No, you’re not experiencing deja vu, we are seeing more films from our project MOVING but unlike last time, the films being shown in this session will be from other clubs.
If you recall the topic of MOVING was originally to be applied to the North vs South competition which, for the first time in its long history is not taking place this year. However this hasn’t stopped OVFM or other clubs from making films in case someone stepped in and took up the mantle of running the competition at the last minute, and being the nice people that we are we have invited our fellow filmmaking organisations to share their films with us.
There is a possibility that some of the filmmakers and representatives from these clubs will be present on Tuesday, so if you do happen to spot an unfamiliar face, do extend a typical OVFM welcome to them (or just do what I do and scowl at them so they leave you alone – never fails)!
Previous N vs S competitions have shown that any topic can yield a wealth of creative and unique interpretations so we look forward to what should be an interesting evening of films this coming Tuesday.
This week’s club meeting sees members given the chance to share with us the fruits of their labours in interpreting the theme “Moving”. You’ve had a few months since we first announced this project to think this over and whilst it is a difficult subject to tackle for a drama piece, there should be plenty of scope for observational pieces based on transport, people, animals etc.
Hopefully some of you will have risen to this challenge and have produced something for us to enjoy, but even if you only have a rough edit of a film, or the bare bones of an idea please bring it along and maybe we can offer some input to help you complete it.
As far as this being for the North vs South competition, things aren’t looking too positive at the moment unless a last minute saviour ride in on their white horse to rescue this long running competition from the abyss, but that shouldn’t deter us from making films pertaining to the chosen topic.
If you are bringing a film PLEASE reply to this post below, listing the format (DVD, Blu-ray, USB) run time and picture ratio (16:9. 4:3). The evening runs SO much smoother if we know ahead of time how many films we have to show and how much room to leave for discussion.
Also, don’t forget to get your tickets for the Kent Film Festival (Sept 23rd) from Ian Menage and our Autumn Film Show from Freddy Beard.
Thanks for reading and we look forward to seeing your efforts on Tuesday.
As you may already be aware by now, the future of the annual North vs. South competition is in doubt after OVFM relinquished the job of running the event and, at the time of posting, there has no been response from other clubs to pick up the mantle. However it has been decide that instead of letting the opportunity pass us by, should there be an 11th hour saviour, OVFM will make a club film to fulfil the chosen topic for the NvS competition, as well a give us a project the whole club can work together on.
The theme is “Moving” and somewhat ironically we shall be “moving” away from the usual brainstorming format which is part of the programme for the next club meeting this coming Tuesday. Dividing the evening into two parts, the first will be the brainstorming session.
Ensuring that everyone is given a chance to be involved and not just left to the same few faces, we will break into small groups to share our ideas for the theme “Moving”. Each group will then decide on the idea that would be best suited to the theme that they could make into a short film for showing on the club meeting at a future date (do check back on the club calendar for updates).
Don’t be discouraged if your idea isn’t taken up by your group, there’s nothing to stop you making a film of your own if you so desire – in fact, the more the merrier! This exercise should ultimately provide us with a variety of films that could also be entered into various other external and IAC related film competitions beyond the N v S, should it be resurrected by another club.
In the second part of the evening we will watch some films from the OVFM archives that fit the theme “Moving” as possible entries to the competition along with of newer efforts to get the numbers up.
So get your thinking caps on and bring your ideas for the them of “Moving” to the club meeting on Tuesday!
Despite the weather plunging deeper into the coldness of winter this year;’s North vs South final at Farnborough Village Hall on Sunday December 4th welcomed a very healthy turn out (in fact two extra rows of chairs were needed) to find out which side of the river would prove victorious!
An impressive count of 27 entries (including five from OVFM) from 16 clubs nationwide made the final programme with two unfortunately being jettisoned at the last minute due to time constraints and the usual 45 minute tea break reduced to 30 minutes. The films – all conceived under the theme of Out Of The Blue – took in comedy, drama, documentary, animation, surrealism, and even someone showing off their new camera drone. A wide variety of ideas and concepts all conjured up from one simple phrase.
Before we get to the results, there were two people who correctly guessed the order of the decision of winner and runner-up from this year’s assigned judge John Sharp. Also the theme for next year’s competition was not correctly guessed by anyone either more on that in a moment.
So, who won?
Well, the runner up film was:
Don’t Give Up from AVS Movie Makers representing the North.
This was a docu-drama based on real events of a former sportsman turned company director who suffered a stroke aged 42 yet managed to come back from it and establish his own stroke support charity. This was awarded the Harry Adams Trophy.
And the winner is:
Ties That Bind from Sutton Coldfield Movie Makers representing the South.
Scooping the top prize of the John Wright Trophy was a drama about a retired married woman who reveals she had a child as teenager whom she gave up for adoption and the surprising reaction from her husband.
That means for the first time in a while the South was victorious so congratulations to Sutton Coldfield to making that happen!
EDIT:
And here is the final Top 10 rankings according to judge John Sharp:
1st Sutton Coldfield Movie Makers – Ties That Bind (John Wright Trophy)
2nd AVS Movie Makers – Don’t Give Up (Harry Adams Trophy)
3rd Spring Park Film Makers – Where Time Stood Still (Highly Commended)
4th OVFM – Meet Dexter (Highly Commended)
5th Cheadle & Gateley Film Makers – The Prodigal (Commended)
6th Pendle Movie Makers – Out of the Blue (Commended)
7th Bristol Film & Video Society – Don’t Call Me Baby (Commended)
8th OVFM – Reaching for the Skies
9th Cheadle & Gateley Film Makers – Out of the Blue
10th Tynemouth Video Film Making Group – Lost in Translation
And the theme chosen for the 2017 competition is MOVING.
This is an ironic topic since this will be OVFM’s last time hosting this event and we hope to hand over the reins to another southern club to carry on the work and mantle of Mike Coad and OVFM. To that we should extend of heartfelt thanks to the OVFM members who stepped up and organised this year’s show, as well as those who made sure everything ran smoothly on the day, from setting out the hall seats to supplying of the refreshments, from selling the raffle tickets to the actual screening of the films, and of course to Sam Brown for acting as MC.
So, that is the North vs South for 2016. Well done to the winners and to everyone who entered a film and here’s to next year’s event!
Sometimes I wish I my mind would switch off when we discuss project ideas or here are calls for a film script to suit a competition theme at our club meetings; it always ends with many sleepless nights and unnecessary stress – for me at least. Yet, rather annoyingly when the end product comes together so well and I realise something pretty good grew from a brief image flashing in my neurologically aberrant brain, perhaps I should cut my fertile imagination some slack.
For the uninitiated or those with short memories, way back in April, our club treasurer David “Offshore Account” Laker was hosting the club meeting and mentioned former OVFM Chairman Chris Coulson has acquired a live(ish) dinosaur which he named Dexter and had kindly offered to allow the club to film his new pet one club evening.
“If it wasn’t for me, he never would have even heard of Oscar Schindler!”
The annual North vs. South competition was also a point of discussion and we needed scripts to fulfil the theme of “Out Of The Blue”. David quipped that if we could combine the two ideas it would save a lot of time. So of course my brain defied all orders to sit quietly and let someone else respond to David’s call to arms, and immediately produced an image of Dexter leaning over two shocked and scared looking people.
My deviant grey matter also decided these people should be parents of a young woman introducing her new boyfriend to them, Dexter being the boyfriend. By the time I got home that night a half-formed scenario occupied my head, and eventually I was forced into submission. A few days later I sat before my PC, opened up Celtx and began to transfer the mini-film playing in my head into script form and within a matter of hours I had the first draft completed.
At the club meeting on June 7th I bravely submitted my script – now entitled MEET DEXTER – to the club for consideration. I’m the world’s worst public orator so heaven knows how my pitch sounded to my fellow club members but I wasn’t confident I had conveyed my idea successfully, yet somehow I was persuaded to keep working on it and begin the storyboarding and blocking.
With MEET DEXTER apparently going ahead after all, we needed to begin securing the vital assets of the production, such as location, crew and cast. Simon “Snapper” Earwicker, our chairman and reigning Hide & Seek champion, suggested we contact Olive Allen, widow of OVFM stalwart Derek, to see if we could use her garden which I was told was “quite big”.
Quite big? Try @!%*$?# HUGE!! It ran on for miles and would divert off into another spacious hideaway which in turn would reveal a verdant labyrinth, shaded by a canopy of towering trees and divided by thick hedges. I actually discovered a tribe of pygmies settled in the undergrowth behind the garden shed, who thought they were in the Amazon, blaming their Sat Nav for not suggesting they turn left at Albuquerque.
Dexter defies all biological reason and precedent by giving birth
But it was the centrepiece of the garden, a stone paved square with surrounding low walls that sold me on this wonderful expanse of land being perfect for the shoot and Olive was gracious enough to confirm her permission for us to use it. So August 16th was marked in the diary, the day OVFM, the actors, Chris and 7 ft dinosaur would descend upon Chez Allen.
At this point it seemed that only I was aware that this was a club film and not a personal project so I was getting a little worried no-one had volunteered to help as per the request on the website. Thankfully David put the word out at the annual garden party and without the use of incriminating photos, managed to secure our crew.
Next was the casting. I had asked a few people that I had worked with on prior films if they would be interested but they were either on holiday on that filming date or were still traumatised from working with me before. I put out casting calls on social media with sadly little response, aside from two women I had to pass on for logistical reasons.
Luckily Anna Littler came to the rescue by referring me to Blitz And Bananas alumna Sue Gray to play Sandra and Hannah Whitehead, a budding actress and model to play Tilly. Rather fortuitously, Hannah has an older sister Beth, also an actress, so that was an extra role fulfilled too. The final piece of the puzzle was our male lead, the call answered by David Wrighton to play Ron after I e-mailed a number of local theatre groups for actors.
This is what happens when you let OVFM into your garden!
How would the shoot go? Find out in part two coming soon!
The 2016 North vs South final is upon us, taking place on Sunday December 4th!
OVFM has five films entered in to this year’s contest on the theme of “Out Of The Blue” and it has been a while since our name has been on the winner’s list so let’s hope 2016 is our year!!
As ever the venue is Farnborough Village Hall, High St, Farnborough Kent BR6 7BB.
A map if needed can be found HERE! (Ignore the picture in the side bar, that was taken across the road from the Village Hall).
Those attending are asked to arrive by 2.30pm for 3:00 pm start. Club members who have entered a film are granted free admission (non-club members and a partner are covered by their film entry fee) otherwise entry is £5, which includes tea and coffee.
Please contact Freddy Beard ASAP if you wish to attend in order to gauge the numbers for seating and the refreshments.
It’s brain cells at the ready for the next club meeting as we are required to bandy around ideas for films to make and enter for this year’s North vs. South competition!
The theme is “Out of the Blue” which is one of those wonderfully nebulous titles that lends itself to a myriad of possibilities and interpretations. And with the many creative minds we have in OVFM there is plenty of fertile ground to be cultivated into some great film ideas.
Similarly OVFM has the opportunity to work with a living breathing dinosaur! Well sort of… Our former chairmen Chris Coulson is now handler to a T-Rex named Dexter and has offered to allow our cameras to capture Dexter on film! If you haven’t guessed by now this means that we need some script ideas to give Dexter something to do whilst on camera.
Therefore tonight is a double whammy of brainstorming ideas and with two different subjects to ponder – or maybe we could combine them into one? (Hint: perhaps someone already has? 😉 ) – we should be in for a productive night!
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!
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!
An audience of 62 people represented by 12 different clubs turned up at Farnborough Village Hall for the 2014 North v South Grand Final.
We were especially pleased to welcome members from Sutton Coldfield Movie Makers and Lowestoft Movie Makers who made the several hours journey to be with us. Also present was Romy Van Kreiken from Holland, a familiar face at IAC events.
An entertaining programme of 25 films were shown with a good mix of genres including Drama, Documentary, Comedy, Animation and One-Minute entries.
Our judges for the Final were Peter and Mary Rouillard from Guernsey who kindly stepped in at the last minute. The standard of entries was high this year and they had a difficult task in choosing a winner.
As usual, we ran our popular Audience Vote competition where they were asked to match the judge’s decision. Although the judges were asked to put the top 10 films in order of merit we asked the audience to only match the top 3, to give them a fighting chance. Nobody managed to do that but the person who got closest to the judge’s decision was Derek Hopcroft of Tonbridge Film Makers.
There was no ‘Guess the Theme’ competition this year. Instead, there was an audience poll to find out whether entrants would prefer the North v South to remain a ‘Set Theme’ competition or to be an ‘Open Subject’ competition. This followed suggestions by some clubs that they would prefer it to change to the latter. The results will be published in due course.
2nd Moving Oleta – Sutton Coldfield Movie Makers (South)
3rd If Only – Staines Video Makers (South)
4th All A Bit Iffy – Tynemouth Video Group (North)
5th The Decision – Sutton Coldfield Movie Makers (South)
6th Meals Would Be Provided – Nuneaton Moviemakers (South)
7th 1066 – Spring Park Film Makers (South)
8th If Dreams Are Nothing More Than Wishes – Chesterfield Film Makers (North)
9th Decision Time – Coast Video Club (North)
10th Klaatu Borada Nikto – Chesterfield Film Makers (North)
Congratulations to Altrincham Moviemakers for winning the John Wright Trophy and to Sutton Coldfield Movie Makers for winning the Harry Adams Trophy as runners-up. This being the 40th Anniversary of the competition, brings the total number of wins to 21 for the North and 19 for the South.
May I thank all the clubs who entered and attended for their support. We hope to see you again next year when the competition will be held on Sunday 6th December.
