OVFM CLUB MEETING TUESDAY JUNE 14th 2022

 

RON PROSSER

For the first club meeting of June, we hand the hosting duties over to an old friend of OVFM, Ron Prosser!

 

 

Ron Prosser (FACI) has a storied career in filmmaking spanning 65 years, cutting his teeth professionally with Hollybush Films in a number of roles, including the shooting, editing and presenting of corporate films. For this session, he will deliver a programme entitled “Selected Films from Celluloid to Digital” which will no doubt see him delve into his deep archive of films to entertain us, as well as regaling us with stories behind the making of these films.

 

Ron shares this preview with us:

 

Film has been a passion for me since childhood and it was in 1954 that I bought my first cine camera, a 9.5mm Dekko Motocamera, a 15th birthday present to myself spending £22 – two years earnings as a butcher’s delivery boy.  

I joined the  ‘Crawley Film Unit’ and progressed onto 16mm, making films in this gauge including corporate and educational films for Hollybush Motion Pictures. Circumstances then brought me to 8mm, both standard and super, during which time I achieved a number of successes in the “Amateur Cine World’s” Ten Best competition.  

Turning to video and then to digital, which was achieving better quality pictures and had become easier to edit, with the advent of nonlinear editing, I made “Rose” as my debut into this brave new medium. This did extremely well in International Festivals including a ‘Guernsey Lily’ and a Bronze UNICA award, both of which I am extremely proud.

Many other films followed including “Letters from the Front” which gained successes in County, Regional, National and International competitions.

So, it is a privilege to share with you a selection of films tonight.”

 

The event will be taking place via Zoom so look out for an email from secretary Barbara J. Darby containing the link 24 hours before the date in question.

 

See you then!

OVFM CLUB MEETING TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 21st 2021

 

The next time OVFM gets to together we shall be handing over the floor to a guest speaker, who some of you might already know.

 

 

Michael Gough FACI (M) is NOT the celebrated British actor with over 150 film and Tv credits to his name, including Doctor Who, The Avengers, countless Hammer horror films, and Alfred Pennyworth in the 1980s-1990s Batman film series. It would be a miracle if he was since the actor died in 2011!

This Michael Gough is a prolific filmmaker, public speaker, member of the IAC Council, and fellow Premiere Pro user. He will be  delivering a presentation entitled The Way I Tell ’em for OVFM this coming Tuesday, September 21st exclusively on Zoom. Michael will (presumably) be showing some of his films and regaling us with stories about their making or the history behind them, as well as detailing how having the same name as famous actor has been a life long bane of his existence. But mostly, it will be about his films.

Our club secretary Barbara J. Darby will send out the link details for the meeting to club members 24 hours prior to the event.

Look out for those emails next week and we hope you will join Michael and everyone else this coming Tuesday for an entertaining evening from the comfort of your own homes!

OVFM CLUB MEETING TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 10TH

 

TIM JONES

A familiar face to OVFM club members old and new, we weclome Tim Jones, son of Colin, back for another stint as Guest Speaker.

 

Whilst newer club members will know Tim from his previous presentations, for the senior members Tim will be remembered as a fully paid up member of OVFM himself. In fact, Tim was making films before this as an unofficial member before he came of age to be admitted – the age restriction has since been reduced after Tim registered his protest as seen in this photo:

This put him in good stead for his future, making his first IAC international winning entry aged just 20. Since then Tim has become a senior lecturer in film and currently restores old 16mm films.

Tim is renowned for his stop motion animation works but for this session, he will be presenting a film about diabetes – some thing I had a brief scare with a couple of years back – which has been shown to various diabetes organisations and societies so it must be good. Well,  Colin thinks so… 😉

So, that is what we have in store for you this coming Tuesday so be sure you are there to check it out. See you then!

Christine Green at OVFM!

Guest speaker – Christine Green – 18/06/2019

When Hugh first told me that Christine Green was an incredible speaker and her subject was fascinating, I didn’t believe that she would be that good.  Was I in for a surprise.  Wow, what a presentation.

With a packed house, including 8 or so from Spring Park, she painted a picture of her background.  She is the daughter of graphic designer parents and he wider family has photographers, painters, printmakers, wedding photographer and so at an early age she decided she wanted to join the BBC and be creative.  She thought every house had a Rostrum Camera sitting on the landing, like the one her father used, as she described in detail HERE.

And so Christine joined the BBC and began designing and creating amazing title sequences which words alone cannot describe.

To see one her most amazing title sequences search Our Friends in The North.’ To have the vision to dissect a picture of four faces in this way, using unusual shapes with bevelled edges, then introducing other pictures coming through in the background all being held together with an appropriate soundtrack. was beyond my comprehension.

Christine covered four or five tables with props, images, pamphlets, art work, needle stitching, lettering etc.  Hugh was busy ‘snapping’ away so the next Viewfinder will give those who missed this event some idea of her talent.  Many took the opportunity to ask her questioned during the break. The practicalities of animating her work before there was access to the digital processes we know today, was a huge operation often with equipment specially designed and built for that particular title sequence with many operators to make the effect possible.

Christine also handstitched the BBC buttons onto the original 27 Pudsey Bears and here she is with her original Pudsey (see above photo).

The evening flew by and we could have stayed beyond midnight and still want more.  So a very special thanks to a very special and talented Christine Green and thanks to Hugh for ‘talent spotting’ her and inviting her along.

 

Jane Oliver

NEXT OVFM CLUB MEETING – Tuesday June 18th

 

CHRISTINE GREEN

 

For this week’s meeting we get to take the weight of our feet and lt someone else do all the hard work as we welcome another guest speaker to our humble club. This time we shall be hearing from artists and graphic designer Christine Green.

Christine was born into a family of artists, ranging from graphic design to photography, so this naturally became a major focus of her life too,  in a career that has seen her create many titles and graphics for the BBC, as well as contributing in other areas such as costume and set design and even directing educational programmes on the arts. Nowadays, Christine concentrates on her work with textiles but it is her time as a title designer for the BBC that will be the main point of her presentation, when she drops by this Tuesday evening, with many stories to tell, advice to give and an impressive showreel in hand I am sure.

To learn more about Christine, visit her website – https://christinegreencrafts.co.uk/

See you then!

NEXT OVFM CLUB MEETING – Tuesday February 19th

 

OVFM once again opens up its door to a guest speaker to drop by and share their work and wisdom with us.

 

This week we welcome “Pretty Casual” Gerald Pecksen of Spring Park Filmmakers:

 

 

Gerald is a former professional filmmaker with an impressive CV to his name, who made the switch to amateur films so he could continue his passion as well as have complete control over his work, something I’m sure many of us can relate too. A well-travelled veteran, Gerald will be sharing a small sample of his work with us along with stories of his time behind the camera both professionally and as an amateur.

 

Well respected within the amateur film circuit, I’m sure Gerald will present an entertaining evening of chat and film for us so be sure you are there this Tuesday and give Gerald a warm OVFM welcome!

OVFM CLUB MEETING – Tuesday January 22nd

 

For this week’s meeting we are please to welcome Andrew Bishop back to give us another talk on his favourite subject of animation.

As you might recall, Andrew from Darkside Animations last gave a talk back in October where he showed us the latest software he and his team have been using in making the many TV shows, promos and commercials. This proved to be of such interest to club members that this time, Andrew will be holding a workshop introducing us to the basics of creating an animation.

Some of us have dabbled with animation in the past but this will be an opportunity to learn from a  professional. Don’t feel too daunted by this if you’ve ever thought animation was way out of your grasp, Andrew has promised to go easy on us and stick to the fundamentals to get any neophyte started.   

You never know, this might be the start of a new direction for you and inspire you to try something different for Film to a Theme projects, Top 10 or other competitions.

For a sample of the work Darkside Animations have done, check out THESE SHOWREEL VIDEOS on their Vimeo page.

So, bring your notebooks and a pen because animation class will be in session this coming Tuesday!

OVFM CLUB MEETING TUESDAY OCTOBER 2nd

 

For this week’s meeting we are taking a break from our own activities to let someone else share with us the fruits of their labours and the secrets behind how they achieved them., as we invite another guest speaker to the hallowed halls of the Barnyard Rooms!

 

We are expecting to have Andrew Bishop from Darkside Animations gracing us with his presence, a face and name that might be familiar to our older and longer serving club members from his previous visit to our club back in 2011! In case the name of his company wasn’t enough of a clue, Andrew is an SFX wizard with many TV show, films and promotional clips credited to Darkside Animations, a sample of which can be found in THESE SHOWREEL VIDEOS on their Vimeo page.

 

Visual effects are becoming the norm in film making these days even for what seems to be the most normal of circumstances – from unique colour correction techniques and the use of LUTs to speed ramping and masking to subtly enhance the images whilst keeping them look natural.

 

As we know from our own experiences green screen is also more common in what look like normal, everyday situations and no doubt Andrew will be able to share with us some handy tricks of the trade to helps us improve our understanding and film editing techniques, as well as dazzle us with the mastery of his own work.

 

If this is something that interest you, and it should, be sure to join us and Andrew this coming Tuesday for what should be a fascinating and educational evening.

OVFM CLUB MEETING – TUESDAY NOVEMBER 14th

 

Our first meeting for November sees us once again putting our own activities on hold as we let an outsider host the evening instead. Taking the floor on this occasion are the husband and wife  team of Rita (FACI) and Pip Hayes (not-FACI).

 

Pip (left) and Rita (non-left)

 

Rita should be well known to many of you as the current chair of SERIAC, and hubby Pip is a small nest of tables. Rita is also the guvnor at rival club Sh**ters H*ll where Pip is coincidentally Competition’s Officer. They have a son, also involved in filmmaking, who lives in St Albans which is of little use to us since the meeting will be in Petts Wood, but I digress.

 

The evening will comprise of films from Pip and Rita’s (Pita’s?) extensive catalogue of comedies and dramas made in conjunction with the SERIAC Council (think Freemasons with snazzier aprons). Some of the films being screened have been requested by OVFM members Reg “Bomber” Lancaster and Colin “Colin” Jones, so we know who to blame for that.

 

Since Rita is a member of IAC aristocracy we will need to roll out the red carpet, break out the best paper cups and buy two packets of biscuits to mark the occasion. Genuflecting is optional, especially since most of you probably won’t be able to get back up again, and direct eye contact is only permitted via written permission given ahead of time.

 

That is all to come this Tuesday so make sure to be there for what I am told will be an enjoyable evening for everyone or else!

OVFM CLUB MEETING – TUESDAY OCTOBER 3rd

 

SURPRISE!!!

 

Normally this post is about explaining what is going to be happening for our next club meeting but that isn’t possible this time round. Why? Because it is a surprise! And the thing about surprises is that if you know about them beforehand then it is no longer a surprise.

One thing I can reveal to you though, is that the meeting will be held at a different venue for this surprise to be delivered. It is being held in Otford, a place we all know so well through Barbara Darby’s films, which is located over there somewhere. This may be a bit of a drive for most of us but not for the Kemsing Mafia since this is their manor, so it makes a change for them to not have the long ride home.

The evening will be split into two halves, the first with our chairman-woman Jane Oliver running the show then she’ll hand over the reins to a special guest, whose identity is – you guessed it – a surprise. Rumours that it might be legendary Swedish auteur Ingmar Bergman are unfounded, largely because he died in 2007, so it is more likely to be someone else.

So, get your A to Z’s out, fire up the sat navs and point them towards Otford (the exact address has been e-mailed to everyone and can be found in the latest edition of the Viewfinder) in time for next Tuesday to discover what the big surprise is. And if you aren’t satisfied with it, Jane will personally refund your petrol money!*

 

 

 

 

 

 

* Or she might tell you to get stuffed – I’m not a mind reader!