Audio-visual notes

by Trish McAuslan APSNZ AV-LAPS EFIAP AAPS AV Coordinator for PSNZ

Challenge 321

THE CHALLENGE IS to tell your AV story in no more than 3 minutes 21 seconds. This is a fun competition which is open to all AV makers. Why not create a short AV and have a go? The competition is open for entries now and it closes on 15 March. For more information, check out the website: www. challenge321.org

Tauranga Audio-Visual Salon

This year the Tauranga club celebrates the tenth year they have run this competition. The information for this year’s Tauranga Salon is now on their website: https:// taurangaphoto.nz/ under the heading ‘AudioVisual Salon’. Entries will open on 5 May.

The only significant change this year is that authors may leave their name on their AV, preferably in the credits at the end of the programme. This is important in terms of establishing the copyright ownership of an AV. We realise that this may be a little uncomfortable for many New Zealand entrants as we are not used to doing this. To the best of my knowledge, ours is the only country which has specifically banned the inclusion of authors’ names on AVs. Consequently this causes problems for some entrants who have to create a special programme for the New Zealand competition and for the organisers who frequently have to contact an author and ask them to remove their name and resubmit their entry.

We had considerable discussion before deciding to follow what is the norm in international competition. Because AVs are several minutes in length, we realised that the judging is generally completed by the end of the AV, so seeing the author’s name is not likely to influence experienced judges. In any competition the judges are likely to have seen a number of the AVs before and probably know who the author is, or they recognise the author’s voice, so we expect our judges to be sufficiently professional not to allow this to influence their judgement. Other AVs are created by people the judges have never heard of so they are not likely to be influenced by an unknown name.

Award Winners in the Jack Sprosen Memorial Trophy Competition for AVs

Congratulations to you all. Members will be able to see these AVs at the PSNZ Convention in Christchurch this April. Here is what the authors had to say about their successful audio-visuals.

Bruce Burgess FPSNZ Gold Medal and the Jack Sprosen Memorial Trophy for Te o Whakaari - The Dramatic Volcano

The images made for this documentary-style audio-visual were taken on an outing to White Island during the PSNZ National Convention hosted by Tauranga Photographic Society in 2015.

This was my second visit to White Island, so I knew what to expect and had made a visual AV in my mind. Although there were instructions to closely follow the tour guides in a tight group for safety reasons, I tried to capture as many images as possible to cover the field, knowing that I would make an AV in the future. Although it was midday in bright sunlight, the images were captured in wide screen aspect by eliminating as much blue sky as possible and concentrating on the beautiful colours, textures, light and shadow and moonlike landscapes, coupled with the mystic light caused by the eerie steam and mist. A thorough Google search provided the facts for the documentary and many hours of Internet searching finally supplied the haunting audio track.

Although we wore hard hats and carried gas masks on the White Island tour, I never felt afraid for my safety during the exploration of an active volcano. It was just a sheer coincidence that the judging of the JSMT occurred a few days before the volcano erupted. I felt very emotional with much sadness on hearing of the tragedy from the eruption and declined offers to make the AV available on various social media platforms as the death toll and names of the victims were not known at that time. It was considered to be too raw in my mind.

But the AV will preserve, in time, the natural beauty of this mystical but obviously dangerous place, prior to the 2019 eruption. Matt Leamy LPSNZ Silver Medal (winner of Music Poetry and Song) for Body

The primary motivation for creating this AV was for the benefit of my stepson who worked so hard to be on that stage.

My thinking was that he needed something to remember this by. Not only do these guys and girls work hard on the stage, they dehydrate for two days before a performance. But what I found most impressive was to see how much fun they’re having and it shows on their faces. The square format with lots of black background and no borders was a bit of a risk, the thinking being to emphasise how they are coming out of the screen at you. The music was easy to choose, they were playing “I’m sexy and I know it “ during the final showdown.

I wanted to create an AV which documented my journey as a new photographer, from six years ago to now and the learning and joy I had along the way, that not only opened up my latent creative side but also ignited a great passion for the craft.

Sheryl Williams APSNZ Bronze Medal for Zion National Park - Winter Wonderland

The images for Gloria were all taken on a visit to Prague and a week cruising down the Danube. Because flashes and tripods were not allowed in what were generally dimly-lit church interiors, I had to shoot all the images at 6400 ISO and deal with the inevitable noise during processing. The underlying idea behind the sequence was a celebration of the extravagant rococo architecture characterising the churches. I thought it appropriate to accompany the images with a richly ornamented piece of music from the same period.

We had visited Zion about seven years ago in the summer and, while it was spectacular at that time of year, I was keen to visit during the winter. We got the opportunity two years ago. As we started our hike, it started to snow very heavily and the scenery became otherworldly. Then it gradually started to clear and I was rewarded with lots of beautiful changing light, stunning contrasts and wonderful colours. That became my story, trying to capture the unfolding majesty of this beautiful park as the weather changed.

THAT “PHOTOGRAPH” YOU’RE SO PROUD OF IS JUST ANOTHER COMPUTER FILE UNTIL YOU CAN HANG IT ON A WALL.

A photo only becomes a photograph when you can touch it, feel it, and frame it. For that, all you need is time, technique, taste and a paper that make the most of what you’ve made.

If you’re proud of your work, print it.