OVFM Member Wins Big at SERIAC 2014

seriac

Congrats to our very own Professor Mike Shaw and his partners in Footprints Productions for their recent big win at this year’s SERIAC Film Festival .

The film in question was Enid Blyton – The Beckenham Years , a seven year labour of love for Mike and his collaborators from Spring Park which received a record four awards!

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You can read the full story on the Orpington Community Website HERE

Once again our congratulations to Mike and everyone on the Footprints Productions team!

OVFM Club Meeting Tuesday April 15th 2014 – Triangle Competition

triangle

This week’s meeting is a little different for OVFM as it has nothing to do with us!

Okay that is a little glib but on this occasion we are playing host to the 2014 Triangle competition, while three other clubs will put their films up for judging while drinking our tea and eating our biscuits!

The Triangle competition, for those who don’t know, is contested between four clubs (yes I know that would make it a square but bear with me) – OVFM, Epsom Movie Makers, Shooters Hill Camcorder Club and Spring Park – and each year one club takes it in turn to host the actual competition screening of the films from the other three. Again, it’s still technically a square but only three clubs submit a 30 minute programme of their films for judging on an annual basis while one sits back and put their feet up. This year it is OVFM’s turn to sit back and put our feet up. Sort of.

At stake is the Triangle Trophy which is awards to the club who provides the best programme of the evening while a second trophy is awards to Best Film which doesn’t have to be a part of the club’s main programme of films. Last year Spring Park won both awards – can they win again this year (since we’re not competing)?

As hosts we are obliged to provide judges so Reg “Bomber” Lancaster, Sam “Choo Choo” Brown and Brenda “Spot The Ball” Wheatley have stepped up to take on this role on our behalf. Also there will be a raffle on the night too.

Because the expected size of the turnout is larger than normal this meeting will be held once again at All Saints Church in Orpington (home to the AGM on the 1st April).

We hope you will all be there to welcome our visitors and don’t forget to bring some rotten fruit and veg to throw at anyone who makes a bad film – not that they will of course… 😉

2014 OVFM Oscars – The Results

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THE RESULTS

Hello and welcome to the annual OVFM Oscars Results report.

The 2014 OVFM Oscars took place in front of a bored audience at the Barnard Room, St Augustine’s Church on a somewhat chilly night but that didn’t stop them dressing up in their best glad rags for the events. Actually it did stop a few of them – names have been noted and the lads will be round later to “have a word”….

No wonder fashion designers do drugs...
No wonder fashion designers do drugs…

We were fortunate enough to be joined by two of the judges from Haywards Heath Movie Makers Ron Prosser and David Fenn while third judge Rod Willerton clearly had something better to do. Hope those toenails are now nice and neat Rod! Ron and David seemed to enjoy themselves – assuming banging your head against the wall screaming “get me out of here” is a Haywards Heath way of expressing pleasure that is!

As is the case in many awards ceremony one film or filmmaker will often dominate the voting usually leading to commensurate rewards. This year it was our chairman Simon “Snapper” Earwicker who was the big winner, taking home almost every award except for Best Hair, Best Costume, Best Use Of A Pineapple and Best Film Not In The Martian Language.

Award courtesy of Steptoe & Son
Award courtesy of Steptoe & Son

So onto the results which look like this, starting with the awards as voted for by us lot at OVFM:

 

Kath Jones Cup (Joke film under five minutes)–Winner: ATM Wobbler by John Bunce

 

Vic Treen Cup (Film set to music) – Winner: Sundays Down The Lane by Basil Doody

 

Mike Turner Plate (Film under sixty seconds) – Winner: Stop Motion by Simon Earwicker

 

The 2013 Top Ten Competition – Runner Up: The Artist by Mike Shaw

                                                        Winner: The Village Mosaic by Barbara Darby

 

We then moved onto the Annual Competition Awards as judged by Hayward’s Heath Movie Makers.

 

Jubilee Shield (Film under five minutes) – Winner: Two Little Words by Lee Relph

 

Raasay Trophy (No special category) – Winner: Stop Motion by Simon Earwicker

 

Alice Howe Trophy (Documentary) – Winner: Cakes And Onions by Ann & John Epton

 

Reg Lancaster Trophy (Funniest Film) – Winner: The Artist by Mike Shaw

 

Heyfield Trophy (Sound) – Winner: Stop Motion by Simon Earwicker

 

Rene Morris Penguin Plate (Photography) – Winner: Memories Of Costa Rica by Barbara Darby

 

Vincent Pons Shield (Fiction) – Winner: Power Corrupts by David Laker

 

Priory Trophy (Editing) – Winner: Love And War by Simon Earwicker

 

Arthur Woolhead Trophy (Animation or Visual Effects) – Winner: Stop Motion by Simon Earwicker

 

Orpington Trophy (Best Film Runner Up): Love And War by Simon Earwicker

 

Ian Dunbar Cup (Best film) – Winner: Cakes And Onions by Ann & John Epton

 

High Commendations: Campdowne by David Laker

                                        Killer Hand by Barbara Walker

Commendations: High Street Fun by Ann & John Epton

                               I’m Not A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here” by Hugh Darrington

 

Winners: John Bunce/Basil Doody
Winners: John Bunce/Basil Doody
Winners: Simon Earwicker/Mike Shaw
Winners: Simon Earwicker/Mike Shaw
Winners: Barbara Darby/Simon Earwicker
Winners: Barbara Darby/Simon Earwicker
Winners: David Laker (collected by Peggy Parmenter)/Ann & John Epton
Winners: David Laker (collected by Peggy Parmenter)/Ann & John Epton
Winners: Simon Earwicker/Mike Shaw
Winners: Simon Earwicker/Mike Shaw
Winners: Lee Relph/Simon Earwicker
Winners: Lee Relph/Simon Earwicker
Winners: Barbara Darby/Simon Earwicker
Winners: Barbara Darby/Simon Earwicker
Winners: Hugh Darrington/Ann & John Epton
Winners: Hugh Darrington/Ann & John Epton
Winners: Barbara Walker/Simon Earwicker
Winners: Barbara Walker/Simon Earwicker
Winners: Ann & John Epton
Winners: Ann & John Epton

 

And that is it for another year. Congratulations to all the nominees and the winners and we’ll be doing it all again in 2015 to see who will reap the rewards for the next twelve months of film making

Thank you and good night!

North vs South 2013 Grand Final Report

nvs13

North vs South 2013 Grand Final Report

by

Mike Coad

The Grand Final of the North v South Competition took place on Sunday 24th November in the South at its usual venue of the Village Hall in Farnborough, Kent.

A 5 hour show which included all 25 films entered into the competition were shown to an appreciative audience. Several people commented after the show about the high standard of the finalists this year.

Around 75 people attended the event and we were particularly delighted to welcome Jill Lampert and Gordon Hunt of Sutton Coldfield Movie Makers and John Gibb of Nuneaton Moviemakers who all made the journey down from the Midlands.

Our judges for the Southern entries were Scarlett Mills and Khalid Nasser of the University of Sussex Film Appreciation Society and for the final judging, Garth Hope, Editor of ‘Film & Video Maker’ magazine.

Following the showing of the films, the audience were asked to fill in their voting slips. ‘On the Rails’ by Bourne End Video Makers won the audience vote although it didn’t feature in the judges top 3. Some things never change!

Audience Vote

1st                   On the Rails                                                  Bourne End Video Makers

2nd                   Revolution                                                    Chesterfield Film Makers

3rd                   Revolution                                                    Nuneaton Moviemakers

Official Result

1st                   Revolution                                                    Chesterfield Film Makers

2nd                   The Turning of the Screw                         Reading Film & Video Makers

3rd                   Frequency Hertz                                        Surrey Border Movie Makers

Needless to say, nobody in the audience matched the judge’s decision but Graham Sinden of Shooters Hill Camcorder Club was closest and took the ‘Audience Vote’ prize. He obviously has the knack as he also won it last year.

Our ‘Guess the Theme’ competition was won by Gordon Hunt of Sutton Coldfield Movie Makers who correctly guessed that the theme for 2014 is………

                                                                                    ‘IF’

Thanks to everyone who attended for their support.

Mike Coad

on behalf of Orpington Video & Film Makers

OVFM Annual Competition 2013

ovfmcompcorn

 

Hasn’t time flown by? It seems like only a year ago we were making this very same announcement about the impending Annual Competition! Yes folks it is that time again where we hand over the masterpieces we’ve slaved over this year to a panel of outsiders who will view and judge them en route to the Oscars in March 2014!

Last year’s competition – the complete list of winners can be found HERE – was dominated by Colin Jones who won five awards although it was Barbara “Cakes” Darby who claimed the Best film prize. Can they do it again this year or will someone else step up to be bathed in glory?

Below you will find links to the entry forms which you can download and print off and bring to any of the future club meetings while the closing date is January 7th 2014.

As always the entrance fee is £2.00 per person but you can enter as many films as you like. All monies are non-refundable as we have to bribe the judges somehow.

To download the Entry form as an MS Word document click HERE

To download the Entry form as a PDF document click HERE

Good luck to every who enters and remember closing date for your entry forms is TUESDAY JANUARY 7th 2014!

OVFM Conquers Kent Film Festival 2013!!

KFF2

OVFM Conquers Kent Film Festival 2013!!

by

Mike Shaw

Members of Orpington Video & Film Makers collected three major trophies and a commendation at the prestigious Kent Film Festival (held Saturday 28th September, in Canterbury).  The winning films were ‘Steam and Smoke’ (Best Photography) by Sam Brown, ‘Village Mosaic’ (Kent Award) by Barbara Darby,  ‘Enid Blyton – the Beckenham Years’ (Best Documentary) by Mike Shaw and Footprint Productions, and ‘Eastbourne ‘ (Commendation) by Mike & Jo Coad.

And the winners are....
And the winners are….

 

Congratulations to all the winners!

Oscar Night. The Picture Parade

Little Oscar himself!
Little Oscar himself!

You’ve pestered, you’ve begged, you’ve fretted, you’ve sweated. but in spite of all that I’m not going to be stopped!

Alan cuts a dash in the costume de rigueur dicky bow look
Alan cuts a dash in the costume de rigueur dicky bow look

So Film Fans, I give you…THE OVFM OSCAR NIGHT PHOTOGRAPHS!
Please! Thank you, settle down, mind what you’re doing with that monopod missus, where’s me wash board, I didn’t come here to get insulted…I could have stayed at home!

An Expectant Crowd (not to be confused with a crowd of those expecting!)
An Expectant Crowd (not to be confused with a crowd of those expecting!)

Anyway On With The Show. But first I must be serious for a moment. We now live in a highly litigious society where health and safety concerns dog our every move. For some the arrival of conker season doesn’t bring joy but a fearful rush for hard hat and goggles, and fetching something down from the top of the cupboard requires a safety net and padded suit!

Security Has Arrived.
Security Has Arrived.

But here at OVFM we’re not like that, we laugh in the face of danger…ha ha. Only last week I heard of an OVFM member who didn’t flinch when he dropped his ginger hob nob he just calmly reached down, picked it up and carried on as if nothing had happened. Brave? You bet yer!

Glamorous Pat shows us how it’s done
Glamorous Pat shows us how it’s done

And what about the OVFM member who recently took up rollerskating? Determined to fulfil a lifelong ambition and do something adventurous he didn’t hesitate to get out there and have a go. (The doctor says he’s doing fine and the cast can come off in about six weeks).

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However after vetting my article the OVFM lawyers (Fleeceham, Grabbit & Runn) have insisted that I preface it with a warning to protect those of a sensitive disposition.

The Comedy Dream Team, Corrie, Colin and Basil
The Comedy Dream Team, Corrie, Colin and Basil

So here goes…
WARNING the following contains images of a grown man in a banana costume, if you are offended by such images (and those of unconstrained handshaking and back slapping too) please look away now. In fact why not look at Reg’s Favourite Films article which has had some really fascinating posts added to it recently.

Yes, I Have no Bananas. Mike demonstrates his unstinting support of ‘Blitz and Bananas’ the film
Yes, I Have no Bananas. Mike demonstrates his unstinting support of ‘Blitz and Bananas’ the film

 

Still here?
Then sit yourself down, take a deep breath and we’ll begin!

For the full selection of photos visit the gallery.

Sam presents Ann and John with the Vic Treen Trophy
Sam presents Ann and John with the Vic Treen Trophy
Respectful as ever Lee presents Barbara with her Top Ten Runner Up certificate
Respectful as ever Lee presents Barbara with her Top Ten Runner Up certificate
David is presented with the Jubilee Shield by Brenda
David is presented with the Jubilee Shield by Brenda
Colin again with his two leading ladies from 'Team Work', winner of the Mike Turner Plate
Colin again with his two leading ladies from ‘Team Work’, winner of the Mike Turner Plate
Simon and Annabelle the John Bonham -alike star of his ‘Rhythm of Life’ mockumentary
Simon and Annabelle the John Bonham -alike star of his ‘Rhythm of Life’ mockumentary
Multi award winning Mike with banana impersonating namesake Mike
Multi award winning Mike with banana impersonating namesake Mike
Freddy congratulates Barbara for winning the Alice Howe Trophy
Freddy congratulates Barbara for winning the Alice Howe Trophy
Bob is recognized for his great film ‘Switzerland’
Bob is recognized for his great film ‘Switzerland’
John is given a Commended Certificate for his film 'Mystery of the Garden Shed', as seen on the BBC
John is given a Commended Certificate for his film ‘Mystery of the Garden Shed’, as seen on the BBC
Are you allowed to do that Chris? And with hubby there too!
Are you allowed to do that Chris? And with hubby there too!
Brenda gets a pressie from Freddy and Chris for all her competition work
Brenda gets a pressie from Freddy and Chris for all her competition work
Are you allowed to do that Chris? And with hubby there too!
Are you allowed to do that Chris? And with hubby there too!
Is that Cherie I see there?
Is that Cherie I see there?