Documentary

Arthur & Peggy's Continental Holiday

I inherited from my parents what turned out to be an amazingly complete record of a holiday they took in 1951, including both photographs and graphic ephemera. I developed a format that would tell the story in an engaging way, using my niece as a narrator. A large amount of research was involved – both factual and pictorial and the script went through many drafts. Also, a significant amount of time was spent finding pieces of music that would complement the narrative. To enable me to make the film I had to expand my knowledge of the editing software, Adobe Premiere Pro, and learn how to use the graphics software, Adobe After Effects.

Judges Comments:

Filming an Airsoft Promotion Video

A short film documenting the filming of a promotional video of an Airsoft Event / Competition that took place at a disused HM Prison in Rutland. The most challenging aspect of making this film was that it had to be made in tandem with the film I was actually at the event to film coupled with very bad weather.

Judges Comments:

Behind the M11

"Behind the M11" follows the story of a new theatre play from initial script development thru to first preview performances with interviews with the writer and cast members. The most challenging aspect of the filming was the location and length of the project with the interviews being recorded over a three month period in Bishops Stortford and the production itself taking place in Hertford.

The title sequence seemed like a good idea at the time but as always turned out to be more time consuming than expected.

Judges Comments:

Garden of the Dead

Documentary on Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris, part of the series "Portraits of Paris". Covering 44 hectares, this garden cemetery is one of the largest and most beautiful in the world. Home to a multitude of famous people, it attracts more than 3.5 million visitors annually, and is a favourite spot for Parisians to escape to, a real haven of peace in which to reflect and remember those we have loved and lost.

Judges Comments:

About

The competition was held on 7^thJanuary 2020 and was judged both by both members as well as a panel of one external judge and two CFMC members. The films are listed below in running order.

Results:

Film	Film Maker	Judges	Members
Arthur & Peggy's Continental Holiday	Peter Silk	1	2
Filming an Airsoft Promotion Video	Dave Thompson	6	6
Alice Guy in France	Andy Stevens	3	3
Behind the M11	Dave Thompson	5	4
Garden of the Dead	John Groslin	1	1
Alice Guy in America	Andy Stevens	4	5

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.

Judges Comments:

Members Comments:

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.

Judges Comments:

Members Comments:

130 Years On

Makers Comments: This was composited from on-line material, non-copyrighted as it was filmed before 1922. Davinci Resolve was used to improve presentation.

Judges Comments:

Members Comments:

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

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.

Makers Comments:

Judges Comments:

Members Comments:

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.

Makers Comments:

Judges Comments:

Members Comments:

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.

Makers Comments:

Judges Comments:

Members Comments:

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.

Judges Comments:

Members Comments:

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

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.

Makers Comments:

Judges Comments:

Members Comments:

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.

Makers Comments:

Judges Comments:

Members Comments:

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.

Makers Comments:

Judges Comments:

Members Comments:

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

Sidebar

Social Media Sites

Local Film Makers

Documentary Competition

Arthur & Peggy's Continental Holiday

Filming an Airsoft Promotion Video

Alice Guy in France

Behind the M11

Garden of the Dead

Alice Guy in America

About

60 East Street

The Liquid Border

130 Years On

About

Munnings – Just Another Story

The Sometime Gardener

The Rookery

The Restorers

The Vitriarii

About

Monet’s Giverny

NeuenGamme Concentration Camp

Robben Island

Glassmakers

Sacrifice

Me and Charlie

About