Meeting report 21/03/24
First of all, I would like to extend 'yuge' thanks to Paul for standing in for me as Secretary whilst I was overseas, who wrote a most excellent and bodacious blog Film making a scary future plus writing scripts for screen plays One would think he knew a thing or two about writing :-).
Our meetings always seem to have a packed agenda and March 21 didn't disappoint. Whilst there were 18 of us and amongst the familiar faces were two guests, David and Sarah who are now in the process of signing up. It's heartening to see the word spread and our numbers starting to gradually grow.
Film Bite
It's also great to see members embracing the Film Bites concept with Heather leading the way when introducing ICELAND - The Nature is Speaking to You. Besides containing some striking and emotive imagery, Heather noted that the creator Ben Sake used a wide variety of shots including those taken from a drone, speed ramping, slow motion, contrasting imagery (fire and ice) and kaleidoscopic visual effects to entertain the viewer. The dialogue was chronological, well paced and allowed the vision to 'breathe' and further tell the story, with music appropriately swelling to match the panorama unfolding on the screen. Thanks Heather for taking the time to present the Film Bite.
The Awakening
Jenn then followed that up with her experience as producer/director for Heather's The Awakening. The shoot ended up with 82 individual shots across 11 scenes and 2 locations. It would not have been possible had she not employed a massive storyboard to visualise the scenes being shot, that could then be communicated to the DOP's, Murray and Jonathon. This also allowed the scenes to be shot out of sequence. One learning Jenn got was to complete your pre-production before engaging your talent, however that didn't deter her from an overall rewarding experience. A closing comment was then Jenn said a movie is made 3 times: when it's written, filmed and then edited. I think Jenn had an awakening experience of her own as producer/director.
Together Project Update
Peter then introduced us to Sarah who is contributing to his latest Together series, called "Keeping it Together". It's a retrospective life story as told by a woman and the people in her life about attempts to keep things together. The film is composed of two interspersed narrative streams, each strongly stylised so that we get a sense as we watch two disjointed yet interconnected dimensions of one person’s life (thus the film’s title). The two streams are referred to (for our sake not the audience’s) as ‘her story’ and ‘their story’.
‘Her story’ is made up of the voice of an older woman (in her 70s +) reminiscing about her life, from childhood up to the present day. Accompanying her words is a range of footage of the woman always depicted by fractured somewhat abstract footage of ‘bits’ of the woman, for instance, a close up of her hands fiddling with her ring, or folding her skirt, her feet walking, her mouth, hair, back of her neck. Or other footage of her domestic environment (garden, teacups, photos). In other words, she is never talking to the camera. Always beautifully and poetically shot up close with a short depth of field.
‘Their story’ – the other narrative stream - is made up of a range of different voice-overs, each representing people who knew the woman and who are describing her in different ways from their perspective (her Mum, her Dad, two brothers, a husband, a friend, etc.). Accompanying the ‘Their story’ footage is stylised old family footage (in the style of old 35mm film) which we run at a very slow speed to be very evocative of memory.
Peter is in need of old footage. The type of footage he is seeking is almost like super 8 footage that has been digitised or something of a 70's or 80's feel that can be worked on to look older.
If that wasn't enough, Peter gave an update on other Together productions, some still at concept stage whilst others are well into their production stage: Stuart and Shadow (filming complete) and the Lady Beetles (filming in progress).
The Eleven Tomorrows
David then gave an exciting update on the Eleven Tomorrows where a 30 minute podcast for Better Than a Museum has been completed, with perhaps more on the way. David also provided an update on the Witton Barracks which could be an alternative venue should the IndroHall committee choose to not maintain our current arrangements. The venue appears suitable for our needs but costs need to be determined by the BMM Committee should we be displaced.
Magic Mask
After the break, Glenn introduced us to Davinci Resolve's neat MAGIC MASK in Davinci Resolve 18 Studio capability. He used it to colourise the faces of his subjects to depict their emotions e.g. red for angry, green for calm. He will be further exploring this in the upcoming workshop on 4 April.
Heel Pain
Ross then showed us a 4 minute video on heel pain where he was the sound recordist for Moving Forward Podiatry and Orthotics.
UGG Competition
There were only 4 entries in the UGG Competition where the theme was 'Speed ramping' in video. The winner was Peter's appetising take on coffee making in Saving Grace. His other entry was Butterfly. Glenn submitted two entries, Rethink Plastic which used slow motion techniques and A Dawn to Remember which used an intervalometer to accelerate time for the dawn launch of 30 balloons on Canberra Day.
Corella Cacophony
Don rounded out the evening by showing a short video of white corellas decimating a tree in his local neighbourhood.
Next Meeting 4 April Agenda
Rotating workshops:
Prop weapons (Freddie Lee),
Shooting like a cinematographer not a videographer (Nigel),
Magic mask hands on (Glenn)
Upcoming UGG
The next UGG competition theme (as determined by ballot) by the members was 'stuffed animals' and 'light and shade'. The UGG competition is due on 2 May 2024.
Nigel
Secretary
Brisbane Movie Makers
Storytelling Through the Lens
