AV News 175 - February 2009
EAST MIDLANDS AV Day
Howard Fisher MA LRPS CPAGB
On entering the venue for this event on 26 October 2008, our Organiser,
Brian Jeffs, buttonholed me and said that since this was my first visit to an
East Midlands RPS AV event it would be a good idea if I would write an article
for the AV News regarding my impressions of the day! This is what comes
of having known Brian for some time and being a new member of East
Midlands AV Group.
The venue was relatively small but had all the facilities required and it was
pleasant to have a cuppa before the meeting started. The event was very well
attended. I cannot comment on the lunch-time catering because I took my
own food but most people took the provided lunch option and said it was most
enjoyable.
The day started with the showing of attendees' sequences. Comments
were made by the two main speakers for the day, Ken Biggs FRPS and
Bryan Stubbs LRPS with other comments being made by the audience. Each
sequence was introduced by the maker and it was interesting to hear what
motivated the making of the sequences. I thought that the comments of Ken
and Bryan were fair and very helpful, both to the sequence makers and for
other members of the audience. It was interesting to hear comments from
the audience which suggest that there are prejudices in AV against certain
elements; white borders around the images being one and of course, too
much movement was also criticised. I must say that, from the perspective of
a newcomer to AV like myself, there are occasions when I wonder whether a
video camera would not have produced a better result than still images in AV
software. There, I am already exhibiting signs of developing my own
prejudices! Another point which was apparent was the difference between
sequences which only had a music background and those which used
voice-over commentary as well as the music.
In the afternoon Bryan and Ken gave most helpful and interesting talks,
with Bryan talking more on the soundtrack aspects and Ken on the building
of sequences. My only criticism of this part of the day is that there was
insufficient light by which to make legible notes. I wish some way of having a
low level of lighting could be found to aid note taking. I know that I am not
alone in finding difficulty in watching a presentation and later trying to recall
what steps to take to achieve the end result. I am an inveterate note-taker
and regard this as the best way to learn and progress. I do appreciate that
even very low light levels detract from the screen image but the lights could
be doused for when sequences are shown by the speakers and slightly
raised for when techniques are being demonstrated. This comment applies
to many photographic events, not just this particular one.
I left the event having thoroughly enjoyed myself and also having learned
quite a lot. It was good to have conversations with other attendees. The
speakers were excellent in their delivery, the organisation of the day was
slick and most efficient. I have already booked for other AV events and will
certainly be supporting RPS East Midlands AV on future events.
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