AV News 190 - November 2012
RPS Internationals
Mary O’Connell
It was hard to believe that two
years has passed since the
previous RPS International
Festival at Cirencester. Terry
and I have been AV enthusiasts
for many years. Our group,
RPS South Wales AV Group
meet regularly once a month
from September to April. This
year eight of us came to
Cirencester.
As usual, as soon as we
arrived we spotted some familiar faces and some friendly new ones, and I
knew it was going to be an enjoyable weekend. Everything was ready for us
thanks to all the work put in by the organisers of the event. We had only
driven up from Cardiff but some of the attendees had come literally from the
other side of the world. Ian Bateman made a point of this with a roll call of
countries after a very spectacular opening ceremony to introduce the AV
Olympics.
It goes without saying that all the sequences shown - all 78 of them - had
something to offer. I find it useful to make brief notes during the projections
to help with my audience vote. I remind myself not to be influenced by
personal likes or dislikes of the subject and remember what I should be
looking for. But why doesn’t my vote agree with the majority? This time I
came up with only 1 out of 4. I would like to know if my choice was a close
second or whether mine was the only vote it received! Terry and I often
discuss our decisions afterwards and frequently we find that even if we
disagreed, we had liked and considered the same ones. I was attracted to
some entries which received no awards and if I could find the author I would
tell them, as I know how encouraging this can be.
The large size of the screen was impressive and I imagined how my own
sequences would have looked projected on it. (OK - I know if I had entered
something I would have found out!) As you might expect we had a number of
entries with video included with good effect. However, although it was well
done, I was not too sure of the sequences using lengthy full screen video - I
am certain it will turn out to be a hotly debated subject.
My own personal criticism is, that without a stronger story-line to justify the
number of pictures included, some entries were far too long. I understand
how hard it is to leave out good quality images but the phrase ‘less is more’
comes to mind. I too must remember this when writing to AV News - and I
haven’t even mentioned the photo opportunity before breakfast on Saturday
morning, when an air balloon took off from the grounds of The Royal
Agricultural College where the Festival was being held.
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