AUSTRALIAN FILM - Federation of Australian Movie Makers

Inside this issue: 

Contributors 2 

FAMM Limited 2 

President’s Comment 3 

Thank You 3 

Club Link 4 

French Flamingos - RMM 7 

Basically Videography IS 8 

Tech Topics - Joe Leon 10 

Visions - Joan Rennie 12 

Pot Shots - Ian Simpson 13 

Beginner Video Maker 14 

AusCam 16 

Favourite Photograph 16 

Movie Link 17 

Reversing Falls Canada 18 

Daylight Saving 18 

Classifieds 19 

Rode Video Mic - NHVCS 20 

Short Film Competition 20 

Rechargeable Batteries 21 

Sony Vegas Pro - Rob F 22 

Tribute - Jillian Peterson 52 

The Formation - AWLA 53 

AWLA - GP 54 

Recognition - AWLA 57 

Edinburgh Cinemas - SE 58 

Club Link - UK Extra 59 

Mail Bag 60 

FAMM Ltd Club List 61 

Back Page 62 

Under the Auspices of the 

Federation of Australian 

Movie Makers Limited 

From The Editor’s Desk 

AUSTRALIAN FILM 

& VIDEO 

Welcome to Volume 11 of Australian Film & Video E-Magazine, our Autumn 

Edition, which has a diverse range of topics in this issue covering everything 

from French Flamingos to the Australian Women’s Land Army. 

There is Ian Simpson with his popular column Basically Videography, in this 

issue he discusses what equipment is best for the movies you want to make. Then 

there is a report from Ringwood Movie Makers which tells us about the latest 

June Furness movie which was shot in France showing flamingos seemingly 

marching on water, you can view this movie at the RMM Website. 

Joan Rennie lets us know about her enthusiastic group Visions whilst Ian Simpson 

in Pot Shots considers Amateur Videos in 3D - Future or Fantasy and John 

Lawrie tells us about his trials and tribulations with rechargeable batteries. 

David Fuller our correspondent from Canada approaches the age old question 

“How Do Beginners Learn to Make a Movie”. Then there is the NHVCS article 

on the Rode Video Mic Pro, also your opportunity to enter a Short Film competition 

which is explained in more detail on page 20. 

We visit Reversing Falls in The Bay of Fundy in Canada via the internet to view 

this phenomena. Whilst Robert Farquharson has written an in depth article commencing 

on page 22 about setting Project & Render Properties in Sony Vegas Pro 

and Joe Leon continues with his Tech Topics column. 

There is a tribute to Jillian Peterson and her service in the Australian Women’s 

Land Army during the Second World War and everyone has a favourite photograph 

or two Australian Film & Video would like to publish them in our pages, 

read more about this suggestion on page 16. 

There’s our Mail Bag with your welcome comments and in this issue mentioned 

how well read Australian Film & Video is around the world. 

We have our regular and ever popular Club Link which lets you know what is 

happening in Clubs around Australia & Overseas and there’s Stewart Emm’s latest 

instalment on Edinburgh Cinema History plus there are a couple of good buys 

in the Classifieds and for a laugh check out the Back page. 

Finally please enjoy Australian Film & Video and let us know what you think 

about it or any suggestions for its improvement. 

Gary. 

We’re on the FAMM website 

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

AUSTRALIAN FILM & VIDEO—VOL 11 AUTUMN 2011 

Vol VOL 11 

AUTUMN 2011 

Thinking Of You 

Our thoughts and prayers are with our neighbours across the Tasman in Christchurch 

New Zealand in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake. 

Editor, Australian Film & Video. 

Page 1

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. 

Page 2 

Federation of Australian Movie Makers Limited 

Australian Film & Video 

CONTRIBUTORS 

Technical 

Robert Farquharson - Ncle & Hunter Valley Cine Soc 

Joe Leon - Newcastle Video Moviemakers 

Ian Simpson - Wollongong Movie Makers 

Division Representatives 

John Lawrie - South Australian Division 

Foreign Correspondents 

Peter Smith - Cape Town - South Africa 

Dafyd Vernon - Christchurch - New Zealand 

David Fuller - Nanaimo - Canada 

Guest Contributors 

Ringwood Movie Makers - Victoria 

Joan Rennie - Visions 

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. 

Editor: Gary Peterson AFAMM SSFAMM 

PO Box 75 Toronto 

NSW 2283 Australia 

Email: afveditor@famm.org.au 

Mobile: 0402 681 157 

FEDERATION OF AUSTRALIAN MOVIE 

MAKERS LIMITED 

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

FEDERAL EXECUTIVE 

President: Mark Tunningley (02) 6231 9587 

president@famm.org.au 

Secretary: Rainer Listing (02) 6230 3383 

secretary@famm.org.au 

Treasurer: Jim Thornton (02) 6294 8000 

treasurer@famm.org.au 

DIVISION DIRECTORS 

NEW SOUTH WALES – CENTRAL DIVISION 

Laurie Chesterfield (02) 4965 6449 

ln.chesterfield@idl.net.au 

NEW SOUTH WALES – SOUTHERN DIVISION 

Mark Tunningley 

actvcc@yahoo.com.au 

QUEENSLAND DIVISION 

Joan Rennie (07) 5530 5548 

joanren@gmail.com 

Blog: http://joanren.blogspot.com 

VICTORIAN DIVISION 

John Stevenson SSFAMM (03) 9546 7554 

jastevo40@bigpond.com 

TASMANIAN DIVISION 

Don Fitzpatrick 

don.fitzpatrick@bigpond.com 

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN DIVISION 

Barry Schrapel (08) 8264 1412 

bschrapel@bigpond.com 

WESTERN AUSTRALIAN DIVISION 

Trevor Wigg 

netwigg@upnaway.com 

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. 

AUSTRALIAN FILM & VIDEO—VOL 11 AUTUMN 2011

Hello Movie Makers, 

It is good to get newsletters from other clubs. Many of them go to a lot of trouble with 

graphics and photos. My club tries to keep it simple and informative. Every now and then 

we ask another club if we can run and article from another club’s newsletter. This happens because there 

are some very talented, innovative, and resourceful people in our clubs. These people come from all sorts 

of backgrounds and I think that is why there are so many amateur video clubs around. It is an opportunity 

to follow a hobby and meet some interesting people. Sometimes I find it hard to start a meeting because 

many club members are engrossed in a certain topic. It is great to witness this activity and I have to ring a 

bell to call the meeting to order. What a great sign of a lively club. The good news is everyone wants to 

talk about videos; the bad news is that I can’t get the meeting started!!!! 

If you want to take another step in your movie making then I suggest you take up any offers to be a judge 

for another club. Being a judge for a Club Competition makes you think about a lot of things involved in 

video making. Of course it is time consuming but very rewarding. I have done judging for four different 

clubs now and when you get asked again with “I was told you were a competent judge” it tells you that you 

are helping other video club members. I have said a few times now that you don’t ask someone if they like 

your movie, but you ask the important question: “What can I do to improve this movie?” You may not like 

the answer (after all the work you put in to it) but it is better than getting “it’s alright”. 

So as a judge you need to ask the same question and make comments on how the video could have been 

improved and give a mark accordingly to each category on the judging sheet. I have made some basic mistakes 

in my movies that judges pointed out, so I remember them next time. 

Judging sheet criteria and design are very important for competition videos. My club refines ours nearly 

every year. One of our judges told us it was the best one she uses. I am interested in one of our clubs scoring 

systems that tries to minimise the bias from different judges. I have spoken to a Senior Statistician who 

worked in the Australian Bureau of Statistics on this system and he advised me that it would minimise bias. 

So I am going to look into it further. 

The ACT club is moving with its work to run the FAMM Convention 2012, but venues are reluctant to give 

quotes more than a year out from the date, and to try to get guest speakers and the like more than 6 months 

in advance could be difficult too. It is envisaged that it will be held late March or early April to avoid the 

cold weather Canberra can have, and away from Easter, School Holidays and ANZAC Day. We will see 

what happens. 

Happy Videoing 

Mark Tunningley 

President Mark Tunningley’s Comment 

Federation of Australian Movie Makers Ltd 

Thank you 

To all those members of Federation of Australian Movie Makers and the overseas 

readers who expressed their condolences on the recent passing of our mother a warm 

thank you. As a friend wrote, “Having wonderful memories of times gone by, will hopefully 

ease the pain at this very sad time.” and it does, your kind thoughts have been comforting. 

The passing of one parent does not prepare you for the passing of the other. Mum had a 

wonderful life and was involved as a volunteer in many organisations. There are a couple 

of articles about her life and service in the Australian Women’s Land Army towards 

the end of this edition. 

Gary Peterson & Deirdre Peterson. 


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Newcastle & Hunter Valley Cine Society - New South Wales 

Our last meeting began with Neville Coulton’s half hour, during which he showed some transfers 

of some early animated films produced by past club member Barry Pusey. The films were of exceptional 

quality and I have absolutely no doubt in saying that none of the FAMM clubs or their 

members have produced animated films that are anything like the quality of these. Do yourself a 

favour. If you want to see animated films of the highest quality produced by a non professional, 

then find some way to get some copies of these movies to view. You will be stunned! 

Neville then spent time discussing the accomplishments of our club’s veteran movie makers, marvelling at the 

quality of the films, given the inherent difficulties and expense associated with working with film. 

Neville did point out, however, that clubs and their members must move with the times and embrace new technology. 

This is not always affordable for some members, so a proposal was suggested at the last committee 

meeting that may make it easy and affordable for all members to embrace new technology (HD video and Blu- 

Ray). The proposal is that the club buy a top quality HD camera, a laptop with plenty of grunt, containing a Blu- 

Ray burner, and a top quality editing program which will be available for club members to borrow as required. 

The club would also run special meetings to train members on how to use the equipment and software, thus creating 

a network of people to help each other produce movies. 

Newcastle Video Moviemakers - New South Wales 

January meeting will be Show and Tell. Members are encouraged to bring along movies that they are 

working on, for member comments, also any gadgets they have invented so members can share the 

moviemaking experience. I will be away at this is time, so Geoff will run the meeting. 

Once again this year our club will be running our Group Shoot, so if you wish to participate please 

give your name to Geoff as we will be drawing the names out of a hat at the February meeting. 

Speaking of the February meeting, this will be our One Minute Competition, any theme, so invent an idea and 

go for it. This will also be our yearly Auction Night, please bring your unwanted equipment to sell, remember 

the club takes a small commission on all sales. It has been decided at the December committee meeting to alter 

the yearly Calendar to include another Open Competition at the start of the year, moving a couple of the competitions 

into other months, this will not alter the points score by any degree for the final Moviemaker of the Year. 

Please look on the website for the changes. 

Wollongong Movie Makers - New South Wales 

The annual screening of the VOTY 

entries drew an audience of 22, representing 

members, their spouses and / or their guests. 

The format for the night was to screen each entry and then get the audience 

to vote for their favourite video. Each member of the audience 

was allowed only one vote. This method of determining the video with 

the highest audience appeal would prove interesting when compared 

later to the results from the three judges selected from sister movie 

making clubs. This year saw a record number of entries into our Video Of The Year Competition. 

The initial casting of votes led to a tie between Tumut and At the Turn of the Tide, but on “count back” the audience 

award was given to Ray White for At the Turn of the Tide. The idea initially arose because of our mid-year competition 

which had to contain the signature item “Turn”. Ray developed the idea and signature into an intriguing view of 

the life in tidal pools once the tide has “turned”. 

Christchurch Video Camera Club - New Zealand 

As 2011 gets under way I hope all members had a great break and took plenty of videos. Our first 

meeting night is on 21st Feb. We are pleased to have Mr David Milne from Video Image Professionals 

to speak to us on video cameras and their use. Bring your video camera as this will be a most informative 

talk and you are sure to learn lots about your camera. Late last year we had a request from 

Anjie Connon for films to use in a music video for singer/songwriter 

Lizzie Cook. I supplied some film and also a 16mm projector as a prop and for lighting,. June and I were invited to 

the album launch at the Dux De Lux. The launch was very successful. To view this video (“Summer Goes On Forever”) 

log onto Lizzie Cook Shimmer. 

Page 4 


Brisbane Video Makers Association - Queensland 

This month we celebrate not only a New Year but also a new meeting schedule, following the 

decision last year to move the day-of-week to a Thursday to accommodate the convenience of 

some of our members, who find it inconvenient to attend meetings on a Wednesday evening. 

To launch 2011, we will have a look at an ABC “Australian Story” featuring some of the ladies who have had 

breast cancer. This will be a very good precursor to a discussion about our next Club movie project, “Dragons 

Abreast”. The project has been discussed briefly in a couple of previous meetings. Following this screening, we 

will talk about member involvement in the project, and will be calling for expressions of interest in participating. 

There are a variety of roles to be filled, and now that we have our new Club camera, there is a great opportunity 

to learn more about using a quality “prosumer” camera. We will also have a chance to look at, handle and 

generally gain an introduction to the camera. 

We had twenty three members and guests attend our first meeting for the year. It was pleasing that the guests 

included five members of QMM who were interested in our planned demonstration of the new club camera. 

This was followed by a movie program. President Brian Gething opened the meeting, welcomed us all, and 

handed the floor to Rod Kay to demonstrate our new JVC GY-HM100E video camera. Rod went through the 

contents of the package that we had purchased and then summarised some of the specifications of the camera. 

He covered such items as: SD Cards, file formats, auto operation, manual functions and adjustments, and sound 

recording. He gave us a lot more detail than is mentioned here, and it stimulated some discussion and questions. 

The camera was made available for each of us to examine during the supper period. 

Gold Coast Video Camera Club - Queensland 

Following our Annual meeting in September, we have a new President, Harry Leftwich and Col 

Lutz is back on the Committee as Vice President. This year we have quite a large committee, but 

everyone has a job, and it gives us a back up for all positions, so no one feels guilty if they want to 

take a trip away! 

The Club has purchased a new laptop that is better equipped for doing editing, and we have a new “juke 

box” as well, so your videos should be shown at the best possible quality and the process of showing 

them on Club nights will be more efficient. 

We have a few new ideas, and are bringing back some old ones too. The general opinion was that people liked 

the idea of being given suggested subjects for short assignments (say 2 – 5 mins) each month. No compulsion to 

do them of course, but the hope is that people will pick out subjects that appeal to them and at least do some of 

them. The committee will work out a list of subjects for next year We are also bringing back our “Top Supporter 

Award” – starting again with a clean slate. Points will be awarded for doing assignment and competition 

videos, attending Club events etc, and a perpetual trophy will be awarded at the next Annual meeting. 

Queensland Movie Makers - Queensland 

What is 2011 going to be like for our club? We have plans for a varied programme of events on 

club evenings that we will publish soon in the Lamphouse, but I still would like any feed-back 

from members who would like some particular activity as an evening during the coming year. It is 

up to club members to get involved in how we run the club, please don’t just leave it to the committee. 

It is always much better that members drive the club forward particularly in these days with so many 

advances in cameras and editing software available to us all giving us so much to discuss and enjoy together. 

It is particularly important for everyone to attend at club evenings to support those people who have spent so 

much time developing a programme for us all to enjoy. 

The first club evening of the year was on the 19th with a “Sale” of unwanted club equipment and a show and 

discussion about the “Lord of The Rings” movie series. The DVD set has a great, “making of” section which 

gives an insight to how the professionals do their movie making. One of the main things was to see the team’s 

dedication to a mammoth production and how good management over a very long period pulled it all together. 

FAMM CONVENTION 2012 

DATE - Late March or Early April 2012 

Location - Canberra ACT 


Page 5

Protea Video Club - Cape Town South Africa 

I trust you all had an enjoyable Christmas, packed away the decorations and discreetly hidden 

Mother-in-Law unwanted gift until you find a suitable recepient! If you think those extra kilos 

which have mysteriously appeared around your middle will go away if you ignore them, well 

they won’t so crash diets are now the priority. I wonder just how many of you took the camcorder 

out the bag over the Christmas break. Well perhaps not, but with the first club meeting of the New 

year in the bag you will soon have to start thinking up something for the Protea competition just six months 

away. 

Mike bluntly told the group that if we don’t look ahead and accept new technology then the club will die! 

He went on to say, that soon we will not be able to buy DV tapes and will, whether we like it or not, have 

to change to the solid state cameras and editing software to handle it if we wish to carry on with our hobby. 

This brought some gasps from the majority of us who have been quite content in dusting off our ten year 

old cameras and waving them about on the odd holiday movie. Alan B remarked and Peter 1 agreed that it 

was all very well saying we shall have to upgrade, but to justify spending R20,000 ($AUD2,925)at our age 

on new gear is, in this present climate not a reality. It is fine, if like some other clubs where members make 

videos for gain then they can plough some of their proceeds back in to new equipment, but we are strictly 

amateurs and have no desire to make wedding or school videos. 

John did make the point that the latest version of Adobe Premiere Elements, (9) for R1000 ($AUD146)did 

work with most new cameras. 

Mike also proposed that we take any new people in to our club provided they had an interest in our hobby. 

This meant they didn’t have to all be interested in just shooting video, but may just be interested in “Sound 

Recording” or “Script Writing” for example, but would be helpful in some way to the club. 

When the PVC “volunteered” to make a film of 130 

students from Somerset College trekking 400 km to 

De Hoop little did they realise the enormity of the 

task. While most of us have been enjoying the Christmas 

“spirit”, a thought should go out to Mike, John 

and Estelle who have, in between, basting the turkey 

and entertaining family and friends, been sifting over 

30 hours of tapes and 10,000 still photos. (I have now 

been reliably informed that John has managed to 

whittle them down to only 6500)!! 

Mike struggles to keep his balance in the high winds at the 

finish in De Hoop while trying to explain to the students how 

he wants the final shot to look. 

Page 6 

The parents of the students have made it quite clear 

that they want to, “See everything”. It was thought at 

one time we would get away with just making a 20 

minute film, but now Mike is having to cram as much 

material as he can on to one disc, while Estelle and 

John are trying to put together eight individual DVD’s 

showing each group. It still hasn’t been decided how 

to handle the stills! With the schools returning within 

a week or two, John, Mike and Estelle have their 

work cut out getting at least two or three discs ready 

to show the College. 


You Can Really Hear French Flamingos Walking on Water! 

Ringwood Movie Makers Inc. 

At Ringwood Movie Makers one night we were watching a film by June Furness shot in France, showing 

farmlands and white horses in the French countryside. Later, there were amazing shots of flamingos seemingly 

marching on water. The background music was in perfect time with the movement of the flamingos 

as their long spindly legs moved in determined fashion over the water. June commented: 

“I was overjoyed when visiting the Camargue as it had been a long-held dream of mine to experience the 

history of the area and to see the flamingos living there. With camcorder in hand, I travelled along dirt 

roads beside shallow streams of water and was amazed to see these wonderful birds within reasonable 

proximity. At each stop I balanced the camera on the side window-ledge of the car for stability.” 

The background music was composed by Colin Prohasky. He is a very creative music maker who uses 

computers and real instruments to create sound dedicated to the movie it accompanies. Colin and June often 

collaborate – also on our website is “The Potato Eaters”, an animated one-minute movie of Van Gogh's 

painting where June made the movie and Colin composed the music. June continues on: 

“After returning home I edited the footage and produced 7 minutes of vision. It needed some minor 

sound effects plus suitable background music to enhance it. The latter was supplied by Colin’s excellent 

music-making ability that brought the movie to life. Each scene was evaluated and the appropriate music 

composed. What had appeared to be ordinary now became very special for me”. 

The finished movie, called “Bouche-du-Rhône, was placed second in the FAMM 2008 Victoria competition 

and won the audience appeal award. June has now produced a one-minute clip, which includes some 

of the scenes from the original. 

To see these movies 

Go to the Ringwood Movie Makers Club website www.ringwoodvideo.org.au 

Click on “movie page” 

Where you can find both “La Camargue” and “The Potato Eaters” 

Colin & June 

A Marching French Flamingo 


Page 7

Page 8 

BASICALLY VIDEOGRAPHY 

by Ian Simpson 

What Equipment is Best for the Movies You Want to Make? 

Have you ever thought; do I have the best instrument for shooting the movies I like to make? At first this seems 

like an odd question but would you use a high definition video capable iPhone to shoot a scripted drama? For sure 

you can physically do it and I have seen some remarkable footage from an iPhone, but surely the traditional camcorder 

or video capable DSLR would be a better instrument for this task. The small size of both the iPhone and the 

ultra-compact camcorders are better choices for those who want to capture the occasional event, be it a family occasion, 

a severe weather event or even fighting in the streets. For those who watched Channel 7’s coverage of cyclone 

Yasi, they will have been intrigued that Channel 7 resorted to the use of an iPhone to get some news reports 

out from the devastated areas. However, compared to their regular news gathering camcorders these images left a 

lot to be desired. 

Ultra-Compact Camcorders Traditional Camcorder DSLR design 

Over the last 12 months there has been a lot of activity on how to use the new high definition video capable DSLR 

cameras. Some commentators even predicted the demise of the traditional camcorder as these DSLR cameras become 

more movie making user friendly. Also the internet was flooded with demonstration videos from the ever 

increasing number of DSLRs and pseudo-DSLRs models. My personal realisation that the DSLR had come of age 

as a movie making tool occurred recently when visiting the seaside markets at Kiama. I chanced upon a man with 

either a Canon 5D MkII or a 7D camera attached to a body / shoulder bracket. The camera had a white bodied 

Canon zoom lens attached to it, whilst the bracket had a Rode microphone attached to it. Attached to the back LCD 

screen on the camera was what looked like the Z-Finder from Zacuto. This finder attachment allows eye level 

viewing of the camera’s LCD screen as the true DSLR design still retains the eye level pentaprism viewfinder and 

mirror box of the film SLRs and as such can not be used when making movies. What I saw 

was only one of the many contraptions that have been developed to house all the ancillary 

equipment required to turn a DSLR camera into a camcorder. So is the DSLR camera 

really a good replacement for the camcorder? What would drive a person to carry around 

all that equipment attached to their torso, like I saw at the markets, or use a tripod mounted 

frame as in the adjacent image? 

The answer is that the video capable DSLR cameras have large sized CMOS sensors, much 

larger than those in consumer and semi-professional camcorders. These large sensors have 

allowed the DSLR cameras, with suitable large aperture lenses, to achieve those cinematic 

shots where only the subject is in focus and 

the background is all blurred and all of this 

in glorious high definition resolution. Also 

the larger chips, even with lots of megapixels 

on them, have individual pixel sizes 

which are two to three times larger than those on the smaller sensors 

of the consumer camcorders. The consequence of this is that 

the DSLR cameras produce images with more dynamic range and 

better low light images that are more colourful and have less noise. 

DSLR sensor Consumer sensor 

One way of putting this whole matter of camcorders versus HD 

capable DSLRs in context is to consider an analogy that involves 


still cameras and their use. The analogy I think of is that the camcorders, with their small sensors, are like the Leica 

rangefinder cameras used by the great “decisive moment” photographers of old; whilst the DSLRs are like the studio 

medium format cameras used to create those great posed photographs. The reasoning here lies in the fact that the 

DSLR cameras are a bit fiddly to use and their narrow depth of field requires carefully planning of the shot. However, 

if your videography is like the street photographers of old, you are more into catching the action as it occurs 

before the camera where you do not have control over what is happening; then the traditional camcorders with their 

all included design and much larger depth of field are more tolerant of the shooting requirements and conditions. 

I seriously contemplated this question prior to buying a new high definition video camera. I had on my short list a 

DSLR (the soon to be released Panasonic Lumix GH2), a consumer camcorder (the Panasonic HDC-SD700) and a 

new comer to the mix, a consumer camcorder with a DSLR sized CMOS sensor (Sony NEX-VG10). To help me 

make my decision I worked out how many minutes of footage I had taken in various categories of movie making 

over the years and then calculated the percentage for each category. 

The table shows that two thirds of my footage is shot under unpredictable conditions; not to a rigid script nor in controlled 

studio conditions. Such a result would suggest that the Panasonic HDC-SD700 was the best fit for my movie 

making interests. It has a quick and quiet auto focus system; something than neither Canon nor Nikon DSLRs can 

claim. Only the new Panasonic GH2 has made this claim and this is yet to be tested. In the heat of grabbing shots as 

the action unfolds before the camera, a reliable auto focus system is a blessing. The SD700 camcorder’s record time 

is only limited by the capacity of the SD card. This is another important feature for the “news gathering” type activity. 

DSLRs currently suffer from file limits and so individual shot duration limits of 5 to 12 minutes are common and 

because of current customs requirements on the definition of a still camera, the DSLR cameras can only ever record 

continuously for 30 minutes. There is also a physical design limit 

too as DSLRs overheat and have to be shut down periodically to 

cool off. These latter two problems are not a concern for the 

scripted video production as scenes are short and can be well 

spaced out so as not to overheat the DSLR camera. 

I must admit the concept of a DSLR sized chip in a camcorder 

body is a very attractive compromise. For example the Sony NEX- 

VG10 has a single large CMOS sensor, 23.4mm x 15.6 mm in size 

with an individual pixel size that is 2 to 3 times larger than those 

in the normal consumer camcorder. Also the VG10 would allow 

Family Events Holidays Documentaries Club—Scripted 

Percentage (based on minutes of video) 43 23 29 5 

me, via an adapter, to use all my old Nikkormat FTn prime lenses, in fully manual mode of course, as this camcorder, 

like the DSLRs, has an interchangeable lens ability. Unfortunately Sony removed from the NEX-VG10 many of 

the key features that are needed for non-scripted event videoing: no powered control over the zoom lens combined 

with poor manual control; no aid to allow accurate focusing, no “zebras” for visual exposure control; and no volume 

controls for an external microphone. So for me any splurge into the large chip camcorder market must await further 

developments by Sony, Canon or Panasonic. However, for those who shoot mainly scripted videos under controlled 

conditions the Sony NEX-VG10 must be on your short list. Just think of the joy of producing some beautiful, cinematic 

images with the background reduced to a blur by putting a Nikkor 105mm F2.5 prime lens on the Sony NEX- 

VG10 body. In this instance with both focus and aperture requiring manual settings; such an operation is only possible 

when you have plenty of time and can control the action in front of the camera. 

On a more technical level, the work of DxO Labs (www.dxomark.com) reported by Mark Dubovoy, 

(www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/) in An Open Letter to the Major Camera Manufacturers casts some doubt on 

the image quality produced from DSLR lenses operating at apertures larger than f2.8. The problem arises because of 

the design of the CMOS sensor which is inefficient at gathering the more oblique light rays collected by wide aperture 

lenses. This light loss is such as to lead to an under exposure of the image by a half to one F stop for the aperture 

range of f1 to f2. The camera manufacturers have realised this problem and have built in automatic compensation for 

this loss of light by increasing the electronic gain. So those beautiful blurred backgrounds achieved by the combination 

of a large CMOS sensor and a large aperture lens may be marred by increased noise in the image. 

The Panasonic HDC-SD700 still looks the best tool for me. What is the best tool for your type of movie making? 


Sony NEX-VG10—Interchangeable lens / APS 

chip consumer camcorder 

Page 9

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Tech Topics with Joe Leon © - Autumn 2011 

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

article are subject of Copyright to their respective Copyright owners. 

SDXC (eXtended-Capacity) Memory Cards … 

The use of the SD/SDHC/SDXC memory cards are 

being used in a forever expanding list of host devices 

like Still & Video Cameras, TVs, Blu-ray & 

DVD Players, Mobile Phones, eBook Readers, 

Portable Audio & Video Players, Printers etc. 

SD or SDSC (Standard Capacity) 2 GB Max. 

SDHC (High Capacity) 4 GB - 32 GB 

SDXC (eXtended-Capacity) 32 GB - 2 TB 

The SD & SDHC cards come in 3 sizes, microSD 

(11 x 15 x 1 mm), miniSD (20 x 21.5 x 1.4 mm) & 

SD/SDHC (24 x 21.5 x 2.1 mm). 

The SDXC cards come in 2 sizes, microSDXC (11 

x 15 x 1 mm & SD/SDXC (24 x 21.5 x 2.1 mm) 

with the miniSD size being dropped. 

Please be aware that SDHC/SDXC cards work differently 

than standard SD cards and are not backwards 

compatible with standard SD Host devices. 

When a SDHC/SDXC card is inserted into an older 

SD device, it shouldn't cause any Physical or Electrical 

damage to either the Card or Host Device. 

When purchasing a micro, mini or full size SD, 

SDHC or SDXC card make sure it’s suitable for 

your device. Read the User Manual for the correct 

type of card. Remember the SD cards come in 

sealed packages and if you get the wrong card you 

may not be able to take it back for a refund. My 

Olympus still camera according to the manual required 

a 2GB card, but I found a 4GB worked fine. 

Rated Speed and Class Ratings … 

Besides the card type, it’s Rated and Speed Class 

is the next most important thing to understand especially 

when shooting HD (High Definition) Still or 

Video images to get the best possible quality result. 

The Class number represents the Minimum Sustained 

Data Transfer Rate in MB/s (Megabytes per 

second) as shown below. 

Class 2: 2 MB/s —- Class 4: 4 MB/s 

Class 6: 6 MB/s --- Class 8: 8 MB/s 

Class 10: 10 MB/s - Class 16: 16 MB/s 

That said, it’s also fair to say that that the Bus 

Speed, File System, type of Flash memory and 

Controller chips used come into consideration. 

The two Toshiba SDHC/SDXC cards do not display 

their Speed Class, but instead show the maximum 

Rated Read 60 MB/s and Write 35 MB/s 

speeds. The Pretec SDXC card has a Speed Class 

16, the first in the world to my knowledge while the 

Panasonic SDXC card has a Speed Class 10. 

Class Ratings … 

For shooting Video a Class Rating is more important 

because it provides a minimum sustained capture 

rate in a steady stream of data. 

Speed Ratings … 

A higher Speed Rating expressed in MB/s is more 

suitable for DSLR where the files can be huge in 

size and speed in saving data is preferable. 

It’s important that you read the camera's specifications 

which should state the minimum CD/SDHC/ 

SDXC Class or Speed Rating and type of card your 

Camera requires. Getting the wrong card could 

cause dropped frames or miss getting the next shot. 


File Systems … 

Tech Topics with Joe Leon © - Autumn 2011 

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

article are subject of Copyright to their respective Copyright owners. 

SD: FAT16 - SDHC: FAT32 - SDXD: exFAT - 

FAT (File Allocation Table) 

exFAT (extended File Allocation Table) 

Windows XP needs the exFAT file system update 

from Microsoft’s download site (3.2 MB). 

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/ 

details.aspx?FamilyID=1cbe3906-ddd1-4ca2b727-c2dff5e30f61&displaylang=en 

SD Formatter 3.0 for SD/SDHC/SDXC … 

The SD Formatter and the SD Formatter User’s 

Manual (PDF) can be downloaded from: 

http://www.sdcard.org/consumers/formatter_3/ 

While at the site please take time to read all about 

the various SD formats, their benefits and limitations 

which I found to be very informative. 

This software formats all SD, SDHC and SDXC 

memory cards that comply with the SD File System 

Specification. The SD Formatter was created 

specifically for SD/SDHC/SDXC Cards. It is 

strongly recommended to use the SD Formatter 

instead of formatting with the Format option in 

Operating Systems which may result in less than 

optimal performance for SD/SDHC/SDXC Cards. 

The SD/SDHC/SDXC Cards have a "Protected 

Area" on the card for the SD Security Function. 

The SD Formatter does not Format the “Protected 

Area". Please use appropriate application software 

or SD host device which provides SD Security 

function to Format the "Protected Area" in the 

card. 

All my SD cards are of the SDHC variety and I’ve 

used them in my Digital Still & Video Cameras, 

Mobile Phone, eBook Reader, via a SDHC Card 

reader in PCs, TVs, DVD & Blu-ray Players. The 

best part is that they’re very small and when full 

or required can be write protected against by using 

the Lock (Write Protect Switch) against 

accidental erasure. Being small it’s easy to carry a 

few spares especially when shooting HD Video or 

High Resolution or Raw Still Images. 

The SD Formatter can be made Portable simply by 

copying the SD Formatter Folder to your USB 

Flash Drive and running SDFormatter.exe. 

C:\Program Files\SDA\SD Formatter 

DLL32nt.dll 

SDFormatter.exe 

The main window when first run. 


Option settings for 

FORMAT TYPE 

and FORMAT 

SIZE 

ADJUSTMENT. 

Warning 

message 

for Quick 

Format. 

FORMAT TYPE 

options. 

Please read the manual 

for more detailed 

informa- 

Page 11

Visions of photography and video. 

By Joan Rennie 

I was a little reluctant to write and tell you about the fun we have in our little group, but since you are interested in 

both video and photography too I have bitten the bullet! My reluctance stems from the fear that we might encourage 

more members to join us! Now isn't that strange! The opposite fear is expressed by video clubs everywhere. At the 

moment we are a small, but extremely enthusiastic and active group of camera users, the members of our team are 

spread all over the joint; Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, and Queensland. Our NSW member became 

too busy with school work to keep up with us oldies! Much of our activity is done over the Internet so distance is no 

object! (and cost is no object either since we have no membership fees other than a commitment by members to participate). 

Anyway, less about us and more about what we have been doing lately. 

Our Christmas break-up was a bit different this year. Visions members living in driving range of my home theatre 

come along for a full day of video and photography once a month so to make our December gathering a little bit special 

I invited the “gent in red” to join us. Of course, Santa without children is not right, so I also invited a few of my 

young friends and their children. A quiet word to the parents to secretly wrap an inexpensive gift for their own children 

was whispered. The Visions members were encouraged to bring along their cameras – something they were eager 

to do. 

The home theatre was decorated and a special “throne” on a dais was set up so that our older photographers did not 

have to get down on the floor for their eye level shots! Needless to say, we all had a lens-full time and thanks to the 

wonderful ability, open to everyone, to create photo-books on line, everyone who took part in the day has a wonderful 

memory of the occasion in their own glossy 20 page photo-book. Incidentally the Visions members also got their 

chance to sit on Santa's knee – and were “snapped” while doing so! 

While members of Video Camera Clubs get serious with hi-def cameras and hi-tech editing programs our members 

are being encouraged to do as the young folk do and take 60 second videos using their still cameras and putting the 

results on Youtube. Our audience is world wide and numbers in the thousands! We have so much of interest to share 

with people who live in other parts of the world. The easy to learn programs that cost a fraction of their “pro” cousins 

are perfect for editing short videos for Youtube. They are not bad for editing “regular” videos either! Isn't video making 

supposed to be fun? Something that takes months to learn and then weeks to actually edit a video cannot be 

classed as “fun”! 

The video making members of Visions use a video camera for different reasons, a couple are passionate about making 

short documentaries and these are posted to me so that they can be screened and shown to the “local” members. 

A copy of the videos is then made and sent to the other correspondent members so they too get to see what others are 

doing. Other video makers are travellers and we have been so fortunate to travel the outback of Australia and the 

world through their eyes. And we have video makers who are using their video cameras to make little videos for their 

own families and occasionally we get to see some of the wonderful things that 

children enjoy doing. Did you know that there was snow on the Gold Coast this 

summer? There was! We saw it on the movie! 

The next special thing that has happened to Visions is that the theatre has now 

been fitted out with real theatre seating! When members come along for their 

monthly meeting they put $5 into a kitty and although it has taken a while, we 

have been able to take out the old kitchen chairs and replace them with superdooper 

seating – seating that originally came from the Brisbane International 

Airport lounge! 

Now we can view our videos and photos and tutorials in style! 

I spent four days compiling a DVD that will play on a Windows laptop that contains 

about 8 different tutorials so it would be available today and this will be 

posted to the interstate members. Anyone else that would like a copy needs to 

pay $10 plus postage. (Ed’s Note; Joan may be contacted at the below email 

address.) 

AJ 

joanren@gmail.com 

Page 12 


Amateur Videos in 3D - Future or Fantasy? 

By Ian Simpson 

There is an old axiom that what ever the professional cinema does, amateur movie makers 

will do some time later. The only modification to this axiom is that the time frame 

between cinema application and amateurs copying it is getting shorter and shorter. And 

so it is with 3D movies. The huge box office success of James Cameron’s Avatar in 

2010 awakened world cinema goers to the third dimension. The increasing availability 

of 3D TV screens throughout 2010 as well as the appearance of Blu-ray players that 

could read the 3D discs and display 3D on suitable screens further encouraged the public 

to get on board the 3D revolution. So it was not surprising that Panasonic by late July 

2010 had a modified version of its top consumer camcorder for sale that would shoot 3D 

movies. Videoing in 3D with the HDC-SD750 model was not, however, child’s play; 

certain rules and manual set ups were required. Subjects could not be shot closer than 

1.3m, no rapid movement or ghosts would result and 3D shots could only be obtained at 

a fixed focal length (no zoom). It worked but was very rudimentary . 

Then at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January the big Japanese camcorder manufacturers announced 

the introduction of 3D models to their 2011 camcorder ranges. Panasonic continued with its 3D lens attachment philosophy to 

their new 900 range of camcorders as well as the lower cost HDC-SD800 model. Presumably this arrangement will inherit all 

the limitations of the previous 750 model as it is still feeding the two images into the same lens / 3 CMOS sensor arrangement. 

These new models, however, will have one big benefit; if you tire of 3D videoing you can remove the 3D lens attachment and 

continue to shoot 2D video with a top model camcorder. 

JVC unveiled its first 3D camcorder, the GS-TD1 which has two lenses and two 3.32 

Megapixel CMOS sensors. The twin f1.2 maximum aperture lenses have a 5x zoom. 

Unlike the Panasonic arrangement, the JVC model has automatic parallax adjustment. 

Other features of the 3D JVC camcorder are 64GB internal memory; it records at bit 

rates of 34Mbps and 22Mbps; it has a 3.5 inch LCD screen that claims to show images 

in 3D without glasses. 

Sony HDR-TD10 

Not to be out done at the CES, Sony intro- 

JVC GS-TD1 

duced its first 3D camcorder with a strangely 

similar name to the JVC model. Sony called their model the HDR-TD10. It also has a 

twin lens and sensor design like the JVC model. Sony, however, claims their model is 

the first with “Double Full HD” capture. By comparison the Panasonic twin lens attachment 

produces two half HD resolution images. The Sony model features a 10x 

zoom in 3D mode; the ability to switch from 2D to 3D capture; a 3.5 inch LCD 

screen that, like the JVC model, claims to show 3D images without the use of 

glasses; and no calibration is required. 

All of the above 3D capable camcorders have one thing in common; they are bulky and heavy due to their 

twin lens set ups. To solve this bulk problem Sony at the CES introduced a 3D version of its Bloggie range. 

This model also has a twin lens and twin 1 / 2.5 inch sensor set up. The 3D Bloggie records to an 8GB internal 

memory at up to a resolution of 1080p. Also what this ultra-compact camcorder has over its much bulkier 

cousin is that it can also record 3D still images. The 3D Bloggie also features a 2.4 inch LCD screen and a 

stereo microphone. 

So the tools are arriving for amateur videographers to create their own 3D videos. However, if the experiences 

of the professionals are anything to go by, amateur 3D videographers will have to re-learn some of 

their camera techniques. As cinematographer, Mauro Fiore, who shot Avatar, said; “Composition also is 

critical in 3D in ways that aren’t apparent at first viewing. Such actions as dollying around a doorway or an 

Sony 3D Bloggie 

over-the-shoulder shot create complexities in 3D that are best dealt with by blocking the shot differently.” 

(HD Video Pro, February 2010, pages 53 and 54). Any highlights in the field of view are to be avoided otherwise ghosting 

can result in the 3D viewing. Tim Dashwood, 3D director/cinematographer, summed this whole new way shooting in 3D by 

saying: “You have to change your way of thinking completely.” (HD Video Pro April 2010, page 88). 


Panasonic’s first 3D consumer camcorder—HDC-SD750 

Page 13

Page 14 

The Beginner Video Maker 

“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 or her, 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 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: 

(Narrowing it down!) 

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 nauseous, hose-piping “Home Movies”? 

(Have to start somewhere.) 

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” at 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! 

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 editor: 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 


Page 15

auscam 

David Hague is the owner and publisher of AusCam Online. He has a background in media dating back to 

1979 when he first got involved with photojournalism in motor sport, and went from there into technology 

via a 5 year stint with Tandy Computers. Following that, he ran a software distribution company on the 

Gold Coast and was one of the first to recognise the potential of Microsoft Windows. 

Moving back to WA, David wrote scripts for Computer Television for video training for the just released 

Windows and Office 95 among others, and was then lured to Sydney to create web sites for the newly commercial 

Internet in 1995, building hundreds of sites under contract to OzEmail including Coates Hire, Hertz 

Queensland, John Williamson, the NSW Board of Studies and many, many more. 

He went back into full time journalism as the Managing Editor for Channel 7's 'Gadget Guy', Peter Blasina's 

publications VideoCamera and Pixelmag, before starting Australasian Camcorder magazine when 

these publications were shelved. He now lives back in WA (Mandurah) on the ocean front with dog Budweiser 

and in his spare time is a nut for motor sport, road safety (he is on the Roadwise committee for 

Mandurah City Council), fishing, science fiction - especially Dr Who - and technology. 

FAVOURITE PHOTOGRAPH 

Everyone has a favourite photograph or two and each issue Australian Film & Video would like to publish 

them in our pages. There are no prizes just a chance to have that photograph out there for everyone to admire. 

It could be a snap from either your still or movie camera. Hard copies are also acceptable which 

would be scanned for publication, for the safe return of any photographs please include a pre paid self addressed 

envelope suitable for its return. Don’t forget to title your photographs. I’ve included two photographs, 

but I’m sure you have better. Editor. 

Page 16 

Their mailing address is: 

VBtheDog Pty Ltd 

PO Box 609 

Bridgetown, Western Australia 6255 

Who is David Hague... 

You can also subscribe to Auscam On Line by contacting David at david@auscamonline.com 

or visiting the Auscam website at www.auscamonline.com 


Information obtained from the Auscam website. 

Bega Bridge, Bega New South Wales. Dove Lake, Cradle Mountain National Park, Tasmania.

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 

La Camargue 

The Potato Eaters (Animation) 

Monkami Concert 2009 (One Minute Extract) 

Satire (A Short Extract) 

Milton Ulladulla VC 

Video Vignettes of Violence (News Report) 

Gold Coast VCC 

The Gift (A Short Movie) 

Victoria VC - Canada 

Gin & Tonic (12 Minutes Plus) 

Edinburgh CVS - Scotland 

Click on “Showcase” for numerous selections 


Page 17

The phenomenon of the Reversing Falls is caused by the tremendous rise and fall of the tides of the Bay 

of Fundy, which are the highest in the world. The natural southward-facing opening of the Bay of Fundy 

receives the on rushing ocean tides directly like a funnel. The tidewater is normal when it enters the bay at 

its widest point. But the farther up the bay it travels the more it changes. It is, in effect, squeezed by the 

ever-narrowing sides and the constant shallowing of the bottom forcing the water higher up the shores. The 

low tide running out of the bay collides with the new, incoming high tide, combining forces to make a 

higher wave coming in. The combination of wave forces is called resonance. 

The Bay of Fundy tides are a result of the tidal action originating in the Southern Indian Ocean sweeping 

around the Cape of Good Hope and then northward into the Bay of Fundy. They are also affected by the 

distance of the moon from the earth at this longitude. Here in Saint John, the bay tides rise 28 ½ feet. When 

the tide is low, the St. John River, 450 miles long, empties into the bay. Between Fallsview Park and the 

Pulp Mill, the full flow of the river thunders through a narrow gorge. An underwater ledge, 36 feet below 

the surface causes the water in the river to tumble downward into a 175-200 foot deep pool, below the mill 

and under the bridge. The water then boils in a series of rapids and whirlpools. 

As the bay tides begin to rise, they slow the course of the river and finally stop the river's flow completely. 

This short period of complete calm is called slack tide. It is only at this time that boats are able to 

navigate the Falls. Shortly after this slack tide the bay tides become higher than the river level and slowly, 

at first, the river begins to flow upstream. As the bay tides continue to rise, the reverse flow gradually increases 

and the rapids begin to form, reaching their peak at high tide. The effect of this reversal is felt upstream 

as far as Fredericton, more than 80 miles inland. At this point the tidal waters are actually 14 ½ feet 

higher than the river. 

After high tide the bay tides begin to fall and the upstream flow of the river gradually lowers until the bay 

tides fall to the level of the river - once again resulting in another slack tide. The river then resumes its normal 

course and begins to flow back out of the bay. The bay tides continue to fall below the level of the 

river until at low tide the rapids are again at their peak, flowing down stream. At this point the tidal waters 

are 14 ½ feet lower than the river level. 

The tide rises and falls once about every 12 and a half hours. To best appreciate the Reversing Falls, you 

should try to view them at least twice on a given day - near low tide and near high tide. A good water level 

vantage point from which to view the Falls is Fallsview Park, not far from the Reversing Falls Information 

Centre. A twelve-minute film presentation explaining the phenomenon of the Reversing Falls, and highlighting 

various attractions in the Saint John area, can be viewed in the Reversing Falls Roof Top Theatre 

on the observation deck. A small admission charge applies to view the film. 

Information obtained from the new-brunswick.net website with thanks. 

Page 18 


REVERSING 

FALLS 

The Bay of Fundy 

Saint John 

New Brunswick 

Canada 

Daylight Savings Ends for 2011 

Australia has had Daylight Saving Time (DST) in various forms since the early 1900s. While the majority 

of Australians accept it, Daylight Savings has been rejected repeatedly by others. Western Australians 

voted in 2009 and for the fourth time rejected it. Arguments for and against it often become heated as people 

are passionate on both sides. Queensland is now considering splitting the state in half with one part participating 

in Daylight Saving and the other not. 

Daylight Saving comes to an end at 2.00 am on Sunday 3 April 2011 for the Australian Capital Territory, 

New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania.

Did You Know 

The Clapper Board is an Australian invention. 

MAKE MOVIES - MAKE FRIENDS 


Page 19

TAFF 2011 Short Film Competition 2011 

The Queensland Association for Healthy Communities (QAHC) has just launched the 2011 Tropical Alternatives Film Festival 

(TAFF) Short Film Competition. TAFF is looking for short films that say something positive or contributes to the lives of LGBT 

Queenslanders. Films accepted by the judging panel will be shown at TAFF and “TAFF Presents” events screening across regional 

QLD throughout 2011. 

Festival audiences will be asked to vote on the best film which will be awarded Best Short Film 2011 Audience Award and $250 

in cash. A new Judges’ Choice Award with another $250 in cash prize will also be made this year to the film that they consider 

best contributes to healthy LGBT lives. 

Last year we received 14 terrific films. ‘I really loved watching films last year” said Jason Russo 2010 Judge “They showed 

LGBT people living in Queensland and how they lived their lives”. 

This year we will also be accepting films made from other recording sources such as mobile phones and multimedia devices. 

Entries for the Short Film Competition will close on the 11 th of April 2011. To find out more about how to enter the competition 

download the entry form at www.qahc.org.au/films or ring Amanda 3017 1733. 

Amanda Eve Dean 

Health Promotion Officer 

Page 20 

Rode Video-Mic Pro 

From NHVCS Newsletter Cine Camaraderie 

Rode have introduced a new microphone called the VIDEO-MIC PRO Compact 

Shotgun Microphone. It is said to offer a substantial improvement over the Original 

VIDEOMIC because it combines broadcast quality audio with an ultra compact and 

lightweight ergonomic design. Most of the features of the original VIDEOMIC have 

been tweaked and improved and some new features related to high end video have 

been added. 

Noise transference has been significantly reduced using both 

a revised, more elegant shock mounting system and a lightweight 

premium cable. 

The main features of the VIDEOMIC PRO include: 

• Broadcast recording quality condenser microphone 

• Compact design (only 150mm/6" length) 

• Ultra lightweight (only 85g/3oz) 

• 9V battery powered, with up to 70 hours battery life (alkaline) 

• Integrated shock mounting 

• Integrated foam windshield 

• 3.5mm stereo mini-jack output (dual mono) 

• Two step High Pass Filter (flat, 80Hz) 

• Three position level control (-10dB, 0, +20dB) 

• Camera shoe mount with 3/8" thread for easy boompole mounting 

• Free DeadCat VMP furry windshield* 

• Ten year warranty* 

* with online registration. 

Check the Rode website for further details: 

http://www.rodemic.com/microphone.php?product=videomicpro 

Queensland Association for Healthy Communities Inc. 

PO Box 1372, Eagle Farm BC, QLD 4009 

30 Helen Street, Teneriffe QLD 

Ph. (07) 3017 1733 Fax (07) 3852 5200 Mobile 0417604467 www.qahc.org.au 


Rechargeable NMHi Batteries 

By John Lawrie 

My now ancient Pentax Optio S40 is still going strong. It is only 4 

megapixel but with 2304 X 1728 and level 3 processing it gives a very 

good image. The picture quality is certainly better than the 10 

megapixel image of another brand camera we have and this one has a viewfinder. It is powered 

by two AA batteries. 

It has one big problem though. It chews AA batteries like they are going out 

of style. The cost of using alkaline batteries is prohibitive. So over time, a 

range of rechargeable NMHi batteries have been purchased and tried. 

It was not until I bought the Duracell batteries that I had any satisfaction. Up 

till then, particularly after quite a few charge recharge cycles from new, the 

only way I could operate the camera on rechargeable batteries was to leave 

the batteries in the charger until the time of use. Even then some of them 

These are some of them 

would not work at all and leaving others for 24 hours after charge often gave 

a "Battery Depleted" warning in the screen. Some 1.5 volt AA alkaline batteries were always needed on standby. 

I had resisted the Duracell’s because of their high price, but bought a pack of two, 2000 mAh 

cells when one of the stores had them on sale as a special. After they proved so good I went 

back for more. By then, only 2450 mAh ones were available. More on large capacity cells 

later. 

The Duracell’s last and last. Four of these cells means there is always enough power, and to spare. The camera draws 

around a half an ampere (500mA to 600mA) and with this load, it could seem that a set of two fully charged batteries 

should give 3 to 4 hours working time. However battery rating is determined on the 10 hour rate. That is, discharged 

at 200mA for 10 hours for a 2000mAh cell. The capacity decreases rapidly as the discharge rate increases above the 

10 hour rate. I have not checked exactly how much time the camera has to be on before I have to change the batteries, 

but with normal use, time is adequate. 

The brands of cells which fail increase their internal resistance markedly under heavy load, thus dropping the output 

voltages to less than the nominal 1.2 volts per cell - not enough to drive the Pentax. 

The results of bench tests on some of my collection of cells are given in the attached charts. V1 is the open circuit 

voltage and V2 is the voltage under a load of 500 milli Amps. Test Table 1 shows results of tests on cells chosen at 

random from cells charged some time ago but not used. Test table 2 gives results for cells fully charged on a processor 

controlled charger and then allowed to rest for 48 hours. 

The tests confirm what happens in use. DSE and Digitor Batteries are sometimes OK for use in the camera for a few 

days after charge. Except for the Duracell’s the rest were completely useless in the camera. Most are OK in torches 

and my walkman radio which draw much less current. 

I have heard that the technology used in large capacity cells is not yet as good as that in 2000 mAh or below cells. 

The test figures seem to confirm as much in the limited results shown in the tables. 


Page 21

Page 22 

Setting Project and Render Properties in Sony Vegas Pro 

Project Properties 

The project properties, when properly set, will optimise Vegas for the type of 

video that you wish to produce. If you set the properties to match the video format of most of the 

video clips used in your project, video playback in the preview window will be much smoother, 

since Vegas does not have to convert the video “on the fly” into your project format, so it’s helpful 

to choose the correct settings. The other advantage is that Vegas will indicate the most appropriate 

render settings as indicated by an equals sign “=” in front of the appropriate render settings in the 

Render As… dialogue box. This can save you time and take some of the confusion out of selecting 

the most appropriate render settings. 

Standard Definition Projects 

Your standard definition camera 

will record your video footage using 

the DV AVI codec, which contrary 

to popular belief, is a compressed 

format. The compression, 

however, is not as radical as it is 

for MPEG 2, as used on DVD’s 

and so it’s slightly better quality 

than the same footage when it’s 

placed on a DVD. 

What Are the Project Settings For 

Standard Definition and How Do I 

Set Them? 

♦ When Vegas is open, “click” 

on the “File” menu. 

♦ Next, “click” on “Properties” 

as shown to right. 

♦ A dialogue box will appear 

with all the default project 

settings shown. This dialogue 

box appears on the next page 

with a description of the appropriate 

settings. 

Bits & Pieces with Rob Farquharson 



This is the correct template for a widescreen 

movie PAL DV WIDE- 

SCREEN (720x576, 25.000fps) as 

highlighted in the dialogue box. 

Select the other settings as shown. 

Ignore “Stereoscopic 3D mode”. It is 

for making 3D movies and only available 

in Vegas Pro 10. 

If you would like these settings to appear 

each time you open Vegas, then 

“click” on the checkbox “Start all new 

projects with these settings”. 

For a non-widescreen movie (4:3) the 

appropriate template is PAL DV 

(720x576, 25.000fps) and all of the 

settings will be the same except that 

the “Pixel aspect ratio” box will have 

1.0926 (PAL DV) instead of 1.4568 

(PAL DV Widescreen). 

The above applies when your video 

clips are predominantly in PAL. When 

your clips are mostly NTSC 

(American system), such as when you 

obtain clips from family or friends in 

Canada or the USA, then you should 

make an NTSC DVD, to minimise artefacts. 

The settings for an NTSC 

DVD are shown below. 

When making a widescreen NTSC 

DVD, the settings should be as shown 

in the diagram to the left. If you wish 

to create a non-widescreen (4:3) 

NTSC DVD, change the settings as 

indicated for a PAL DVD i.e. replace 

the NTSC DV Widescreen (720x480, 

29.970 fps) template with the NTSC 

DV (720x480, 29.970 fps) template. 

Page 23

Audio properties 

For standard definition, you have the choice of PCM uncompressed sound (the highest quality, 

but it takes up the most space), Dolby Digital Stereo or Dolby Digital 5.1 surround. If you use the 

highest recommended bit rates for Dolby Digital tracks, the sound quality will still be excellent 

and will take up significantly less space since Dolby Digital is a compressed format. 

How do I set the Audio Properties? 

When the Properties Dialogue Box is open, click on the audio tab at the top of the box. 

The audio properties will then appear in the Properties Dialogue Box as shown on the next 

page. 

Page 24 



When making a Stereo 

soundtrack, I recommend 

these settings. Just drop 

down each list box and select 

the settings shown. 

When making a 5.1 surround 

soundtrack, I recommend 

these settings. 

♦ When you are happy with the video and audio settings, “click” the “OK” button. 

Page 25

High Definition Projects 

In the world of amateur movie making, most of us are using one of two formats, i.e. HDV or 

AVCHD. There are others such as XDCAM and RED but I won’t be dealing with these since 

they’re rarely used by amateurs. 

The HDV Format 

The HDV format is a tape based format (although Sony and Canon did release some HDV models 

using hard disc drive (HDD) storage instead). HDV video uses MPEG 2 compression, has a 

resolution of 1440x1080/50i (interlaced) or 1440x1080/24p (progressive), a bit rate of 25Mb/s 

and a frame rate of 25 fps or 24 fps. Full HD is 1920x1080 and HDV achieves this with slightly 

wide pixels i.e. 1.3333:1 width to height. Some HDV cameras (mainly earlier JVC models) use a 

different HDV format i.e. 1280x720/25p or 1280x720/24p (both progressive) at a bit rate of 25 

Mb/s. 

HDV cameras produced in Canada and the USA will use 1440x1080/60i (interlaced), 

1440x1080/24p, 1280x720/30p or 1280x720/24p (progressive) with a frame rate of 30 fps or 24 

fps. I’ll restrict my discussion to cameras built for Australia (shown in blue) and the full HD format 

(excludes 1280x720 cameras). 

The AVCHD Format 

The most widely used format at present (at least for consumer level video) is the AVCHD format. 

AVCHD uses a variation of the AVC codec (a form of MPEG 4) which is a much more 

compressed and also more efficient codec than MPEG 2. It has a resolution of 1920x1080i and a 

bit rate that varies between 10 and 20 Mb/s. Being more highly compressed, this format is much 

more challenging to editing programs, but Sony Vegas can handle it very nicely. 

In Conclusion 

Your choice of property settings is highly dependent on the format used by your camera, so make 

sure that you are familiar with the format/s that your camera uses. Once the properties are set for 

the format used by your camera, “click” the “Start all new projects with these settings” check box 

and Vegas will always open with these settings. 

What Are the Project Settings For High Definition and How Do I Set Them? 

“Click” the File Menu and “click” on properties to open the Project Properties dialogue box. 

Set the properties as shown in the following diagrams, depending on the format used by your 

camera. 

Page 26 


For HDV 


This is the correct template for an 

HDV movie HDV 1080-50i 

(1440x1080, 25.000 fps) as highlighted 

in the dialogue box. 

Select the other settings as 

shown. 

Ignore “Stereoscopic 3D mode”. 

It is for making 3D movies and 

only available in Vegas Pro 10. 

If you would like these settings 

to appear each time you open Vegas, 

then “click” on the checkbox 

“Start all new projects with these 

settings”. 

HDV is a native widescreen format 

so there is no 4:3 option. 

This template is for an HDV 

movie when recorded at 24 fps 

progressive, which is an option 

on some HDV cameras that is 

supposed to give a more film-like 

look to the video. Most reviews 

that I’ve read indicate that it 

makes little difference and the 

50i interlaced setting produces 

smoother results. The settings are 

HDV 1080-24p (1440x1080, 

23.976 fps) as highlighted in the 

dialogue box. 


shown. The settings at the bottom 

of the dialogue box (not shown) 

are the same as above. 

Page 27

For AVCHD 

Page 28 


This is the correct template for 

an HDV movie HD 1080-50i 

(1920x1080, 25.000 fps) as highlighted 

in the dialogue box. 


shown. 

Ignore “Stereoscopic 3D mode”. 

It is for making 3D movies and 

only available in Vegas Pro 10. 

If you would like these settings 

to appear each time you open 

Vegas, then “click” on the 

checkbox “Start all new projects 

with these settings”. 

AVCHD is also a native widescreen 

format so there is no 4:3 

option. 

This template is for an AVCHD 

movie when recorded at 24 fps 

progressive, which is an option 

on some AVCHD cameras that 

is supposed (as mentioned 

above) to give a more film-like 

look to the video. The settings 

are HD 1080-24p (1920x1080, 

23.976 fps) as highlighted in the 

dialogue box. 


shown. The settings at the bottom 

of the dialogue box (not 

shown) are the same as above.

Audio Settings 

Generally you will want to burn a high definition project to Blu-Ray so use the following settings. 


When making a stereo soundtrack, 

I recommend these settings. 

They are the same as for 

standard definition but they 

match the standard for the most 

common audio files that you’ll 

use. 

When making a 5.1 surround 

soundtrack, I recommend these 

settings. 

For making a standard DVD from high definition material, use the video and audio settings 

Page 29

Render settings for SD projects with separate video and audio streams 

It is very important to select the most appropriate render settings to obtain the highest video and 

audio quality possible without introducing artefacts. That usually means trying to render in exactly 

the same format that the camera used to record the images. Follow the procedure below, using 

the settings shown. 

♦ “Click” on the File Menu and “click” on Render As … 

♦ The Render As dialogue box will appear. For burning a widescreen video to a DVD using 

DVD Architect, use the following settings (as shown below). This produces a video only 

stream. 

♦ When you open the Template drop down box, Vegas helps out by suggesting the best templates 

that match your video properties (they have an equals sign “=” to the left). 

♦ Customise your settings by “clicking” on the Custom button as shown above. The Custom 

Settings dialogue box will appear as shown on the next page. 

♦ Note: I have assumed that you will be producing a widescreen DVD (doesn’t everyone 

now?). 

Page 30 



These are the particular settings 

that I recommend. With 

these settings, a high quality 

encode will be produced, suitable 

for a widescreen display 

i.e. anamorphic (16x9) widescreen. 

For a 4x3 project, 

change the Aspect Ratio setting 

to 4:3. I have found that a 

fixed bit rate of 9 Mb/s produces 

excellent quality video 

without straining the processing 

power of older DVD players. 

Variable bit rate encodes 

are possible and they take up 

less space, but unless the parameters 

are exactly the same 

in your DVD authoring software, 

the file may be recompressed 

with a subsequent 

very slight reduction in picture 

quality. 

♦ Now “click” the OK button and also the OK button on the Render As dialogue box and the 

render will begin. The file will be stored with the name you gave it, in the folder selected in 

the Render As dialogue box. 

♦ Next, you will want to render the matching audio only stream. “Click” on Render As … in 

the file menu. 

♦ For a stereo soundtrack, select one or other of the templates shown in the next set of diagrams. 

Page 31

♦ Customise your settings by “clicking” on the Custom button as shown above. The 

Custom Settings dialogue box will appear as shown on the next page. 

♦ Adjust the settings to the ones shown on the diagram on the next page if necessary. 

Page 32 



Use the settings shown. 

The bit rate of 256 kbps is 

quite high for a stereo track 

(commercial DVD’s often 

use 192 kbps) but it will 

give you an edge in quality 

without overloading the 

DVD player’s processor. 

♦ You may wish to render as a Wave file to produce a PCM soundtrack. This is an uncompressed 

format giving you higher quality sound but it takes up considerably more space on 

the DVD. For a PCM track, use the following settings. 

♦ If most of your PCM sound comes from your video camera, “click” the Custom button and 

alter the settings to the ones shown in the next diagram. 

Page 33

♦ Once your choices are made, “Click” on OK. 

♦ Before rendering the sound, make sure the sound file has the same file name as the video 

file (only the file extension will be different, e.g. Canadian Holiday.mpg and Canadian 

Holiday.ac3 or Canadian Holiday.wav. 

What about a 5.1 track on a DVD? 

This is quite easy if you have prepared a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track. Here’s how to do it. 

♦ “Click” on Render As … in the file menu. 

♦ For a 5.1 surround soundtrack, select the template shown in the next diagram. 

♦ Customise your settings by “clicking” on the Custom button as shown above. The Custom 

Settings dialogue box will appear as shown on the next page. 

♦ Adjust the settings to the ones shown on the diagram on the next page if necessary. 

Page 34 


Use these settings when most of 

the PCM sound in your soundtrack 

comes from your camcorder. 

Many camcorders use these 

settings on the highest quality 

setting when recording in PCM 

format.

♦ Once your choices are made, “Click” on OK. 

♦ Before rendering the sound, make sure the sound file has the same file name as the video 

file (only the file extension will be different, e.g. Canadian Holiday.mpg and Canadian 

Holiday.ac3 or Canadian Holiday.wav. 

It may be more convenient to render a combined video and audio file, particularly if you don’t 

intend to use DVD Architect or Adobe Encore to design and burn your DVD. The following section 

deals with this. 


Page 35

Render settings for SD projects with combined audio and video 

♦ Follow the same procedure for rendering a file as shown above. The only differences are 

the render settings chosen as shown below. 

♦ Now “Click” on the Custom button to customise your settings. 

♦ The video settings should be as shown on the next diagram. 

Page 36 



Use these settings to 

produce a combined 

audio/video file, 

which you would use 

if your DVD making 

software does not support 

separate audio 

and video streams. 

♦ You should now “Click” on the Audio tab to customise the audio settings as shown on the 

next page. 

Page 37

Render settings for HD projects 

Now that you have the idea about how to render a project I will not cover the procedure in detail, 

as it’s the same process for HD projects. Instead, I will concentrate on the render settings 

necessary to make a Blu-Ray disc using DVD Architect software. The only other software that 

I’ve used is Adobe Encore CS5, but as with video editing, I much prefer the Sony product over 

the Adobe because of a good combination of power and exceptionally intuitive workflow (please 

take note, Adobe). 

Let’s look at rendering the video streams first. 

Rendering when most of your video files were shot in a HDV camcorder 

HDV camcorders use the MPEG-2 codec to encode video, 1440x1080 50i (60i for NTSC 

countries such as the USA), usually at 25 Mb/s bit rate. The audio may be PCM, ac3 or mp2. I 

believe that it is best to stay with this codec right to the Blu-Ray disc, to prevent recompression 

(with the subsequent reduction in picture quality, although only slight). This also leaves your 

Page 38 


Use these settings to produce 

good quality sound 

when the soundtrack is 

recompressed to PCM or 

ac3 stereo in your DVD 

making software. Note 

that when rendering a 

combined audio/video 

file, you cannot easily 

produce a 5.1 surround 

soundtrack, so it’s better 

to use separate audio and 

video streams as shown 

earlier in the article.

display device or Blu-Ray player to de-interlace the video from the Blu-ray disc, and I think that 

this strategy is better in the long run because display technology and Blu-Ray player deinterlacers 

will improve over time as will the display of your interlaced video. If you de-interlace 

during your render, the quality of de-interlacing is fixed at that point, so you won’t get the advantage 

of new de-interlacing technology. 

The settings are as follows: 

Choose the template shown in most circumstances. This template does not include an audio 

stream by default, but if you want a combined audio/video stream, “Click” on the Custom button, 

then the audio tab, and “Click” on the checkbox to include an audio stream, but remember, you’ll 

be restricted to stereo. It is good practise to check the custom settings, so “Click” the Custom 

button and make sure that the settings are the same as in the next diagram. 


Page 39

♦ “Click” on the OK button when satisfied with your selections. 

The next step is to set the file name and the folder that the file will be saved in. The check box 

“Stretch video to fill output frame size (do not letterbox)” should remain unchecked under normal 

circumstances to avoid any recompression. This can be useful dealing with footage from a 

camera whose aspect ratio doesn’t quite match the specification. This should only be used if absolutely 

necessary as you are trying to avoid recompression. Footage that is 1.33:1 (4x3) should 

be left as is within the widescreen frame, or cropped using the “Event Pan Crop” feature of Vegas 

Pro. Don’t stretch the footage unless absolutely necessary as the image distortion is usually 

ghastly. This is shown in the next diagram (on the next page). 

Page 40 


Note that these settings 

exactly match those of 

HDV video, so the video 

will not be recompressed 

or re-encoded unless you 

have added special effects 

or image correction, 

resulting in a quicker render 

and the best possible 

image quality.

Rendering when most of your video files were shot in an AVCHD camcorder (using a Hard Disc 

Drive or some sort of Flash storage) 

For this type of material, use the render settings below for a separate video stream, as shown in 

the next diagram. 


Page 41

When the render is completed, you will need to render the audio. The procedure is exactly the 

same as for standard definition DVD’s but the template and custom settings will be a little different. 

“Click” on File and Render As and select the following settings. Note that rendering separate 

video and audio streams allows you to render in Dolby Digital 5.1 as well as Dolby Digital Stereo 

and PCM Stereo. The settings are shown in the next diagram. 

Page 42 


Now for stereo tracks, as with DVD you have a choice of Dolby Digital Stereo or PCM stereo. 

The settings for these are shown in the next two sets of diagrams. 


Page 43

For Dolby Digital Stereo: 

The templates for PCM Stereo are shown on the next page. 

Page 44 


For PCM Stereo: 

The audio will now be rendered when you “click” the Save button on the Render As… dialogue 

box. 

If you need to produce an HD file with combined video and audio, especially if you are not producing 

your DVD in DVD Architect or Adobe Encore, use the following settings for an HDV 

sourced file. 


Page 45

Page 46 



Page 47

Page 48 



Page 49

Page 50 


You should now be able to get the most from choosing the appropriate properties and render settings. 

Next time, I’ll show you how to render with a variable rather than constant bit rate for those 

situations when space on the DVD is limited. Cheers until next time! 


Page 51

Page 52 

JILLIAN EUGENIA PETERSON JP 

31-7-1928 – 19-1-2011 

Jillian was born on 31 st July 1928 at Wyong. Her parents were Jack and Lucy Waters, 

she was the eldest of 6 children and there were also 4 half siblings who were 

older. Jillian attended Wyong Primary School and Lidcombe High School. 

At the age of 16 Jillian wanted to do “her bit” for the war effort, so with the permission 

from her mum she joined the Land Army and worked in the Batlow/Queanbeyan 

areas at the Batlow Packing House, the Dehydration Plant and Laurel Hill Saw Mill. 

She joined the Ex Women’s Land Army United Association in Newcastle in 1978 and regularly attended 

meetings and participated in the annual Anzac Day march in Newcastle. Jillian was awarded her Civilian 

Service Medal on 16 May 1995. 

Jillian’s first job in Civilian life was in the clothing trade in Sydney as a sewing machinist, which was to 

become a great asset to her later, because she made many of her children’s clothes. Jillian was also a great 

pastry cook and made the best blackberry, mulberry and grammar pies this side of the black stump. She 

was also an excellent knitter (a pastime she maintained and enjoyed until just recently). She knitted for all 

her family as well as hundreds of jumpers and beanies etc. for children overseas – all at her own expense, 

and for this effort she received a Guardian Angel Pin. 

Jillian was always either sewing, baking or knitting, and although they had little money, her family were 

always loved, well fed and warm. 

Jillian married Eddie Peterson in 1948 at West Wallsend, she had 2 children, Gary and Deirdre, and lived 

in the family home at Wakefield for over 50 years. Although she sold her home in Wakefield 4 years ago 

and moved to a lovely new and modern home at Buttaba, the old house at Wakefield would always have 

her heart. 

Jillian and Eddie had a market garden for many years and sold their vegies to the campers around Wangi 

Wangi NSW; she also went grape picking in the late 70’s with Deirdre and made enough money to buy a 

new fridge. 

She was an Aussie battler and did it tough for many years. She was very independent and a good and decent 

lady with a lot of guts and determination and would fire-up at times and stand her ground. She was 

always willing to help people and lend a hand. 

Jillian became a Justice of the Peace in the early nineties. She was an eager volunteer and was actively involved 

with the Wakefield Progress Association and Fire Brigade. She helped form the Tennis Club and 

organised the regular tennis tournaments as well as teaching the local school children to play tennis. Jillian 

was made a Life Member of the Tennis Club and she was also a Red Cross Telecross volunteer. 

In 2000 Jillian was a volunteer at the Sydney Olympics and she loved every minute of it. She would catch 

the train at Fassifern station very early of a morning and head to Sydney for her day of volunteering. We 

are very proud that she was able to contribute to the success of the games. 

The family holidays were camping trips up around Merriwa (where they would go hunting for kangaroos 

and rabbits), they camped in tents or out under the stars and later on they were lucky enough to find an old 

empty house to camp in. The house was just a shell with no windows and the ceiling was made of Hessian. 

Eddie always joked that there was a carpet snake curled up in the ceiling. He probably said that to keep the 

kids quiet. 

Christmas holidays were always good times with all of Jillian’s brothers and sisters and their children. One 

Christmas in the late 70’s Jillian invited 3 American sailors to spend Christmas with her large family; the 


sailors were from a US Warship that was visiting Newcastle. There were about 30 people that Christmas so 

the family set up their Christmas lunch on trestles on the front veranda and afterwards they did the big 

wash-up in an old round metal bath tub. 

Jillian had an adventurous spirit and went travelling around Australia for several months, in her mid sixties 

travelling and camping in a big old bus. It was a great adventure and she had a fabulous time. 

Happy days in her life were when her 2 grandsons were born, Nathan and Joel. She never wanted to be 

called Grandma or Nan so her name for her grandsons was Petey. 

Petey helped Deirdre care for Nathan a lot when he was small and was very close to him. Petey also cared 

for Joel when Deirdre went overseas one time and she always cherished that time with him. Petey loved her 

grandsons and was very proud of them both. 

Over the years Jillian had an interest in collecting plates and teddy bears. She has quite a lovely, large collection 

of both. Jillian loved her garden and her flowers and spent many happy hours pottering around in 

them. 

Her first love in music was Country; she would listen to it all day, every day. Her second love was the bagpipes 

so last February 2010 Jillian went to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo in Sydney and had a lovely time. 

Jillian always looked forward to Special occasions and liked to have plenty of time to get ready for them as 

she always liked to get dressed-up to the nines, her hair done, make-up on and plenty of jewellery on as 

well. 

For her 80 th birthday Jillian had a party and her family and friends all came to celebrate with her. She had a 

lovely time. She was awarded the popular OBE badge that most people over 80 receive and she was really 

chuffed. 

Jillian lived on her own in her own home until July 2010, when she then moved to Bonnells Bay, she very 

quickly made lots of new friends and really enjoyed having friends close at hand to chat with. 

Jillian passed away peacefully on the 19 January 2011 at Wyong hospital after a very short illness. Her funeral 

was held at Lake Macquarie Memorial Park at Ryhope on the 24 January her casket was draped in the 

Australian flag and the RSL participated in her Service and presented the family with a folded Australian 

Flag after the Poppy Laying ceremony. Mum had fond memories of her time in the Land Army and she is 

dearly missed. She was so proud to be a Land Army girl and we were so proud of her. 

THE FORMATION - AUSTRALIAN WOMEN’S LAND ARMY 

In February 1942 the Chifley Government decided that a Land Army was necessary and the Prime Minister declared 

that the Australian Women’s Land Army (AWLA) would be formed and governed by the Department of Manpower. 

Advertisements to attract recruits to the Land Army appeared in newspapers and magazines featuring pictures and 

articles of Land Army members at work and play throughout the country. These adverts attracted many applicants. 

During 1942 efforts were made to have the Australian Women’s Land Army classed as a Service in it’s own right 

because the AWLA was an auxiliary service with similar status to other women’s service auxiliaries. The Government 

had more to consider in defending the country's shores than the classification of a group of women. 

Women could join between the ages of eighteen and fifty, but those sixteen to eighteen years had to obtain parental 

consent and Manpower approval to join. Members were required to work a 48-hour week, but household duties were 

not to be performed. 

Land Army members were billeted on farms or in hostels. Some members were issued with a Service Record Book 

detailing entitlements, clothing, equipment issued, record of service, holidays and so on. 

Most duties involved outside rural work, but there was also “inside” work as well, like the Sydney Egg Board, 

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and the Batlow Packing House & Dehydration Plant. Work carried out by the AWLA 

extended throughout Australia and covered all aspects of farming. In all about 6000 women participated in the Land 

Army. World War Two ended in August 1945 and by December all of the Land Army women were discharged. 


Page 53

Page 54 

EXPERIENCES OF JILLIAN PETERSON JP 

Australian Land Army Girl 1944 - 1945 

By Gary Peterson 

At the end of 1944 Jillian lived at 96 Beaconsfield Road North Auburn and wanted to 

leave school and join the Women’s Royal Australian Air Force because she was interested 

in and loved aeroplanes, but she was told that she was too young. She was told 

that she would have to go into the industries and make army tents because she told 

them that she could sew. 

Being the strong-willed young lady that she was and after talking to her mother because she was sixteen 

and had to have parental consent, Jillian went down to Martin Place and picked up enlistment papers for 

the Australian Women’s Land Army. Jillian completed the papers and her mother signed them granting 

permission for her to join the AWLA and so making Jillian the 10 th grandchild of her grandmother to join 

the services. 

Jillian went to Sydney and enlisted and then was required to present herself to Victoria Barracks Sydney, 

for her medical, which consisted of an eye test, a check of the heart and kidneys and a blood test. All of this 

was carried out during the August school holidays. 

On a cold September evening she met with a lot of other Land Army girls at Central railway station for 

the long cold train journey to Batlow to enter into an exciting stage of her young life. For the first two 

months she was on trial and was not issued with any uniform. 

The new recruits were met at Batlow on their arrival around midday the following day. They were taken 

to Number 2 Hostel in Pioneer Street Batlow, which today is an office block, their accommodation in an 

old two storey unlined brick building, where the tops of the walls didn’t meet the roof and left a space for 

the chill winds to whistle through. The inside of the building was partitioned with sheets of cardboard to 

form small rooms containing two beds. There were no doors or floor coverings, just bare boards. The canteen, 

assembly and reading rooms were downstairs. 

There was one bath with a shower over it and a chip-heater for the hot water and one wash basin to service 

a group of women. Fortunately there were septic toilets whereas a lot of the houses had the night soil 

carter call. They had electric light, an iron and a jug with no lid, which Jillian stuck her finger in to see if 

the water was warm enough and got zapped to the elbow, she didn’t do that again. 

They were given three packing cases with a bit of material hanging down the front which they used to 

store their clothes in and some nails in the wall for their uniforms. They were given three blankets and had 

to supply their own sheets and towels. When they became a permanent member they would be issued with 

towels. Each member was also given what appeared to be a three-foot by six-foot pillowcase, which they 

had to fill with straw for their bed, a palliasse. They had to give it a shake each morning to puff it up because 

overnight it got quite flat. 

The mess hall was about a quarter of a mile up the road in the Scout hall where they had long tables with 

stools on each side set up for meals. The member had their own Army issue thick crockery plate and mug 

plus cutlery. 

Breakfast was their own responsibility; they were given four wrapped plain biscuits 

for morning tea. Lunch was served in the Scout hall and if they worked 

locally they came in for lunch which may consist of chops, mashed spuds and 

rice pudding for dessert. If they were working in the field picking fruit or tomatoes 

and couldn’t get in for lunch they were given jam sandwiches. The evening 

meal was always a hot meal with a dessert. 

Jillian’s first job was at the Batlow Packing House in the dehydration potato 

department digging eyes out of spuds using a potato peeler and got a lot of blisters 

on her hands from the constant and repetitious work. The women used to 

drop notes into the cans of dehydrated vegetables for the troops, but they received 

no replies. 

At the end of November Jillian returned to Sydney and reported to the recruiting 

office in Martin Place to be told that she had been accepted into the AWLA 

and enlisted for the duration. She was issued with her summer uniform which 

consisted of a button-up dress, hat, two pair of stockings (not nylons), one pair 


own gloves, dress shoes, boots, tie, two pair of overalls for work and badges to sew on the uniform plus a 

metal hat badge with her number on it plus two towels and a kit bag to put it all in. She had to buy her own 

kit bag handle and lock. 

She had three weeks leave over Christmas before she had to return to duty. Land Army members travelled 

free to and from their work locations from their homes when wearing their uniforms. Because all meals 

were supplied members had to hand in their food ration cards. 

In early January 1945 Jillian’s mother saw her off from Central station for her overnight train trip with a 

lot of other Land Army women to Batlow to be accommodated at the same hostel. 

Again working at the Batlow Packing House but this time stencilling drums for the Department of Defence 

for the dehydrated vegetables. Then working on the dehydrators and wearing long gloves and aprons 

because the dehydrated vegies were very hot. 

Packing House Land Army workers as with all Land Army members had to work a 48-hour week, covering 

Monday to Friday and Saturday morning. At the Packing House there were two shifts, day and afternoon 

shift. The afternoon shift had to work a longer shift because they didn’t work on a Saturday. The standard 

wage was £3-5-0 a week with £1-5-0 being required for food and board leaving them with £2-0-0 to 

spend on them. Those days it cost 2/6 at a restaurant in Batlow for a meal of ham, chips and one egg. 

Whilst working there one day Jillian slipped on the wet floor, hit her head and knocked her out. When she 

came around she went straight back to work; such was the dedication of the women in those days. Another 

time she got her hand caught in a machine, but was able to pull it out before too much damage was done 

and only got cuts to the fingers, but enough to be off work for five days on compo. 

Jillian also worked in the section where they made the alcoholic apple cider for the troops as well as pear 

juice. She was required to empty the fruit out of the cases onto the conveyor belts for processing. She also 

worked where the orange juice was processed and canned for the services. 

I might mention here that the hostel where Jillian lived backed onto the storage area of the Packing House 

where they stored the bottled alcoholic cider awaiting transport. It is believed, but could not be proven that 

girls climbed over the back six-foot high fence separating the two and ‘borrowed’ bottles of cider and hid 

them under their palliasse’s to be either traded for cigarettes or given to friends. 

Jillian also worked at Laurel Hill sawmill where they went out by truck and had a cut lunch of you 

guessed it jam sandwiches. She did tailoring out, which was guiding the timber as it came off the saw and 

stacking green timber for seasoning. They made cases for the Packing House at the mill. If it rained the 

members could still work because they were issued with wet weather gear and gumboots. 

She also spent a little time at the abattoirs (there was only one butcher in Batlow – Ted Skerry) she used 

to clean up plus the unpleasant duty of shovelling manure out of the holding pens. They used to travel out 

to the site in a horse and cart. Returning back to town was always a bit more exciting because being young 

and daring Jillian would stand up in the back of the cart to drive, and gallop the horse flat out back down 

the hill into town. If the horse fell she would have become airborne, but they didn’t think about those 

things when they were young. I might add that all of the roads were gravel. 

Some days she had to off-side to a driver of a gravel truck when they were doing the roads up. They’d 

deliver the gravel to a site and the girls would shovel the gravel off the back of the truck. Sometimes with a 

bit of sweet-talking the driver would let Jillian get behind the wheel for a drive. 

In April/May before the winter they were issued with a greatcoat, pure wool 

jacket and skirt, two khaki winter shirts plus two pair of stockings. 

The winters were very cold, but being young they didn’t feel it of a day only at 

night and so they slept between two blankets and threw their greatcoat onto 

their bed. It snowed that winter and it was beautiful, it was the first time Jillian 

had seen snow. Sometimes the wind would blow the snow into the rooms 

through the gap at the top of the walls under the eaves and form little snow 

drifts along the inside of the wall. Fortunately this didn’t happen very many 

times. 

On Saturday nights a group of women would pile into the back of a truck 

without any sides and travel out to an old pub which had big open fires which 

were wonderful during the chilly winter. 

The springs were mild and during October, Batlow held their Apple Blossom 

Ball and the late Iris Smith won the Apple Blossom Princess, they felt with the 

overwhelming support of the Land Army members. Summers were very hot and 


Page 55

use was made of the mountain stream pool. 

Batlow wasn’t a very big town, there was no doctor, one bush nurse and one policeman. For entertainment 

there was the pictures every week, a dance was held about every six weeks and there was the town 

pub, but you had to be twenty-one to be able to get in. Jillian as with about a dozen other women became 

good friends with the Skerry family and many a good meal was had there because all of the women were 

welcome. They just came in and helped themselves to a meal or cup of tea as there was always food on the 

stove and the kettle was always on the boil. The women were also welcome to have a hot bath or shower at 

any time. As well as having a meal there the women could listen to the wireless, join in a sing-a-long or 

just have a yarn, they were made most welcome. 

Concerts were also held at different hostels on a Saturday night. There was church on Sundays for those 

who wished to attend or a mountain stream pool which wasn’t very nice and also a little bit chilly. The 

women went for walks along the Tumut road at night. Blackfellows used to camp in the bush just off the 

side of the road with their campfires scattered around them, they never bothered anyone, they’d be there for 

a day or two and then they’d be gone. 

The Land Army women would hitch a ride, start walking or travel in trucks nineteen miles away to Tumut 

to watch the rodeos. On Sundays picnics were held and everyone would travel out in a big truck and spend 

the day playing cricket or vigoro. A favourite spot was Laurel Hill out of Batlow on the road towards Tumbarumba, 

which was twenty-four miles from Batlow, it was a great old pub, but you had to be over 21 to 

get in. 

During November when the cherries were on the trees the women would take their kit bags and form raiding 

parties and nick cherries. A couple of women would keep watch for the farmer while the rest of raiding 

party helped themselves to a feed of cherries. A barking dog would alert the farmer to something amiss and 

he’d go outside and fire of a volley from his rifle or shotgun frightening off the girls until next time. 

The raiders would keep a handful for themselves and pass the rest around to friends and neighbours or 

drop some into the local pub where they were always well looked after. 

They didn’t have any dust storms around Batlow, but they had their fair share of bushfires. Where only 

the men and boys went out to fight them and the women remained behind preparing lunches, tea and refreshments. 

One of the male workers at the Packing House heard on the short wave wireless overnight that the war in 

Europe was over and let the Land Army women know in the very early hours of the morning. Jillian and a 

friend ran into the room at the Packing House where the Air-Raid siren was located and turned it on waking 

the whole town. Then next morning they ran up and down the street yelling that the war in Europe was 

over. Jillian said she thought when they sounded the siren that the townspeople didn’t believe them. 

All Land Army members in Batlow returned to Sydney by train for a Victory in Europe Parade which was 

held soon after the end of hostilities in Europe. They were allowed a few days leave in Sydney before they 

returned to Batlow. 

The end of the war in the Pacific wasn’t long in following. After the two atomic bombs were dropped on 

Japan the Land Army women were informed of the end of hostilities in the Pacific and that the war was 

finally over and peace had once again returned. 

The Land Army women had a parade through the streets of Batlow and someone 

had obtained a huge pair of bloomers, which were tied to a stick and carried 

as a flag. The women were allowed a weeks leave in Sydney to join in the celebrations. 

A major Victory Parade to celebrate the end of World War Two was held in 

Sydney when most of the troops had been returned home. There were thousands 

of troops and women in the march. The Government gave the Land Army members 

a new uniform to be worn in the Victory Parade, but it had to be returned 

after the march. 

When Jillian first went into the Land Army she weighed nine stone, but on her 

discharge she tipped the scales at a solid fit twelve stone. Jillian was discharged 

from the Australian Women’s Land Army on the 23 rd December 1945 just before 

Christmas. 

Page 56 


It wasn’t until 1984 at a State Congress meeting that the RSL of Australia finally gave permission for the 

ex-Land Army members to join the Sydney Anzac Day march. Although many country centres of the RSL 

included ex members of the AWLA in parades in their towns. 

Fifty years after the end of the War, in 1995 the Land Army women were enabled to receive and wear a 

medal in recognition of their service to their country. This was the Civilian Service Medal, 1939 – 1945, 

which was established by the Australian Government as part of the Australian Honours and Awards system. 

This medal recognises the service of civilians who served in Australia during World War Two in organisations 

that were subject to military-like arrangements and conditions of service, in arduous circumstances, 

in support of the war effort. 

In March 1995 a photographic display on exhibition at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra plus a 

wall mural depicting the signatures of a lot of Land Army members acknowledged the efforts of the Australian 

Women’s Land Army in maintaining vital produce to the armed services and the general population. 

The Minister for Primary Industries & Energy, Senator Bob Collins, and the Minister for Veteran’s Affairs, 

Con Sciacca, said it was fitting for the women’s contribution to the war effort to receive recognition 

and praise. 

This display brought to the public notice their efforts and also highlighted the importance of the industries 

back home to the troops, which were serving their country in far-flung places across the globe. 

Senator Collins said the Land Army could take credit for helping the rapid expansion of Australia’s fruit 

and vegetable canning industry as well as establishing a dehydration industry. Quite simply, if our farms 

had failed, our fighting services would have failed too. 

Mr Sciacca said it was important that all Australians reflected on the enormous contribution made by organisations 

like the Australian Women’s Land Army to the war effort. 

Civilian Service Medal 

1939 - 1945 

RECOGNITION 

The medal is made of bronze and portrays 

the Southern Cross symbolising Australia, 

surrounded by Golden Wattle, which 

represents the civil population combining 

in defence of Australia. The medal is 

ensigned by the Federation Star. The 

ribbon consists of three broad bands of 

equal width, of green, ochre, and green, 

separated by two narrow white stripes: the 

ochre represents the soil of Australia; the 

green represents the land and food 

production; and the parallel white stripes 

represent communications and 

construction. 


Jillian with her 

Civilian Service Medal 

Certificate issued to Jillian Peterson, 50th 

Anniversary of the end of the Second World 

War. “Australia Remembers 1945 - 1995” 

Page 57

EDINBURGH CINEMA HISTORY 

PART 4 Compiled by Stewart Emm 

Edinburgh Film Guild Continued... 

After a decade of success the Edinburgh Film Guild moved to larger premises at 3 Randolph Crescent. This 

three story townhouse was converted to provide a reception room, library, offices and 120 seat cinema. The 

new Film House was opened in time for the 12th Film Festival in 1958. However by 1964 the Film Guild 

was facing competition from other city cinemas that were also operating commercially on Sundays and the 

Guild’s membership was falling. The falling attendance at cinemas was a city and national trend and the 

graph below illustrates this decline in the Edinburgh cinemas between 1940 and 1970. 

Page 58 

Filmhouse, Lothian Road 

In 1968 the premises were given a facelift for its 

opening in October of that year as the first Scottish 

Branch of the National Film Theatre. Further financial 

problems ensued and Edinburgh Corporation 

granted the Guild a £50,000 lifeline in 1974. But it 

had become obvious that the long term solution to 

these recurring problems was to move to even larger 

premises – premises that would do justice to the 

Film Festival and the Film Theatre as well as securing 

the future of the Guild. 

A new company, Filmhouse Ltd., was set up in 1975 

to establish a national film theatre in Edinburgh. In 

3 Randolph Crescent 

1977 the Guild’s Randolph Crescent premises was 

sold and funded, in part, the purchase of St. Thomas’s Church, Lothian Road. The following year the Filmhouse 

opened for the 1978 Film Festival with a small 90 seat cinema. Within the Filmhouse the Edinburgh 

Film Guild has its own cinema and clubrooms. In 1982, the British Federation of Film Societies announced 

the Edinburgh Film Guild had won the Film society of the Year award in recognition of its achievements 

throughout its lifetime. The Film Guild is run by volunteers on a non-profit basis and screens films three 

days a week from late September through to April. The programme is organised on the basis of miniseasons 

linked by some common element, of director, performer, country, genre or theme. 


The Filmhouse 

The Filmhouse went from strength to strength, with additional capacity 

added in August 1978, when Cinema 2 was opened using a 

temporary entrance in Morrison Street. In April 1982, phase 2 of the 

Filmhouse Project was completed with the opening of the main auditorium 

seating 238 viewers. In 1985 the final phase, which included 

a new 280 seat auditorium and front entrance was opened by the 

Duke of Edinburgh. In 1997 the functions hall was transformed into 

a third screen. The present Filmhouse has 3 cinemas which are open 

to the public seven days a week. Cinema One screens the latest inter- 

Filmhouse Café/Bar national releases and presents special events with guests talking about their 

work in different branches of the film industry. Cinemas Two and Three include a wider range of material 

from the history of world cinema, 16mm, video and digital video work. The Filmhouse is a major venue for 

the Edinburgh International Film festival. Part five of this series will be featured in the next issue of Cine- 

Chat. 

Acknowledgements: 

Edinburgh Room, 

Edinburgh Central Library 

Scottish Cinemas and Theatres Project 

www.scottishcinemas.org.uk 

Reprinted with permission from Edinburgh Cine & Video Society Cine Chat newsletter. 

UK EXTRA 

Edinburgh Cine & Video Society - Scotland 

Happy New Year, the snow and ice has gone, at least temporarily, and I have a massive hole in 

my bank account. The main reason for this is that I gave way to temptation and purchased a 

Panasonic PT-AE4000 projector. It may have cost me about £1800 but the results I have experienced 

from this machine have, in my mind anyway, justified the expense. 

We’re entering the last couple of months of this years season now, where our syllabus traditionally contains 

a wide selection of competitions and viewings. There’s no better time to encourage friends and relatives 

along to ECVS to see what it’s all about, and view a wide selection of amateur films. 

This years ECVS Annual Competition will be held on Thursday 10th and Friday the 11th March at 7:30pm 

in the clubrooms. The entries will be shown over both nights, and this years judges will be on-hand to give 

their comments and announce the results. The audience will also have the opportunity to judge the films 

shown, as the Vice-Presidents Prize, and the Frank Walker salver are awarded to the films which obtain the 

most audience votes on the Thursday and Friday night, respectively. 

Frome Film & Video Makers - England 

Frome Film & Video Makers was formed in 1974 as the Frome and District Ciné Club. All the 

present members use video, but occasionally the film projector is brought out for a nostalgic 

trawl through the archives. The club meets almost every other Thursday from January to November, 

but not usually August. December is set aside for our presentations and Christmas 

dinner. Meetings start at 19.30 and usually end at 22.00. We have always been keen on making films of 

local interest. We are currently archiving to video our library of local interest ciné film. Currently we are 

establishing links with Northside Camcorder Club in Sydney, and the Wollongong Camera Club in Australia. 


Page 59

Gary, 

Just received the AF&V, as usual an excellent production. 

Jim Dunne. New South Wales 

Many thanks Gary for all the work you put in to making this magazine. It is very much appreciated. My group is email 

based and is mostly where people can exchange photos taken with digital cameras - and who doesn't have one of those? 

Have a great Christmas and don't do any work for a while! 

Joan (Rennie). Queensland 

Hi Gary 

Thank you for a fabulous magazine. I really enjoy reading it and feel so informed of latest trends and it’s wonderful to 

read of other movie maker’s experiences. 

Kathy Prior. New South Wales 

Dear Gary, 

Thank you for your AF&V summer edition 2010, whose reception was perfect for pdf. I hope more editions for same systems. 

Regards, José Victor Silva. Portugal 

Gary, 

Just a short note to show how widely read AF&V is. You probably know this fact already but here are a few quantitative 

examples. 

1. The latest issue of the official journal of the International Association of Cinematographers (IAC) "Film and Video 

Maker." (The page is kindly reproduced by Noel Leeder of the Sydney Video Makers Club, who had a two page spread in 

the issue covering his award winning Travel video in the Sydney Video Makers VOTY competition of his recent visit to 

Alaska.) There is a reference to the WCCMM Club in the bottom right hand column. 

As Noel Leeder advised me, this magazine is: “Widely read and very highly respected - a claimed 16,000 videomaker 

readers around the globe - his promo in FVM is good for Wollongong!” and “It was a good item in FVM which should get 

a few website hits for Wollongong Camera Club”. I don’t know how Gerald Mee got the information, but as a guess he 

could have picked it up from a re-print, in the AF&V Summer Issue, of the report of Glenn Hanns’ presentation at 

WCCMM September 2010 Club meeting. This is good publicity for the WCCMM Club. Especially as we will get more 

references in the following issue. It is also proof that people do read our AF&V magazine. 

2. Recently the “Beginnings & Endings” article that appeared in the Autumn issue of AF&V was reprinted in the SoCo 

(Institute of Amateur Cinematographers Southern Counties, UK) Newsletter July-August 2010. 

3. Also the New Zealand electronic newsletter, Viewfinder, has made inquiries after the comments made in the Pot Shots 

column of the last AF&V magazine about the problems of videoing in public places. 

These but a few examples to prove, if ever you needed proof Gary, that people all over the world who are interested in 

videography do read your magazine. Your very extensive efforts to get out a quarterly magazine are very much appreciated 

not only within Australia but world wide. 

Ian 

Gary, 

Lots of devices are including video capability, but what happens when they record at 30fps and your edited movie is being 

produced at 25fps? One frame in 6 is being dropped. It may not matter much, but panning and zooming can look "jumpy". 

This is one case where more is not necessarily better. Even more complicated is the Sony NEX-3 Digital SLR which runs 

at 29.97 fps! 

Regards, Jim 

Page 60 


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 

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 

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY - NSW SOUTHERN DIVISION 

ACT Video Camera Club 

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

Sec: Trish Skinner (02) 6231 8851 

skinners@homemail.com.au 

Meet: 1 st & 3 rd Thursday at 7.30 pm 

QUEENSLAND DIVISION 

Brisbane 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 


TASMANIAN DIVISION 

Bridport Movie Makers Group 

Sec: Wendy McLennan 

bridportwendy@bigpond.com 

Alternate Contact: 

Sheila Hagendorfer 

hagen@microtech.com.au 

Meet: 3 rd Wednesday at 7.30 pm 

Tasmanian Movie Makers 

Sec: Jon Grey (03) 6228 5595 

j.n.grey@bigpond.net.au 

Meet: 1 st Thursday at 7.30 pm 


SOUTH AUSTRALIAN DIVISION 

The Adelaide Filmo Club 

Sec: John Lawrie (08) 8338 8492 

johnandglenda@internode.on.net 

Meet: 2 nd Tuesday at 7.30 pm 

Adelaide Computer/Video Group Inc 

Sec: Marg Folkard (08) 8371 0830 

sundialmarg@kern.com.au 

Meet: 2 nd Friday at 6.30 pm 

WESTERN AUSTRALIAN DIVISION 

Western Australia Film & Video Club Inc 

www.wavideoclub.com 

Sec: Brian Brown (08) 9344 2746 

xxxxbbrown@iinet.net.au 

Meet: 2 nd Tuesday at 8.00 pm 

Videomakers WA Inc 

www.vmwa.org.au 

Sec: Tricia Van Nus (08) 9478 5881 

traus@westnet.com.au 

Meet: 2 nd Wednesday at 7.30 pm 


DEADLINE 

The Deadline 

for the Winter 

Edition is the 

31 May 2011 

Aussie Printed 

Page 61

Page 62 

BACK PAGE 

• Did you hear about the cannibal who went into a restaurant and ordered the waiter. 

• He also wanted a full-bodied soup. 

• What is a mummy after its 5000 years old? 5001 years old. 

• What sort of raincoat would the Prime Minister wear in the rain? A wet one. 

• Satan was once heard to say, “It’s a Hell of a life”. 

• Zombies have been heard to say cryptic remarks. 

• Would you say that the Invisible Man’s mother and father were transparents? 

• “Why are you telling everybody I’m an idiot?” “I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was a secret.” 

Contributed by Harold Barnes. NHVCS 

Trying to do the Job Alone 

This is a letter that was received by an insurance company. 

Dear Sir, 

I'm writing in response to your request for additional information. In Block #3 of the accident report form, I put, 

"trying to do the job alone" as the cause of my accident. Now you said in your letter that I should explain more 

fully. I trust that the following details will be sufficient. 

I'm a bricklayer by trade. On the date of the accident, I was working alone on the roof of a new six storey building. 

When I completed my work, I discovered that I had about 500 pounds (227 kilos) of brick left over. Rather than carry 

the bricks down by hand, I decided to lower them in a barrel by using a pulley which was attached to the side of the 

building at the sixth floor. 

Securing the rope at ground level, I went up to the roof, swung the barrel out and loaded the bricks into it. Then I 

went back to the ground and untied the rope, holding it tightly to ensure a slow descent of the 500 lbs of brick. 

Now you will notice in Block #2, that I weigh 135 pounds (61.4 kilos). Due to the surprise of being jerked off the 

ground so suddenly, I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope. Needless to say, I proceeded at a 

rather rapid rate up the side of the building. 

In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming down. This explains the fractured skull and broken collarbone. 

Slowed only slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the fingers of my right hand were two 

knuckles deep in the pulley. 

Fortunately, by this time, I regained my presence of mind, and was able to hold tightly to the rope in spite of my 

pain. At approximately the same time however, the barrel of bricks hit the bottom and the bottom fell out of the barrel. 

Devoid of the weight of the bricks, the barrel now weighs approximately 50 pounds (22.7 kilos). As you might 

imagine, I began a rather rapid descent of the building. 

Somewhere in the vicinity of the third floor, I again met the barrel coming up. This accounts for the fractured ankles 

and the lacerations of my legs and lower body. The encounter with the barrel slowed me enough to lessen my injuries 

when I fell onto the pile of bricks and fortunately only three vertebrae were cracked. 

I’m sorry to report however, that as I lay there on the bricks, in pain, unable to move, and watching the empty barrel 

six storeys above, I again lost my presence of mind and let go of the rope. The empty barrel weighed more than the 

rope, so it came down and broke both my legs. 

Now I hope I’ve furnished the information you required as to how the accident occurred, because you see, I was trying 

to do the job alone! 

I hope you will be able to settle my claim ASAP because the bank is about to foreclose on my mortgage. If that happens, 

my wife and nine children will leave me and I will be forced to do the job alone at home as well. 

Sincerely, 

George Houser. 


Contributed by Gordon Taylor. NHVCS

AUSTRALIAN FILM - Federation of Australian Movie Makers

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