Author: Lee Relph

OVFM CLUB MEETING TUESDAY AUGUST 13TH

Posted on by Lee Relph

 

POEM

 

The time has arrived to share with us the fruits of your labours as we screen your films made to a poem. We announced this project a couple of months ago so you’ve had plenty of time to retrieve that dusty old book of sonnets from the back of the wardrobe, or look up your favourite limericks to get some inspiration for this project.

As usual we ask a little cooperation from everyone bringing a film to the meeting to PLEASE REPLY TO THIS POST in the comments/reply section below, letting us know the film’s run time, media format (DVD, Blu-ray, USB/Memory stick), file format if using the latter (MP4, MKV, AVI, etc.) and picture ratio (4:3 or 16:9). This is a great help for us when planning the evening out and helping things run smoothly so if you could do us this courtesy it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading and we look forward to seeing your films on Tuesday!

TOP TEN 2019 – THE RESULTS

Posted on by Lee Relph

 

THE RESULTS

 

Here are the ongoing results of the 2019 TOP TEN competition:

 

ROUND ONE  (Took place July 16th)

 

  1. Lanzarote – A Different View by Brian Pfeiffer    40.21
  2. Lost Smile By Lee Relph    36.93
  3. World Garden by Barbara Darby   35.14
  4. i360 by Trevor Rogers   33.64
  5. General Election, Orpington by David Laker   33.00
  6. Anything Goes by Wally McKenna  31.07
  7. Brick Beat Lane by Graham Sinden   25.79

 

ROUND TWO (Took place August 27th)

  1. The Making Of Ogre Eating by John & Ann Epton   40.62
  2. Braveheart by Jane Oliver  37.68
  3. Best Friends by Barbara Walker  37.00
  4. The Looking Glass by Horace Chan  32.14
  5. Multi Tracking by John Bunce  31.74
  6. Bus Stop by Hugh Darrington   27.82

 

Last Chance ROUND THREE (Took place October 22nd)

  1. Distance by Mandy Carr   40.00
  2. Magic tricks by David Roman-Halliday  38.84
  3. Birks of Aberfeldy by James Morton-Robertson   33.00

 

So, the Top Ten final looks like this:

 

1. The Making of Ogre Eating by John & Ann Epton

2.  Lanzarote – A Different View by Brian Pfeiffer

3.  Distance by Mandy Carr

4.  Magic Tricks by David Roman-Halliday

5.  Braveheart by Jane Oliver

6.  Best Friends by Barbara Walker

7.  Lost Smile by Lee Relph

8.  World Garden by Barbara Darby

9.   i360 by Trevor Rogers

10. General Election, Orpington by David Laker

= Birks of Aberfeldy by James Morton-Robertson

 

These films will be shown again at the final on January 7th 2020 and the results will be revealed at the Oscars on March 17th.

Well done to the finalists and thanks to everyone who entered a film this year.

 

Thanks to Ian Menage and Hugh Darrington for the scores.

OVFM CLUB MEETING TUESDAY JULY 30TH

Posted on by Lee Relph

 

It’s late July which can only mean it is the annual OVFM Summer Social garden party!

As with last year, this year’s event is once again hosted by Kemsing Mafia members James and Fran Morton-Robertson which means a trip to Sevenoaks for those attending.

You can find Jim’s address in the MEMBERS’ DETAILS listings of the Members Only section of this site (so be sure you are logged in to see it). Carpooling is advised as parking is limited.

Please note that the event will begin at 5.30pm so ensure you arrive for around 5:15 pm. Hopefully you have all lodged your food requirements with Annabelle Lancaster, if not you’re going to starve. Cutlery will be provided by Jim but you are liberty to bring your own, as well as your own choice of beverage if you wish to have something stronger than tea, coffee and soft drinks. If you wish to bring your own chair do make sure it is not a low slung design like a deck chair as Jim’s tables are reportedly high.

I have not been advised as to whether there will be any entertainment provided, though after last year’s debacle with the car key party game where everyone ended up picking their own car this might be a good thing.

So, bring your wellies, raincoats and umbrellas (and perhaps pack sunglasses and sun-cream as a precaution, just in case the sun decides to come out and ruin everything) and enjoy the evening with your friends at OVFM at Chez Morten-Robertson for the Summer Social!

NEXT OVFM CLUB MEETING – Tuesday July 16th

Posted on by Lee Relph

 

Okay folks we are ready for the first round of the TOP TEN 2019 competition!

The Top Ten is open to everyone in OVFM to submit a film, no longer than 20 minutes on any subject, style or genre, which will be judged and graded by their peers. The ten films that have accrued the highest scores by the end of the five individual rounds will be entered into the final in January 2020 and the winner will be announced at the Oscars in March.

Due to the number of club members taking a slight drop over the last year due to ill-health and some unfortunate passings, the committee have decided to maximise the number of responses for this year’s competition by holding just two rounds, which means more entrants per round.

The scoring sheet has also undergone a change for this year, which you can read and download HERE.

Last year Sam Brown was our Top Ten winner with Beyond The Sunset making him our defending champion for this year’s competition. Will Sam reign supreme for a second year in a row or will someone else claim the trophy at next year’s Oscars?

Here are the club members who have been selected at random to participate in this opening round:

 

Ron Williams

Graham Sinden

Andy and Marian Watson

Jim and Fran Morton-Robertson 

Brenda and Roger Wheatley 

Trevor Rogers

Ian Ménage

Walter McKenna

Jane Oliver

Lee Relph

Mike Graham

Hugh Darrington

Anna  Littler

Laura Child

Maria Alexander 

John Bunce 

Harold Trill

 

Remember if you have a film ready and it is not your round yet please let us know below and bring it with you to the meeting – it will help make up any shortfall in submissions.

As always we ask you to PLEASE reply to this post in the comments below, if you have a film ready and letting us know the following important information :

 

Run time

Format (DVD, Blu-ray, USB)

Picture ratio (4:3 or 16:9).

 

Similarly please reply below if you can’t make this round and we’ll accommodate your film in a future round. It is very important and helpful to know these things ahead of time to ensure we have the right equipment for playing your films and so we know in advance how much time we have to discuss all the films shown if there is a huge response.  It’s a simple courtesy we are asking of you and it only takes a few seconds to comply.

And that is it. Join us on Tuesday for the opening round of the 2019 Top Ten!

Thank you for reading and good luck to everyone who enters a film!

NEXT OVFM CLUB MEETING – Tuesday July 2nd

Posted on by Lee Relph

 

I know for a fact that Jane has never been to Canada, so how on earth can she pull off an evening with this title?

Well, when dignitaries from Canada came to England, and more specifically to the London Borough of Bromley, some OVFM members were privileged to follow their every move (well almost) and so went on an ‘adventure’ with them to some interesting places. Much of their visit was filmed….

Hear more about it this coming Tuesday night!

FILM TO A THEME PROJECT – NOTICE

Posted on by Lee Relph

POEM

There’s been a slight break since our last Film To A Theme project to allow for the Top Ten competition and various practical evenings but that doesn’t mean we’ve given up on them.

As you can see, the theme for the next project is Poem.

Everyone likes a good rhyme, whether it is a witty limerick, an emotive haiku or a profound sonnet, and whilst it might not always be so obvious, the lyricism and inventive use of language found in a well written verse lends itself to any number of visual interpretations, which is where YOU come in.

We are asking that you get your cameras out and make a short film set to a poem, like you would with a film set to music but one that illustrates or interprets the text. Whether it is Shakespeare,  Wordsworth, Yeats, Hughes, Plath, Coleridge, Lear or Milligan we are spoiled for choice when it comes to picking the right title to bring to life, so spread your nets wide and let your imaginations run wild, and of course don’t forget you are welcome to hire a voiceover artist or actor friend to read the poem too!

Of course, your films can come in any style – live action, animation, photo slideshow, with or without music, whatever you can come up with will to provide us with an entertaining evening of films, all we ask that you adhere to the FIVE-MINUTE MAXIMUM time limit .

The deadline for this project is the screening date which is set for Tuesday August 13th so you have a bit of time to put something together, and we look forward to see what you have for us then!

Spring Park Film Screening – The Dewer Mystery July 4th

Posted on by Lee Relph

 

SPRING PARK FILM MAKERS

present

The Dewer Mystery

OVFM members are invited to join Spring Park Film Makers for a screening of their film The Dewer Mystery  on Thursday July 4th at the Griffiths-Jones Hall, Emmanuel Church, West Wickham, BR4 9JL.

 

This is the latest film from prolific Spring Park member Gerald Pecksen, but like its title implies, what it is about is a mystery. Such is the buzz about this film, Spring Park have arranged this extra club meeting to accommodate the premiere of its screening, along with a selection of films from their catalogue.

 

Therefore it is an honour that OVFM has been invited to share this special occasion with Spring Park, even if it does mean seeing the film that is likely to overshadow ours at future film competitions.

 

If anyone is interested in attending this event, please make this known by either replying to this post below or via e-mail to our Chair Jane Oliver.

 

Thanks for reading.

Christine Green at OVFM!

Posted on by Lee Relph

Guest speaker – Christine Green – 18/06/2019

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Jane Oliver

NEXT OVFM CLUB MEETING – Tuesday June 18th

Posted on by Lee Relph

 

CHRISTINE GREEN

 

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

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

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

See you then!

Spring Park Film Screening – SPITFIRE June 13th

Posted on by Lee Relph

 

SPRING PARK FILM MAKERS

present

SPITFIRE

 

OVFM members are invited to join Spring Park Film Makers for a screening of their film Spitfire  on June 13th. Here are the details of this event from Spring Park secretary Brenda Troughton:

 

Spring Park are showing the film ‘Spitfire’ on 13th June which was made for the 100th anniversary of the war. It is the story of an aeroplane that was the most famous fighter plane ever made.

With breath-taking aerial footage from the world’s top aviation photographer John Dibbs and rare digitally re-mastered, archive footage from the tumultuous days of the 1940’s, when her power in the skies was unrivalled; all combined with an incredible soundscape of the famous Merlin engine, pierced with gunfire, makes this a striking and poignant film.

Shown at the cinema last year for the 100th anniversary, we are now showing this at the club on 13th June for all those who were unable to see last year.

So we are writing to invite OVFM members to join us.  Perhaps you would be kind enough to let your members know – it would be good to get together for the evening.

 

If anyone is interested in attending this event, please make this known by either replying to this post below or via e-mail to our Chair Jane Oliver.

Thanks for reading.