AV News 180 - May 2010
But should Audio Visual festivals still be largely Photographic competitions?
Perhaps it is now the time for change and for the Audio in Audio Visual
Sequences to play a much more equal role - and to be recognised as such.
However, I'll leave you with a quotation from 'The Prince' by Machiavelli,
much used at management seminars:
'Anyone initiating change has for enemies all those people
who have done well under the previous system.'
So I'm not holding my breath!
I would be interested in your comments.
........ and here is Howard's reply:
Dear Tony,
I find myself in broad agreement with much of what you say - audio is and
probably always will be, the 'forgotten element' to some degree. It is not alone
- other non-photographic elements such as idea, script and production are
sometimes overlooked too.
We shouldn't be too surprised about this. AV tends to be regarded as 'a
sort of photography.' Most people's early (only?) experiences of it are in
photographic societies. The major bodies supporting AV in this country, the
RPS & PAGB are both photographic organisations. Where are the audio
organisations when support for AV is needed?
I don't see anything wrong with a simple pictures-and-music sequence if it
is well done. Unfortunately we seem recently to have had a spate of poor
sequences of this type. Many are merely 'slide shows which just happen to
take place whilst some (unsuitable) music is being played.' Frequently there
is no obvious thought about the order of the pictures and no correlation at all
between music and pictures - often a frenetic beat married to long, slow,
auto-equally-spaced-by-the-computer fades. In my book, it is doubtful if this
qualifies for Photo-harmony, let alone AV, yet it may well attract an 'AV'
award from a photographic judge if the pictures are good. The old and
gloriously satisfying art of 'playing to the music' seems in danger of being lost.
Most workers and virtually all judges, come from a photographic
background, so tend to recognise and therefore reward, the creative use of
Photoshop. They may not have the same appreciation of the creative use of
Audition, so that will go unrewarded. Many haven't yet learned how to listen.
More worryingly, many do not know that they don't know how to listen, or that
they need to learn. What's the fuss about? We listen all the time throughout
everyday life. We heard all the words.
It is very easy to forget that, once upon a time, we all had to learn how to
look. Yes, looking too is something we all do all day, every day, but we're
talking here about 'real looking.' Let me explain what I mean by 'real looking.'
Many years ago we became sufficiently interested in photography to join a
photo club. We went to our first competition and saw a picture that we thought
was wonderful - if only we could take a picture like that!
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