Events in 2019
27th November 2019 - Transferring Film to Video
'Transferring Film to Video, The Professional Way' was the full title for this evenings programme and was extremely well presented by
Andrew Cockerill of both Leeds and Bradford Movie Makers.
Andrew is a regular guest to Mercury Movies and always puts on a good evening's show. This evening as the title suggests was all about transferring old cine film into the digital format.
Andrew had acquired some old films off Ebay and from his 'Home Club' so he could demonstrate how simple the process was. The equipment he had is extremely rare so not everyone will be able to do what Andrew can do but he did offer to transfer any old film for any club member, (free of charge)
Martin Sunderland just happened to bring with him some old holiday film he had never seen before for a practical demonstration.
Everyone, and I really do mean everyone, was amazed at the sheer quality of the transfer from film to digital format.
It was a great evening's show and Andrew pulled it off to perfection, Martin was highly delighted with his 'new film' and the audience were well pleased too.
It was another great night for Mercury Movies.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
'Transferring Film to Video, The Professional Way' was the full title for this evenings programme and was extremely well presented by
Andrew Cockerill of both Leeds and Bradford Movie Makers.
Andrew is a regular guest to Mercury Movies and always puts on a good evening's show. This evening as the title suggests was all about transferring old cine film into the digital format.
Andrew had acquired some old films off Ebay and from his 'Home Club' so he could demonstrate how simple the process was. The equipment he had is extremely rare so not everyone will be able to do what Andrew can do but he did offer to transfer any old film for any club member, (free of charge)
Martin Sunderland just happened to bring with him some old holiday film he had never seen before for a practical demonstration.
Everyone, and I really do mean everyone, was amazed at the sheer quality of the transfer from film to digital format.
It was a great evening's show and Andrew pulled it off to perfection, Martin was highly delighted with his 'new film' and the audience were well pleased too.
It was another great night for Mercury Movies.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
20th November 2019 - Mercury versus Bradford Challenge Match
What a great challenge match this was. It was played under the latest rules where-by competing clubs would enter a programme of up to four films of any length or genre up to a maximum viewing time of 40minutes.
We put on a super selection of films to represent Mercury but Bradford's programme was really very good, it was a close competition!
The judge for the evenings competition was Izzy Smith, a young professional actress who was really, and I mean really good. Izzy doesn't make films herself but her assessment of all our efforts was really outstanding from a different point of view from what we are used to.
She gave the best programme to Mercury but as rules dictate we needed a 'Best Film' in the overall competition, and wait for it, that accolade was given to Bradford, so everyone was happy with a good evening's entertainment.
Many thanks to Izzy for her superb summaries of all the films, she was great.
Films entered for the challenge match were....
Mercury Movies The Sample. Richard Bray
A Day by the Riverside. George & Barbara Thompson
Courtyard Pottery. Roy & Jean Vickers
DIY. Martin Sunderland.
Bradford Movie Makers Return from Walthamstow Club Film
Ear Worm. Club Film
Catch and Cook. Ian Eggleston
Oklahoma. Harry Nicholls
Mercury won with the best programme.
Bradford entered the best film "Return from Walthamstow".
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer.
What a great challenge match this was. It was played under the latest rules where-by competing clubs would enter a programme of up to four films of any length or genre up to a maximum viewing time of 40minutes.
We put on a super selection of films to represent Mercury but Bradford's programme was really very good, it was a close competition!
The judge for the evenings competition was Izzy Smith, a young professional actress who was really, and I mean really good. Izzy doesn't make films herself but her assessment of all our efforts was really outstanding from a different point of view from what we are used to.
She gave the best programme to Mercury but as rules dictate we needed a 'Best Film' in the overall competition, and wait for it, that accolade was given to Bradford, so everyone was happy with a good evening's entertainment.
Many thanks to Izzy for her superb summaries of all the films, she was great.
Films entered for the challenge match were....
Mercury Movies The Sample. Richard Bray
A Day by the Riverside. George & Barbara Thompson
Courtyard Pottery. Roy & Jean Vickers
DIY. Martin Sunderland.
Bradford Movie Makers Return from Walthamstow Club Film
Ear Worm. Club Film
Catch and Cook. Ian Eggleston
Oklahoma. Harry Nicholls
Mercury won with the best programme.
Bradford entered the best film "Return from Walthamstow".
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer.
13th November - Films from the Archives
Tonight was a great programme selected at very short notice by our club archivist Bob Rudd. It was short notice due to the fact that there had been a last minute change in the clubs syllabus, but true to form Bob came up trumps. It was great to see some of our 'Old Films' and it was one of those nights when members would talk over the film on screen, saying such things as 'hey do you remember him' or 'It was rotten weather when we were filming that footage'. It was all good humoured stuff and was nice for members to have recollections of past filming and thanks must go to Bob for putting together such a great programme.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
Tonight was a great programme selected at very short notice by our club archivist Bob Rudd. It was short notice due to the fact that there had been a last minute change in the clubs syllabus, but true to form Bob came up trumps. It was great to see some of our 'Old Films' and it was one of those nights when members would talk over the film on screen, saying such things as 'hey do you remember him' or 'It was rotten weather when we were filming that footage'. It was all good humoured stuff and was nice for members to have recollections of past filming and thanks must go to Bob for putting together such a great programme.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
6th November - Ladies Evening
Mabel and Jean selected films for the first half of the evening. Mabel had been especially busy producing films. I didn't know that there were that many parks and gardens around Leeds, most enjoyable Mabel.
In the seconf part of the evening we had the "social" (we just kept on carried on nattering really!), which was quite refreshinf in itself.
Mabel and Jean selected films for the first half of the evening. Mabel had been especially busy producing films. I didn't know that there were that many parks and gardens around Leeds, most enjoyable Mabel.
In the seconf part of the evening we had the "social" (we just kept on carried on nattering really!), which was quite refreshinf in itself.
30th October -
First half - Presidents Challenge
The first half of the evening was organised by Martin Sunderland who had devised an 'editing' exercise for our members.
The idea was that Martin had some old holiday film of a past holiday in Italy and so he arranged for six members to take the identical 'footage' and edit a holiday film from that film.
What Martin wanted was to see how the various members would edit the same film and the results were staggering. Different sound tracks were chosen by different members, one even had a spoof voice-over in Italian whilst another did an amazing job with slow motion, black and white with spot colours and time lapse.
None of the films were roughly the same and it was great exercise for our budding editors. It went down really well, especially as we had some guests who didn't have a video background.
Second Half - Premiere Night
After the break we watched a film produced and directed by Dave and Jan Morton. The film was called 'Your Never Too Old' and was a comedy drama. Dave and Jan spent a lot of time and effort on this production and it showed. The acting was very good and the locations were excellent. Sadly some of the scenes were shot at Withernsea on the east coast and the wind (beautiful sunshine) was too evident for
Dave's liking on the sound track even though our sound engineer used some great gear. Dave decided not to use the odd shots but the film still worked out very well and we all liked it at 'it's Premiere'
After the film we watched another film produced by Dave and it was a real 'Hum Dinger' and it was also the reason why we had so many guests attending. The film was simply called 'SUTCLIFFE' a true, factual behind the scenes production featuring Roger Parnel, a detective who had hunted Peter Sutcliffe, was actually at our club. Roger is also an avid film maker and member of the Huddersfield Video Club.
Roger and Dave got together as they wanted to tell the true story of the Yorkshire Ripper as it was far different in many ways to what was generally known.
The programme was very factual and also adding emphasis to the screening was the fact that our guests were all involved in the murder hunt. One lady was actually a victim of Sutcliffe who survived his attempted murder by sheer fluke. I cannot put into words how a victim could describe the event and also how Roger, a hardened retired detective was so close to tears, was beyond belief.
The film also described how the 'Top Brass' got so many details wrong even though less senior detectives tried to explain what really happened.
As documentaries goes, this is quite possible the best production I have ever seen, it was well produced, well filmed but had no script, Roger just stood there and told it as it was, straight from the heart.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Oficer
First half - Presidents Challenge
The first half of the evening was organised by Martin Sunderland who had devised an 'editing' exercise for our members.
The idea was that Martin had some old holiday film of a past holiday in Italy and so he arranged for six members to take the identical 'footage' and edit a holiday film from that film.
What Martin wanted was to see how the various members would edit the same film and the results were staggering. Different sound tracks were chosen by different members, one even had a spoof voice-over in Italian whilst another did an amazing job with slow motion, black and white with spot colours and time lapse.
None of the films were roughly the same and it was great exercise for our budding editors. It went down really well, especially as we had some guests who didn't have a video background.
Second Half - Premiere Night
After the break we watched a film produced and directed by Dave and Jan Morton. The film was called 'Your Never Too Old' and was a comedy drama. Dave and Jan spent a lot of time and effort on this production and it showed. The acting was very good and the locations were excellent. Sadly some of the scenes were shot at Withernsea on the east coast and the wind (beautiful sunshine) was too evident for
Dave's liking on the sound track even though our sound engineer used some great gear. Dave decided not to use the odd shots but the film still worked out very well and we all liked it at 'it's Premiere'
After the film we watched another film produced by Dave and it was a real 'Hum Dinger' and it was also the reason why we had so many guests attending. The film was simply called 'SUTCLIFFE' a true, factual behind the scenes production featuring Roger Parnel, a detective who had hunted Peter Sutcliffe, was actually at our club. Roger is also an avid film maker and member of the Huddersfield Video Club.
Roger and Dave got together as they wanted to tell the true story of the Yorkshire Ripper as it was far different in many ways to what was generally known.
The programme was very factual and also adding emphasis to the screening was the fact that our guests were all involved in the murder hunt. One lady was actually a victim of Sutcliffe who survived his attempted murder by sheer fluke. I cannot put into words how a victim could describe the event and also how Roger, a hardened retired detective was so close to tears, was beyond belief.
The film also described how the 'Top Brass' got so many details wrong even though less senior detectives tried to explain what really happened.
As documentaries goes, this is quite possible the best production I have ever seen, it was well produced, well filmed but had no script, Roger just stood there and told it as it was, straight from the heart.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Oficer
23rd October - Gledhill Competition
Members had a great show tonight as 11 very different films were competing. We were to see some beautiful film of Chambord, Versails and Turkey along with a very slick and extravagant Asian Wedding.
A nerve wracking video film was shown of a military display of old fighter aircraft doing a 'dogfight' over the skies of Duxford Airfield and sad to say we also saw the results of a massive earthquake in a ruined city. Nearer to home we were shown a lovely film of Seaton Tramway in Devon and nearer still to home we saw an excellent film about Knaresborough.
Bill Blackwood was our judge for the evening and he whittled our presentation down to a final three films which were all jostling for pole position.
'Tree of Shields' was first in line which was an excellent film about martial arts using an array of assorted weaponry. It was beautifully filmed with an excellent description of what was happening on screen.
The second film in the running was 'Courtyard Pottery' and as the title name suggests it was all about pottery production. This really was a beautifully captured film with an excellent narration provided by the 'potter' and the colours were truly outstanding.
Third and final on the judges shortlist was 'Resurfacing a Driveway' which most of us watching could relate to. It was an in depth record of how to expertly and properly prepare a driveway for a quality finished driveway showing all the unseen irregularity's which have to be rectified. It was also very well filmed and narrated.
Like all competitions there can be only one winner and tonight our judge, Bill Blackwood gave the decision to
'Courtyard Pottery', filmed and produced by Roy and Jean Vickers.
On this occasion the judge was asked to nominate a runner up in the competition and so gave this award to
'Tree of Shields' filmed and produced by Bob Rowley.
Bill Blackwood was given a vote of thanks for giving an excellent appraisal of the evenings programme and commented how impressed he was with the very high standard of film making by our members, high praise indeed as you may recall Bill is a very highly regard professional actor with many years experience on both sides of the big screen.
Once again it was a good night.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
Members had a great show tonight as 11 very different films were competing. We were to see some beautiful film of Chambord, Versails and Turkey along with a very slick and extravagant Asian Wedding.
A nerve wracking video film was shown of a military display of old fighter aircraft doing a 'dogfight' over the skies of Duxford Airfield and sad to say we also saw the results of a massive earthquake in a ruined city. Nearer to home we were shown a lovely film of Seaton Tramway in Devon and nearer still to home we saw an excellent film about Knaresborough.
Bill Blackwood was our judge for the evening and he whittled our presentation down to a final three films which were all jostling for pole position.
'Tree of Shields' was first in line which was an excellent film about martial arts using an array of assorted weaponry. It was beautifully filmed with an excellent description of what was happening on screen.
The second film in the running was 'Courtyard Pottery' and as the title name suggests it was all about pottery production. This really was a beautifully captured film with an excellent narration provided by the 'potter' and the colours were truly outstanding.
Third and final on the judges shortlist was 'Resurfacing a Driveway' which most of us watching could relate to. It was an in depth record of how to expertly and properly prepare a driveway for a quality finished driveway showing all the unseen irregularity's which have to be rectified. It was also very well filmed and narrated.
Like all competitions there can be only one winner and tonight our judge, Bill Blackwood gave the decision to
'Courtyard Pottery', filmed and produced by Roy and Jean Vickers.
On this occasion the judge was asked to nominate a runner up in the competition and so gave this award to
'Tree of Shields' filmed and produced by Bob Rowley.
Bill Blackwood was given a vote of thanks for giving an excellent appraisal of the evenings programme and commented how impressed he was with the very high standard of film making by our members, high praise indeed as you may recall Bill is a very highly regard professional actor with many years experience on both sides of the big screen.
Once again it was a good night.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
16th October - A Practical Night With a Difference
We had a very interesting night this week.
Dave Morten arranged for a professional actor to pay us a visit and pass on some very useful tips and information.
Dave arrange for a short script, only a dozen lines or so and various members had been asked (in turn) to film and direct the same scene.
Members had been told to tell the actor where he wanted him to sit/stand etc, wether he wanted a harsh or softly spoken voice and the member would then position his camera for close-ups, wide angle, low angle etc, I am sure you know the drill. Half a dozen members volunteered to do the 'producing' and this was very entertaining.
The scenario was that we had a short clip of a professional actor being directed by six different directors doing the same script. What a great outcome it was and no two clips were the same. It was a good night with a great actor doing exactly what he was told by the director.
When we watched the playback of the various clips our guests offered his expertise on how things went, for example, one director told the actor he was doing an extreme close up on his eyes and the actor appreciated this as he knew he would not want to move his head around.
All simple stuff but it really does make a difference. It has to be said it was a night for the practical minded member but it was certainly one of the best nights we have had at Mercury Movie Makers and last but not least, many thanks to our guest who made it such an enjoyable evening. His name is BILL BLACKWOOD
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
We had a very interesting night this week.
Dave Morten arranged for a professional actor to pay us a visit and pass on some very useful tips and information.
Dave arrange for a short script, only a dozen lines or so and various members had been asked (in turn) to film and direct the same scene.
Members had been told to tell the actor where he wanted him to sit/stand etc, wether he wanted a harsh or softly spoken voice and the member would then position his camera for close-ups, wide angle, low angle etc, I am sure you know the drill. Half a dozen members volunteered to do the 'producing' and this was very entertaining.
The scenario was that we had a short clip of a professional actor being directed by six different directors doing the same script. What a great outcome it was and no two clips were the same. It was a good night with a great actor doing exactly what he was told by the director.
When we watched the playback of the various clips our guests offered his expertise on how things went, for example, one director told the actor he was doing an extreme close up on his eyes and the actor appreciated this as he knew he would not want to move his head around.
All simple stuff but it really does make a difference. It has to be said it was a night for the practical minded member but it was certainly one of the best nights we have had at Mercury Movie Makers and last but not least, many thanks to our guest who made it such an enjoyable evening. His name is BILL BLACKWOOD
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
4th October - West Riding Cine Group Meeting - Film Show and Presentation
The meeting of the WRCG took place at The Stainbeck Church in Leeds which is also the meeting place of Leeds Movie Makers and host for the evenings meeting.
Dave Morton our Programme Secretary at Mercury Movie Makers also just happens to be the current Chairman of the West Riding Cine Group and so organised the evening's programme which consisted of showing a selection of films from SERIAC, the south eastern region of the IAC.
It was a brilliant programme with a mixture of travelogues, fiction, documentaries and animation films and would certainly take some beating if we were to compete against them. The quality of the filming camerawork along with great audio was breathtakingly good.
The WRCG is all about our various clubs within the group to compete with each other at challenge matches throughout the year, scoring points along the way and ultimately hoping to be the club with the most points and get presented with the trophy, a huge highly valuable silver cup.
It was great news to hear that Mercury Movie Makers along with Bradford Movie Makers were joint winners and will hold the 'Cup' for the coming year.
It was a great evening's entertainment, meeting many friends from other clubs and it was a 'Full House' and many thanks were given to our hosts from Leeds Movie Makers.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
The meeting of the WRCG took place at The Stainbeck Church in Leeds which is also the meeting place of Leeds Movie Makers and host for the evenings meeting.
Dave Morton our Programme Secretary at Mercury Movie Makers also just happens to be the current Chairman of the West Riding Cine Group and so organised the evening's programme which consisted of showing a selection of films from SERIAC, the south eastern region of the IAC.
It was a brilliant programme with a mixture of travelogues, fiction, documentaries and animation films and would certainly take some beating if we were to compete against them. The quality of the filming camerawork along with great audio was breathtakingly good.
The WRCG is all about our various clubs within the group to compete with each other at challenge matches throughout the year, scoring points along the way and ultimately hoping to be the club with the most points and get presented with the trophy, a huge highly valuable silver cup.
It was great news to hear that Mercury Movie Makers along with Bradford Movie Makers were joint winners and will hold the 'Cup' for the coming year.
It was a great evening's entertainment, meeting many friends from other clubs and it was a 'Full House' and many thanks were given to our hosts from Leeds Movie Makers.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
3rd October - Beneath British Waters
This really was a night with a difference. Dave Morton our programme secretary had somehow managed to get Mark Barrow, a SCUBA and Snorkel diver to visit our club and give us 'a talk' Mark specialises in films of underwater footage of our British Waters and lakes, specialising in our various species and wide variety of fish.
To say his 'footage' was great would be an understatement, it really was superb stuff. There no murky underwater shots here. Footage was beautifully 'Lit' and close-ups were the order of the day. Every type of fish was within arms reach with the various species showing no worries of being filmed.
There was small stuff from tiny perch to huge female pike and all this was filmed in great clarity with Mark meandering in and around some underwater obstacles such as fallen trees and weeds.
There was no 'story' to Mark's shots as he just stood up in front of his audience and 'narrated' live to the subject material on our big screen. He was a very good informative speaker and also embellished the importance of keeping our lakes and waterways clean and healthy for our fish and wildlife.
Brilliant stuff.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
This really was a night with a difference. Dave Morton our programme secretary had somehow managed to get Mark Barrow, a SCUBA and Snorkel diver to visit our club and give us 'a talk' Mark specialises in films of underwater footage of our British Waters and lakes, specialising in our various species and wide variety of fish.
To say his 'footage' was great would be an understatement, it really was superb stuff. There no murky underwater shots here. Footage was beautifully 'Lit' and close-ups were the order of the day. Every type of fish was within arms reach with the various species showing no worries of being filmed.
There was small stuff from tiny perch to huge female pike and all this was filmed in great clarity with Mark meandering in and around some underwater obstacles such as fallen trees and weeds.
There was no 'story' to Mark's shots as he just stood up in front of his audience and 'narrated' live to the subject material on our big screen. He was a very good informative speaker and also embellished the importance of keeping our lakes and waterways clean and healthy for our fish and wildlife.
Brilliant stuff.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
28th August - Southend Film Makers showreel
Tonight Bob Rowley presented some films from Soutend Film Makers.
It is always entertaining and enjoyable to watch other club's films. Not just for entertainment value but for the serious flim makers amongst us, to study different techniques, ideas, methods etc.
A most enjoyable evening Bob.
Tonight Bob Rowley presented some films from Soutend Film Makers.
It is always entertaining and enjoyable to watch other club's films. Not just for entertainment value but for the serious flim makers amongst us, to study different techniques, ideas, methods etc.
A most enjoyable evening Bob.
21st August - Documentary Film Night
This week was a 'free and easy' evening of any films that members wanted to show, preferably documentaries. Well, we had plenty of support for the evening but unfortunately Dave Morton who organised the event was unable to attend due to medical reasons and he really did miss a great evenings entertainment.
Subjects covered was a 'Walking Film", Fred Dibnah with 'Bettsy' his rebuilt 1949 steam roller, How they amputated a soldiers leg in in the Napoleonic Wars, wow, I have only just come round after seeing that, but it really was very well produced.
Other filmed subjects were some of vintage Samuel Ledgard Buses and the Galapogos Islands among others. Mike Breeze showed a film on wild bears filmed in Finland and what a cracking film this was and certainly my favourite of the evening.
There were lots of films on various subjects and it was a great programme, it's just a pity that Dave missed it.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
This week was a 'free and easy' evening of any films that members wanted to show, preferably documentaries. Well, we had plenty of support for the evening but unfortunately Dave Morton who organised the event was unable to attend due to medical reasons and he really did miss a great evenings entertainment.
Subjects covered was a 'Walking Film", Fred Dibnah with 'Bettsy' his rebuilt 1949 steam roller, How they amputated a soldiers leg in in the Napoleonic Wars, wow, I have only just come round after seeing that, but it really was very well produced.
Other filmed subjects were some of vintage Samuel Ledgard Buses and the Galapogos Islands among others. Mike Breeze showed a film on wild bears filmed in Finland and what a cracking film this was and certainly my favourite of the evening.
There were lots of films on various subjects and it was a great programme, it's just a pity that Dave missed it.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
14th August - "Out and About" Competition
Tonight's competition to the theme of 'Out and About' was supported by 12 films and according to our visiting guest judge, Barry Smith of Huddersfield Movie Makers, it was an excellent evening of members films with a wide selection of entries.
Barry congratulated all the film makers involved with some very warm comments and he also added some of his own opinions on what he would have done in some parts of the various films. These comments were very entertaining and came across in a very kind way, not as a criticism but as a suggestion on how he would would have done the editing.
He was very informative and it was a very relaxed atmosphere to a very competitive audience and he was well received. Of the twelve entries there can be only one winner and that honour went to Mike Breeze for his production of 'Theatres and Cinemas' with the judges comment about the good narration with the expert knowledge of the film maker. The judge was also intrigued by the history of what had happened to those establishments and their sad demise. It was a great film and well done to Mike.
On this occasion our competition secretary, Roy Vickers, requested the judges choice for a 'runner up' in the competition and this honour went to Martin Sunderland for his production of 'Garden Life'. Martin gives great attention to detail regarding camera work and by golly it does show, extreme close-up shots and time lapse clips of flowers were the strong points. One of the judges comments was he would have liked more narration to the film but I think Martin lets the camera (in this case) do the talking.
Either way it was to me a very close call for the top two films and I was glad it was Barry Smith who had the difficult task of judging this great competition. Roy thanked Barry for his comments and hard work and also paid tribute to all the members who had supported the competition with their various films which really did make a very fine evening's programme.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
Tonight's competition to the theme of 'Out and About' was supported by 12 films and according to our visiting guest judge, Barry Smith of Huddersfield Movie Makers, it was an excellent evening of members films with a wide selection of entries.
Barry congratulated all the film makers involved with some very warm comments and he also added some of his own opinions on what he would have done in some parts of the various films. These comments were very entertaining and came across in a very kind way, not as a criticism but as a suggestion on how he would would have done the editing.
He was very informative and it was a very relaxed atmosphere to a very competitive audience and he was well received. Of the twelve entries there can be only one winner and that honour went to Mike Breeze for his production of 'Theatres and Cinemas' with the judges comment about the good narration with the expert knowledge of the film maker. The judge was also intrigued by the history of what had happened to those establishments and their sad demise. It was a great film and well done to Mike.
On this occasion our competition secretary, Roy Vickers, requested the judges choice for a 'runner up' in the competition and this honour went to Martin Sunderland for his production of 'Garden Life'. Martin gives great attention to detail regarding camera work and by golly it does show, extreme close-up shots and time lapse clips of flowers were the strong points. One of the judges comments was he would have liked more narration to the film but I think Martin lets the camera (in this case) do the talking.
Either way it was to me a very close call for the top two films and I was glad it was Barry Smith who had the difficult task of judging this great competition. Roy thanked Barry for his comments and hard work and also paid tribute to all the members who had supported the competition with their various films which really did make a very fine evening's programme.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
31st July - After the 'Big' Event
What a great evening we had last Monday at the Club's 60th anniversary do. It really was spectacular. This week our club's librarian and archivist, Bob Rudd, decided to give an evenings programme of library films made by club members from those very early days of our existence.
It was lovely to see and be reminded of some of our late members of the club. It was also great to see how far we have progressed in our film making but at the same time remembering how well those members did in the early days creating some great classic films for our archives and future reference.
It was a lovely night and we also thanked Bob for organizing the evenings programme. At the start of the evening whilst Bob Rudd was getting ready to show the selected films, Martin mentioned what a great evening it was last Monday and in particular wanted to thank Bob Rowley for all the hard work he had put in to make that evening such a success. He then also confirmed the club will be closed next week as members are going on a narrow boat cruise, so no doubt we will be hearing all about that in the near future, we will just have to wait and see.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
What a great evening we had last Monday at the Club's 60th anniversary do. It really was spectacular. This week our club's librarian and archivist, Bob Rudd, decided to give an evenings programme of library films made by club members from those very early days of our existence.
It was lovely to see and be reminded of some of our late members of the club. It was also great to see how far we have progressed in our film making but at the same time remembering how well those members did in the early days creating some great classic films for our archives and future reference.
It was a lovely night and we also thanked Bob for organizing the evenings programme. At the start of the evening whilst Bob Rudd was getting ready to show the selected films, Martin mentioned what a great evening it was last Monday and in particular wanted to thank Bob Rowley for all the hard work he had put in to make that evening such a success. He then also confirmed the club will be closed next week as members are going on a narrow boat cruise, so no doubt we will be hearing all about that in the near future, we will just have to wait and see.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
29th July Mercury Movie Makers - 60th Anniversary BBQ
How lucky we were, it was an absolutely beautiful evening and the sunshine was glorious.
Today's date exactly 60 years ago, Mercury Movie Makers began it's movie making career and what a success story it has been.
The committee decided to celebrate the occasion with a fantastic, no holds barred, BBQ at ''The Ings' country pub at Guiseley, near Leeds. It really was a fantastic event.
About 90 guests attended and were treated to 'live music' plus a renowned magician from the Magic Circle who did some wonderful close up magic at guests tables. There was also a raffle, but this was not the 'bottle of fizz and box of chocolates affair'. Digital cameras, Dash-cams and Fit Bit watches along with many other great prizes were up for grabs and the response was great.
All of the above was complemented with good music and drink along with one of the largest BBQ's I have ever seen. It really was a great celebration and Bob Rowley our club secretary organised the lot.
Towards the end of the evening, a beautiful cake to celebrate our anniversary was 'Cut' to loud applause and Martin Sunderland our club President thanked Bob for all the extremely hard work he had put in to make this a successful event. I have often said this about Mercury Movies but this really was A Great Night and we celebrated in style.
Photographs of the event
A short film of the event
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
How lucky we were, it was an absolutely beautiful evening and the sunshine was glorious.
Today's date exactly 60 years ago, Mercury Movie Makers began it's movie making career and what a success story it has been.
The committee decided to celebrate the occasion with a fantastic, no holds barred, BBQ at ''The Ings' country pub at Guiseley, near Leeds. It really was a fantastic event.
About 90 guests attended and were treated to 'live music' plus a renowned magician from the Magic Circle who did some wonderful close up magic at guests tables. There was also a raffle, but this was not the 'bottle of fizz and box of chocolates affair'. Digital cameras, Dash-cams and Fit Bit watches along with many other great prizes were up for grabs and the response was great.
All of the above was complemented with good music and drink along with one of the largest BBQ's I have ever seen. It really was a great celebration and Bob Rowley our club secretary organised the lot.
Towards the end of the evening, a beautiful cake to celebrate our anniversary was 'Cut' to loud applause and Martin Sunderland our club President thanked Bob for all the extremely hard work he had put in to make this a successful event. I have often said this about Mercury Movies but this really was A Great Night and we celebrated in style.
Photographs of the event
A short film of the event
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
24th July - Allan's Night - 'My Back Yard'
What a good night, it really was. I had arranged to put on an evenings entertainment based around the theme of (you've guessed it) 'My Back Yard'.
Well I had taken some video films with me to fill the evening but I had intimated for several weeks beforehand that members were welcome to bring along any films they had to fit my evenings theme. Well to cut a long story short, I was overwhelmed by the support I got from all the members. Twenty-six, yes 26 films turned up and they were great. the films were stunning and were a credit to all concerned.
I can't really say too much about each film because most of them had the same title of My Back Yard, so it was hard to differentiate between them. Just to say a couple of films included two entirely different of films about some local village history, Extreme close-ups of woodpeckers, Badgers and some lovely parkland scenes were also shown. One film around the River Wharfe was amazing as well as some beautiful camera work on another film showing 'time-lapse' photography of garden flowers. The list goes on and I really was spoiled for choice.
Much less than all the films available to me could not be shown due to time limitations and so Dave our programme secretary said he would check to see if we could have a later update of the remaining films. I really was lucky with all the support I got from the members but I would really like to thank the makers of the films we saw who were Stuart, Roy, Dave, Martin, Mike, 2 Bobs and Harry.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
What a good night, it really was. I had arranged to put on an evenings entertainment based around the theme of (you've guessed it) 'My Back Yard'.
Well I had taken some video films with me to fill the evening but I had intimated for several weeks beforehand that members were welcome to bring along any films they had to fit my evenings theme. Well to cut a long story short, I was overwhelmed by the support I got from all the members. Twenty-six, yes 26 films turned up and they were great. the films were stunning and were a credit to all concerned.
I can't really say too much about each film because most of them had the same title of My Back Yard, so it was hard to differentiate between them. Just to say a couple of films included two entirely different of films about some local village history, Extreme close-ups of woodpeckers, Badgers and some lovely parkland scenes were also shown. One film around the River Wharfe was amazing as well as some beautiful camera work on another film showing 'time-lapse' photography of garden flowers. The list goes on and I really was spoiled for choice.
Much less than all the films available to me could not be shown due to time limitations and so Dave our programme secretary said he would check to see if we could have a later update of the remaining films. I really was lucky with all the support I got from the members but I would really like to thank the makers of the films we saw who were Stuart, Roy, Dave, Martin, Mike, 2 Bobs and Harry.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
17th July - Challenge Match
Tonight Mercury Movie Makers held their first challenge match of the 2019 season and it was a real cracker. Mercury were the host club and Huddersfield Movie Makers were our competitors for the evening's competition. After a 'Toss-Up' Huddersfield showed their program first. At this point I must point out that the West Riding Challenge Match rules have now changed and briefly are as follows,.....
1 At each Challenge Match, two clubs will compete at a venue, with the host club having arranged a judge not affiliated to either of those clubs
2 Each club to show a program, not exceeding 40 minutes, made up of 1 to (maximum) 4 films. (this does not include time spent by the judge making notes). The films can be of any genre(s)
3 A coin should be tossed to decide which club goes first.
4 The first club shows their film(s), with time after each film for the judge to write notes.
5 At the end of the first session (usually before the refreshments break), the judge should speak comments on the film(s) shown by the first club.
6 After the break, the second club will show their film(s), with time after each film for the judge to write notes.
7 At the end of the second session, the judge should speak comments on the film(s) shown by the second club.
8 The judge announces what in his/her opinion is the best film. That club attains 1 point
9 The judge then announces the best overall program, which attains 2 points. (Note, this may or may not necessarily be the program containing the best film)
10 Once a film is entered into a Challenge Match it begins a 3-year life span, regardless of how many times it is entered.
NOTE.....In each Challenge Match the winner could acquire 2 or 3 points, while the loser could acquire 0 or 1 point.
This system allows a club to enter the type of films at which it excels, disregarding fixed categories.
Having the winner announced at the end of the evening avoids the awkward situation - under the previous system - where a club which won the first two categories before the break had already won the Match!
Well that is the new system and at first I was a little confused, but Huddersfield really did put on a good show and I thought they were great. Mercury put on their show in the second half and to be fair, I didn't think we were good enough. We were good, but Huddersfield were better and it showed as was proven by the visiting judge and his verdict who incidentally was the very capable Ken Wilson of Phase 4 Films. Mercury did put up a good show and by good fortune Ken selected mercury as having entered the best film of the evening. So the results were, Huddersfied 2 points, Mercury 1 point.
It was a good competition and Ken lived up to his reputation of giving some good comments but the bottom line is Mercury Movie Makers will have to 'Pull it's Socks Up' if we are going to have a chance of getting our hands on that West Riding Challenge Match Trophy for this year
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
Tonight Mercury Movie Makers held their first challenge match of the 2019 season and it was a real cracker. Mercury were the host club and Huddersfield Movie Makers were our competitors for the evening's competition. After a 'Toss-Up' Huddersfield showed their program first. At this point I must point out that the West Riding Challenge Match rules have now changed and briefly are as follows,.....
1 At each Challenge Match, two clubs will compete at a venue, with the host club having arranged a judge not affiliated to either of those clubs
2 Each club to show a program, not exceeding 40 minutes, made up of 1 to (maximum) 4 films. (this does not include time spent by the judge making notes). The films can be of any genre(s)
3 A coin should be tossed to decide which club goes first.
4 The first club shows their film(s), with time after each film for the judge to write notes.
5 At the end of the first session (usually before the refreshments break), the judge should speak comments on the film(s) shown by the first club.
6 After the break, the second club will show their film(s), with time after each film for the judge to write notes.
7 At the end of the second session, the judge should speak comments on the film(s) shown by the second club.
8 The judge announces what in his/her opinion is the best film. That club attains 1 point
9 The judge then announces the best overall program, which attains 2 points. (Note, this may or may not necessarily be the program containing the best film)
10 Once a film is entered into a Challenge Match it begins a 3-year life span, regardless of how many times it is entered.
NOTE.....In each Challenge Match the winner could acquire 2 or 3 points, while the loser could acquire 0 or 1 point.
This system allows a club to enter the type of films at which it excels, disregarding fixed categories.
Having the winner announced at the end of the evening avoids the awkward situation - under the previous system - where a club which won the first two categories before the break had already won the Match!
Well that is the new system and at first I was a little confused, but Huddersfield really did put on a good show and I thought they were great. Mercury put on their show in the second half and to be fair, I didn't think we were good enough. We were good, but Huddersfield were better and it showed as was proven by the visiting judge and his verdict who incidentally was the very capable Ken Wilson of Phase 4 Films. Mercury did put up a good show and by good fortune Ken selected mercury as having entered the best film of the evening. So the results were, Huddersfied 2 points, Mercury 1 point.
It was a good competition and Ken lived up to his reputation of giving some good comments but the bottom line is Mercury Movie Makers will have to 'Pull it's Socks Up' if we are going to have a chance of getting our hands on that West Riding Challenge Match Trophy for this year
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
10th July - A Laurel & Hardy evening
Tonight's invited guests were Roger and Maureen Parnell, long time members of the Huddersfield Video Club who as well as being video film producers are also ardent fans of the Laurel and Hardy comedy films made in and around the 1930's. In actual fact it was a bad start for Roger as our sound system wasn't working too well and so Roger had to improvise by explaining to the audience the varied and interesting backgrounds along with some amusing 'Tit-Bits' about Hollywoods most famous comedy actors. When the show finally got going it was great. The quality of the films was amazing and the 'corny' jokes and over the top acting was done in great style. It really was clever stuff. Roger and Maureen also brought along some of their own films which included among others, a film of the 'Grand Canyon, A holiday trip to Canada and a couple of cruises around the great rivers of Belgium, Germany and France. We were also shown a comedy film produced by the members of the Huddersfield Video Club which was based on a night in a 'Bingo' hall. To sum up, Roger and Maureen were very entertaining guests showing a very wide selection of films along with plenty of 'Chat' between each film which made for a very relaxed 'Night of Laughter' 😁
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
Tonight's invited guests were Roger and Maureen Parnell, long time members of the Huddersfield Video Club who as well as being video film producers are also ardent fans of the Laurel and Hardy comedy films made in and around the 1930's. In actual fact it was a bad start for Roger as our sound system wasn't working too well and so Roger had to improvise by explaining to the audience the varied and interesting backgrounds along with some amusing 'Tit-Bits' about Hollywoods most famous comedy actors. When the show finally got going it was great. The quality of the films was amazing and the 'corny' jokes and over the top acting was done in great style. It really was clever stuff. Roger and Maureen also brought along some of their own films which included among others, a film of the 'Grand Canyon, A holiday trip to Canada and a couple of cruises around the great rivers of Belgium, Germany and France. We were also shown a comedy film produced by the members of the Huddersfield Video Club which was based on a night in a 'Bingo' hall. To sum up, Roger and Maureen were very entertaining guests showing a very wide selection of films along with plenty of 'Chat' between each film which made for a very relaxed 'Night of Laughter' 😁
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
3rd July - Harry Nicholls entertains
This really was a night with a difference. Harry Nicholls is a very highly regarded magician and member within the ranks of the 'Inner Magic Circle' He has also travelled world wide on cruises doing his Cabaret Show with his 'close-up' magic for which he holds the record of doing just that. Harry is also a highly valued member of Mercury Movie Makers and so it will come as no surprise that we got him to do a complete show completely surrounded by cameras
recording his every move. Tight camera shots were focused on his every move, if he blinked, it would be slowed down to see if it was a sign of mis-direction. By golly, he was good and it was a great show for all concerned. At the end of the evenings show, Bob our club secretary, said copies of the camera 'footage' would be available for anyone who would like to create a quality video film for the clubs archives. This really was a good evenings entertainment and was good practice for the camera-men, lighting technicians, sound recordings and all who took part in this very practical evenings show.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
recording his every move. Tight camera shots were focused on his every move, if he blinked, it would be slowed down to see if it was a sign of mis-direction. By golly, he was good and it was a great show for all concerned. At the end of the evenings show, Bob our club secretary, said copies of the camera 'footage' would be available for anyone who would like to create a quality video film for the clubs archives. This really was a good evenings entertainment and was good practice for the camera-men, lighting technicians, sound recordings and all who took part in this very practical evenings show.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
26th June Films from the Archives
It was a funny old night at the club last night. There was a little bit of a 'mix-up' regarding what films we were showing but in true style, our Secretary Bob Rowley had it all sorted and so once again it turned out to be a good evening's entertainment.
First of all we watched 2 or 3 videos from an Australian movie makers club and they were basically very good. I personally did struggle at times with the various sound tracks, firstly with there unique drawl when speaking and secondly with poor 'Mix-Down' when the backing tracks compete for prominence with 'Voice-Over' track. I had to concentrate quite hard to follow the script which was very good and the various subject matters were a real treat.
After our tea break wonderfully prepared as usual by Mabel and her team we got onto some really good stuff. We watched a superb film documentary of a fellow collecting mushrooms in some really beautiful woodland locations, We were shown a huge variety of mushrooms and primarily what to eat and what not to eat, Great sound and videography made this a great film to watch, which was produced by Roy and Jean Vickers. Martin Sunderland showed us one of his films, simply called 'DIY' It was set to music of a very fast paced track of the same name, DIY. The editing and shots on this film were brilliant, the shots were varied and the camera work was great. The film was called DIY but the subject matter went way beyond that. It was a complete major refurbishment of a lovely old property to be placed on the open market. This was top notch video-making at it's best.
Derek Mathieson produced a video of Tyneside called (by locals) 'The Toon' and this really was another good film to watch. The editing and videography were superb with some very unusual 'effects' thrown in. It was a very easy film to follow without being overawed with facts. I loved it. Overall the first part of the evening went very well but it was only when we watched the second half of the evenings programme that we saw the differences of what makes a video film, a great video film. And for that reason alone, it was very instructive and was another good night.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
First of all we watched 2 or 3 videos from an Australian movie makers club and they were basically very good. I personally did struggle at times with the various sound tracks, firstly with there unique drawl when speaking and secondly with poor 'Mix-Down' when the backing tracks compete for prominence with 'Voice-Over' track. I had to concentrate quite hard to follow the script which was very good and the various subject matters were a real treat.
After our tea break wonderfully prepared as usual by Mabel and her team we got onto some really good stuff. We watched a superb film documentary of a fellow collecting mushrooms in some really beautiful woodland locations, We were shown a huge variety of mushrooms and primarily what to eat and what not to eat, Great sound and videography made this a great film to watch, which was produced by Roy and Jean Vickers. Martin Sunderland showed us one of his films, simply called 'DIY' It was set to music of a very fast paced track of the same name, DIY. The editing and shots on this film were brilliant, the shots were varied and the camera work was great. The film was called DIY but the subject matter went way beyond that. It was a complete major refurbishment of a lovely old property to be placed on the open market. This was top notch video-making at it's best.
Derek Mathieson produced a video of Tyneside called (by locals) 'The Toon' and this really was another good film to watch. The editing and videography were superb with some very unusual 'effects' thrown in. It was a very easy film to follow without being overawed with facts. I loved it. Overall the first part of the evening went very well but it was only when we watched the second half of the evenings programme that we saw the differences of what makes a video film, a great video film. And for that reason alone, it was very instructive and was another good night.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
19th June Programme Night
12th June
5th June 2019, Competition Night
What a night this was, it was 3 for the price of One.First we had a 'One Minute' competition,then this was followed by our 'Five Minute' competition and finally we had our competition to 'Music'. All three competitions were our own 'in house' competitions strictly for our own members and overall there were 16 entries for the three individual competitions, so it goes without saying that our guest judge, Andrew Cockerill of Bradford Movie Makers had is work cut out. And a very fine job he did too.
Andrew is quite a 'tecky' bloke and he goes into great detail of why he likes or dislikes a particular film and it should give the various film makers suggestions and ideas for their next attempt of being awarded one of our competition trophies. The evening was fast and furious and there was no time to make detailed notes of the various films. I just left it to Andrew to sum up the evenings programme and then confirm his choice of winning films.
'One Minute' Competition
Peter Hartingdon produced the winning film which ironically was called 'One Minute'
'Five Minute' Competition
Roy and Jean Vickers produced the runner up for this competition and was called 'Welcome Spring'
Jan and Dave Morten produced the winning film and this was called 'Cocoa for Two'
Film to Music
Eight films were entered in this category and to be fair it was probably the hardest one to judge but true to form there were some good filming and editing on show here.
Martin Sunderland produced a superb film to Elicia Keys song 'New York State of Mind'. Sadly it only came in as runner up to Bob Rowleys winning film 'Singing at Alsace'.
The reason this film was the judges choice was the fact it was a live musical recording done in the streets of Alsace.
All in all it was a good evenings entertainment and all the films were of a very high standard and could be 'winners' in their own right, but someone has to win or lose. Thanks to all who entered we had a really enjoyable evenings entertainment,
Thank you all.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
What a night this was, it was 3 for the price of One.First we had a 'One Minute' competition,then this was followed by our 'Five Minute' competition and finally we had our competition to 'Music'. All three competitions were our own 'in house' competitions strictly for our own members and overall there were 16 entries for the three individual competitions, so it goes without saying that our guest judge, Andrew Cockerill of Bradford Movie Makers had is work cut out. And a very fine job he did too.
Andrew is quite a 'tecky' bloke and he goes into great detail of why he likes or dislikes a particular film and it should give the various film makers suggestions and ideas for their next attempt of being awarded one of our competition trophies. The evening was fast and furious and there was no time to make detailed notes of the various films. I just left it to Andrew to sum up the evenings programme and then confirm his choice of winning films.
'One Minute' Competition
Peter Hartingdon produced the winning film which ironically was called 'One Minute'
'Five Minute' Competition
Roy and Jean Vickers produced the runner up for this competition and was called 'Welcome Spring'
Jan and Dave Morten produced the winning film and this was called 'Cocoa for Two'
Film to Music
Eight films were entered in this category and to be fair it was probably the hardest one to judge but true to form there were some good filming and editing on show here.
Martin Sunderland produced a superb film to Elicia Keys song 'New York State of Mind'. Sadly it only came in as runner up to Bob Rowleys winning film 'Singing at Alsace'.
The reason this film was the judges choice was the fact it was a live musical recording done in the streets of Alsace.
All in all it was a good evenings entertainment and all the films were of a very high standard and could be 'winners' in their own right, but someone has to win or lose. Thanks to all who entered we had a really enjoyable evenings entertainment,
Thank you all.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
29th May, IAC films
What a good night this was. Dave is our very experienced and knowledgeable programme secretary who put
together a number of films which had been selected from the annual SERIAC competition. SERIAC stands for
the South Eastern Region of the IAC. The films entered into the competition were from the many and varied
film making clubs within their area which incidentally also covered the Channel Islands, so it goes without saying
there were some great films of various genres. All the films were of an incredibly high standard and and it was a programme not to be missed. The real bonus for our film makers at Mercury Movie Makers were the editing techniques and film capturing angles along with choice of sound tracks which set this evening's programme apart
from many others we have seen. It really was a good night and well done to Dave for selecting a very varied
selection of films for our evenings entertainment.
Allan Vanston
What a good night this was. Dave is our very experienced and knowledgeable programme secretary who put
together a number of films which had been selected from the annual SERIAC competition. SERIAC stands for
the South Eastern Region of the IAC. The films entered into the competition were from the many and varied
film making clubs within their area which incidentally also covered the Channel Islands, so it goes without saying
there were some great films of various genres. All the films were of an incredibly high standard and and it was a programme not to be missed. The real bonus for our film makers at Mercury Movie Makers were the editing techniques and film capturing angles along with choice of sound tracks which set this evening's programme apart
from many others we have seen. It really was a good night and well done to Dave for selecting a very varied
selection of films for our evenings entertainment.
Allan Vanston
22nd May, Memories of Ian Dewhirst
Andrew Cockerill visited Mercury and showed us a couple of films of the late Ian Dewhirst.
The films were of a visit that Ian had paid to Bradford Movie Makers in 2007. Ian was talking about the arrival of "films" and the "cinema" to Keighley and the surrounding district.
As always, his talk was based on fact and taken from his vast archive of clippings and newspaper extracts. But in his inimitable way Ian often veered off track and further illuminated the point with oodles of humour.
It was so enjoyable, entertaining and funny and I am sure that this would be the way that Ian would want us to remember him.
Thank you Andrew and thank you Ian
Martin
Andrew Cockerill visited Mercury and showed us a couple of films of the late Ian Dewhirst.
The films were of a visit that Ian had paid to Bradford Movie Makers in 2007. Ian was talking about the arrival of "films" and the "cinema" to Keighley and the surrounding district.
As always, his talk was based on fact and taken from his vast archive of clippings and newspaper extracts. But in his inimitable way Ian often veered off track and further illuminated the point with oodles of humour.
It was so enjoyable, entertaining and funny and I am sure that this would be the way that Ian would want us to remember him.
Thank you Andrew and thank you Ian
Martin
15th May, Catchphrase
This was a really full and busy evening with the best part of twenty entries for the competition. It was a good night as all the members present were kept guessing the subject matter and also had the responsibility of voting for their favourite entry.
The problem being, it wasn't just a case of having a 'tie-break' as there were three entries with equal scores.
The matter was soon solved as Bob Rowley, used his casting vote and chose the catchphrase entry, 'Barking Up The Wrong Tree' a very funny and beautifully filmed sketch presented by Peter Hartingdon.
Well done Peter and thanks to Bob for making it such an enjoyable evening.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer.
This was a really full and busy evening with the best part of twenty entries for the competition. It was a good night as all the members present were kept guessing the subject matter and also had the responsibility of voting for their favourite entry.
The problem being, it wasn't just a case of having a 'tie-break' as there were three entries with equal scores.
The matter was soon solved as Bob Rowley, used his casting vote and chose the catchphrase entry, 'Barking Up The Wrong Tree' a very funny and beautifully filmed sketch presented by Peter Hartingdon.
Well done Peter and thanks to Bob for making it such an enjoyable evening.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer.
8th May, A Night with Dave Morton
Tonight's programme was a practical evening revolving around the 'audio' sound effects accompanying films to create that extra 'something' for the making of a good film.
Dave presented a selection of professional film 'openings' and title shots that emphasized the effects of a good soundtrack. It was really good stuff which is often overlooked by the average film maker.
Fortunately Mercury Movie Makers have a good membership of good film makers and most realize the importance of good quality audio sound.
This was the reason why 'A Night with Dave Morten' was so well received. It was a good night and thanks Dave for the work you are doing as our new programme secretary.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
Tonight's programme was a practical evening revolving around the 'audio' sound effects accompanying films to create that extra 'something' for the making of a good film.
Dave presented a selection of professional film 'openings' and title shots that emphasized the effects of a good soundtrack. It was really good stuff which is often overlooked by the average film maker.
Fortunately Mercury Movie Makers have a good membership of good film makers and most realize the importance of good quality audio sound.
This was the reason why 'A Night with Dave Morten' was so well received. It was a good night and thanks Dave for the work you are doing as our new programme secretary.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
1st May, Harry Nicholls Presents....
Tonight, members of our club were treated to a real quality film show by one of our own club members. It was Harry Nicholls who presented the evenings show, and what a show it was! Harry is very professional in his approach to film making and boy, does it show. His selection of films were much varied ranging from a local fashion show where he could not move from his fixed position and yet the editing was superb, it appeared like a multi camera shoot. Well done Harry. The other films were much the same, not in content I hasten to add, but in top quality productions of his wide and varied 'themes'. The programme included subjects among others from Brugge, The City of London, America's New York and Whitby's very own Captain Cook. There's no way of getting away from it, Harry knows how to make a good film. It really was a good night..
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
Tonight, members of our club were treated to a real quality film show by one of our own club members. It was Harry Nicholls who presented the evenings show, and what a show it was! Harry is very professional in his approach to film making and boy, does it show. His selection of films were much varied ranging from a local fashion show where he could not move from his fixed position and yet the editing was superb, it appeared like a multi camera shoot. Well done Harry. The other films were much the same, not in content I hasten to add, but in top quality productions of his wide and varied 'themes'. The programme included subjects among others from Brugge, The City of London, America's New York and Whitby's very own Captain Cook. There's no way of getting away from it, Harry knows how to make a good film. It really was a good night..
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
24th April, A Look at Life
17th April, Pre-Easter films and social
10th April, Antiques Roadshow film evening
3rd April, Bob Rudd explains "Display Technology"
27th March, showing of Annual Competition film entries - part II
20th March, showing of Annual Competition film entries - part I
Last week was the club's members annual dinner and gala evening along with Alan and Jaquie Abbott who were our invited guests, for they had judged our annual competition and they were very complimentary on the high quality and standard of film production of our members. The whole evening had been arranged by Bob Rowley, our club Secretary and he was thanked by our members for their appreciation of his hard work.
Fast forward to this week and our members were given the chance to see some of the films that were entered in the competition. As is the 'norm' with our annual competition, judging is done behind 'closed doors as it were' and in 99% of all the films entered, they have never been seen before, hence our programme for this evening and it really was a very slick programme. The quality of all the films shown was top notch and on an amazing choice of subjects. The evening was too short to show all the film entries and so we will carry on next week to see the remaining films along with the list of winners of the various categories.and trophy
presentations.
Last week was the club's members annual dinner and gala evening along with Alan and Jaquie Abbott who were our invited guests, for they had judged our annual competition and they were very complimentary on the high quality and standard of film production of our members. The whole evening had been arranged by Bob Rowley, our club Secretary and he was thanked by our members for their appreciation of his hard work.
Fast forward to this week and our members were given the chance to see some of the films that were entered in the competition. As is the 'norm' with our annual competition, judging is done behind 'closed doors as it were' and in 99% of all the films entered, they have never been seen before, hence our programme for this evening and it really was a very slick programme. The quality of all the films shown was top notch and on an amazing choice of subjects. The evening was too short to show all the film entries and so we will carry on next week to see the remaining films along with the list of winners of the various categories.and trophy
presentations.
13th March, Mercury Annual Dinner
6th March, Mercury visit to Burnley Film Makers club
27th February, VinceHerke presents "Historical Interest" films
20th February, Objects films Evening (Part II)
Objects Night for a Film
This evening was very much the same as last week, whereby we watched several excellent films which had been produced to the theme of selected items over the last few years, and very good they were too. As was the case last week, the first half of the evening was watching some more of those films and after the 'tea break' we were to get together in our selected teams and discuss the ideas which we were supposed to have thought of of the past week. Unfortunately this is where our team was a let down, for over half the team failed to turn up. It was very disappointing but we did have one idea forwarded which was instantly chosen as our intended forthcoming 'Masterpiece' for our teams entry. We couldn't do any more than chose this script as not enough members of our team were present so as
to enable our leader to decide on 'who does what' So for our team it was an early night. I would point out that the other team (with a full Membership) was quiet
boisterous and seemed excited at what they were doing and I got the impression that we will have to get our act together good and proper to make a better film,
we will just have to wait an see, but I will say this, our script is a real cracker.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
Objects Night for a Film
This evening was very much the same as last week, whereby we watched several excellent films which had been produced to the theme of selected items over the last few years, and very good they were too. As was the case last week, the first half of the evening was watching some more of those films and after the 'tea break' we were to get together in our selected teams and discuss the ideas which we were supposed to have thought of of the past week. Unfortunately this is where our team was a let down, for over half the team failed to turn up. It was very disappointing but we did have one idea forwarded which was instantly chosen as our intended forthcoming 'Masterpiece' for our teams entry. We couldn't do any more than chose this script as not enough members of our team were present so as
to enable our leader to decide on 'who does what' So for our team it was an early night. I would point out that the other team (with a full Membership) was quiet
boisterous and seemed excited at what they were doing and I got the impression that we will have to get our act together good and proper to make a better film,
we will just have to wait an see, but I will say this, our script is a real cracker.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
13th February, Objects Films Evening (Part I)
Wednesday evening was a very productive evening for our members. Back by many requests from members, the committee have decided on a return of the very popular films based on selected items on different themes. This week we were shown a selection of old films based on selected items that members have made in the past, and very good they were too. That was the first half.
After the interval, members were asked (secretly) to write down any Household item on a folded piece of paper which would be entered in a draw. Members were divided into two teams and were given 6 random items from from the total selection.
After a brief 'get together' each team had a quick natter and we were each individually asked to create a working script for next week based on those selected 6 items, using members of our team. So there you have it, next week
will be the BIG week. I will keep you informed (if allowed) what we will be producing. One thing is for sure, it will be another very interesting night.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
Wednesday evening was a very productive evening for our members. Back by many requests from members, the committee have decided on a return of the very popular films based on selected items on different themes. This week we were shown a selection of old films based on selected items that members have made in the past, and very good they were too. That was the first half.
After the interval, members were asked (secretly) to write down any Household item on a folded piece of paper which would be entered in a draw. Members were divided into two teams and were given 6 random items from from the total selection.
After a brief 'get together' each team had a quick natter and we were each individually asked to create a working script for next week based on those selected 6 items, using members of our team. So there you have it, next week
will be the BIG week. I will keep you informed (if allowed) what we will be producing. One thing is for sure, it will be another very interesting night.
Allan Vanston
Publicity Officer
6th February Peter Hartingdon returns!
Peter spent a couple of head scratching weeks and came up with a whiz bang prodution that was so good that it almost became "not silly", but it was very funny...we have not had so much laughter at the club for ages. How can you make a documentary about the Large Hadron Collider into a comedy?
It was a brilliant evening Peter, many thanks
Peter spent a couple of head scratching weeks and came up with a whiz bang prodution that was so good that it almost became "not silly", but it was very funny...we have not had so much laughter at the club for ages. How can you make a documentary about the Large Hadron Collider into a comedy?
It was a brilliant evening Peter, many thanks
30th January
Tonight we watched a selection of films brougt along by of our members. The hilight of the evening was a film made by Roy Vickers of an evening hosted by John Wheeler. John decided to make "Gardeners" of us all. He brought along everyrhing but the greenhouse! John made it an amusing and entertaining evening......many thanks Roy.......brilliant film.
21st January Peter Hartingdon's "Night of Silliness"
One never knows what is coming next with Peter, and this night, neither did Peter!
In fact when Peter asked Bob Rudd to play the first film, nothing happened :(
.........Peter.....a subject for a silly film "Luddite, a Synonym for New Technology"
So Peter quickly moved to Part Two, and, hey presto, it worked!!!!
We were treated to the delights of "Road Kill" menus, supplemented by "Garden Kill" (depending on the enthusiasm of the cat.). We were treated to Peter's hilarious "confessions"
Another silly film was one of the Standish Canal with German sub-titles (it was funnier than it sounds!)
Many thanks Peter......
One never knows what is coming next with Peter, and this night, neither did Peter!
In fact when Peter asked Bob Rudd to play the first film, nothing happened :(
.........Peter.....a subject for a silly film "Luddite, a Synonym for New Technology"
So Peter quickly moved to Part Two, and, hey presto, it worked!!!!
We were treated to the delights of "Road Kill" menus, supplemented by "Garden Kill" (depending on the enthusiasm of the cat.). We were treated to Peter's hilarious "confessions"
Another silly film was one of the Standish Canal with German sub-titles (it was funnier than it sounds!)
Many thanks Peter......
16th January Random films and Discussion
In the first half of the evening we watched a number of Vince's films.
After the break, Bob Rowley led a discussion of what the Club should do, if anything, to celebrate its 60th year.
Members decided that there would be a celebration and many suggestions were put forward for further discussion. One idea was that a film should be made - probably a comedy. Each member present was challenged to come up with an idea, or joke, that could be tuned into a film script. Thank you to all who contributed
In the first half of the evening we watched a number of Vince's films.
After the break, Bob Rowley led a discussion of what the Club should do, if anything, to celebrate its 60th year.
Members decided that there would be a celebration and many suggestions were put forward for further discussion. One idea was that a film should be made - probably a comedy. Each member present was challenged to come up with an idea, or joke, that could be tuned into a film script. Thank you to all who contributed
9th January "Social History", a look at the '60's
Vince presented a number of "Look at Life" films.
We were reminded about the annual harvesting of hops in the South-East, and Vince discovered where the island of Fair Isle is!
The counting of people in 1961 National Census suddenly became interesting and we learned about life at sea in light ships.
We were reminded what the "Mersey-beat" was, and then moved down to the markets of Portobello and Petticoat Road.
These films from the '60's had the beautiful colours of film and were narrated with a typical male "posh" English voice.
Thanks Vince.......it was a very enjoyable evening.
We were reminded about the annual harvesting of hops in the South-East, and Vince discovered where the island of Fair Isle is!
The counting of people in 1961 National Census suddenly became interesting and we learned about life at sea in light ships.
We were reminded what the "Mersey-beat" was, and then moved down to the markets of Portobello and Petticoat Road.
These films from the '60's had the beautiful colours of film and were narrated with a typical male "posh" English voice.
Thanks Vince.......it was a very enjoyable evening.
2nd January 2019, Mercury AGM
This was the first meeting of 2019.
The President thanked last year's Committee, and other Club Members for the hard work that had been done in the previous year.
The Club Members were presented with a report by each of the Club Officers.
A new Committee were approved by the Members
President Martin Sunderland
Secretary Bob Rowley
Treasurer Martin Sunderland
Publicity Secretary Allan Vanston
Social Secretary Bob Rowley
Competition Secretary Roy Vickers
Catering secretary Mabel Mackman
Programme Secretary Vince Herke
General Committee Michael Varley
General Committee Dave Morton
General Committee Peter Hartingdon
General Committee Richard Bray
The President thanked last year's Committee, and other Club Members for the hard work that had been done in the previous year.
The Club Members were presented with a report by each of the Club Officers.
A new Committee were approved by the Members
President Martin Sunderland
Secretary Bob Rowley
Treasurer Martin Sunderland
Publicity Secretary Allan Vanston
Social Secretary Bob Rowley
Competition Secretary Roy Vickers
Catering secretary Mabel Mackman
Programme Secretary Vince Herke
General Committee Michael Varley
General Committee Dave Morton
General Committee Peter Hartingdon
General Committee Richard Bray
