Club News
Wednesday 07th September 2005

Hi everyone
I hope you all enjoyed last night's first meeting of the new season...I certainly did, and the two 'Bridges' offerings from Andy and
Charlie and Arthur were excellent. As for the gadgets, well, I hope you got something out of the session (and I didn't realise I
had collected so many bits and pieces!!). John's blue plastic rain jacket gave me another idea - if you were to devise a gutter on
the left side, the water could run off, then down into a cup in a cup-holder, pop in a straw, and bingo, travelling refreshment in the
rain!
The subject of Lottery funding for an LCD projector came up and Roy was good enough to phone me with the website details
when he got home. This morning I looked at the site and then at 'Awards' in Fife - and discovered the club got a grant of £2250
almost exactly five years ago to 'purchase a video editing system, a video walkman and audio mixer'! As this was before my
time in the club, I guess this is where the Avio came from, and probably the little Sony MiniDV player/recorder; I don't recall ever
seeing an audio mixer. The full details are -
Database of Awards search results
Organisation Name: ODunfermline Camcorder Club
Scheme Name: SAwards for All Scotland
Award Date: A2000-09-26 (year-month-day)
Award Amount: A£2250
Regional Office: RScotland Awards for All
Local Authority Area: LFife

Press Summary: This group provides opportunities for children and adults to learn and practice the skills of movie
making. The grant will be used to purchase a video editing system, a video walkman and audio mixer

As there seems to be no limit on the number of applications (except they allow only one per year) I suggest we go ahead and
make another application, this time to update the viewing facilities from a TV set to a projector and screen, and sell the idea on
taking local movies around local organisations as a community project.
So, John C, as president, and John D, as treasurer, would you like to have a look at the application form, see what's needed
(and also if, from past experience, we should contact the grant-givers first in order to establish exactly what we should say...)
and then we could have a quick committee meeting to put a bid together and get it off to Awards For All? Simply search for
Awards For All, then Scotland, and you'll find the details.
Regards
Craig
Wednesday 19th October 2005

Members Films

Tonight was our members film night, when our club members have the opportunity to showcase their holiday films etc..

Seven films were showcased:

Double Bridge, by Andy St Lawrence and Charlie Waines

Andy gave an interesting talk on the history of Double Bridge in Dunfermline Glen, our members were impressed by the sound quality
and the factual account of the bridges life span from the 16th century to the 21st century.

Film number two was shot by Charlie who was also the camera man for Andy's "Double Bridge" shoot.The film was a promotional
video for the Glenrothes Riding Centre.

Bill Fyfe produced film number three, and he transported our members to Jordan and Petra,one of Jordan's national treasures and
by far its best known tourist attraction. Much of the appeal comes from its spectacular setting deep inside a narrow desert gorge, a
vertical split through the rock strata.
Bill's video featured cliff walls that soar to 200 metres with chambers hewn from the
living sandstone. There are literally hundreds of buildings, ornate facades, tombs, baths
and a three thousand seat mphitheatre. Bill then travelled to Amman, the capital, spread
over 19 hills, is a busy commercial centre with markets full of gold, spices and local
handicrafts. Towering above the city stands the ancient Citadel and the regal columns of
the Roman Temple of Hercules; nearby, the Roman theatre is still used for cultural
events.
The Dead Sea half an hour from Amman, featured in the video and Bill explained, this is the lowest point on the surface of the earth, more
than 400 metres below sea level. The exceptionally buoyant water, ten times saltier than the sea, is believed by many to have curative
powers, hence the presence of several thermal spa hotels. The car Bill and his friends travelled in was stopped frequently by army
personel who toured the area in tanks. The purpose of these stops was to check their documentation and passports were in order.
John Cullen introduced film number four, a SAM's member's film exercise at this years SAM's meeting at Crieff Hydro. Members
formed teams to write a script, plan, film and produce a completed video in a day. The film was titled "action speaks louder, than
words". The film demonstrated what can be achieved, if you take the time to produce a script and plan the video before the actual
shoot

Film number five, filmed by Roy Jackson was shot using 8mm cine film 40 years ago and recently transfered to DV video tape.
The film's subject was about a group of young children enjoying a make believe tea party. The tea in the tea pot turned out to be neat
whisky, added to the tea pot instead of water, by one of the children, using her dad's whisky as a prank. Of course the children never
drank the tea, but visitors to the house did, including the postman, the milkman, the butcher and the baker.. who all became tipsy
much to the amusement of the children. The film was filmed in colour and we all remarked on the BBC Terry and June music
accompaniment, typical for the period.

Our next video was Jim Tucker's holiday filmed in Turkey titled "Ballooning in Fairyland" Jim explained they made their way to
the launch site for a balloon ride. Or, should Jim have said 'the balloon ride of a lifetime'. The film shows Jim and his party about to take
to the skies over the beautiful location of Capadoccia in Central Turkey. It is a place that is often described in guidebooks as having a
'lunar landscape'. The video seemed like the wrong description to me as the balloon carved their way through the narrow gorge. Lunar
suggests flat - this looked anything but. The features to be found in Capadoccia are truly unlike any other. Formed over millions of
years as a result of numerous volcanic eruptions, the debris and ash has compressed, layer by layer and then been eroded by wind
and water to form the most outstanding and unlikely shapes imaginable. The soft 'tufa' rock has also been eroded by human means
too, with many of the strange conical structures sporting windows and doors to cavernous interiors.

Playing hide-and-seek between the rocky features of Capadoccia... the video vividly demonstrated
the skills of the balloon's pilot, only after their balloon ride were they informed of the tragic death of
one of the ground crew the day before.
The fairy chimneys of Love Valley, The video continues over one of the many valleys, here we see the
concentration of 'fairy chimneys' - this being the name given to the peculiar-shaped columns. Well
Jim did not say this, but to me they looked very like 'Phallics'
Our last video lasted for only 14 seconds and was a test piece produced by David Robertson Dunfermline Camcorder Club's youngest
new member. David is interested in animation and this excellent test video of an animated effect proved David was taking his interest
seriously. Buzz Lightyear watch out, Davids about.. David explained how his animation of a rather fetching sports car on his drive was
achieved using Adobe after effects software and by trial and error. The animated results impressed our members and generated a lively
discussion on animation, incidentally the test video only lasted 14 seconds but took two days to render the final result.