Lessons from Psycho, and well balanced (video) shooting

BMM meeting 17 July 2025

Acting President Glenn opened the meeting at 7.30pm and welcomed 14 members with an apology from Michael M.

Membership fees. Treasurer Nigel said he had received 2025/26 membership fees from only eight members so far and reminded members that the membership fee for this financial year is $80 for members and families and $40 for country members and students. Members can pay their membership fee either in cash or (preferably) via direct debit to the club’s bank account. Details have been provided in emails over the past month.

FILM BITE: Paul presented the film bite - Alfred Hitchcock’s classic 1959 movie Psycho, specifically the making of the iconic ‘shower’ scene regarded as the most famous murder scene in movie history. It started out as a B grade novel but Hitchcock was so taken by the shower scene that he financed the making of the movie himself. The film bite goes through all of the elements he devised to increase the tension for the audience including quick edits (78 cuts in 45 seconds), using extreme close ups, 50mm lens (which replicates the way the human eye sees things), stark white walls in the shower, fake blood (chocolate sauce), as well as ‘costume’ design to allow Janet Leigh to appear naked although Hitchcock assured the film censorship board she wasn’t actually naked because she wore a shower cap. Hitchcock still wasn’t satisfied with the final product until his music director suggested using string instruments to create what is now the iconic sound of the ‘shower scene’ raising the tension to fever pitch that had audiences screaming, which was music to Hitchcock’s ears.

The Accusation. This was a short movie written, directed and edited by Glenn starring Peter and Nigel with camera work by Adam A and Glenn. It was a meaty script which Peter and Nigel well and truly got their teeth into some equally meaty acting. It was made as an opportunity to practice script writing, audio, lighting, acting and directing. There was a slight glitch with Nigel’s audio but that was due to a technical issue with VLC seemingly playing only one audio channel.

Green Screen – Peter had five people come around to his house to play with the the ‘green screen’. What an excellent opportunity this is for video enthusiasts. Lighting is the key to good green screen operation. Peter said they used four lights – two on the green screen, two on the talent. Everyone had a go at filming and recording a short piece a beach scene, car on fire thing. When recording used a microphone. Five different examples of green screen - Leonie was enjoying herself at an idyllic beach, Sally did an on-the-scene report of a car on fire, Don had birds flying around his head; Jack turned weather presenter in the midst of a heavy downpour, Peter reported from a poppy field, and Nigel was on the beach enjoying the ‘scenery’ and riding the big waves. (with a very convincing wipe out). In addition to the green screen experience, there was some very convincing acting/reporting.

Upcoming events in the Green Room. Peter has advised that he has more upcoming events at his “green room” (at 24 Ditmas St, Wishart.

- July 26th Three camera interview (by invitation)

- August 2nd Sound – recording with different sound sources and getting correct levels/ removing extraneous noise/white noise

- August 9th – Filmmaking 101 – The Very Basics

These events are being held on Saturdays between 9-11.30am

Contact Peter direct if your are interested in participating.

The Check’s in the Mail – Glenn was invited to do sound for a 48-hour challenge with a video being produced by Virginia Gray made for 48 hour. But they had a practice run with a video called “The Check’s in the Mail”. It was an excellent production with a very nice twist at the end. Glenn said the challenge has attracted about 45 videos some of which we are of very high standard. Freddie commented that he was also involved in another video for the competition which was about processing grief.

Alcatraz documentary. Paul premiered his latest documentary “Alcatraz – The Rock Star Prison”. Paul was one of 1.6 million tourists who visit The Rock every year “drawn by morbid curiosity” of what was initially a fort to defend San Francisco from foreign invaders following the gold rush years in the 1850s, a military prison and eventually a Federal Prison for the “worst of the worst, and the most incorrigible prisoners in the United States”, and now one of San Francisco’s top tourist attractions.

Smoke and Mirrors… David said he would be hosting a ‘dedicated meeting’ on Thursday at the Regatta Hotel to have conversations about content for the proposed Smoke and Mirrors project. Currently he is looking at converting three short stories into three episodes. David has issued an invitation for all those interested in being involved in the Smoke & Mirrors project.

Invitation to Smoke and Mirrors meeting. This will be Thursday July 24 at Regatta Hotel basement jazz bar (The Walrus Bar) in Toowong from 7:30.  He’s even offering to buy the first round of drinks. “Let's nut this project out with a frank discussion and exchange of ideas”. Please contact David on 0413-400-644

Working with gimbals. To round out the evening, Glenn introduced discussion and practical hands on experience with gimbals. He said one of the most important things to start with was to have the camera properly balanced on the gimbal. He showed a promotion video by Zhiyun for its Crane 3 LAB gimbal for DSLR cameras, as well as a promotional video for the DJI Osmo 7 and 7P gimbal for mobile phones.

This was followed by a video by Steve Wright “Ten gimbal moves for beginners – master the basics in 4 minutes. The techniques he demonstrated was push forward, pull back, low rider, the reveal, the crane, the orbit, the look up, the pull back tilt down; the look up crane shot; the push forward crane.

Nigel and Peter showed a video called “Up the Creekl” in which they demonstrated the different gimbal moves with some unexpected and unusual results (especially for Peter).

Members brought their own cameras and gimbals and demonstrated and experimented the ways they can be used. This was a very informative hands on tutorial especially as gimbals are now regarded as an essential accessory to good film making.

The meeting wrapped up at 9.40.

Our next meeting is Thursday 7 August. Check out the club’s website for all the activities planned.