• TOAST • A YEAR IN FILMMAKING • USING GREEN SCREENS • FILM FESTIVALS - HAM, SCAM OR SPAM • AROUND THE REGIONS • IAC AND ME FILM & VIDEO THE JOURNAL OF THE IAC • DECEMBER 2022 maker SERVING NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL MEMBERS SINCE 1932 Positive Image Club News Opinion UNICA, Wish you were here www.theiac.org.uk One of a Bunch The Kuleshov Effect Camera Party Pieces The Sound Chain

2 Film and Video Maker December 2022 Administration IAC - The Film & Video Institute McCracken Park Great North Road Gosforth Newcastle Upon Tyne NE3 2DT Tel: 0191 303 8960 Editorial Martin Evans Fedw Fawr, Llwynygroes Tregaron, Ceredigion SY25 6QF Email: [email protected] Club News Scotland Brian Saberton FACI 19 Loch Park, Wishaw, Lanarkshire ML2 7EB Tel: 01698 361 882 (evenings only) Wales & England Patrick Woodcock 2 Penny Hapenny Court Atherstone Warwickshire CV9 2AA Tel: 01827 769046 Email: [email protected] Advertising Vacant. Please contact the editor for advertising enquiries Published every other month by the Institute of Amateur Cinematographers. Registered Charity No. 260467. Company Registration No. 00269085 Printed by Buxton Press, Buxton, Derbyshire. Typesetting and page design by Martin Evans FVM is available by membership subscription. Mailing is free of charge to IAC members, with 2 copies forwarded to each affiliated club. Copy Deadlines 25th January for March/April issue 25th March for May/June issue 25th May for July/August issue 25th July for September/October issue 25th September for November/December 25th November for January/February Issue Film & Video Maker is distributed on the 7th day of the first month of each publication period above. ISSN: 1363-6545 Who’s who at the IAC Chairman Simon Sumner FACI President Linda Gough FACI Vice Presidents John Howden FACI, Mike Whyman FACI Patrons Lord Puttnam CBE, John Boorman CBE, Paul Kittel FACI, Ray Johnson MBE FACI Company Secretary David Henderson Treasurer David Henderson Membership application forms and further information are available from the IAC office - see Administration in left hand sidebar. Email Addresses: General Enquiries [email protected] Video Library [email protected] Music Copyright [email protected] Competition Team [email protected] Webmaster [email protected] President [email protected] Chairman [email protected] Vice-Chairman [email protected] Magazine Editor [email protected] Front cover: Harry Nicholls “Superman” from Kim Hopkins’ film “A Bunch of Amateurs” see page 14 Please note, also, that it is assumed by the editor that any pictures submitted for publication in FVM are copyright free or that permission for use in this publication has been obtained from the author or copyright holder. Neither the IAC nor the FVM editor will accept any responsibility in the event of legal action being taken by a copyright holder. All images sent to the magazine should be a minimum of 300dpi on a 6 x 4 image or, equivalently, 150dpi on a 12 x 8 image. If below this resolution, quality cannot be guaranteed and pictures may not be used. Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the Institute nor the editor. REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED

December 2022 Film and Video Maker 3 Regional Contacts CEMRIAC (Central & East Midlands) Rob Day FACI 56 Pinfold Lane, Penn Wolverhampton WV4 4EW Tel: 01902 343 121 Email: [email protected] EARIAC (East Anglia) Please contact the IAC office at Gosforth. NERIAC (North East) Derek Mathieson FACI 22 Pierremont Crescent, Darlington DL3 9PB Tel: 01325 356140 Email: [email protected] NORTH THAMES Penny Love FACI ‘Alystan’, 56 Park Avenue, Potters Bar Herts EN6 5EJ Tel: 01707 656 446 Email: [email protected] NORTH WEST (incl. N.Ireland & IOM) Please contact IAC office at Gosforth SERIAC (South East and Channel Islands) Brenda Troughton FACI 29a Hertfield Crescent, West Wickham, Kent BR4 9DW Tel: 0208 462 2822 SoCo (Southern Counties & IOW) Pip Critten 12 Trelawney Avenue, St. Budeaux Plymouth PL5 1RH Tel: 01752 361210 Email: [email protected] SCOTLAND Brian Saberton FACI 19 Loch Park, Wishaw Lanarkshire ML2 7EB Tel: 01698 361882 (evenings only) IAC Website http://www.theiac.org.uk Webmaster Jan Watterson [email protected] Contents Vol 47 Issue No. 6 December 2022 Regulars 04 Chairman’s Chat 06 AV with Malcolm Imhoff 09 The Sound Chain (iv) 12 Ken Wilson 16 Ned Cordery 18 Book Reviews with John Owen 20 Tom Hardwick - Party Pieces 26 Brian Dunckley’s Reflections 36 Club News Plus 23 Letters Page 34 Bluetooth Tips with Rod Leyland Features 14 One of a Bunch 28 Meet the future of film making 30 Postcards from UNICA 20 18 14 28 06 09 30 REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED

4 Film and Video Maker December 2022 WELCOME Hello everyone, welcome to Film and Videomaker. I hope you’re enjoying the fresh look to the magazine. The feedback I have seen from you has been positive, and I’d like to add my own thanks to Martin for taking what was already a great magazine and somehow notching it up further. Keep sending your feedback and, most importantly, keep your ideas and contributions coming. My day job has been keeping me very busy lately, but I’ve still had a chance to enjoy several events in my region. I was pleased to be invited to a screening of Sutton Coldfield Movie Makers’ film “The Bench”. They had exclusive use of the Mockingbird Cinema in Birmingham, and the screening was followed by a Q & A with the cast and crew. I’ve been to similar screenings in the past, but this is the first I’d seen organised by a club. It must have been wonderful for the members to celebrate the completion of their project in a real cinema together with fellow club members, friends, and family. Hats off to them. I recently attended the CEMRIAC AV Competition. It was the first time the competition had returned to a physical event since the pandemic, and I had been asked to judge. I’m not going to lie – having never judged AV before, I was nervous. I needn’t have been. I found a terrific article on judging AV by Marion Waine – on the IAC website of all places! Marion knows a thing or two about AV, so I adopted her “ABC” sorting method and found myself judging AV in the same way I’d judge video: with a fair bit of ‘head’, but a lot more ‘heart’. A good AV sequence or film will absorb me equally, the point of both formats being to tell good stories, and the entries for this competition did not disappoint. Congratulations to everyone involved. A few issues back I mentioned that we had dropped the rental charges for IAC DVDs. Since then, the IAC DVD archive has been relocated to, er, my garage! Our previous tape librarian, John Bartlett, has quite deservedly taken a step back from this role, having dedicated years of faithful service. Many thanks John! The result is that I have two substantial boxes crammed with DVDs, videos and tapes that could keep me entertained for years to come. Come the Zombie apocalypse and the loss of internet streaming I will be sorted, thankyou very much. If you would like to get your hands on something from the extensive collection (details on the IAC website) please get in touch. I will just need a prepaid return envelope from you and a solemn vow for its safe return. Maintaining the collection going forward will take some thinking about. Creating new DVDs for future collections is becoming increasingly difficult. DVD authoring software is no longer being developed and supported because the format itself is becoming outdated (Adobe withdrew Encore from their suite some time ago, much to my dismay). In recent years, the IAC DVD collection has focused on BIAFF films. Now that these are increasingly accessible on YouTube and Vimeo I ask whether we need to continue with creating new discs. What do you think? Finally, what orientation are you shooting video in? Old fashioned landscape? You should be shooting in portrait mode by now, surely? I’m being provocative, of course. My comments are prompted by something Rylan Clarke mentioned on Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two. The show was inviting video contributions from viewers, and it made me smile that he was having to remind folks to shoot in “landscape, not portrait”. Landscape orientation obviously makes for better broadcast material. But before we hold our heads in our hands at the thought that the great British public need to be told about this, let’s consider for a moment how most video content in this world is viewed: on a mobile phone in portrait mode! Should this make us stop and think about the way we shoot and share video? Should we stop being dismissive of portrait video? I may come back to this subject! Best wishes to everyone. Simon Sumner, Chairman

December 2022 Film and Video Maker 5 The link is always the same, but rather than type it in you could always scan it in with the QR code here or go to the IAC’s facebook page and click the link there. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84701972435 Meeting ID: 847 0197 2435 Passcode: 123456 WELCOME This month I have mostly been growing an extra layer of epidermis... Let’s just say that feedback forthcame. I’m happy to note that most of it was in the positive register; and as for the rest, well you can’t please all the people all the time. But do be assured that notes were indeed taken. Two issues arising from the October issue that do need resolving however: When my copy of FVM arrived in our letterbox I noticed that the envelope was open at one end. I put it down to rough handling in the Aberystwyth sorting office - they are a rum bunch up there - but then I started to get messages from other members that theirs too were pre-opened. Probably not a labour saving innovation but a fault with the machinery at our distributors, Buxton Press. I have raised this with them and hopefully when this issue arrives you will get the pleasure of opening it all by yourself. The second concern is that many of the club copies of the magazine never arrived on their respective doormats. This is firmly beyond my control - I’m just a humble editor, typesetter, blame-for-all - but if you didn’t receive your club’s copy last time, or indeed this, do contact David Henderson in the IAC office [email protected] and he will send you a replacement and hopefully take it up with the mailing list management. Back to this issue and I make no apology for revisiting Bradford once more. They’re excited, the film world is excited and I’m excited too that an award winning documentary is out there about a bunch of us - non-commercial film makers. A Bunch of Amateurs opens nationwide on 11th November - right after this magazine lands on your mats. There’s a link to the trailer and a bit about one of the central characters on page 14. I, for one, can’t wait to see it. Also this issue we have a four page “Postcard from UNICA” from esteemed Europhiles Dave Watterson & Alan Atkinson. I’ve had a film shown at UNICA in the past and as a Europhile also, have promised that one day I will take myself there. As well as our regular techy tips and gadgetry articles, book reviews and opinion pieces we also introduce young Bristol based film maker Suzie Topolska and her dreams, aspirations and dare I say, worries about finding a future in the filmmaking industry. BIAFF is open for entries and I have it on good authority that films are starting to pile up on the organiser’s desk. There’s still plenty of time to get your films in as the closing date is not until 31st January. What’s more, as IAC members, you can get your films entered for free if you get them in by midnight on18th December. We’re encouraging you to use Film Freeway (filmfreeway.com) this year to make your entries, but the paper form can still be used if you so wish. Now, I’m quite determined to get a film finished in time for BIAFF. I’ve ideas on the go, dialogue notes, lists of props and how and where to scrounge them. Just now need to squeeze some time between several day jobs to make it all happen. One problem out here in wildest, ruralest, wettest, westest Wales is that my wife and I are very much on our own here. Any films we make can have a cast of two at best, and then we have to rig some way to hold the camera and mic booms. Actually, it all gets rather inventive and is one of the main reasons that I enjoy making films. I can only wonder what it must be like to have an actual crew and cast etc. I love entering films into BIAFF and even more the judges feedback on my efforts (provided they say nice things that is). Come hell or high water, something that I make will plop into the organiser’s inbox by 31st Jan. Anyway, details of the 2023 BIAFF festival itself (2nd - 7th May 2023) can be found on a poster elsewhere in this issue. Finally, another brilliant Open FIlm Night was enjoyed by all recently. What a fabulously diverse selection of films and all so adroitly compered by IAC Patron, Paul Kittel. I noted an attendance of 47 at one point and whilst this is up on last time I feel we can do better than this. After all, ZOOM has no limits on the number of people who can connect. Alright, so we were competing with BBC’s Frozen Planet series, or 24 Hours in A&E but that’s what video recorders are for surely? I guarantee you will not find such an eclectic mix of high quality entertainment on ITV on a Sunday night any time soon. The next Open FIlm Night will be on Sunday 27th November at a computer screen near you. Login details in the side panel. See you then. ...FROM THE REDACTED

6 Film and Video Maker December 2022 The first major live AV event since Covid locked everything down, the 22nd in 2022 — was it a success? The National AV Championship is usually held every two years, but Covid put paid to the 2021 event. The organising team of three, myself, Keith Watson, and “the Boss” Alastair Taylor, were determined that the Nationals, as they are usually known, should happen again after a gap of three years of small screen, lo-fi sound, and variable quality presentations via Zoom. We missed the human contact and social interaction of a live event. We are all passionate about AV and we were keen to get back to theatre quality projection: Big Screen. Big Sound. Audio Visual as it was meant to be experienced. We decided on the venue, Leeds Trinity University, which has a large Malcolm Imhoff The AV Column FRPS FACI(M) comfortable auditorium, raked seats, massive screen, awesome sound and a dedicated staff of administrators and technicians who went out of their way to help us at every stage. After anxious moments worrying about whether we would be supported by enough people entering their work and enough people attending, we had 89 entries, from 57 AV producers, with an encouraging 26 First Time Entrants – over 10 hours of top quality audio visual sequences. This was more than we had time for, but rather than have preselection, which nobody likes, I managed to somehow squeeze them all in. Then events overtook us and we heard of the death of Her Majesty The Queen, so the programme had to be altered. I inserted a lovely portrait of Her Majesty to be shown before the start of each day when we observed two minutes silence and were able to remember and reflect on the enormous influence she has had on all our lives. I also had to reprogramme the Friday night show. The main competition took place on Saturday and Sunday, but as a “festival fringe event” on the Friday night we took “The Magical Mystery Tour” to Leeds. The “Fab Four”, that is John (me), Paul ( José Currant), George (Richard Brown), and Ringo (Dave Cooke), who even brought his own drum kit, entertained the audience with an evening of Beatles themed AVs. Was it a day in the life of an AV worker or a hard day’s night? Yeah Yeah Yeah! We held a raffle in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support but there were so many prizes donated that we continued the raffle into the Saturday and Sunday. The star prize was the “Beatles” cake made and donated by Dave Cooke’s daughter Diane Curzey (“Di’s Sugar ‘n’ Ice” on Facebook). To date we have raised £265 for Macmillan. As the person responsible for receiving all the entries, cataloguing and acknowledging their receipt, viewing and proofing them to make sure they play all right, and then trying to fit a quart into a pint pot to compile the programme for the seven sessions over two days, it was a challenging task. I tried to start each session with a strong sequence which would grab everybody’s attention. Documentary and themed AVs were mixed with Photo Harmony, Music, Poetry and Song interpretation sequences. AVs on similar themes were widely Malcolm at the control desk Diane Curzey’s “fab” cake prize Remembering HM Queen Elizabeth II The Fab Four photos: Keith Watson LRPS CPAGB-AV

Prize* Best Photo Harmony Postcards from Cornwall Martin Fry Special Interest Group Silver Medal Best Creative The Journey Brendan Gillan Special Interest Group Silver Medal Best Natural History The Waiting Game Keith Leedham Best New Entrant The Pollock Medal Best first time NAVC entrant Itinerant Magpie Tim Harvey Highly Commended Bronze Medal Spirit of Norway Adrian Battersby Highly Commended Bronze Medal Kitchen Music Andrew Gagg Highly Commended Bronze Medal Parson Hawker Gordon Nicklin Commended RPS Ribbon The Wild Rose John Perriam Commended RPS Ribbon Go to Hell Howard Bagshaw Commended RPS Ribbon For Peace and Democracy Alastair Taylor Judge’s Award - Ian Certificate Hattie’s Legacy Richard Brown Judge’s Award - Sheila Certificate In Search of Lucy Malcolm Imhoff Judge’s Award - Alan Certificate Between Sea and Sky James Hamill *Prize = A ProMaster Camera Accessories bundle worth £80 NAVC 2022 Judges Awards AWARD Title Author Session 1 - Certificate The Journey Brendan Gillan Session 2 - Certificate The Waiting Game Keith Leedham Session 3 - Certificate Snail Mail Cathy Fordham Session 4 - Certificate McCartney Keith Brown Session 5 - Certificate Poems for Girls Judith Kimber Session 6 - Certificate Haiku, My Father and Me Robert Albright Session 7 - Certificate Oc Howard Bagshaw Audience Vote Overall Winner GOLD MEDAL Snail Mail Cathy Fordham NAVC 2022 Audience Popular Vote Event organiser, Alastair Taylor Ian Bateman Sheila Haycox Alan Tyrer MC Peter Warner The medals photos: Keith Watson LRPS CPAGB-AV

8 Film and Video Maker December 2022 Organisers and Judges, NAVC 2022 Chair of Jury, Ian Bateman Scenes from National AV Champion Judith Kimber’s sequence “Poems for Girls Malcolm Imhoff receives his award from RPS President Simon Hill photos: Keith Watson LRPS CPAGB-AV

December 2022 Film and Video Maker 9 I n the previous link in the Sound Chain we saw how sound is carefully captured from the microphone via cable or wireless into the recording device, all the while attempting to preserve the original sound. This article is rather different in that we will be working with a Digital Audio Work Station (DAWS) to enhance the recorded sound to its optimum level, removing as much unwanted noise from the audio as possible. So what are DAWS and when were they first used? The first such system was created by a company called Soundstream in 1977 to help in the recording and editing of music. Then in 1989 Digidesign released Sound Tools which laid the base for the industry standard, Protools. 1996 brought us Cubase which with its VST interface facilitated compatibility between different types of software. While many of the more expensive video editors come with basic controls to help with improving sound such as parametric equalisers, pan controls and low and high pass filters, these are just basic tools found on any decent DAWS. Remember that a video editing suite is primarily for video editing; DAWS are for sound only. There is a wide range of Audio Workstations on the market but many are designed specifically for music work and while you can still use them for video sound there are others which are specifically designed for that purpose. The best DAWS packages designed for use with video are Adobe’s Audition, Da Vinci Resolve’s Fairlight, Izotope’s RX and Logic Pro. Though these all have their own strengths and weaknesses. For the sake of this article I’ll be looking at Izotope RX which comes in three versions, Elements, Standard and Advanced. The nice thing about RX is there’s no monthly subscription and if you buy the basic Elements version it is easy to upgrade to Standard or Advanced versions should you find you need to. Needless to say the more you pay the more features you get and I’m sure that for most of us the Standard version would be the best all round fit. I use the RX7 Advanced version which, Ian Reed The Sound Chain Link iv: Where the Magic Happens although it’s a few years old, still has most of the features I need. As with other DAWS and unlike most video editors this comes with both a waveform and a spectrum display. Waveform let’s you see the gain of the signal that is recorded. This is fine for letting you know the loud and quiet parts but gives you no idea of where a mains hum or passing car might be lurking within the sound mix. The spectrum display is more like a picture of sound as it depicts all the various sound sources in different areas of the display depending on what that sound may be. For example wind noise captured by the microphone would be at the bottom at around 100 to 300hz while the sound of a bird would be between 5Khz and 12Khz. The gain is shown in blue while Audacity - free to download DAWS software Digidesign’s Sound Tools (1989) RX7 - Waveform only display

10 Film and Video Maker December 2022 spectrum can be shown in a range of colours, for example cyan to orange. The louder the sound the lighter the colour. Another feature of the spectrum display is in showing harmonics. It is the harmonics that make your voice unique from anyone else’s. Understanding and being able to read the spectrum provides you with the wherewithal to reduce, remove or increase the various parts that can affect the final sound in your film. Recently I’ve had to edit the audio track for a short light comedy. The exterior location created its own problems being close to a road and near a busy airport. Rain and windy conditions also added to the background noise on the first day of the shoot. These sounds all found their way onto the recordings. If I had been using just the features found in a video editor then many of these problems could not have been overcome. Wind noise is perhaps the easiest to remove, both at the recording stage with a high pass filter, and later in DAWS, which has a de-wind filter (Advanced only) - this can be fine-tuned to reflect how far the wind noise intrudes. Other sounds like passing cars need not be completely removed but just reduced. Izotope RX - even the Elements version - has a wonder program called Repair Assistant. When activated this will intelligently look at the area highlighted and will suggest various tools to help improve the recording. One quick tip: best not to include the clapperboard slap when highlighting an area to be cleaned as this will most likely give a false reading. You may also find it advantageous to leave out the words action and cut. It is essential that you always keep the original recording - never save or export over it. This is because there will eventually come a time when you need to revert back to the original sound track. I always have two files: one is marked Original and the other Enhanced. There may be times when Repair Assistant, for whatever reason, is unable to remove the noise or sound that you want. This is where the individual programs on RX come in. Normally the first thing I do is highlight just the actors’ dialogue. Once you’ve selected the correct area it’s normally a good thing to use the Loudness control (Standard and Advanced) which helps level out the sounds. It will, often as not, increase the background sounds too, which you may not want. This is where the various programs come in to keep the sound you want while reducing or removing everything else. On both Standard and Advanced versions, Spectrum De-noise reduces noise in two different ways, either in active mode, where it The track has now been highlighted with the area that is to be worked on. It’s only the script you want so ignore the clapperboard action and cut. Loudness is applied. This levels the sound to -3db. Note how the ambient background sound has been raised, this includes the wind noise seen in the lower half as bright areas. RX7 - Spectrum only display De-wind now applied, note how the previous bright area has been diminished.

reduces as it goes through the file; or with AI learn where you select an area for it to determine what you want it to affect. The AI learn is a more precise reduction method: highlight an area with unwanted noise then click “learn” and the system responds by working out for itself just what constitutes the noise. Re-highlight the whole area with the noise (rather than just the sample segment) and run Spectrum Denoise. When it’s done you will notice the background goes darker having removed the offending noise. There are other programs that do a similar job, each with a different slant. Another problem that arose was with dialogue being too quiet within the take and needing to be pulled up separately. This created the same old problem of background noise being increased at the same time. With the voices increased, another program came to the rescue: Dialogue Isolate (only in Advanced). This keeps the voices at the correct level while cleverly reducing the background noise. I’ve only scratched the surface of the features available in a DAWS, there are others like Magic Wand, Brush, Dialogue Contour, Spectrum Repair, De-Rustle, De-Crackle etc. Clearly if we are serious about sound the use of a DAWS is as important as that of the video editor. To improve the voices there is the Dialogue Isolate which enhances the voices while diminishing but not completely removing the ambience. The finished file. Making sure the whole file is saved/exported to a different file to the original. Note the amount of noise removed in the area that was worked on compared to that outside. December 2022 Film and Video Maker 11

12 Film and Video Maker December 2022 Ken Wilson FACI The Return of BIAFF March 2020 and we were filming a wedding reception at a local sports centre, when news circulated about a serious new virus spreading outwards from China. Of course, China seemed a long way from the UK, but it soon became apparent that this was a worldwide problem and a week after that gathering, we were told by the Prime Minister to stay home and not to go out except for food, medicines and emergencies. All meetings of any kind were forbidden and this included our BIAFF event only a few weeks hence. I can only imagine that, during those subsequent weeks, frantic plans were devised by the BIAFF team in order to hold some kind of virtual event and in due course a festival did take place over “Zoom”. I have to confess that I took no interest in this as I spend hours almost every day on the computer and had no desire to watch films sat at my PC for a full weekend. This would be only the second IAC festival I had missed since joining the organisation in 1994. Our very first IAC festival was in 1995 at the Palace Hotel in Buxton and our first entry into the competition was a thriller called “Deception”. This was our first “film” made on video and had been shot simultaneously on Super 8 and Hi-8 video with every scene being filmed twice, (plus retakes) so that we had two versions for comparison, for a potential switch to tape. This was a big decision as I had worked on film for over 20 years. The letter from the IAC competition officer arrived to say our film had been awarded a Silver Seal (as it was called then) and would be shown on Saturday at the festival. At that time I had little idea how video could be projected on a screen and wondered how the image would hold up. Our equipment was extremely basic. I had a simple Sony Hi-8 camera and the tapes were copied to a domestic VHS recorder using the pause button and quick reactions to create the edited film. This painstaking process resulted in a VHS copy which had to be copied to a second VHS machine during which time music and sound effects were added. I ended up with a third generation VHS copy which thinking of it now makes me cringe. We decided to attend the event as a family just for the one day to try out this new movie experience. The Palace Hotel is a large building right in the centre of Buxton and on arrival my impressions were that hundreds of people were milling around in every part of the hotel holding film programmes. Of course noone knew or acknowledged us and we knew no-one there either. I did wonder if an IAC officer might be assigned to greet new members, but if there was one, we didn’t see them. We found the room where our film was to be screened and it appeared to be full. Earlier movies in the programme looked impressive and some even had scrolling end titles. Mine had been created on a cheap electronic toy with basic block letters and recorded onto my third generation VHS tape copy! It was nerve wracking but as I recall it was well received and got a big round of applause at the end. One lady called out: “Who are this group called Phase 4 and where are they based?” I answered; “Wakefield in West Yorkshire” and this was our introduction to an IAC event. We left the hotel as anonymously as we had arrived. The following year “Movie ‘96” was held in Milton Keynes and this time we decided to attend as day visitors on both the Saturday and Sunday. We had another Silver Seal film in the festival, but this, at 40 minutes, was an overlong and self indulgent vampire spoof which taught me that in most cases, shorter films are better. I believe this was the weekend when we had a talk from guest speaker Jeremy Beadle who told us about the clips that they received for his show “You’ve Been Framed”. By “Movie ‘97” we were getting into the swing of things and all four of us in the group which included friends Phillip and Yvonne, booked for the full [email protected] Malvern crew: Carol Wilson, Yvonne & Phillip Crann, Ken Wilson Not that it completely went away - it just moved online for a couple of years.

December 2022 Film and Video Maker 13 weekend at Malvern, a beautiful location. Not only was this a very picturesque part of the country, but also that year was memorable as we received our first Gold Seal award for “Demons”, another thriller. By this time we were starting to recognise some of the other film makers and several people came up to talk to us. From this point on, the IAC movie weekends became a big part of our film making year. We have travelled all over the country to festivals in towns we would otherwise be unlikely to visit. We have seen hundreds, if not thousands, of films and many of our own movies have had a screening over these weekends. Many festivals blend into one and I sometimes try to remember which events happened where, although a few personal moments always stick in the mind. Like the one in Bedford when Reg Lancaster approached us with an apology for his judgement on our film, “Dropping Off” - probably our most well known comedy. Reg told us that he had viewed the film with his two other judges early one morning in a hotel room and didn’t really think the film was all that funny. He went on to say that he had seen it subsequently with a large audience and in an entirely different light. He realised he had been mistaken and should have placed it higher. It received a Gold Seal award so I assumed by higher he meant the Best Comedy Award. That was disappointing, but in many ways, great to hear and I admired Reg for admitting this to us. Another time was also at Bedford when one of our actresses, Narelle Summers, won the Best Actor award for our film “Confidentially”. This was not one of my personal favourite films, but a first class job from Narelle and she travelled down by train to receive her award. One of the issues with holding film shows in hotel conference rooms is the unsuitability of the seating for unobstructed viewing of the screens and it became an annoying feature of the festivals that a mass of heads would bob around to try to read subtitles, especially at the Sunday shows. It was welcome news when it was announced that for Birmingham in 2019, the bigger Sunday show would be held in the Crescent theatre adjacent to the hotel. Mini cinemas would still be located at the Hilton Hotel, but with an ageing membership and the inevitable decline in numbers, seeing the screens were by then not the main problem, acquiring a decent sized audience was. So in 2019 we travelled by car and despite bewildering city traffic systems, relentless roadworks and traffic cones and having to change car parks midfestival, the new format worked well and it seems this is now the permanent home for BIAFF. We were getting set for the 2020 festival when everything went pear shaped! As BIAFF 2021 approached and the pandemic was still ongoing, we were told that this festival would again be held online. This time I had downloaded Zoom and had bought a camera for the PC so I was ready to attend the festival as another “virtual” attendee. It has to be said, that it all worked very well and all credit must go to the organising team for all their work getting everything ready and devising a system which works really well. So by April 2022, a live event was by then a realistic proposal, so we decided to book into the Hilton again and also to travel by train for the first time. It was rumoured that the number of bookings were down and no doubt some regulars were still concerned by the virus, although it was much less prevalent or dangerous. So we arrived on the Friday for the first live BIAFF in 3 years. All events were now held in the Crescent theatre though this year in the smaller one downstairs. Friday was the AV show and on entering, first impressions were of an almost empty theatre, but within minutes, familiar faces were appearing as people took their seats. I do have to say that this show was excellent and though as a movie maker, AV has not been “my thing”, this show did win me over with superb pictures and sound and with some top notch story telling. The Saturday shows featured some excellent films and all viewed on the big screen and seated on raked (but somewhat hard) chairs. Simon Sumner was the front man and ran the show in a very easy manner which ideally suited the new style festival. An excellent innovation and one we should retain in future, was the idea that film makers were invited to say a few words about their film before it was screened. This gave an insight into what each film maker had intended. Another important and successful change was the hybrid nature of the shows, with many members in attendance via Zoom, supplementing the live audience which steadily grew throughout the three days. The Saturday festival dinner, more of a buffet this year, was a much less formal occasion, something which I liked much better, never being a big fan of the pomp and ceremony of earlier years and more fitting with the more relaxed style of a modern event. By the close of the festival on Sunday, we felt that BIAFF had evolved and returned in a new format suitable for 2022 and beyond. The downside is that without the separate Saturday mini cinemas, fewer films can be screened, but those which are, get treated to a more professional viewing experience for the audience. Of course attending virtually over Zoom is a simple way to get involved in BIAFF and ideal for those who live at a great distance from Birmingham, but being there in person, though at a cost, is the best option and let’s hope next year builds on what has been achieved so far. Paul Crossley and Keith Pottage in “Dropping Off”

December 2022 I am Harry Nicholls, 86 years young and have been making films for most of my life. I have also been a professional magician for a long time and managed to win the top close-up magician award in the UK some time ago, have appeared on TV numerous times and worked at the famous Magic Castle in Hollywood. I saw magicians on film and thought “what a great idea – to see and study one’s act on film”, so I bought my first movie camera and then the tale wagged the dog. I love filmmaking almost as much as performing magic. I went on to become a professional film maker, that is I shot weddings, performed my close-up magic at same and did corporate work etc. Now retired, I make films for the love of it as, I suppose, many of you do. I joined Leeds Movie Makers, who sadly had to close recently, joined Bradford Movie Makers and am also a member of Mercury Movie Makers as well as my continuing membership with the Leeds Magic Circle. Bradford Movie Makers, Joe Ogden and Phil Wainman, introduced Kim & Margaretta to the club and at the interval I happened to mention that I would love to remake Oklahoma – not the whole film, just the opening. I had an idea which I thought would give the audience a laugh. Joe asked if I had ever ridden a horse and I said “never”. Kim Hopkins thought I was pulling her leg but then realised I was in deadly earnest and with the help of club members who specialise in special effects, green screen processes etc. we managed to achieve what might have been difficult for me to do otherwise. Kim told me this inspired her to make a film of the club and its members and she has certainly made a remarkable one not just showing comedy, but pathos as well. Sadly my dear wife Mary passed away during the making of this film as did Colin Eggleston’s wife, Shirley. Colin being the oldest member of our club at 90. The film shows in a kind way the hopes and aspirations of the various members with no holds barred. Our club membership is not large although several new members have recently joined and we are quite prolific in our film output. Our president, Ian Simpson, Joe Ogden, Dave Marshall and Craig Sands specialise in special effects, green screen etc. Whilst other members, Judith Simpson, Ian Eggleston and myself concentrate on documentaries. “ We’ve been hearing rather a lot about Bradford Movie Makers just lately. BMM is one of the oldest amateur film making clubs in the country having started with black and white 16mm film stock in 1932. Well, now in their 91st year, we’re going to be hearing a whole lot more about them especially once Kim Hopkins’ & Margaretta Szabo’s film “A Bunch of Amateurs” hits the big screen this November. F.V.M. caught up with one of their senior members and a star of said film... One of a Bunch 14 Film and Video Maker Bradford Movie Makers (photo: Ian Simpson)

December 2022 Film and Video Maker 15 Phil Wainman is a good cinematographer and script writer. Garth Scott Stainforth and Edmond Davies are our actors and Keith Wilcock our music specialist. Mark McCahery does an excellent job as publicity officer. Jim Wilson makes excellent fiction films. Our treasurer Andrew Cockerill has a good technical knowledge. A Bunch of Amateurs won the audience vote as best film in the Sheffield Doc festival, was invited to be shown at the Edinburgh Film Festival to similar acclaim and will have a general release from 11th November in large independent cinemas and has a London premiere at the BFI Southbank, home of British cinema and is to be shown world wide, i.e. in Germany, Canada, Australia – not bad going. My own film Oklahoma had the judges falling out of their seats laughing in the previous IAC competition, yet only achieved three stars. However it won the comedy award at the Burnley Film Festival, judged by Ken Wilson and his wife Carol. So it has taken me all these years to finally make it to the big screen – please try to see this film – it is a kind reflection of all fellow film makers who make films for the love of it. I feel sure you will love it. A Bunch of Amateurs will be released nationwide on 11th November https://youtu.be/UAs1FOp4Kp4 Tuesday 2nd to Sunday 7th May BIAFF 2023 will be a hybrid festival. All the shows, from Tuesday to Sunday will be on-line. In addition you can can enjoy the buzz of a live festival by joining us in Birmingham from Friday to Sunday at the Crescent Theatre, 20 Sheepcote Street, Birmingham B16 8AE VISIT THE IAC FORUM It’s still massively underused by the way Here you can chat to fellow IAC members and other film-makers on, well, anything and everything but mostly about making films, BIAFF, this magazine and the size of Wagon Wheels these days. A conversation just waiting to be had. Go here: https://dialog.theiac.org.uk/ Visit www.biaff.org.uk for further details Visit www.filmfreeway.com to enter your films. Ian J. Simpson, Harry Nicholls & Craig Sands

Ned Cordery At The Theatre Recognize that these plays are copyrighted and recording is an infringement of copyright, so how to handle this? Our theatre is registered as a charity with education as one of its commitments so we record as an educational resource, the copies are held by the theatre and available on request for review; usually by directors and actors. We do not make copies for distribution as this would be a clear infringement. There are two recording situations; rehearsals and performances. Rehearsal requests come from directors when they are both directing and acting in a production; we set up at stage level and concentrate on the performance. Playback is with the oncamera monitor and headphones so the director can concentrate on evaluating the performance of everyone on-stage, including themselves. Some directors like to have a few rehearsal shots to be included as a “Behind the Scenes” with the final performance recording. Sound is not a problem as we are so close to the stage an on-camera mic works well and we are not looking for perfect sound. Shooting a performance brings a different situation. Our theatre is steeply raked so we set up at the centre of the highest point; the camera on a tripod raised enough to clear the heads of the audience. We always set the camera on manual with an aperture of f4 and an ISO set at the maximum lighting level. In most plays the lighting will change with the mood and if the camera is set on auto it “One of the regular gigs we get is to video stage productions at our local theatre.” 16 Film and Video Maker December 2022

December 2022 Film and Video Maker 17 will try to set the lighting at a constant level. We set the focal length to cover the complete stage area and no more, we always shoot HD 1920x1080. We have 4K capable cameras but the resulting files are huge; with HD we can shoot a 2 hour play without changing the battery and the results are very good even on a cinema size screen. We set up two cameras; the main camera is the Sony AX 700 with the Canon Vixia set up just off to one side of the stage and left to run without any support, its clips available for insert into the final edit. With careful preparation getting good images is straightforward; sound is a completely different challenge. If the actors are wearing lip microphones, usually in musicals, or suspended mics are set up then we can take a line-out feed from the mixer board to our Zoom H4n and record a .wav file, with an on-camera mic as the reference. If no stage mics are used then with the cameras far from the stage getting good sound is a problem. With a two-hander play wireless lavalier mics on the actors feeding directly to the camera is a solution but with more actors, multiple wireless lavalier mics need a complete separate sound mixing set up; in our case impractical. We can set up the Zoom H4n close to the stage using its built-in mics set to two channel stereo and get a reasonable recording. Surprisingly we have acceptable results with a good on-camera mic, the Deity D3, the camera gain set at 5 and the mic gain set at 8; monitored with headphones. The resulting sound will need some attention in post; in my case Vegas Pro 18 with its excellent builtin sound management and a direct connection to Sound Forge. The images rarely require much attention except to mix in the shots from the Canon. Except in the case of a recent experience when one of the stage hands knocked over the Canon and when picked up the settings had been accidently reset with a complete mismatch with the Sony. Here Vegas saved the day with its color match FX; amazing results, the images are frame grabs from the timeline. The theatre now has an archive of fourteen plays we have recorded; originally stored as Blu-Ray discs but now saved as .mp4 files; a record available for study.

18 Film and Video Maker December 2022 B ritish television’s ‘Sky-Arts’ channel hosts a regular series of ‘Discovering Film’ broadcasts in which the achievements of outstanding cinema-industry personalities are analysed and discussed in depth. Author Ian Nathan is a member of the presentation team and he contributes to each and every programme. He also has several books to his name in which he has originated and established his own reliable research patterns. Consequently, he has now become one of the UK’s best-known film writers. His latest book unearths the life, thoughts and work of British-born Christopher Nolan who, over the past twenty-three years, has developed a distinguished and extraordinary career in Hollywood. As a London based commentator, it is significant that Nathan has chosen to “crack open the magic box of Nolan’s twisting universe”. He makes the point that the circumstances surrounding the publication of his book are unsponsored, unofficial and unauthorised. The views expressed are his own. In the examination of Christopher Nolan’s many sell-out films he dissects the director’s use of emotional parallels and their application to his characteristic special effects and stylistic non-linear scene progressions. Size and spectacle are also common factors in his passion for cinematic, visual storytelling. This leads to his frank admission that he aims to launch a blend of experimental structures into the demands of mainstream entertainment. He once said that “...the screen is a jumping-off point for infinite possibilities, provoking and stirring-up the narrative challenges of the medium.” Christopher Nolan has dual nationality with both English and American citizenship. He was born in London (Westminster) on the thirtieth of July 1970. His British father, Brendan, was a Creative Advertising director and occasionally worked alongside filmmakers, with Alan Parker, Hugh Hudson and Ridley Scott included amongst them. His mother, Christina, is American and initially worked as a flight attendant, but later became a teacher of English. Both parents are seasoned travellers. He has two brothers, Matthew and Jonathan. Christopher spent his childhood and teenage years divided by time spent in Highgate, London and summers in Evanston, Chicago. The family eventually settled in Evanston but, on the directive of his father, Christopher remained as a boarder at Haileybury and Imperial Service College in Hertfordshire. He later remarked that his boardingschool life was “... an ideal training ground for Hollywood .... learning how to negotiate your own progress within a cloistered world .... playing the system .... knowing how far to push your luck.” Holidays in Evanston were a different matter and it was here that he discovered movies. Sharing a film with an audience was a comfortable experience and Edens Theater in nearby Northbrook was within easy reach. He absorbed the stories of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas and became “obsessed with anything to do with space and spaceships.” He began making his own films, borrowing his father’s Super-8 camera and animating his Action-Man figures in stop-motion episodes. He cast his brother Jonathan in live action and built sets out of egg boxes, clay and toilet rolls. He used flour to replicate explosions and created a film which he called “Space Wars” as a homage to George Lucas. From the age of eleven he aspired to be a professional filmmaker and was particularly influenced by the work of Ridley Scott. During these summertime teenage years at Evanston he became friendly with neighbour Roko Belic. Together, Roko and Nolan co-directed “Tarantella”, another surreal Super-8 movie. Again introducing his brother Jonathan, still uncredited but this time asleep in his bed at the family home, there follows a sequence of nightmare horror starring a tarantula spider, a screaming man and a vampiric image of Nolan himself. The youthful film was later showcased in 1989 by the USA’s Public Book Reviews with John Owen

December 2022 Film and Video Maker 19 Broadcasting Service, but it was never issued on general release. The avenue towards further education now led him into the faculties of University College London where he studied English Literature. By delving into the library’s classical storytelling collection - Dickens, Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy, Edgar Allan Poe, H.G.Wells and the like - its impact left its mark on his cinematic thinking. The foundation of his work therefore tends to be traditional but the approach to its narrative thread gives rise to those cognitive twists-and-turns that Ian Nathan seeks to unravel. University College London owned and managed The Bloomsbury Theatre on neighbouring Gordon Street. Always one to explore such places, the inquisitive Nolan nosed his way into its basement. What he found must have seemed waybeyond coincidence. Lying unused since the University’s one-time filmmaking days, and as if sitting waiting for him, there were 16mm cameras, tripods, dolly tracks and a dust covered Steenbeck editing suite. The basement became the headquarters of the UCL Film and Video Society which he and girlfriend Emma Thomas set up. They screened professional 35mm features in the Theatre above and any meagre proceeds were used to finance their own editing and filmmaking projects. This was Nolan’s ‘school’. He is quoted as saying, “I never studied filmmaking in any way”. After graduating and findIng employment, he would frequently return to the old Film Society basement to continue his experiments ... “the university didn’t seem to notice!”. Emma always worked as his producer. They married, and much later created a home in Los Angeles. They now have four children. His first job was with ‘Electric Airwaves’, an industrial-film company. He was “itching to be elsewhere” but gained valuable experience as a camera operator, script reader and director. Over the next five years he and Emma produced a number of short films, one of which, “Larceny”, was exhibited at the Cambridge Film Festival in1996. Their first attempt at a feature film was entitled “Larry Mahoney” but this was abandoned and never seen. These were all financed from Nolan’s own pocket. He never had any support from the British film industry. In 1998 he wrote, directed, photographed and edited “Following”. Co-produced with Emma Thomas and Jeremy Theobald, the UCL Society members reunited, worked together and acted without payment. It was shot over the course of a year’s worth of weekends, and with the cost of film-stock and processing the final budget was of the order of £3,000. ”Shooting in black and white was a conscious and practical choice”. The story depicts a young writer (Theobald) who follows strangers through the streets of London in the hope of finding inspiration for his first novel. When he fails to keep his distance he is drawn into a corrupt underworld which echoes the lean presence of neo-noir Hitchcock. The film was highlighted at the San Francisco Festival of 1998 and won several awards during its festival run. This nod to the subculture of London found favour with the critics and resulted in a theatrical release which realised fifty-thousand US dollars .... chicken-feed by Hollywood standards - but Hollywood took notice! The screenplay of his next film was based on a story by his brother Jonathan. The ever resourceful Emma managed to persuade Aaron Ryder of Newmarket Films to cast an eye over the script. He reported that it was “the most innovative thing he had ever seen”, authorised a budget of four-and-ahalf million dollars ... and “Memento” was born. This marked a defining moment in Nolan’s career. He commented, “... from a group of friends wearing their own clothes and my mum making sandwiches to spending four million dollars of someone else’s money and having a crew of a hundred people is, to this day, by far the biggest leap I’ve ever made!” Ian Nathan continues his appreciative and detailed appraisal of all Nolan’s further works, including insights into the yet-tobe-seen “Oppenheimer”. A wide range of disparate movies precedes this proposed 2023 release by way of, amongst others, the multi-billion-dollar “Dark Knight” trilogy, the beaches of “Dunkirk” and the far shores of “Interstellar” space. His super-heroes and villains “spring out of the real world”. They redefine Hollywood’s orthodox fantasy-conventions and offer a shadowy glimpse behind their facade, looking forward into the Hollywood of the twenty-first century. And yet he harbours a retrospective preference for shooting on celluloid. His extensive use of 70mm film and IMAX are here admired with respect. Over half of “The Dark Knight Rises” was captured with one of his ‘beloved’ IMAX cameras. (Some FVM readers may envy this progression from his 8mm origins. I know I do!) The book is a stylish production in itself. It is profusely illustrated and there is an eight-page foldout which reveals a ‘chronolanology’ of Nolan’s major works from 1998 to 2023. The paper quality is superb and the hardback cover with its slip-case is radical. At a shelf price of £28, this enjoyable collaboration between Ian Nathan and White Lion Publishing represents exceptional value. Christopher Nolan: The Iconic Filmmaker and his work by Ian Nathan 176 pages, Hard Cover with slip case, October 2022. ISBN 978-0711277120 White Lion Publishing £ 28.00

20 Film and Video Maker December 2022 Canon’s breechlock bayonet mount Party Pieces [email protected] Canon’s interchangeable lens mount for SLRs was introduced in 1959 and continued (with small changes for such things as open-aperture metering and so on) right up until 1987, when the EOS range of auto-focus cameras was introduced. Canon were alone in the photographic industry in that they used a breech-lock bayonet design, where the lens isn’t rotated as you attach it to the camera body. The lens is offered up to the camera and the breech-lock ‘female’ ring on the lens is turned to lock it securely into place. This neat engineering solution meant that, unlike the conventional bayonet or screw thread designs, all wear between lens and body was eliminated, so ensuring accurate lens alignment and positioning. Some Canon lenses at the time were designed so that as soon as they were aligned with a body’s bayonet throat a mechanical pin was depressed and their bayonet ring turned automatically under spring pressure, attaching the lens to the body. My party-piece back in 1974 (when Pentax with the Spotmatic camera was still using the antiquated M42 screw thread) was to lay my lens-less Canon SLR flat on its back on a table, lens throat facing upwards, awaiting its next lens. I’d then pop my 20mm f/2.8 down onto the Canon body and immediately lift the combination of conjoined body and lens quickly up into the air, and for all intents and purposes it would appear as if they were held together magnetically. The breech lock ring had automatically turned as it sensed the camera body so it would then need tightening of course, but I remember the trick impressing a lot of photographic folk. Party pieces are fun - here are a few I’ve demonstrated. #1 Canon’s locking ring meant there was no wear on the crucial lens flange to film plane distance

December 2022 Film and Video Maker 21 Take a look at the two railway-line photos. The top one is the sort of photo or video shot you’d get if you used a mobile phone, say, or any camcorder that was fitted with a small sensor. The sturdy fencing wire in front of the camera’s lens will appear in your shot whatever the focused distance or shooting aperture, and no amount of post processing will remove it. For demonstration purposes I shot this using a 50mm lens set at f/16, and by the way, the camera’s sensor size is immaterial. In the bottom photo I’ve done nothing except change the lens’ aperture, shooting this picture at f/1.7. Both photos match exactly, yet in the bottom one the security fence wires have completely disappeared. I’ve used this technique at the zoo to completely obliterate the steel wire between me and the wild animals, yet all around me I see people getting beautiful video and stills of the protective guard fence, with the animals appearing as an afterthought. The Vanishing #2 Wires #3The Impossible Appearance Hold a ball-point pen across the front of your lens and see what happens I’ve set up my camera about 5 metres from a coffee jar to take a series of pictures. See over the page. Here’s a fun project you can try – and it’s a real PartyPiece. What you’re going to do is explain to onlookers that although you have a big black pen positioned right in front of your camera’s lens, you’ll still be able to see the centrally-placed coffee jar in the final picture. They can all look at your mirrorless camera’s rear screen (or DSLR in its stopped-down live view mode) and sure enough, as you’ve set a small aperture such as f/11, there’s the big Here’s exactly the same photo, but changing the shooting aperture makes the wire fence completely disappear

22 Film and Video Maker December 2022 black pen completely obscuring the jar; a big black shadow crosses diagonally right through the centre of the image. You click the shutter and yes, as expected, there’s a thick black line running right across your photo, obscuring huge chunks of the scenery. Ah-ha, your experiment failed, Tom! While showing this useless photo I open the 50mm lens’s shooting aperture to its widest setting, in my case f/1.4 - though I find f/1.8 works just as well. Again, as before, I hold the pen right across the front element and click the shutter, this time telling the onlookers that the pen will have completely disappeared in my photo. I immediately show the image that’s appeared on my camera’s rear screen. There are invariably little gasps of disbelief in what they’re seeing, and rib-poking accusations of cheating abound. I can zoom into the coffee jar on my camera’s rear screen to show the seemingly impossible – a detailed closeup of an object that was completely obscured by the black pen, and indeed was completely obscured at small apertures. It’s impressive stuff, and it works just as well in video as it does in stills mode of course. Unsurprisingly, for the sharpest photos, I’d recommended that you keep your front element spotlessly clean and black pen free; it’s not recommended that you go around photographing all and sundry with a thick pen taped across your lens hood, and for good reason. All I’m pointing out is that you can effectively remove the chicken wire from your zoo or Greenham Common footage by adopting this simple trick, and if you’re shooting stills it could save you hours of Photoshop cloning. Of course to remove the wire you have to shoot at wide apertures, and the limited depth of field this gives you may well not cover the pack of lions. When I compare pictures taken at f/1.4 with and without the black pen it’s noticeable that, with the exposure locked, the pen shot is about a third of a stop darker. This is unsurprising really as the pen blocks quite a lot of light that would’ve reached the sensor. Careful comparisons also show that the sharpness has taken a small hit and the bokeh behind the coffee jar has been ‘disturbed’ in the pen shot, and is not as smooth as the non-pen shot. Again, unsurprising. Another thing. I’ve used a 50/1.4, but the trick is even more effective the longer the lens, so an 85/1.8 does an even better job, as does a 200/2.8. And lastly, this trick works at practically any camera to subject distance. I’ve just tried it with the 50mm lens focused up close at 0.4m and it’s just as effective. Technically Speaking I’ve focused on the coffee jar, placed the pen in front of my lens and taken a photo at f/1.4 See the enlargement, right. Here’s a big blow-up of the completely obscured coffee jar I’ve focused on the coffee jar, placed the pen in front of my lens and taken a photo at f/16

December 2022 Film and Video Maker 23 Dear F.V.M. Letters to the editor Dear Editor, I n Techy Kit News on page 12 of October’s FVM, the £1299 Sony Xperia 1 lV smartphone was given half a page of free advertising. Nothing wrong with that, but as this is a photographic magazine it’s probably best not to believe everything Sony says in its blurb. The phone is specified as having three lenses - a 16 mm, a 24 mm and an 85 - 125 mm zoom, which it patently does not. The illustration Below is a link to information about the maker of ‘Point Five’, the film that won a ‘Bronze award’ in Switzerland. If you read the article, underlined below, you will see that the maker spent over £1,500 to produce the film and got payment from Crowd funding. He also said he’s spent some time in the professional film industry. All this info. I would say, takes him way out of the category of an amateur. I wonder if all of this should mean that he shouldn’t be allowed to enter his films in to competitions for amateurs? This isn’t a criticism of the film. It would be interesting to get the opinions of other readers of this magazine. There has been a long running debate about whether or not particular films should be allowed to enter in to competitions for ‘amateurs’. I.A.C. is ‘Institute for AMATEUR cinematographers’ https://www.indiegogo. com/projects/pointfive#/ Then click on the CONTINUE READING link about half way down the first page. Kind regards, Gordon Bullock placed alongside these words perpetuates, and adds weight to, the inaccuracy. They may well be ‘35mm equivalents’, but nowhere is this stated, not even on the Sony website. The Exif information will quickly disclose that it does in fact have lenses that range in focal length from about 1.8 mm, through to 3.5 mm and 10-12 mm. These are extremely short focal lengths indeed, and it’s best that readers of a photography magazine are made aware of this. And, unless you’re shooting extremely tight close-ups, any bokeh effect you dial in will have been artificially added in post. My Panasonic SD900 camcorder may proudly proclaim ‘35 mm wide’ along its flank, but at least the Leica branded lens admits to the fact that the lens’ focal range is actually 3.45 to 41.4 mm. Tom Hardwick You mean to tell us that major manufacturers don’t always tell the truth in their advertising? Surely not.... Ed That traditional ditty has come to mind recently as I mused upon the demise of so many clubs which are affiliated to the IAC. An uncertain future will have encouraged much navel-gazing in clubs across Britain, including my own in Norwich. We celebrated our Diamond Anniversary a few months ago. What should have been the occasion for mutual congratulations and party poppers gave way to introspection. Because we’re down to eight members. And that’s because Richard Young, our most accomplished filmmaker - and a character well-known to fellow hobbyists in East Anglia - died on 2nd September. Forty years ago, to that month, I joined the club which then had more than thirty-five on the roll. Time for a leading question - what percentage of those now taking up amateur film-making are interested at all in regularly travelling a few miles to meet in a clubroom? I don’t know. Nobody does, of course. But with the number of clubs - some long-established - that have recently folded their tents, the signs are not encouraging. In addition to an ageing population, two recent factors, obviously related, have brought this about. The long, lingering aftermath of the Covid-19 epidemic and the convenience of innovations like Zoom meetings. Now modern technology is a wonderful thing. It was wonderful back in the day when our grandparents installed their first valve radios in the front parlour. I’m sure we wouldn’t want to be without the internet now that it can replace a room full of reference books. And emails - except when we’re faced with a prodigious inbox load after returning from a brief holiday - also show that convenience counts. However, what technology confers with one hand, it takes with the other. For clubs, the tradition of physically “Ten green bottles...”

24 Film and Video Maker meeting together is an irreplaceable social feature for which an electronic method is a poor substitute. Time for an awkward question - to what extent do new technologies work against time-served habits like meeting in person? Way, way back, Ivan Watson the star columnist of Movie Maker magazine, proposed three basic rules for a human mindset - 1. I want to live forever 2. I want to be loved. 3. I want to be as lazy as I dare be. None of us can wag the admonishing finger at those who might fit the last category. We’ve no idea of their numbers or identities. But it can be a bit of a bind to turn out on a cold, rainy night to go to the club, can’t it? At Norwich Movie Makers we have a large, comfortable and well-appointed clubroom with efficient blackout and an ideal acoustic for presenting films. The car park is just fifty yards away. Norwich has a resident population of well over 130,000 and a large university. Yet, in the run-up to this autumn term we’ve had only one person enquire about membership. Is this pattern being repeated at your club? If you know the solution to this downward membership spiral please let everyone know. As Sir Kenneth Clark said at the end of his celebrated TV series, Civilisation - “We may be optimistic but we can hardly be joyful at the prospect before us.” At Norwich, we’re not holding our breath. Phillip Collins FACI Dear Editor, I just wanted to say what a wonderfully diverse selection of films Paul Kittel showed at his Open Film Night, held over Zoom on 25th September. Paul is a real master at making every filmmaker feel proud of what they’ve achieved, and he encourages every producer to tell us more about the background to their film. The comments column gives wonderfully instantaneous feedback from the audience too. It’s not often I stay past 10pm, but Geoff Harmer’s ‘Fishcake’ was really making me laugh with its craziness. And here’s a few more that I really enjoyed watching. Five Rhythms Dancing by Steve Jakab was a tremendously innovative, and brave, single take. The drone was as mesmerised by the girl dancer as I was. Michael Finney’s Save Our Cinema was an impassioned plea that came over with genuine sincerity, and Ned Cordery’s Needs Must shows what can be done when a photographer suddenly finds out that her Canon 5DMk3 can shoot video. John Simpson’s Summer Fun was just that and I liked the cut ‘n’ shut of his overhead jigsaw filming. Ian Reed made his Platinum in the Park look fresh and uncut, and it’s the sort of film that so gently and sympathetically records the British and their unrivalled quirkiness. John Peartree’s Super-8 transfer of his Australian epic held up remarkably well 50 years later, showing that a good filmmaker can tell an interesting story whatever the medium. All in all that Zoom gathering was a real mixture of new and old. There’s room for many more in the audience, good people. Tom Hardwick ...Right, well, what to do? I believe that film-making is probably more popular than it’s ever been and refuse to accept that our spiral must always point downwards. Positivity must start with this magazine. There are groups and collections of film-makers out there who are busy, fulfilled and upwardly mobile. Aren’t there? Please drop us a line or an article and tell us what you’re doing that is keeping filmmaking alive in your area. If you tell us, we can tell the world. Ed Dear FVM Reader I just realised, very late into this issue’s production, that this will be the last you will hear of us this side of 2023. So I just want to wish you all peace and joy for Christmas and a prosperous, creative, cinematographic new year. Ed

December 2022 Film and Video Maker 25 I t was with deep sadness that I learned from Sheila Andrew that her husband David had passed away at the age of 78 in Manchester Royal Infirmary. This was a very sad loss to his family and also to those in the IAC who knew him. We were invited to his club, Cheadle and Gatley, on many occasions over the years and from the first visit it was clear that David had done his homework as he introduced us to the club. David was someone we regarded highly as each time he introduced our shows I was amazed that he knew so much about us. He was always so effusive about us and our films. He liked to ensure guest speakers were treated by the club to sandwiches and cake and at the end presented us with a couple of bottles of wine. A big plus were the thank you letters we received after a show, a courtesy not always observed. I particularly recall the time we spent with David and Sheila one long Saturday judging session at home. We ran our fiction film competition five times and invited them along one year as guest judges. His comments were always fair and considered and he even came along to the actual festival and stood up to speak to the audience at the end to encourage them and to thank me and Carol for our efforts. Another time he came to our home with a cameraman to film me for the special IAC tribute documentary film and we shot an interview here in my film room. We knew his health had not been good in recent years, but I still received the occasional e-mail, the last one sadly informing us that C&G had been forced to close down which he seemed to take quite hard. So we offer our sincere condolences to Sheila and the rest of his family and friends for the loss of a real Gentleman. Ken Wilson David loved words as those who heard his “Scriptwriting” talks round the Clubs and regions would testify! Born in Loughborough in 1944, he moved to Teesside with his parents and three brothers when he was 3 years old, first living in Redcar, then moving to Eaglescliffe. At Grangefield Grammar School, in Stockton-on-Tees, he was the Chess Club Champion and Tennis Champion. On leaving school he became a journalist on the local evening paper, and in 1968 was head-hunted by the Daily Express in Manchester and worked first of all as a sub-editor, eventually becoming Associate Night Editor. He was always interested in still photography, developing his own photos, and began making Super 8 films in 1980 when he joined Cheadle & Gatley Cine Club. He won IAC gold seals, the David Andrew (22nd May 1944 - 20th September 2022) OBITUARY international documentary award, the Mermaid Trophy, and was awarded a Unica Medal. Over the years he developed a series of talks and discussions on documentary scriptwriting, improving film structure, creative techniques and voice-over delivery and was a frequent competition judge for clubs, regions and BIAFF…..all this while being a committee member for Cheadle and Gatley, holding the post of Chairman for 12 out of 17 years. After leaving the Daily Express, David became a scriptwriter, mainly for training and promotional films for industry and commerce. He conceived films and audio-visual material for many blue-chip companies and Government departments then turned to producing and directing films. He also made a video of countryside walks for retail. In semiretirement he returned to journalism, editing an occasional newspaper for the parents of primary schoolchildren, and organising the local Talking Newspaper for the visually impaired. But his great love was walking in the outdoors. Having covered many hundreds of miles from the Lake District to the Alps, whether at home or abroad, an Ordinance Survey map was never far from his fingertips. Sheila Andrew

26 Film and Video Maker December 2022 With the darker nights here, for many of us thoughts turn to getting down to editing all those films taken during the hot summer months. I know many in our hobby find editing a chore and don’t bother with what can be a very time-consuming job but for me it is the best part of film making. I love editing; the attraction for me is that it transforms one into a sort of Doctor Who: a Time Lord with the ability to control time itself. One can squeeze it, expand it, go back or forward, freeze it or generally stand it on its head. It is also possible to manipulate space, emotions and narrative structure. What other action can do that? A film is made on the editing bench and editing is the most vital part of post-production. I don’t think anyone can be credited with “inventing” editing, it evolved as early film makers realised the powerful potential of juxtapositioning different shots, and the effect it could have controlling the emotions of an audience. D.W. Griffith is credited with being one of the first to use revolutionary editing techniques in his films, one of the best-known being “The Birth of a Nation” (1915), but long before then Edwin Stanton Porter, assistant to Thomas Edison, cut shots together of different scenes taking place at the same time. His “Life of a Fireman” (1903) intercut scenes of someone trapped in a blazing building with those of the firemen racing to the rescue. It is claimed to be the first American film with a plot and contained 7 scenes in 9 shots with a dissolve between each one. His other well-known film was “The Great Train Robbery” (also 1903) which used the same technique, and had 20 shots in 10 locations. Even earlier, 1898, the British Robert W. Paul’s “Come Along, Do” was attributed to be the first to feature more than one shot: it had two! In the early 20th century, the Russian, Lev Kuleshov founded the Moscow Film School, the first ever to be dedicated to film making, and came up with the idea that became known as the Kuleshov Effect. This is that two shots in a sequence are more impactful than one, and therefore created a link between them, i.e. cause and effect. To back up his theory he produced a short film in which a close-up of a man’s face was alternated with various others: a bowl of soup, a girl in a coffin, a woman on a divan. Although the man’s face was exactly the same in each sequence, the audience believed it was different each time and that it showed hunger, grief, or desire. Hitchcock took it a stage further in one of his presentations when he gave the example of showing a Reflections, Ramblings & Rantings Brian Dunckley FACI (Time Lord)

December 2022 Film and Video Maker 27 man’s face (his), then a mother with a baby, back to face now smiling, result: the viewer labels him as benevolent. Change the shot of mother and baby to one of a scantily clad female and the man is seen as a dirty old man! Editing has been used to influence audiences for many years, today’s television adverts being an obvious case in point and it was used to great effect in the propaganda films of World War II, e.g. “Triumph of the Will” made to promote Hitler’s image as a godlike leader. A more recent use of this principle was used by an advert for Many Pets Insurance. This contained only two shots (plus the details), the first was a lady lying down, looking at the camera and saying: “I don’t know how you do it!”. At various times the same shot was followed by either one of a cat or different dogs (looking at camera). Must have helped keep the production costs down! An early digital editor was the CMX600 made by CBS and Memorex, which had two black and white monitors but needed a lot of power and had problems storing the film. During the 80s and 90s many new editors were created but really only aimed at the professional market. 1985 saw the British firm Quantel release “The Harry” the first all digital video editing and effects composition system which laid the foundations for digital video editing as we know it today. A step forward for amateurs was when Avid Technology created “Avid” in 1987, initially for Macintosh but later for Windows, which was relatively user-friendly and powerful. In recent years software developments have provided new ways to edit films and more importantly, have brought the process within the financial reach of most amateurs. The big breakthrough came in 1991 when Adobe released their “Premiere” software for home use, giving almost universal access to the amateur. A first-class system that could do so much to make the process easier, it quickly became the industry standard. I understand that unfortunately, you can no longer buy this wonderful tool, only rent it. Stop renting and you lose everything. If this is so it indicates that Adobe is not really interested in the amateur market. Fortunately, many other firms now offer excellent alternatives: Final Cut Pro; iMovie; DaVinci Resolve, etc. The essence of good editing is when it is neither seen nor obvious! What if…. Recently I was in conversation with a friend and, needless to say, the topic was film making and in particular the role of the professional studio and the director. Under the old studio system, where everyone was permanently employed directly by the studio, from painters and tea ladies through to the actors, the man at the top ruled everything with an iron hand and what he said was law. It is well known that when that great film comic, Buster Keaton, at the height of his creative career, was persuaded to sign with MGM (which he later said was the worst decision he ever made) he quickly found that his hands were tied and he had to do what the studio wanted or decided. Naturally, his comic genius was stifled and eventually he was fired and the world was denied unknown possibilities of a good laugh. When we got on to the subject of directors, my friend said that he thought that a director, particularly of an amateur film, had to be selfish. His argument was that it was necessary, if not essential, that there should be just one person in overall charge and the film should reflect his/her concept of the story. This is most important with club productions where so often, people are too nice to be forceful and so allow everyone to have their say, usually during shooting, which can result in a poor finished production. That is not to say that others shouldn’t contribute ideas and suggestions but this should be done at the early scripting stage. I remember seeing a club production that was based on a great idea but the final result didn’t come up to its real potential. The end credits probably revealed the reason when the director was listed as Allun Sundry! This photograph dates from early May 1941. Made in the house of creativity of cinematographers Bolshevo. The photo shows writer Arkady Gaidar and cinematographer Lev Kuleshov. Most likely this picture is a joke - Gaidar and Kuleshov exchanged outerwear. Lev Vladimirovich Kuleshov 13 January1899 – 29 March 1970)

28 Film and Video Maker December 2022 meet: Suzie Topolska The Bright Future of Film-making S uzie Topolska is a 19-year-old filmmaker from Bristol. Suzie has been creating light-hearted short films, music and travel videos for more than a decade already. I think it all started when I got a digital camera for my birthday and made my first stop motion using my toys as characters. A lot of my inspiration comes from the family comedy style of Pixar films, the wacky antics of cartoon shows, and the energetic visuals of Wes Anderson. I try to release a video on YouTube at least once every 2-4 months to build the habit of practising and thereby (hopefully) improving. I remember a time when I would be releasing videos every 2 weeks – mostly short montages of a place/event I visited at the weekend, but I now realise I’d much rather value quality over quantity and aim to be proud of every film I make. I’m also trying to move more into storybased things. I have made private more than half of my old videos simply because I don’t think they’re that good or entertaining any more. If you can be as self-critical of your past work as I am, then at least it must show signs of improvement. I sometimes struggle to watch my recent videos because I’m hyper-aware of every flaw, but I hope gradually to reach a point when they don’t bother me quite so much. This early start into the world of filmmaking influenced me to study film-making in higher education. I also considered courses in music production and photography but ultimately chose the film-maker’s path because it’s generally much more collaborative. Besides, I could easily continue to do the music and photography in my free time. As part of the film-making course, we get to explore the main specialisations such as writing/directing, cinematography, editing, colour grading, and sound. I have to pick one area to focus on for the 2nd/3rd year. I enjoy all aspects when it comes to making my own films, but if I want a successful career working as part of a crew, I should probably consider homing in on one specific area and become really good at it. Right now I’m torn between writing/ directing and sound. For one of our first-year projects, everyone had to write a 5-minute short film and mine was one of the ten that were chosen by the tutors to be made into a film. So I got the opportunity to direct my own film and really enjoyed the experience. I love being involved in each part of a production without needing huge knowledge of all the technical aspects. My favourite part, though, was writing the jokes for it and making people smile with the final cut. I think I’d describe my type of films as light-hearted family comedies with cartoonish wacky antics – so my niche is already becoming quite set. I’ve made humorous videos for years, so it would be a dream job to be able to do something similar as a career, but my problem is that I feel daunted by how competitive writing/directing seems within the industry. I hear countless stories of those waiting for their “big break” whilst working dead-end jobs in order to pay the bills. Most people in my class want to pursue directing, so my imposter syndrome convinces me that I’m not special if everyone “ A stop-motion film from 2012 Stop motion film “Harold & Mittens” where Suzie created foleys

December 2022 Film and Video Maker 29 else wants to do it. But then again, having my short film picked to be made has convinced me that maybe I can’t be as terrible as I think. I am also considering specialising in sound because it seems to be the least popular option by far. I know a few of the other short films from that same project struggled to find students willing to be boom operators and sound designers. To be fair, most choose to study film-making because they’re interested in the visual aspects like cinematography, but I’ve had a bit of experience making foleys and sound design for a few of my films and have definitely found it most interesting. Sound may be a more stable profession as it appears to be the least competitive sector. I’ve even dabbled in a bit of freelance photography which I also think could be a fun career option, but the idea of freelance scares me slightly as the income may well be more erratic. Maybe even working at the cinema wouldn’t be that bad an option because I could at least get to watch films for free. You might gather from all this that I’m uncertain about my future because half of me wants to be rational and financially stable, whilst another half of me is saying that I should just “follow my dreams” and make the most of this one opportunity I have in life or something clichéd like that. I don’t really know which part of my brain to listen to, but I do know I shouldn’t be quite so hyper-fixated on my future and should just learn to go with the flow sometimes. Currently, I’m working on two Halloween-themed music videos that I want to release in October; one being about a ghost playing pranks on humans and another being a cover of the 2002 Scooby-Doo theme song (with band members in costumes). No matter what job I end up with, I at least hope that I can still find time to keep making these silly short videos which make my family & friends laugh. I’d like to think that my success is valued by how happy I am rather than whether or not I’m some hotshot film director. Behind the scenes on Suzie’s short film “Batting for the Other Team”

30 After a two-year enforced Covid break (which included the unfortunate last-minute cancellation of the event in the UK) UNICA is back. For those of you unfamiliar, UNICA is the international festival for amateur film makers, which is held in a different country each year. The 2022 UNICA was held in Locarno, Switzerland – a beautiful part of the world, set amongst many lakes. We arrived just after the Locarno Film Festival – a major international event for professional film makers - that has been running since 1946. UNICA began in 1937, which gives us the edge in terms of seniority, but not quite in scale. For a start, they had a huge outdoor screen – about 27m (88ft) wide, stretching across most of the Piazza Grande. The projector was the size of a large caravan; it must have needed to be this big, to give enough light for such a large screen. But, back to the real world of amateur film makers. Despite the somewhat smaller scale, the UNICA Festival was held in a very nice cinema, close to the city centre, with comfortable seats, and a restaurant. Twenty-five countries (mostly from Europe) submitted programmes which, this year, were limited to forty minutes and four films. This made it rather difficult to select a programme, as many of our candidates were fairly long. The UK programme is always made up of films that have done well in the current year’s BIAFF Competition. We aim for a selection of genres, including dramas, comedies, animation and documentaries. The Brits have a reputation for humour and are almost obliged to include at least one comedy. This year’s programme consisted of four films: “Lonely Souls”, an animated film by Finn Morgan Roberts “Point Five”, a comedy by Sam Turner “Love Them or Hate Them” a documentary about e-scooters by Jill Lampert and “A Moving Experience”, another animation, this time by Roger Fowles. After each day’s films we gathered to hear what the judges thought about the different productions. Much was done in German this year, but we had simultaneous translation and were able to follow most of the comments. We were awarded a Diploma of Merit, for “Lonely Souls”, and a bronze medal, for “Point Five”. As well as the main competition, UNICA always runs the “World Minute Movie Cup ”.  As you might imagine, it’s for one-minute films.  A panel selects the best sixteen, for the audience to then vote in a ‘knock-out’ competition.  Once again, we had both of our films sent forward. “Rock Cakes”, a music video by Robin & Julie Slater did well, and “The Crash” , a CGI film by Lewys Rhodes came equal third. But, it wasn’t just watching films. UNICA always arranges some excursions and, this year, we had one up into the mountains on an old railway and two trips by boat and train exploring the nearby lakes. All very attractive. One of the excursions included a visit to a cine museum, run by Rolf Leuenberger, the UNICA Chairman and lead organiser of the festival. There were three rooms full of cameras, projectors and other equipment, dating from the earliest days of amateur film making. A further treat was a professional film, “Monte Verita”, by Stefano Jäger - once a member of the ‘Young UNICA’ team – that was shot in the villages around Locarno. It was great to be actually staying in the locations used. Next year, UNICA will be held in Commaccio, in Northern Italy, from 10th to 14th September. It’s well worth going. UNICA 2022 https://youtu.be/q-TzC-H_HV4 https://youtu.be/gA6BCtoRRPA https://youtu.be/Gi7RLa13ciA https://youtu.be/PoSq2Lm0VdQ https://youtu.be/hx8yWLtVG48 https://vimeo.com/551686975 Alan Atkinson December 2022 Film and Video Maker Lonely Souls Point Five Love Them or Hate Them A Moving Experience Rock Cakes The Crash

December 2022 Film and Video Maker 31 SWANNING AROUND SWITZERLAND After such a long lockdown many people might have been nervous of international travel and attending a large indoor gathering. So we were delighted to hear that 120 tickets had been sold. We would all have liked more film friends present, but it was a good start. The organising team managed to get the facilities of Locarno’s PalaCinema, with its excellent main theatre, restaurant and meeting rooms. And a local Ticino Ticket deal for free travel on all public transport (bus, train, ferry). The closest international airport was at Milan which required a long train journey with a change of trains. With Switzerland being the third most expensive country on earth and Locarno being a tourist town it didn’t take long to seek out the supermarkets which offered more affordable options for food. Temperatures were in the mid-30s but in the air-conditioned cinema and hotels that was not a problem. At the many al fresco dining places and exploring the streets it could, though, be oppressive. But the country looked at its best, the architecture, mountains and the lakes sparkled. The tight schedule - national film programmes packed into three days - meant each country was restricted to 40 minutes and a maximum of 4 films. Screenings started at 9am with breaks throughout the day. We were in the cinema until 7pm. (The national programmes often finished earlier but short special film shows were added each day featuring local film makers or items of interest to film visitors.) It is very hard to convey the pleasure in seeing so many films from different countries, different traditions and with so many intriguing viewpoints. Not all are wonderful, but the great majority are worth seeing. They become the topic of conversations over coffee, beer or Aperol Spritz. In the COVID years we had almost forgotten the sheer pleasure of communal film watching, where subtle changes in the audience behaviour influence our own perceptions. To mention just a few of the movies I found memorable: Grandpa and the Chair (Slovenia): an old man painstakingly builds a dining chair, watched covertly by a youthful neighbour. When the carpenter takes a break, the neighbour slips in and destroys the part-finished piece. A young woman sees this, shares it on social media and starts a protest. When the old man patiently rebuilds and completes the chair, a crowd of well-wishers protect it. The old man takes it into his garage, closes the door and slings a noose over a roofbeam … In The Pleiades (Croatia): a woman compares fresh NASA images with the results of her breast scan. It was thoughtful, poetic and touching. The Seaside is our Home (Luxemburg) showed happy holidaymakers sunbathing, paddling and swimming. Kids ran around. Everyone ignored the body of a black man lying face down in the surf. How guilty are we all about refugees! Many hearts were touched by The Last Day (France): A doctor closing his practice on the final day of his service, helps a distressed mother with a sick little girl. His kind manner makes a connection with the child. Years later we see her starting her first day as a hospital doctor. Dave Watterson Above: 1. “Grandpa & the Chair” by Maj Rebolj 2. “In the Pleiades” by Maetja Zidarić 3. “The Seaside is our Home” by Chantal Lorang 4. “The Last Day” by José Joubert

32 Film and Video Maker December 2022 I Still Remember (Hungary) dealt with memories of the war made powerful by outline animations against real night time city scenes. Austria’s list included a deceptively simple story, but done so well the audience were vocally involved. In The Traffic Light a conscientious driver faces a light stuck on red. Every time he tries to move, an officious police woman spots it and stops him. Made by a husband and wife during COVID lockdowns it will doubtless inspire many copies. Ever had problems going through airport security? Try to catch Madam, You Made My Day (Sweden), a gem made in rotoscoped animation. Breaking and Entering (Spain) is a riotous series of accidents and complications which escalates through a jungle of racial prejudice. A young Arab man is innocently in a rich family’s home ... Not that the jury took note of my prejudices! They awarded just four Gold Medals, eight Silver Medals, 15 Bronze Medals and 17 Diplomas of Honour. That is not a complaint about the judging team of Sandor Buglya, Thomas Schauer and Jacqueline Pante – who gave interesting comments on every film. UNICA organised many special events to supplement the programme and give a flavour of Ticino Canton, the country within the Swiss Federation closest to Italy. For example, from Raphael Brunschwig we had an overview of the professional Locarno Film Festival, whose enormous 46-foot-high screen in the Piazza Grande was being disassembled when we arrived. WMMC – World Minute Movie Cup is always a popular part of UNICA, since the audiences judge the entries in a knock-out contest. This year the winner was With the Help of God from Austria. EXCURSIONS The excursions give visitors the chance to see something of the country which hosts UNICA as well as to meet and mingle. First a train outing to Centovalli presented magnificent views of Swiss mountain life – impressive rivers and waterfalls, private cable railways, and roadways clinging to cliffs or leaping across space on bridges and viaducts, soaring power cables spanning valleys. The day was completed by a film biography about the man who invented the Bolex range of equipment, designed to make it possible for ordinary people to shoot movies. At the end of the competition and awards came two days of wider travel. We boarded a ferry for the 55-minute sail along Lake Maggiore to Brissago. This small island, previously a monastery, is now the Canton’s botanical gardens. A further ferry then took us northwards to Ascona and after a walk through narrow, winding alleys of shops and galleries, we reached Grotto Baldoria. This is an osteria: no menu – customers eat what the chef has cooked. Your keep your plate and friendly staff bring several courses to you. Our second trip took us via trains and ferries to Lugano then to Melide and an attraction called “Swiss Miniature” a 1/25-scale model of notable Swiss buildings with a narrow gauge railway to view it all from. A sort of drone-shot without a drone. Further excursions to Morcote and then Sessa where we visited Rolf Leuenberg’s Cine Museum. UNICA will continue in 2023. From 10 – 14 September the venue will be Comacchio, near Ferrara in Italy. Nearby towns are Ferrara, Ravenna and Bologna. Details will doubtless appear on www. unica-web.one soon. The cost of living in Italy is, according to www.numbeo.com, on average, 2.18% lower than in United Kingdom. We can be sure the quality of food will be excellent. And if you want to keep costs right down there are places in the area with self-catering cottages for rent and for camping. We are a community of people with a common enthusiasm for film made outside the commercial world. Watching great movies together is balm for the spirit, a delight to the mind and fertile ground for ideas. Of course, visit your own national festival … but for the wider picture go to a UNICA Congress, see different work and meet sociable people. It makes a very different and inspiring holiday. Rolf Leuenberger, President of UNICA (photo by Roberto Barra) UNICA 2022 jury: Sandor Buglya, Jacqueline Pante, Thomas Schauer and UNICA webmaster Tini Schuurmans (photo by Roberto Barra) Above: 1. “I Still Remember” by Flora Chilton 2. “Madam, You Made my Day” by Monne Lindström 3. “Breaking and Entering” by Damià Serra Cauchetiez

December 2022 Film and Video Maker 33 Postcards from UNICA wish you were here, Love, Alan & Dave

34 Film and Video Maker December 2022 What Can I Do with Bluetooth? Rod Leyland Many of you will monitor the sound signal from your camcorder by using a pair of headphones. Doing this enables you to verify you’re getting a good soundtrack. However, you’ve probably also experienced one big downside - the length of the connecting cable determines how far you can move away from the camcorder. You are in effect “tethered” and have to remove or unplug the headset if you need to move around the set. I have a pair of headphones which, as well as being able to be used with a cable, are also capable of receiving a Bluetooth signal from, say, a smartphone. In the past I’ve used them to monitor the sound signal from my camcorder by using a plug-in cable, as described above. It occurred to me that if I plugged a Bluetooth Transmitter / Receiver (obtainable for around £10.00 from Amazon) (Fig 1) into the 3.5mm headphone output socket on my camcorder (Fig 2) and paired it with the headphones it would allow me to move freely away from the camera and not be restricted by the length of cable. This worked a treat and the total freedom it gives is great. There is a small amount of latency between what you hear in the headphones and the sound on the set. However, the sound and visuals recorded in the camcorder are in perfect sync and there is no latency in what you are actually recording. The latency occurs between the signal from the Bluetooth transmitter connected to the camcorder and the received signal at the headphones. This is after the signals have been recorded in the camcorder. In practice it isn’t a big issue and it can normally be disregarded. Spurred on by this “success”, I was struck by another thought about where I could usefully use these Bluetooth transmitters. Signal Monitoring Wireless Microphone Let me describe a scenario. A useful establishing shot is one where the talent is framed in close-up and, as they speak to camera, the shot is zoomed-back to reveal how small (or possibly how precarious) their position is in relationship to their surroundings. Trailing cables or a sound man with a boom mic aren’t options in those situations. Capturing the sound in this type of shot can be achieved in a number of ways, one being to have a portable sound recorder and microphone concealed on the talent and to match up the separately recorded soundtrack to the visuals later during editing. Another method is to use a wireless microphone such as the ones manufactured by Rode, Sennheiser and others. These systems can be costly! I thought that I might be able to achieve an acceptable result for my purposes by using Bluetooth Transmitter / Receivers. What I had in mind involved using a pair of the Bluetooth Transmitter / Receivers. One is used in the TX mode and the other in the RX mode. (To change the mode you just move an onboard switch between TX and RX.) (Fig 3, next page) So, I bought a second transmitter and set one to TX and the other to RX. When you switch the units on they pair-up very easily when you press their pairing buttons. (Fig 4 next page) fig #1 fig #2

December 2022 Film and Video Maker 35 I plugged a Lavalier microphone with a 3.5mm jack plug (£13.99 from WEX Photographic) into the TX transmitter (Fig 5) and I plugged the RX receiver into the 3.5mm microphone input socket on my camcorder. (Figs 6 & 7) My theory was that the Lavalier microphone would now be transmitting to the camcorder via the wireless link between the two Bluetooth devices. Bingo!! I was receiving crisp sound from the Lavalier microphone into the camcorder, via Bluetooth. And the big bonus was there were no trailing cables! I’ve measured the range of my paired Bluetooth units to be at least 30 metres, which is more than adequate for my purposes. The range may well be greater, especially with the latest generation of Bluetooth 5.0 Transmitter / Receivers that are now available. (The ones I use are the older Bluetooth 4.0 versions.) I mentioned earlier the effect of latency when monitoring using headphones. In this second scenario, where you are transmitting from the microphone to the camcorder, you’ll note that the latency is now created before the sound and visuals are recorded in the camcorder. On playback this shows as being out-of-sync between the audio and visuals. Don’t despair, it’s easily fixed. All that’s required is to “slide” the soundtrack in relationship to the visuals during editing. In my case the latency is a delay of 17 frames when shooting at 50 fps. The latest Bluetooth 5.0 Transmitter / Receivers are described as Low Latency so the required adjustment when using such units could now be even less. You can easily establish the latency in your own system by recording a clap of hands and checking the moment of impact to the audio peak on the soundtrack. Of course, if you want to look really professional, you can always use a clapper-board to mark the take and you’ll then have a frame accurate marker for any sound and video adjustment required. Have fun! Laval Mic: https://www.wex - photovideo.com/ boya-lavalier-micro - phone-1746119/ Bluetooth Tx/Rx https://www. amazon.co.uk/dp/ B08FT7HJW7 fig #3 fig #4 fig #5 fig #6 fig #7

36 Film and Video Maker December 2022 with Mike Whyman FACI England & Wales IAC The UK’s Long, Hot, Summer has provided ideal conditions for film-making. For once there have been hardly any reports of shooting days having to be postponed because of the weather. The main reason for any such postponements seems to have been the difficulty so many clubs have of getting everyone needed for the shoot to be available, not only at the same time but also at the right time. As Patrick has mentioned in previous columns, one of the more disappointing pieces of news one can get from a club is the announcement of its closing. It is, therefore, gratifying to receive news of the relaunch of one of the major clubs in the North-East of England. The new Tees Valley Film Makers is not new. It has emerged as the latest incarnation of Darlington Video Makers. I remember, in my early days of visiting clubs around the country, that Darlington not only gave me a very warm welcome but it also appeared to be a busy and thriving club. However, I think my first visit to the Darlington club would have been at least 30 years ago and, as we all know, a lot can happen in 30 years! Derek Mathieson FACI, who, for many years, was the IAC Club correspondent for FVM in the North of England, has been associated with Darlington club, as well as filling a number of roles within NERIAC, contacted me with news of the new Tees Valley club. Like so many other clubs, he writes, Darlington Video Makers suffered a drop in membership due to the pandemic, throughout which club meetings were only held via Zoom. The club recently appointed a new Chairman, Graeme Bowman, who is very keen to see the club go forward and has put a lot of work into getting the club up and running again. The club has now changed its name to Tees Valley Film Makers The first meeting was held at Aycliffe Village Hall on Tuesday 13th September, and Graeme hosted an evening introducing Davinci’s Resolve Software to members, many of whom had not used it before. He put out an invitation via social media for potential new members to come along and learn about the software, and had screens set up for everyone to use. Three potential new members attended and a second session was held on Tuesday 20th September to help people progress with the software. Graeme is also planning for the club to visit a studio in Middlesbrough which produces advertising videos, and the club has also been asked to produce a short video of the RSPB’s work on Teesside. They hope that the new name will help attract a membership from a larger area and would love to hear from any potential members interested in visiting the club. Contact details at: teesvalleyfilmmakers.weebly.com Moving south a little but still in the North of England, Vince Herke, the Publicity Secretary for Mercury Movie Makers has also sent me some good news. As with many clubs that meet all year round Mercury members expect attendances to fall away a little during the summer months due to holidays and other distractions. This year, however, Vince tells me that ‘most meetings were well attended, mainly due to an interesting programme put together by our Programme Secretary Dave Morton’. The varied programme included a visit by Ken Wilson, a night on “The Golden Age of TV” looking back on programmes of yesteryear and club members provided some evenings or half evenings with either film shows, or technical aspects of filming. One demonstration showed members how green screen can be made to work. The club had another “Out and About” competition which was the penultimate competition of the year. Films had to be shot in the UK and be a maximum of 10 minutes running time. There were eleven entries and these were judged by Roger and Maureen Parnell of Huddersfield Movie Makers. What a job they had choosing the runner up and winner, but they managed to choose two films. Roger said the winner reminded him of his childhood. He also remarked on the high standard of all the entries. The final competition, for “The Gledhill Trophy”, will take place on 20th October and the club is hoping for a good entry for this. Gladys Eley passed away earlier this year. Gladys had been a member for 50 years, and many members had fond memories of her. The club held a memorial night for Gladys and other past members. Secretary Bob Rowley scoured the Mercury Movies Archive and put together two one hour programmes, Tees Valley Film Makers opening night

December 2022 Film and Video Maker 37 Moving even further south I have heard from John Greene at Gloucester that their 60th anniversary celebrations - as mentioned in the last issue of FVM - went off successfully. This being the club’s 60th year they have invited other clubs to make a film on the theme of 60. The winning film will be awarded £60.00. The details can be found on the club’s website but the closing date was September 22nd. They held a 60th Celebration Dinner on June 27th with members, former members and guests attending. A display of old cine items and Archive Books reminded present-day members of past events and friends long gone. Chairman Mike Morris had managed to find films from the 1960s up to the present day and thus gave everyone an interesting reminder of film making then and now. What a change there has been. In a short speech Mike spoke of the many achievements of the club during its 60 years. In recent years these included some 180 Video Road Shows to 90 different groups and societies. Members had travelled world-wide with their cameras, literally from the Antarctic to the Amazon. Local filming included Royal visits, Mayor Making, Carnivals and general daily life in the city. The latter providing useful archive material. The evening closed with a Toast to Founder and Former Members. Chris and Christine Wheatley made all the arrangements for this most memorable Celebration Dinner. The club is now getting back to business and planning a programme for 2023. Roger Western reports that Teign Film Makers Club (TFMC) is back in full swing after their Summer break. Having completed filming for the club project, ’Unquiet Spirit’, during the break and following the editing and some fine tuning, club members should have seen the finished article by the time you are reading this. Roger is a long term member of the club and has been taking a look back at TFMC and its membership over the past few years. Compared to the club of some years ago, membership is much lower, falling from over 40 members to about 20 now, many of whom are, shall we say, of pensionable age. In common with many other clubs, meetings continued during the Covid pandemic using Zoom and, thankfully, membership did not suffer. In fact a few new members were gained who have all proved to be talented and enthusiastic additions. The club has a policy of welcoming anyone, no matter what age or how experienced they are, but with so much online information and the instant audiences available, it seems that the idea of our younger generations joining a club is fading fast and it seems inevitable that numbers will continue to dwindle without any young blood joining. This is disappointing as several young members who have belonged to the club have gone on to become media professionals. It seems almost certain that the latest talented young member, Suzie Topolska, currently at university, will soon be counted among their number. Within the current membership, which were well received by the members and guests. The following week members and their partners were treated to a fish and chip supper paid for by a bequest in Gladys’ will. The fish and chip supper had been a popular outing a few years ago. Gladys also left quite a few items to do with filmmaking. Her family donated them to the club and they were then auctioned off. Bob Rowley, the club’s esteemed Social Secretary put together over 20 lots including some additional items brought in by members. This ran for nearly 2 hours and by the end everything had been sold. I’m told Bob was on his knees at the end and had to lie down in a darkened room to recover! The auction raised over £200 for club funds. The club meets most Thursday evenings at Rawdon Conservative Club, Leeds Road, Rawdon, LS19 6NL. Full details from [email protected] or Club Secretary Mr Bob Rowley: [email protected] however, there is still the mix of experience from ‘newbies’ to ‘oldies’ all of whom are positive and forward looking. Members always reach forward into developing technology and film making methods, keen to improve and develop their knowledge and techniques, often spurred on by club activities and visiting presenters. This year, members were set many challenges by Keith Rossiter, who wrote and directed ‘Unquiet Spirit’. His screenplay required scenes, effects and techniques that some of us had to have explained before they could be set up and filmed, but not once was the term ‘I can’t do that’ heard. To be honest, it didn’t always turn out exactly as Keith envisaged, but everybody contributed and there was much personal and group satisfaction with the final results. As is usual, the programme between September and January consists mainly of Zoom meetings with monthly physical presentations and practical evenings at the clubroom coupled with the occasional ad hoc filming challenge. In the new year the period of annual challenge and competition will swing into action and TFMC is looking forward to another busy and creative session. For further details about the Club and its programme, see the Teign Film Makers club website www.teignfilmakersclub.org that includes weekly newsletters. News from Colchester Filmmakers shows they are planning a varied programme for the next few months, including a sound recording seminar on 15th and sessions on Lighting and Titling software on 22nd and 29th of November respectively. A trawl through many club websites provides me with the information that club activities have been suspended due to lockdown. Many clubs seem not to have updated their websites for 2 years or more. So, if club secretaries are looking for more publicity for their activities please let me know. Details, please, to [email protected]

December 2022 Film and Video Maker 38 I was about to start preparing this report when the latest edition of SAM News popped through the letter box. I know that nowadays it’s common for magazines to be posted online but, speaking personally, I much prefer the printed page, and the magazine of the Scottish Association of Moviemakers is always a colourful joy to behold. With this latest edition, the syllabus for the 2022 – 2023 SAM programme has been announced and although a couple of dates have yet to be confirmed the rest of the meetings offer a varied and interesting selection of events with all sessions commencing at 2pm, usually on the first Sunday of the month. The first meeting in October will have already taken place by the time you read this but I mention it because it will be SAM’s first hybrid live/Zoom meeting. The venue will be the premises of Edinburgh Cine & Video Society at 23a Fettes Row and is a presentation by myself and Pat Mahon as XDL Films. Given that we have the honour of presenting the first hybrid meeting I thought it would be useful to outline how we are approaching this challenge. With the new Wi-Fi system at ECVS fully up and running we set up a Zoom test meeting with Pat at his home and myself in the ECVS cinema and this worked very well apart from some instability when I tried streaming a film down the line. To be on the safe side we decided to provide links for viewers at home. For members in the ECVS cinema the films will be screened live via the club’s projector. I’ll let you know how we got on next time. The November meeting will be on Zoom only and will see the revival of the inter club Strathclyde Film Event, albeit on this occasion films need not be made to a set theme. This is because the committee recognises that it has been extremely difficult to make films during the pandemic so this year clubs can enter a film of their choice, either made by the club or by a club member, of up to a maximum length of 20 minutes so long as they have not been a winner in a previous Strathclyde competition. Let’s hope that this attracts a good entry. We’ll be back at ECVS on the 4th of December for the Christmas Social. Traditionally this has always included a film show which I’ve been involved in compiling on and off for many years, going right back to the days when all the movies were on film. Generally, we compile the programme from appropriate films selected from those shown at BIAFF. These days it’s becoming quite hard to find sufficient movies suitable for a light-hearted festive occasion, however, I think that this year we’ve managed to compile a varied, interesting, and entertaining selection of great films that we hope the members will enjoy. The January meeting will be the popular non-competitive screening of members films and will be on Zoom only. The programme for February has yet to be announced but I am delighted to confirm that for the meeting on the 5th March Howard Smith, the well known and prolific producer of excellent awardwinning films, has very kindly agreed to be our guest speaker. The annual SAM members’ competition, incorporating the fiveminute competition, will be held on 2nd April at ECVS; plans for a possible meeting on 7th May are under discussion and the AGM will be held on the 21st of May. Details of the syllabus will be available on the SAM website at: www.scottishmoviemakers.co.uk Alan Sinclair has a very interesting article in SAM News relating to a project on water for the Virtual Video Group. Alan explains that during the summer and autumn months he lives in Canada, in Centreville, Nova Scotia, close to the Bay of Fundy which has the highest tides in the world. One hundred billion tons of seawater rolls in and out of the bay making it perfect for filming dramatic footage. Alan has already taken stock footage in 4K around the Caithness coastline in northern Scotland for his theme of the “Power of Water”, and with an abundance of whales, porpoises, seals and dolphins, the Bay of Fundy offered plenty more spectacular material for his movie. Having filmed all the necessary material Alan is now working on completing his film ready for the VVG December meeting. Finally, it would be remiss of me not to mention the screening at the Edinburgh International Film Festival of “A Bunch of Amateurs” the remarkable feature length documentary about Bradford Movie Makers. To have a film shown at such a prestigious festival is quite an honour and I was delighted to be able to attend one of the two screenings. The club’s members had made the journey north for a post screening Q & A and I’m pleased to say that at the end the film received a rapturous round of applause from a very appreciative audience. with Brian Saberton Scotland IAC Scenes from Alan Sinclair’s Power of Water

December 2022 Film and Video Maker 39 What’s On? November If your event is missing, or if you’re organising an event, film-show, collaborative film making or a film festival, please do let us know so that we can publicise it on this page. If we don’t know about it we can’t tell anyone about it. Send details to [email protected] December January We make no guarantee for any of the events listed below. Some events may be held online. Please check with the event’s web or facebook page or via filmfreeway.com 3rd - 17th Leeds International Film Festival 4th - 8th Aesthetica Short Film Festival, York 7th - 12th DOCUTAH - International Documentary Festival 10th - 20th Cork International Film Festival 11th - 20th Norwich Film Festival 12th The Box Film Festival, Newbury 20th CEMRIAC Autumn Festival 25th - 30th British Urban Film Festival 27th Golden Knight Film Festival, Malta 1st - 30th London Lift-Off Film Festival 2nd - 4th Liverpool International Documentary Film Festival 10th Swedenborg Film Festival, London 17th Milton Keynes International Film Festival 17th - 18th The South London Film Festival 18th BIAFF (Early bird deadline) 6th - 7th Harrogate Film Festival 7th Stafford Film Festival 14th WeMakeFilms International Film Festival, Wallington, Surrey 20th Southport Film Festival (Earlybird Deadline) 31st BIAFF (FINAL CLOSING DATE) February 6th 1 World Student Film Festival (January Deadline) 18th SERIAC Film Festival (Tonbridge) 20th Fisheye Film Festival (Final Deadline) 24th Carmarthen Bay Film Festival (Just about made it Deadline) March 1st The Romford Film Festival (Final Deadline) 15th Bristol International Film Festival (Spring Deadline) 15th Unrestricted View Film Festival (Final Deadline) 31st Folkestone Short Film Festival (Late Deadline) April 21st - 23rd Nottingham International Film Festival 20th - 22nd Scottish International Short Film Festival 30th Wolverhampton Film Festival (Final Deadline)

UNICA 1991 - 2005