AT THE LAST MEETING

OUR FIRST MEETING OF 2009 WAS ALSO OUR FIRST OUTING OF THE YEAR& WAS A BAR-B-Q AT GREENWELL POINT.

ABOUT A DOZEN MEMBERS & THEIR SPOUSES TURNED UP ON WHAT WAS A VERY WINDY & COOLISH EVENING.

MUCH CAMERA WORK WAS DONE BY TREVOR & WE SHOULD GET SOME REALLY GOOD FOOTAGE OF A MOB OF CORELLAS AT PLAY.

UNFORTUNATELY WHEN IT CAME TO CAPTURING THE COOK ON FILM, FOR PROSPERITY & THE CLUB'S OWN RECORDS, MY POSITION HAD BEEN USURPED BY JEANETTE'S OTHER HALF, MAX. WHO ADMITS HE'S NOT A MOVIE MAKER , BUT THEN YOU CAN'T BE MAKING MOVIES & PUTTING ON AN ACT AT THE SAME TIME

  MEETING 10 / 2 / 2009

Although none of the dozen members had a video for assessment, we had a very interesting evening.

Fran showed a video of two men doing some quite amazing acrobatics .

We then proceeded to give our opions on the number & placement of cameras etc.

Also ,earlier at the committee meeting it was decided that we buy a laptop for the club. With it we/ll be able to show our movies, do software demonstrations & store club records.. This proposal was put to the members who agreed unanimously with the committee. David has been tasked with searching for the laptop & given a budget of $1500 or thereabouts.

Also everyone was reminded about our trip to the animal park & about car-pooling for the combined meeting in March.. Keep an eye on your inboxes for more information.. Chris also asked that anyone who finds a website that/s useful to other members email the link so it can be added to this site

David has started a project which is about 1minute of video & we're going to cut. edit. add titles etc. over the next few weeks & get back to some basic movie editing.

24th  FEBRUARY  2009

Eleven members & 3 guests attended an informative evening devoted to the framing of movies & photos. El Presidente, David started the evening with a Power Point presentation & video tutorial explaining the framing of pictures & movies. After going through a few different scenarios for doing interviews with one, two & three cameras it was time do a little shooting of some action showing how to frame a movie from different perspectives.

The highlight of the night was then reached when supper was served to much acclaim by our resident chef Chris. Col even asked for the recipes.

We're all looking forward to the return of our visitors Hellen, Val & Ziggy  who played a great part in the evening's proceedings & appeared to enjoy themselves greatly.

10th  MARCH  2009

Due to the fact that our President is off galivanting around the countryside, our meeting was conducted with great finnese & flare by Trevor. (I think he's trying to usurp your position David). We had an assessment evening & a movie each was entered by Trevor, Kevin & Jeanette. It was good to see the return of both Hellen & Val who spent quite some time in discussion with Trevor about the pros & cons of various software. Dhirendra, a former member who's been in Sydney for the past 12 months was also at our meeting The trip to Nowra Animal Park has been postponed due to many members having previous engagements Elsewhere on this site I think I've said that the Canberra combined meeting is 14th April. I fibbed, it's 4th APRIL & anyone interested in attending is asked to meet at Bomaderry Basketball Stadium from where we'll car-pool to Canberra

24th MARCH  2009

David opened the evening by showpng off our new laptop. After some teething problems we watched 3  30 second videos of commercials made by Mark, Trevor & Col & Jeanettewhich are to be entered into the combined clubs' competition on 4th April along with the winner of our annual competition. After the screening we retired outside to where a green screen had been set up & with David's & Col's guidance proceeded to video a few different scenarios using a toy truck & 'plane. Each member who brought their cameras along had a fine opportunity to experiment before going back inside to view a few tutorials & see what can be done using this technique. At the next meeting we're hoping to see some real works of cinematic art.

14th APRIL

After David's opening & welcome to new visitor John Mevius, the evening proceeded with the viewing of 5 movies for assessment. As usual these were of a very high standard & all worthy of being declared "best of the night'. After supper which consisted of a rather lovely cream cake, organised by me, we had a demonstration by David of doing titles in Premiere Elements 2 & Mark then showed some basic moves in Magix 14.The meeting closed at around 9.30

28th  APRIL

The meeting opened with the announcement of Jeanette as the winner of the April assessment evening . It was then time for David to demonstrat how to do a Power Point presentation. Although these presentations look very involved & technologically challenging their use is still based very much on basic Microsoft Office toolbars & procedures. After supper. which Col commented somewhat favourably about, we viewed 2 films of Mark's.

One was quite humourous & has cured my cravings for chocolate easter eggs .

The trip to Nowra Wildlife Park has been cancelled & a possible trip to the Berry model railway has been suggested on a date to be fixed.

WELCOME 

 JOHN MEVIUS

Our newest member

14th  MAY 

Tonight's meeting was attrnded by 13 members including Trevor, recovering from a severe cold . Again, 3 movies were submitted by Jeanette, Col & Trevor for assessment. Trevor's recent trip to Broken Hill has certainly given him some footage to edit, resulting in a few very good short films. Col's deportation from Queensland can now be explained by watching this humorous video of a trek through a rainforest. Perfect one day 1956 the next ? mmmmm Could be a clue there mate. Jeanette gave thanks to her better half Max for his invaluable help in the production of her movie of an animal park in Batemans Bay. He didn't touch the camera & let her get on with producing a very fine film.  Later in the evening we were entertained by a film from Fran , who we haven't seen for a while due to illness , welcome back Fran , showing whale watching tours in N.Z. & Harvey Bay. The evening closed at 9.30 but not before Mark gave us a few tips on editing in Magix 14.

     28th MAY

Toight's meeting was hosted by Trevor . The subject was script writing & was quite comprehensive in it's coverage . Trevor sugested that each character in the script should have a quick overview written about their personality. This gives the actors / actresses a better idea of how to apply emotions etc. to their role. After his powerpoint presentation ( it was widely touoted that Trevor was just showing off a newly acquired skill ) a sumptuous supper of coffee & choccie cake was ravenously devoured by the dozen or so members. Afterwards it was back to write the dialogue for a short script Trevor had prepared. It was interestng to note how differently each of the three teams handled the same scenario but still coming up with similar traits for each of the  six characters. I'm told that Trevor was at a loss as to how to present this lecture a few weeks ago but he certainly came through with flying colours on Tuesday nught.

By the way, Jeanette won the point score for the 14th May assessment AGAIN .

Keep those movies coming & remember you can now fill in the assessment forms on this site & bring them to the meetings with you. Visitors to this site are also welcome to send us DVDs of their movies as it's always handy to see what is being done by our peers. In the near future I'm hoping to have a selection of members' movies on here.for everyone to be able to view .

                            9th JUNE

The night started with Lyndon setting up his "glass" screen for appraisal as it was suggested that the screen we've been using isn't dong justice to our movies. Opinion was split 50 / 50 as to the benefits of his screen. Two movies were entered for assessment  by Jeanette & Trevor & both have scored very well . Having had problems setting the laptop up to play, we then tried our DVD player which was found to be somewhat wanting & needs replacing along with the sound system. We've been given permission to install a cupboard for storage & will be shopping for one in the near future. The meeting finished soon after supper & Marg has reminded me that her recipe for FLAT SCONES ( passed down from her granny ) is available for a small nominal charg

23RD JUNE

After presentimg Jeanette with another certificate for winning the point score with her movie "Westcoast Wilderness Railway" we went onto a presentation about using lighting in our moviees. Before I move on , it should be noted that Jeanette has now been well & truly certified.  Moving right along. David had us split into three groups & each set up a scenario using different lighting & props. Ideas were varied & much was learnt. After supper & three very informative videos on lighting, Geoff gave a demonstration on morphing using a free downloaded programme from the 'net This  programme can be used to do some very interesting, quirky & fun things with photos which are then saved as AVI files & used in our movies.

However the highlight of the whole evening was definitely the more than generous donation to the club of a new sound system by Mike. Without Mike's generosity the club was up for more than a few dollars to replace our old system. Again, thank you Mike.

REMEMBER next month is the A.G.M. & a chance to nominate & vote for either new office-bearers or to reinstate the existing ones. You  MUST   be a financial member to either vote or stand for a committee position.

14TH  JULY

The meeting was attended by about a dozen members. Noticeably absent were Jeanette & Mark Whilst John is still away & recuperating from his ongoing illness. There was  one entrant in the monthly assessment by Trevor. I feel confident  that his movie "From The Sea To The Trees" will win this month's award in a walkover. After supper we viewed movies from the Northside club, a Sydney group, showing what they'd done using blue screen in their videoing. We agreed that most of their efforts were of a very high standard & gave much food for thought .

DON'T  FORGET   28th JULY IS THE A.G.M.

YOUR MEMBERSHIP FEES  MUST  BE  PAID  TO  ENABLE  YOU  TO  VOTE  FOR  OR  STAND  FOR  COMMITTEE  MEMBERSHIP

ALSO  THE  EVENING  WILL  START  AT  6PM  AS  WE'LL  BE  HAVING  DINNER   PRIOR  TO  THE  MEETING

28TH  JULY

Tonight was our much vaunted & awaited dinner meeting & A.G.M. Marg's curried & mushroom sausages went down well with the 17 members & guests in attendance. Although there was quite a bit left over , may I take this opportunity to thank Trevor, Lynden & others who had second & hopefully third helpings. Thanks fellows that's a few less curried sausages on toast, curried sausages & pasta, curried sausage sandwiches etc. that I'll have to eat over the coming months.

The A.G.M. was presided over by Lyall  Davis from the S.P.C.U.G. David was  re-instated as president as were Margaret- secretary, Lynden-treasurer Chris-committee member with new arrivals Trevor-vice president, Jeanette-committee member, Kevin-committee member. Many thanks to these members for their acceptance of these positions, for as we know all these members already lead busy & sometimes hectic lives . Under their guidance we're looking forward to a brand new & even more prosperous year. After the A.G.M. a motion was put to & carried by the members to make John an honourary member. The night finished early after viewing photos & a video taken by some of us over the past 12 months.

AGAIN

FROM ALL OF US

WELCOME TO THE NEW COMMITTEE

AUGUST 25th

We had a return visit from Helen & Val on Tuesday night. Helen has become our newest member & we welcome her to our club with open arms.

I got the subject fotr the evening wrong, it wasn't burning DVDs but adding sound to our movies. The club's programme has been thrown into turmoil by Trevor's holiday agenda. He won't be here in September so he did his presentation this month instead. Good one Trev, no wonder I'm turning grey. The night was very informative & much was learnt about the use of mics. & various audio softwares. Also it's been decided that our model train videoing will be done 26th September at Jaspers Brush so mark that date on your calendar & charge up your batteries for a big day of filming. By the way, I haven't been to the racecourse to check their models so no report forthcoming there. Maybe because it'd bring back too many painful memories ?

Next meeting is the first of our" bring in your movies or parts thereof to get editing help " So don't be shy, bring something that you feel may benefit from a think tank of the rest of the members. 

e.    

14TH  AUGUST

The night started with a discussion about how to increase the number of movies put in for assessment. A vote was taken & the dozen or so members present decided to make the assessments every 3 months. The other 2 months will be nights to bring in movies, or parts thereof & put them up for comment & advice on how to proceed with their editing. Those movies will still be able to be used later for assessment evenings. Also discussed was going to Jaspers Brush or possibly the racecourse to film the model railway. Having more experience with racecourses than most of our members ( I've been dropped onto mahy of them somewhat unceremoniously by obstrpolous nags in my youth ) I'm going to try & get to the end of month exibit in a few weeks at the local Nowra track.

A movie was submitted by both Fran & Jeanette for our apraisal. Fran's was done quite differently, in Crazytalk & was very humourous. Just another slant on editing & how diversified amatuer movie making can be.The night wound up with Kevin showing some of the footage he & Fran have done for the October inter-club competition. 

8TH  SEPTEMBER

Tonight was the first night of "Bring in a movie & have us advise you on editing it' There were a seelection of movies brought in by Fran, Trevor & David. Some movies were old, having been done up to 5yrs. ago & some were more recently done. Besides these members it was especially pleasing to see a young friend of Col's, Taylor, come in & participate by showing us her first & very promising effort at editing a film shot by her father. Taylor, who is a high school student, also proves that you don't have to be in your dotage with hours to spare to be a good videographer / movie editor. David also showed how to put a moving line on a map to show the track taken on a holiday etc. Speaking of which Trevor will be absent next meeting due to a well deserved holiday. Full time retirement seems to be taking it's toll on him.

DON'T  FORGET TO HAVE YOUR MOVIES IN FOR OUR END OF YEAR PRESENTATION BY THE LAST MEETING IN OCTOBER 

22nd  SEPTEMBER

Tonight was a very subdued evening for the dozen or so members in attendance. David started proceedings by showing how to use chapter markers in " Adobe Elements 2". This was an enlightening demonstration & was followed by Mark showing the same techniques but this time usyng " Magix 14 Plus ". After supper Fran showed the movie her & Kevin have been putting together for the Interclubs' meeting which will be held in Wollongong 24th October. Also David presented a short promotional movie which the Y.W.C.A. has requested we do to help advertise their Y- Quest competition. 

13TH  OCTOBER

Tonight was an assessment evening, with 3 movies being submitted. Among the 17 members at the meeting was John Smith who we haven't seen for over a year. John & Mark showed a very interesting movie about an expedition they made down the Shoalhaven River & it was also submitted for assessment.

A big welcome back to John Mevius after his long illness.

After supper, which apparently was thoroughly enjoyed by Jeanette & her new very-best-friend Margaret, Fran showed the final cut of her , Kevin & Bev's movie for the interclub competition . Col also has been instrumental in the editing process.

A  DATE  TO  ADD TO  YOUR  SOCIAL  CALENDAR

DECEMBER   8th

SHOW~HAVEN  AWARDS  PRESENTATION 

22nd  SEPTEMBER

Tonight was a very subdued evening for the dozen or so members in attendance. David started proceedings by showing how to use chapter markers in " Adobe Elements 2". This was an enlightening demonstration & was followed by Mark showing the same techniques but this time using " Magix 14 Plus ". After supper Fran showed the movie her & Kevin have been putting together for the Interclubs' meeting which will be held in Wollongong 24th October. Also David presented a short promotional movie which the Y.W.C.A. has requested we do to help advertise their Y- Quest competition. 

13TH  OCTOBER

Tonight was an assessment evening, with 3 movies being submitted. Among the 17 members at the meeting was John Smith who we haven't seen for over a year. John & Mark showed a very interesting movie about an expedition they made down the Shoalhaven River & it was also submitted for assessment.

A big welcome back to John Mevius after his long illness.

After supper, which apparently was thoroughly enjoyed by Jeanette & her new very-best-friend Margaret, Fran showed the final cut of her , Kevin & Bev's movie for the interclub competition . Col also has been instrumental in the editing process.

A  DATE  TO  ADD TO  YOUR  SOCIAL  CALENDAR

DECEMBER   8th

SHOW~HAVEN  AWARDS  PRESENTATION 

27th  OCTOBER

The 16 members who attended tonight's meeting no doubt learned more than they ever knew about their own video cameras. Col, supported by two short videos, gave a highly informative presentation on using our cameras in the "manual" mode as opposed to most people who let their cameras do the thinking & photographing in automatic mode. No matter what sort of cameras we use there was a wealth of learning to be had. Col's vast experience with both shooting & editing films was passed on in a most instructive & descriptive manner. I'm sure we'll all be taking a renewed interest in the mysteries of our own cameras from now on.

Last month's assessment was won by Mark with his movie "Down The Shoalhaven".

Remember our end of year Show~Haven awards & please R.S.V.P. 24TH  November

10th  NOVEMBER

The 10 members who attended tonight's meeting were entertained by movies from John M, Col & some 30 second advertisement-type scripted movies from a Sydney club.Blue screening played a major role in most of of those 30 second skits. Col's movie brought back memories of an interclub meeting about 5yrs. ago where everyone had been given footage on a theme, this one being water, & made a 6minute movie from the edited scenes. I remember it well as that was my first introduction to the club. What I don't remember, Trevor , is a little voice from the audience telling us who shot what. Must admit though, the little voice was quite informative, giving us the history & locations of each clip we saw. The next meeting is our last for the year & is a bring a plate  filled with tucker , (Jeanette's farm on Facebook should be able to feed a small army by now) sit round & have an informal chat about the club & show a few movies. Don't forget money for the SHOW~HAVEN awards will also be due . Marcel, a new visitor, has much knowledge to share with us I'm sure & hopefully will be back quite soon. 

24TH   NOVEMBER

Tonight was our final meeting for the year  was conducted in a somewhat informal manner . Not that we're the most formal people in town but tonight even less so. After a Powerpoint demonstration by David the dozen of us there adjourned to the courtyard where we partook of a small banquet which was contributed to by all present. Hope we see Marcel again . His salad was very memorable. The night came to an warly close but not before Col & Mark's entertainment of a few jokes. ( Hopefully the ladies weren't listening ) See you all at the end ofyear presentations

PROGRAMME AUGUST 2009 TO FEB 2010