In Memoriam – John Alford
John Christopher Alford G4DOE FBKSTS
John had probably been coming to the club for over thirty years, and in the early days film was his chosen media. His interest in it was born on the back of his early experience in the industry. While he mostly worked in advertising, he formed lasting relationships elsewhere, joining the British Sound and Television Society (BKSTS), now the International Moving Image Society, where John was eventually made a Fellow. Not surprisingly, for John, Kodak 16mm film was the only media that should be used, and that’s what he did, even when making his most recent film, “Salvor”. His professional, eye-popping ‘Red’ film camera, on which he recorded his moving images, was something to behold.
The whole process back then was very different from today’s media, which enable images captured on tapes, hard drives and memory cards to be checked. Using film meant that the spool, once exposed, had to be encased in a tin and sent away to Kodak for developing. As this left no margin for error, meticulous planning was needed to ensure that every shot was captured perfectly, preferably at the first take.
Film is extremely expensive but to John, however, this was the only suitable media as nothing could match the superior quality of film, in his eyes.
Sound was captured on tape—not an SD card in sight!— and subsequent synchronisation with the film brought its own challenges. But John rose to these and made everything work. He had greater knowledge of filmmaking and sound than most, and even built his own microphone.
As a director, he knew exactly what shot he wanted, and wouldn’t stop until it was ‘in the can’, as all good directors do.
As for lighting, a couple of LED bulbs from Amazon would never do. Red Heads and 2.5K made his set look like a mini-Hollywood.
“Salvor” combined his love of film with his lifelong interest in radio, with his own call sign featuring in the film along with a radio of his vintage. Having joined the Royal Signals as part of National Service after WW2, and continuing his first career with the Admiralty, he worked on Torpedoes and other big-boy-toys that went bang. He maintained his interest in things electronic and radio, passing his Amateur Radio Examination on 20 October 1958. This same knowledge enabled him to maintain and repair both his film equipment and his radio installations.
John was also creative, coming up with stories and scripts and even sharing one at the last meeting he attended.
More recently, the club had embarked on some training. John was really interested in these sessions. His long experience and wealth of appropriate anecdotes made his contributions invaluable.
My lasting memory is of him sitting on a bench outside Chelsfield Village Hall in the sunshine alongside the two Barbara Darby’s, sharing a joke and having a chuckle… quite a character who will be dearly missed.
Thank you for your valuable contribution, John. Rest in peace.
Jane and Steve