Author: Lee Relph

OVFM CLUB MEETING TUESDAY APRIL 5th 2022 – THE AGM

Posted on by Lee Relph

 

One of the more important and serious nights on the OVFM calendar, the 2022 AGM is the one night of the year where club members get to air their concerns, ask questions and share their ideas for future programmes, so please don’t let this opportunity pass you by if you have something to say.

 

In keeping with the current climate, this year’s AGM will be held via Zoom, so look out for an email with the link from Barbara J. Darby soon, along with a copy of the agenda for the meeting and any other relevant documents.

 

Also at the AGM, we elect our Committee. Every year they work tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure the club keeps running, projects are conceived, outings and events are organised and all of the perks and treats you get to enjoy on a regular basis are taken care of.

 

Every seat on the Committee is temporarily vacated – including the position of Chairman – so anyone can who has been nominated or has decided to stand can find themselves as the newest member. While we appreciate everything they do for us, like anything an injection of fresh blood can make all the difference, which is why this opportunity is there for the taking.

 

You all should have received a nomination form via email a few weeks back and if you planned to stand or support someone wanting to stand then these should have been filled out and sent back to Barbara J. ahead of this meeting.

 

Incumbent chair Jane Oliver is now entering her fifth year in charge and has had to navigate the club through some unprecedented choppy waters over the past couple of years, but has kept her head and held the steering wheel as firmly as possible, whilst continuing to represent the club at externally and public events.

 

A reminder of the current committee as it stands is as follows:

 

Chairman – Jane Oliver

Vice Chairman – Vacant

Secretary – Barbara J. Darby

Treasurer – David Laker

Competitions Officer – David Roman-Halliday

 

Ordinary Members:

Annabelle Lancaster (FACI)

Andy Watson

Trevor Rogers

Mandy Carr

Brenda Wheatley 

 

Press Officer – Vacant

 

And remember it is not just the Committee who determine the future of the club and the projects that help us stay active creatively and socially – this is YOUR club so YOUR ideas and suggestions are equally valid and welcome. The club needs films to survive and we thrive on having great ideas to make those films, so please have a think about concepts and themes for future project evenings or other club events.

 

To download the minutes from the 2021 AGM please click HERE

 

Remember this is about your voice, your views, your club!

 

Thanks for reading and see you on Tuesday.

2022 OVFM OSCARS – The Results

Posted on by Lee Relph

 

THE RESULTS

 

Here are the results of the 2022 OVFM Oscars, first announced during the Zoom event held on Tuesday March 22nd 2022.

 

The club competition films were voted for by club members whilst external judging for the Annual Competition was by Teign Film Makers Club,

 

ANNUAL COMPETITION AWARDS

 

Ian Dunbar Cup (Best film) – My Redeemer by Horace Chan

Orpington Trophy (Best Film Runner Up) – End Of An Era by John & Ann Epton

Priory Trophy (Editing) – My Redeemer by Horace Chan

Rene Morris Penguin Plate (Photography)- Turdus by John & Ann Epton

Reg Lancaster Trophy (Funniest Film) – Cold Call by Lee Relph

Alice Howe Trophy (Documentary) – Flying An Icon by Mandy Carr

Free Spirit Trophy (No special category) – End Of An Era by John & Ann Epton

Vincent Pons Shield (Best Drama) – My Redeemer by Horace Chan

Jubilee Shield (Film under five minutes) – Puffing Billy by Jane Oliver

Rising Star Trophy (First Time Entry) – My Redeemer by Horace Chan

Most Creative – Stargazer’s Society by Mandy Carr

 

CLUB AWARDS

 

The 2021 Top Ten Competition – Winner – Lanzarote – A Different View by Brian Pfeiffer

Kath Jones Cup (Joke Film) – Sandwich Break by Hugh Darrington

Vic Treen Cup (Film Set to Music) – Cappadocia Balloon Ride by David Roman-Halliday

Mike Turner Plate (Film Under 60 Seconds) – Mother Knows How by David Laker

 

Congratulations to all the winners! Thanks to David Roman-Halliday for running the competition this year and for Teign Film Makers Club for judging.

 

Join us again next year to see if you will be a winner!! 

OVFM CLUB MEETING TUESDAY MARCH 22nd 2022 – THE OSCARS

Posted on by Lee Relph

 

It’s that time of year again – The OVFM OSCARS!!

 

Like last year, this meeting will be held via Zoom to ensure the largest turn out possible but don’t feel dissuaded from dressing up as we would were this meeting “in person” you can still enter into the spirit of the event and get your glad rags out if you wish.

 

Club secretary Barbara J. Darby will send out the Zoom link via email 24 hours before the meeting takes place so look out for that.

 

As you know, the point of this evening is to celebrate and reward the efforts of our club as filmmakers, looking back at the collective output from our members in 2021 and sharing our appreciation for the skill and quality of this work. The films were judged in two ways – by club members for the in-house competitions, and by an external panel of judges for the Annual Competition. This year we are grateful to members of Teign Film Makers Club, some of whom we met in the last Zoom meeting. 

 

Because this is being held over Zoom, we are changing the format a little bit. The awards will be announced in the first half of the meeting, then the second half will be dedicated to screening the winning films (or excerpts of, depending on time restrictions). Our host for the evening will be competitions officer David Roman-Halliday.

 

The categories being contested are as follows:

 

ANNUAL COMPETITION AWARDS

 

Ian Dunbar Cup (Best film)

Orpington Trophy (Best Film Runner Up) 

Arthur Woolhead Trophy (Animation or Visual Effects)

Priory Trophy (Editing)

Rene Morris Penguin Plate (Photography)

Reg Lancaster Trophy (Funniest Film)

Alice Howe Trophy (Documentary) 

Free Spirit Trophy (No special category)

Vincent Pons Shield (Best Drama) 

Jubilee Shield (Film under five minutes) 

Rising Star Trophy (First Time Entry) 

Most Creative

Commendation Award 

 

CLUB AWARDS

 

The 2019/20 Top Ten Competition

Kath Jones Cup (Joke Fim)

Vic Treen Cup (Fim Set to Music) 

Mike Turner Plate (Film Under 60 Seconds) 

 

Last year’s big winner was Mandy Carr, scooping an incredible 7 awards, whilst right behind Mandy were John & Ann Epton with 6 awards! Who will be the triumphant winner(s) this year? Will Mandy and the Eptons reign supreme for a second year or is the field open for someone else to steal their thunder?

 

You can see the films entered in the Annual Competition HERE (this is in the members only section so make sure you are logged in).

 

Join us this Tuesday March 22nd via Zoom for the 2021 OVFM Oscars!!

OVFM CLUB MEETING TUESDAY MARCH 8th 2022

Posted on by Lee Relph

 

Its back to Zoom for our next club meeting, with a twist on an old theme.

 

We’ve had many evenings in the past where we’ve viewed films from other clubs, but rarely has this be a reciprocal arrangement in the same week – until now! This Tuesday evening, OVFM will be sharing films submitted by Teign Film Makers Club a mere 24 hours after they will have enjoyed a program of films submitted by OVFM!

 

At present we don’t know what films we will be seeing from Teign, affording us a level of anticipation for what awaits. As we have seen in the past. most clubs tend to have their own unique “flavour” influenced by their geography and local culture, as well as personal or collective attitudes towards experimentation and embracing technology in their filmmaking. Hopefully, this should prove to be an exciting evening from that perspective.

 

There will be a few moments after each film for a brief discussion about what have seen and to share our thoughts on them, but we ask you to keep the comments as constructive and non-critical as possible, as this is a friendly exercise not to mention we have open the invitation for members of Teign to join us for this session. And since they are also judging our annual competition films this year, it would be wise not to upset them!

 

As ever, club secretary Barbara J. Darby will send the Zoom meeting link out via email shortly before the meeting and a final reminder on the day so keep your eyes peeled for that.

 

Evenings such as this are always fun and enlightening, just to see the output from other film clubs across the country, the standard of their work and their philosophies on filmmaking, so do please join us on Tuesday to  lean more about  our new friends from Teign Film makers Club!

OVFM CLUB MEETING TUESDAY FEBRUARY 22nd 2022

Posted on by Lee Relph

 

This coming Tuesday we are back in our old haunt of the Barnard Rooms for our first in-person meeting for a while, as we jump into our time machine and take a trip into the past for a look into the OVFM archives!

 

The evening will be split into two halves – the first features films chosen by Brian Pfeiffer, so expect to see films set abroad and in far off locations, whilst Brian also has an update on his granddaughter who works at a wildlife conservation in South Africa.

 

For the second half, David Laker has been digging deep and found a few films that haven’t seen the light of day for many years, and some have never even been shown at any of our annual film shows! For some of our longer standing members this will be a trip down memory lane whilst our newer members will be given a chance to see what Orpington looked like 30+ years ago and just how far we have come as filmmakers and editors as well as the equipment we use and the stories we tell!

 

A reminder that COVID precautions will be in effect so feel free to wear a mask and note that there may not be a full tea break but basic refreshments will be on hand on and a quick “comfort break” will be permitted.

 

We hope to see as many of you a possible for this delve into the archives for a fun and rewarding retrospective evening.

Logging In To The Website!!

Posted on by Lee Relph

 

Logging In To The Website

An Illustrated Guide

(Updated January 4th  2022)

 

Despite running this site for 11 years now, some club members often struggled with logging into the website to see the Members’ Only material hidden away from the general public.

 

Now the site theme and layout has changed again, I am mindful of the fact this may cause some confusion when encountering this new facia for the first time. Therefore I have updated this tutorial to reflect this.

 

First of all, being “logged in” to the website does not mean simply having the website loaded in your web browser. Just as you need an account for a retail site like Amazon that requires a password to access your hidden payment details, our site operates on a similar basis.

 

When the new website was launched everyone was assigned a username and password; since then I have had to assign new passwords due to them being forgotten or lost. I keep a record of these passwords and test them all so I know they work. If you don’t have a password or have lost/forgotten yours, drop me a line via e-mail at: leerelph@hotmail.com and I will create a new one for you.

 

N.B – Please DO NOT use the “Lost your password?” link on the sign in page as that is an automated service it goes directly to WordPress and doesn’t go to me, thus I have no control over what they send out in response. Please contact me directly instead.

 

So, you arrive at the home page of the club website.

 

 

If you are NOT logged in to the site you can tell by three ways:

 

1) You get this error message shown earlier when trying to access any private post or those located in the Members’ Only section:

 

 

2) There is no black activity bar at the top of the page with your details:

 

 

3) Scroll down a bit and the login function, which is permanently located on the LEFT HAND SIDE of the home page, BELOW the menu bar and ABOVE the OVFM Clapperboard logo, where in GOLD text , reads “Login” and not your name:

 

 

Admittedly the text for the “Login” link is a bit faint which is a drawback of this particular theme being used for this website but hopefully the above diagram will suffice in showing you exactly where it is.

 

To rectify this click on the text link “Login” and you will be taken to the follow page:

 

 

Enter your USERNAME and PASSWORD exactly as it is given to you in the respective boxes shown below, making sure to check the “Remember Me” tick box as shown above so you won’t have to log in again next time. Also, if your browser has the function to store passwords, use that too.

 

N.B – Occasionally you will be automatically logged out of the website because WordPress cookies have a short life span, so using the “remember me” or your browser’s password storing function will ensure you don’t have to enter your login details every time.

 

REMINDE R- Please DO NOT use the “Lost your password?” link on the sign in page as that is an automated service it goes directly to WordPress and doesn’t go to me, thus I have no control over what they send out in response. Please contact me directly instead.

 

Once your login details have been accepted you’ll be taken back to the home page where you will now see the black activity bar at the top of the page saying “Hi” and your name:

 

 

 

And your name and welcome message where the login instruction once was:

 

 

You are now “logged in” to the website and can access the Members Only section. Also note that if a regular post has been made “Private” it won’t show up on the latest posts list on the left hand side of the homepage until you have logged in. Simple eh?

 

I hope that is clear for everyone and now you know what to do if you are ever faced with the dreaded “Oops” error message again!

 

Remember, if you need a password my e-mail is leerelph@hotmail.com

 

Thanks for reading.

OVFM CLUB MEETING TUESDAY FEBRUARY 8th 2022

Posted on by Lee Relph

 

I hope everyone has their thinking caps ready as our next club meeting, held via Zoom, will be a Quiz Night!

 

The Legion of Doom (OVFM Committee) have been tight lipped about what we can expect in terms of questions and categories thereof, although I have been reliably informed there will be “something for everyone”. This, I presume, means it will cover general knowledge topics and not just limited to film which would be the natural theme given we are a filmmaking club!

 

Please note that by virtue of this being a Zoom meeting, the scoring will be left to up to the individual to do themselves, meaning the LOD are putting their faith in everyone to be as honest as possible in checking their answers, whilst use of Google or the other sources of reference are prohibited. 

 

So swot up, watch lots of TV quizzes (The Chase, Mastermind, Pointless, et al), and be ready for the great OVFM Quiz Night this coming Tuesday!

 

 

P.S – If you have an idea for a theme for a future Zoom meeting that could inspire a topic for making more films, do let the LOD know.

OVFM SPRING FILM SHOW 2022

Posted on by Lee Relph

 

It’s been a while – two and half years in fact –  but we are ready to bring our annual film shows back to life again!

 

One of the most important dates in the OVFM calendar is our annual Spring Show where we share the fruits of our labours from a year of busy filmmaking, along with some gems from our archive. What better way to celebrate the days getting lighter and warmer than with evening of films from the very best local amateur filmmaking talent.

 

Along with a collection of films covering all genres from drama to comedy, travelogue to documentary as well as classics from our extensive archive spanning over 60 years, you will also see our legendary newsreel looking back at major local events in 2021 and of course, our take on life in lockdown!

 

This year’s event will take place on FRIDAY 25th MARCH at 7:00 for 7.30 pm

VENUE –  Methodist Church, Sevenoaks Road, Orpington, BR6 9JH

DIRECTIONS – GOOGLE MAP

WEBSITE – http://www.orpingtonmethodist.org.uk/welcome.htm

 

Club members get in free but for guests and non-members the tickets are £5 and are available by making a request via e-mail at info@ovfm.org.uk or by telephone on 01689 811971. Don’t leave it too late as they tend to get snapped up very quickly.

 

Do please note that observing COVID safety protocols is optional, but we will have hand sanitiser at your disposal and have laid out safe distance seating. This also means our usual intermission will be replaced by a short “comfort break” for those who need it whilst you are welcome to bring your own bottle of water or light beverage of choice if you wish if you require refreshments.

 

If any OVFM club members or our external friends wish to help publicise this event please download a printable version of the poster HERE (open the file, right click and save).

 

For an entertaining and sociable evening do join us on Friday March 25th and bring along your friends and family!

2022 Annual Competition

Posted on by Lee Relph

 

The Annual Competition is back after a two year hiatus, which means your chance to put your film up for consideration to be judged by an external panel and be eligible for an award at the OVFM Oscars, which will be on Tuesday March 22nd 2022. This year we are indebted to members of Teign Film Makers Club for agreeing to judge our films.

 

Because we are still operating remotely due to the current pandemic restrictions, we are forced to do things a little differently this year. First, everything will be handled online which means instead of a physical copy of your film, you submit a digital version. Your film needs to be in MP4 format only and send it to DAVID LAKER either via WETRANSFER or FILEZILLA by no later than FRIDAY 28th JANUARY !!

 

Secondly, as it is all being done online the usual £2 entry fee has been waived. You still have to fill out an entry form which again will be online via Google Docs, and should have already been sent to you by David Roman-Halliday by email.

 

A reminder of the rules can be found HERE.

 

Thanks for reading and good luck to everyone who enters a film.

OVFM CLUB MEETING TUESDAY JANUARY 25th 2022

Posted on by Lee Relph

 

SIGNS

 

Coming up in the next club meeting on January 25th we have the screening of the films you made to the theme of Signs as first revealed to you HERE.

 

Hopefully you’ve taken advantage of the nebulous scope this rubric has as we explained but if you still need to add some finishing touches or need some last minute inspiration then be sure to check out the “Resources” links on the front page of this site where you will find links to site which have FREE stock images and videos clips for you to use; our chair Jane Oliver also submitted to other links for  FREE images to sites I’ve used a lot for my Photoshop manipulation compositions Pixabay and Pexels.

 

The meeting will be held via Zoom per the current situation with Omicron, the links for which will be sent out by Barbara J. Darby a couple of day before it takes place with a reminder on the day.

 

Now the important part – if/when you have your film ready please ensure it is in MP4 format only and send it to DAVID LAKER either via WETRANSFER or FILEZILLA by no later than FRIDAY 21st JANUARY !!

 

Thanks for reading and we look forward to seeing your films on the 25th!