AV News 200 - May 2015
David Kingston LRPS
M id p h o t A V C o m p e titio n
It's that time of the year again - the end of January, and dire warnings of snow,
ice and widespread travel disruption in the days ahead. Ah yes - it must be time
for the annual Midphot AV competition!
The 2015 competition was once again hosted by Staffordshire Audio Visual
Group at the Priory Centre near Burton-on-Trent. This meant a journey-time of
about an hour for us, and the weather forecast of overnight snow and ice was not
encouraging. Fortunately, the forecast was wrong (again!), and we arrived much
earlier than expected. Volunteers from the Priory centre and members of SAVC
were already hard at work setting out the seating, erecting the screen, setting up
the HD projection and audio equipment, and, most importantly, organising the
catering service. By the time that the audience were arriving, the room was ready,
and they were enjoying a welcoming drink and socialising.
A strong entry from East Midlands AV group, comprising 14 sequences, was
largely responsible for a near-record entry of 43 sequences from 32 authors. It
was essential that projection began promptly at 10.30am. The judges, Edward
Spence FRPS DPAGB AV-AFIAP, Tony Collinson LRPS DPAGB and Jeff Mansell
arrived promptly, and Richard Brown FRPS FIPF EFIAP APAGB, was able to formally
open the event on schedule.
The sequences were shown in four sessions, two in the morning and two in the
afternoon. The lunch break was limited to 50 minutes, with a 5-minute 'shuffle
break' scheduled at mid-morning and mid-afternoon. The quality of the
sequences shown this year was very high, and all of them were worthy
contenders. The projection was faultless, and, as a result, my interest was held
throughout each session. I don't envy the judges - they had a hard job this year!
In the event, the audience vote and the judges' selections were in close
agreement. Congratulations to the winners, but the most pleasing aspect of this
year's championship was the increase in both the quantity and the general
standard of the sequences. If you didn't win this year, better luck next time!
Award
Sequence
Author
Winner
Menin Road
Howard Bagshaw Staffs AV Grp
Judges Awards - Jeff
Holy Brook
Martin Fry
Cheltenham CC
Tony
Queen of the Hills
Malcolm Imhoff
East Midlands AV Grp
Eddie
B.P.
Best sequence by an Journey with Angels
Intermediate worker
Highly Commended
Club
Howard Bagshaw Staffs AV Grp
Maaggie Imhoff
East Midlands AV Grp
That Picture
Alastair Taylor
Staff AV Grp
There was Never
Anybody Like Him
Richard Brown
Fentham PS
Capturing The Moment Martin Fry
Cheltenham CC
Audience Vote - Sess1 Queen of the Hills
Malcolm Imhoff
East Midlands AV Grp
Session 2
Holy Brook
Martin Fry
Cheltenham CC
Session 3
Menin Road
Howard Bagshaw Staffs AV Grp
Session 4
There was Never
Anybody Like Him
Richard Brown
Page 16
Fentham PS