LATEST TALK: Special Effects and Visual Effects

On Thursday 26 July, Southport MovieMakers Club member Nigel Moran, will be speaking about the history and making of special effects and visual effects in films.

Nigel, who has been involved in film-making since he was eight years old, has directed, starred and helped in over sixty short films as well as directing his debut feature film called “Mayhem Behind Movies” which has just received an “Honourable Mention” at the Toronto International Film and Video Awards.

Starring Carl Wharton “Zombie Massacre”, Kayla Keatley and Phil Perez “Sleep”, “Mayhem Behind Movies” is a fly-on-the-wall mockumentary following Kevin Knight, a struggling low-budget filmmaker, on his mission to complete his first big-break movie “Valentine” before the opening premiere. Kevin soon finds himself in turmoil as he races against the clock in a make-or-break scenario packed with side-splitting and nail-biting moments. Will Kevin finish in enough time with all the odds stacked up against him?

Nigel is currently planning a zombie short for YouTube while writing his next feature project and is close to finishing a book on making movies.

Day: Thursday 26 July

Time: 8 pm – 10.00 pm

Location: St James' Church Hall,

Lulworth Road, Southport, PR8 2BQ.

LATEST TALK: Directing

Next Thursday, Club member Nigel Barton, who trained as a professional film director, will be speaking about the job of film directing.

Nigel Barton has over 25 year’s experience in film and video. After graduating in Direction at London's National Film School, he directed films for television including commercials, documentary and drama.

Nigel has directed a number of films with Southport MovieMakers, including the comedy Mummy’s Boys (2006). Two young brothers (who are not very efficient) rob a local shop to get some money. They drive back home, bickering as they do so. Mother is a bit of a dragon so they decide to go out again to the local pub - still planning further 'scams' ... But mother has the last word!

So, come along and hear the insightful talk that Nigel will be delivering:

Day: Thursday 12 July

Time: 8 pm – 10.00 pm

Location: St James' Church Hall,

Lulworth Road, Southport, PR8 2BQ.

Membership Application Form

A new download facility has been added to the Southport MovieMakers web site. Today, a new Membership Application Form has been added to this facility. If you're interested in joining the Club, please download and print the form. Then, complete and sign and date it and bring the form to a Club meeting.

We look forward to welcoming you.

Download Membership Application Form 

Night Vision

This blog post has been contributed by Club member Les Thomas who led the recently-completed group production, Night Vision.

Included in each year’s Club Programme, is a ‘Project’ in which members form small working groups to try to bring an idea to fruition. The Project set for the past 2012 programme was ‘Filming in the Dark’. We knew that we had two locations available at which we could try out the possibilities of eventually creating a film. We had been given permission by Natural England to film in the Formby Pine Woods at night and a large cellar was available.

The first meeting of the group was a kind of brainstorming at which ideas, however bizarre or unreal, were thrown around. I made some notes, and drew up a rough script trying to reflect the comments and suggestions that were made at our first meeting. When I brought this back to the group next week, we again expanded the possibilities and deleted those things that seemed too implausible. It was three o’clock in the morning when I woke up, reached across for pen and paper, and completed the script, which with a tweak or three would eventually become our completed project – ‘Night Vision’.

Casting for the film was relatively easy as we were to seek the cast from our own Club’s membership (Normally, we would look to the local amateur dramatic societies to provide good, but free, acting ability). Along with the crew, who would film the story, we made location visits, including in darkness, to gauge the most effective use of these spots. The woods in darkness presented some challenges, particularly in terms of the uneven ground, but more especially the right level of lighting. We wanted to maintain a moderate sense of fear and suspense, and so to flood the scene with light would be counter-productive. This, after all, was the purpose of the project, although some adjustment could and would be made at the editing stage.

Filming at Night

We needed to push on with the filming outside, for although we had had our discussions at the Club on dark winter nights, Spring was round the corner and the evenings were becoming lighter longer. When we finally gathered in the woods, it was mid-April. ‘Night Vision’ is the story of a film within a film, which took some of us time to adjust to. As the filming progressed it came together and we all enjoyed the experience. Filming in the cellar offered all kinds of possibilities, and more freedom, for example, as the small windows could be easily covered and blacked out. Experiments in lighting the cellar made us conclude that candle light would be more effective in terms of the setting. We used a moderate amount of LED lighting. The props and costumes were few, and proved easy to acquire. A Club member was able to provide costumes used some time before for a fancy dress party. Falling dust proved pleasant as it came from a talcum powder container, always taking care to keep it away from the sensitive cameras. Extensive use was made of chroma key for the police station and Television News studio, I believe to good effect.

Night Vision - Title

The final production of ‘Night Vision’ is a good example of what is possible when a group of keen amateur movie makers is set the challenge to do something a bit different. We hope that the film might be entered into the inter-club competitions in the coming year 2012-13.

Les Thomas

Tapping into In-house Talent

During June and July, we are tapping into the skills and experience we have at Southport MovieMakers. Members of the Club will be talking about some of the core skills of the film-maker:

• Short Films
• Film Directors
• Directing
• Lighting
• Visual Effects

See our calendar of meetings for June and July.

Southport MovieMaker’s Success

For the third time in five years Southport MovieMakers has won the Bolton Movie Challenge, a competition between member clubs of the IAC from around the North West. The winning film in 2012 is 'Behind the Wire', a dramatised documentary of the recall of memories from Auschwitz during World War II.  

The film was produced by Paul Bagshaw, and the local actors performing the roles of Auschwitz survivors are Eryl Lloyd Parry, Robin Hirsch, Ray Mann, Thelma Falls-Hand, David Charters, Betty Hayden and the late Benny Darrah.

The Film and Video Institute

Fresh Blood in Southport

There is fresh blood in this Diamond Jubilee year, courtesy of Southport MovieMakers.

Sixty years ago, Southport MovieMakers made a film about blood. In 1951, having impressed the then Regional Donor Organiser for the National Blood Service (Liverpool Region), Mr George Monro, Southport MovieMakers was invited to make a film for the NBS, the aim of which was to recruit people to donate their blood.

In the post-war period in which the film was shot, it was thought that a colour film, shot on Merseyside, would have more impact than black and white – which would have perhaps been rather draining! The shooting of scenes for the film at factories and workplaces added an extra dynamism.

The film was judged to be one of the Ten Best Amateur Films of 1951, in the competition run by Amateur Cine World Magazine.  A young 19-year-old man directed the film, Trevor Livesey. Such was the success of the film that soon afterwards the Blood Transfusion Service asked Southport MovieMakers to make another film.

The 30-minute film produced by Southport MovieMakers was entitled “Calling to You” and indeed the film is expected to be calling out to potential blood donors again – sixty years on.   The National Blood Service is actively promoting this film around the region with a view to arranging screenings to coincide with the Royal Diamond Jubilee. There has been a great deal of interest shown in the film:

• University of Liverpool – History of Medicine lecturer to use it in her lectures
• University of Manchester – Urban History lecturer to use it in her lectures
• Chorley Little Theatre – Planning to show it as part of an old film event
• Parbold Picture House – Planning to show it in October before another film
• Stockport Plaza – Planning to use it as an information short before another film

Dates for screenings have yet to be confirmed. Given the interest shown and the range of venues, the National Blood Service is hopeful that the new screenings of this old film will help them recruit new donors.