AV News 183 - February 2011
North Wales and Wirral AV Group
Peter Wylde
A bit bleary eyed, I pulled back the curtains and looked out, it was 7a.m on the
10th of October 2010 and the day looked as miserable as I felt. There’s
something wrong here I thought. It’s an AV day and the sun isn’t shining. Oh
well, get your skates on lad and don’t forget to take your ruddy sequence. The
last time I took a sequence anywhere I took the wrong version. What it is to be
young and scatterbrained eh?. A quick shave and a shampoo and a quicker
breakfast of bacon and eggs, fried bread, mushrooms and tomatoes followed
by toast and marmalade with a beautiful cup of breakfast tea. And if you’ll
believe that y’ll believe out as they would say in Blennerhasset or was it
Oswaldthistle and other far flung outposts of the north of England.
I had gone about half way and the sun began to shine. Only for a minute or
two mind you but yes I thought this has the makings of being a real AV day.
And so it proved to be.
In the warm and snug, yes snug, surroundings of the Capel Curig
Community Centre we sat down to enjoy a really interesting day, not the least
of which were pictures that Marion had taken of Igor and his Mum when she
was showing them round that jewel in the crown that is North Wales. Perhaps
not the largest jewel, but certainly one of the most beautiful.
Then we saw three member’s sequences. The first was, as the originator
described it, an exercise in Photoshop and PicturesToExe. I found this very
interesting. As the original DDD, that stands for the original Digital DoDo by the
way, I was fascinated how the shapes could be formed and choreographed.
Then Jill K. Bunting showed us an utterly charming sequence, principally, to
fulfil a task she had to do at the conclusion of her art classes. It illustrated so
clearly, with an exquisite and delicate touch, just how gentle AV can be. I’m not
going to go into details. I always think that one of the principal assets of AV is
that the first time you see a sequence unfold, it can give you that most 'je ne
sais quoi' experience which can never quite be replicated if you have second
hand thoughts about it. Then I showed an old sequence that creaked and
wheezed with age like an old thorn tree bent before the digital wind. I scanned
the slides in and related the legend of the lake Where no bird Flies. Some of
you will have seen it, but a lot will be alas too young.
Then came the main event, when our guest speaker Ken Scott ARPS gave
us a remarkable and interesting talk on the history of his love affair with
mountains and being amongst them. This was intertwined, in a subtle way, with
a bit of psychology and philosophy although it did not intrude into the main
theme and yet, I thought, was an integral part of it. This was interspersed with
mountains to music and a delightful AV which was a group product at his
photographic club.
Just after lunch, Jill gave us a very lucid and informative illustrated talk on
the latest additions to PicturesToExe.
So ended a very enjoyable day and my thanks to all who made it possible.
See http://www.nwawavg.org.uk/ for details of meetings.
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