Australian film - Federation of Australian Movie Makers

And now, “NLE”, as he calls it. Gobbledegook, again , but he’s happy “diddling” away in his hobby room and his
“stuff” is much easier on the eye and ear, too. As a dutiful, supportive wife (of long patience, I add), I’ve “acted” for
him and I’ve written storyboards. We’ve both had heaps of fun directing our short scenarios, featuring our grandchildren
who are just born to be the most natural actors .
You know, come to think of it, I haven’t noticed in our wills any mention of
what’s to happen with his legacy of recorded memories and how his paraphernalia
is to be “disposed of” --- - I wonder: as heirlooms or in a dumpster.
But, David is still crankin’ em out; he’s as active as ever in Moviemaking Clubs
and helps out with sundry Contests. I suppose, one day, when he can no longer
lift his Sony 2000, he’ll hang it up gracefully and be content to watch the young
cats doing the same thing as he’s done since childhood.
Joan Fuller
Canada
Movie Maker David Fuller
PILLCAM
By Michael Maros - Adelaide Filmo Club
Experiencing a rapid and unusual heart rate. I arrived at Emergency in the early hours of the morning.
After a series of high tech tests I was sent home to prepare for an examination of my innards.
The intestines can be divided into an upper part (the oesophagus, and stomach), the middle part (small intestine) and
the lower part, the large bowel (which is subdivided into ascending, transverse and descending colon). By far the
longest is the small intestine.
The upper part can be examined by an endoscope down the throat and the lower part can be examined by an endoscope
from the other end. But there is no way to see the small intestine in the middle using this method. There are too
many twists and turns.
The gastro-enterologist ordered a new test for a few days later. Preparation involved living on clear liquids for 24
hours prior to the test. I drank water and my wife added variety to the diet by saving the water from boiled vegetables.
At 7.00 am in the morning of the great event I had electrodes strapped to my lower part of the body, with leads connecting
to what appeared to be a small external hard drive recorder attached to a harness. I was presented with a Pillcam
about the size of a large, very fat jelly bean to swallow. (the photo shows the Pillcam compared to the size of a
35 mm slide)
A firewire was connected to the data recorder and hey presto, the interior of my stomach appeared on the screen of a
small laptop.
The data recorder had two small lights, one blue and flashing at about 120 blinks per minute and the other remained
orange. The orange light monitored the battery status, and the blinking blue light signified that the pill was on its
journey.
I was told to go home, go about my usual duties and keep an eye on the blinking light. If it stopped blinking, it meant
that it had met with an obstruction on the way and to report back to the hospital.
If all went according to plan, I would return to have the harness and data recorder removed in about 8 hours. I was
warned to stay 25 paces away from anybody else wearing a similar harness otherwise there would be a cross pollination
of data and the results would be ruined, and we would have to start all over again.
The second warning was to stay away from any MRI machines as the strong magnetic currents could be disastrous.
The Pillcam camera had its own light source and took 2 photographs per second for 8 hours as it passed through the
small intestine giving a total of about fifty seven thousand frames, all in focus and in high definition colour. The
depth of focus varied from zero to thirty five millimetres.
A more advanced version of the Pillcam has a small camera at both ends of the pill and takes 14 frames per second.
A total of about four hundred thousand frames ).
The Pillcam is valued at $900, is used only once, and is excreted normally within 24 hours and ends up
in the sewer system. The results take 2 weeks to be analysed.
I’m told that this is an Israeli invention. For those who want to learn and see more, go to website
www.givenimaging.com.
Pillcam
Australian film & video
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