Documentary

Breadcrumbs

Entrants are requested to submit a film with a specific viewpoint on any subject. The film must be informative and show signs of research by the filmmaker. (members votes and external judges)

Documentary Competition 2018-19

60 East Street

Makers Comments: This has been 17 years in the making! Some footage I was lucky enough to have been able to shoot at the bottom of the Ipswich Road, in Colchester in 2001 has finally been converted into a piece of social history that many people in the town will never even have seen or known about. This short documentary uses only a small amount of the 1 hour of footage that I had available, but is completely unique as no one else was able to gather it. Charlie Brown finally has a place in the CFMC archive.

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The Liquid Border

Makers Comments: The Rhine is a fascinating river that provided the Romans with a perfect boundary. The river has remained that boundary and major communication route ever since. I made the film because I was there! The sound track is largely foley and studio recorded narration.

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About

The competition was held on 8^thJanuary 2019 and was judged both by both members as well as a panel of two external judges and one internal judge.

Results:

Film	Film Maker	Judges	Members
60 East Street	John Jones	1	1
The Liquid Border	John Howden	2	2
130 Years On	Andy Stevens	3	3

Documentary Competition 2017-18

Munnings – Just Another Story

A Documentary filmed in October 2017 at the Munnings Art Museum (Castle House), in Dedham, about the life of the famous artist Alfred J. Munnings.

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The Sometime Gardener

I have visited the Ida's Valley Estate in Stellenbosch South Africa a number of times. At my last visit I managed to get an interview with estate manager Craig Bleas and this forms the basis to this snapshot of the estate. The camera is hand held and the sound has been built in the edit. The title arises because Craig is an antique furniture restorer with a love for the garden, so sometimes he is conservator and sometimes the horticulturist amongst many roles he plays.

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The Rookery

Filmed on a DSLR and a 4k camera over a period of a year, this film has a look at the commonest of seals around our shores.
Shot on location at Horsey in Norfolk, this is an intimate view of these fascinating marine mammals.

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The Vitriarii

Makers Comments: One of my films originally commissioned for Colchester Archaeological Trust, to inform their display of Roman circus glassware. A captioned silent version was finally used due to noise in the display area of Roman Circus House. This is therefore the 'Director's Cut' of the interviews with the two glassmakers, with vignetted graphics. It was filmed with DJI Osmo and Canon 5Dii, which finally convinced me to move to 4K cameras and use wide-angle lenses for interviews. Given more time at the shoot, I would have made more use of the breathing sound of the kilns.

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About

The competition was held on 9^thJanuary 2018 and was judged both by both members as well as a panel of three external judges.

Results:

Film	Film Maker	Judges	Members
Munnings – Just Another Story	John Groslin	1	1
The Sometime Gardener	John Howden	2	2
The Rookery	John Jones	3	3
The Restorers	Brian Salmons	4	4
The Vitrearii	Andy Stevens	5	5

Documentary Competition 2016-17

Monet’s Giverny

Filmed on location in Giverny, France, this documentary relates how impressionist artist Claude Monet transformed his house and gardens into a place of beauty. It covers aspects of his life, family and work, showing how the gardens became his main source of inspiration. A handheld Ipad was used to shoot footage & photos in France, which affected the quality of some of the panning and exposure. Other material (paintings etc.) was filmed on a JVC LS300. A tiny number of photos came from other sources. The voiceover was recorded on a brand-new ZoomH5 encased in pillows- my first attempt, so some cuts are apparent. The musical score used the work of 2 French composers and a singer alive in Monet's day. I consulted 8 books and 2 articles for my research.

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Sacrifice

This film came about following a request from the village achieve group. I gave the proposed project some serious thought, any film archive footage available was of poor quality-so how was I going to do it?

A friend loaned me the classic film ''All quiet on the western front '' made 86 years ago putting it outside any copyright problems. The film clips gave the start of my film the clear horror of the subject.

The village part of the history, the archive groups presentation was straight forward for my style of film making. I decided to put the loss of life the village endured in to the big picture.

The final part -the first world war facts tells the story in a simple comprehensive manner.

How to do the voice over was my key decision, in the end in verse and standard script - it would to be read by two local ladies.

''THE POPPY'' poem script came 7.00am in the morning before breakfast.

''THEY WILL NOT'' verse was automatic to write, I kept it simple.

I felt sadness by the time the film was finished.

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Me and Charlie

I have never made a documentary before and felt the need to be challenged. It was filmed near to where I live in West Mersea in the first week of November 2016. As mentioned before I have never edited a documentary and it was a task to form a coherent story out of the footage shoot. And it was keeping in mind, that it was a story that needed to told, that helped me complete this.

With regards to VFX and soundtrack there was no change in what I normally do but I did have the title sequence already worked out in my head. We shot footage especially for that part.

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About

The competition was held on 29^thNovember 2016 and was judged both by both members as well as a panel of three external judges.

Results:

Film	Film Maker	Judges	Members
Monet’s Giverny	John Groslin	1	1
NeuenGamme Concentration Camp	Murice Newbolt	2	3
Robben Island	Geoff Ingham	3	2
Glassmakers	Andy Stevens	3	5
Sacrifice	Brian Salmons	5	4
Me and Charlie	Andy Merz & Suzie Hart	6	6

Documentary Competition 2015-16

Judy's Tale

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About

The competition was held on 24^thNovember 2015 and was judged both by both members as well as a panel of three external judges.

Results:

Film	Film Maker	Judges	Members
Judy's Tale	John Howden	1	2
Just Fuschias	John Howden	1	1
The Big Garden Bird Watch 2015	John Jones	3	3
The Legend of Reymerston	Brian Salmons	4	4
De Hoop Nature Reserve	Bryan Littlewood	5	5
The Namibian Desert	Bryan Littlewood	6	6

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Fri, 10th May 2019 09:00