AV News 179 - February 2010
The winning entry “…And never Cackled” by Richard Brown FRPS, told the
story of Joan Clark Murray and her involvement with the Enigma Code in the
war. The sequences on Ivor Gurney “And There Grow Flowers” (Silver),
Pushkin “The Duel” (HC) and the “Blackburn Diva” (HC) Kathleen Ferrier all
added to our cultural knowledge. Humorous sequences including “Calling the
Almighty”, “The Expert” and “The Bricklayer’s Story” gave light relief and
much laughter.
The RPS event on the Sunday, organised by Bill Greenhalgh, gave a
chance for those attending to show their sequences and have constructive
comments offered in a gentle but helpful way. Hopefully in this way the
standard of AVs will gradually improve. We certainly find these sessions very
useful and make us see our own work through different eyes. One important
point is not to get side tracked and so extend the sequence to its detriment.
We then had the opportunity to hear comments from Saturday’s judges and
to see some of their work. Phil looked at the sound side and as a specialist in
music he showed how music could create the atmosphere. Adverts were used
to demonstrate various things, for example that music from different decades
to the scenes was sometimes appropriate. His station sequence did not use
music but the names of various railway stations, recited in a rhythm that
suggested a train moving along, was a novel way of using voices.
Maureen went back to basics with her Fundamentals of Audio Visual. She
stressed that it must be fun and part of the author must come through. If there
is no enthusiasm this will show. Effects should be limited to those that
enhance the sequence. She illustrated her ideas with various sequences
including “Fun with Photographers” and a look into the future with a very
modern building. Her work showed her skill with dissolves and montages.
Above all the aim should be clear to the author and eventually to the viewer.
Maureen finished with her AtoZ of AV making, when she displayed key words
which one needed to be aware of and to take notice of when preparing an AV.
Eddie rounded up the afternoon by introducing some software Fractals,
not the onOne programme but mathematical designs which are useful
backgrounds and provide the opportunity to zoom in. He uses very subtle
movement in his images and gave a demonstration of how to produce PNG
(Portable Network Graphics) files to create interesting and useful effects
especially when reducing the opacity. We also had an opportunity to see
“Mine the Ecstasy” and “Isadora’s Legacy” both of which need to be seen
several times to fully appreciate Eddie’s skill.
We appreciated the buffets on Saturday and Sunday lunchtimes and the
meal together on Saturday evening, when there was ample opportunity to get
to know people and exchange ideas. Overall it was a super weekend which
appeared to run like clockwork thanks to many people, judges, caterers,
coffee makers, those on the technical side and especially the GNF committee
Howard Gregory, Suzanne Walker ARPS and Keith Fisher ARPS.
See www.avnews.org.uk for a full list of the entries and awards. The 16th
Great Northern Festival will be held on 3rd, 4th & 5th December 2010. Make
a note in your diaries now. Eds
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