Nobody actually wants to be left alone on a desert island do they? Well, the way the government are going it might be a more preferable option….but I digress. In most cases people find themselves in this situation by accident but if this should happen, we would hope to have some kind of useful object or creature comfort with us to make the time a bit more sufferable. Which brings us to this week’s club meeting.
In absolutely no way at all ripped off from the legendary long running radio show Desert Island Discs (just in case the estate of Roy Plumley is reading) OVFM presents Desert Island Films!! In this session, our victim is the irredeemable Cherie Hamlet-Smith who will be sharing with us eight films that mean the most to her or reflect important moments in her short but illustrious life that would be the ones she would most want to have with her, should she be stuck on a desert island. Geddit?
So, what films mean the most to Cherie that she’d have rather have on a desert island instead of her husband Alan? Come to the meeting on Tuesday night and find out!!
The annual OVFM Top 10 Competition for 2013 is due to start soon and once again it will be contested over five rounds across the year. Last year 26 entries which was two up on 2011, while we also set a precedent by adding an extra date due to low turnout early – but don”t mistake kindness for weakness – the Legion of Doom may not be so forgiving this year!
Competition organiser Brenda Wheatley has released the line-ups for each round so please check to see in which group your name is included:
Round 1 (14th May)
Craig Robinson
Jane Oliver
Harold & Maisie Trill
Alan Whippy
Gwen Whippy
Mike & Jo Coad
Derek Allen
Susan Ward
Anna Littler
Ann Perrin
Mike Shaw
Round 2 ( 23rd July)
Barbara Walker
David Laker
Bob Wyeth
John Bunce
Jenny Tucker
Mo & Peter Lodge
Tony Faller
Mike Bishop
Barbara J. Darby
John Alford
Round 3 (20th August)
Reg Lancaster
Malcolm Goodwin
Lee Relph
Sylvia Snipp
Basil Doody
Cherie Hamlet-Smith
Frank Hyde
Ann and John Epton
Peter Mitchell
Chris Coulson
Round 4 (17th September)
Bob Vine
Annabelle Lancaster
Alan Smith
Jim Morton-Robertson
Sam Brown
Andy Watson
Brenda & Roger Wheatley
Pat Palmer
Brian Pfeiffer
Mike Graham
Round 5 (15th October)
Charlie & Nellie Caseley
Richard & Jess Pugh
Ian Menage
Freddy Beard
Simon Earwicker
Hugh Darrington
Peggy Parmenter
John Ransley
Colin Jones
It would be hugely appreciated by Brenda if you could all strive to get your films in on the dates you are listed on, but if for some reason you don’t have your film ready by the given date, please let her know via e-mail so that she can try to find someone else to fill the gap in the evening. If your film is ready early please bring it along on a top ten night and if there is time we will show it.
If you miss your given round you can bring your film along to a later one, but it will only be shown after those drawn for that round, if there is time.
Be sure to check the results page (once it is up) as the competition progresses.
Erm…doesn’t quite work does it? Anyway last night was the Oscars and a good time was had by most – specifically Colin “Fox Whisperer” Jones and Barbara “Cakes” Darby who took home five and three awards respectively. I didn’t win anything but I have the judges names, all I need now is their addresses….
Speaking of the judges the three men from Epsom Film Makers, to whom we are grateful for taking the time to watch, comment and grade our films, are Norman Bull, John Gannaway and Ron Everitt, who were also in attendance last night and presented the top two awards of the evening. So a big thank you to them.
Up first were the three awards voted for internally (i.e within the club).
Kath Jones Cup (Joke film under five minutes)–Winner: Legal Tangle by Colin Jones
Vic Treen Cup (Film set to music) – Winner: Finger Licking Good by Colin Jones
Mike Turner Plate (Film under sixty seconds) – Winner: Traditions by Harold Trill
The 2012 Top Ten Competition – Runner Up: More Than Steam by Sam Brown
Winner: Master Craftsman by Barbara Darby
We then moved onto the Annual Competition Awards as judged by Epsom Film Makers.
Jubilee Shield (Film under five minutes) – Winner: Village Secrets by Sue Ward
Raasay Trophy (No special category) – Winner: Autumn In Greenwich by Colin Jones
Alice Howe Trophy (Documentary) – Winner: Master Craftsman by Barbara Darby
Reg Lancaster Trophy (Funniest Film) – Winner: Legal Tangle by Colin Jones
Heyfield Trophy (Sound) – Winner: Fun With The Ancestors by Annabelle Lancaster
Rene Morris Penguin Plate (Photography) – Winner: Autumn In Greenwich by Colin Jones
Vincent Pons Shield (Fiction) – Winner: Why I Stopped Playing Golf by Hugh Darrington
Priory Trophy (Editing) –Winner: Fun With The Ancestors by Annabelle Lancaster
Arthur Woolhead Trophy (Animation or Visual Effects) – Winner: Wildfowl Waltz by Mike & Jo Coad
Orpington Trophy (Best Film Runner Up): More Than Steam by Sam Brown
Ian Dunbar Cup (Best film) – Winner: Master Craftsman by Barbara Darby
Commendations: Eastbourne by Mike & Jo Coad
The Second Day by Chris Coulson
So there you have it. Congratulations to all the winners and commiserations but a hearty pat on the back to everyone who was nominated or entered a film.
Thanks again to the guys from Epsom Film Makers and perhaps next year we can chose judges who aren’t members of Colin’s family! Just joking Colin! 😉 and of course to Brenda Wheatley for another excellent job as competitions organiser!
It’s time to raise the curtain on OVFM Oscars night
Once again the biggest event in the OVFM calendar is upon us as we hold our very own Oscars! Over the past twelve months we’ve all (well some of us have) been hard at work making films and improving our skills and this is the night where that hard work is recognised and rewarded.
The many trophies and awards contested include the Ian Dunbar Cup, the Orpington trophy, the Jubilee Shield and the Mike Turner Plate and judging by the quality of the films entered these will all be tightly contested categories. We shall also be announcing the winner of the top 10 for 2012, one of the few awards based on club member votes.
Last year Simon “Snapper” Earwicker swept the board with four prizes. Can he do it again this year or will we crown a new King or Queen of OVFM?
As always the Oscar night is meant to be a fun time for the club as much as it is an evening of celebration so members are encouraged to either put on their gladrags or be a bit creative and indulge in a bit of fancy dress. Who can forget last year when our beloved vice chairman Mike Turner dressed up as a banana to help promote Anna Littler’s Blitz & Bananas?
So, let’s hope no-one trips up when going up to receive their award or we don’t have to endure any embarrassing skits or songs about seeing certain parts of the female body as those pretenders in Hollywood did last week. This is the OVFM Oscars – about a classy as you can get (for Orpington anyway…)!!
For this week’s club meeting we look forward to seeing the results of your hard labour in creating a film that fits the theme of “Surprise Surprise”. If you should still need a reminder or what this entails the details can be found HERE Since you are all a creative and devious bunch I am sure we can expect a few unique treats to savour in lieu of the broad spectrum of possibilities this topic suggests.
As always we ask that those you who will be submitting a film to please reply to this post below saying as much so we have a rough idea of how the time allotment for this session will play out.
Also could you please include the following information with your submission:
Film Title
Your Name
Running Time
Aspect Ratio (4:3 or 16:9)
This simple act of cooperation makes all the difference for our archivists and programme compilers and is greatly appreciated.
“Can you come back when there are more neighbours coming out to sneak a peek?”
What an exciting month I’ve had!
It started with a call from Animal Planet TV on a Friday, saying that they’d seen my cat behaviour channel on YouTube, and they’d like to film and interview me and the cats for a series called “My Pets Gone Viral”. WOW! I hadn’t spoken to a TV company before, but I quickly answered “of course, when?”
“Oh, Wednesday” they replied, “We’re flying a crew over from Canada.” Blimey! A CREW… FROM CANADA! You can imagine my excitement! The only catch was the lounge would need a tidy before they arrived, so the next three days was spent sorting through the stuff in the lounge and ferrying it upstairs to the spare bedroom!
The tidiest Chez Coulson has ever looked!
Wednesday arrived, and the 5 of them arrived in a large people carrier car. I was expecting 4 of them – Director, Cameraman, Soundman, and Camera Assistant. The Camera Assistant sort of did the job of Runner, but to call him a runner isn’t fair – he had a pretty good knowledge of everyone’s job, and was always running around fixing stuff. And the 5th person – he was the driver, and just sat in his car all day, on his iPad and listening to the radio until lunchtime! But save your pity, he was on a very good day rate, plus taxi mileage!
“Just a little off the top and trim the back and sides please.”
The day started with the director interviewing myself and Anna, asking a variety of questions, to do with the cats, the YouTube Channel and its success. One of the questions was “What are your favourite comments on the films?” It was like they were feeding me a line – I replied “I like the comments that say that they love my documentary style and English accent so much, I should be on Animal Planet!” I wonder if they’ll use that line or not? It seemed a little funny to do the interview before we’d really settled in and got to know them but in fact it was a good idea, as the days filming was based on the answers we’d given in the interview.
Even the pros listen to Reg about using a tripod!!
Finally, at around 4PM, they wanted to do the intro and outro sequences – The intro was a shot of me walking out of the front door, saying “This is Freya, my spoilt Princess” or something like that.
They had a sort of dolly track on tripods so they could track into me while I said it. It took about 30 minutes to setup and would have produced about 5 seconds of finished footage!
Chris: “I wouldn’t have done it like that! Amateurs!”
Then came the outro! It required a sort of fake studio setup, with a bright yellow backdrop, a fake TV camera and a big light with reflective umbrella, and a director’s chair – The idea was that the cat would sit in the chair, and look right down the lens, as the camera moved toward it. Good luck with that! I thought.. Many times we tried to make Freya sit in the chair, and as soon as she settled, the cameraman would yell, “CLEAR!” – We’d dive out the way, and he’d start his track in, and Freya would jump down. Having taken an hour to setup this shot, failure was not an option.
Just setting up the pyro for the big finale.
Fortunately, the treats that we’d been using to persuade Freya to sit still hadn’t gone unnoticed by the other two cats, Teego and Chatzi, and not wishing to miss out, they jumped on the chair too. “CLEAR!” The cameraman suddenly yelled again, and we dived out – The camera tracked in, with all three cats looking right down the lens. We held our breath and the three cats sat still for the whole four seconds. The camera reached the end, and stopped, and almost on cue, Freya bit Chatzi’s neck, and he pushed her off, and in the squabble, Teego got pushed off the chair too! So then the shot was left with Chatzi sitting on his own, still looking down the lens, as if to say “THIS IS MY CHAIR!”
“This is taking far too long! Somebody call my agent!”
We held our breath waiting for the director to call “Cut!”, and we all gasped and looked at each other, waiting for the cameraman to rewind the shot and look if he’d got it all or not. HE HAD! The crew were all pretty amazed, and declared that was the best outro they’d got for the whole series, due to air in March/April!
While they were there, an episode of “D.I.Y SOS” was also filmed!
If the excitement of Wednesday wasn’t enough, I had an unrelated phone call two days later, from a production company in London, asking to license my Tyre Spotter video! (Made for our ‘My Other Hobby’ theme evening) They wanted to use it in a clip show with a comedian making fun of the films, so of course he won’t be mentioning it’s a spoof, but I don’t mind – if they pay, they can say what they like!
“You! Human slave! Tell that sneaky photographer to do one!”
Having been let down at the last minute by our guest speaker who as part of the original planned club meeting, we instead will take a walk through the OVFM archives with our curator Andy Watson.
So, please feel free to look through the archive lists HERE and if anything leaps out at you and is on the system then make a note of it and we (and by we I mean Andy) will endeavour to screen it for you.
The price will be £20 for three courses including service.
We realise that some of us go there periodically for the pub lunch, or after the North v South competition, but we’d like to make it clear that this will be a totally different function menu, and the room properly set out for a dinner.
Partners are very welcome, and the NEW menu and booking slip can be downloaded for printing off HERE.
We ask that you fill them in and send the full amount to Peggy Parmenter as soon as possible.
It is with regret that we bring you the sad news that OVFM club member Val Pinkerton passed away on Saturday January 26th after a short but brave battle against Motor Neuron Disease.
We are sure you will join us in sending our deepest condolences to Val’s wife Veronica and the Pinkerton family at this difficult time.
The Grand Final of the North v South Competition took place on Sunday 27th January in the South at its usual venue of the Village Hall in Farnborough, Kent.
Apart from the 10 Final films, we also showed the remainder of the Northern entries that didn’t quite make the Final.
Around 50 people attended the event and we were particularly delighted to welcome Gordon Hunt and Ian Reed of Sutton Coldfield Movie Makers who made the journey down from the West Midlands.
Our judges were Screen Archive South East, whose Director is Dr. Frank Gray, a man well known to amateur film-makers in the South East.
Following the showing of the films, the audience were asked to fill in their voting slips. ‘Nicely Handeled’ by Tynemouth Video Group won the audience vote by a mile although it didn’t feature in the judges top 3. No surprise there then!
Audience Vote
1st Nicely Handeled Tynemouth Video Group
2nd Foolproof! Coast Video Club
3rd Operation Black Hat Sutton Coldfield Movie Makers
Official Result
1st Operation Black Hat Sutton Coldfield Movie Makers
2nd Foolproof! Coast Video Club
3rd Man With Van Rochdale 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.
Our ‘Guess the Theme’ competition was won by Brenda Wheatley of Orpington Video & Film Makers who correctly guessed that this years theme is………
‘REVOLUTION’
Thanks to everyone who attended for their support.
