HHMM won the award on December 7th after a tough battle with St Albans Club.

3rd place:
Borderline from HHMM

2nd:
The Long Wait by St Albans

and in 1st place:
8 Legged Latex from HHMM
(or what happens when gloves go wild!)

 

 

Do you have a camcorder?

All are welcome to our Open Evening
on 5th October 2011 at 8pm

You may be interested to know that Hemel Hempstead Movie Makers are holding an Open Evening for anybody that is interested in video camera filming, editing using a home computer, making DVDs. and associated skills.

Members of the Club will be present to answer questions, and will be demonstrating camera usage, including capturing and editing video. It will also be possible to see examples of using blue screen techniques and lighting.

Our Club is some 50 years old, and when it started everyone used film – a slow and expensive business by today’s standards. Nowadays we can buy a camera which records in near broadcast quality for as low as £200, and see instant results, rather than sending film away for processing, before the laborious task of cutting and editing, and adding a sound track!

We make several new films a year, including comedies, documentaries, local interest and general interest films on all sorts of subjects. We are often asked to show a selection to local organisations, and we will be showing a selection during the Open evening. Our membership includes men and women, both beginners, and the more experienced video maker, and our age range various from young to old. You will be very welcome regardless of your ability.

The evening will start at 8 pm. On Wednesday, October 5th, 2011. at our regular meeting place in the Memorial Hall at the rear of Carey Baptist Church in the Marlowes. Parking is easy, and refreshments will be available. We finish about 10pm.

For more information please look at our website at www.hemelmoviemakers.org.uk, where you can find examples of our work. All are welcome.

                                                                        Hemel Hempstead Movie Makers

 

AND WE'RE BACK FOR 2011/12
...see the Programme

 

June 15th
IT'S THAT AGM AGAIN

We have a new committee ready to take the
club forward into the new season starting
on September 7th 2011

Steve wins The Open Competition 2011
with Redbournbury Mill.

Other winners this year included...

June 1st 2011

The evening was devoted to discussing, ideas for the comedy film we want to produce for the competition with St Albans.

This is for the Brian Harris Trophy.

Camera crew, actors, directors, etc have been chosen. But any new ideas for another
comedy are still very welcome.

 

Filmed in an evening!

Just a quick note to thank everyone for last nights (March 2nd) performance. Looking at the timestamps on the files I can see
that it was not so much "Film in an Evening"
as "Film in 45 minutes"!

I have looked at the footage and started the editing - it is
excellent in terms of sound quality, focus and acting.  The picture
projected on the screen came through fine without any strobing
effects.  Overall we were lucky - there are some problems to
be worked around in the editor but it is 95% there.

I think we should do more of this type of exercise, because as
well as picking up skills we will learn to operate as a team
and get much more efficient.  I think there is a need for a degree
of specialisation, and communicating this on the skills database.

Paul

3D presentation
2nd February
...with examples of photography through the ages.

However, our gest speaker Bryan Parkes has also arranged to bring David Burder, who is an world expert on 3D cinematography, to talk to us. He has a very high profile in the world of 3D film and Television.

David Burder’s profile can be found HERE

 

January 19th

Hello Moviemakers

You may recall we saw nine possible films from which we could select three for our Triangle entries this year. They were all really good, and selection will be difficult. Those who submitted rough cuts will be working hard over the next few weeks to finalise them and we will show them at our meeting on January 19th.

The first round of the actual competition will be held in early February, when we are hosting and competing against South Essex Film Makers (www.sefm.org.uk). Date is yet to be finalised, but probably at our regular 16th February meeting. If there is time, we will also look at any entries for a film to a piece of music, which was originally scheduled for this date, although we didn’t expect so many Triangle films!

Look forward to seeing you there.
Regards Guy

 

RAF HALTON FILM

 

HACCA COMPETITION

 

THE PROPOSAL

You will be pleased to know that Don's work on a proposal sent to the enterthepitch.com annual film competition has been shortlisted in the final 40 out of 1000 entries.

Our club entry is number 178 – ‘The Great Betrayal’. The film has to relate to a bible story, and a scenario was enacted and filmed by our members (which you can watch) and sent off.

Now they need the public to support and vote for the winning entry. You have to register with the website and watch at least 6 of the short "mini scenarios" that are there.

There is a significant prize for the winning film, and our presentation is number 178, proposed under the name of Donald Christopherson. So please take the time to have a look at it, and vote for it!

Go to www.enterthepitch.com and register then you can watch Alan Hewison and others at their best!

Guy.

FILM IN AN EVENING
The meeting on 6th OCTOBER 2010 was the challenge of making a short film in the evening.

A number of objects will be available, and we will split into small groups with the challenge of thinking up and making a short film about the object. If you have a camera and tripod, please bring it along.

We have made one or two interesting films in the past with this method, and this will be the only night of this year's programme where we have a chance to do this. Later in the year, we will do something similar but it will involve all of us and it will be scripted. I look forward to seeing you all there at 8pm

A reminder that if you have not yet had the chance to pay you subscription - I will be there open-handed! (Cheques always preferred to cash please.)

PHOTOGRAPHY
AND THE LAW
An interesting article from Tring and District Camera Club spotted by Guy
CLICK HERE

The first evening of the season
September 1st 2010

It’s been very interesting reading the information that Guy has been collating and identifying members’ want to do‘s, interests, and likes and their obvious dislikes by omission.
 
Now we have to garner and utilise those skills to achieve what we want from the very ideas, scripts and thoughts sent in by various members, of what we all want to achieve or endeavour to improve upon in this new season before us.
 
Which must, hopefully, be to produce far better video, great competition stock and continue with updating our heritage collection, in a quality of more concentrated and pragmatic manner that could lift our memberships expectation quite a few notches higher. Aiming for as near perfection as possible.     

How, by concentrated control of quality by all of us, in all that we put together, in seeking one another's help with honest input  and  opinion, with rough cut viewing by other  members as we progress to see if it's audience friendly,  watchable enough, and more importantly, what quality or detail is obviously missing, if any.
 
Don't ask why. Please just bring your cameras and destruction manuals along with you on September 1st, so that we can take the first steps towards A Difference That is Going to Show from all of us in a very short time of real effort and hard practise…Working together as a team of serious, but friendly picture makers.

As Brian always said film making…..is damn hard work.

WhatDoIDoFirst

REVIEWS

 

BRIAN HARRIS

Brian sadly died on 24th June 2010.

To the young, death is but a distant rumour…..to the aging…..it’s almost like daily news.

Brian in my opinion had a quirky very comical view of life that could extract humour from nearly every dark recess and exposed corner of it.  That, in its own magical way drew many heartfelt chuckles and deep laughter from almost everyone confronted by its delightful innocence and manipulated naivety often applied to his films.

He often awoke my languishing stilled brain with his oddity of thoughts and then would activate my cells even further when, and as, he was outlining his story.  So just like that excitable child he helped me to re-discover again, I would more than want to be just involved, I wanted to play out the whole part of natural silliness right along with him.  We could often in our child like state ( something everyone should engage in ) be like two ageing grey, in Brian’s case, white haired nine year olds.

His passion for making films never ceased and grew in stature with his growing years to produce wonderful documentaries on just about every subject you could care to mention, that will keep him remembered for years to come as we show them time and again.  His attention to detail and finish I found faultless.  It inspired many within the club, where his natural abilities, skill and leadership shone out, leading us all to believe that we too could imitate his efforts.

We, the whole club membership, as indeed Brian’s family and friends have lost a very dear, close relationship which will be impossible to replace and very difficult to put to rest easily.  My heart goes out to us all but more especially to his entire family….during this very difficult period in time.

What I think I know of Brian, is, in my opinion, detailed in a very small quote where I shall finish my own and the clubs heartfelt loss of a very personal friend, a fellow film maker and deputy chairman, who without his advice and help I could never have done……in what I‘m endeavouring to imitate of him, being the chairman.

And I finish with that quote from W H Auden an Anglo American poet.  In remembrance of Brian.

“Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can……all of them…make or made me laugh.”

Byron Welch
Chairman of Hemel Hempstead Movie Makers

Byron Welch HHMM Chairman

Chairman’s Thoughts 2010

This last year seemed to pass so quickly that I never quite got the time I wanted to implement a few changes and capture or recapture, if it was at all possible, a certain je ne c’est quoi that I felt was lacking within the club.

Sadly mid December of last year brought a lot of personal health issues to my immediate attention with incessant visits to five different doctors, eight individual hospitals and more CT scanners and sample requirements than I care to mention. This was a huge distraction of my time which I indulged in and still do, engaging in enormous swathes of even more involuntary probing, internal photography, radiation poisoning, examinations and prodding in the name of discovering what I need next to be separated from.

However, we still seem, as a club, to be in the black and plodding along, which under the circumstances of in club sickness and lower attendance says something positive about the existing membership’s determination as of the moment to soldier on doing very little. But it’s growing stagnation is something we all need to address now if we still want a club before that change disrupts our comfort zones in the very near future.

I would like to say a big thank you to all that have made films this year and those that have entered competitions at home or away, won or lost. And for the club members volunteering, when requested, on outside community projects. Such as Paul, Brian, David and Mike to mention but a few. If I have left anybody out please without an ounce of embarrassment on your part, thrust your arm high into the air and I shall correct myself and a very lazy memory in an instant by adding your name. …..If I can remember it.

I would also like to heartily thank the committee for their time and diligence in keeping everything together and covering my absence and all else that they put in place and give to this club by way of their time, knowledge, acquaintances, hard work and resources that keeps it all welded together, viable and running. Not forgetting Ian Furlong in the back woods of Watford quietly running and maintaining our web pages and site along with Alan French’s regular blogs.

A final heart felt reminder ladies and gentlemen, this is your club, and what we do within it should be what you most require, and want to do. So with that in mind and after talking to others for their honest opinions I have decided that by delegating responsibility to each and every one of the membership to choose an activity/learning process idea and it’s needs for one evening, for each one of the approximate twenty evenings that make up our year as proactive members and release the club committee alone from the endeavour to create a new program for 2010/11. By placing it in everybody’s diligent care for hopefully a very refreshing change to our new year.

Have a great summer everybody and we look forward hopefully, to a new refreshing season starting On the first Wednesday of September Which is on the 1st. Of September 2010. With all of your………..new ideas.

Byron Welch HHMM Chairman