AV News 194 - November 2013
The Unfinished Masterpiece
Paul Kittel
On Saturday 14th September at Nottingham University I encountered plague
infested villages, modern sculpture, medieval castles, poetry, murder,
weaving and decay. More importantly, my eyes were opened to a new way
of telling stories with pictures. I had lost my AV virginity by attending the
National Audio Visual Championships.
I was invited to the festival by Ron Davies, who I first met three years ago.
We were final round judges in the IAC's international film competition where
we spent a long weekend in a darkened room watching the best of the 2011
entries. On that occasion I was on home turf because my primary interest is
film. I caught the bug from my dad who was a keen amateur film-maker and,
after training as a journalist, went professional eighteen years ago. These
days I direct network television programmes but my heart has never left the
amateur scene. I still feel a shiver of excitement at festivals like NAVC.
Ron was on artistically foreign soil as an IAC judge but his AV perspective
brought wonderful insight. As a master story-teller, he appreciated that AV
and film share the same basic requirements; Good pictures and a strong
narrative. At the NAVC, it was my turn to be on foreign soil. I met Ron and
his wife Linda at the reception and they showed
me into the auditorium. Inside was a wonderful
atmosphere of anticipation that felt similar to an
IAC festival. But there was an additional buzz
because this competition was no fait accompli. All
the judging would be done over the weekend. Not
only that, the audience had the opportunity to
vote for their favourite sequences.
My interest was observing the similarities and
dissimilarities between AV and film. The first
session started with ‘Greater Love’, an AV that
could equally have worked on film. The sequence recalls the events
surrounding a village that was struck by plague and how the villagers
selflessly shut themselves off from other communities to prevent the spread
of the disease. A film telling the same story, usin