanishing Heritage: History & restoration of the canals.
Silent Sands: WWII mystery of drowned Americans.
The Sherrif: Cartoon tale of a lawman.
The Deadly Game: A boy discovers life's values.
Rattle In The Streets: An artist's passion for trams.
Made on a shoestring, his films were endowed with all the emotion of "Up", and they are still relevant today. Some could move you to tears.
Next meeting 12th November Tips Slips and Clips with Auf Wiedersehen Pet’s first editor Gordon Hunt.
Trevor Mall
8th October 2009
Tonight was the evening of competitions for short films at the club. The Mini-Video Competition was restricted to 5 minutes and our judges, Bob Wood and Doug Butler from Derby Moviemakers, were presented with seven very different films to look at. Roger Lawrie managed two entries; his “First Light” showing the glorious pictorial aspects of Mousehole in Cornwall (at least when you get up early) but his second film “I can Fly” was much more active with him paragliding off the Long Mynd in Shropshire.
Patrick Sprague found solace from the credit crunch in his “Peaceful Garden” but Jill Lampert was busy “Grappling With Greenhouse Gases” a struggle which earned her second place.
Trevor Mall put his “Best Foot Forward” to come third, with coverage of a pantomime-horse race but Tim Easton preferred to let the train take the strain as he shared a trip on the “Welsh Highland Railway, Portmadoc” with us.
Railways figured too in Mike Gutowski’s video “Big Boys’ Toys”, about a friend having a train driving experience. This won him first place, but it’s a pity he didn’t get the fireman’s breakfast in the end.
The judges were not finished yet, however, because they then had to watch the Sixty Second Competition, which had four entries this year. John Foster entered a film about the bridge at Avignon called “Over or Under” trying to solve the age-old problem of why people danced on the bridge there, while Gordon Hunt’s second prize winner asked “Where Am I?” The answer was the Minack theatre in Cornwall, so I hope this doesn’t spoil the suspense for you. Trevor Mall achieved another third place with his brief portrait of Newhall Mill, while Jill Lampert’s winner “Who’s Singing?” defied easy description.
For those who couldn't make it there's the two film listings included. Most of you'll need them for reminding of the movies come the Entertainment Awards later in the season.
Mini Video Competition.
First Light: Beautiful Cornwall scenery with time lapse clips by R. Lawrie
Peaceful Garden: Monetary gloom versus beautiful garden by P. Sprague
I Can Fly: Paragliding in Shropshire (Re-Edited recently) by R. Lawrie
Grappling with Greenhouse Gasses: Dilemma of procedure between Husband & Wife by J. Lampert
Best Foot Forward: City centre chaos at a Pantomime Horse Race by T. Mall
West Highland Railway (at Portmadoc): Small scale train ride by T. Easton
Big Boy’s Toys: Restored Steam Railway System by M. Gutowski
60 Second Competition.
Who’s Singing?: A strange voice at the zoo, but whose ? by J. Lampert
New Hall Mill: The activities at a restored local Water Mill by T. Mall
Where Am I ? : Clues reveal beautiful Cornish Minack Theatre by G. Hunt
Over or Under: Snaps & clips of French Avion Bridge by J. Foster
John Foster / Trevor Mall
24th September 2009
At our last club night we had a fascinating talk from High Definition enthusiast Alan Moore. He took us through possible pitfalls when moving to HD. No one likes nasty surprises, especially when buying expensive equipment. We looked at the camera, solid state is here and how the rolling shutters that CMOS cameras have now can give some weird results. Is your editor up to it and will the camera talk to it? What do you play your edited HD video on? What is meant by HD and are you really seeing 1080i resolution? Alan gave us an informative and entertaining evening, covering all these issues. He illustrated what he was saying with a helpful and well structured powerpoint presentation.
Jill Lampert
10th September 2009
On 10th September we held our first meeting after the summer break. Members were invited to bring along old films/videos for us all to watch. It was great fun to see such a huge variety of subjects, for example: an outdoor circus, a view of Ireland, trains at Porthmadog, a skiing holiday in France, a car rally, a music video, a film about an evening at the club from the early 1990s, and a film called "Mother", which was a sort of 'homage' to Psycho.
The "Mother" film also had a very interesting history. It had originally been shot by Patrick Sprague in about 1984 using Super 8 film. The editing was done manually with splicing and glue. Over 15 years ago it was transferred to VHS, and more recently he converted it from VHS to DV by means of a video to FireWire DV converter. Patrick then re-encoded the DV file to an MP4 file known as H.264, and then loaded it into iTunes and from there put it onto his iPhone. It was projected from his iPhone by our wonderful new projector.
The next meeting will be on 24th September and Alan Moore will be a talking about "Buying and using Hi Def".
Jill Lampert
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