Home

News

 

Members Sequence Evening                       17th November 2006.  

Seven members sequences were shown after an introduction by each author.  Most sequences were nearing completion and comments were invited. The discussion led by Ron Davies was extensive and constructive.
One of the sequences explored movement now available in Pictures to Exe version 5 in a sequence intended to increase interest in the RPS AV group.

Other topics raised included:

Not leaving too long before both the sound and vision start, as a long pause gives the projectionist worries about the performance of the equipment.
The continuity of a sequence.
The choice of music.
The order of images in the sequence.
Consideration of the meaning of the title:- will it be understood if the sequence is entered for a international competition.

November 3rd
Howard Gregory gave a demonstration of the sound produced by different microphones and recording techniques.  The cost of the microphones ranged from very cheap ( £2 ) to expensive( £1000 ) however there was a marked difference between the quality of the recording at the cheaper end with less and less change as the price increased.  Howard recommended that a microphone costing between £30 and £ 90 was likely to be satisfactory for voice over in AV. He suggested ways to try out a microphone before buying, as there may be differences with various voices and pointed out that build quality and waterpoofness may be an issue when recording outside.

 

15th September 2006.   The Members Sequence meeting was well attended by 45 members including 11 new recruits.
 

Six members sequences were shown after an introduction by each author.  Most sequences were nearing completion and comments were invited. The discussion lead by Ron Davies was extensive and constructive.  Topics raised included the use of text on screen and the use of familiar voices for the commentary.  Comments were also made about the degree of involvement by the author in music, commentary, sound effects as well as the photography and script.

 

Two of the sequences utilised Pictures to Exe version 5 and explored movement and the additional transitions now available.

 

 

 

29th September 2006 AV meeting.

Erhard & Heidy Hobrecker gave a lecture on their view of AV illustrated with extracts from their sequences including  Genesis , Winter Dreams and Prince Ice & the Time. 

They then showed their sequences:

Genesis , day 5 The Birds

The Grandfathers Tale.  A fairy story of gingerbread people, written by Heidy and photographed and produced by Erhard.

Genesis, day 4 Day and Night.

Romanza.

Prince Ice and the Time.  Another story by Heidy. 

These sequences were superbly photographed and demonstrated mastery of all the elements that Erhard had talked about during the lecture. 

I made notes during the lecture which may be of interest to other members.

The essential elements of AV

  1. Story; substantial and striking.  Even let the music speak for itself
  2. Visuals; high quality photographs and the use of dissolves and transitions
  3. Sound; the right choice of music and editing
  4. Unity of all parts

Criteria for the choice of music

  1. Possible role of text and commentary.  Pictures, music and text are all important but one of them should have a more dominant role.
  2. What do the pictures say?
    1. Visual message.
    2. Inborn emotion.
  3. What should the music do?
    1. Provide a sound carpet
    2. Enhance the message
    3. Tell the story by itself?
  4. Hints for the choice of music
    1. Romantic: Shubert, Mahler, Rachmaniov.
    2. Landscape: Williams, Delius.
    3. Instrumental Film Music: Nino, Rota.
    4. Ballet & program music: Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky.
  5. Avoid.
    1.  Too emphatic or dominant
    2. Very popular music.
  6. Refine your choice of music.
    1. Try other alternatives.
    2. Try out on other people.
    3. Listen again and again
    4. Collect music: no matter which music it should strike a chord with you.

Editing

  1. Match the music to the target length
  2. Mix music rather than fade out
  3. Try to end with a proper end to the music
  4. Enhance the story.
  5. Track the rise and fall of the music
  6. Keep the music flow and avoid hiccups.  Fit the commentary into the music

 

About Erhard & Heidy....

Erhard comes from Germany and moved to Switzerland in 1998.  He was involved professionally in optics and has a life-long interest in photography.  He worked with 8mm cine in the ’70s and began experimenting with slide-tape Audio-Visual in the ’80s.   His work has been seen extensively, and gained awards, on the International circuit.   He considers the correct choice of music a vital ingredient of a successful AV sequence. 

With Heidy he is seeking to increase awareness of AV in Switzerland, and last year they organised the successful St. Gallen AV Festival.   Their joint sequences combine superb photography with imaginative scripts – a slightly different slant from British AV.   Their “Prince Ice and the Time” won “Best Photography” at the last British International AV Festival in 2004.

 

FIESTA 2006 
Results of Audience Vote 

Friday:          First            Mission No.9                                   Colin Balls
                                
                    Second        Y Bugail “Tal-y-Braich”                    Ron Davies,
                                                                            Marion Waine & John Rowell
                              Third  =        Lea Gardens                                   Eileen Cooke
                                      
                                        Italian Beds...Belgian Balls              Keith Fisher

Saturday:     First            Y Bugail “Tal-y-Braich”                     Ron Davies,
                                                                           Marion Waine & John Rowell

    Second      The Bridge is Safe                  Albert Slack &

                    Third  =      Italian Beds...Belgian balls               Keith Fisher

                                       Mission No.9                                   Colin Balls 

Overall:        First            Mission No.9                                   Colin Balls

                   Second       Y Bugail “Tal-y-Braich”                     Ron Davies,
                                                                           Marion Waine & John Rowell

                       Third              Italian Beds...Belgian balls                       Keith Fisher     

 

Friday 17th February  - our 'Open' Competition and the judges for the evening were Maureen and Robert Albright.

The entries were:

Cycle of Life by Marion Waine

High Summer above Peckett Well by Peter Coles

The Bridge is Safe by Albert Slack and Henk Tulp

Bramwell by Peter Coles

Mr Jones by Bernard Longley

Sunday Lunch in Mallorca by Ken and Christine Stables

What's That Flower? by Suzanne Walker

Italian Beds, Belgian Balls by Keith Fisher

Art Pourri by Les Hitchcock

Y Bugail Tal-Y-Braich by Ron Davies, Marion waine and John Rowell

Take 2 by Keith Fisher and Bernard Longley

This is a Town by Colin Balls

Result

Y Bugail Tal-Y-Braich by Ron Davies, Marion waine and John Rowell       1st

High Summer above Peckett Well by Peter Coles                                        2nd

This is a Town by Colin Balls                                                                            3rd

Audience Vote

This is a Town by Colin Balls                                                                            1st

Y Bugail Tal-Y-Braich by Ron Davies, Marion waine and John Rowell        2nd

Take 2 by Keith Fisher and Bernard Longley                                                 3rd

 

 

PARTYTIME!  Well .......... not quite that dramatic! 
The meeting, on December 16th, was spent pleasantly chatting with friends and watching the members' sequences made on this year's Xmas theme of, If Only ........ If Only I might win! Seriously ........... there were 10 sequences ( time limited to 4 minutes or less) and all of them took a more or less light hearted look at the theme. 
The audience voted on their favourites and then, after the interval of tea/coffee and cakes (which were delicious!), the results were announced. 

In first place was the sequence by Ken Stables entitled Sunday Lunch in Mallorca ........ 'If only we'd had a ticket' we too could have enjoyed this delicious looking food being cooked over an open fire in front of our eyes!

In second place was John Smith's, If Only ............. 'If only I could talk to a real person' I wouldn't be tearing out my hair, whilst hanging around on the end of a phone, being given options to press number 1, 2 or 3 and the hash key!

In third place was Sheila Goodyear's, If Only .......... 'If only it was yesterday and I could still think of an idea for this sequence!'

This year a trophy, in memory of Brian Proctor, was presented to the winner .............. like him, it was full of dry humour and made implicit reference to his short sequences, Autumn followed by Spring (not the 'spring' you'd expect to follow a season but the one that goes 'boinnnng.......!' when it's dropped!) The trophy, a specially plated spring, mounted on a wooden plinth, was received with laughter and appreciation by the audience who'd known and loved Brian.

A great evening in the run-up to Christmas.

 

The 11th Great Northern AV Festival was held over the three days, Friday 2nd, Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th of December. Saturday was the  day of the competition and there were 39 sequences for the capacity audience to enjoy. The long day (10am until almost 7pm) was split up very nicely with coffee breaks and lunch, which came at 1pm just as tummies started to rumble!  

The competition started, after cups of tea or coffee on arrival, promptly at 10am and the judges were introduced by Howard Gregory. By lunchtime we had seen 18 sequences, ranging from those by newcomers to those from the more 'seasoned' workers that would eventually earn approval from the judges in the form of commendations and medals. In this session we saw the sequences entitled, The Bridge is Safe by Henk Tulp & Albert Slack, which won the trophy for first place, and Human Endeavour by Peter Frampton, which would be the winning entry in the 'Restricted' category. 

Suitably revived, after lunch, the audience re-assembled at 2pm for the afternoon sessions, which were again a mixture of sequences from both newcomers and award winners, and ranged from thought provoking sequences about missing persons, through those of travel, and those telling personal stories of bravery and achievement, to Monopolising Oxford, by Ian Bateman, which is a quirky look at the parallels between the Oxford version of the board-game Monopoly and the real-life city. This sequence won the audience's vote. 

There was time for tea/coffee, cake and a chat with friends, after the final sequence, whilst the judges deliberated their choices in another room. The final decisions came just before 7pm when the results were announced and the prizes awarded. It was the end of a long, but extremely satisfying and enjoyable day (even though most of it was spent in the dark!).

It was a packed house at the Mid - November meeting of the Wilmslow Guild AV group. When I arrived there wasn't much more than 'standing room only' at the back! 
Extra chairs were found though and, by the time the meeting started, most people had a seat.
Our speaker for the evening was Howard Gregory who is, of course, the Group's chairman ..............  he was introduced by Margaret Curry, as it was considered inappropriate for him to introduce himself!
Howard's talk was entitled, Getting the Best Audio out of your Equipment,  and he took us, step by step, through the intricacies of setting up and using the necessary software and microphones etc. It could have become too 'technical' for some of us to understand but Howard had structured it all so carefully that even those of us without these skills could still follow it. It was a large audience, made up of AV newcomers through to the international-award winning members, but I'm sure that everyone was able to find something new and interesting, in the talk, that could be taken home to think about further,  

The meeting this week, on 4th November, saw a variety of sequences, from members, ranging from the 'short (extremely!) and sweet'(!) to those made in response to a request and for a specific purpose; plus everything in between! Keith Brown gave the opening comments on each sequence and then there was general audience participation: discussion, questions and answers, etc., all of which was fielded and led by Keith.
There were 6 digital sequences and 2 analogue ones.
First up was one called Return of HMS Ocean. It was, in the words of the author, a 'souvenir of a great day' in their lives. Shot originally on slide film the slides had been scanned and the sequence produced digitally.
Second one 'out of the box' was a tongue in cheek, 'If Only' sequence, called Sunday Lunch in Mallorca B. A wander round the market and local attractions took us into the square where a giant paella was being prepared. We saw the mouth watering concoction sizzling over the open fire and were ready for the authors to sit down and enjoy a share ................ if only they'd had a ticket!
Mr B, by Jon Allanson, was a visual pun on snow and penguins (short and sweet was Howard's comment!) Definitely the shortest (counted in seconds rather than minutes!). It certainly gave the audience a laugh!
On, then, to a sequence made for a camera club evening and using someone else's collection of images. Not the easiest of tasks! It was called Autumn in Dimmingsdale and was produced by Jeff Mansell. It was an almost seamless transition between images of woodland in autumn in which a rickety fence might begin life along a path, which becomes a rocky slope, and then ........
The next 2 sequences were made in response to requests received by the authors and had imposed briefs. Firstly, was one called The Sheffield Children's Festival 2004 which was a joint venture for Keith Brown and Ken Doney. Quick and punchy the audience saw a multide of participants all claiming their 'moment of glory'! Second came Peter Coles' Faith in Kirklees, in which we visited the different faith centres, in the borough, through music, words and pictures.
The 2 analogue sequences rounded off the evening and these were Singapore Story by Keith Brown and Taste of Tunisia by Les Hitchcock. Singapore Story was in a documentary style and introduced us to the history of the tiny republic. It gave at least one member of the audience a trip down memory lane ......... for this one, a couple of nights in Changi jail in the early fifties!
Finally we were treated to a visit to Tunisia, by Les, who brought the sequence as 'work in progress' and invited ideas and comments from the viewers ............ which, of course, he got!

September 30th's meeting was an introduction to the IAC (Institute of Amateur Cinematographers) Music Advisory Service by Richard Curry FACI. 
Himself a video-film maker, rather than an AV worker, he demonstrated the importance of the right choice of music for a visual presentation. To this end he brought with him a selection of his own short film sequences on which he'd  dubbed different soundtracks, illustrating how the mood could be changed. A shot, zooming in on a hillside cottage, was made to make us expect various scenarios ranging from menacing horror to a story of 'ordinary country folk' by the simple addition of different background music.
He went on to play a selection of tracks, chosen by shouted numbers from the audience, and accompanied by laughter, foot-tapping and humming as we disagreed on whether or not the chosen track had a Russian or Welsh 'feel'. The American ones were easier! We continued down 'country lanes', though 'horror and danger' and visited the 16th c Tudors, all on cd's owned by the IAC. 'Voices from the Grave' took us up to the tea break!
After the break Richard rounded off the evening with a couple of his own films. The first was entitled, 'My Pipe Dream', showing the last days of a tiny clay-pipe making business in Ancoats, Manchester. Originally made in the early 1980s on 16mm film, it gave us a nostalgic glimpse of a dying craft. His final, award winning film was, 'Kevin, a Life', which bravely and dramatically tracked the thoughts and feelings of an unemployed, gay, HIV positive man through his day to day activities.
Certainly an evening to remember!

Brian Proctor.   Just the name brought a smile to the faces of those who knew him.  He was a true gentleman with an unstoppable sense of humour.   We just couldn’t believe it when we heard that he had been killed.   The report on the BBC Wales website said “The M4 has been reopened after a man was killed in a multi-vehicle accident between junctions 36 and 37 on Friday (12th August).   The crash, involving four vehicles, happened on the westbound carriageway.  South Wales Fire Service said it was caused when an articulated lorry carrying bricks toppled over and collided with a car.   The driver of the car and another male passenger were taken to hospital with serious injuries. The driver of the lorry was also taken to hospital.”   Why Brian?   Why such a lovely person? 

I first met Brian back in the days of RPS AV Days at Platt Chapel, and as a member of the MAPS AV Section.   He joined Wilmslow Guild AV Group as soon as it was formed, and it wasn’t long before he was on the Committee as Competition Secretary and, later, Vice Chairman as well.

Brian did everything with dedication and enthusiasm.  He told me that when he retired he became a joiner.   If he saw something interesting, he joined.   He must have seen a lot of interesting things, because he was a member of many societies – AV, founder member and long-time committee member of  Prestwich Photographic Society, railway societies, several industrial archaeology groups, including one based at Wilmslow Guild, and doubtless many others.   He supported many charities – often giving AV shows to raise funds.   He was hardly ever at home.  We all wished he had an answering machine!   He thought nothing of a day trip to Hamburg to ride the monorail before it closed.  No wonder his daughter presented him with a notice “You may touch the dust, but please don’t write in it.”



Brian setting up the Royale for the WGAVG annual public show – The Fiesta.

Brian was always ready to roll up his sleeves and pitch in and help.   Need a projectionist?   Brian would do it – in fact he was already setting up the projector.   Need some mince pies for the Christmas “do”?   Brian’s name would be on the list to bake a dozen or two.   Or a fruit cake for the Great Northern?   Brian again.   He always arrived early, to help if needed.   He was normally early for everything – how ironic that he is now many years too early for his own funeral.



Brian in his element – walking along a disused railway line on the WGAVG outing to Ashford-in-the-water. 

Brian will be best remembered for is his sense of humour.   His AVs may not have won major prizes, but they always made the audience laugh.   He had an oblique way of looking at the world and could see the funny side of anything.   His two slide epic “Spring” made it to the Nationals.   His variations on “Sign Here” were shown more locally.   His “Day Trip To Dublin” has my all-time favourite ending.   If you haven’t seen it, I can’t describe it.   It could only be done by Brian.

We extend our sympathy to Kate, Janet and the rest of Brian’s family.  We will miss his quirky comments, miss his unstinting support, miss his hard work, but most of all we will miss Brian.   Brian, you lightened the lives of so many people, you taught us to see the funny side of everything – I do wish I could have overheard your quip to St. Peter as he let you in.

Howard Gregory.

 

 

Brian Proctor

It is with shock and great sadness that we have to report the tragic death of Brian Proctor.

Brian was killed in a road traffic accident whilst he was travelling as a rear seat passenger in a car on the M4 motorway. 

As well as being on the committee and our Competition Secretary he was also a member of other clubs and Competition Secretary of Prestwich Co-op Camera Club. 

The amount of work that he did for this club was immeasurable - in fact as I am writing this now I can't help looking at the news item below ...... the photographic outing to the Tramway Museum at Crich. This was suggested and organised by Brian and it was he who was  stood outside the gates for most of the morning welcoming all those who attended instead of being inside taking photographs.

We will miss his input at committee meetings, his expertise in projecting both at the Fiesta and on club nights, his sequences which always had that extra ingredient - humour - but most of all we will miss him.

Things will never quite be the same.

John Smith

I know that Howard is compiling an obituary  which I will put on the site as soon as I receive it .....in the meantime I hope that my thoughts and feelings will suffice.

The Underwater Evening with Julie & David England

Geoff Noxon enters into the spirit of the Underwater Evening with Julie & David England.

(Pictures kindly provided by Gillian Goddard)

 

 

Home