2013-2014 NEWSLETTER
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16/07/2014 David and Tony filmed the musical concert at Reading school with a different layout from that used last year, which made the placement of the unattended camera rather difficult. It was fixed up on a windowsill just visible on the left. The audience seating was to the left, right and centre of the area where the musicians performed.
16/05/2014 David, Mark, David and Tony filmed the Twyford & Ruscombe comedy Two and Two Together. The dolly track was an experiment which did not work very well.
07/05/2014 The AGM was conducted without any controversy. A few questions about clarification on the treasurer's report, and no need to change the subscription rates. Karen was unanimously re-elected as the chair. Three new members were voted onto the committee as Simon was standing down. The rest of the committee were also re-elected. Anne discussed programme details and the use of outside speakers and it was agreed that Phil Bloom should be invited for an evening dispite the fee. There was a brief mention about some summer projects. After tea some poetry films were screened and also a BIAFF 2014 film about dragonflies.
30/04/2014 The very short film shot by the river at the night shoot was screened. Various trophies were presented to Tomasz and Rob as they couldn't attend the Premiere evening (see pictures). A 30 minute film made by a previous member Jeff was screened and some BIAFF 2014 films after tea.
26/04/2014 Various members and guests enjoyed a meal at Reading Golf Club and watched the 12 films which were screen before the trophies were awarded to the particular winners of the seasons competitions. Photos of the recipients are available.
23/04/2014 Anne led a discussion about lessons learned from the green screen practical evening and screened David's edit as well as her own. Tomasz explained how he had done his green screen films which were then screened. Several films from the New Zealand Auckland Eight Movie Club including the interesting Thermal Highway, were screened and discussed.
16/04/2014 Eleven entries for the Open competition with Brian and Laurie as the Stan Olman gurus. They gave a critique of each film and nominated two films for the award. Summary stills are available. The YouTube award was also announced for the film with the most views, which Laurie's Flood film won.
09/04/2014 A few members and extras gathered by the river in Caversham to shoot Audrey's brief script. After an hours filming, refreshments were obtained at a pub.
02/04/2014 Various films were screened - a documentary about a flight simulator, a revised version of The Audition, Peter's GGS reunion, Mike's My Mother At War and several old Phil Martin films. Karen will circulate details for next week's night shoot while the blood donors use the hall - gather at the Grosvenor if it rains.
26/03/2014 Tony peresented a series of clips associated with the earlier mammoth summer project about petrolheads and motorsport. Paul from the Farnborough District Motor Club was also in the audience. Apart from some curious audio problems with some clips, the talk was well received - appropriate laughter with some of the outtakes. There was little time to discuss plans for the night shoot so the evening finished by discussing Tony's experience with using MAGIX for editing.
19/03/2014 A record ten entries for the fiction competition, and would have been 11 if Karen had managed to attend. All three films from the Wokingham Theatre evening were screened, as well as two from the green screen evening. Laurie and Brian were the Stan Olman gurus and they nominated two films, one for the technical execellence and theatre/atmosphere and one for original entertainment using green screen techniques. Summary stills are available.
12/03/2014 George Riddell gave a very technical presentation about the advantages of using DSLR cameras for video, in particular the ability to use a narrow depth of field.
On Friday Laurie helped judge the Staines Interclub competition as RFVM did not have a suitable film to enter.
05/03/2014 There were three green screens, two for capturing scenes for Lawrie's script and Roger's system was used by Tomasz for his ideas.
26/02/2014 A successful filming evening at a new location at Wokingham Theatre. All three teams completed filming their respective scripts using the bar area, office and stage. Some of the scripts involved guest actors.
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19/02/2014 A disappointing number of entries for the documentary competition. Geoff and Brian were the Stan Olman gurus and gave a critique on each of the 3 films and decided that none warranted a nomination. Summary stills are available. With time to spare, Anne presented an analysis of the number of entries for each competition and asked for suggestions as to why the numbers are dwindling.
12/02/2014 Ian illustrated his talk with various classic clips, some of which he had changed the music. He also included several of his own films with their normal music.
05/02/2014 Club member David Goddard gave an excellent presentation using powerpoint and short video clips to demonstrate and share his knowledge of how to successfully film a live theatre show, using 4 cameras. He also demonstrated his skills as a sound engineer not only to ensure high quality audio from the recording, but also how to mix his own sound effects. The second half of the evening was dedicated to watching 2 short films made last week in the "Tension Building Challenge", including the use of dolley tracks. An excellent quality 3rd film from Laurie too, of the "making of" the films.
David and Tony recorded another Readuing School Concert last Friday - Year 7 so the music was not perfect!
29/01/2014 A good attendance for the practical evening using moving camera accessories. Two groups filmed an outline script using dollies with other members being extras. The book called "Master Shots" (2nd edition) was used as a guide to how some action shots should be captured. Edited results next week.
22/01/2014 Thirteen very varied entries for the 1-minute competition (summary stills available) and sadly only one for the Burke Trophy, but nevertheless a worthy winner. Summary stills available. Neil and Pete were the Stan Olman gurus and gave a crtique on each film before announcing Funny Face was worthy of a nomination for its extensive use of After Affects.
Last Friday David, Tony and David Gregory filmed the Twyford & Ruscombe pantomime Sleeping Beauty to make a DVD of the event.
15/01/2014 Matt gave an interesting account about filming interviews with some useful tips like using silence, encouragement, listening, smiling, inviting hand gestures among many others. He then set up some lighting for such an interview, explaining where he would position microphones.
08/01/2014 Happy New Year to all our members. Audrey outlined her script for a sketch to be filmed in Wokingham theatre and Karen organised crew and actors for each of the three projects who then went away to discuss details. After tea an old summer project film was screened to illustrate the fun which could be had when filming and then Aurora - a giant polar bear puppet larger than a London double decker bus - was screened, followed by a few old one-minute films. Tony had finished editing the 2hr 50 min DVDs from the Bear Blues Band concert in November, and gave the cameramen copies.
18/12/2013 A fun evening for members, starting with mulled wine and the presentation of the North v South Harry Adams trophy to Geoff, and the mini shield for the Ward holiday competition to Rob. Richard and Pete outlined their scripts for the Wokingham Theatre filming event. Simon then worked through his quiz with four teams. There was an impressive spread of nibbles and other drinks with time enough to socialise. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone.
11/12/2013 A good 7 entries for the holiday competition for a disappointing attendance. The winner was not present, so the presentation of the mini shield will have to wait till next week. Summary stills are available. Richard and Jonathan acted as the Stan Olman judges, and considering it was their first time judging films, they did an excelent critique, but decided none deserved a nomination. There was only 15 minutes left to discuss scripts for the Wokingham theatre event and so few members, it was decided to leave it for next week.
04/12/2013 Mel gave members an interesting talk about voiceover topics covering her experience doing corporate work and radio commercials which invoked much discussion and questions. She screened examples from her showreel and set a challenge to compose a 30 second radio advert for a local Christmas store. Four groups rose to the task and the offerings were read out. Last Saturday Tony, Rob and Vijay filmed a Help The Heroes concert at the Royal British Legion in Arborfield with the Bear Blues Band as the main feature. A DVD will be created in due course. David filmed another Reading School concert on his own on 3rd Dec.
27/11/2013 There were an encouraging six entries for the summer project competition, one being a training film for a funeral director A B Walker & Sons, which the audience voted into third place! Below David receives a cheque on behalf of the treasurer for the work Pete and his team earned for the club making the film. Pete's other entry won and some of his team are seen holding the mini shield. Summary stills are available. Laurie and Brian were the Stan Olman gurus who crtiqued each film and nominated SIREN. Pete, Neil, Anne, Roger and Tony had viewed the Bricks Bodgers and Broomsticks video for the Open Air Museum in the old Quakers Hall in Jordan on Thursday. They also had some musicians playing boxwood instruments for the audience of volunteers. David has done a very quick edit on the footage from filming the Reading School Inter-House Music competition in Reading Town Hall on Thursday 14th. A taster video is available on YouTube.
20/11/2013 The evening started with the screening of a course member's intro film which was very different from others and rather amusing. Anne then introduced a variety of other short film competition entries which varied in length. In one competition, only four shots each lasting four seconds to convey horror. Others films were 90 seconds long. Another set of films were linked in that the next one started with the last frame from the previous one.They were all films which our members could have made and the purpose of the evening was to inspire ideas.
13/11/2013 Members enjoyed an enlightening talk from David and Jan Wttaerson on sound, with a variety of clips to illustrate their points. The talk covered voice-overs, interview tips, poetry, choosing music, sound effects etc.
06/11/2013 Only 4 entries for the Currie Cup club competition. Neil and Brian were the Stan Olman gurus. After citique of the 4 films, they decided that Portals was worthy of a nomination and was also voted by members as the winner of The Curry Cup. Portals was made by new member Tomasz Franek, photographed here receiving his award. Summary stills are available. Several course members had their introduction films screened which were exceptional in the animation, special effects and quality, as well as being very entertaining. All course members who were present were handed certificates and photos were taken of individuals and the group. The evening finished with the screening of a Vimeo animation film GULP and the 'making of' which involved stop frame animation using cranes, mobile phone cameras and many people on a beach!
30/10/2013 Anne screened films made by a very talented Bob Lorrimer photographer who is a master of good close-ups. Anne also read out notes about how he had filmed some of them and with which cameras. The audience made brief comments after each one. Films included some documentaries and his award winning The Drill film. Some members had already seen some of his films but the comic ones still raised a laugh. Course members were requested to fill in a feedback questionaire prior to the screening of their introduction films next week.
23/10/2013 Three films made by course members were screened and discussed. Laurie then continued talking about being creative and challenged the audience to some simple exercises. There was little time to screen all the films Anne had selected for showing, except two.
16/10/2013 Not quite what was advertised. Laurie screened a film illustrating a challenging edit and Brian screened a film about the history of type. After tea they took the course members and others interested for a talk on editing and Brian on titling while the remainder watched and discussed several films from Vimeo, some of which involved animation. Lawrence is sick so there are minor changes to the programme. Mention was made about a tea rota for the rest of the season.
09/10/2013 There were enough people in the audience for the use of the big hall for the Gateway competition with 14 visitors from Satines and Bourne End. The three films from each club were screened and Simon handled the scores from the judges and calculated the results shown below, with a win for Bourne End. Karen handed the trophy from the Surrey Border competition to Geoff and also mentioned the discount arrangement with Blades for purchases of RFVM clothing till the end November.
| CATEGORY | CLUB | MOVIE TITLE | STAINES | READING | BOURNE END | TOTAL |
| STORYLINE | STAINES | Value for Money - 3 mins. | 2 | 3 | 5 | |
| READING | Sonning Scarecrows - 2mins 30 secs | 3 | 2 | 5 | ||
| BOURNE END | On the Rails - 11 mins 20secs | 2 | 3 | 5 | ||
| DOCUMENTARY | STAINES | Close Encounters of the Animal Kind - 4 mins | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| READING | The Revolution will be Printed - 5 mins | 2 | 3 | 5 | ||
| BOURNE END | Crinan Canal - 7 mins | 3 | 3 | 6 | ||
| OPEN | STAINES | Travelogue of the Mind - 5 mins | 2 | 3 | 5 | |
| READING | The Birthday Party - 3mins 41 secs | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||
| BOURNE END | Summertime - 5 mins | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| STAINES | READING | BOURNE END | |
| STORYLINE | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| DOCUMENTARY | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| OPEN | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| TOTALS | 13 | 15 | 17 |
| JUDGES | Neil Hodgson Anne Massey |
05/10/2013 Laurie, Brian, Tony and VJ (& partner) attended the Surrey Border interclub competition against Circle 8 Film Group (last years winner), Bournemouth Video Club and Staines Video Makers. The films were screened and a relevant club member gave a brief statement about their film.then followed an intermission with an impressive spread of food. Four short supporting films were screened and discussed briefly. The two judges gave comments on each competition film and finally declared Reading to be the winner. Brian recieved the trophy for the club from the main judge.
02/10/2013 An interesting practical with various club members demonstrating lighting, audio and green screen equipment to course members and others. David also had a large camera jib and a track dolly. A good opportunity to socialise and talk technical ideas. Karen had received a request for a film crew for a Help the Heroes concert at Arborfield in November. Tony agreed to help 4 new members to make up a team and organise arrangements. Three members are planning to attend the Surrey Border interclub competition on Friday. Neil had some tripods and other equipment for sale at bargain prices (money going to charity). Pete has obviously done a good job in producing a training video for the Funeral Director.
25/09/2013 Course members were shown various members intro films to show them what they were expected to produce by the end of the course. Two films set to poetry were screened to give ideas of what the poetry challenge was about. After tea Laurie discussed tripods, microphones and crossing the line 'rule'. John won the Trinity Band concert ticket voucher.
18/09/2013 The season started with a pleasing number of new faces. Karen welcomed old and new members and Lawrence outlined what was in store in the programme. Laurie then explained aspects of the course and candidates introduced themselves briefly. Laurie invited them to discover the meaning of four technical terms, one of which a number of existing members didn't know! Nibbles and drinks allowed for socialising and the course members left with the challenge of thinking about how to make a 5 minute film about themselves which will be made during the course.
