For this meeting, the format is going to be slightly different, possibly even radical in its thinking but should be treated as the same as any other practical evening. We are looking to do some filming and improve our techniques and understanding of our craft but this time it is up to YOU to manage it yourselves.

What does that mean? Here is our chair Jane Oliver to elucidate:

Our previous two practical sessions dealt with framing, camera angles, capturing moving objects, working out the best type of shot for a given scenario, pans and zooms, cutaways and capturing good sound. We now want to build on this by giving you all the opportunity to practice these skills.

Rather than meeting in the hall on the evening of 28th June for 2 hours, we’ve decided to give members the opportunity to commit 2 hours to practicing these skills or to start or complete their Top Ten entry at a time that suits them between now and 31st July to give everyone ample opportunity to film something in good light and hopefully in good weather.  Hopefully some will have completed their Top Ten entry before this, so that it can be shown in the first round on12th July. 

Filming can be done individually or in groups arranged by members who wish to get together.  You don’t have to use a video camera; a phone or stills camera will do the job (photo montages are acceptable too).  You don’t even have to leave home, as there is plenty of material available either indoors or out.

We want EVERYONE to be involved, so please commit to spending at least two hours on this ‘filming’ project.  If there’s enough interest, we plan to show footage from this session at the September 6th meeting and feedback will be given to those who wish.

Essentially, you could look at it as a practical club meeting without the actual club meeting part. Instead of driving down to Petts Wood (or suffering on the bus like I do) to film and hone our skills, we can do it from the comfort of our own homes or local surroundings. Self-management is as important in filmmaking as receiving direction and advice from others, and taking what we have learned and applying it to our filming projects is an essential part of our practical and creative growth, hence this session being an opportunity to do just that. 

Therefore, we are putting our faith in club members to dedicate the 2 hour window (or longer if required or desired) this coming Tuesday to your next filmmaking endeavours – in other words, treat the time as “OVFM time” and not an excuse to watch the tennis just because you won’t be at the club hall! For instance, if you did some filming during the morning or afternoon on Tuesday, you now have the time you would have spent coming to the meeting to check your footage instead. It is hoped this will give you an extra couple of hours to put towards your film to revise and improve it, or have it completed sooner for the Top Ten. 

Sadly, attendance has been down a little lately, and we understand why this is, but it doesn’t mean we want club members who can’t attend in person to feel they are being left out or that their physical absence at meetings means they should stop making films, or continue to learn more techniques or key areas that may require improvement. It is our hobby and interest – surely we should be striving individually and collectively to further our skills, and attain creative fulfilment. We therefore hope that this idea will offer encouragement for them to still feel connected to the club and rekindle their desire to be active filmmakers again.

Jane also has some suggestions for anyone needing inspiration:

For those of you wanting to improve on framing and composition (this applies to stills photography too) can be practiced through using static objects such as:

a letterbox

a house number

an envelope on the door mat

a front door

a flat or house

a street

a garden

a dustbin

a shop

money

a person, standing or sitting

2 people, standing or sitting

a group of people, standing or sitting

For objects moving across, toward, or away from the lens, you could consider taking shots of 

cyclists

vehicles

planes

animals

sports balls

People walking/running/skateboarding  *

You could then examine the footage; and consider:

Should I have taken that shot at a different angle?

Should I have been closer/further away?

What’s in the frame that ought not be or is distracting?

Have I left something out that is essential?

Could I make a story from my footage?

Can I take some cutaways/B-roll to assist?

What additional shots should I film to link up some of these things?

There is no need to do anything complex, unless anyone feels confident enough to want to challenge themselves beyond their current capabilities, especially those who were privileged to be at the last two practical meetings. Some members might like to use some time improving their ‘sound’ skills, lighting set ups, green screen filming, or use this footage to try different editing techniques, such as split screen, modern transitions, and of course, colour correction and grading.

Thank you in advance for stepping up to this challenge in support of your committee who are working hard to keep your interest in your hobby alive.

* For this suggestion, you could place someone centre of the frame and film them walking past different locations, then edit it together to look like one long walk with only the background changing. Just ensure it is someone you know a stalking is an offence!

Keeping a healthy, consistent stream of output is what keeps the club running and our members always learning and improving. Without the films we have nothing – no more film shows, no more competitions, no more club meetings. Currently, it is same few people who are keeping things afloat and one day even they won’t be able to do this anymore, which is why it is crucial that everybody steps up and makes an effort.

As we have demonstrated via Zoom and our Vimeo account, there are still ways to share advice and our work with each other. That is the beauty of modern technology – it affords us so much in the way of practical opportunities we’d be remiss if we didn’t take advantage of them, and we as a film club have no reason not to.

We hope that you all take advantage of this opportunity on Tuesday (weather permitting – or if it is that bad, perfect for a horror film B-roll!) to do something practical with the extra time whether improving a technique or adding to the making your next film. 

Thanks for reading and happy filming!

Despite a low turn out (of five people!) the last meeting was deemed a valuable enough experience that we’re doing it again for this session too!

We will once again congregate at the Barnard Rooms and expect you to bring along any footage you have filmed recently, unedited and untouched, so it can be viewed and discussed with the possibility of being either the foundation for a new film project, or is related to the upcoming Jubilee celebrations, which we hope to document in a special newsreel for the Autumn Film Show. 

Hopefully, with the weather brightening up you’ll feel more comfortable leaving the house and joining us in person  again. As before, please feel free to wear a mask if you are more comfortable doing so.  Equally, those who don’t like wearing masks, there is no requirement for you to do so.  It is an individual choice that we will all respect whatever you choose.

Thanks for reading and we’ll see you on Tuesday evening!

OVFM returns to the club hall of the Barnard Rooms for our next meeting, which will be a mix of filming and discussion to see if we have the seeds for a new project or something to bolster our coverage of the upcoming Jubilee celebrations for the special bonus newsreel we hope to include in our Autumn film show.

Per our chair Jane Oliver:

We’d like to try something different.  We’re asking members to film something ahead of the meeting whether on phone or camera and either bring their SD card along or download some clips onto a flash drive/memory stick.  Those who prefer to use a camera and take stills can bring some stills along too (on SD card or flash drive/memory stick).  There’s no need for it to be edited.

It would be good if clips could relate to the jubilee; there’s lots of bunting and decorations in Orpington High Street and it is likely to be the same elsewhere. On Saturday, Pratt’s Bottom have their fete from 11.30am to 4pm and there’ll be stalls and May Queens from across the Borough.  Anything goes really,  anything red, white and blue, a crown, The Queen’s Head, maybe a picture you’ve drawn, a red telephone box (if you can find one), a pillar box (good if it has a ‘topper’ of a crown or something similar),  corgis or decorations in shop windows; Bromley is having a competition for shop that best captures the Jubilee spirit with eye-catching window displays, so some shops might have started early.

During the evening we will watch some of your clips and have a general discussion and see where that takes us.  If any of you don’t have time to film ahead of the evening, there will be an opportunity for you to slip out at the beginning of the meeting and capture something locally should you wish, so please bring your camera or phone if you want to do this. This is a really good opportunity for you to see something of yours on the big screen which might be a first for some of you.

We hope to draw the evening to a close at about 9.30pm.

It will be good to see as many of you as possible;  I’m sure we are all at the stage where we’d like to get back together again in person….. and please feel free to wear a mask if you are more comfortable doing so.  Equally, those who don’t like wearing masks, there is no requirement for you to do so.  It is an individual choice that we will all respect whatever you choose.

As an adjunct to this, there are other local events happening this weekend, so do please consult this post HERE for information if you are short of ideas or something to film.

Thanks for reading and we’ll see you on Tuesday evening!