For this practical evening we are finally bringing to fruition an idea that has been proposed for a while but was never acted upon until now for a number of reasons.
Originally suggested by Colin Jones in 1974, the idea is to make a series of quick joke films in a restaurant setting, akin to the classic “Waiter, there’s a fly in my soup” gag and variations thereof. The format is simple – two people play the diners, a third plays the waiter – thus should be easily achievable with the minimum of fuss.
We will have practice runs to begin with, but hopefully by the end of the evening we will have found a comfortable groove on the production side of thing and will have enough material for a couple of one-off films or maybe a compendium if we are lucky.
There will be an opportunity for members to have a go at a number of key roles that they are either experienced in or maybe have never tried before, the latter ideal for new or less adventurous members. These roles include camera operating, boom and sound recording , clapper, continuity, props, lighting, and of course acting! And if you think you might flubber your lines, we welcome ad-libbing too since our regular meetings always reveals a few budding comedians!
Help will be on hand for the novices and those who are not so confident making this the perfect opportunity to learn on the job as they say whilst having fun. Please let us know by replying below what role you’d like to take on – you don’t have to stick to just one, we want EVERYONE to be involved in this and have a ago at EVERYTHING – and if you fancy an acting role please also bring a change of clothes for the role most suited to you (for example: smart dress for the diners, shirt, bow-tie and waistcoat for the waiter/waitress).
Equipment that will be provided on the night is as follows:
- Green screen
- Lights
- Tripods
- Cameras
- Sound recorders
But you are most welcome to bring your own cameras, maybe to shoot some “behind the scenes” footage. We would also like to request that someone takes some still photos of the evening for our records and future promotional materials.
Props in the main will be supplied by the Committee but if you have something of your own you think might enhance the scenario then feel free to bring it along with you, letting us know what you will bring in a reply below. Oh and of course, please have some jokes ready too! Without them we have no films.
The main purpose of this evening, besides the educational value, is to have fun and that happens most when there is a healthy number of willing participants in the group to make this possible. So, we’ll see you all on Tuesday for another fun and hopefully productive practical session at OVFM!
Should be fun, Lee. I have a short joke for two diners, no waiter required.
Thanks David.
We’ll be bringing one round table for two.
Also two round table cloths, one white one cream, with napkins.
I will bring the Softbox lights
Thanks John.
This turned out to be a very eventful evening with every club member involved in some way, whether as audience, tea & coffee folk, cameraman, stills photographer, actor, props provider, scene preparation and set up, director, etc. Well done everyone. Thanks to those who provided jokes, cake and their own drinks and sandwiches!!
I hope it encouraged members to have a go and that as a result they will find out how they can best contribute in a meaningful way to club productions. Some were quite natural in their ‘acting’ role, others like me found it more difficult. We were grateful too, to actors who came along to help out on the evening – thank you for making them welcome, and so ………. will our membership increase? Let’s hope so.
The clips will be made available on FileZilla for you to download and edit into your own masterpiece. It will be interesting to see the different backgrounds that are chosen. So why not have a go.
Hopefully similar future events will be as much fun, and will help us to forge friendships and develop teams that can work together on future films.
I have to say that it was definitely one of the more productive evenings we’ve had in quite a while AND we got done with 15 minutes to spare! 😮
I’ve now had the chance to watch Hugh’s edits of these jokes. It’s amazing how a carefully chosen background can bring so much more atmosphere to a film. It will be interesting to see the backdrops that others choose to use. Well done Hugh.
I note that it is very difficult to see objects that are ‘see through’ like glass (wine glasses, glass vase and spectacles), as part of them becomes ‘green’ against the ‘green screen’ and then disappears when the chromakey is applied. We will know for next time.