OVFM Club Meeting Tuesday April 28th 2015

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It’s club meeting time again and this week we will be looking at the fruits of your labours under the banner of our latest project “A Close Shave”!

In case you missed the announcement you can find it along with all the details HERE.

If you have a film ready or maybe you have one in your archives that might be applicable to the topic then we ask that you please let us know by replying either to this post or to the announcement post confirming this as well as stating the length of your film, as it is of huge help to our projectionist, to know how many films we have and whether we can allot time for possible discussion after each film.

And don’t forget that we can now screen films on Blu-ray format so if you want your work to be appreciated in HD now you can! 🙂

Project evenings often bring out the best in of club members and this one should hopefully prove to be no exception.

See you on Tuesday!

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New OVFM Project – Close Shave

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CLOSE SHAVE

Hello again and here we are with another exciting film project for you to participate in.

The subject this time is “Close Shave” which sounds like a very fertile premise for a short film. As ever, how this is interpreted is down to you – you can make a thriller, a horror, a slapstick comedy or your own version of Sweeney Todd – so let your imaginations run wild and flex those creative muscles!

Remember this can be a solo endeavour or a group effort, so if you only have an idea or a story there is bound to be someone else within the club who would be willing help you out on the practical and technical front.; conversely if you have the camera and equipment but no story idea, why not see if someone has one you can help out with?

Whatever you choose to do, we look forward to seeing what you come up when we screen your films at the club meeting on TUESDAY APRIL 28th 

Thanks for reading, good luck to all who participate and we look forward to seeing the fruits of your labours on the 28th of April!

OVFM Club Meeting Tuesday March 31st 2015

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Yes it is another project evening this time devoted to an old favourite – the Green Screen!

We’ve had some fun before exploring the wonders of filming before a green screen and messing about with fun backgrounds and other aspects this technique affords us to great effect so this night shouldn’t be any different.

Unfortunately I cannot give you any more information about what to expect as our Vice Chairman Sam “Choo Choo” Brown, who is organising the activities for the evening, hasn’t passed any details on to me. All I do know is that we are hoping to make a film in this evening or something we can put towards a possibly entry for the North vs South competition.

Just a reminder that, like the Oscars on the 17th, this meeting will be held once again at All Saints Church in Orpington.

Whatever Sam has in store for us it should be an eventful and hopefully productive evening!

‘Deception’ the background story

OVFM is an eclectic mix of people of all ages, abilities and interests and consequently the films made by OVFM members reflect that variety.

Two relative youngsters associated with OVFM are Vice-chairman Sam Brown and his friend and colleague Adam Beveridge. The two of them have collaborated on many projects and have received well deserved critical acclaim for their work.

Their period thriller ‘Deception’ was one of Adam and Sam’s first feature length films. Involving location shoots, costumes, authentic props and special effects it is undoubtedly a work of great talent.

Scroll through the images to read about ‘Deception’ in Adam and Sam’s own words and to see photos from the shoot at the amazing Chatham Historic Dockyard. You may recognize the warehouse building as it has been used in several big budget movies.

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It’s Selfie Time at the OVFM Oscars!

We may not have been at our usual venue and we may have been down on numbers due to health reasons but were we downhearted? Take a look at the photos and you can decide as in a departure from the norm club members were asked to take their own presentation photos – or ‘Selfies’ as I believe the youngsters say!

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John is presented with the Kath Jones Cup by Colin for his film ‘Par for the Course’
Mike and David
David makes the presentation of the Vic Treen Trophy to Mike for the best film cut to music
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Competition Secretary Brenda awards Mike the Top Ten Trophy for his film ‘Illusions’
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With all due solemnity John accepts the Vincent Pons Shield from Mike on behalf of Bob V, awarded to ‘Census’ for best fiction
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Richard and Jess stand in for Reg who was awarded the Alice Howe Cup for the best documentary for his film ‘Lakeside Weekend’

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Ian presents Hugh with the Reg Lancaster Trophy

 

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Simon accepts the Arthur Woolhead Trophy from Tony on behalf of John and Ann

 

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Jim accepts the Jubilee Shield for the best film under five minutes from Malcolm

 

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Pat presents Barbara with the Priory Trophy for her film ‘The Bells of St. Bartholomews’

 

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Jim accepts the Rene Morris Penguin Plate from John

 

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Simon accepts the Heyfield Cup from Lee on behalf of Bob V for his film ‘Census’
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Mike again! This time it’s Marian doing the honours

 

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Winner Colin with James Bond-alike Roger

 

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Roger presents winner David this time. Got to love those bow-ties!

 

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Charlie presents Mike and Jo with their Highly Commended Certificate for ‘Hamilton Landscapes’

 

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And the Oscar for the best competitions secretary goes to…Brenda, Freddy records the moment for posterity

 

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All the winners who made it on the night. Well done one and all

 

Top Ten Competition 2015

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2015 is starting to pick up steam which means the annual Top Ten competition aka the “Barbara Darby Hands Off That’s Mine” award is about to begin!

As ever the names of all OVFM club members have been put into the hat belonging to our competitions organiser Brenda Wheatley and drawn in random to make up the participants for each of the five rounds that will take place between now and the end of the year, leading to the final in January 2015.

Remember that each film has a 20 minute time limit but can be on any subject and in any style. If you have a film from the past which has undergone a significant revamp (perhaps a new soundtrack, remixed sound, improved titling, tighter editing, extended or redacted cut etc. you are also welcome to re-submit these as your official entry.

And you can team up with your fellow club members if you need help on the technical or casting front, it will be the author of the script/concept who gets the entry credit.

The breakdown of the rounds and the selected members for each date is thus:

 

ROUND 1 – June 9th

Basil Doody

Sam Brown

Ian Menage

Colin Jones

Jim Morton Robertson

Ann & John Epton

Harold & Maisie Trill

Reg Lancaster

Simon Earwicker

 

ROUND 2 – July 21st

Mike Graham

Freddy Beard

Lee Relph

Brenda & Roger Wheatley

Pamela Webb

Peter Mitchell

John Bunce

Cherie Hamlet Smith

 

ROUND 3 – August 18th

Andy & Marian Watson

John Alford

Malcolm Goodwin

Charlie & Nellie Caseley

Richard & Jess Pugh

Mike & Jo Coad

Pat Palmer

 

ROUND 4 – September 29th

Barbara Darby

Mike Bishop

David Laker

Leo Staggs

Anna Littler

Walter McKenna

Tony Keable

Chris Coulson

Barbara Walker

 

ROUND 5 – October 27th

Bob Wyeth

Alan Smith

John & Sylvia Greengrass

Annabelle Lancaster

Mike Shaw

Bob Vine

Brian Pfeiffer

Hugh Darrington

Peggy Parmenter

 

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. Couples can each enter a film.

So, get filming and we look forward to seeing what gems you have in store for us in 2015!

OVFM Club Meeting Tuesday March 17th 2014 – OVFM OSCARS!!

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Those American impostors may have got there first but our annual film awards show is still the best.

Tuesday March 17th sees the biggest event in the OVFM calendar in which the hard work and creativity of OVFM club members are rewarded with polished up bits of shrapnel with the names of previous winners carved into them. As ever club members who entered their film into the Annual Competition will be on tenterhooks as the results are read out while the rest of us will sit on chairs like civilised human beings.

The many awards being contested include:

 

Ian Dunbar Cup

Orpington Trophy

Jubilee Shield

Vincent Pons Trophy

Mike Turner Plate

Kath Jones Cup

Freddy Beard And Moustache

 

We’ll also give a hearty slap on the back to whoever was voted the runner up to Barbara “Cakes” Darby in the 2014 Top Ten competition.

This year we are thankful to Tim Stannard of Staines Video Makers for kindly judging the films on our behalf and we believe he might be joining us on the night, so if you don’t know who Tim is, he’ll be the one who is either surrounded by grateful club members or being beaten up by those who didn’t win an award!

And as ever, with this being a special night we expect attendees to dig out their best clobber or be a bit creative with some fancy dress if that floats your boat, either way it would be nice if you do make an effort and not just turn up like the scruffy tyke you usually are.

Last year’s big winner was our extinguishable chairman Simon “Snapper” Earwicker who bagged an impressive six awards! Can he do it again this year or will 2015 be someone else’s year of triumph?

Much like the February 17th meeting this event will take place at All Saints Church in Bark Hart Road, Orpington. If you need a reminder of how to get there please consult this map:

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We hope to see you all on Tuesday March 17th  for the 2015 OVFM Oscars!! Unless you get a better offer of course…

OVFM Club Meeting Tuesday March 3rd 2015

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We kick off the month of March (already? Can you believe it?) by handing over the reigns of the club meeting to one of our long standing members, Jim Morton-Robertson!

Jim, one quarter of the Kemsing Mafia, has been making films for over fifty years – or half a century in old money – thus has accumulated quite a body of work. For our delectation he will be dipping into this extensive catalogue of his to bring us a selection of films he best feels represents the scope of his work.

Beginning with his first ever 8mm shot film from 1962 , Jim will share with us examples of the wide variety of styles he has tackled over the years including animation, comedies and features, while regaling us with tales about their making or the history that surrounds each film.

It’s always fascinating for both the club and the filmmaker themselves to look back over their work so be sure to be present as we delve into Jim’s personal archive on Tuesday!

OVFM Club Meeting Tuesday February 17th 2015

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This week’s meeting will see another screening of films that come from outside our club but the standard will just as high, as the IAC logo above might have already indicated to you.

The governing body of all amateur film clubs across the UK is involved in many film competitions across the country and even overseas, one of which is the prestigious BIAFF (British International Amateur Film Festival). Each year films from all over the country are submitted for judging and rated from 1 to 5 stars with eight exceptional entries awarded a Diamond Award, making this a high contested competition indeed.

For our delectation a selection of films of recent BIAFF entries will be shown on Tuesday night, all of which were rewarded at least 3 or 4 stars in competition, so none of your rubbish here! There will be room for brief critical discussion after each film in what promises to be an entertaining and busy evening.

Due to circumstances beyond our control the meeting will take place at All Saints Church in Bark Hart Road, Orpington (where we have held previous meetings including last year’s AGM). If you need a reminder of how to get there please consult this map:

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Hope to see you there.

OVFM Club Meeting Tuesday February 3rd 2015

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This week’s meeting will incorporate one of our rare special project evening as we attempt to make a film in one night!

That’s quite a tall order for a two hour session but we’ve done it before – you may recall the last time where Sam provided us with a number of objects and one line of dialogue to be included for continuity – and I am sure we can do it again.

As for the specifics, I cannot share them with you as they remain firmly locked in the head of our Vice Chairman Sam “Choo Choo” Brown and we all know what a scary place that can be!

Joking aside Sam has conceived some very interesting one night projects for us before and I am sure he will do so again. So, if you are prepared to head into the unknown under the guidance of our Vice Captain then be sure to present this Tuesday evening!