Australian Film & Video - Federation of Australian Movie Makers

Inside this issue:
President’s Comment 3
Club Link 4
Basically Videography 6
Two Bits Worth - BK 8
Cutting A Shape 10
FAMM News 10
Pot Shots - Ian Simpson 11
Amazing WD40 - JL 12
Making An Epic - LT 13
3D With Special Glasses 18
Movie Link 19
Judges Report - S/Africa 20
Tech Topics - Joe Leon 22
Make A Movie - DF 24
Edinburgh Cinemas - SE 26
Looking Back - Cartoons 28
Club Closures - USA 29
3D Without Glasses 29
Mail Bag & Wanted 30
FAMM Ltd Club List 31
Back Page 32
-Under the Auspices of the
Federation of Australian
Movie Makers Limited
From The Editor’s Desk
Australian film
& video
Welcome to the Spring 2010 edition of Australian Film & Video E-Magazine and
being our 9th edition means we have been in production for over two years.
In this issue we have our popular Club Link with a round up of what is happening at
our clubs, both in Australia and Overseas with a brief article from an English Club on
the non professional 3D camera. If you don’t see your Club name mentioned ask
your Club Committee why they are not supplying information to AF&V.
Ian Simpson continues his Basically Videography column by Going Manual to Rediscover
the Joys of Videography. Barry King is back with his Two Bits Worth and
this time he discusses Backing Up to your Briefcase.
There is a report on the making of the Australian Capital Territory Video Camera
Club’s entry into the 2010 Five Best - Cutting A Shape, followed by the long running
Pot Shots by Ian Simpson where he talks about video capable DSLR cameras.
There’s John Lawrie and his particular usage for WD40 and Les Tod is back with
his well written article on the making of a Cinerama epic, “How The West Was
Won”.
Bruce McDonald produced an article on 3D - You See It With Special Glasses and
we have our Movie Link page; so, readers, to keep this page current please send
AF&V your updates.
From South Africa we have Competition Judge JJ van Rensburg’s comments on
making a good competition entry.
Joe Leon continues with his Tech Topics to enlighten us again plus there is David
Fuller from Canada who talks about How Do Beginners Learn to Make a Movie. To
wrap up the articles in the Spring edition, Stewart Emm from Scotland presents Parts
1 & 2 on the History of Cinema in Edinburgh.
To finish off we have our Mail Bag waiting for your comment or suggestion and a
Wanted request from the Lithgow Valley Movie Club for any films on the famous
Zig Zag Railway which is quickly approaching its 100 Anniversary and finally for a
giggle do not miss the Back Page.
Gary.
We’re on the FAMM website
http://www.famm.org.au/home/index.html
Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010
No 9
Spring 2010
Page 1

Federation of Australian Movie Makers Limited
Australian Film & Video
CONTRIBUTORS
Technical
Barry King - Newcastle Video Moviemakers
Ian Simpson - Wollongong Movie Makers
Joe Leon - Newcastle Video Moviemakers
Division Representatives
John Lawrie - South Australian Division
Foreign Correspondents
Peter Smith - Cape Town - South Africa
Howard Patterson - Christchurch - New Zealand
Dafyd Vernon - Christchurch - New Zealand
David Fuller - Nanaimo - Canada
Stewart Emm - Edinburgh - Scotland
Guest Contributors
Les Tod
Bruce McDonald - Queensland Movie Makers
JJ van Rensburg - South Africa
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 National
Editor Australian Film & Video.
Editor: Gary Peterson AFAMM SSFAMM
PO Box 75 Toronto
NSW 2283 Australia
Email: afv_1@ymail.com
Mobile: 0402 681 157
FEDERATION OF AUSTRALIAN MOVIE
MAKERS LIMITED
http://www.famm.org.au/
FEDERAL EXECUTIVE
President: Mark Tunningley (02) 6231 9587
fammpresident@grapevine.net.au
Secretary: Rainer Listing (02) 6230 3383
listing@shoestone.com
Treasurer: Jim Thornton (02) 6294 8000
jim.thornton@three.com.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
FREE CLASSIFIED ADS
If you are a member of FAMM and you have equipment to
sell or are in the market to buy, then please place your Ad in
Australian Film & Video magazine for Australia wide distribution.
Page 2 Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010

Hello Movie Makers,
Since taking over the position of FAMM President in May it has been a fairly busy time.
Past President Ron Gregson has been extremely helpful as has been Secretary Stewart Gordon and Treasurer
George Way. I thank them for guiding me through the change-over stage. I now have a reasonable
understanding of the FAMM Ltd set up. I have been able to appoint two very competent people, Rainer
Listing and Jim Thornton as Secretary and Treasurer respectively from the ACTVCC to go with our Board
of Directors elected at the last Convention.
Ron made a trip to Canberra to drop off the “Office”, a container of documents and videos of FAMM.
George has had all the finances up to date. And Stewart managed to finalise an AMCOS music licence
which appeared to be a big hassle but it came through in the end because of his dedication. FAMM has
been well served by these three people and they deserve a big “thank you”. Not only did they do a good
job, they have done it for a number of years. Well done guys, I hope the current committee can continue on
the fine work.
The NSW Southern Division of FAMM is having a meeting on the 16 th of October at Ulladulla. This is a 6
monthly meeting that rotates between the clubs of Wollongong, Nowra, Milton-Ulladulla and Canberra.
These meetings have been happening for a couple of years now and are always very informative and enjoyable.
The host club supplies a couple of guest speakers for a morning session and there is a theme for a
video session in the afternoon with a bit of a reporting session from the clubs. The day is from 10am to
4pm with a “bring your own” lunch break in the middle. I would encourage other divisions to try this for
the social and the interaction of ideas. Not all the clubs have the same focus on videos so it is a great opportunity
to get other clubs’ viewpoint of things.
I have sent out 2 DVDs with a selection of the “Australia’s Five Best” entries. This has been well received.
I am not sure if all clubs got them. A couple went astray because of wrong addresses supplied. Garth Threlfall
from GCVCC has put together a video of the May 2010 Convention. This is an excellent 14 minute
video covering the activities of the week. He was helped by Neville Brooks. Rather than sending one out
to each club I am inviting clubs to ask for a copy if they want one. This is to make sure I get the names and
addresses right. Email me at fammpresident@grapevine.net.au and supply all your details and I will get a
copy off to you ASAP.
There was an indication at the May Convention that the ACT will host the next Bi-annual Convention in
Canberra. As you can imagine there are many “cashed up” Federal Government Departments here that hold
conferences in Canberra quite often, so the demand to venues is high as is the price. We are endeavouring
to find a suitable place. I have been to two FAMM conventions (Newcastle and Noosaville) and both had
excellent venues. Hopefully we can find something suitable here or in Queanbeyan.
Mark Tunningley
President.
President Mark Tunningley’s Comment
Federation of Australian Movie Makers Ltd
MAKE MOVIES - MAKE FRIENDS
Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010
Page 3

Newcastle & Hunter Valley Cine Society - NSW
Well the AGM has come and gone with a full team being elected to the Committee.
David Waters was presented with the FAMM “Most Improved Movie Maker” award. There
was also the screening of our “Open” competition with six entries submitted and our Club
Member’s Half Hour presentation was from Noel Kidd who brought us up to date on his research
on the history of his family.
Wollongong Movie Makers - NSW
The June meeting was the Mid-Year Competition. Entries needed to be
no more than 6 minutes in duration and had to somewhere include a
mention of “turn”. Fifteen members assembled but sadly because there were only two entries it was decided
to dispense with the audience judging the videos. So before the two entries were shown, it was time
for members’ works in progress. Max Davies showed his current project, Tumut 2010. The video uses three
narrators to promote the town of Tumut. Firstly is the Mayor, followed by Ross Stevens from the Trout
Farm and finally a representative of the Timberyard. Max was given some helpful feedback by the members
and no doubt we will see the re-edited version in the end of year VOTY competition.
The July meeting began with 15 members in attendance. The chairman, John Devenish, gave a report on
the visit to South West Video Club which had been a success. John also mentioned the Club’s exhibition
that was on the weekend of the 10th and 11th of July at the Old Court House in Wollongong. Material had
been sought from members to make up a video on the topic Nature in the Illawarra.
Brian Harvey reported on a website that sells batteries:
http://www.camera-battery.com.au/s/camcorder-battery/
A Cold August meeting night got off to a hot start as we raced around Eastern Creek’s track with Max Skee
in the driver’s seat. Titled Max’s Big Day Out this video was shot with a Canon 5D MkII. After all were
suitably warmed up, the Movie Makers’ Chairman, John Devenish, introduced the 18 guests for the night.
There were 17 Year Nine members and their teacher, Fiona Finley, from the Drama Studio of Illawarra
Performing Arts Centre, Wollongong. The students performed 10 impromptu dramatic situations in front of
a green screen whilst members of the Club videoed them. The members would then replace the green
screen background with a suitable background and then show their videos at the next Club meeting.
Christchurch Video Camera Club - New Zealand
Christchurch Club advises “Viewfinder” is going completely digital as a free PDF and on
line page-flip magazine. On the first Monday of each month, you will receive an email
link to their site from which you can download the PDF file for viewing or printing.
You can visit www.Viewfinder.co.nz and sign up to receive their free magazine. It will
still look the same and contain all those informative articles that characterise the magazine. In July the Club
changed the format of their newsletter and it is looking good.
(Editor’s Comment: To my knowledge first there was Australian Film & Video, then Aus Cam and now
Viewfinder...who’s next. Ed)
.
Queensland Movie Makers - Queensland
I am happy to report that, despite the cold winter months being the time that people tend to
stay home and comfortable, we have had good attendances at the club meetings due in no
small part to the variety of programs the committee has put together. On the 4th we had a talk
and demonstration from David Halliday and Leonard Meenach of the QUT on the process of
directing actors to get the best from them and their emotions and Leonard demonstrated his ability to jump
into a role on cue. David gave us a quick glimpse at the editing process that is needed with multiple cameras
and the discipline needed to keep everything in order. Time ran out all too quickly for such a big presentation.
We are talking to David about how we may be able to make a whole day available in the future.
Page 4 Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010

Protea Video Club - South Africa
With the World Cup now done and dusted it’s a pity the final couldn’t have been as inspiring
and creative as the opening and closing ceremonies. With the Dutch ‘clogging’ their way
through the game and the Ref handing out a record 15 cards, Spain eventually clawed their way
to a painful victory in extra time. Inspite of the lack lustre football, one can honestly say the whole event
has been a resounding success, congratulations South Africa. To all you photographers this has been a
golden opportunity to capture the wonderful carnival spirit that has been around for the past month, I hope
you took advantage of it and got yourselves some great footage.
Protea Results - Closest finish ever with just one point separating the first two places.
Our thanks again to all those who supported our competition, especially the ECVCC in Durban who again
saved the day with a total of seven entries.
Stoke Cine & Video Society - England
Just when you think we have gone as far as we can
with High Definition rearing it’s ugly head , we now
have a 3D Camcorder soon to come on the market. The
twin-lens system adopted in the camcorder’s optical
section allows the convergence point to be adjusted.
Functions for automatically correcting horizontal and
vertical displacement are also provided. Conventional
3D camera systems require these
adjustments to be made by means
of a PC or an external video processor.
This new camcorder, however,
will automatically recalibrate
without any need for external
equipment, allowing immediate
3D Image capture.
The solid-state memory file-based recording system offers greater flexibility to produce Full HD 3D videos
reliably in more challenging shooting environments. The AG-3DA1 is lighter weight and smaller than current
3D rigs, while providing the flexibility of hand held style shooting. Setup and transportation is simplified,
making it ideal for sports, documentary and filmmaking projects. In the AG-3DA1 that Panasonic has
developed, the two lenses, camera head, and memory card recorder are incorporated into a single compact
housing. Unlike large 3D camera systems, this camcorder allows video shooting with greater mobility and
from all angles; significantly reducing the time required for set up and adjustments, thereby leaving more
time for creative activities. The distance between the human eyes – to create binocular parallax. This can be
done with small cameras, but broadcast or film cameras cannot be installed side by side since their bodies
and lenses are too large. They must be installed vertically using half-mirrors, or mounted on metal frames
called rigs, using prisms. This results in a bulky system that must be carefully adjusted to prevent the right
and left cameras from going out of alignment before image capture. In addition, if the system is moved, the
shock or vibration inevitably puts the cameras out of alignment, making frequent re-adjustment necessary.
Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010
Page 5

BASICALLY VIDEOGRAPHY
by Ian Simpson
Go Manual and Re-discover the Joys of Videography
Two incidents recently have made me question how we approach our hobby of videography and do we really enjoy
the hobby? The first incident was a report on the ABC’s Lateline on Monday the 12th of July where Matthew Syed,
a former world class table tennis player, journalist and the author of a book called 'Bounce: How Champions Are
Made', put forward the idea that to be good at any human activity all you have to do is put in the hours and hours
of constant practice. He argued that “innate skill” was illusionary,
I give innate talent almost no weight at all, ……… If you dig down into the narrative histories of anyone who has
reached a high level in virtually any task with a certain level of complexity, what you find is they have spent many,
many hours, many months, many years building up to that level.
The other incident was the reading of a review of the new Leica M9 rangefinder digital still camera. The reviewer,
Andrew Fildes, in the December 2009/January 2010 issue of Digital Photography + Design, after stating that the
review camera had almost the same basic features and operation as its 1950s to 1970s predecessors, then went on
to comment how he had to re-learn the basic skills of photography so he could get the best images out of this very
expensive metal box with a red dot on the front.
Skill and Joy comes from Practice
These two incidents got me wondering how much of our hobby of videography are we missing out on by using our
fully automated camcorders? With such all pervasive automation as auto exposure, auto focus, image stabilisation,
face detection and tracking, power zoom, auto white balance and auto audio level, what else is left for the operator
to do other than point the camcorder and press the button? Is conducting our hobby in this way truly fun and enjoyable?
Mind you I’m sure there are many in the hobby that are quite content to let the camcorder do all the thinking
and they then put their imprint on the process when they do the editing. However, for those who want to do more at
the shooting stage, for those who want to re-learn those skills they had previously developed in the cine days; for
those who want to understand more about the process of videography, then for a while turn off the automation in
your camcorder. You never know after the initial shock and the re-discovery process, you may switch off the automation
permanently on some controls.
Shooting with manual settings, settings that you have to decide and set can be very testing and frustrating at first as
you will initially get some settings wrong. As Andrew Fildes described his use of the Leica M9:
You put the images up on your computer screen and realise that you haven’t quite got it right yet. ….Must try
harder. You have to learn to use it ….. Now some people will find all this odd. Even sad……..But if I want to enjoy
myself, to struggle with the art, to remember how to really take a photograph ….
The Automatic Turnoff
If you decide to take on this challenge you don’t have to go “cold turkey” and turn off all automation, you can do a
staged shut down of the automation, one control at a time. This approach allows you to get acquainted with manually
setting each control and also understanding how your manual settings differ from the automatic setting for
varying scene conditions. This is the learning process! So the goal is not going manual at all costs, but a process of
understanding when you can trust the camera automation and when you cannot. Unfortunately not all camcorders
are suitable for this process. It will depend on whether your camcorder allows manual adjustment of the key controls
and how easy they are to adjust. The modern design of camcorders in many models almost precludes this proposed
activity as it places the manual adjustment of many controls deep down in multi-layered menus.
However, let’s assume you can manually adjust your camcorder. So what controls are we talking about? They are
the key ones; aperture, shutter, gain, white balance and focus. The first three control how much light gets to the
sensor as well as how much electronic enhancement of the image is required. The latter two control the general
appearance of the image, do the colours look OK and is the main subject sharp?
Getting the Images
A rule of thumb is that optimum image clarity for any zoom lens occurs at about 2 F stops below maximum and
about mid-range of the zoom. This does not mean you should shoot all scenes at this setting but it does give us a
Page 6 Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010

clue on where to set the aperture when we switch to manual aperture. If you have a zoom lens with (say) a F1.8 at
wide angle zoom setting and F2.8 at the maximum telephoto position, then for your learning experience you could
manually set your aperture to F4 or F5.6. The auto-circuits will set a reasonable shutter speed under reasonable lighting
conditions. You should only need to change this aperture setting if the scene is too dark or you wish to change
the depth of field by going to maximum aperture opening for the zoom setting.
Think before you shoot
The differences seen in Pictures 1 & 2 are the equivalent of an increase
in exposure of about three quarters of an F stop. The shorter
exposure in Picture 1 captures the backlit sea but records little detail
in the land formation. Whilst the increase in exposure in Picture 2
from the longer shutter time has flared the water reflections but
brought more detail and colour to the land. This scene in contrast
range is beyond the capability of the camcorder to record. Both exposure
settings are acceptable depending on the purpose for which you
shot the scene and how it will fit with the other scenes around it in the
final edited video. Only you, the camcorder user, can determine that,
not the camcorder’s automatic exposure system. So the deliberate
manual over-riding of the automatic exposure can add value to your
video providing you think before you shoot. Thinking what you want
to achieve in a scene and then knowing how to achieve that end only
comes from practice. Practice that teaches how altering the exposure
can change the appearance
of the scene.
Picture 3—Back lit scene
How Sharp is Sharp
No simple backlight button
on your camcorder is ever
going to manage all the back
Picture 2: Exposure: F8 @ 1/320 sec.
lit scenes you will encounter.
To achieve the detail in face, clothes and stocks in Picture 3, the exposure
has to be taken as a manual reading. The background as a consequence
is excessively over exposed but in this scene it is used to advantage as all
the attention is now on the boy.
One feature of the small sensors in our camcorders is the large depth of focus / field we can achieve. This can be
used creatively as in Picture 4 to symbolise that there is still new life in
this old property. But if you decide to focus manually you must remember
the cinematographer’s rule; find the subject you want to put in focus using
the maximum zoom setting—focus– then re-frame the scene. Another foible
of the automatic focus system is its inability to continuously focus on
flying birds or aeroplanes. In such situations manual focusing will avoid
the hunting of the automatic system.
Balancing the Colour of Light
In some camcorders the automatic
Picture 4—Depth of Field
white balance system, like the automatic focusing system, can be less than
instantaneous in its reaction to changing conditions. If your camcorder is
slow to react, then it is best to set the white balance to one of its presets and
only call upon the automatic system if you are not happy with the colour the
preset gives you. Sometimes you are faced with mixed light sources emitting
light of markedly different colours. Picture 5 is such a case where there is
daylight coming through the window whilst the bench is lit by an electric
light bulb. The decision was made to use the daylight white balance setting
Picture 5—Mixed Light Sources and so the light globe produces the yellow glow. Also the exposure was set
so as not to completely blow out the view from the window but at the same
time allow some detail to be seen in the dark room, thus creating the required mood.
So if Matthew Syed is correct and excellence in any complex human activity hinges on effort and lots of effort then
following this manual path to the discovery of excellence in videography just requires hours of effort and thinking.
Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010
Picture 1: Exposure: F8 @ 1/500 sec.
Page 7

All too often we are reminded to ‘backup’ our work on
the computer.
All too often our response is ‘..yes I must do that..’. Often
that, sadly, is about as far as it goes, until that Fatal
Day when all is lost.
A lot of the time the problem is not owning a ‘backup’
program or not knowing how to use one. Also a lot of
backup programs store the backed up files in a proprietary
format that cannot be read without using the program
that created them. Should the system drive be damaged
then the backup program that accesses the files
could be lost as well.
A very simple solution is to use a function of MS Windows
that is provided as part of the Windows operating
system. This function is known as the Briefcase.
Why Use Briefcase?
The main advantage of using Briefcase is that the files
are backed up in their native format and can be accessed
and modified in the same way as the originals.
Where do I Store My Backup Data?
Being independent of the computer, an external hard
drive is probably the preferred option to hold backup
files. Portable hard drives are USB powered and as such
are convenient because no extra power source is required.
Flash drives could also be used; depending on
the amount of storage required.
How It Works.
Plug in the external Hard drive.
Open ‘My Computer’ and select where the files are kept
that require backing up. Resize this window to occupy
about half of the screen. This is done by moving the cursor
over the edge of the ‘window’ until a double-ended
arrow appears. Hold down the left mouse button and
drag the edge of the window.
If this doesn’t work, the window needs to be ‘unlocked’
by left-clicking the resize icon (middle one, extreme top
right of screen). (Diagram 1).
Back Up! Store It In Your Briefcase.
If necessary
Resize using double-ended
arrow or
tab on corner of
Diagram 1.
Open ‘My Computer’ again and this time select the external
hard drive and again resize this window. The
screen should now look like Diagram 2.
Computer Hard
Diagram 2.
In a clear area of the backup drive, Right-click and select
New>Briefcase. (Diagram 3).
An icon resembling a briefcase will appear. Right-click
on the briefcase icon and select rename. Name it appropriately.
(Diagram4).
Select the original files to be backed up. Drag them,
while holding down the left mouse button, over into the
Briefcase. (Diagram 5).
Page 8 Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010
External Hard drive
to house backup
Diagram
Right-click
here,select
New>Briefcase
Diagram 4.

Back up! Store It In Your Briefcase. (cont.)
Copy the
original files
A ‘Welcome’ message will probably appear the first
time the Briefcase is set up. It explains the theory of
Briefcase and suggests a read of the help file. After
reading the message, click ‘Finish’ (Diagram 6).
Diagram 6
Diagram 5
The usual window will appear indicating that files are
being copied. The amount of time that this initial backing
up takes will vary depending on the quantity of files
or folders. (Diagram 7).
Diagram 7
The Briefcase is only an ordinary folder with some extraordinary
capabilities. Open it and a copy of the selected
original files are all there.
Click the Safely Remove Hardware icon in the Task
Bar and remove external hard drive.
Backing Up Modified Originals.
This is the area where Briefcase really stands out!
Once the original folders have been added to; or the files
inside modified and backing up is required; plug in the
hard drive containing the Briefcase.
Right click on the Briefcase and a menu will open. Se-
Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010
lect Update All.. A ‘Checking Files’ message will appear.
Windows goes to both the original files and the
Briefcase folder and compares the two sets of files and
notes the differences. (Diagram 8).
When this comparison is completed, a dialogue window
will open to inform you of the changes and the suggested
updates to be made. Usually the green arrow will
indicate that it is the Briefcase file that will be modified.
Should a file in the Briefcase have been modified or a
file added; the green arrow will point the other way indicating
that the original file/folder will be updated.
(Diagram 9)
The methods of updating can be changed by right click-
ing the file and selecting another operation from the dialogue
window that appears. This is rarely necessary.
(Diagram 10).
Select Update; a file moving box will appear (the same
Diagram 10
Diagram 8
Diagram 9
Options for updating.
as in Diagram 7) and the files will be backed up. Because
it is only the files that have been modified or
added that will be backed up, the process takes place
quickly. Don’t forget; backup, backup, backup!
Page 9

Cutting a Shape
Five Best Entry
Australian Capital Territory Video Camera Club
This video arose out of our club having a group category in our annual competition and groups were assigned
an interview theme. The interview theme came about because one of our members entered one in
our annual competition the year before and it created a great deal of interest.
The problems we faced were: to find someone interesting to interview, where to do the interview, whether
to use 4:3 or 16:9, lighting, whether to include the interviewer, where to position the cameras and to come
up with suitable questions. Availability of interviewee and club members was also a concern as there were
to be six of us.
Equipment: Two cameras were used: a Panasonic GS400 and Sony VX2100. The microphone was a Rode
video mic and it was edited on Corel VideoStudio.
We had 20 minutes of interview footage which was edited to 6 minutes. We took 5 minutes of cut away
material on two different days. It took about 15 hours to edit to final cut, which was version 4.
Mark Tunningley, Trish Skinner, Judy Tunningley.
(Editor’s Comment: “Cutting a Shape” was awarded the Fourth Place at the National Convention on the
Sunshine Coast Queensland in May 2010.)
Cronulla Video Makers
The following appeared in the Electronic Eye of the Sydney Video Club (old Northside Camcorders Club).
Do you know if it is true?
FOCUS NIGHT 13TH APRIL, 2010 IN FOCUS
Our last Tuesday night Focus meeting was thirteenth April. Thirty Five “Travel Bug”
members turned up to enjoy the evening’s screenings. We even had a guest from the Cronulla
Video Club. Our visitor Bruce Blackburn indicated that his old club had virtually
disappeared because of dwindling membership. Rob extended an invitation to Bruce and
any other orphaned members from Cronulla to join SVMC. Bruce did bring along an HD
video but we already had a full program before we knew about Bruce and were unable to
fit it in.
(I contacted Cronulla Video Makers member Jim Dunn and he assures me that the Cronulla Video Makers
club is still alive and kicking albeit a little bit slower these days. Ed)
FAMM Limited News
The following appointments have been made to the Federal Executive.
Secretary: Rainer Listing (ACTVCC) 02 6230 3383 or listing@shoestone.com
Treasurer: Jim Thornton (ACTVCC) 02 6294 8000 or jim.thornton@three.com.au
FAMM Music Licence (Renewal)
Fee for 2010 is $9.90
Money to Jim Thornton
Please ring for address.
Page 10 Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010

“May You Live in Interesting Times”
By Ian Simpson
I imagine many readers, like myself, have wanted to buy a top quality, high definition, video
capable camera but have been procrastinating for many months or perhaps years. We have
watched the arrival and quick departure of model after model. We have witnessed DSLR cameras
with growing video capability. We have seen tape based camcorders replaced by flash
memory card camcorders of ever decreasing size. We have seen the emergence of a high definition
codec that put real time editing back a decade. Truly the Chinese curse, may you live in
interesting times, applies to those interested in the so called “prosumer” market segment in
these transitional times.
The development of video capable DSLRs such as the Canon 5D MkII, Panasonic GH1 and
the soon to be released GH2, have provided buyers with the option of being able to shoot stills
and the occasional video footage. However, the DSLRs’ advantages of interchangeable lenses
and the ability to achieve narrow depths of field is soon to be challenged by the Sony NEX-
VG10. Also if these developments weren’t enough to confuse the prospective buyer, then there
are camcorders with consumer innards dressed up in “professional” camcorder bodies. The
Sony HXR-MC50E and the Panasonic AG-HM40/41 are examples of this new breed. We can
only hope that Sony doesn’t follow Panasonic’s lead and dress up the price as well.
With all these developments occurring at an increasingly rapid pace, the prospective buyer
needs a comparative measure that will either validate or refute the many claims manufacturers
make in their attempt to distinguish their model from the rest in the market place. To this end a
regular visit to the website; www.camcorderinfo.com can be very helpful, especially if you
keep a record of the results of the many tests they conduct on each model. A small sample of
the models and test results are given in Table 1.
Table 1 – Comparison of colour performance in Bright and Low Light from Camcorderinfo.com
data
Make &
Model
Canon 5D Mk
II
Panasonic
DMC GH1
Sony Alpha
NEX-5
Panasonic
HDC –
TM700
Sony HDR-
CX550V
Bright Light (3000 Lux) Low Light (60 Lux)
Colour Saturation Noise Colour Saturation Noise (%)
Error Level (%) (%) Error Level (%)
2.76 106.6 0.5 2.08
(30p)
104 0.5 (to 800 ISO)
4.15 88.06 0.8 4.6 94.82 0.8 (to 800 ISO)
4.40 101.8 0.49 7.20 94.65 0.9575
2.92 98.39 0.47 4.96 80.92 0.6875
4.53 88.25 0.4475 6.08 60.49 1.175
The first three in the table are basically still cameras with interchangeable lens and video capability,
whilst the latter two are the traditional design, fixed lens, top model in the consumer Panasonic HDC-700 series
range of the particular manufacturer. The first three, by design, have larger CMOS sensors
with larger pixel sizes and so should have better low light performance compared to the last two. The standouts in each class in
this table are the Canon 5D Mk II with its 35mm film sized sensor and the Panasonic HDC-TM700 which has a much smaller
1 / 4.1 inch sensor. In the bright light tests the Panasonic holds its own with the Canon. It is only in dull lighting that the larger
pixels of the Canon triumph, but the Panasonic’s performance is aided by its larger maximum aperture zoom lens, F1.5 to F2.8.
The performance of the two Sony cameras is interesting. The new Sony NEX-VG10 has similar sensor and lenses to the tested
NEX-5, whilst the Sony HXR-MC50E seems to have same innards and lens as the tested Sony HDR-CX550V. Both are not
good performers in their respective classes. This is a warning for prospective buyers of the soon to be released new Sony models.
Also dressing up a consumer model in professional garb does not necessarily make it perform better. The case in point is the
Panasonic AG-HMC40/41 has a poorer set of test results than the HDC-700 series from which it was derived.
In these exciting times the prospective HD camera buyers need all the help they can get. However they should be aware that the
Chinese curse, May you live in interesting times is but the first of three curses. The last curse is; May you find what you are looking
for.
Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010
Panasonic DMC-GH1
Sony NEX-VG10
Sony HXR-MC50E
Page 11

I was foolish enough to volunteer to transfer some video footage to DVD for a friend. Most of the video
was of a trip to his home country of Germany, taken about fifteen years ago and unwatched since then. The
main problem was that his Video 8 camcorder was no longer working and when I tried to use mine, a 1996
Sony Video 8, it would not work either. Unused for quite a few years the tape transport mechanism stalled
each time the play button was pressed, the camera then displayed an error code and refused to do anything
more until the battery was disconnected and put back, only to give the same result again and again.
I did not want to spend money on probably costly repairs so my thoughts turned to WD40 spray. I have always
had lots of success with this stuff. For example we had a screen door installed on our house about ten
years ago, only to have it give a quite awful squeak within a couple of weeks of it being fitted. I could not
find my can of WD40 so gave the hinges a squirt of sewing machine oil to no avail. Tried adjusting the
hinges with a shim, then put on some Penetrene and next some RP7. Nothing would fix the annoying
squeal. I was about to phone the screen door company to have them come and fix it when I remembered
that the WD40 was in the boot of the car. One squirt of the magic fluid on each hinge fixed it instantly and
it has never squeaked since.
Repair to a top end sewing machine using the spray is a story too complicated to tell here. But could I use it
on the camcorder without flooding it, getting it on the heads and ruining the camera for ever?
Nothing ventured, nothing gained!
I opened the tape mechanism cover and placed the camcorder on my work bench. From a distance of about
two metres away I gave a short burst (perhaps a half a second) of WD40 spray high into air in the general
direction of the bench.
After a few seconds inserted a tape, tried the camera - and it worked fine.
Since then my friend has turned up with more tapes some in LP so there is 90 minutes on them. The transfer
and edit is very rough and ready, the more so the more tapes he finds. We are up to about twenty of
them now and I know there are more to come. But my method does not cost me much time.
Method is to play the camcorder into an analogue input of the HDD DVD recorder and onto the hard drive.
Come back in an hour or 90 minutes to see if the screen is black. Then play the recording through at high
speed, only stopping to edit out black at the beginning and end, plus any obvious recording of feet, sky,
inside of car boot, lap, etc. and finally to burn a copy from the HDD in high speed mode to a DVD disc.
I am not recommending that you try WD40 in your own camcorders, but I did in mine, it worked, and it has
played many hours of tape since.
John Lawrie.
Adelaide Filmo Club
The Amazing
(Editor’s Comment: I refer you to the Disclaimer appearing on page 2 before you try the above. Ed)
Page 12 Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010
WD40
By John Lawrie (AFC)

The Making of a Cinerama Epic:
HOW THE WEST WAS WON ©
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Cinerama, 1962
By Les Tod ©
Cinerama was a giant screen system first introduced to the American public
in 1952. Its inventor was Fred Waller, who had experimented whilst in the
US Army with a three panel screen for training purposes. With television
making huge inroads into cinema audiences, it seemed the time to introduce a
bigger screen in an effort to regain those lost audiences.
The Cinerama image was formed from three separate 35mm films, with sound carried on a fourth 35mm
magnetic film with seven soundtracks – an early form of today’s surround sound. The individual frames
were six perforations high instead of the usual four, and the frame rate was increased from 24 to 26 frames
per second, to reduce the flicker on the giant 146 degree screen. The Cinerama image was approximately
six times the definition of convention 35mm film. Combined with the sharp wide angle lenses with their
extended depth of field, it made for an unparalleled viewing experience, although it did have the drawback
of having the two joins visible. In indoor sequences they cannot be seen, and in many outdoor scenes as
well, but in others they are glaringly obvious. But in the 1950s this was all high technology, and audiences
didn’t seem to mind.
The first feature made in this new process was “This Is Cinerama”, really an extended travelogue. It was
promoted as a Roadshow (special event) with higher ticket prices and the need to reserve seats. More
would follow in the same vein, but after some years audiences were tiring of the travelogues and it was decided
to use the process to make a feature film. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer put two films into production virtually
simultaneously – “The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm” and “How The West Was Won”.
The latter would be the most challenging, difficult and also the most popular.
In many countries, including Australia, “How The West Was Won” premiered first. Sydney and Melbourne
were the only two cities in Australia with the capacity to screen Cinerama in its original three-strip format.
Both were owned by Hoyts. The Plaza Theatres in each city had been converted to Cinerama in 1958, although
the screen, image size, depth and seating capacity of the Sydney Plaza was larger than its Melbourne
sister.
Cinerama films were screened as Roadshow engagements and heavily exploited. Large tickets were produced,
souvenir books, special edition LP records, and it was common to have to book six weeks ahead. In
Sydney’s Plaza, the huge screen was erected in front of the proscenium, but the depth of its huge curve did
necessitate the removal of some of the Spanish style decoration.
“How The West Was Won” was a remarkable film on many different levels. Nobody had made a feature
film using the unique Cinerama system, and it brought many difficulties that had to be solved on the spot,
particularly with the use of actors and where they stood in relation to the large, bulky three lens camera.
The cast alone was huge: Debbie Reynolds, Gregory Peck, Raymond Massey, John Wayne, Richard Widmark,
Carroll Baker, Walter Brennan, George Peppard, Karl Malden, Carolyn Jones, Eli Wallach, James
Stewart, Robert Preston, Agnes Moorehead, Russ Tamblyn, Lee J Cobb, Henry Fonda and Thelma Ritter,
with Spencer Tracy as the narrator. Tracy later stated that it kick-started his career, which had been languishing.
So gargantuan was the concept of this epic western, three directors were employed to make it:
Henry Hathaway, George Marshall and the legendary John Ford. A fourth director, Richard Thorpe, was
uncredited. Similarly, there were four cinematographers.
Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010
Page 13

Pre-production research filled 87 volumes and there were 10,000 photographs and sketches as background
material. The cast totalled over 12,000 and there were 630 horses, 70 vehicles and 50 oxen. There were
also 350 real Indians, and it is a remarkable historical link that one of these warriors had been at the battle
of Little Big Horn and another was present at Wounded Knee. The film cost $A28 million to make – a
staggering sum for the time, but it became the biggest grossing film of its year. Ironically most of the profit
came from non-Cinerama theatres.
Shooting started on 28 May 1961 and was not without its problems. The cameras were cumbersome and
close-ups were impossible. None of the directors or cast were used to working with them, and many scenes
had to be re-shot or improvised on the spot. The buffalo stampede proved very difficult to film, the first
time the buffalos ran in the wrong direction and then scattered. As the film began to run out of time and
budget, several other films were raided for clips: MGMs “Raintree County”, filmed in 65mm, provided
some of the Civil War battle sequences and also of the riverboat at dusk. John Wayne’s “The Alamo”,
filmed in Todd-AO, contributed a scene. The opening aerial scene was actually an outtake from “This Is
Cinerama”. And the closing finale of a modern day San Francisco from the air was also from that film.
The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Music and Best Photography,
but won three, for Best Editing, Best Sound and Best Screenplay.
The composer was the legendary Alfred Newman, and his associate was Ken Darby. They had worked on
many films together at 20 th Century-Fox, including “River of No Return’. Together they produced a main
theme so thunderous, with the MGM orchestra of over 75 musicians and in a form of early surround sound,
it sent shivers down through the audience seated before it. Yet they put many hours of research and effort
into the film’s quieter side: the original authentic folk music and the tender love scenes. The score included
an Entr'acte, intermission and exit music. The entire soundtrack, with deleted music, has now been released
on a new double CD released in the US and now available in Australia. This itself is an amazing achievement
for a 44 year old film. It is also available in widescreen on DVD, but not as a restored print. More
about that later.
Alfred Newman was also known for one of his most popular and enduring creations, the 20 th Century-Fox
fanfare and its CinemaScope extension. In a career that spanned 40 years he received a staggering 45 Academy
Award nominations and won nine. Newman had scored “Desiree”, “The Grapes of Wrath”, “How to
Marry a Millionaire”, “The Robe”, “Love is a Many Splendored Thing” and “How Green Was My Valley”.
He was also responsible for the beautiful orchestration of the Rodgers and Hammerstein films, “The
King and I”, “Carousel” and “South Pacific”. He won his final Academy Award posthumously for the
Love Theme from “Airport” in 1970.
On the vast Cinerama screen, “How The West Was Won” made an unforgettable impact on all those who
saw it. The immensity of the screen, the incredible sound, the depth of field, the spectacular visuals and the
cream of Hollywood performers all combined to give the film a long run – over a year in Sydney and Melbourne
each. CinemaScope versions were then released for those cinemas without Cinerama, but the two
joins in the three panels were still very obvious.
The film was called “an awesome spectacle that aimed to recount the story of America’s expansion to the
West, as experienced by four generations of a pioneer family. As big and boisterous as the wild country in
which it took place, it was a grand display of scenic wonders, breathtaking stunts and amazing outdoor adventure.”
Another critic called it a “magnificent testimony to Hollywood movie-making”. Yet another
stated that it was regarded as “one of the most grandiose undertakings in Hollywood’s history. The scope
of the film is enormous, starting with the early mid West pioneering days, the California gold rush, the
Civil War, the construction of the transcontinental railroad, and finally how law and order was established.
If you are interested in the history of cinema, it is important you see this film. The production inspired
many of the huge budget movies that we see today. Everything about it is large: the format, the score, the
cast, and the scope of its subject matter. It has been described as almost as much of a documentary as it is a
drama, and that befits it well.”
Page 14 Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010

Today, many feel that the strength of “How The West Was Won” lay not in its spectacle or scope, its buffalo
stampede or train wreck, but in its human emotion. And how, in the midst of what has been won, one
realises with sadness what has been lost. The film is very moving, as several of the characters are followed
into old age and see the West that they conquered vanishing before their eyes as it is populated and modernised
by man – but at what cost to the Native Americans and the environment, not to mention their own
family? It was one of the first westerns to acknowledge the impact of white settlement on the American
Indians. Yet one lady, a theatre manager’s wife, told me that she disliked the film intensely “because it was
the most violent thing I have ever seen.” One can only hope she doesn’t go to the movies much these days!
The film can be criticised as episodic, and director Henry Hathaway used two of the characters, Debbie
Reynolds and George Peppard, to move through many of those episodes in order to better link them. The
cast had originally also included Hope Lange as a music hall dancer, but her scenes were deleted from the
finished film, as were Henry Fonda’s appearance in the early part of the story as her father. He now only
appears in the second half.
The panel joins can be annoying at times, mainly in the open prairie sequences. During the rest of the film,
the cameramen quickly became adept at using trees, lamp posts and wagons to hide them. The breadth of
scope of the Cinerama camera was so huge that it was joked if it was moved ten feet; they had to “dress”
another 200 acres in the distance. Yet its depth of field was so deep that many scenes look almost three dimensional,
far more so than anything achieved with a conventional camera and screen.
The film still stands as an epic western when viewed on DVD in its widescreen format and with stereophonic
sound and its rich colours. While still lacking the impact of Cinerama, this is as close as you are going
to get to it in the comfort of your own lounge room. The DVD includes a trailer, which oddly has two
scenes in it which don’t appear in the film, and a documentary on the stunts. But the DVD is taken from a
CinemaScope print, not a Cinerama print, and as such is not as clear, nor does it show the full Cinerama
image. But it still enables the viewer to gain an appreciation of what was, in its time, a motion picture
event.
The train robbery sequence is still as gripping as ever, and one wonders how many times they had to run
that train up and down that track to get that spectacular sequence on film, particularly the final wreck
scene. The sound effects are terrific, the train itself having been wired for sound instead of relying on recorded
studio effects. The buffalo stampede too is awesome, paradoxically with virtually nothing else on
the soundtrack but the noise of pounding hooves, followed by an eerie silence which is broken only by a
child crying over the body of its dead and trampled mother.
On television, the film is a disaster. There is a print in use on Australian TV that has the colour virtually
washed out. And barely one of the three panels is visible – in other words you are seeing around 25% of the
original image in pan-and-scan. To add insult to injury, the final aerial sequence over San Francisco is usually
deleted to help fit the film into programming schedules.
After 44 years, “How The West Was Won” still stands as a major western epic. After that the genre began to
die, or became known only for its graphic spaghetti western-type violence. HTWWW is fascinating to look
at on many levels: having four famous directors, four cinematographers, a galaxy of Hollywood stars, spectacular
visuals, real historical links to America’s western past, an unforgettable and complex musical score,
spotting the sequences from other films, and a story that is still relevant today. In some ways, the film’s
final sequence of modern dams, timber mills and San Francisco, meant to show progress at its best, actually
now works against it, from the point of view of environmental destruction and loss. The West, indeed, has
been forever lost.
“How The West Was Won” is one of Hollywood’s great western achievements, but it should only be viewed
on widescreen DVD. With a little imagination, and a good sound system, you can at least get a feeling of
what it looked and sounded like in Cinerama all those years ago. The television and pan-and-scan video
versions should be avoided at all costs. A new version has been released on DVD in Australia with the picture
restored and the join lines removed. Some Cinerama enthusiasts were outraged, but it does improve the
Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010
Page 15

picture quality, which is outstanding, and so are the colours. The DVD is worth purchasing by film enthusiasts,
if only to examine how the film was composed using three different images, merged together, and the
problems associated with backgrounds, composition and live actors – let alone the action sequences.
In the United States, the Cinerama Dome Theatre in Hollywood was restored around 2002 and three-strip
Cinerama installed. In Seattle, the Cinerama Theatre also has been restored. A new three-panel Cinerama
print of “How The West Was Won” has been struck after 40 years, when the original negative was found
virtually intact, after many years of searching. To everyone’s surprise, the negative was in excellent condition,
and thanks to the Technicolor IB base, the colours were still bright and vivid, unlike other Cinerama
films which have faded to pink. Only minor restoration was done, with the thunderous soundtrack being
converted to today’s digital standards. The new print of HTWWW was said to be sensational at a screening
in its original format in 2003 and again in late 2005, when it ran for a week at the Cinerama Dome.
Now the search is on to find the missing segments containing Henry Fonda and Hope Lange and restore the
film to its original length, which has never before been seen.
With the passing of the years, “How The West Was Won” is finally being given the recognition it deserves
as a unique and incredible film achievement, and one which rightly deserves the title of one of Hollywood’s
great classics.
“HOW THE WEST WAS WON” in
SYDNEY AND MELBOURNE
HTWWW premiered at the Hoyts Plaza in Melbourne on New Year’s Day, 1963. It premiered at the Sydney
Plaza a few weeks earlier, on December, 1962. In both theatres it would run for almost two years before
going onto general release with scope prints.
Of the Sydney opening, the trade press reported: “The culmination of a sensational pre-selling campaign
over a period of weeks – highlights being the visit to Australia of Henry Fonda – the MGM Cinerama production
How The West Was Won has established all-time record grosses at the Plaza Theatre, Sydney, far
beyond anything ever achieved before in the theatre’s history. The figures for every day of the first week
beat all existing records, whether holiday or non-holiday. No previous Cinerama attraction has so quickly
and decisively captured the imagination of the theatre-going public. Advance sales are without precedent,
audience reaction is overwhelmingly favourable and a long and successful run is assured. The Sydney success
has been duplicated at the Melbourne Plaza where the opening on New Year’s Day stacked up new
figures for the theatre. The Melbourne campaign followed the Sydney pattern, the visit of Henry Fonda
again proving spectacularly successful in gaining widespread publicity through press, TV and radio, and
paving the way for a powerful newspaper advertising build-up. How The West Was Won went on to the
screen as one of the greatest pre-sold properties ever presented by the company.”
“Wednesday’s invitational preview at Hoyts Plaza Theatre was a top-rated glamour event in every sense.
To the strains of lively airs by St George and Sutherland Band, Sydney’s socialities, sporting identities and
show world personalities streamed into the foyer for a close-up of Henry Fonda and a share of the excitement
that went with the event. The star was welcomed by Hoyts managing director Ernest Turnbull and
Mrs Turnbull. They were joined by Laurence Vass, the US Consul General and Mrs Vass. As the auditorium
lights dimmed for the start of the show, a recorded welcome served to introduce Mr Vass, who expressed
the pleasure it gave him to introduce fellow American and distinguished star, Henry Fonda.”
Melbourne reported “Front page news on his arrival, Henry Fonda was the central figure in a spectacular
public relations and sales promotion program in Melbourne for the MGM Cinerama production How The
West Was Won. The start recorded two top rating TV shows – “Melbourne Tonight” and “Spotlight” and
also featured in “Daly at Night”. In addition Fonda recorded more than 20 radio interviews and topped off
a hard working two days by appearing on stage to address the audience at the invitation preview of How
The West Was Won at Hoyts Plaza.”
Page 16 Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010

“There has been widespread praise for Hoyts and MGM for the way they handled the visitor and obtained
maximum results for the forthcoming presentation of HTWWW”.
One Melbourne journalist who later watched the film said “We, who sat through How The West Was Won,
looked up at the magnificent ceiling and thought we were in fairyland.” John Thiele wrote: “My strongest
memory of the Plaza Theatre is seeing my first Cinerama movie there. It was a mind blowing experience.
The large curved screen was huge, and wrapped around virtually from side wall to side wall of the auditorium,
a most unusual thing in those days. There were three projection boxes, one at the rear of the auditorium
and one against each side wall. The movie I saw, on August 12 1964, was How The West Was Won,
and I can still remember ducking to avoid being shot by Indian arrows.”
I myself recall sitting in absolute awe as the chandeliers slowly dimmed in Sydney’s ornate Spanish styled
Plaza, to the strains of Alfred Newman’s atmospheric Entr'acte. The audience fell silent; the huge red curtains
began to part and seemed to take forever to clear the massive Cinerama screen, as the MGM lion
roared. By the time the opening titles had stopped, not to mention the film’s thunderous main theme, I was
hooked and still am.
The film affects people in different ways. One lady recently wrote that she was taken to see the film by her
parents when she was 16. It left an impact on her also, but today, whenever she feels stressed or upset, she
puts the DVD on and How The West Was Won transports her to a time when she felt safe, secure, and the
world was a far more innocent place.
Greater Union fiddled with the idea of installing Cinerama in both the Sydney Capitol and State: thankfully
it didn’t proceed, as surviving plans show that the installation would have obliterated the proscenium
arches in both. In Melbourne, the Hoyts Malvern and Hoyts Esquire had also been considered. But by the
time How The West Was Won was finishing its season at its Australian venues in 1964, three panel Cinerama
was already dead. Instead 70mm prints would be used and advertised as being in Cinerama, the first
being “It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World”. Audiences did not realise the screen image was not as large,
nor with the same depth of field and clarity, but at least it did not have the panel joins. The name Cinerama,
now synonymous with blockbusters, would pull people in for a few more years, until it faded out completely
with “Krakatoa East of Java” in 1970.
It is quite remarkable that some 44 years after its first screenings, interest in How The West Was Won is
being revived to such an extent that a new Cinerama print has been struck and a double CD released of the
soundtrack. It has been shown in three panel Cinerama in both Seattle and Los Angeles, and screens every
two years at the Bradford Picturedome Cinema in the UK,
usually as part of a festival. There is so much of interest in
the film, from its production, to the cast, the Cinerama
process, the incredible music, and the sheer human emotion
of so vast a canvas on the winning of the American
West, hopefully it will continue to gain new fans for many
years to come.
Acknowledgements: various internet sites, including the
American Widescreen Museum, DVD-net, How The West
Was Won website, the original souvenir book of the film,
CD special edition cover notes, How The West Was Won
souvenir book, The Film Weekly, Mr John Thiele, [Kino
CQ, Winter 2000], Mrs Peggy Leeds, writer’s own notes.
Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010
Page 17

Back in the 1990s a season of 3D films made in the ‘50s was screened at the Lyric Theatre at Southbank,
Brisbane. “House of Wax” was included. I originally saw it in 3D at the Victory Theatre, Taringa in 1953. I
paid 3/6 admission and another 3/6 for the steel framed special polarised glasses. By comparison, I paid
$10 at the Lyric which included plastic framed polarised glasses, (returnable in both cases).
More recently, Col and Joy Tretheway and Jeanette and I went to see “Avatar” at the Hawthorne Theatre
where it was screened using a dual digital projection unit and viewed with the plastic lens special 3D
glasses supplied. Any old 3D gear as used by some amateurs on movie film would probably work well on
video. Acquiring the polarised glasses would be a problem now and I don’t know if it would work on TV.
You would need a silver screen for projection.
Fifty seven years later, movie technology has come full circle. The ‘50s 3D movies were eventually superseded
by CinemaScope which proclaimed, “You see it without special glasses”. Now we have widescreen
3D but still need the special glasses. Those digital floating/flying things occupying so much footage in
“Avatar” could have been incorporated in any of the Natural Vision 3D movies made in the 50s. Much of
the 3D back then was created using normal photography such as the paddleball man in “House of Wax”.
The current 3D movies appear to rely on cartoon animation.
I am not against 3D presentations. The effects can be quite impressive. The most effective use of it in
“House of Wax” at the Lyric, judging from the reaction of the audience was the scene where a young
Charles Buchinsky (Bronson), stalking the hero through the deserted wax museum at night, appears to rise
out of a seat in front of you and into the picture. I would love to have a DVD copy of “House of Wax” in
Natural Vision 3D.
This brings up another issue. If more recent “flat” films such as “Titanic” can be converted for release in
3D, as suggested by James Cameron, why not some of the real 3D movies of the ‘50s ?
I think that after 57 years, in which time Man has walked on the Moon and made advances in medicine
such as were not dreamed of back then, replicating something in the movies which most of us see quite
naturally throughout most of our lives without ordinary glasses should not be a big insurmountable problem.
A new system called Autostereoscopic and presenting 3D without glasses is still in the experimental stages
and currently limited to mobile phones and video games. (Go to Google and reference Autostereoscopic.
There are pages of information on various companies overseas who are working on presenting 3D without
the need for special glasses.)
Given that developing technology has a way of advancing very quickly, sometimes, you never know. The
current “new” 3D systems may be redundant as you read this. We may some day be able to watch movies
in an auditorium or on television WITHOUT special glasses BUT there were reports in the media recently
of a perceived reduction of interest in 3D as happened in the ‘50s.
History repeating itself?
YOU SEE IT WITH
SPECIAL GLASSES
Bruce McDonald
Page 18 Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010

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.
This service is not restricted to Australian Clubs. Contributions are most welcome from Clubs throughout
the world. AF&V currently have contacts with Clubs in New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom,
Canada and hopefully soon the USA.
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
The Potato Eaters (Animation)
Monkami Concert 2009 (One Minute Extract)
Satire (A Short Extract)
Milton Ulladulla VC
Video Vignettes of Violence (News Report)
Plus other Productions - Check out the Site
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
Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010
Page 19

Judges Report
Protea Amateur Film Competition
JJ van Rensburg
Cape Town, South Africa
Peter the Editor of Time Line Talk writes; “New this year to our judging scene, is J.J van Rensberg who
runs his own production company, “CanDo Media Productions”, in Cape Town. He made the film
“Indonga” (stick fighting), using local talent in KZN which has been shown in cinemas around South Africa.
“JJ”, as he is known, is also the South African and Continental master champion archer and is only too
aware of knowing how important it is to have a good eye and shooting straight.” Peter continues; “JJ not
only has given each entrant a full critique, but has written a very valid and positive piece.”
The following article was reproduced from the Protea Video Club newsletter Time Line Talk with permission.
To all participants
First of all, I must thank each person or group who spend their time in producing these wonderful short
inserts. After so many years in the film & video industry I have seen a great many films on all topics and in
many styles. I have seen films that made me cry, laugh, cringe, think, appreciate and despise.
I have seen professionals getting it badly wrong and amateurs getting it just right. The only consistent
thing about them all is that they were all done by people with a passion for making films. Your films are no
different. Each one speaks of an indescribable passion to tell a story with pictures. I really enjoyed each
one and would like to encourage you to continue to make these little masterpieces.
I would like to share a few observations if I may that can assist in raising the standards.
With few exceptions, most of the stories and films centred on an event or a subject. These types of films are
generally referred to as “journal” programs. A journal is a person’s account of something they experienced
and a linear account of the event or subject. It has a start, a story and a conclusion. In the majority
of stories this was well executed with one exception; the ending. The stories have good introductions, a
nice account of the event/object but most left my thoughts hanging in mid air at the end. Not the traditional
“cliff hanger”, but it just stopped. When making a journal program, the filmmaker must conclude the story
by either giving the viewer their opinion/feelings about it and state their final conclusion. This rounds the
story off and leaves the viewer with a feeling of participating in the event.
Most of the editing software contains a vast array of easy to use special transitions and effects. I would like
you to know that when you use any special effect or transition, it MUST serve a purpose or it will be distracting
from the story. A dissolve/fade is used only to move the viewer from one place to another when
time has elapsed between the two shots or to slow down the pace of an action. Special transitions between
shots should only be used to highlight sections within a film or to enter and leave sections of a film. Beware
not to overdo dissolves/fades and special transitions. We have a saying; “You use dissolves/fades to hide
bad cuts.” Rather plan a good cut. And a good cut is one the viewer hardly notices.
Sound. I spent 16 years in a sound studio fixing up sound problems on thousands of productions and it still
remains one of the weakest points of most productions. Sound is the hardest part of a production to get
right, yet few pay much attention to it until they get to the final stages of a production. I cannot stress the
importance of sound enough. Imagine using your camera without a viewfinder or monitor? That is the
same as filming without a good set of headphones. If you cannot hear it, it is not there. Simple. Most cameras
are equipped with an on-board microphone which is of sufficient quality to record good sound, but it
has to be close to the subject to work effectively. Otherwise the ambient noise will be louder that the recorded
voice. There is no point in recording an interview if you cannot hear what the person is saying. Get
very close or use an external microphone. And at ALL times, use headphones.
Page 20 Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010

Music. The purpose of music is to enhance the pace, feeling and to support your subject. If you are making
a film only for yourself, choose music that you like. Otherwise, choose music that suits the subject and the
editing pace. Many of the good films I watched during this competition could have been excellent if more
attention was paid to the choice of music. The rule is simple; if you cannot hear the voice, kill the music.
The information or story is much more important than any music. One do not hear people speak during
music videos, then why drown a voice with music in a film?
I would also like to encourage all to make contact with a professional filmmaker and to tap into their
knowledge and experience. Professional filmmakers are not gods and they are much keener to share their
knowledge and information than you may think. Arrange talks and plan to visit film sets whenever possible.
As clubs, you have a collective interest and great opportunities to share experiences. Do it. Arrange for
talks, lectures and viewings with people from the industry. We are happy to assist.
In conclusion I would like to congratulate the winners and encourage those who may not have done so well
in the competition. I am the S.A. and Continental master champion archer and have learnt that it is not the
competition that matters, but competing. Each time we learn a little more, especially from our errors.
Although the mediums and technology has become cheaper and easier to use, storytelling remains an art.
Good quality pictures alone do not tell a story. Instead of investing in better equipment, invest in knowledge.
And above all, have fun!
Yours Truly
JJ van Rensburg
EVER WONDER ......
Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?
Why can’t women put on mascara with their mouth closed?
Why don’t you ever see the headline ‘Psychic Wins Lottery’?
Why is ‘abbreviated’ such a long word?
Why is it that doctors call what they do ‘practice’?
Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavour, and dish-washing liquid made with real lemons?
Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?
Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?
Why isn’t there mouse-flavoured cat food?
Why didn’t Noah swat those two mosquitoes?
Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?
You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes? Why don’t they make the whole plane
out of that stuff?!
Why don’t sheep shrink when it rains?
Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?
If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?
From the Christchurch Videomaker newsletter July 2010
Farm Wages
A man owned a small farm in Ireland . The Irish Internal Revenue determined he was not paying proper
wages to his staff and sent an investigator out to interview him.
“I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them!”, demanded the investigator.
“Well,” replied the farmer, “there’s my farm hand who’s been with me for three years. I pay him $200 a
week plus free room and board.”
“The cook has been here for 18 months, and I pay her $150 per week plus free room and board.”
“Then there’s the halfwit. He works about 18 hours every day and does about 90% of all the work around
here. He makes about $10 a week. He pays his own room and board, and I buy him a bottle of whiskey
every Saturday night. He also sleeps with my wife occasionally.”
“That’s the guy I want to talk to … the halfwit!” said the agent.
“That would be me,” replied the farmer.
From the Tauranga Video Club News of June 2010 via Christchurch Videomaker newsletter.
Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010
Page 21

Upgrading to HD LCD TV and Blu-ray Player …
About a month ago I upgraded to a 94 cm HD (High Definition)
LCD TV and BD Player (Blu-ray Disc Player) The
changeover was anything but smooth with some problems
like pixilated TV Reception on some channels which a new
Antenna and cable will hopefully fix.
Avatar Blu-ray movie was purchased a few weeks before in
anticipation and was looking forward to viewing it in Full
HD. To my surprise a message appeared that a Firmware
Upgrade was required before I could view the movie. I went
to the BD Player’s site, downloaded the Firmware Upgrade
and put it on the USB Memory Stick. Connected the TV to
the Modem Router and inserted the Memory Stick in the BD
Player’s USB port.
Upgrading BD Player’s Firmware ...
TECH TOPICS - Spring 2010 With Joe Leon ©
All Registered Names, Artwork, Logos and Trademarks appearing
in this article remain the property of the respective Copyright owners.
Firmware usually refers to Read-Only Memory (ROM)
chips that store Permanent Instructions like in the BIOS
(Basic Input Output System) in computers and are Non
Volatile meaning they do not lose their content and some
can be written to with new instructions and that is what a
Firmware Upgrade does as in the BD Player example .
This is basic procedure I had to follow to upgrade.
Downloaded latest Firmware file (60.4 MB - 64.0 MB unzipped)
from the BD Player’s site. The file could be a .zip
or .iso file which need to be extracted and placed on an USB
Memory Stick or Written to a CD.
Warning! The following events may interrupt the Upgrade
process and MAY RESULT IN PERMANENT DAMAGE
TO THE UNIT making it inoperable.
1. Unplugging the power cord.
2. Power Outage.
3. Dirt or Scratches on the burned CD-R/RW disc.
4. Closing or opening the disc tray during the update
process or removing the USB drive if it’s used instead.
1. Insert the Upgrade CD or the USB Memory Stick.
2. Select
'Yes' to
Upgrade
the Firmware.
3. The Power will be Turned Off at the beginning of the
Firmware Upgrade and the Upgrade Progress Bar will appear
on the TV screen.
When the Update is Completed, the Blu-ray Disc Player will
be Turned Off automatically.
Page 22 Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010
5. It is
now
Safe to
Power
On your
Blu-ray
Disc
Player.
A week later I started to Write Image and Video files to a 50
GB Blu-ray Dual Layer Disc to make room on the HDD
(Hard Disk Drive). 5 minutes later the Power and Lights
went off for about 2 seconds. The computer and the writing
to disc froze and had to shut the PC down and Restart it
again. Needless to say the Blu-ray DL disc was a dud. Also
over the next few weeks the PC kept locking up till in the
end it would not boot up at all. It has been fixed now.
If the temporary blackout happened while the BD Player
Firmware Upgrade was in progress I would more than likely
have lost the BD Player worth around $200.00. It took over
35 minutes to finish the Upgrade and I had my fingers
crossed that there would be no power outages or interruptions.
To my relief the upgrade was successful and was able
to play the Blu-ray Avatar movie in 1080p Full HD which
was very impressive compared to the DVD version.
Unfortunately Firmware Upgrades will have to be done on a
regular basis as when a new Blu-ray Movie comes out with
new Copy Protection the Blu-ray Player does not recognize,
New Features or Restrictions which are added. The thing I
don’t like about Firmware Upgrades is that most of the time
we’re left in the dark about what the Firmware Upgrade will
do specifically, for example.
While browsing the Internet last week I read on several sites
about a Firmware Upgrade to a particular brand BD Player
when applied locked out Warner Bros and Universal Pictures
movie releases which would not play properly or at all.
After many complaints they were advised to Retro Upgrade
to an earlier Version to fix the problem, but it was not successful
in all cases. The company in question is working on
a fix which may take several weeks.
Over the last few days my LCD TV displays a message upon
start up about an available Upgrade with three options.
Upgrade Now, Upgrade later and Don’t Upgrade.
I downloaded the .zip file (98.4 MB) and extracted it to its
default Folder and placed it on a memory stick which was
inserted in the TVs USB port and proceeded with the upgrade
which took about 3 minutes total. It’s very important
with any Firmware Upgrade to follow the correct procedure
as detailed in the instructions. Nowhere on the Product’s site
or ringing their support number could I find out any details
on the Upgrade’s New Features, Fixes or Restrictions.

Media Information …
TECH
TECH
TOPICS
TOPICS
-
PART
Spring
2 -
2010
Autumn
Part
2009
2 ...
All Registered Names, Artwork, With Joe Logos Leon and © Trademarks appearing
in this article remain the property of the respective Copyright owners.
There is a profusion of both Digital Still and Video Cameras
plus many Digital File Formats and those interested in Video
editing will sooner or later need to know specific information
about the file of interest. Windows Explorer RMC
(Right Mouse Click) only gives basic information about the
file and there are Freeware & Commercial programs around
which will give you a lot more information.
MediaInfo Portable Version for Windows - Freeware …
Home Page: http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en
http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en/Download/Windows
MediaInfo is Portable with 32 & 64 Bit versions available
for downloading and do not require installation. Once
downloaded just run “MediaInfo.exe”. There are three ways
to get file information using the MediaInfo program.
1. Run Media-
Info and open a
media file.
2. Hover your
Mouse over a
file.
3. RMC on a
media file and
select Media-
Info.
The image
above was obtained using RMC in Windows Explorer and
selecting properties on a SD (Standard Definition) .avi file
which gave very basic information.
Hovering
the mouse
over the
same file
gave more
information.
RMC and selecting MediaInfo provided the most information
on the video including the Digital Still camera used.
Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010
Editing HD (High Definition)
Video shot on
Digital Still or Video
cameras requires more
knowledge about the HD
Video files like: Pal,
NTSC, Frame Rate,
Resolution, Target Audience,
etc which Media-
Info can and does provide
in some detail.
Hovering the Mouse over a
HD .mov file in Windows
Explorer before installing
MediaInfo gave no information
except for file size.
RMC and selecting Properties
produced no usable
information.
Hovering over the same file
after running MediaInfo
once gave heaps of information in condensed form which is
much better than nothing while RMC and selecting Media-
Info provided the most useful information of all as seen in
the bottom image..
MediaInfo is a handy
program to have and
my apologies for the
poor resolution images
in this article.
Page 23

How Do Beginners Learn
To Make A Movie? By David Fuller
A wealthy philanthropist once visited the “work-room” of the sculptor she was financing and asked him
how he created his full sized human figures. “Oh, it’s not that hard, Ma’am. I just chip off the pieces I
don’t want.” For the aspiring novice video-maker, the process of learning how to create a video that doesn’t
look like a “home movie” is where it all begins. I’d hazard a guess that more than 90% of camcorder owners,
who make “home movies”, view them once and never do any more with them.
That stone sculptor - how did he learn how to create a human statue, life-sized?
The simplest answer is - through “Doing”. It’s the same for a novice video-maker. Belonging to a club
means that he doesn’t have to learn it all on his own as a “lone wolf.”
Enter the Aspiring Beginner
From the Club’s point of view, retaining his interest in movie-making remains a vital objective of Video
Clubs today. Let’s say that a person responds to our Club website. He is seeking help from members he
visualizes as people who should know a fair bit about the craft. How do we experienced amateurs get him
started?
First, when answering him invite him to come to a meeting; make him most welcome; give him an idea of
the things members do and a sample of their video achievements. It could happen like this:
Derek sees the Club website. He asks the club contact if the club can show him how to make his movies
“look better”.
“Well, Derek, the fun in video making lies in first discovering an “inspiration”, an “idea”. Now, if you
want to learn how to convert that inspiration into a video, we can guide you. But the only way to learn how
to make video productions is by DOING the job. Practical help from us speeds things along. You’re among
both novices and those with experience. “
What Will You Need to Get Started ?
(The easy part - the “technicals”) A camcorder and an editing program on your PC or Mac. A tripod will
come later. As you watch movies made by experienced movie-makers, you’ll see how important a tripod
becomes.
What Would be Good Subjects to Start On:
An event
A “how to”,(e.g. making a Nanaimo bar)
A short interview (max. 3 minutes, two heads - not as easy as it sounds, eh? But a good learning experience.)
A little story about one of the kids or grandkids. (Building a sandcastle … really a learning experience in
sequence-building and directing.)
How Do You Make Your Movies Look Better than nauseas, hose-piping “Home Movies”?
How did the sculptor know “which pieces of the stone” to chip off ? You can be sure he’d sculptured
many, many previous works of art. Experience. But he had to get started somewhere at the lower end of
the learning ladder.
Again, the novice has to learn by DOING. He “chips” away at it!
Good advice is to tag along with other movie-makers chipping away on a Club Shoot. Remember, we’re
“always” learning. Funny, isn’t it” we amateurs always strive to look less like amateurs. Belonging to a
club can put a novice in empathetic company. Learning in a club setting can be so much fun!
Page 24 Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010

The Creative Process
Down to business. You have to “design” the flow of a movie. In simplest, entry-level terms, have “a beginning”,
“a middle” and “an end”. (BME). Kid-stuff, eh? I’d say that every respectable movie ever made has
BME. (Some Directors, a BMW, too.). A time-honoured formula. Next comes, a big “think-out” session,
before you even let your finger press the red button.
Say, the beginner’s movie is a short four-minutes account of a young girl’s solo performance on piano.
Two minutes of Moonlight Solo. What does he want us to “get” from this movie? What’s the main point or
theme he wants to get across? Yes, “it’s up to the child, on her own.” The structure? Good old BME. First,
nervous anticipation; second, conquering the performance task; third, the reward.
Beginning: “Not hungry at the meal table”; “fidgety”; “checking a final part of Moonlight at the piano”;
family leaving for the hall.
Middle: Entering the hall. Family seated; kid mounting the piano stool; kid playing her piece beautifully.
End: Applause; family faces; kid bowing and leaving in a stately manner then rushing to the family in relief
and for congratulations.
See how the BME formula works? Could you pull off the videoing of this kind of event? How would you
know for sure that the above scenario would work out for you? You get only ONE chance to get it right.
Makes sense to visit the Hall previously, choose a good “shooting” location, arrive early and have your
family seated up front with you.
The point I’m making here, is that, before you press the red button, you have to “create” in your mind the
sequence of shots that you can pull off -- and, then like the sculptor and the young pianist, “DO” it! Press
the red button - and hope.
Of course, this kind of piano performance is for family members, but watching the short movie of it, if the
thing had been planned out in your mind, has universal appeal. We’ve all “been there”. Great to show the
movie at the Club Meeting, too.
What features of a short movie like Moonlight (above) create universal appeal? The agony of preperformance
jitters, the actual performance, and elation of success. Not a grand opera but its scenario is
timeless. The movie was born from a creative urge and it followed a time-honoured format - the BME formula.
Finishing:
At the edit: Remove any “dud” shots; insert an entry title, (e.g., It’s Over, - which doesn’t give the “show”
away, a fade-in and a fade-out. A concluding title, last scene: “Video by Derek Harris”. Perhaps some hint
of solo piano music for the Opening scenes, a “promise”, closing scenes a summarial “truth. Ask a club
member to help you, if it’s not familiar to you.
The moral of the story, dear beginner, is that you CAN do it. You can learn about identifying a theme and
applying the BME Formula and many other tried and true formulae, as you gain experience.
David Fuller
Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010
Page 25

EDINBURGH CINEMA HISTORY
PARTS 1 & 2 Compiled by Stewart Emm
Although moving pictures had previously been shown in Edinburgh in the mid 1890s, the
first time they were seen in a permanent venue was when H.E. Moss exhibited Edison's Kinetoscope
at his Empire Palace Theatre from 13 April, 1896 as part of his general variety
show. The innovation was not well received however. At the same theatre, on 1st June,
1896 the Lumiere Brothers’ Cinematographe was displayed for the first time. Again the 10
Films were part of a variety programme, but this time success led to encores in July and
September. The cinema had arrived in Edinburgh.
Lumiere Brothers
INTO THE 20th CENTURY
At the turn of the century halls were being booked for film shows put on by companies such as The Modern
Marvel Co. Ltd. By 1906 the Operetta House in Chambers Street was presenting regular performances,
but the main growth area was the fairground, operated by families like the Salvonas of Leith. Films were
very brief and locally shot ones were inserted into the programme to stimulate interest.
CUSTOM BUILT PICTURE HOUSE
Queen’s Hall, 5 Queen Street
The Cinematograph Act of 1909 changed everything. Stricter regulations led to the
disappearance of tents and the growth of custom built cinemas. Before 1910 there
were 6 main outlets for film shows: the West End Theatre (Shandwick Place),
Pringle's (Grove Street and Elm Row), Cinema House (Surgeon's Hall), Queen's
Hall (Queen Street), and the Operetta House (Chambers Street).
The men running these were people already involved in the entertainment industry, or financiers eager to
cash in on the growing popularity of film. Cinema chains also started to grow. Provincial
Cinematograph Cinemas opened. The Picture House on Princes Street in July1910 is regarded by some as
the first proper picture house in the city. In all 14 cinemas opened in 1913 and 1914, spreading out with the
city centre to Leith, Haymarket and Tollcross.
WORLD WAR I
World War I had several consequences. It led to the closure of one quarter of the nation's cinemas, allowed
the American film industry to infiltrate, and pushed cinema going into the realm of a working class phenomenon.
In 1917 one estimate had 24 houses in Edinburgh (excluding Leith) giving
a seat for every 20 inhabitants.
SCREENS
King’s Cinema (Cameo)
In the Edinburgh Cinemas of the WWI and early 1920s eras there were four
main types of projection screen in use. Some screens were made of tightly
stretched canvas painted with distemper, however to improve the quality of the
projected image other innovations were being introduced. In 1914 in the
King’s Cinema, 38 Home Street (now the Cameo) a mirrored screen was in
use. To improve the brilliance, for the audience at the back to see properly,
screens were coated with bright aluminium paint, it is not known if this type
of screen mirroring was used at the King’s Cinema.
In 1919 the Roxburgh Cinema, 1 Drummond Street, used a simple plaster screen, a plaster wall usually
coated with white oil flattening, for projecting the pictures on. The major screen improvement was the introduction
in 1915 of the German “Perlantino” screen. The screen was coated white, but has small transpar-
Page 26 Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010

ent glass beads sprinkled thickly and evenly over its surface. This treatment gave
a very brilliant and sharp image. It is not known when this type of screen was introduced
into the Edinburgh cinemas.
BOOM TIME
Playhouse Cinema
Due to the highly flammable film used and the danger
posed in the use of converted and temporary venues,
safety provisions were brought into force. The
Cinematograph Act of January, 1910 required the con-
struction of a separate projection room from the auditoria and this led to the
first purpose built cinemas to be established in Edinburgh. The 20’s and 30’s
saw a boom time of cinema development. When the Playhouse opened in 1929
it had over 3,000 seats and would remain the largest cinema ever built in Edinburgh.
King’s Cinema (Cameo) Roxburgh Cinema, 1 Drummond Street Playhouse
Cinema The others were smaller, including the Capital (1928), the New
Victoria (1930), New Tivoli (1933-34), the Astoria (1930), the Poole’s Roxy (1937) and the County
(1939), later named the George.
THE TALKIES
Without the arrival of the talkies in 1927 it is doubtful that these super
cinemas would have been built. “The Singing Fool”, the first full-length,
all talking picture, appeared in Edinburgh at the New Picture Palace, 56
Princes Street, from the 10 June 1929. It ran for 5 weeks
to general acclaim. Within a year nearly every cinema was showing talkies!
Such was the rate of change. The era of the silent film was over. Audiences
started to queue to see the likes of Norman Shearer, Ronald Coleman
and William Powell.
THE MICKEY MOUSE CLUB
Dating from the 1930’s the first children’s film club in the City started at the
New Tivoli in 1934. New Picture Palace The Mickey Mouse club was one of
the many branches throughout Scotland and had 5,000 members nationally by
1938. When the New Tivoli, 52 Gorgie Road Poole’s Roxy opened the club
moved out to Gorgie. By 1947 there were three clubs in Edinburgh catering for
some 4,000 regulars. I went to the New Victoria Club on a Saturday morning in
the mid 50’s and to a matinee on a Wednesday afternoon after school. I think
New Tivoli, 52 Gorgie Road
children formed a large part of the cinema’s audience. Like myself, most children
would visit the cinema once a week and a matinee at the weekend.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
Edinburgh Room,
Edinburgh Central Library
Scottish Cinemas and Theatres Project
www.scottishcinemas.org.uk
New Historic Scotland Booklet - Spotlight on Scotland’s Cinemas
A free booklet has been released by Historic Scotland celebrating our cinema heritage.
In living memory a common feature in Scotland’s towns and cities, cinemas are now an
increasingly rare part of our streetscapes. In 2007–08 Historic Scotland undertook a
thematic study of Scotland’s historic cinema buildings in conjunction with the Cinema
Theatre Association, and this new booklet traces their history and development from
the earliest times to the present day.
Reprinted with permission from Edinburgh Cine & Video Society Cine Chat newsletter.
Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010
Roxburgh Cinema,
1 Drummond Street
New Picture Palace
Page 27

February
1989
May 1989
Cartoons From Earlier Issues of
Australian Film & Video
Page 28 Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010

Club Closures in the USA
Australian clubs have certainly experienced declining membership and club closures over
recent years and it seems that our American cousins are suffering from the same phenomenon.
Following is some information on the demise of one of the largest clubs in the USA.
The Amateur Movie Makers Association folded last year after 53 years.
Its first meeting was in the autumn of 1956, in the basement of the Tappan, New Jersey home of Sidney
and Helen Horitz. Initially began as the American chapter of the Institute of Amateur Photographers, a
British organization, in the 1970s it became the Society of Amateur Cinematographers. Reflecting the
changing times and technology, in 1991 it transformed into the Society of Amateur Videographers and
Cinematographers. Its final change came in 2002, when it became the Amateur Movie Makers Association.
In its time the AMMA was one of America’s largest cine clubs, and had up to 371 members before beginning
its gradual decline. As with other clubs, it was a way for amateur filmmakers to stay in touch with
other filmmakers and trends in filmmaking. Through newsletters and meetings its members were able to
view and critique each others films.
The organization had annual contests in which awards were given for best films of the year as well as the
“Magic Moments” contest for films one minute or less. The club and its various affiliates throughout the
USA held annual conventions at many cities across the country and were always well attended. The last
AMMA convention was held in Buena Park, California in 2008. The club ceased to operate and publish its
newsletter in February 2009.
We all know the difficulties that declining membership has produced, so in 2011, let’s redouble our efforts
to be actively involved in movie making and attract new members.
3D Without Glasses - Bring it on!
From NHVCS Newsletter - Cine Camaraderie
Sony Corp. is working on 3-D televisions that don't need special glasses, joining a race with rival Toshiba
Corp., but sees cost and technological hurdles to overcome before they can go on sale.
Toshiba, in a press release a week prior to the Sony announcement indicated that it is working on glassesfree
3-D TVs, although no decision was made on when they will go on sale.
With these announcements it's quite obvious what the end result of this news means: glasses-required 3D
could (and will) become obsolete once "glasses-free 3D" arrives in full force, from not just Sony and
Toshiba, but also other manufacturers who will jump into the market for 3D TVs that won't require glasses.
Sony obviously realizes the potential sales threat that will exist to their own displays, once the Toshiba
models arrive on the market, and the potential lower cost to the consumer (no glasses required), and has
rushed to be the first (other than Toshiba) to embrace the newer 'glasses-free' technology. All of this competition
will benefit the consumer who wants to get into 3D, but doesn't want to use and/or buy expensive
pairs of 3D glasses.
COMEDY CORNER - Also from NHVCS
An elderly Newcastle woman called 000 on her mobile phone to report that her car has been broken into. She was hysterical as
she explained her situation to the operator: “They’ve stolen the stereo, the steering wheel, the brake pedal and even the accelerator!”
she cried. The operator said, “Stay calm. A police officer is on the way.” A few minutes later, the officer radioed headquarters
and said “Disregard the call, she got in the back seat by mistake.”
Those tireless church ladies and their typos strike again:
Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use the large double door at the side entrance.
Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It’s a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your
husbands.
Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010
Page 29

Hi Gary,
I would like to see in the newsletter the top five place getters in the Five Best to write something about
their successful video a 100 to 150 word item on their video. I would expect this to cover:
• the inspiration and/or reason for making the video
• problems faced
• amount of footage available
• time taken
• the cameras used
• the microphone used
• the software used
Mark. ACTVCC
(Mark thank you for your suggestion. Well Producers of the 2010 Five Best over to you, your space has
been reserved in the Summer Edition of AF&V. Information on the ACTVCC entry “Cutting a Shape” appears
elsewhere in this issue. Ed) (Mark has also suggested a questionnaire to be included in a later issue
to let readers know what type of equipment is being used to produce the epics which we see. Ed)
WANTED
Lithgow Valley Movie Club are looking for 16mm or 35mm prints of the famous Zig Zag Railway at
Lithgow in the Blue Mountains NSW. Also any prints of films about trains across the Blue Mountains.
Any person or group wishing to provide these on loan or to sell, are asked to contact the Coordinator on
02 6353 1897. Other films or newsreels of NSW trains would also be acceptable.
October 17th marks the 100th Anniversary of the Opening of the ten tunnels and double track deviation
bypassing the single line Zig Zag Railway. The Movie Club is combining with Lithgow City Council and
other groups to celebrate this important anniversary in the history of rail travel to the west of New South
Wales.
From NHVCS Newsletter
Three sisters, aged 92, 94 and 96 live in a house together. One night the 96 year old draws a bath. She puts
her foot in and pauses. She yells to the other sisters, “Was I getting in or out of the bath?” The 94 year old
yells back, “I don’t know. I’ll come up and see.” She starts up the stairs and pauses. “Was I going up the
stairs or down?” The 92 year old is sitting at the kitchen table listening to her sisters, she shakes her head
and says, “I sure hope I never get that forgetful, knock on wood…” She then yells, “I’ll come up and help
both of you as soon as I see who’s at the door.”
The Joy of Grandchildren
A grandmother was telling her little granddaughter what her own childhood was like: “We used to skate outside on a
pond. I had a swing made from a tyre; it hung from a tree in our front yard. We rode our pony. We picked wild raspberries
in the woods.” The little girl was wide-eyed, taking this all in. At last she said, “I sure wish I’d gotten to
know you sooner!”
When my grandson asked me how old I was, I teasingly replied, “I’m not sure.”
“Look in your underwear, Grandpa,” he advised, “mine says I’m 4 to 6.”
Page 30 Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010

FEDERATION OF AUSTRALIAN MOVIE MAKERS LIMITED
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: Laura Owens (02) 4969 3117
lowens@exemail.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
ACT Video Camera Club
www.geocities.com/actvcc/index.html
Sec: Trish Skinner (02) 6231 8851
skinners@homemail.com.au
Meet: 1 st & 3 rd Thursday at 7.30 pm
Milton Ulladulla Video Club Inc
www.muvc.org.au
Sec: Frank McLeod (02) 4441 0923
fjmcleod@bigpond.com
Meet: 1 st Thursday of Month
Movie Makers Wollongong Camera Club
www.wollongongcc.org.au
Sec: Craig Parker (02)
secretary@wollongongcc.org.au
Meet: 1 st & 3 thThursday 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
QUEENSLAND DIVISION
Brisbane Video Makers Association Inc
www.bvma.org.au
Sec: Rod Kay (07) 3376 3273 Mob: 0418 180 575
secretary@bvma.org.au
Meet: 4 th Wednesday 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
Queensland Movie Makers
Sec: Merv Peake (07) 3356 5051
bjmcdonald@bigpond.com.au
Meet: Kedron 1 st & 3 rd 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
VICTORIAN DIVISION
Australian Widescreen Association
www.users.bigpond.net.au/awa
Sec: Tony Andrews (03) 9793 6930
tandrews@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
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: Norm Tillack (03) 9874 2993
ntillack@gmail.com
Meet: 1 st & 3 rd Friday at 8.00 pm
(No Meeting in January)
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
(No Meeting in January)
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
Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010
Page 31

BACK PAGE
1. Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than the entire Nike factory workers
in Malaysia combined.
2. Marilyn Monroe had six toes on one foot.
3. Adolf Hitler’s mother seriously considered having an abortion, but was talked out of it by her
doctor.
4. The three most valuable brand names on earth: Marlboro, Coca-Cola, and Budweiser, in that
order.
5. “Stewardesses” is the longest word that can be typed with only the left hand.
6. To escape the grip of a crocodile’s jaws, prick your fingers into its eyeballs. It will let you go
instantly
7. A mathematical wonder: 111,111,111 multiplied by 111,111,111 gives the result 12, 345,
678, 987, 654, 321.
8. The most common name in the world is Mohammed.
9. The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.
10. The “pound” (#) key on your keyboard is called an octothorp.
11. The only domestic animal not mentioned in the Bible is the cat.
12. Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.
13. The average person’s left hand does 56% of the typing.
14. “Dreamt” is the only word in the English language that ends in “mt”.
15. It’s impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.
16. In Chinese, the KFC slogan “finger lickin’ good” comes out as “eat your fingers off”.
17. A cockroach can live for 10 days without its head.
18. We shed 40 pounds of skin a lifetime.
19. Yo-Yos were once used as weapons in the Philippines.
20. Coca-Cola can be used as car oil.
Contributed by Gordon Taylor. NHVCS.
Great Truths That Little Children Have Learnt
• No matter how hard you try, you can’t baptize cats.
• When you Mum is mad at your Dad, don’t let her brush your hair.
• If your sister hits you, don’t hit her back. They always catch the second person.
• You can’t trust dogs to watch your food.
• You can’t hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
• The best place to be when you are sad is Grandpa’s lap.
Great Truths That Adults Have Learnt
• Raising teenagers is like nailing jelly to a tree.
• Laughing is good exercise. It’s like jogging on the inside.
• Middle age is when you choose your cereal for the fibre, not the toy.
Page 32 Australian film & video—No 9 spring 2010
DEADLINE
The Deadline
for the Summer
Edition is the
30 November
2010
Great Truths About Growing Old
• Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.
• Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.
• When you fall down, you wonder what else you can do while you’re down there.
• It’s frustrating when you know all the answers but nobody bothers to ask you the questions.
• Time may be a great healer, but it’s a lousy beautician.
Aussie Printed