17 AFV Spring 2012.pub - Federation of Australian Movie Makers

AUSTRALIAN FILM 

& VIDEO 

VOL 17 

SPRING 2012 

Wollongong 

Venue for the 2014 

FAMM Convention 

♦ Wonderful, Wonderful Wollongong 

♦ Basically Videography 

♦ Pot Shots 

♦ Tech Topics 

♦ Snowy Mountains Weekend 

TOPICS 

♦ My Favourite Film 

♦ Camera Club Awards 

♦ Gadgets from the UK 

♦ 9.5 Film 

♦ Pioneer DVD 

AUSTRALIAN FILM & VIDEO—VOL 17 SPRING 2012 

Page 1

Federation of Australian Movie Makers Limited 

Australian Film & Video 

Editor: Gary Peterson AFAMM SSFAMM 

Email: editorafv@famm.org.au 

Australian Film & Video is read in the following countries. 

New Zealand, South Africa, England, Scotland, Canada & the USA 

CONTRIBUTORS 

Technical 

Joe Leon - Newcastle Video Moviemakers 

Ian Simpson - Wollongong Movie Makers 

Directors 

Division Representatives 

John Lawrie - South Australian Division 

Foreign Correspondents 

David Fuller - Victoria Video Club - Canada 

Guest Contributors 

Brian Harvey - Wollongong Movie Makers 

Val & Wade Hatton - Oakleigh Movie Club 

John Sirett - South West Video Club 

FEDERATION HONOURS 

Honours shown throughout Australian Film & Video were 

awarded under FAMM and not FAMM Ltd. All care has been 

taken to ensure the Honours are allocated to the correct recipient. 

If an Honour has not been attached to your name or the 

Honour is incorrect please let the Editorial Staff know so as a 

correction may be addressed. 

DISCLAIMER 

In regard to products, services and/or procedures which are 

either advertised or mentioned in this magazine, readers 

should determine for themselves the reliability and/or suitability 

of these products for their own particular requirements. 

Australian Film & Video cannot accept responsibility for 

any products or service statement made herein and the opinions 

or comments by contributors are not necessarily the 

views of the Federation, the Executive, or the Editor. 

COPYRIGHT 

All articles and photographs appearing in this magazine are 

subject to copyright and may not be reproduced in whole or 

part without the author’s consent. Enquiries regarding 

permission should in the first instance be directed to the 

Editor Australian Film & Video. 

FEDERATION OF AUSTRALIAN MOVIE 

MAKERS LIMITED 

http://www.famm.org.au/ 

FEDERAL EXECUTIVE 

President: Mark Tunningley (02) 6231 9587 

president@famm.org.au 

Secretary: Rainer Listing (02) 6230 3383 

secretary@famm.org.au 

Treasurer: Jim Thornton (02) 6294 8000 

treasurer@famm.org.au 

DIVISION DIRECTORS 

NEW SOUTH WALES – CENTRAL DIVISION 

Laurie Chesterfield (02) 4965 6449 

ln.chesterfield@idl.net.au 

NEW SOUTH WALES – SOUTHERN DIVISION 

Mark Tunningley 

actvcc@yahoo.com.au 

QUEENSLAND DIVISION 

Joan Rennie (07) 5530 5548 

joanren@gmail.com 

Blog: http://joanren.blogspot.com 

VICTORIAN DIVISION 

John Stevenson SSFAMM (03) 9546 7554 

jastevo40@bigpond.com 

TASMANIAN DIVISION 

Don Fitzpatrick 

don.fitzpatrick@bigpond.com 

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN DIVISION 

Barry Schrapel (08) 8264 1412 

bschrapel@bigpond.com 

WESTERN AUSTRALIAN DIVISION 

Trevor Wigg 

netwigg@upnaway.com 

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Australian Film & Video magazine for Australia wide distribution. 

Page 2 AUSTRALIAN FILM & VIDEO—VOL 17 SPRING 2012

AUSTRALIAN FILM 

& VIDEO 

From The Editor’s Desk 

Vol VOL 17 

spring SPRING 2012 

Inside this issue: 

Contributors 2 

Editor’s Desk 3 

Sea Cliff Bridge 4 

Gadgets - Brian Harvey 5 

Club Link 6 

Movie Link 8 

W W Wollongong - Ian S 9 

Basically Videography IS 12 

Pot Shots - Ian Simpson 14 

Favourite Film 1- Dave F 16 

Favourite Film 2 - Ian S 18 

Snowy Mountains - GP 22 

9.5 Films - Dave Fuller 26 

Are You A Lawbreaker 27 

What’s a Story Board 27 

Welcome to the Spring edition of Australian Film & Video E-Magazine. Well Winter 

is now behind us and we can look forward to warmer weather after a very cold Winter 

for Australia. By now you will have noticed a couple of changes to the front of AF&V, 

hope you enjoy the changes. 

What do we have for you this issue, well, Ian Simpson gives us an introduction to Wonderful, 

Wonderful Wollongong and also his Basically Videography & Pot Shots columns. 

Joe Leon is back with his Tech Topics. 

Dave Fuller & Ian Simpson both talk about their favourite films. This was a suggestion 

put forward by Ian after reading Wade Hatton's article last issue about Big Screen films. 

The idea was to invite readers to write an article on their favourite film. 

I’ve written an article on our trip to the Snowy Mountains in August and Dave Fuller 

also speaks about 9.5 film and there are a couple of articles from the Los Angeles Cinema 

Club. 

Brian Harvey tells us about a couple of useful gadgets which he purchased while travelling 

in the United Kingdom while Wade & Val Hatton talk about their Camera Club 

Awards with photographs and John Lawrie talks about Pioneer DVDs. 

Till next time. Stay in Focus. 

Gary. 

Tech Topics - Joe Leon 28 

Camera Club Awards 30 

Pioneer DVD - John L 32 

Practical Tips 34 

History Lesson 37 

Skitube Alpine Railway 38 

48-Hour Film Project 39 

FAMM Ltd Club List 41 

Back Page 42 

Venue for the 2014 FAMM Convention 

Under the Auspices of the 

Federation of Australian 

Movie Makers Limited 

We’re on the FAMM website 

http://www.famm.org.au/home/index.html 


Page 3

President Mark Tunningley’s Comment 

Federation of Australian Movie Makers Ltd 

Due to technical difficulties the President’s Message will not appear in this issue and will 

be printed in the Summer Edition of Australian Film & Video. 

SEA CLIFF BRIDGE 

Lawrence Hargrave Drive had suffered numerous dangerous rock falls and embankment failures over the previous 

100 years. In 2003, analysis by the owner RTA ascertained a slope risk profile existed that was unacceptable, forcing 

the immediate closure of the road. With a demonstrably unstable slope to work on, the Pacific Ocean on one side and 

a 300 metre cliff on the other, the socio-political necessity to re-open the road as quickly as possible demanded innovative 

solutions. 

The solution was the Sea Cliff Bridge which is a balanced cantilever bridge located in the northern Illawarra region 

of New South Wales approximately 60 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. The $52 million 

bridge links the coastal villages of Coalcliff and Clifton. Featuring two lanes of traffic, a cycleway and a walkway, 

the Sea Cliff bridge boasts spectacular views and is a feature of the scenic Lawrence Hargrave Drive. 

The Sea Cliff Bridge replaced a section of Lawrence Hargrave Drive that was permanently closed in August 2003 

due to regular rock falls. A public outcry emerged over the road closure as Lawrence Hargrave Drive is the only road 

directly linking Coalcliff, Stanwell Park, Otford and Helensburgh to the northern suburbs of Wollongong. 

The bridge was officially opened by NSW Premier Morris Iemma at a “ribbon cutting” ceremony on 11 December 

2005, and has met with great public approval and increased business for the area’s tourism industry. 

The Sea Cliff Bridge was named by 11 year old schoolgirl Makenzie Russell following a naming competition opened 

to local primary school students. 

The Sea Cliff Bridge is one of only seven off-shore parallel to coast bridges in the world. 

Technical Information 

Carries motor vehicles, pedestrians and bicycles. 

Located in the Illawarra Region, New South Wales, 

Australia. 

The design is a Balanced Cantilever. 

Material used was steel reinforced concrete. 

The total weight of the bridge is 9,750 tonnes. 

The total length is 455.6 metres. 

At its highest point it is 41 metres. 

There are three longest spans at 108 metres. 

There a five spans in total. 

Construction ended on 9 December 2005 and was 

opened on the 11 December 2005. 

GPS coordinates are 34˚15’14”S 150˚58’26”E 

Media Favourite 

The Sea Cliff Bridge has featured in a joint 2007 Ferrari/Shell Fuel television commercial that was shown in many 

countries around the world including Australia. The television commercial featured a Ferrari Formula 1 car being 

driven along the bridge at high speed. This was one of many times the bridge has been used in a television commercial. 

This bridge has been featured in many car advertisements around the world. Including the new Holden Commodore 

SIDI TV commercials. 

Source: Wikipedia. 


From Brian Harvey (WMM) Travelling in the United Kingdom 

Brian Harvey from Wollongong Movie Makers who is currently travelling in the UK with his Panasonic SD900 camera 

picked up two gadgets that work well with each other. 

1. A spirit level that fits the mic. Bracket 

2. A mini tripod aid called A POD 

Having to travel light without a tripod I purchased the POD from Jessops UK for $16 and it teams up beautifully with 

the spirit level from EBay for $2:50 post free . When setting up the camera for horizontal horizons it’s easy to get it 

straight in quick time. It’s easier to show with a photograph than describe. Please see below. 

The spirit level above fits into the mic 

bracket on the camera. 

“A Pod” Mini tripod 

The “A Pod” fitted to 

the camera and comfortably 

fits into the 

camera bag at right. 


Page 5

Newcastle & Hunter Valley Cine Society - New South Wales 

The Newcastle club is moving along very well with plenty of entries in their competitions and a 

couple of Community projects are on the go. Their Movie of the Year is coming up in October 

and it looks like there will be a bumper crop of entries and then in November will be the Widescreen 

Festival which will only be shown at the Newcastle club. 

Source: Gaz. 

Wollongong Movie Makers - New South Wales 

The MM chairman, John Devenish, discussed the changes to the competition 

rules of which the two principal ones were: 

1) An increase in video length maximum to 7 minutes to bring our competition into line with that of other 

clubs, and 

2) That a video previously entered into the VOTY competition can be re-entered into a following VOTY 

competition providing there are substantial changes made in the re-edit. 

Brian Harvey asked for assistance in videoing a photography workshop set down for the 25th of August between 

10am and 3pm. 

Chris Dunn gave a report on his recent visit to Canada. His trip would make a fine video on the problems 

of international travel; he returned with a brace on his foot and his wife had deafness in the left ear. 

Source: WMM Newsletter. 

Newcastle Video Moviemakers - New South Wales 

Wow, another great night, with 9 entries in our theme "Unexpected Ending or Parkland" competition. 

It is a great time for our club as members are working together producing movies on a regular 

basis. Congratulations go to Ian Huish for "Flaggy Creek" in first place, Phil Reynolds & Graham 

Bryant for "Punxatawany Phil" in second place and Nev Coulton in third place for "Conscription". 

Source: NVM Newsletter. 

Oakleigh Movie Club - Victoria 

The year 2012 marks the 75th year since the formation of OMC in a private house way back in 

1937. Since our early beginnings much has changed not the least of which is the method of capturing 

the moving image. Electronics have taken over and computer aided editing facilities are 

now readily available enabling the non-professional to emulate near professional results economically 

and with less effort than years ago. 

One thing that has remained is the club philosophy of like minded people enjoying a hobby, exchanging 

knowledge and enjoying one another’s company in a friendly and social atmosphere. The Club is fortunate 

to have had the continued support of the Monash Council and the co-operation of the staff at the Oakleigh 

Library over many years enabling us to have a comfortable venue for our meetings. We hope this continues 

for many years to come. 

Source: OMC Vision Newsletter. 

Brisbane Movie Makers - Queensland 

We are a group of people with an abiding interest in making movies. We range in expertise from professional 

to raw beginner, so there is a place for everyone no matter what their skill level. The movies we 

make cover a wide gamut. From a beginner’s holiday memories to serious screenplays, from experimental 

efforts to documentaries. Many movies are made by individuals or small groups while others are sponsored 

by the Association and all and any members are encouraged to participate. There is a place for you. Members 

use equipment ranging from mobile ‘phones to professional video cameras. Everyone, these days, edits 

on computer with the marvellous software that is available. Whatever your age, if you have ever wanted 

to express yourself in movies, why don’t you call by? You have nothing to lose and much to gain. 

Source: BMM Scanlines Newsletter. 


Stoke Cine & Video Society - England 

Our new season is just around the corner with our usual competitions and challenges. The President’s 

and Chairman's night always a must even if its only for the food, ha ha! Our 2012-2013 

programme has a great variety of evenings including practical evenings on video editing for beginners, 

technical evenings for those members who are having trouble even navigating their 

computer, video shows, guest speakers and demonstrations and more, keep a close eye on your programme. 

During the summer a working party of our members have been hard at work installing our new 16-9 screen 

in the large room and a wall mounted screen in the small room plus a lockable area for our equipment instead 

of the cabinet. 

Source: SCVS Highlight Newsletter. 

Christchurch Video Camera Club - New Zealand 

May was an exciting month of competitions, the first being the Arnold Stanbury Cup with six 

entries from Dunedin, Christchurch, Tauranga and Waikanae. All the entries were of a very 

high standard this year and a sincere thank you to all the entrants! The winner was Neville 

Smith from Dunedin with his entry, “Restoration of Larnach’s Tomb.” He took a whole year, climbing the 

scaffolding every week and in all weathers, to complete this video of the restoration of the 130 year old 

tomb. This was financed through the N.Z. Historic Cemeteries Trust that raised $350.000 for the costs. A 

very professional effort and a worthy winner! 

Next we had our first club competitions night with five entries for the Ken’s Camera Classic Cup, a closely 

fought competition won by Andrew Hart with his video “Battlefields” - a trip through European battlefields 

of World Wars I and II. 

Nevill Smith from Otago reminded me that their 75th Anniversary will be an occasion to look forward to in 

November this year and we are all invited. 

Source: Christchurch Moviemaker magazine. 

Los Angeles Cinema Club - United States of America 

Congratulations to all who entered last month's contest, Paul Hansen, Paul Conti 

and Manny Sanchez. The entries included many different subjects and many interesting editing ideas and 

compositions; but unfortunately there were not enough entries and then only from the same old regulars 

(thank goodness for their participation.) 

We really need to see more production from members and I would love to see more active participation in 

our next contests -- and for our regular meetings as well. So dust off your camcorders and start shooting a 

“How To Video” for the next meeting. 

Source: LACC News Bulletin. 

Protea Video Club - South Africa 

It was decided back in January that the Protea competition, which has been running for some 15 

years, really needed to catch up with modern technology. With so many videos now been shown 

on YouTube and Vimeo, we thought this should be easier to manage, (no having to post DVD’s etc.), but 

just upload on to our site, which hopefully would attract a wider audience. 

We hoped to have had it up and running by our usual time, entries in by the 31 July, but that is not going to 

happen due to a few glitches. Mike has been running this project from the start and has put a note out on V- 

V which I’m copying for those who do not subscribe. 

Source: PVC Newsletter. 

Make Movies - Make Friends 


Page 7

MOVIE LINK 

Welcome to our MOVIE LINK column). This column will carry Links to Club Movie Sites whether it be on 

their own Club Website or YouTube etc where you will be able to view the latest production which has 

been unloaded to the site. 

What AF&V requires from clubs who would like to participate in this venture are Links to your relevant 

site. We would also like your Club to keep AF&V updated with your latest uploads so as we can keep a 

list on our “Now Showing” poster in the column. 

Wollongong Camera Club Movie Makers 

www.youtube.com/wollongongmm 

Brisbane Video Makers Association 

www.youtube.com/user/BrisbaneVideo 

Southwest Video Club 

www.youtube.com/user/SouthwestVideoClub 

Ringwood Movie Makers 

http://www.ringwoodvideo.org.au/ 

Then click on Movie Page make a selection 

Milton Ulladulla Video Club 

http://www.muvc.org.au/news.html 

Gold Coast Video Camera Club 

http://www.gcvcc.com/ 

Then click on “Watch Sample Video” 

Victoria Video Club - Canada 

http://victoriavideoclub.tripod.com/id92.html 

Edinburgh Cine & Video Society - Scotland 

http://www.ecvs.co.uk/ 

Then click on “Showcase” 

Add Your Club’s 

Movie Link Here 

MOVIE LINK 

Now Showing 

Wollongong MM 

Veras Cap (Blue Screen Animation) 

The Hapless Tourist (Weather & an Overseas trip) 

The Falkirk Wheel (Connecting Canals in Scotland) 

Plus a Lot More 

Brisbane VMA 

The Interview (Club Project Short Comedy) 

Harry Redford Cattle Duffer (Club Project Trailer) 

Southwest VC 

Land of Giants (Hot Air Ballooning) 

The Gathering (Drama) 

Ringwood MM 

La Camargue 

The Potato Eaters (Animation) 

Monkami Concert 2009 (One Minute Extract) 

Satire (A Short Extract) 

Microlite (One Minute Movie) 

A Little Girl & A Mirror (One Minute Special) 

Milton Ulladulla VC 

Video Vignettes of Violence (News Report) 

Gold Coast VCC 

The Gift (A Short Movie) 

Victoria VC - Canada 

Gin & Tonic (12 Minutes Plus) 

Edinburgh CVS - Scotland 

Click on “Showcase” for numerous selections 


FAMM Convention 2014 

in 

Wonderful! Wonderful! Wollongong 

By Ian Simpson 

Wollongong Harbour with its old iconic lighthouse and the CBD and suburbs in the background 

Located 82 Km south of Sydney is NSW’s third largest city, the City of 

Greater Wollongong. Situated on a narrow but variable width strip of land between 

the Tasman Sea and the Illawarra Escarpment, the Illawarra region is 

home to over 300,000. Originally settled for its cedar forests and highly fertile 

land, Wollongong became noted for its coal mines, its heavy industry and finally 

as a university city. Its natural beauty extends from the rainforests of the 

escarpment to its almost continuous chain of glorious sand beaches. 

Mt Keira 

There is much debate as to what the anglicised word “Wollongong” means in 

the local Aboriginal language. Suggestions have been “sound of the sea”, 

“hard ground near water”, “sound of the 

waves” or even, “five islands.” Two 

prominent mountains dominate the Wollongong 

skyline. That is if you can call 

Mount Keira at 464 m high and Mount 

Kembla at 534 m high mountains. The 

steepness of the Illawarra Escarpment initially 

limited access to Wollongong until a 

road down the escarpment was built by 

convict labour in 1835-6, this path became the current Bulli Pass road. The 

local harbour became a thriving port for the shipping of coal and coke in the 

Illawarra Escarpment and 

Coastal plain 

Wollongong harbour 


Page 9

second half of the 19th century. Now the harbour is home to the local fishing fleet. The steel industry arrived in Wollongong’s 

suburb, Port Kembla, in 1928 and has grown to become Australia’s major steel producer until recent hard 

times cut the annual production capacity in half. Wollongong has a world class university which grew from its initial 

form as an offshoot of the University of NSW. In 1975 it became 

a fully fledged university in its own right. 

Access 

Access to Wollongong from the north is via the Southern 

Freeway then down the escarpment either via Bulli Pass 

which is a steep descent or by a more gradual descent via 

Mount Ousley Road. If you have the time and don’t mind a 

narrow single lane road then turn off the Freeway at Helensburgh 

and take the scenic coastal road to Wollongong. This 

road follows the edge of the Illawarra Escarpment and over 

the Sea Cliff Bridge and meets up with the bottom of Bulli 

Pass. Visitors travelling on the Hume Highway from south of 

Wollongong can either take the Illawarra Highway exit and 

travel down the famous but narrow Macquarie Pass or travel 

on and take the Picton turn off and approach Wollongong via 

Mount Ousley Road. 

Grand Pacific Drive and the Sea Cliff Bridge 

City Centre & Surrounds 

Wollongong is built around its main street, Crown Street, that extends from Wollongong Hospital in the west to City 

Beach in the east. At the centre of Crown Street is the Crown Street Mall in and around which are located department 

stores, speciality shops and the major government, council and business premises. 

To the north east of Crown Street is Flagstaff Point, a rocky headland topped by a grassy hill. The point contains a 

historic fort and a lighthouse. The northern side of the point was excavated by convict labour to form Belmore Basin 

and a breakwater to form Wollongong harbour. An older 

Lighthouse is located at the harbour. It was constructed in 

1871 and has become an icon of Wollongong. 

Convention Venue 

The 2014 FAMM Convention will be held at the Wollongong 

Surf Leisure Resort, 201 Pioneer Road, Fairy Meadow between 

the 31st March and the 4th April 2014. The venue is 

set on 25 acres with gardens, trees and opposite a patrolled 

beach and is only a short drive from the Wollongong CBD. 

The site has fully equipped self-contained cabins, free car 

parking outside units, powered and unpowered waterfront 

sites. More details on the venue and the accommodation will 

be in the next issue of AF&V. 

Climate 

Venue for the 2014 FAMM Convention 

Wollongong has a climate that is controlled by its location 

between the Tasman sea and the escarpment. In March / April historically the average high temperatures are between 

24.5 and 22.5 degrees C and the average low temperatures are between 16.7 to 14.2 degrees C. 

SLS Carnival at North Beach Wollongong 

The Illawarra looking south from the Sublime Point 


Wollongong & the Illawarra’s Attractions 

Bald Hill—Stanwell Tops 

Approximately 24 KM north of Wollongong along the 

Grand Pacific Drive is the Bald Hill Lookout which is 

popular with both tourists and hang-gliders. This is the 

northernmost point of the Illawarra coastal strip and gives 

excellent views over Stanwell Park beach. On this very 

beach in the 1890s Lawrence Hargrave experimented with 

box-kites. Bald Hill being some 150 m above sea level and 

with a southerly wind blowing is an ideal spot for hanggliding 

or paragliding. 

Lake Illawarra 

Illawarra Fly 

Approximately 42 Km west from Wollongong is the award 

winning Illawarra Fly Treetop Walk. Here you get the opportunity 

to get a bird’s eye view of the world. The Illawarra 

Fly, located in the Southern Highlands, offers stunning 

views of the Illawarra. It can be reached from Wollongong 

via the Southern Freeway to Albion Park Rail, up 

Macquarie Pass, along the Illawarra Highway to Robertson 

Pie shop then turn onto the Jamberoo Mountain Road and 

travel 10 kms and turn left at Knights Hill Road. 

Bald Hill and a paraglider 

Lake Illawarra 

Situated 12 Km south of Wollongong is Lake Illawarra, a 

large coastal lagoon that is popular for recreational fishing, 

prawning and sailing. The lake is tidal, fed from a narrow 

sea entrance, and receives runoff from the Illawarra Escarpment. 

It is a shallow lake with an average depth of 2 to 

3 metres. 

Wollongong Water Front 

Stretching north from the bottom of the main street of 

Wollongong there is a beach front public area that includes 

City Beach, Flagstaff Point, Belmore Basin / Wollongong 

Harbour, North Beach and Stuart Park. A walking 

track provides an easy passage along this route. Belmore 

Basin is an ideal and safe spot for children to play 

and paddle in the water. Many of the inner Wollongong 

attractions are accessible by a free bus service. 

View from the Tree Tops on the Illawarra Fly 

Top Right— Wollongong Harbour and Pools 

Bottom Right— Belmore Basin 


Page 11

BASICALLY 

VIDEOGRAPHY 

by Ian Simpson 

A search of the internet will give you plenty of guidance on how to add still images to your video footage, irrespective 

of the editing program you use. However, amidst all this advice you will find little discussion on when and 

why you should add still images and how to avoid any visual disturbances. So let us assume you know how to get 

your still images onto your editor’s timeline and just concentrate on when you might want to do this. Also before 

any clever reader suggests that all video consist of still images, which in our world is 50 full or half resolution images 

per second, I need to define “Still Images” as images obtained from scanned prints or negatives, from digital 

cameras and even still images taken from video camcorder footage. So why would you want to add a still image to 

a movie? Let us consider the many possibilities from the ‘simply obvious’ to the more subtle. 

Stills used as Background to Titles 

If you have a good snapshot from your holiday why not 

use it as a background to your introductory title for your 

Peggy’s Cove 

holiday movie? If you have a good group family photograph 

why not use that as the background for the titles 

introducing your family movie? If you are skilled at 

drawing you could use scanned images of your drawings 

as background for your titles. The common feature of all 

these suggestions is that you can personalise your titles 

and hence your movie. This is a much better approach 

than having a nondescript, impersonal introduction to 

your video and it also allows you to include that important 

still image that otherwise would have been lost in 

the files on your computer or amongst a pile of prints. Also if you have more than one good photograph or more 

drawings, why not use them as backgrounds for your end titles? 

Stills when the Movie doesn’t Move 

Nothing screams “amateur movie” more than a landscape 

that shakes or a sign that won’t stay still. But this 

doesn’t have to be. Why not capture a sharp frame from 

the footage of the sign and use that repeated as many 

times as is needed to replace the shaky footage. Similarly 

if the landscape has no obvious movement in it and you 

shot the scene without the aid of a tripod, why not replace 

the actual footage with a frame grab of a sharp 

frame from the footage? No one will ever know, unless 

you tell them, and instead they will complement you on 

your rock steady videography. 

Documents as Stills 

When making a documentary you are often required to 

include images of documents or letters. With the technology 

we currently have at our disposal it is easy to slip 

them into your movie. Just scan the documents and add 

the images to your timeline with your software repeating 

the images for as many frames as you require. Then using 

pan and zoom special effects you can highlight what 

sections of the document you want to include in your 

movie. 

Stills Superimposed over Moving Images 

In a documentary sometimes you may want to add a 

semi-transparent still image over the top of moving 

STILLS IN MOVIES 


images. This was the case in a documentary I made of 

three families who settled in Wollongong. At the beginning 

of the video I needed to make a visual connection between 

the members of each of the families and the Wollongong 

region. To achieve this I chose still images of members 

from each of the families and superimposed them over a 

long tracking shot taken from a plane as it followed the 

shore line south to Wollongong. The use of the stills effectively 

introduced the three families and allowed their stories 

to be built on later in the video. 

Still Images that Move 

The panning and / or zooming over a still image has become identified with the work of Ken Burns. This American 

documentary film maker became famous for his nine part television series on the American Civil War. This series 

won over 40 major awards and used mainly still images and interviews with historians and commentators. To make 

the still images more interesting Burns used a rostrum camera to pan across or zoom into or out of the thousands of 

still images he had collected. Now we can get our computers to do the very same actions on images we have placed 

on our timelines. Often this special effect is called in the software the Ken Burns Effect. Why would you want to do 

this? Well often you want to point out a particular person in a group photograph or highlight certain details in a photograph. 

Or you may want to show a close up view of a portion of a larger image. Burns so perfected this technique 

that if you are not acquainted with it then I suggest you get a hold of one of his historical documentaries and study it 

in detail. As an example of the technique consider the photograph below which was taken in 1949 and shows a family 

picnic. A slow pan across the photograph from left to right would show many details that are no longer part of a 

21st century family picnic; such as the style of the clothes and the large tea pot. 

SLOW PAN 

Movie or Audio-Visual? 

In a presentation to a Combined Clubs meeting last year I showed a historical documentary that was constructed 

mainly of still images but used some moving images to help tell the story and so tie the still images together. I asked 

the group would they consider this a movie or an audio-visual? Almost universally I got the feed back that this was a 

movie. I then showed the group a video that told the story of a person’s life from 1907 to 1987; but the story was told 

with only still images. I then asked the group the same question; is this a movie or an audio-visual? This time the 

group was uncertain how to classify it. Many considered it to be an audio-visual as there was not any moving footage 

in the video. So even though both examples had similar sound tracks of narration + music; the absence of any moving 

footage, as distinct from panning or zooming over a still image, made the video an audio-visual not a movie. 

What’s a Valid Competition Entry? 

Why is this classification of movie versus audio-visual important? It is important if you want to put your historical 

video in a competition. Some competitions such as that of the Combined Brisbane Clubs competition make reference 

to, “Video footage and special effects must be produced by the entrant or the group. Where stock footage from any 

other source is included in the movie it shall not exceed ten percent (10%) of the duration of the entry.” 

Note the reference to “video footage” and “stock footage”. Can a historical documentary made solely out of old photographs 

be considered as video footage? Also would a video made from old still photographs be considered to be 

made from almost 100% “stock footage”? Also would such a video fail the condition of being “produced by the entrant” 

as with most historical videos the entrant would not have shot the original still images? 


Page 13


A Pro Monitor at a realistic price? 

If you are tired of correcting the colour balance of your videos at the editing bench only to find the footage looks different 

on your widescreen TV, then perhaps it is time for you to get a Pro Monitor, but what about the cost? The 

ASUS PA246Q ProArt 24” IPS monitor helps to break down the price barrier. This 24 inch monitor boasts that it has 

98% coverage of the Adobe colour space, has six way colour adjustment and 1920 x 1080 resolution, 16:10 aspect 

ratio screen. Reviews have found the factory colour calibration to be very accurate, with only brightness uniformity 

found to be poor and for photographers there was no Compact Flash card slot. 

Tablet Editing on the Fly 

Not that long ago if you wanted to edit your footage “in the field” then you 

had to have a relatively powerful laptop computer. Now everything has 

changed and shooting and editing of video whilst away from home couldn’t 

be easier. For example you can now capture your footage on an iPhone and 

edit it on an iPad. Apple has the iMovie app for the iPad, which has template 

simulations of trailers from different film genres. All you have to do is 

drag and drop your video into the templates you like and you have a readymade 

cinema trailer with your own footage. Want to do more with your 

footage? Then both Avid and Apple have the apps for you. The Avid software, 

like Apple’s iMovie software, has temples but also has more involved 

editing capabilities too. Also for the iPad there is Movie Looks HD. This 

app has editing templates that help create the same classic movie looks but only for videos less than five minutes in 

duration. 

If you are an Android fan then there are apps for you too. AndroMedia is a free application with basic editing software 

and web sharing capability; whilst Clesh Video Editor is the app that does it all. It has full timeline and storyboard 

editing, pan and zoom, titling, transitions and it also allows access of your videos from any PC device. It 

boasts ‘no wait’ rendering play back. It saves your edited videos onto your device as it only has 30 minutes of storage 

in the Cloud. 

Will September see a Video Capable Leica M10? 

In an interview Leica Head of the Supervisory Board, Dr Andreas 

Kaufmann, revealed that Leica has been working on implementing 

video on their digital rangefinder line or possibly a new product. All 

will be revealed at Photokina in September, where Leica has taken over 

Hall 1 because of their “huge product roadmap at the moment.” So will 

it be a video capable M10 or a new mirrorless interchangeable lens 

camera? Leica needs to have an effective reply to the new Fujifilm X 

Pro 1 interchangeable lens camera. This revolutionary, retro camera that 

looks like a 1960s rangefinder camera has a creative mix of electronic 

and optical viewfinder, the so called “hybrid viewfinder”. Something 

that has been sorely missing from the digital Leica M9. 

DSLRs May Soon Shoot More Than 30 Minutes of Video 

The limit of 30 minutes of video recording for digital cameras could be abolished if the World Trade Organization's 

Information Technology Agreement (ITA) is expanded. At present digital cameras such as DSLRs can only continuously 

record video for up to 29 minutes and 59 seconds so as to avoid them being classified as video cameras. The 

reason for this odd situation is that in Europe video cameras attract a 5.4% duty. Removing duty on video cameras 

would allow manufacturers to remove this limit currently applied to digital cameras. However other limitations will 

then have to be addressed by manufacturers; such as the 4Gb limit for single files imposed by the FAT 32 file system, 

and concerns about the circuitry overheating when videoing for a lengthy time. 



BRIAN HARVEY’S WEB SEARCHES 

Want to know how your video card performs compared to other cards? Go to: http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/ 

gpu_list.php 

Need a simple holder for a Zoom H1 recorder for your camcorder or DSLR? http://www.thingiverse.com/ 

thing:10296 

Worried about the storage and access to all your video footage? http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ 

topic/how-do-you-store-and-access-home-video? 

utm_source=enews&utm_medium=email&utm_content=featureforum_2012_thu_07_12&utm_campaign=traffic 

Confused about what 4:4:4 or 4:2:0 means in video colour parlance? http://www.videomaker.com/video/watch/ 

tutorials/728/fixing-rough-and-discolored-edges-for-green-screen/ 

If you have the need for a frame-accurate video timecode display in your video then go to the following site and 

download a 1 minute, 20 minutes or 60 minutes files. 

http://www.mediacollege.com/downloads/video/timecode/ 

Have you at times found the on-camera microphone too limiting and wished for a separate audio recorder? If so read 

the following article before you buy. 

http://www.videomaker.com/article/15354/? 

utm_source=enews&utm_medium=email&utm_content=tip_enews_2012_wed_05_16&utm_campaign=traffic 

This is a good short video that reminds us about the “dos” and “don’ts” of using titles in our videos. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdYDu1tSh_U&feature=context-chv 

The CSCs or EVILs of Canon 

Some marketing people must have creative fun thinking up acronyms for new products, none more so than the camera 

manufacturers. Whilst CSC (Compact System Camera) is very ordinary, EVIL (Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable 

Lens camera) is something else again. Both acronyms describe a developing segment of the digital camera 

market. A camera design that: 

1) takes the large sensor of the DSLR camera and puts it into a smaller body, 

2) incorporates many of the advanced features of the DSLR, principally interchangeable lenses, 

3) does not include the bulky eye level viewfinder and mirror box of the DSLR design. 

So you can have much of the advantages of the DSLR without its 

bulk. The new addition to Canon range is the EOS M which has a 

18MP APS-C sensor. The same sized sensor that is in their DSLR 

camera, the EOS 650D. Currently there are two dedicated lenses for 

the EOS M; the 18mm to 55mm, F3.5 – 5.6, zoom and the 22mm F2, 

but any of the SLR lenses of the EF or EF-S range can be used. Unlike 

some of its opposition the EOS M has no eyelevel viewfinder and 

unlike the Olympus there is no optional viewfinder attachment. So for 

many enthusiasts this makes the EOS M just a PowerShot model with 

a large chip and a choice of lenses. How important this omission will 

be to the enthusiast market only time will tell. However, on paper at 

least it puts the Canon EOS M out of the league of the Sony NEX 

7, the Fujifilm X Pro 1 or even the Nikon V1. 


Page 15

My Favourite Film - "To Kill a Mocking Bird" 

by Dave Fuller 

This title from the 1960's endures. Adapted faithfully from an outstanding novel, its 

theme, the performance by the actors, all eloquent and masterful, the selection of actors, 

the direction and production are a tribute to credit-worthy team work. I'm sure there 

are many titles following in the wake of my choice, that are at least as admirable and 

some better. But my choice created a "watershed." Its appearance was timely and its 

theme eternal. 

To Kill a Mocking Bird is so memorable because everything in the production is so 

"right". Its content faithfully follows Harper Lee's text. This movie demonstrates that a 

great text can be transformed into an equally good screenplay. The movie, almost fifty 

years after it was made, appeals to all ages and all cultures and applies particularly to 

America's racial divisions. During economic hard times, such as the Great Depression Harper Lee with Producer 

of the 1930's, we usually find an abundance of literary works of outstanding merit, reflecting 

major social injustices "writ large", that are always with us, where the "have- 

Alan J Pakula on the film 

nots" are even more exposed to the challenge of survival. Writers' pleas for empathy are louder and clearer. 

Harper chooses a location in southern USA where the soullessness of the division between white and black is most 

dramatic - carved out in black and white. Hence, the movie is shot in black and white; its locations represent a commonality 

like so many other small communities in southern USA; the epitome of goodness lies within the protagonist, 

Atticus. He is guided by his ethic: "you never get to know a person until you move around in his skin." He lives 

it. The black "house help", Calpurnia, is treated as an equal in his home. The sheriff recognizes, too, the need for us 

all to "get along with our neighbours", white or black. The law applies to everyone. When Jim approached adolescence, 

and was given a rifle, Atticus told him that he must never shoot a mocking bird, because all these birds do is 

sing a song of joy. "It would be a sin to kill a 

mocking bird." 

Scout and Jim, Atticus' children, in spite of a 

father's good counselling, in the hostile, prejudiced 

South could easily and innocently fall 

victim to the vilest of the nastiest white adults 

in the impoverished town. The children and the 

impoverished people of both skins, too, are 

"mocking birds". It is a fitting and emotionally 

charged ending to the novel where Atticus' children 

face death at the hands of a lawless, dissolute 

local white man. It's a powerful statement 

both in the novel and the movie, presented 

in eloquent forcefulness. 

Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch in the courtroom scene 

Boo Radley, an adult, another "mocking bird", mentally challenged and forced to live forever inside his home, saves 

the children's lives. It's simplistic for me to utter a banality, but this novel and its faithful representation in the movie, 

spell out a truth that we are all God's children. 

The "mocking birds" in the novel are etched in 

black and white. Its theme is timeless. 

Atticus Finch and his daughter Scout 

Page 16 AUSTRALIAN FILM & VIDEO—VOL 17 SPRING 2012 

An outstanding section in the novel is preserved 

in full in the movie – deservedly; Atticus' summation 

at the end of the trial of the defendant, a 

black man. The level of diction created by 

Harper Lee, in lofty, carefully crafted imagery, 

language and logic, might go over the heads of 

less educated people in the town, but it remains a 

masterpiece of literature. Gregory Peck, the

counsel for the black defendant, delivers a stellar performance. A repeated music theme winds its way throughout the 

movie, reinforcing the theme again and again: Innocence, respect, love and the love of life will survive in a miserable 

world, at its worst, reminding us that there is hope. This is a movie for all time and all ages. 

Awards and Honours 

In 1995, To Kill a Mockingbird was selected for preservation in the United States Nation Film Registry by the Library 

of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." 

The American Film Institute named Atticus Finch the greatest movie hero of the 20th century. Additionally, the AFI 

ranked the movie second on their 100 Years … 100 Cheers list, behind It’s a Wonderful Life. The film was ranked 

number 34 on AFI's list of the 100 greatest movies of all time, but moved up to number 25 on the 10th Anniversary 

list. In June 2008, the AFI revealed its "Ten Top Ten"—the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres— 

after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. To Kill a Mockingbird was acknowledged as the best 

film in the courtroom drama genre. 

Academy Awards 

The film won three Academy Awards out of eight nominations 

• Best Actor—Gregory Peck 

• Best Art Direction—Set direction, Black and White—Henry Bumstead, 

Alexander Golitzen and Oliver Emert 

• Best Adapted Screenplay—Horton Foote 

Other nominations were for: Best picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, 

Best Supporting Actress and Best Music Score. 

Golden Globe Awards 

• Best Actor in a motion Picture Drama—Gregory Peck 

• Best Original Score in a Motion picture—Elmer Bernstein 

• Best Film Promoting International Understanding 

The film also won an award at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival. 

What Did the Critics Think? 

BOSLEY CROWTHER Special to The New York Times - Published: February 15, 1963 

It is, in short, on the level of adult awareness of right and wrong, of good and evil, that most of the action in the picture 

occurs. And this detracts from the camera's observation of the point of view of the child. 

Some have been brave to criticise both book and film as did Adam Zanzie: 

“Did Mulligan and his longtime producer, Alan J. Pakula, recognize these as flaws in Foote’s screenplay? Not 

likely. I’m sure they were wholly committed to being as faithful in interpreting Lee’s pages as accurately as possible, 

for fear of aggravating unforgiving fans of the novel. In this sense they can only be lauded, as the film does remain 

one of the most faithful adaptations of a work of literature to date. Never mind the awkward turn of events in Lee and 

Foote’s dramatic structures, which happen mostly towards the end of 

the story and are never really explored.” 

50th Anniversary Edition—Blu-ray 

Originally released on DVD in 2000 and again in 2005 as a Legacy Edition, 

To Kill a Mockingbird marks its 50th anniversary with a Blu-ray 

debut. It's basically a high-definition repackage of the Legacy Edition 

with extra features. 

References 

http://www.reelviews.net/movies/t/to_kill_mockingbird.html 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Kill_a_Mockingbird_%28film%29 http:// 

movies.nytimes.com/movie/review? 

res=9D06EEDF143CEF3BBC4D52DFB4668388679EDE 

http://iceboxmovies.blogspot.com.au/2010/10/to-kill-mockingbird-1962- 

praise-and.html 

U.S. Release Date: 12/25/62 

Running Length: 2:09 

MPAA Classification: Not Rated (Mature 

themes, implied violence) 

Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 

Cast: Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Phillip 

Alford, James Anderson, Robert Duvall, Brock 

Peters, Estelle Evans, Collin Wilcox, William 

Windom, John Megna 

Director: Robert Mulligan 

Producer: Alan J. Pakula 

Screenplay: Horton Foote, based on the novel 

by Harper Lee 

Cinematography: Russell Harlan 

Music: Elmer Bernstein 

U.S. Distributor: Universal Pictures 


Page 17

My Favourite Film – Lawrence of Arabia 

by Ian Simpson 

65mm negative of Lawrence of Arabia 

“I don’t know of one director who doesn’t go down on one knee whenever The Bridge on the River Kwai or Lawrence 

of Arabia is discussed”, Steven Spielberg. 

An Awesome Film 

I’m sure all of us interested in making movies have at least one very special commercial film that kindled our interest 

in this hobby. For me this film was Lawrence of Arabia. It premiered in London in December 1962. This film 

held me spellbound when I first viewed it in 1964 on the big screen. In those days the theatres had BIG screens. 

Sitting quite close to the screen I was over awed by those gloriously detailed images of the desert. This film was 

one of the last films to be shot in Super Panavision 70, (as distinct from being shot on 35mm film and blown up to 

70mm), a tradition that had begun with Ben Hur. 

The Plot 

For those unfamiliar with the film and the historical character it is based 

on, the film tells the story of T. E. Lawrence’s exploits during the First 

World War. In 1916 Turkey, which had dominated the Middle East for 

centuries, had aligned itself with Germany. The enigmatic Lawrence, a 

British soldier, unites the various Arab tribes and leads a revolt against 

the Turks. 

The Film 

As is always the case, Lawrence of Arabia is the result of a number of 

peoples’ skills and efforts, principally those of the director, David Lean; 

the cinematographer, Freddie Young; script writers Robert Bolt and Michael 

Wilson and editor Anne Coates. It was filmed on locations in Jordan, 

Spain, Morocco and England. Lean was a sticker for authenticity. 

He had little time for models or the matting process. Further this film 

was shot at the beginning of the 1960s when there were no computergenerated 

effects; everything you see on the screen was real, shot live. 

All those extras were members of the Jordanian Army; all the desert vistas 

were shot in the very places Lawrence had travelled through and fought battles. Such authenticity cost money, 

sweat and tears but it shows through all the beautiful camera work of Freddie Young. Much of the awe that one 

feels after seeing the movie is due to the cinematography; many often feel that the desert scenes were composed 

with the same care a painter applies to his canvas. Sadly the majesty of these images can only be truly appreciated 

when viewed in the cinema. One can only hope that when the HD Blu-ray version is released that it does justice to 

Lean and Young’s vision. 


What can Amateur Videomakers Learn from Lawrence of Arabia? 

Careful Preparation 

David Lean and Robert Bolt spent a year developing the script. Lean’s comments on this process were; “I hate it 

really! I’m not a word man, I like pictures. But if I don’t spend the time on the script I feel I don’t know it well 

enough.” 

How long do we spend working out the structure of our videos? A year would be a bit excessive for a Club competition 

video but two or three weeks would surely not be unreasonable? 

Be Prepared to Experiment to achieve your Vision 

Omar Sharif’s entrance in Lawrence of Arabia is one of the classic entrances in all films. Lean had this vision of 

Sharif appearing out of a desert mirage so he set his cinematographer the task of recording on film that vision. A 

very long telephoto lens was used to achieve the extreme foreshortening required to “bring forward” the mirage. Although 

when viewed on a small TV screen the effect is almost lost, on the BIG screen the effect is magical. Using all 

the resolution accorded by the twice-normal width film stock, the theatre audience would lean forward and strain to 

bring an image out of the waves of heat. When we finally sight the image it looks like Sharif is “on stilts and walking 

in water,” said Lean. The impact of this scene also depends on the pacing of the shots. Lead said, “Willy Wilder always 

said, ‘If you’re going to surprise an audience, first you must nearly bore them to death.’” So Lean and Bolt 

concocted some tedious activities for O’Toole (Lawrence) to do whilst Sharif is emerging out of the mirage and before 

he shoots Lawrence’s Arab guide. 


Page 19

Editing – There is a famous cut in Lawrence of Arabia, where we go from a Close-Up of Lawrence blowing out a 

lighted match to an Extreme Long Shot of the sun slowly rising over a desert horizon. How many of us would be 

game to try such a cut, how many of us would have thought such a cut would work? 

There are many other less daring direct cuts in Lawrence of Arabia. It’s good to learn from the professionals how to 

cut from one location to another or one time to another time. For us with non-linear editing programs, there is no excuse 

for not experimenting with different editing approaches! We just need inspiration to overcome our laziness. 

Become Emotionally Involved in our Videos 

Lean put four years of his life into this film. We will obviously not put that much time into one of our videos, but 

nevertheless we need to also have a high level of commitment to our videos. We need to become emotionally involved 

in our video projects. It must become almost a compulsive desire to get our video made, only then will we 

achieve our best results. 

After they see Lawrence of Arabia people usually don’t discuss the plot. The plot is not complex and the dialogue is 

scarce. What people remember and discuss after seeing Lawrence of Arabia is the total experience. An experience 

that is often difficult to put into words. An experience that is more than the beautiful photography, the sun rising 

across the desert, intricate lines traced by wind in the sand, the large panoramas where men and camels are dwarfed 

by sand dunes and rock outcrops. The only other film I have seen that has also left me with a feeling of wonder was 

Kubrick’s 2001 A Space Odyssey. This film is a testament to the importance of cinematography in both telling the 

story and creating the atmosphere and emotion. Lawrence of Arabia was hugely popular in its time and again when it 

was restored and re-released in 1989 with the addition of some 22 minutes cut from the original theatre release. 

Its Awards 

USA Academy Awards 

British BAFTA Awards 

Nominated for 10 and won 7 in 1963. Nominated for 5 and won 3. 

Best Picture, 

Best British Film 

Best Direction (David Lean) 

Best Film 

Best Colour Cinematography (F. A. Young) Best Actor (Peter O”Toole) 

Best Musical Score (Maurice Jarre) 

Best British Screenplay (Robert Bolt) 

Best Colour Art Direction (John Box, John Stoll) 

Best Editing (Anne V. Coates) 

Best Sound (John Cox) 

Golden Globe Awards 

Nominated for 6 and won 5 

Best Motion Picture – Drama 

Best Director (David Lean) 

Best Cinematography (Freddie Young) 

Best Supporting Actor (Omar Sharif) 

Most Promising Newcomer (Omar Sharif) 


What did the Critics Think? 

Mainstream newspaper reviewers praised Lawrence of Arabia for its technical excellence. There were comments 

like, “Here is an epic with intellect behind it” Alexander Walker, Evening Standard, 13 December 1962 

“The sun rising on the rim of blood-orange sand; dust storms like the smoke-trails of a djinn; the shapes of infinity, 

the colours of heat – I think it is the first time for the cinema to communicate ecstasy.” Dilys Powell, The Sunday 

Times, 16 December 1962. 

However, critics such as Andrew Sarris, found the film, “Dull, overlong and coldly impersonal.” The Village Voice, 

20 December 1962. 

Whilst The New York Times writer, Bosley Crowther summed it up as, “just a huge, thundering camel-opera that 

tends to run down rather badly as it rolls on into its third hour and gets involved with sullen disillusion and political 

deceit.” He did however concede the film was “a laboriously large conveyance of eye-filling spectacle.” The New 

York Times, 17 December 1962. 

References: 

Lawrence of Arabia, York Film Notes, Martin Stollery, 2000 

David Lean, Stephen Silverman, Andre Deutsch Ltd, 1989 

http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/loa1a.htm 

http://www.washtimes.com/arts/20030620-113253-9467r.htm 

http://www.fil.u-net.com/Movies/Reviews/Lawrence_Arabia.html 

http://evanerichards.com/2010/869 

http://in70mm.com/news/2008/lawrence/ 

The Restoration of Lawrence of Arabia 

A Two Year Challenge 

In 1986 Robert Harris, an archivist-producer, began a two year odyssey to restore Lawrence of Arabia. As amateurs 

we may worry about the longevity of our videos but not so the big Hollywood studios. Harris found the delicate 

65mm negative in rusting cans, some of which were crushed with only the negative’s bulk holding the can shape. 

The major problem for Harris was that there were three versions of the film shown; the original 222 minute long release 

in December 1962; the 202 version shown in January 1963 and the 187 minutes version shown from late 1970. 

Further Harris found there was no print in existence of the 222 minutes premiere version and worse still no record of 

what it contained. So began a world-wide search for footage in whatever format and any magnetic track. Although 

colour film is archived by the production of three black and white masters, Harris found even these had been cut. 

Finding all the pieces 

So began the tedious job of searching through hundreds of thousands of feet of film so as to re-construct the original 

222 minutes long version. Oddly the final piece to be added was the unique 65mm Columbia films logo. There was 

however eight minutes of film for which sound could not be found. So effects were copied from other parts of the 

film, new Foley tracks were produced and the original actors were called on to repeat the missing lines. 

So after 26 years the completed 70mm work print, with its new 6 track Dolby Spectral Recording and re-cut to 

Lean’s specifications, was screened to the head of Columbia Pictures at the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences. 

Camels only go left to right on screen 

An interesting snippet is that when director, David Lean and editor, Anne Coates were viewing the assembled work 

print they noticed that in the second reel the camels were going in the wrong direction. The error had occurred during 

the production of the 35mm scope interpositive made in 1966. So every showing of the film since 1966, except for 

the 1971 187 minutes reissue version, were in error. 

Lack of Colour 

The prints taken from the original negative lacked the brilliant blue skies of the original Technicolor dye transfer 

prints made in 1963. Luckily the new Eastman Duplicator interpositive and internegative restored the blue skies. 

Note: Lawrence of Arabia on Blu-ray 

A 218 minutes version of Lawrence of Arabia has been available on DVD for a considerable time. However, the limited resolution 

of PAL standard definition has never done justice to the incredible cinematography of Freddie Young. Ever since the announcement 

of the high definition standard there has been an expectation that such classics as Lawrence of Arabia would get a 

Blu-ray release. Now the wait seems to be over with the Blu-ray release later this year to coincide with the film’s 50th anniversary. 

It is reported that the film’s original negative was scanned at 8K and restoration work was done on a 4K digital intermediate. 

The Blu-ray master was taken from that 4K restoration. It will be interesting to see how true the Blu-ray high definition images 

will be to the original projected 65mm film. 


Page 21

Sea Cliff Bridge 

Love Locks & Messages on the Sea Cliff Bridge 

Photographs by Deirdre & Gary 

10.31am and –3 degrees at 

1700 metres at Perisher 

Perisher Valley 

Ski Tube at Bullocks Flat Terminal 


Over the first weekend in August my sister Deirdre & I made a trip to the New South Wales Snowy Mountains. 

We departed on the Friday morning to beat the Snowy weekend traffic and travelled via the F3 Freeway 

to Sydney where we made a small diversion and travelled along the Grand Pacific Drive to the Sea 

Cliff Bridge. Some great shots can be obtained of Sea Cliff Bridge from Bald Hill Lookout. 

Then it was on to our accommodation at Jindabyne at the Ski Inn Motel. Friday night we had dinner at the 

Jindabyne Bowling Club as it was the Chef’s night off at the Motel. The rest of our excellent meals were 

had at the Motel. We woke up every morning to a delicious hot breakfast in the dining room. We were 

looked after very well at the Ski Inn, they made you feel like one of the family. 

Adjacent to the dining room is a cosy lounge with a great wood fire which became a great talking point 

with the guests and for warm days there is a sunny balcony to enjoy. Our hosts Marie & Ray Lambert and 

Manager Steve made our stay most welcome and enjoyable. We can highly recommend staying at the Ski 

Inn Motel in Jindabyne on you next trip to the Snowy. The motel is situated approximately 30 kilometres 

from Perisher or Thredbo. 

Saturday morning we left early to beat the traffic going to the snowfields, but not quite early enough as 

there was a fair bit of weekend traffic on the road, but it was moving reasonably well. There is an entry fee 

into Kosciuszko National Park of $27 per vehicle for the day. About 10 kilometres out from Perisher Valley 

cars had to stop and fit snow chains to their driving wheels, but 4WD’s are exempt, which was good 

because it gave us a chance to pass quite a few cars. We arrived at Perisher at an elevation of 1700 metres 

and –3 degrees and when you alighted from your car the wind hit you and it was freezing, and any exposed 

skin soon let you know it was uncovered. 

We didn’t ski or toboggan as we had done that years ago so this time it was the coffee shops and the tourist 

bit. We travelled on the Ski Tube railway which commences its journey at Bullocks Flat above ground and 

then travels underground, it is a cog railway to enable it to make the steep accent up the mountain. We 

joined the train at Perisher and travelled to Blue Cow for lunch. 

On Sunday we travelled out to Thredbo, but the snow wasn’t as good so we decided to go for a 2 hour 

drive over the mountain to Khancoban, but by the time we reached Dead Horse Gap it was snowing in and 

starting to whiteout so we turned around and headed for Smiggins Hole to make sure of a car park as it was 

late in the morning. We caught the free shuttle bus across to Perisher for lunch before returning to 

Jindabyne after a great day out. 

We were due to return to Newcastle on the Monday, but it looked like being a fine day up the mountain 

after two days of snow so we decided to return to Perisher Valley, but you guessed it, it was fine in 

Jindabyne, but snowing in Perisher with breaks, so after lunch we headed back to Thredbo hoping to take a 

chair lift ride to Merritts Peak. Which we did in reasonably calm weather, although near the top the ride 

stopped for a few minutes and you could feel the cold starting to seep in. After a hot cappuccino and a 

snack we were ready to face the ride back down the mountain. On the way back to Jindabyne we stopped 

off at Bullocks Flat to check out the Ski Tube terminal. 

We departed Jindabyne on Tuesday and returned to Newcastle via Dalgety which was going to originally 

be the Australian Capital instead of Canberra, but was decided against because it was too close to Victoria. 

After leaving Dalgety we saw some fantastic vistas of the Australian Alps. 

The Australian Alps 


Page 23

SKI INN MOTEL 

JINDABYNE 

PO Box 466 

Jindabyne NSW 2627 

16 Nettin Circuit 

Jindabyne NSW 2627 

Ph: 02 6456 2918 

Fax: 02 6456 1545 

Email: info@skiinn.com.au 

Web: www.skiinn.com.au 

Hosts: Marie & Ray Lambert 

Lake Jindabyne under snow 

Brochures & photographs from the Skin Inn website 

were used with the permission of Manager Steve 

Snowfall changes the appearance of the Ski Inn 



Page 25

Hello, 9.5-ers. 

I read in AF&V about your proposed "events" with 9.5 amateur film. In the early 1970's I processed a few 

25 ft. rolls of 8mm GAF chrome using a kit of processing chemicals sold by GAF - enough to process a 

three rolls 8mm film or 4 rolls of 20 exp. 35mm slide film. Mailing the unprocessed film to New York was 

cheaper of course. A company in Chicago sold a bakelite processing dish, a plastic apron and a simple and 

effective film-splitter. 

The home darkroom process took an hour, required temperature control of +/- 1 deg. - holding chemical 

bottles in a tray bath, regulated temp. 1st developer, bleach, unrolling film for re-exposure to light, 2nd developer. 

etc, etc. Drying in the basement. 

I bought some cans of 25ft. double 8mm GAF film, 25 ISO, from a Disposals outfit in LA, labelled 

stickers on discarded 8mm cans. I found out (through enquiry) that my film was loaded from cans of double-8 

GAF colour film in 400 ft. loads. NASA had a 16mm movie camera modified to pull the 8mm film 

by 8mm frame, to record each image in double-8 width, in effect a format of 8 x 3. The image was shot 

and viewed vertical, holding the camera on its side. NASA followed the vertical paths of ascending rockets. 

My humble processing effort. 

GAF, particularly in 8mm form, never possessed the sharp image resolution of Kodachrome. But with correct 

exposure, GAF has held its colours to this day. 

Agfa, pre-WW2, had teamed up with GAF because GAF was in the dye business. AGFA's dyes faded with 

time. But, GAF circa 1970's, was "grainy", something that mattered very much with tiny 8mm. 

A member of the Brisbane club was enthused about 9.5mm. He had a camera and a multi-gauge projector. 

Made a few films. Like many of his brethren in England, he claimed that 9.5 was "the sensible" gauge..."all 

that wasted sprocket area!" But when optical sound tracks arrived for 16mm, economical optical printing 

for 9.5mm was a lost cause, as the optical track reduced the image area to about the same size as Super-8. 

9.5 had lost its advantage. 

In the 1960's - 1970's, there erupted a "Kodachrome War" in France over Eastman Kodak's refusal to make 

9.5mm Kodachrome for such a small market. Besides its processing Labs could handle both 16mm and 

8mm in the same processor. France retaliated by putting a trade embargo on Kodak products. Pressure from 

France had almost reached the Ambassadorial level. All became academic: Super 8 was embraced by the 

rest of the world while the spectre of home video was just around the corner. 

Today, Kodak is just about - no more. Adjoining Kodak factories located side by side across Lake Ontario 

are almost out of business. 

I wish you well as you journey along the nostalgic path of 9.5. I'd like to hear from you and hear about how 

your ventures work out. Maybe view some of the 9.5 product? [I'd be delighted to snail you a DVD of one 

of my GAF home processed 8mm movies.] 

Two of my articles are printed in the current edition of Australian Film & Video magazine. 

Kind regards 

Dave Fuller 

A Message from Dave Fuller in Canada on 

9.5 Film 


ARE YOU A LAWBREAKER? 

If you have ever shown a video or slide show with music in the background and did not have permission or 

clearance to use the music, you are a lawbreaker! 

More and more emphasis is being placed on having permission before using any kind of music in a slide 

show or video production. Magazines geared toward the amateur videographer and wedding videographers 

continue to comment on ensuring that copyrighted material is not used without prior permission. In one recent 

blog, an unidentified wedding still photographer admitted to routinely turning in the wedding videographer 

after the videographer produced a DVD for the couple. This still photographer would notify BMI, 

ASCAP or SESAC and report the offending videographer. In some cases the videographer had to pay 

dearly or was frightened out of business. 

There is not enough space to discuss every aspect of using copyrighted music in your video. Since there are 

many sites that offer royalty free music, it makes sense to make use of these sites and purchase music from 

them. 

If you publish your video on YouTube, any time there is music in the background, there is a good chance 

they will challenge your use of that music. It seems like many more videos are being scrutinized by them 

for copyright infringements. 

The Los Angeles Cinema Club’s web site has a link page with links to a few royalty free music sites. Of 

course a general Google search on the Internet will also reveal a list of royalty free music sites. 

This is not meant to discourage anyone from making a home video. It is just an attempt to make you aware 

if should you plan on showing or sharing your video publicly. 

Finally, to be legally correct, always see an attorney for legal advice. 

Copyright 2012 by Los Angeles Cinema Club & printed with permission. 

WHAT IS A STORY BOARD MADE OF 

A Story Board is a panel or series of panels of rough sketches outlining the scene sequence and action or 

plot in a production to be shot on film or video. It is not to be taken literally and construed as a series of 

wooden boards. Your story may displayed on sheets of paper, cardboard panels or projected on a large 

screen. 

When preparing for taping of a movie, a story board can prove to be an invaluable tool. It not only allows 

you to visualize each scene before it is recorded, it helps others understand the story or idea you are trying 

to record. Other advantages are in planning your shots, locations, equipment needed, and any special effect 

that may have to be added in post production. 

One program that comes to mind for the budding film maker is Celtx. It is free and not only helps with storyboards, 

but the preproduction process like budgets, schedules, prop and wardrobe needs. It is PC and Apple/Mac 

compatible. Another freeware program is Storyboard Pro Software although it appears to be for 

Mac/Apple users only. 

Of course, once again a Google search for free Storyboard programs will result in a list of free and/or very 

inexpensive shareware programs. 

As you prepare for your next production, be it a home movie edit or for an upcoming contest, consider using 

a series of storyboards to help make your efforts more productive and successful. For practice, look 

back at your previous efforts and see if using story boards would have made a difference in your production. 

To quote a well worn phrase, with a twist added, "One picture (storyboard) is worth a thousand 

words”. 

Copyright 2012 by Los Angeles Cinema Club & printed with permission. 


Page 27

© Tech Topics with Joe Leon - Spring 2012 

All Registered Names, Trademarks, Logos and Images appearing in this 

article are subject of Copyright to their respective Copyright owners. 

Unwelcome (?) Internet Changes … 

The more you browse the Internet or Install software, 

you take the risk of being offered to have 

your Home Page, Internet Browser, Search Engine 

changed and Toolbars added, some without your 

knowledge or permission. Some of you may welcome 

the changes, but I like my PC as is. 

MediaInfo was the next one to be installed and it 

also offered to change my Internet Explorer settings 

and add a Toolbar as well which I declined. 

Before proceeding to install any new software I 

would strongly recommend that you Create a Restore 

Point in case of any problems and please 

take time to read all the different messages that 

may be displayed. Over the last few days I installed 

several programs with all of them offering to 

make changes to the way I use my PC. 

The first one was Freemake Video Downloader 

which offered to Install Freemake Toolbar for Windows 

Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome 

and change my default Search Engine and Home 

Page plus Install Firefox & Chrome Plugins. That is 

a lot of changes and not all of you will know how to 

undo them and that is why you should create a Restore 

Point first. 

Updating Skype presented the same problem. 

Default Installation is Recommended by Freemake 

while Custom Installation (Advanced) is grayed 

out. 

Again a new Toolbar 

and Home Page is 

offered. 

I selected Custom Installation 

(Advanced) and unticked all except 

for: Create a desktop icon. 

The program to be installed last was CyberLInk’s 

PowerDirector which wanted to Install Google 

Chrome and make it my default Browser. 

Please note: All images have been changed or 

modified for clarity in reading purposes. 

(Mozilla) Firefox and (Google) Chrome are alternatives 

to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer Web Browser 

and are preferred by quite a lot of Internet users. 

It seems that you can’t get away from being bombarded 

by third party applications when trying to 

install software. Extra care must be taken to read 

everything while installing any new software. 

JPL 


© Tech Topics with Joe Leon - Spring 2012 

All Registered Names, Trademarks, Logos and Images appearing in this 

article are subject of Copyright to their respective Copyright owners. 

Exporting Mozilla Thunderbird Address Book… 

There are many alternatives to Microsoft’s Outlook 

Express with Mozilla’s Thunderbird being one of 

them. If for some reason you need to go back to 

using Outlook Express then it’s a fairly easy process 

to Export Thunderbird’s Address Book and Import 

it into Outlook Express. 

Importing Mozilla Thunderbird Address Book to 

Microsoft Outlook Express … 

Run Outlook Express and click on Addresses. 

Run Thunderbird, Click on Address Book and then 

Click on Outlook Express Address Book. Go to 

Tools and Click on Export… 

Next Click on File, Import and Other Address 

Book... In the pop-up Window select: 

LDIF - LDAP Data Interchange Format. 

In the Pop-up window (shown below) Save to the 

Desktop to finish Exporting Address Book. 

Browse to the Desktop or the location where the 

LDIF file was saved and Click on it to open. If the 

Outlook Express Address Book already has Addresses 

then you have with a few options. JPL 


Page 29

Sunset at Tweed 

Waiting for the Catch 


Thought we would celebrate by telling you that we entered our first competition 

images at the Hervey Bay Camera Club last night. The judge was not so kind last night on the A grade and 

Intermediate grade, by the time B grade came around we were not feeling very confident. 

Valerie had entered two images in the open section and received a Merit award for “Washed Up”, Wade 

entered two images in the open and received one Merit award for “Eyes Peeled”, also entered two images 

in the set subject which was Solitude and received one Merit award for “Waiting for the Catch”. 

We were both extremely happy with the result and now have broken the ice. Hope we can find some winning 

shots during our holiday. 

Enjoy the images. 

Val and Wade. 

From Wade & Val Hatton 

Camera Club Awards 

Eyes Peeled 

Washed Up 

Leave Me Alone 

Dreaming 


Page 31

PIONEER DVD Recorder Model DVR-530H 

By John Lawrie 

During the recent Global Financial Crisis, Pioneer abandoned the production of several 

product lines including its excellent range of DVD recorders. 

So this article is not a product review aimed at suggesting something to buy, but rather as an example of 

working through problems encountered along the way. Of the several Pioneer machines I know about, only 

the one owned by the Adelaide Filmo Club has had any technical problems. I sometimes wonder if all the 

carting of it around to club meetings has had a detrimental effect upon it. 

I and a couple of my friends own various models of the Pioneer recorders. The later models have digital 

TV tuners while the one I have and the one the Adelaide Filmo Club owns have an analogue tuner. 

The Club has had the machine for several years now. We have used it to collect and store movies made by 

our club members and then burn an annual disc of our productions. The beauty of the machine is being able 

to copy movies to it direct from DVDs by using the "One Touch Copy" feature on the machine. This involves 

simply playing any movie on a disc then pressing the "One Touch Copy" button on the machine or 

remote. This sends the movie back to the start and copies the entire movie to the Pioneer's hard drive in real 

time. Other options for capturing are from an analogue input or via "Firewire". The recorder allows us to 

collect the movies over a long time span and does not tie up someone's computer HDD space. 

There is some production work to do. Each movie needs a title to be inserted and an appropriate thumbnail 

for the menu to be selected. So a monitor screen is needed to do the recording, editing and creating a copy 

list for burning from the hard drive to the final DVD. 

Club members get a copy of the DVD each year or so and we have been able to share the discs occasionally 

with other clubs as well. 

Problem 1 

The recorder went extremely well, until one day it started to fail when burning DVD - R discs. When the 

burn failed it was someway into the burn so the disc was ruined and another coaster or bird scarer disc 

formed. 

However DVD-RW discs did not fail, so a way out was to burn a DVD-RW disc of the production, make a 

Disc Image of that on my Mac and burn copies of the Disc Image to DVD-R discs for distribution. Then 

reformat the DVD-RW ready for the next job. I have Disc Images of all our club productions stored on an 

external hard drive. To make a new DVD all that is needed is to turn on the external drive, launch the Disc 

Utility App. select the disc image, insert a disc and burn. 

Problem 2 

All went well while we were making movies in 4x3 format. And then some widescreen 16x9 productions 

began to turn up and there seemed to be no way that they would come out right when recorded on the Pioneer 

and a DVD produced from the saved movies. When played on a DVD player, 16x9 came out OK as a 

letter box shape when played to a 4x3 screen, but only covered part of the screen of a wide screen TV no 

matter how the TV was set unless the TV had a Zoom function. 

What puzzled me was that the almost identical machine as part of out home entertainment suite was not 

giving the same trouble. Both recorders have analogue RF tuners which was of no importance for our club 

machine as we did not record TV programs. However I was time shifting TV programs on my machine by 

recording from a HD set top box via a line input. Both widescreen and pillar box formats came out correctly 

when viewed on my widescreen TV. 


So I went through the set up menus on both recorders to see if there was anything different in the settings. 

The only thing I could find was that we had a 4x3 screen to monitor the output of the clubs recorder so had 

set the playback setting to 4x3 (letter box) while my machine had the playback setting set to 16x9. 

Surely the playback setting would not influence the way the recorder behaved as it recorded!!! 

However it did. With the playback setting on 16x9 the recorder behaved correctly and saved 16x9 in 16x9 

format. 

The fix therefore is to set the recorder playback format to 16x9 while recording and then if using a 4x3 

monitor to set playback to 4x3 (letterbox) to view and edit. When recording 16x9 with a 4x3 monitor the 

footage fills the screen with everyone looking tall and thin. 

We do not transport the recorder around from meeting to meeting anymore. It is set up in place and we 

bring discs and tapes to it for recording. At the moment there is an almost complete collection (some 65 of 

them) of one minute movies made by club members over the years sitting on the hard drive. Each club 

member will receive a copy for Christmas. 

The photo shows the set up for the recorder now that it has a home at my place. At the top is a Canopus 

Analogue to Digital converter (ADVC 300) then moving down a Philips DVD player, the Pioneer Hard 

Drive recorder, and then an audio graphic equaliser. At the bottom is an audio cassette player which is 

nothing to do with this set up but used to convert audio tapes to CD or Mpeg3 in the Mac. The TV monitor 

can be switched to view the outputs of the DVD player, the DVD recorder and a Video Player (VCR) 

John Lawrie 

YOUR FAVOURITE FILM 

Well you have read the first two contributions to “My Favourite Film” so now is your chance to contribute 

an article on “Your Favourite Film” which will be published in the pages of Australian Film & Video. 

As mentioned in the “Editor’s Desk” the decision to have “My Favourite Film” emanated from a suggestion 

put forward by Ian Simpson after reading Wade Hatton's article last issue about Big Screen 

films and that was to invite readers to write an article on their favourite film. 

So to kick it off Ian Simpson & Dave Fuller from Canada contributed the first two articles. 


Page 33

SOME PRACTICAL TIPS ON HOW 

TO MAKE BETTER VIDEO 

(A checklist of things you probably already know) 

by John Sirett 

BASICS 

* Video is an audio-visual medium for story-telling --- a “doing and happening medium” 

* So Always set out to tell a story ---your video must have a “natural progression” of events, whether fictional 

or factual 

* A good story is more important than a good camera . 

* People like to see people, what they’re doing , saying and how they’re acting. 

* A successful video will contain human interest and will play on the viewers’ emotions. Think of Humour, 

Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear etc. ( Humour is the emotion we commonly use because it’s the easiest to 

portray!) So introduce human emotions at all times. 

* But how about subjects that are not people? e.g. pets or hobbies: 

Assign a “nick-name” to the subject and treat it as you would a character, so that your viewer can recognize 

and perhaps empathize with it. 

For example, consider this storyline: “An old man owned a small boat that he often used to go fishing”. 

Factual, but without emotion. 

But presented this way: “Amos was an old man of the sea. His one love was his little boat Dorothy. Amos 

and Dorothy would go fishing together every day -------” 

The introduction of a human element lends warmth to the story. 

USING THE CAMERA 

* Whenever you stop your camera, change the camera angle and alter your subject’s size (this will provide 

shot variety and avoid “jump cuts”) 

* Remember not to cross “the line”. e.g. You are filming cars passing left to right on your screen. If you 

cross the road and film from the other side the cars will then be passing right to left on your screen. 

* “Faces not places”. If the subject of your video is “steam locomotives”, then also film the people watching 

the locomotives (The same principle might apply at weddings). 

* Shoot lots of footage on the day -- this day will NEVER come again with the same circumstances, lighting 

etc. Shoot cutaways and POVs (point of view) even if they’re not on your shot list. You can never have 

too many shots to choose from at edit time. 

* Get big bold close-ups. “Close” is hardly ever close enough. When you think you are too close you’re 

probably about right! 

* When framing a subject for a “talking head” interview, place the tip of the subject’s nose in centre screen 

(Quick and easy). This works whichever way the subject is facing and however close the shot. This always 

ensures “looking space” and satisfies the “rule of thirds” all at the same time. 

* In most cases it is better to keep the camera still and have the subject moving. However this is not a 

“golden rule”. POV shots (showing what the subject is seeing and others where the camera is deliberately 

following the action, are exceptions.) (“Camera verity” where the camera is constantly on the move is 

meant to create a sense of “realism”, but a little of this goes a long way!) 


* Panning, Tilting and Zooming should be done when initially framing the shot before recording, and 

should be done during the shot only for some specific purpose in promoting the story. Then do not reverse 

the direction of pan, tilt or zoom in the same scene. (Advice for beginners:--keep your hands off the 

zoom !) 

* Tracking a subject with camera on wide angle is preferable to zooming, in order to follow the action. 

Devices like “dollies” or “steadycam” (if available) will enable stunning results. 

* Remember you are shooting to tell a story. Don’t be tempted to shoot “stills” (shots that should be taken 

on a still camera) They require a different mindset. 

* Local (ambient) sound can be important when editing. Leave your camera recording even after your visual 

take is completed. There is often valuable dialogue to be gained too. 

POST PRODUCTION 

Some simple tips on How to make Better Commentary for documentaries and travelogues. 

Composing the Narration script:- 

NB. Script writing means------Writing and Rewriting and Rewriting and etc. 

* When writing narration for your video it is of prime importance to:- 

minimize the number of words used. It is surprising how much screen time can be taken up with a few 

small words, especially if the vision editing is nice and tight. Rephrase the statement. Compress the narration 

-- “Less is More” 

Commentary/ narration is only to complement the vision, to explain important things that are not shown 

visually, do not use commentary to describe something already visible on the screen. If vision is carrying 

the story, don’t talk over it. 

If you have to explain something verbally that cannot be shown visually, run that piece of commentary 

over some “unimportant“ vision. the viewers’ attention will switch from watching to listening! 

Recognize the difference between “Spoken English” and grammatically correct “Written English”. 

* Write your narration in the vernacular i.e. Spoken English. Use simple vocabulary (good writing is expressed 

in simple words) 

Use apostrophies and other speaking “short-cuts” as we do in everyday conversation. 

* Test-read your commentary by reading it out aloud. 

* Make the words flow. Change words or phrases that don’t flow off the tongue smoothly. Chances are that 

what you have written looks good on paper but doesn’t work when it has to be spoken. 

For example: “Constable Nick Kennibody’s attention to law and order” could sound like “Nick anybody’s 

attention to Laura Norder”. 

* Use phonetic spelling to get the correct pronunciation of names 

* Although you have prepared your commentary on paper, it is important when recording that you do not 

just read from a printed page. 

* Record it in small manageable pieces (this also helps when positioning audio clips on the timeline) 

* Rehearse each piece so you know exactly how to say it. (Learn the lines) 

* Check your microphone that your P’s are not popping and S’s are not hissing:- “Peter Piper Picked a 

Peck of Pickled Peppercorn”, “Sister Susie Sews Socks for Soldiers on Sundays” 


Page 35

EDITING 

* Because video storytelling is a “Subjective Medium” a video movie depends upon what you -- the 

viewer, makes of it in your own mind. 

* There are no “specifications” that say what content should go into your video or how it should be made. 

* There are no proclaimed “standards” for reference that can be consulted to guide you in the construction 

of your video. 

* There are no measurable gauges to find out if your video reaches a desired level of excellence. 

* In the end it falls to the purely subjective opinion of the viewer - does he or she like it ,or not? 

This matter of subjectivity also applies to you --the videomaker. So consider:- 

What do you want to show and tell. 

Who is going to be your expected audience. 

What that audience might expect to see (or expect not to see). 

(The total subjectivity of video-making is a real challenge) 

Edit ruthlessly. Include in your video only those scenes that promote the story. 

Similarly, trim scenes to a length where they only just play their part in the story. The human brain is visually 

very quick. It is surprising how short some scenes can be to tell their story ( This contributes to “tight 

editing” and better pace of the story.) 

Self-evaluation - IMPORTANT 

When assembling your video and making decisions about scenes, it is important to review your story from 

someone else’s point of view, because you know intimately what your story is all about, you might unintentionally 

have a biased viewpoint. So put your mindset in the position of a “first time viewer’ (who 

knows nothing about the video) then ask yourself the pertinent questions: Do I understand the story? Do I 

like it? If not, why not? etc. Or ask an innocent third party to do this for you. 

SOME POTENTIAL PITFALLS 

Don’t film “stationary” subjects -- there has to be action (a story) 

Beware “Family” videos -- priceless memories but almost invariably of little interest outside the family 

circle. 

Travelogues must have people and action and commentary, otherwise they may be of interest only to people 

who have been there -- a memory recall. 

Good Videoing. 

John Sirett. 

South West Video Club. 

When’s Easter? 

Kids know what date their birthday is every year and that Christmas is always 25 December, they even 

know Valentine’s Day is 14 February, but Easter? Well that’s a mystery every year. Even the adults ask 

the question annually “When’s Easter this year?” 

Easter can fall anytime between March 21 and April 25. So the easiest way to explain to the little tykes is 

to tell them after March 21, find when the next full moon is and it’s the first Sunday after that. 

Make Movies - Make Friends 


Us older people need to learn something new every day... Just to keep the grey matter tuned up. 

Where did "Pee Poor" come from? Some interesting History. 

They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot. 

And then once it was full it was taken and sold to the tannery. If you had to do this to survive you were 

"Pees Poor". 

But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't even afford to buy a pot... They "didn't have a 

pot to pee in" and were the lowest of the low. 

The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you 

like it, think about how things used to be. 

Here are some facts about the 1500's 

HISTORY LESSON 

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May. 

And they still smelled pretty good by June. However, since they were starting to smell, Brides carried a 

bouquet of flowers to hide the body odour. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting 

married. 

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean 

water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By 

then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby 

out with the Bath water!" 

Houses had thatched roofs, thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. 

It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in 

the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. 

Hence the saying, "It's raining cats and dogs." There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. 

This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean 

bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy 

beds came into existence. 

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. 

Hence the saying, "Dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, 

so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added 

more thresh until, when you opened the door, It would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was 

placed in the entrance-way. Hence: a thresh hold. 

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day 

they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They 

would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next 

day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme: “Peas porridge 

hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old”. 

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they 

would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, "bring home the bacon." 

They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat. 

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to 

leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 

400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous. 


Page 37

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, 

and guests got the top, or the upper crust. 

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for 

a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. 

They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat 

and drink and wait and see if they would wake up... Hence the custom, “of holding a wake”. 

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig 

up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 

out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realised they had been burying 

people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through 

the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard 

shift) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, “saved by the bell” or was "considered a dead 

ringer”. 

And that's the truth. Now, whoever said History was boring!!! So get out there and educate someone! 

Share these facts with a friend. Inside every older person is a younger person wondering, “What the heck 

happened?” 

We'll be friends until we are old and senile and then we'll be new friends. 

Smile, it gives your face something to do! 

SKITUBE ALPINE RAILWAY 

NSW SNOWY MOUNTAINS 

Source: An Email 

The busy Skitube Alpine Railway was launched in 1987 and is located deep inside the New South Wales 

Snowy Mountains. The Skitube is the steepest passenger railway in Australia and serves the country’s 

highest altitude railway station which is Mt Blue Cow at 1125 metres and at 3.5 metres wide it is the nation’s 

broadest rolling stock. 

The Skitube commences its journey at the Bullocks Flat terminal and the 8.5 kilometre railway is so steep 

at 12.5% that it uses a European-style Abt rack propulsion, similar to the Abt rack scenic railway which 

runs between Strahan and Queenstown in Tasmania. The Skitube services the railway stations at Perisher 

Valley and Mt Blue Cow. 

The railway was built due to the limited capacity of the mountain roads and the increasing numbers of skiers 

travelling to the slopes. 

Luxury seating inside 

of the Skitube 

Perisher Valley Railway Station 

The Skitube ready to depart 

from Mt Blue Cow station 



Page 39

GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY HOSTS 

“THE 48-HOUR FILM PROJECT” 

OCTOBER 12 - 14 


NEW SOUTH WALES - CENTRAL DIVISION 

Cronulla Video Makers 

www.members.optusnet.com.au/~knowtech/ 

Sec: Glenn Townsend (02) 9525 1522 

seedivers@optusnet.com.au 

Meet: 1 st Monday at 8.00 pm 

Newcastle & Hunter Valley Cine Society 

Website Under Construction 

Sec: Gordon Taylor (02) 4933 7359 

Gordon.taylor@hunterlink.net.au 

Meet: 2 nd Monday at 7.30 pm 

Newcastle Video Moviemakers Inc 

www.nvm.org.au 

Sec: Mark Owens (02) 4969 3117 

mowens@y7mail.com.au 

Meet: 1 st Wednesday at 7.30 pm 

South West Video Club Inc 

www.swvc.org.au 

Sec: Mark Driver (02) 4294 1537 

klprior@ozemail.com.au 

Meet: 2 nd Wednesday at 7.00 pm 

NEW SOUTH WALES - SOUTHERN DIVISION 

Milton Ulladulla Videographers Club Inc 

www.muvc.org.au 

Sec: Johanna Callaghan 02 4454 2797 

jocal46@tpg.com.au 

Meet: 1 st Thursday of Month 

Movie Makers Wollongong Camera Club 

www.wollongongcameraclub.org.au 

Sec: Vicki Packer 

secretary@wollongongcc.org.au 

Meet: 1 st & 3 th Thursday at 7.30 pm except January 

Shoalhaven Movie & Multimedia Group Inc 

www.shoalhavenmovie.org.au 

Sec: Margaret Roberts (02) 4423 2017 

shoalhavenmovie@gmail.com 

Meet: 2 nd & 4 th Tuesday at 7.00 pm 

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY - NSW SOUTHERN DIVISION 

ACT Video Camera Club 

http://www.actvcc.org.au/main-home.html 

Sec: Trish Skinner (02) 6231 8851 

skinners@homemail.com.au 

Meet: 1 st & 3 rd Thursday at 7.30 pm 

QUEENSLAND DIVISION 

Brisbane Movie Makers Inc 

www.bvma.org.au 

Sec: Rod Kay (07) 3376 3273 

secretary@bvma.org,au 

Meet: 1st & 3rd Thursday at 7.30 pm 

Darling Downs Movie Makers Inc 

Sec: Peter Hansell (07) 4669 6940 

hansellpw@yahoo.com.au 

Meet: 3 rd Friday at 7.30 pm 

Gold Coast Video Camera Club 

www.gcvcc.com 

Sec: Glenda Threlfall (07) 5534 4485 

ggthrelfall@bigpond.com 

Meet: 2 nd & 4 th Wednesday at 7.30 pm 

Suncoast Video Camera Club 

Pres/Sec: June Beadel (07) 5482 6141 

bijou@activ8.net.au 

Meet: 1 st Tuesday at 7.30 pm 

FEDERATION OF AUSTRALIAN MOVIE MAKERS LIMITED 

VICTORIAN DIVISION 

Australian Widescreen Association 

http://awa.freeo.net 

Sec: Tony Andrews (03) 5952 3042 

0409 804 567 

tandrews14@bigpond.com 

Meet: 4th Monday 

Winter May – August at 7.30 pm 

Summer Sept – April at 8.00 pm 

(No Meeting in December) 

Dandenong Movie Makers Inc 

Sec: Terry Fenech (03) 8787 7652 

terryfenech@optusnet.com.au 

Meet: 2 nd & 4 th Thursday at 8.00 pm 

(No Meeting in January) 

Meet: 4 th Tuesday at 8.00 pm 

Melbourne Movie Makers Club Inc 

www.melbournemoviemakers.org 

Sec: Verna Mills (03) 9499 5128 

derekhampson@westnet.com.au 

Meet: 1 st & 3 rd Monday at 8.00 pm 

Noble Park Video Club Inc 

www.nobleparkvideoclub.com.au 

Pres: Frank Butterer (03) 9547 3104 

nobleparkvideoclub@hotmail.com.au 

Meet: 1st Tuesday at 7.00 pm 

Oakleigh Movie Club Inc 

www.oakleighmovieclub.org.au 

Sec: John Stevenson (03) 9546 7254 

jastevo40@bigpond.com 

Meet: 2 nd & 4 th Thursday at 8.00 pm 

Ringwood Movie Makers Inc 

www.ringwoodvideo.org.au 

Sec: Brian Endersbee (03) 9723 6110 

bendersbee@optusnet.com.au 

Meet: 1 st & 3 rd Friday at 8.00 pm 


TASMANIAN DIVISION 

Bridport Movie Makers Group 

Sec: Wendy McLennan 

bridportwendy@bigpond.com 

Alternate Contact: 

Sheila Hagendorfer 

hagen@microtech.com.au 

Meet: 3 rd Wednesday at 7.30 pm 

Tasmanian Movie Makers 

Sec: Jon Grey (03) 6228 5595 

j.n.grey@bigpond.net.au 

Meet: 1 st Thursday at 7.30 pm 


SOUTH AUSTRALIAN DIVISION 

The Adelaide Filmo Club 

Sec: John Lawrie (08) 8338 8492 

johnandglenda@internode.on.net 

Meet: 2 nd Tuesday at 7.30 pm 

Adelaide Computer/Video Group Inc 

Sec: Marg Folkard (08) 8371 0830 

sundialmarg@kern.com.au 

Meet: 2 nd Friday at 6.30 pm 

WESTERN AUSTRALIAN DIVISION 

Western Australia Film & Video Club Inc 

www.wavideoclub.com 

Sec: Brian Brown (08) 9344 2746 

xxxxbbrown@iinet.net.au 

Meet: 2 nd Tuesday at 8.00 pm 

Videomakers WA Inc 

www.vmwa.org.au 

Sec: Tricia Van Nus (08) 9478 5881 

traus@westnet.com.au 

Meet: 2 nd Wednesday at 7.30 pm 

DEADLINE 

The Deadline 

for the Summer 

Edition is the 

30 November 

2012 


Page 41

BACK PAGE 

WORD ME UP 

Did you know that men generally speak about 7,000 words a day and women 12,000? Research shows men 

bond and communicate by sharing long periods of silence and occasional name-calling, whereas women 

bond by gossiping, processing things and sharing emotional insights 

Here’s the problem: At the end of the day - whether the woman works in an office or in the home - there is 

a huge difference between the man’s word count and the woman’s. A man has spent nearly all his words. 

He comes home tired and drained, looking for a place to recharge for the next day’s battle at the office. A 

woman, however, is just warming up. She has thousands of words left to speak and someone’s got to hear 

them! 

TRAVEL JOKE 

A group of Australians were travelling by tour bus through Holland. As they stopped at a cheese farm, a 

young guide led them through the process of cheese making, explaining that goat’s milk was used. She 

showed the group a lovely hillside where many goats were grazing. “These”, she explained, “are the older 

goats put out to pasture when they no longer produce.” She then asked, “What do you do in Australia with 

your old goats?” 

A spry old gentleman answered, “They send us on coach tours!” 

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE 

From the old BVMA 

You Gotta Love Henry 

Mildred, the church gossip, and self-appointed monitor of the church's morals, kept sticking her nose into 

other people's business. Several members did not approve of her extra curricular activities, but feared her 

enough to maintain their silence. 

She made a mistake, however, when she accused Henry, a new member, of being an alcoholic 

after she saw his old pickup parked in front of the town's only bar one afternoon. 

She emphatically told Henry and several others that everyone seeing it there would know what he was doing. 

Henry, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment and just turned and walked away. He didn't 

explain, defend, or deny. He said nothing. 

Later that evening, Henry quietly parked his pickup in front of Mildred's house... walked home.... left it 

there all night. 

Supermarket Confusion 

A customer asked... 

"In what aisle could I find the Irish sausage?" The clerk asks..."Are you Irish?" 

The guy, clearly offended, says... "Yes, as it happens, I am, But let me ask you something. If I had asked for 

Italian sausage, would you ask me if I was Italian? 

Or if I had asked for German Bratwurst, would you ask me if I was German? 

Or if I asked for a kosher hot dog would you ask me if I was Jewish? 

Or if I had asked for a Taco, would you ask if I was Mexican? 

Or if I asked for Polish sausage, would you ask if I was Polish?" 

The clerk says..."No, I probably wouldn't." 

The guy says..."Well then, because I asked for Irish sausage ... why did you ask me if I'm Irish? 

" The clerk replied..."Because you're in Bunnings"... 

Page 42 AUSTRALIAN FILM & VIDEO—VOL 17 SPRING 2012 

Aussie Printed

17 AFV Spring 2012.pub - Federation of Australian Movie Makers

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