Club debates filmmaking

For their August meeting Surrey Border Film and Video Makers met at the United Reform Church hall in South Street, Farnham for a delightfully varied and entertaining programme.

Neil Cryer began with a review of several short clips from well known films. The purpose was to encourage members to think about the actual process of filmmaking: Did, for example, the photographic wizardry add to the film?s story? Can the amateur film-maker produce similar effects without the sophistication of the big studios? The debate which followed was lively and amusing, as well as instructive. Neil's final offering was a video about an amateur dramatic club. As Surrey Border is frequently approached to make community films for sponsors in West Surrey, this film provided a great opportunity to discuss how another club had approached such a challenge and how Surrey Border might learn from it.

Next Mrs Beryl Mackay presented a trophy to the winners of a recent editing competition. This much-appreciated trophy was in memory of her late husband, Ken who was a keen exponent of this aspect of film-making and a valued club member. An interval for refreshments and socializing followed.

The highlight of the evening was the premiere of the Heron Productions latest movie - Madeleine, an episode in the detective comedy series about the lives of two not-so-clever detective constables. Afterwards David Longley (producer) and June Evans (script writer) conducted a lively question and answer session which particularly revealed the careful planning and organization required for a drama of such quality.

The evening ended with a demonstration of High Definition (HD) video by Mike Sanders. HD-ready televisions are already in the shops and this was an early taster of the HD cameras which are beginning to appear. It was generally agreed that despite some limitations, HD is definitely a significant improvement on picture quality.