Kent Film Festival 2015

KFF2

KENT FILM FESTIVAL 2015

The annual Kent Film Festival will soon be upon us, taking place on Saturday 26th September 2015 at Canterbury Christ Church University, with doors opening at 10:30am.

OVFM has had a far amount of success at the KFF over the years, our last big win occurring in 2013 while we had a good showing last year, so as ever, this is a great opportunity to not only support OVFM on the day but to maybe also if you’ve entered a film, you could be contributing directly to whatever success we may achieve.

Tickets are on sale from Ian Menage (you know where to find his contact details) – £5.00 for advance bookings/ £7.50 on the door (£3 for students) – while all additional info you need, such as directions to the venue etc. can be found on the KFF website HERE.

Good luck to all who have entered a film on behalf of OVFM.

OVFM Club Meeting Tuesday July 21st 2015

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And so we arrive at the second round of this year’s Top Ten competition.

We had just four films in the first round – the results of which the first can be found HERE so the challenge is to see if we can top that total this week.

The club members who have been selected to submit a film for this round are as follows:

 

Mike Graham

Freddy Beard

Lee Relph

Brenda & Roger Wheatley

Pamela Webb

Peter Mitchell

John Bunce

Cherie Hamlet Smith

 

As ever if you can’t make your designated round be sure to let Brenda know ahead of time or you have a film ready early, please bring it along as chances are it will be welcomed for screening time permitting.

And if you are bringing a film this week then PLEASE reply to this post in the comments/reply section below, letting us know the film’s run time, format (DVD, Mini DV) 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.

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

OVFM Top 10 Competition 2015 Results

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OVFM Top 10 Competition 2015 Results

 

Here are the ongoing results of the 2015 Top Ten Competition!

 

Round One – Held June 9th 2015

1. “30 Years of Caring” by John & Ann Epton    55.40

2. “Leaf Cutter Ants” by David Laker    53.00

3. “Central Park New York” by Jim Morton Robertson    49.04

4. “Our Memorable Trip To London” by Barbara Darby    49.00

 

Round Two – Held July 21st 2015

1. “Table Top Whimsy” by John Bunce    55.96

2. “Makeover At St Martins” by Hugh Darrington    47.78

3. “A Fine Romance” by Basil Doody    46.52

4. “Validation” by Colin Jones & John Epton   42.26

 

Round Three – Held on August 18th 2015

1. “Rhapsody In Blue” by Pat Palmer    42.83

 

Round Four – Held September 29th 2015

1. “A Day In The Life Of Kieran Jones” by Lee Relph    57.05

2. “Backlight Revisited” by Reg Lancaster    48.67

3. “Pirates” by Sam Brown    44.43

4. “Cruising Down The River” by Bob Wyeth    43.55

5. “Syria” by John Greengrass    34.24

 

Round Five – Held on October 27th 2015

1. “Commute” by Barbara Walker    57.41

2. “Lie Back” by Mike Shaw    53.46

3. “Yellowstone” by Brian Pfeiffer   51.46

4. “Broken” by Bob Vine    50.69

5. “Dogs Training” by Tony Keeble   48.72

6. “Bringing The Dream To Life” by Simon Earwicker    48.04

7. “Kitty Christmas” by Anna Littler    47.68

 

So, if my maths is correct the Top Ten finalists are:

 

“Commute” by Barbara Walker

“A Day In The Life Of Kieran Jones” by Lee Relph

“Table Top Whimsy” by John Bunce

“30 Years of Caring” by John & Ann Epton

“Lie Back” by Mike Shaw

“Leaf Cutter Ants” by David Laker

“Yellowstone” by Brian Pfeiffer

“Broken” by Bob Vine

“Central Park New York” by Jim Morton Robertson

“Our Memorable Trip To London” by Barbara Darby

 

Congratulations to those ten. The final takes place on January 5th 2016 and the winner will be announced at the Oscars on March 15th 2016.

OVFM Club Meeting Tuesday July 7th 2015

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You may recall a while back we gave notice about the next project theme of Park (full details can be found HERE) and now the time has come to for you share with us the fruits of your labours!

As with all of our themes for special projects such as this, we like to make them as nebulous and open to wide interpretation as possible, and if past projects are any indication, this is an area in which OVFM certainly excels! “Park” shouldn’t be any different so anticipation is high as to what diverse gems you have either dreamt up for this topic, or have pulled from your vast archive of films.

As planning and time management is vital to our club meetings we again ask if you could oblige us by please replying to this post below if you are bringing a film, letting us now the runtime, picture ratio and format. It is of tremendous help to have this information ahead of time.

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

Club Film – Your Help Is Needed!

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A Call To Arms by  Mike Shaw

While our erstwhile Chairman Simon “Snapper” Earwicker was gnashing his noshers outside at the last meeting, shooting an epic club film with the help, of course, of a bevy of club members, inside the clubroom the remainder of the members put on their thinking caps to interpret a script idea supplied by Brenda.

It was decided to create a film using ‘intakes’ – that is, scenes from existing club movies which admirably, suitably, splendidly and, dare I say, humorously fit the script.  No, I’m not going to reveal the actual script here … it may be one of our entries for various competitions, and to tip our hand would, as they say, tip our hand,  give the game away, spill the beans.

So if all this seems a little enigmatic, now you know why.  Unless you were there at the discussion of course, in which case, you already knew why.

Enough of the banter. Many of the clips and scenes required have already been identified, and are repeated again here because, peoples, we need those clips! If you have any of those mentioned – please bring the relevant movie (or just the clips if you can) along to the next club meeting.  If you have clips which meet the requirements – bring those too – having a choice is a good thing!  Finally, there are scenes which will need to be shot – and we’re going to need props for those – and people to get involved of course.

First, we need a good narrator for the VO: it has been recorded to give us a time scale, but we will need a really good reading – male or female – for the final movie.

Some of the scenes we have identified as requiring intakes are

 

  • Someone painting (Mikes ‘Artist’ suggested) – but could also be a new shot of someone painting over a wall – and over the pictures on it.
  • Baking a cake – very messily. (Suggested – Colin’s film of granddaughter baking with Corrie).
  • Digging a deep/large hole (for planting a small single seed) (Suggested Basil’s film of boy burying a cat in a shoe box)
  • A clock speeding round and a calendar’s pages tearing off
  • People trying to cross rivers and falling in (various clips suggested here – for example Chris’s tyre over the river – you’ll know if you have something to offer!)
  • People climbing mountains (Reg’s Cheese Roll film suggested – but also a suggestion to film someone with a ladder against a green screen with clips of Mountains from David or Andy or Brian)
  • A dreadful band playing (Suggestions include the Christmas High Street Band shot by John and David)
  • Chris and Anna’s cat reading the newspaper (remember that film?!)
  • Three legged race or similar, a street party perhaps or children fighting at a wedding
  • A dog dragging someone along on a lead (Tony to film it?)
  • Someone sunbathing with a knotted handkerchief on their head, or humorous sunbathing situation
  • Someone battling against a high wind
  • Heavy snow storm and heavy monsoon rain (Sam and Jim have suitable clips. Also ‘Aloha Two’ – by Annabelle has a suitable scene).
  • Shot of naked men (!! – Reg’s film of naked men in the ‘Mud Race’ has been identified as a good candidate)

 

All of the clips used in the movie will be trimmed short – probably to 3-4 seconds maximum length.  The remaining shots will have to be original – props we’ll need are a large globe, a long feather duster, and an elegant vase (one that probably looks valuable but isn’t … we may break it!  Brenda’s 3D jigsaw vase has been suggested).

Don’t worry about the quality or colouring of your shots: all clips will be colour graded and ‘doctored’ to have a common universal appearance, so they will all blend together.

Over to you OVFM – the ball is now in your court! 🙂

OVFM Club Meeting Tuesday June 23rd 2015

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FILM IN AN EVENING

One thing that can’t be denied about OVFM is that we enjoy a challenge which is why we are embarking on another Film In An Evening project for our next club meeting. As the title says we aim to make – or at least capture enough footage – inside the two hour time frame of the meeting for a film we can enter in this year’s North vs. South competition.

The theme is “Broken” so please give this some thought and bring your ideas on Tuesday where our Chairman Simon “Snapper” Earwicker will lead the charge and see if we can’t bring them all together to create some of our typical OVFM magic!

We’ve managed to create some fun little films in the past under these circumstances so there is no reason why we can’t do it again. So come along on Tuesday and join in the fun and share your genius with us all!

OVFM Newsreel 2015

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Attention club members!

We are once again asking for your contributions to the annual OVFM showreel!

Quite simply, if there is a major event happening in your area – including Orpington, Petts Wood, Bromley, Sidcup, etc. – and you are available to attend, we hope you will grab your cameras and head on down to said event to capture the moment of film, which we will then share with the rest of the community as part of our Spring film show in 2016!

As before, we ask that the raw footage be passed on to the newsreel editor (yet to be assigned) who will take charge of the material from then on UNLESS you have a specific idea for the narration or construction, in which case you will need to discuss this with the editor.

Thank you in advance for your co-operation in this matter and happy filming!

New OVFM Project – Park

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PARK

It’s project time once again at OVFM and the topic chosen by the Legion of Doom (aka the Committee) is “park”.

 

While the obvious interpretation will spring to mind, this subject is in fact potentially more nebulous than you may think. Before you go rushing off to your local public gardens with your camera, consider that park could also refer to a “Theme” park like Alton Towers or Lego land, or maybe it could suggests a water park. or how about a car park? Extending that further maybe a comedy about trying to “park” a car?

 

I would even go so far as to proffer a tribute to the great Korean director PARK Chan-Wook but I’m the only one in the club cool enough to have heard of him so… 😛

 

Anyway, get your thinking caps on and see what you can come up with, and don’t forget it can be a solo or group project so don’t be afraid to ask your fellow club members for help or advice and if you need it, club equipment is available on request from our secretary. The closing date for entries is the club meeting on TUESDAY JULY 7 th which should give you about a month to put something together or have a trawl through your personal archives for a film to share with us.

 

Thanks for reading, good luck to all who participate and we look forward to seeing the fruits of your labours on the 7th of July!

OVFM Club Meeting Tuesday May 12th 2015

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with Spring Park

A recent annual tradition between OVFM and our friends at Spring Park Film Makers is to share an evening between our two clubs with each taking it in turn to screen a short programme of our films.

The pattern is to alternate the hosting of this event and last year saw Spring Park do the honours, so this year it befalls to OVFM to welcome members of Spring Park to our humble meeting venue, which means being on your best behaviour (yes, Cherie I am looking at you! 😉 ).

For the benefit of anyone not familiar with our 50/50 evenings, the format is that we show a 45 minute programme of our films then we see 45 minutes of films from Spring Park  – or vice versa pending the outcome of the chairman vs. chairman arm wrestling contest – with a break in between for tea, coffee, biscuits and conversation.

Remember this is not a competition, just a friendly sharing of films between two groups of passionate amateur film makers, so sit back and enjoy what should be a varied but entertaining evening.

Film In An Evening – Editing Opportunity

The Lad with the Lamp!
Where is everybody else?

 

Film In An Evening – Editing Opportunity

Those members who turned up at our film making in one evening recently will have had the opportunity to turn the footage into their own version for a short film. We have already seen an examples from each “team”.

It is expected that there will be an opportunity to show all of them together at our meeting on 9th June after the first Top Ten films are seen. Don’t forget, any member can have a copy of the footage from Andy or myself if they only ask for it.

Why not have a go and join in? After all, it WAS a club event and deserves an effort to be made. Otherwise, there may not be another one. The future programme is in your hands!

Ian Menage