AV News 183 - February 2011
Bolton Camera Club
Keith Atkinson
Following on from a very inspirational AV meeting with John Smith recently, the
members of Bolton Camera Club were keen to experiment and display their
new skills in Audio Visual presentations.
Our first Audio Visual night of images produced by our members was an
outstanding success on Thursday 19th November 2010. Nearly 40 members
watched the 15 presentations, along with guest judge Harry Emmett from
Accrington Camera Club. He has been producing AVs for many years and said
as a first attempt this was a delightful set of presentations and all the members
have done remarkably well.
Judge Harry explained that he looks for a good story, with images that are
well put together. He said that images have their own tempo, so he also looks
for music that suits the sequence - for instance, a car race sequence would not
be suited to slow music, as it should be fast, like the cars. He pointed out that
a superb location does not necessarily make for a superb presentation, as it is
the quality and subject matter of the images and the way they are put together
that makes a very good presentation. He suggested that members use caution
when linking images as too many special effects can cause the viewer to see
the effect and not see the image.
He reminded members that Photoshop Elements has a good slide show
section and whilst ProShow Gold is a great program it can take some
considerable time and effort to master. He passed on his observations and
constructive comments on each presentation and awarded the top score to
'African Expedition' by Brian White. Harry said "it contained lots of different
images, all of good quality, backed up with suitable music" and won "in spite of
its great location".
In second place was 'Back to the Bone' by Rob Wigley, a sequence of
images from a Hot Rod and Custom Car Show that worked well. Harry said
"they were good photographs of the cars and the author had done very well to
take the images without other people in shot".
Third place was 'Armistice Day' by Mike Hesp, which Harry said "had very
good music which kept the viewer focused on the subject matter". The zooming
"worked well", and the narrative "concentrated our attention".
A great time was had by all at our competition and it attracted one of the
highest turnout of members at a club meeting. As a result we have made it a
twice a year event rather than a 'one off', thanks to John's encouragement.
A full listing of all the AVs and the judge's comments can be seen as
follows, listed in the order shown on the competition night:
A Taste of New York by Kevin Shipley - Too much zoom effect. Delightful
images, especially in Grand Central Station. Good synchronization.
Annual Weekend Away, Whitby by Mike Hesp - Use of TV theme music
spoils the overall effect - judge keeps seeing Hovis images in his mind. No
links between Ripon, Whitby and Robin Hoods Bay causing the story to be
disjointed.
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