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Recent Events
In 2007, Mercury Movie Makers were involved in the filming of a great event in the life of the Jowett Car Owners Club.
The motor club celebrating the centenary of the founding of the firm in Bradford held a huge rally in Myrtle Park,Bingley.
Mercury Movie makers were asked to make a film and DVD of the proceedings. Owners were interviewed and some great shots of the cars were incorporated. Much more than that, Jowett cars from the event were seen on the roads in the Dales, in the streets of Skipton, Burnsall, Bingley etc. A comprehensive view of the prize giving was included and a well rounded film was produced. Members of the Jowett Car Club enthusiastically welcomed the DVD and many of them have placed their orders .
This has been a good exercise for Mercury Movies and a lot of experience has been brought to bear and new skills aquired.
For more details of Mercury Movies see below and of course look at other pages on this site.
One of the main reasons for being in the club is to make films. We pride ourselves on the steady output of entertaining films and videos made here. Of course individual members make very good films ranging from holiday and travel, documentaries and even story films. One advantage of creatively used camcorders are the places and people that you may visit. One member filming a wedding reception included Bill Clinton,ex-President of U.S.A in his line up. Another member was asked to attend the late Fred Dibnah's house to show him a video which he had taken of Fred.
In 2006 the club was featured on ITV Yorkshire's "Calendar" programme creating much interest. See articles in local press from time to time.
A project more recently was to film The Great Northern Mascot Race, an event in aid of Sue Ryder Care.
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The Great North Mascot Steeplechase
The Great North Mascot Steeplechase
In 2007 the club was asked to film a race organised by Sue Ryder Care to raise funds for their "Manorlands" facility.
A wide range of Mascots from the world of sport dressed in all their regalia met at Wetherby Race Course on April 29th and competed over a distance of a furlong.
This is known as the Great North Mascot Steeplechase. The DVD contains interviews with most of the competitors and is a colourful record of a very succesful day.
All this was filmed by Mercury Movie Makers and is available on a DVD. Details can be obtained from Mercury or from Andrew Wood of Sue Ryder Care.
An excerpt of this video was shown on the big screen in Millennium Square in Bradford throughout the week in early May and on Sunday 11th May 2008 at 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm |
Wednesday May 7th, Story
After last weeks AGM it was back to film making at Mercury Movie Makers at their Rawdon headquarters. David Myers energised the club into various activities all designed to get the latest club film moving forward.
There were people devising a blue screen in order to capture some computer wizardry,other people joined in the earnest business of acting,or rehearsing for their scenes. Cameramen were busy ,lighting technicians were at work,there seemed to be a job for everybody. So we look forward to getting to grips with this project ,after all as was remarked our club is about making films.
Our forthcoming events can now be seen on the "new look" website so to see what is happening visit www.communigate.co.uk/brad/mercmove or for details ring 01132 674868
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Wednesday May 14th
At the meeting of Mercury Movies on Wednesday Roy Vickers masterminded the evening to familiarise people with their cameras.To this end there were about seven members with cameras,tripods additional microphones etc,they were filming as Roy spoke and took questions from the rest of the audience.Roy started with some basic camera controls and the best way to use them.He gave advice on the virtues of tape as opposed to the "direct to DVD" models of camera.He covered the limitations of the zoom lens,or in other words use the zoom with restraint.
Various helpful remarks also came from the more experienced members.To add to the evening Roy had prepared a film to show the right way and the wrong way to film,giving us some shining examples of the right way.This short film was very helpful.Further information can be gained at this friendly club by attending these practical evenings,to find out the meetings in the future look at our events calendar on www.communigate.co.uk/brad/mercmove
At times a short Mercury film can be seen on the BBC Big Screen on Centenary Square,Bradford .This is being shown randomly.
Club contact is at 01132 674868
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4th June
Peter Strickland brought a green background and filmed David Myers in various actions. This was then placed on his computer and using special software, enabled the Chroma key process to superimpose the picture of David on another film clip taken earlier.
Although it took some time to set up, it clearly demonstrated the strength and versatility of the software in producing an interesting video. This is in preparation of the Club Film scheduled for later in the month. |
11th June 2008
Bob Rudd gave a presentation called 'Video Technology' which described the concept of television, colour television and the various receivers or display devices and their attributes.
The concept of pixels was discussed and 'scaling' to fit flat panel displays with the broadcast format. Digital TV was discussed.
The helical scan principal was demonstrated, DVD and High Definition DVD players and Personal Video Recorders were described.
The talk was rounded off with a description of Connectivity and Digital Audio.
Finally a film by Peter Hartingdon was shown of a typical evening at the cinema at Esholt and the last night when the equipment was packed away.
Please note, the Meeting for Wednesday 25th June has been changed to an 'Edit in camera' event at Yeadon Tarn, weather permitting.
This event was scheduled for 28th May but was cancelled due to bad weather.
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25th June "Edit in Camera" Yeadon Tarn
There were 8 camera's in action on a blustery, sunny evening. Yeadon Sailing Club were racing that night. There was plenty of action to be filmed. The video tapes have been collected by the president and will be shown and evaluated at a later date. Watch the calendar for details. |
July 2nd Editing Techniques
After Mercury's excursion to Yeadon Tarn recently we had a club based practical evening due to the efforts of Roy Vickers.
It had been a difficult day but nevertheless he turned up trumps with his demonstration of alternative video editing.
The difference was that Roy uses a dedicated machine called a Casablanca rather than a general purpose computer.
This leads to lack of complication and a speedier editing regime. Roy showed us how to trim shots,to adjust colours and most impressively showed us synchronisation. At a theatre production two cameras had been used and the soundtrack from just one was employed. In a scene of rhythmic clapping it was possible to switch clips from one camera to the other and amazingly the clapping fitted the sound track and visuals perfectly.
Video can be fed straight into the machine from a camcorder.We have seen the results of Roy's editing for several years now and have always found it to be top rate.To have this sort of knowledge passed on is most helpful to other film makers in the club. A very good reason to join. If you have a camcorder why not impress your friends and family by finding out more about Mercury. Incidentally if you have access to a computer most of the above effects are available to you as well.
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16th July Filming the club production
This evening we had a live filming of the club production in full costume. We made great progress and have now many scenes ready for editing. We had a good attendance. Our next filming evening will continue in September. |
July 23rd - Guest Speaker Bob Rowley
With two careers already behind him Bob now travels the world looking for the unusual in video clips.This is with special reference to wild life.His particular interests are in brown bears,wolves and whales.
He has to go to some very inaccessible places and if he can get a few minutes worth of unusual footage it can help to fund the trip.
He showed us some bears fishing for salmon.In another venture we saw a pack of wolves race past his camera excitedly and then return looking unsatisfied later on.
Bob has also been involved with some high profile broadcast Television programmes for such people as Channel 4 and others.
He stressed the lesson, always use a tripod,people will not accept shaky film sequences.
His whole talk was delivered with humour which kept us laughing.He also showed us his amateur acting capabilities as he took part in film club's drama,quite convincing! |
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