2016-2017 NEWSLETTER
14/05/2017 Krzys, Chas and Dave helped Tony film the Twyford comedy play Trivial Pursuits. David Goddard will do the editing.
03/05/2017 The AGM business took longer than expected with considerable discussion about the club;s finances. During the tea break members enjoyed slices of a sizeable 60th celebration cale, and Jonathan took various photos of the members and the cake. Karen stood down from the Chair after 4 years, and Anne volunteered to take over. Most of the existing committee were re-elected, and reponsibilites will be decided at the next committee meeting. Two Making of films were screened - Money From Heaven by Rob (now working in Korea) and Anne's Gift of Love which had plenty of amusing out-takes.
29/04/2017 Members and guests enjoyed a meal at the Reading Golf Club with a film show and the presentation of trophies. Dave and Jan Watterson were special guests for this 60th year celebration and Dave said a few words about how many video clubs had failed to survive to such a milestone.
Laurie was able to join us to watch the films and trophy presentations.
26/04/2017 Andy entertained the members with his amusing annectdotes while being a Support Artiste for various filming events, including some adverts, Eastenders, War Zone Z. Various clips were screened with the challenge to cheer when you see him! The abundance of questions and discussion afterwards reflected the audience interest.
19/04/2017 Dave had repaired the audio cable/connection so did some unusual testing of the speakers. Karen couldn't attend so Anne led the meeting with the screening of 3 results by Tony, Anne and Dave of the green screen challenge with Israel singing. Anne also screened an unusual green screen "making of" Eastenders. Oli, Sophie, Anne, Laurie and Chas outlined their ideas for possible summer project films making about 14 scripts which was encouraging. Dave also wanted cameramen to help film Woodley Carnival on June 10th. After a long tea break, a past member's documentary film from 2009 was screened before finishing early.
12/04/2017 Ian screened various clips to illustrate some of the many ways music can be used to enhance a film. Some clips were very old - even a few silent films which he played some music to improve them. He also removed music to compare the clip with the original score and for some used alternative music. He also screened some of his own films where the visuals were set to appropriate music.
05/04/2017 11 entries for the last competition of the season. Summary stills are available. Sophie and Laurie were the Stan Olman gurus and gave a brief critique on each film and did not nominated any film for the award. The YouTube competition results were also announced. Sadly on one member entered 3 films but the winning film which was screened for the Bournes Cup competition, clocked over 89,000 views.
29/03/2017 Christina gave an interesting training presentation using clips to illustrate her tips for WAFFLE - White-balance, Audio, Focus, Framing, Legs, Exposure. Some of the content is in http://www.urbanfox.tv/seminar/2016BVE-UrbanFox-Waffle.pdf which has some useful links to other relevant material.
22/03/2017 Israel's late appearance meant members had plenty of time to setup the green screen, lights, audio system and cameras as well as an early tea break. Israel then sang his song several times which were filmed. He also changed into African tribal dress for some of the sessions. An entertaining evening and something rather different from other practical sessions. Brian helped judge an IAC North Thames Region Interclub competition on 11/03/2017. Each of three clubs screened up to 5 films in 30 minutes and the 3 judges gave a critique and nominated a winner.
15/03/2017 Only two entries for the fiction competition and as one was the third of a sequel, the previous No Mother film was screened first, but not judged. Laurie and Karen were the Stan Olman gurus and after a critique on each, both films were nominated for their technical excellence. Summary stills are available. An old film of Bernard's called Paris in Spring was screened to fill the time to tea. Chas offered his drone for sale to members. Karen screened clips of Israel singing as a taster for next week's meeting. Some out takes of the Mother Dear film were screened followed by a spray paint film of a 4.2 second action and how it was made.
11/03/2017 Brian's Return to Kenya film came 3rd in the Staines Interclub competition. Brian and Tony attended. The judges prefered drama to documentary and awarded the Silver Salver to the Surrey Border film which was directed by Dann Emmons who visited us in January. Boune End's drama film came 2nd. There were 8 entries in all.
08/03/2017 Karen screened some YouTube tutorials about setting up accounts and channels and tips for improving viewing figures. She also screened some films about motorbikes which she is involved with (On Yer Bike). Getting sponsorship and appropriate statistics were also discussed.
01/03/2017 Dave gave a very informative talk about colour correction and colour grading, using DaVinci Resolve. He explained how use of LUT (Look Up Table) makes things easier.
22/02/2017 Three entries for the documentary competition. Some summary stills are available. Anne and Brian were the Stan Olman gurus and aftter giving a critique on each film, decided none meritted a nomination, though Dave deserved one for fixing the technical problems with the projection system! Chas demonstarted a device he used for timelapse photgraphy. A documentary film from the Southampton Video club showreel was screen but there was no time to discuss it.
15/02/2017 Several romantic scenes were set up for filming themes for Valentines Day. A previous attendee at the filming course watched the proceedings with two other visitors. He was presented with his course certificate during the tea break.
08/02/2017 Members managed to capture various scenes for their church script film, accommodating a brief interruption for an alternative use of the church, when we had a tea break and captured a scene set in a toilet. Setting up started at 6pm and finished promptly at 10pm.
01/02/2017 Our guest speaker Dann gave a brief overview about directing for camera and then about 8 groups discussed how to shoot a One Shot scene. It was interesting to see how different some groups chose to shoot the scene, one such shot was screened to the members. There were plenty of questions afterwards.
Earlier, David Goddard came up from West Sussex to film the Year 7 Reading school concert on Friday with Tony and Richard. The school has grown so much that the concert has to be held on two evenings. Richard and Tony filmed the Thursday evening one and Tony also filmed a rehearsal of one piece by the full year 7 orchestra on Wednesday morning. The footage will be edited for a DVD which the school sells to interested parents.
25/01/2017 Two good entries for the Burke trophy competition ( summary stills available) and five for the Caversham Cup competition( summary stills available). Anne and Eric were the Stan Olman gurus. Another film Eve was screened before tea and then each film was critiqued. None were considered a nomination. Leon's version of Clown of War from the green screen exercise was screened and then Steve discussed plans for a rehearsal of the church shoot in February.
18/01/2017 Progress was made with plans for filming Steve's script in the church. The script was outlined to the members. There was no tea break, instead tea and biscuits were served at the table.
11/01/2017 A good attendance to start the new year and to listen to Michael Beddoes talk about his career and screen some of his award winning short films. He responded to the many questions after each film.
21/12/2016 Mulled wine and a good selection of nibbles added to the Christmas spirit during Anne's quiz. Two films from an earlier green screen practical were screened. Harry also had his 3D TV setup displaying 3D photos and videos with appropriate glasses, while Leon demonstrated his virtual reality kit. Dave also demonstrated his latest drone. A good last meeting of 2016 - Best wishes to all members and their families for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year.
14/12/2016 Seven entries for the holiday competition. Eric Garson and Anthony Bardos were the Stam Olman gurus and gave interesting critiques of each film before finally making two nominations. Summary stills are available.
07/12/2016 The plans for the Kenneth Branagh film were not ready so Nichola led the evening encouraging members to come up with script ideas for filming in the church in February. The warden then showed us around the inside of the church and various photos were captured. After an early tea break Chas outlined his ideas for a trailer/commercial to advertise the club amd invited helpers to join him.
30/11/2016 A number of visitors attended Kate's talk about her experiences and problems filming in a zero gravity plane and a rocket launch with interesting clips screened. There were numerous questions and a vivacious discussion about difficulties of getting into TV work. The long tea break gave a good opportunity to socialise.
23/11/2016 Four entries for the summaer project competition. Symmary stills are available.Laurie and David were the Stan Olman gurus and after giving their critiques for each one, gave Anne's film a nomination. After tea three groups were asked to brainstorm ideas for a film script for filming in the church in February. The ideas will be considered and one will be chosen and developed into a script for the practical that eveing.
16/11/2016 Two teams were filming with green screens. Time was a problem and not all scenes were captured before it was time to clear up. Films are scheduled to be screened on 20 Dec.
09/11/2016 An interesting evening learning about 3D videos. Kate Sullivan showed us how her 3D rig with two GoPro cameras were set up, and explained her passion for 3D. The audience had red and cyan glasses for viewing the 3D. Dave and Jan Watterson filled in with talk about 3D, stereoscopy and virtual reality and screened a clever animated green screen 3D Tarzan stroryline made by a Frenchman along with some other 3D films and some surprise bubbles and skeleton for fun.
02/11/2016 Only four entries for the 4-minute competition. Andy and Brian were the Stan Olman gurus and gave their critique on all the films. Ian's film won and got a nomination from Brian and Andy. Summary stills are available. Keith had managed to burn a DVD of his intro film which was screened and he received his course certificate. Tony was presented with a certificate for his film being 2nd in the IAC SoCo Top of the Clubs competition, and it was announced that Charity's film Paperman had not only won the Dolphin competition but also the Mermaid competition as well. Tomasz's film Funny Face won the Baby Dolphin competition. Some more films were screened from the Haywards Heath showreel.
26/10/2016 There were enough people in the audience for the use of the big hall for the Gateway competition with many 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 convincing win for Reading. Karen couldn't attend so thanks to Anne for leading the evening and to Krzys for bringing his loudspeaker.
| CATEGORY | CLUB | MOVIE TITLE | STAINES | READING | BOURNE END | TOTAL |
| STORYLINE | STAINES | The Sound Catcher - 6 mins | 3 | 2 | 5 | |
| READING | The Smarterphone - 6 mins | 3 | 3 | 6 | ||
| BOURNE END | On Our Way to Bridge Street - 10 mins | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||
| DOCUMENTARY | STAINES | Our Memphis Experience - 10 mins | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| READING | Guernsey Girls - 12 mins | 3 | 3 | 6 | ||
| BOURNE END | THe National Memorial Arboretum - 9 mins | 2 | 3 | 5 | ||
| OPEN | STAINES | Greece is the Word - 7.5 mins | 3 | 2 | 5 | |
| READING | Doors - 11 mins | 3 | 3 | 6 | ||
| BOURNE END | Rhine River Cruise - 7 mins | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| STAINES | READING | BOURNE END | |
| STORYLINE | 5 | 6 | 4 |
| DOCUMENTARY | 4 | 6 | 5 |
| OPEN | 5 | 6 | 4 |
| TOTALS | 14 | 18 | 13 |
| JUDGES | Ian McDougall David Purves |
19/10/2016 Regrettably Karen's hospital duties kept her from presenting the stucents with their course certificates, so Bernard did the honours. Several student ntro films were screened showing a variety of creativity.. Jonathan took some photos. Finally three films from the Haywards Heath showreel were screened with discussion about each one.
12/10/2016 There was a technical problem - it appeared the bulb had blown in the small projector - so Laurie held his student class in the small hall and members were able to watch some green screen clips after Dave got the small projector to work! David outlined his ideas for the practical and then two groups were formed who planned their respective green screen short films, one involves other special effects.
The various formats and media for projecting members films on our system discussed last week are now on the web.
David Goddard returned to the area to film the Twyford play Gaslight with Tony on Friday.
05/10/2016 Brian presented tips about titling and straplines to course students and other members. Then Dave Gregory explained technical details of the various formats and media for projecting members films on our system. He also covered uploading to YouTube as Leon was away sick. Laurie also mentioned the YouTube competition.
Two Davids and Krzys helped Tony film the Trinity Concert Band performance in the University Great Hall on Saturday.
28/09/2016 The training course involved practicing using cameras, while the members brainstromed storyboards for a film promoting the club and a film to impress a patron.
21/09/2016 Members joined the course students in the big hall for a session on creativity by Laurie. After tea everyone formed groups to discuss/brainstorm ideas for a short film to promote the club or impress a patron. The groups then reported the results of their deliberations.
14/09/2016 A very encouraging attendance of students for the course, and a pleasant time for existing members to catch up with friends while Laurie was talking to the students. An excellent variety of nibbles and drink, after which existing members watched some films in the small hall from a selection of inspirational online films suggested by members.
07/09/2016 Since the last committee meeting, the new season's programme has been finalised, a new online registration system is available, though still being developed, and several web pages have had their layout changed to be more mobile phone friendly. Changes to unconverted pages will be ongoing, though old archive pages may remain unchanged. Interest in the filming course has been encouraging.