AV News 221 December 2020

Chairman's Chatter

Edgar Gibbs FRPS, MPAGB, AV-AFIAP

Since my last Chairman’s Chatter there have been two events that have dominated the RPS AV Group activities. These are ‘An International Audio Visual Retrospective’ and the AV Group’s Annual General Meeting. From my perspective, the Retrospective was very popular and successful. Reports about this event are included in this edition of AV News. The other event was the Annual General Meeting which was the rst one of the AV Group held using the Zoom platform. It seemed to go smoothly.

Arising from the 2020 AGM there has been a change of ofcers. Howard Bagshaw has stepped down from being a member of the Committee. During his time on the Committee, Howard has been the Chairman and prior to that Vice Chairman. He took on a big part of running the RPS National AV Championship in 2015 and very effectively led the 2017 and 2019 National AV Championships.

All of these events were very successful, the 2015 event was held in a new venue located by Howard at Staffordshire University, before being held in Leeds Trinity University in 2017 and 2019. A big thank you must go to Howard for his input to the work of the Group. Additionally, I want to document that Howard is also a member of the Distinctions Panel, he has attended and contributed to the Special Interest Group and Regional Organisers Group meetings, not to mention running MidPhot. Howard has done a great deal for the AV Group and the wider AV Community, for which I would like to record my appreciation.

Alan Tyrer, a quiet and unassuming Secretary has also stepped down from his role but not entirely. He will continue as Membership Secretary and to look after the AV News Facebook page, which he instigated. Again this has proved successful and many fruitful discussions have taken place on those pages. Also it should be noted that Alan has scanned many copies of AV News which are on the AV Group pages of the RPS website. I am hoping to persuade him to write a short article on his work in archiving.

Alan also spent “many happy hours“ doing battle with the RPS website and I know he was pleased, if not relieved, when Sheila Haycox took over being Web Manager and who is now a substantive member of the Committee. So a big thank you to Alan Tyrer for his contribution and agreeing to have a continuing role on the Committee. His shoes are being lled by Keith Watson, who has handed over the Treasurer’s role to Alastair Taylor. Managing the AV Group accounts has been and still is a very challenging and difcult situation, the use of cheque books and changing signatories and moving onto online banking is like an F1 car grounded in the gravel. No matter how hard the driver tries, the car will not move. Alastair Taylor a determined agricultural engineer has arrived in the form of a tractor who I’m sure will lift the car out of the gravel and get it back on track. As Chairman of the AV Group, I attend meetings of the RPS Special Interest Group and Regional Organisers Group, more recently via Zoom. I have pressed for a meeting where Treasurers can get together and try and resolve these issues.

I’m sure Alistair is looking forward to attending that meeting, again via Zoom and getting things sorted. Well done though to Keith for his valiant efforts and offering to take on the role of Secretary.

Last but not but denitely not least, I am delighted that Ian Bateman has joined the Committee as Vice Chairman. Ian will need no introduction and tells me “I am looking forward to joining the Committee and working on some exciting new projects”.

Enjoy this AV News and if you’re a fan of Strictly Come Dancing, in Strictly speak, “kee....eep AVing! ”

Welcome from the new RPS AV Group Committee Vice Chairman

Ian Bateman FRPS MPAGB AV- AFIAP APAGB

I’m very pleased to be a part of the Committee of the RPS AV Group. My last involvement was as Chairman of the RPS International AV Festival, a post I held from 2009 to 2014. I’ve been making AV sequences since the 1980s, and helped pioneer the transition to digital by running tutorials and demos all over the country and abroad. In recent years I’ve been Chairman of Exmouth Photo Group and President of the WCPF, but relinquished both roles at the start of this season. In theory I should now have more time to make AV sequences, but I guess we’ll see

I’ve judged many AV competitions at home and abroad, and have twice served on the ‘old’ AV and Multimedia Distinctions panels. I’m now very active on Zoom, which has allowed me to present AV shows at clubs that I wouldn’t normally be able to reach. And yes, I am looking forward to working on some exciting new projects.

Alastair Taylor ARPS CPAGB/AV

Welcome to the latest edition of AV News. It has been enjoyable putting this together and as always, my thanks and appreciation to our various contributors. It has been great to receive a few letters to the Editor so please keep them coming.

This edition is slightly different in that we decided to include the full twelve page Programme from “An International AV Retrospective” which took place back in September. This turned out to be an impressive event so you will nd a few articles reecting upon the event, how it was organised and what it looked like to the viewer. I very much hope that we are able to return to some sort of normality in 2021. As lovely as it is to see you all on Zoom, etc, I would much rather meet you in person.

I am truly impressed with the way in which our community has pulled together during this difcult period and it is nice to see a few new people getting involved. When we look at the various clubs and groups, attendance and participation seem to have increased which can only be a good thing.

We are now a year into our new format of an enhanced hard copy of AV News backed up by an interim copy of AV News e-xtra. Working out the timings of these is not without its challenges and integrating the content of AV News, AV News e-xtra, the AV News Facebook page and the AV Group pages of the RPS Website is challenging but in my view we have the balance about right. I believe we offer our members and subscribers tremendous value for money through these various platforms and I hope you agree.

You will also see that we are doing some work to enhance the list of AV speakers and judges so I do hope you respond to the article by Peter Warner.

Finally, I have some copy for the next edition but always need more so do please keep sending things my way. I am hoping to introduce a new feature in the next edition of AV News on the lines of “An Audience With”. I have already had a lengthy chat with Ron Davies where we explored the international scene so I plan to explore the work of FIAP and the UK contribution to international competitions.

Just tell me what you want and I will do my best to meet your needs.

Contact the editor at: magazine@avnews.org.uk

RPS Supporting AV Groups

Peter Warner ARPS

The RPS AV Group Committee is committed to supporting the growth and development of local AV groups and promoting the development of Audio Visual as a photographic genre. We want people to see great AVs and to be able to learn how to put them together for themselves. Many groups have reported declining membership yet the use of AVs online and in other settings has never been greater, you only need a brief look at YouTube to see that. So how can we harness this interest and promote this locally?

To do this we need your help!

How can the RPS help support your AV group? How can we grow and promote this great medium? We welcome thoughts and ideas.

Locating AV Groups

We are in the process of building a map of local AV groups so that anyone who is looking for a group to join can nd one on our website. Is your group included? Please take a look and let us know if your group is not there. https://rps.org/groups/audio-visual/av-clubs-uk/

Presenting AVs

We hope to encourage AV enthusiasts to show their work to AV groups and help members to learn how to create AVs. Through Zoom, AV groups can have access to speakers across the country and across the world, opening up big possibilities for greater access to them. We want to build an online list of speakers on the AV Group pages of the RPS Website https://rps.org/groups/ audio-visual/ . If you are willing to talk to groups and share your work and experience we want to hear from you.

Judging AV Competitions

Judging AV competitions is different from judging a conventional photographic competition. We would also like to build an online list of those able to judge AV competitions on the RPS AV website. We want to hear from experienced AV workers, particularly those who have recent experience in taking part in AV competitions, to get in touch and go on our list.

If you have any thoughts or ideas, or if you would like to be included in our list of lecturers or judges please contact peter@peterwarner.co.uk

Retrospective Reflections

Edgar Gibbs FRPS, MPAGB, AV-AFIAP

At its meeting on 14 July 2020, held via Zoom, the RPS AV Group Committee reected on the fact that the RPS International Audio Visual Festival (IAVF) 2020, due to be held in Cheltenham, had been postponed until 2021. During the course of the discussion Alastair Taylor put forward the suggestion of a Retrospective and the Committee unanimously agreed that this was a good idea. As I had a lot of email addresses and Linda and I had attended all the “digital” AV International Festivals, I thought I was best placed to organise it, especially as I was not going to be the Director of the International AV Festival this year. Little did I realise that this would be quite a challenging task as not only was it was something I had not done before, but it would rely totally on everything being done over the Internet.

As a bit of a hoarder I got out all the past IAVF Programmes and results, which luckily I had kept in date order.

I then set about selecting a list of AVs in order to be able to prepare a balanced programme for the Retrospective. This would include AVs from the rst digital award in 2002 to the Grand Prix winner in 2018, ensuring a variety of countries, various awards, plus a mix of subjects and authors. This was a real trip down memory lane for me. This done I emailed the authors and invited them to send me their work for the Retrospective. I had an excellent response, a few did not reply straight away due to changes of email addresses, which with a bit of detective work was soon remedied. Ultimately, only a few emails returned no response at all. For those interested, I prepared all the emails with the internet switched off and once nished they all go out together when I turn the internet back on again. This ensures all participants get the information at the same time; a technique I use when sending out the Festival results.

Once I knew how many AVs would be made available, I decided that there would need to be afternoon and evening sessions over the Saturday and Sunday of the same weekend that the 2020 Festival would have been held. There would be four parts to the weekend, each containing two “projection” sessions.

I set up an Excel spreadsheet allocating each AV a number, and then allocated a column for the title of the AV, the name of the author, their email address, the year shown, the country of the author, and any award received. Once I had a response and the AV, I proofed it and acknowledged receipt. In the Excel spreadsheet I entered the duration of the AV, plus 1 minute for its introduction. This was the masterplan. Linda and I then worked out a time table for the weekend after adding up the total running times of the AVs sent in, plus the addition of a minute to each one. We decided that the afternoon sessions would last an hour and a half, and the evening sessions an hour.

Linda then set about preparing the running order and asked me to print off the spreadsheet so she could have a way of selecting them. I printed the spreadsheet on pink paper and then cut up all the individual rows into strips. Linda grouped them into subject, country, and year then blue tacked them into an exercise book, allowing one page for each session.

The rst session of the weekend would start with the rst digital award in 2002 and the last session would nish with the 2018 Grand Prix winner. In order to achieve a balanced Programme we didn’t want to put all of the AVs in the order they were shown. However, one exception to this was that the International Federation of Sound Hunters awards and Grand Prix winners were shown in chronological order over the course of the weekend. With this framework established Linda went through the pink strips, approximately adding up the minutes and seconds to check that they would t the session timing. She then reviewed them to make sure that things like the subject matter and countries were evenly spaced out and swapped some around. Linda likened this to working with a Rubik’s Cube; you swap a couple of AVs so that a country doesn’t appear too many times in a session (not practical with the UK though) only to nd that the timings don’t work.

Eventually, a balanced Programme emerged and we now had a running order. I renumbered the AVs so they would show in the order selected. This was good as I was able to get Excel to accurately calculate the total times for each session; adding up minutes and seconds is quite ddly otherwise. This was not easy but eventually we got there.

Retrospective Reections. continued

I wanted a Programme, which would include the timetable and session content that could be downloaded from the AV Group page of the RPS Website. Linda prepared an A4 size Programme that could be easily printed out and I produced an A5 stapled programme which could be a nice souvenir of the event, which you can see in this edition of AV News.

I asked Andrew Gagg to design the graphics for the Retrospective and he produced a great suite of designs. These included the headings for emails and newsletters, the Programme cover, the menu pages for the projection sessions and a virtual background to the room from which Linda and I were to introduce the Zoom event. Those that saw the Retrospective will know the graphics worked superbly well and meant that there was a cohesive and professional feel to the whole event.

Our Web Manager, Sheila Haycox has been brilliant in administering and organising the AV pages on the RPS website; it’s worth having a look at the site as there’s lots of useful and interesting information there including archive material. For a direct link put www.rps.org/av into your search engine to go direct to the introductory page. Sheila also ran the booking portal for the Retrospective and prociently managed the process, including liaising with the RPS’ IT Support Ofcer to troubleshoot some initial glitches with registration. I drafted a newsletter to go out and Linda completed the necessary paperwork for it to be sent to the names on a large database held by RPS HQ to advise that the booking portal was open; as the newsletter went out the booking site went live and there was no going back.

Linda prepared all the PTE menu pages for the eight sessions and she was very pleased to receive a helpful template from Jill Bunting to assist with this work. Although Linda had prepared menu pages in the past for our own shows these were usually only one page and linked to AVs on her computer. As Jill, supported by John Smith had kindly agreed to project the AVs for the Retrospective I sent her the prepared les on two 30GB memory sticks. These included copies of the .exe les for the menu pages, together with a zipped le of the PTE projects, and copies of the proofed sixty four AVs.

Linda also sent Jill a running order with comments on each AV, such as if there was a need to press the escape button at the end of an AV or whether it had a long introduction before the AV started. A dress rehearsal was arranged between Alastair, John and Jill plus Linda and myself to try out the menus and the screen sharing between Alastair as host and Jill’s computer.

Zoom indicated that my computer needed a green screen for the virtual background graphics to work. Fortunately, I had bought one from the Facebook market place 18 months before but had never used it. It was now to come into great use. I wanted to give a short introduction before the afternoon and evening sessions, but I realised that for people to see me full screen they would all have to adjust their settings in Zoom and reset afterwards. Howard Bagshaw suggested I record a video on Zoom so that I could be set against the Retrospective graphics and it could be projected full screen like the AVs. This was a great idea, but having sent it to Jill via WeTransfer, she advised that the image and sound quality were poor. Jill suggested I did another recording against the green screen and generously offered to put it into PTE so that she could make me appear in front of Andrew’s graphics, which she already had on the memory sticks. I tried using a script and was reminded of Dennis Norden’s programme “It’ll be alright on the night” which often showed actors repeating the same mistake.

I reset the sound on my laptop to our Panasonic TV but every time I wanted to say ‘Pandemic’, you’ve guessed, I kept saying ‘Panasonic’. Eventually, the script was binned and I did it naturally and was well pleased with the result. An added benet was that I lmed it with my Sony camera which provided a much better resolution and sound output than the Zoom recording I had tried earlier. Many thanks to Jill for working her magic in PTE in order to get the graphic to appear on the green screen behind my video recording and adding it to the menu pages.

Green Screen in place, ready and waiting for Edgar to introduce the event. .

Retrospective Reections. continued …

We have good upload and download speeds, (on a good day 200MB/s download and 21MB/s upload) so as a backup, in case Jill and John’s internet or computers failed, we also practiced running the event without them, but still hosted by Alastair. Linda learnt the practicalities of sharing the screen so that the AVs could be shown from my laptop. The article prepared by Ian Bateman “Optimising your system to show AVs over Zoom”, together with a number of YouTube videos on the Zoom website were very helpful, together with telephone support from Jill and John. One problem was that in order to speak on Zoom when everyone is muted, we knew that we just had to press and hold the space bar. However, with the menu pages done in PTE and showing on the share screen, pressing the space bar moved it onto the next page. We eventually solved the speaking problem by using Alt+A. There’s always a work around.

On the Saturday I set up our lounge as MC central.

The picture shows everything in place for Linda at a foldable Lidl table with the main laptop on it and next to that a small laptop, which was logged into Linda’s Zoom account (with the sound muted), so that we could monitor what everyone else could see. The main laptop was connected by HDMI to our 50inch TV and sound system.

After some teething problem everything was good to go. I attended the RPS AGM on the Saturday morning and then we opened the Zoom doors for the Retrospective at 13:30. We were live. Alastair was in charge of the waiting room and monitoring who was coming in or out, checking against a large spreadsheet, prepared by Sheila, with over 220 attendees’ names on it. People had registered for the event from a number of countries.

These included Australia, Belgium, England, India, Ireland, Italy, Northern Ireland, Norway, Russia, South Africa, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Wales.

All the planning we had done was worth it and everything went smoothly right up until the last but 3 AVs. When Richard Brown’s AV ‘And Never Cackled’ was being shown there was a short Zoom outage, which meant that all of the shared screen settings defaulted back to the standard settings. As the settings could only be reinstated by restarting the Zoom meeting, I decided we would conclude the Saturday sessions and run those AVs the next day. Jill took the initiative and prepared a new PTE menu page ‘Session 4 continued’, so that on Sunday afternoon we would carry on with the show.

Pictured above: Keith and Marilyn Leedham enjoying the Retrospective

Retrospective Reections. continued …

On Sunday morning I Chaired the RPS AV Group AGM and after a quick cheese on toast we started day two. Linda, who asked to be called ‘Anchor Woman’, had been on good form on Saturday with the introductions and keeping the event going. She continued on Sunday afternoon, conscious we needed to catch up time.

The RPS President, Alan Hodgson, who had registered to attend the Retrospective, asked if there was anything he could do as he planned to be present for Session 6. I asked if he’d like to say a few words at the end of that Session. Accordingly, Alan made a great address, summing up his experience of the event, which was very much appreciated. The afternoon nished a little later than planned, due to having to show the three AVs carried over from the Saturday evening, which meant the intermission was slightly shorter than scheduled, but we started the Sunday evening on time. We were now on the home straight and after the Sunday intermission all went smoothly until Richard Brown’s second AV ‘In Search of Christina’ was shown. This was when Alastair’s internet failed momentarily. He had been hosting the event and we have since discovered that when this happens Zoom selects a random member of those signed in and transfers the host role to them. We held our breath, but within seconds Zoom seamlessly transferred the hosting back to Alastair.

Thank you Zoom.

Throughout the weekend Linda took the opportunity to thank everyone involved in the event and I added my appreciation to everyone after the nal AV. Unbeknown to me, the past President of the RPS, Robert Albright had asked Alastair if he could give a vote of thanks. Robert said some lovely things and this was a very satisfying and pleasant conclusion to the weekend. To bring the Retrospective to a close, I wished everyone “a safe journey home” or to “make their way to the bar”. Maybe next year?

It was a lot of work but judging by the comments we have received, the event was greatly valued and enjoyed by everyone. I had an excellent team and want to thank all those who helped make it happen, in particular Linda. My thanks also to the authors who sent me their AVs and all who supported the Retrospective by attending over the course of the weekend.

Pictured below: A screen grab from the host Alastair Taylor showing a number of participants actively engaged. Turn over for more.

A View From the Hot Desk

Alastair Taylor ARPS, CPAGB

If I was going to be locked in my ofce for the weekend, I decided that at least it should be a spectacular experience.

Left: My laptop logged on to Zoom with the list of participants and the Retrospective running order. It was amazing how participants were joining and leaving all of the time.

Below: Not quite the lecture theatre at Cheltenham but the AV productions sounded excellent through my JBM portable blue tooth speaker

Right: Using the dual screen set up on Zoom, my data projector put a good quality 1.5 metre wide image on my pull down wall screen. Neville Chamberlain addresses the nation from Richard Brown’s production And Never Cackled.

Dear Editor

A Great Way to Spend a Weekend

The RPS ran an International Audio Visual Retrospective on 26 & 27 September.

I thought, “that sounds a posh title”, then worked out what it meant. This means I can see a lot of AVs I’ve missed out on, as my wife and I only started out in the medium after seeing a demonstration of PTE 5 by Barry Beckham in 2008.

My next thought was, How can you possibly do justice to a range of AVs from 2002 to 2018?

I still have no idea what the answer to that question is, but it might be best portrayed by a list of names: the ‘magnicent seven’ who conceived, organised, and presented the retrospective.

It was a most enjoyable, and often moving, weekend – I’m so glad I didn’t miss it. Broken up into eight sessions, time ew by as we were treated to some fantastic productions by about sixty different producers; sixty-four AVs in total.

At one point, we had over a hundred participants representing over a dozen countries! It was so good to see such involvement, and despite the odd technical issue, the whole thing ran smoothly – it even led to me doubling my own broadband speed beforehand!

My own favourite? With so many to choose from, that’s very difcult, but probably the Polish offering of People of the Forest (Jacek Zaim & Urszula Gronowska). I particularly like the fact they added a brief epilogue to bring it up to date.

So thank you for all your hard work, and well done all of you: Alistair, Andrew, Edgar and Linda, Jill and John, and Sheila.

It was beyond excellent.

Eric Davies

Dear Editor,

Authors Intent When Planning an AV

You ask for contributions about ‘the author’s intent when planning an AV’.

In my case I rarely start with an ‘intent’ of my own since the world is already so full of other people’s tasks waiting to be done!

I just latch on to one of these and use my lmic knowledge to try and produce something of value to others.

Some examples:

 The Church wanted a Son et Lumiere to celebrate their 900 years. Against their script I did the pictures. Written up in AV News 136

 A voluntary group wanted to tell County Councillors of their work. They scoured sources for material and set up a funding meeting. I made the AV, then passed copies round to draw further support. See AV News 90.

 Two lovely old ladies wanted their talk preserved. ‘Terrible Knitters of Dent’, comprising many closeups and history shots, sold hundreds. See AV News 153.

 Young Explorers going to remote areas doing eldwork needing coaching on picture techniques. After my (annual) assembly weekends we sent a copy VHS to all participants. (AV News 156 & 157)

 Our local Brass Band wanted a ’Video’. I persuaded them that this was best done with c.u. stills of their playing plus local views. (AV News 171)

 Operatic Tenor would like his rendering of Schubert’s Wintereise visualized (+ words) on a big screen. (AV News 172)

Just a few ideas but there’s more.

This is not competition stuff, being well over the required time limit but, I aver, it is just as much AV as anything featured in your pages. Just look around and see what’s needed!

All the best.

Maurice Dybeck ARPS

Dear Editor

John Podmore

I was very pleased to see my photograph of John Podmore on page 8 of the most interesting edition of AV News. I have the sequences that John Podmore gained his FRPS as the rst fellowship in slide-sound sequences which I digitised years ago: A Moments Reection and Art in Nature

Other titles that I reconstituted are Jersey 1 and Jersey 2 which he made for the Jersey Tourist Board, A Joy Forever (on Cash’s of Coventry Silk Pictures), Out of the Mists (early morning photography in a frosty Sutton Park), & Perception the Natural Way. I also have used his slides to make several more sequences in which I have always credited the photography to him.

I attach a photograph of a painting of John, which shows his character marvellously by David Cotton of Great Barr, Coventry which you may publish.

I also was around at the beginning of the AV Group and have 200 of my own sequences and have given around 1,000 shows over the years to numerous photographic clubs, garden and other associations.

Kind regards

John Ruffell.

The Editor is always pleased to receive letters for publication and particularly those which stimulate some discussion and debate.

Please contact the editor at magazine @avnews.org.uk

Zooming around the AV Groups

In many respects, AV has never been more accessible and quite literally, anyone, from anywhere can now get involved. Here is a short round up of the various AV Groups and how you make contact to get involved

East Midlands Audio Visual Group.

All our meetings are via Zoom until the New Year. We had hoped to restart meetings at our usual Leicester venue then, but that is looking increasingly unlikely. You can see our programme (subject to change) on our website: www.emavg.org.uk. We have instituted a half price membership sub for the 2020-2021 season, just £10, and we welcome anyone who would like to join us for any of our on line meetings. If you live outside of the MCPF area that would entitle you to enter MidPhot AV competition!

Wilmslow Guild AV Group

Wilmslow Guild AV Group ran their last physical meeting at the Guild on the 13th March and after a number of tests, completed the season by successfully running the AGM, a sequence exchange and the annual competitions on Zoom.

All of this season’s meetings since September have been held on line. One of the advantages of the current situation is that people can join the Group from wherever they are in the UK and beyond.

We have seen the membership increase from around 20, to a current 46.

Visitors are welcome at all of our meetings and the dates and programme can be found at www.wilmslowguildav.org.uk

Zooming around the AV Groups. continued

Exmouth Photo Group

EPG has a current membership of 42, a slight drop from last season due to the Covid restrictions. The AV Group has 24 members, which is a very healthy proportion of the main club. We started our ‘Zoom’ AV season in October, and decided that we would invite some keen AV workers from outside the main club to join the Group, especially those who didn’t have an active AV group in their own area. Consequently we have an additional seven external members, swelling our ranks to 31.

We started the season by inviting members to show sequences made over the summer, and had ten new works to show. We are currently engaged in a ‘music swap’, where members exchange MP3 les as a challenge to make an AV to show in the New Year, We currently have 23 lined up.

Our next meeting will be a presentation by Jill Bunting and John Smith –keenly anticipated as tutorials and demos always go down well. On-line meetings have opened up new opportunities for us, and later in the season we have an evening booked with Dave Wilcox of Essex AV Group.

Worcestershire Audio Visual Group

The Worcestershire AV Group was started in 1996 and from day one Bill Every has been in charge as Chairman. However Bill can no longer continue in the role and so the time has come to hand over the reigns.

John Holt ARPS, DPAGB, BPE5 said he would be willing to take over and so at the delayed AGM in September, John was unanimously voted into the position.

As a mark of the superb work that Bill and Dorothy have put into the Club it was decided to make them honorary life members.

Meetings are continuing at least until the New Year via the ‘Zoom Conferencing app’. The programme can be found on the WAVG web page at: www.worcestershireavgroup.co.uk

Anyone interested in joining WAVG meetings please contact Ian Bennett on yannybav@gmail.com he will forward the Zoom link to you.

Beacon Camera Club continues to meet via Zoom.

The rst meeting of the season in September was an online tutorial on ‘How to put together an AV’ demonstrating using PTE through screen sharing. New and experienced members took part and made many helpful suggestions as the AV was built up. Earlier in the day, the speaker, Peter Warner, spent half an hour putting together a short AV using the images and music he was planning to use in the demonstration to show ‘one he had prepared earlier’, so that Group members could see what could be done.

The October meeting was a chance to show some Photo Harmony sequences. Peter Warner had been challenging some of the experienced photographers in the wider Camera Club to put together something. He hoped they would respond to a direct request and come up with the goods – a cunning ploy! The plan was to help in promoting the AV Group amongst the wider membership.

Later this season the Group has scheduled talks from Alan Tyrer and Andrew Gagg. They will also have an evening showing members’ responses to the theme ‘Lockdown AVs’. Additionally, a three way exchange with the East Midlands and Leeds AV Groups is planned.

The Essex AV Group

The Essex AV Group was formed to help anyone interested in improving their Audio Visual skills and knowledge. In normal times, the Group meets on the rst Wednesday in every month at 8pm. The evenings are varied, and include "how to do it" evenings, lectures from members and visiting speakers. The Group also hold competitions between members and with other AV Groups. The Group is a member of the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain and afliated to the East Anglian Federation.

The East Anglian AV Competition was due to take place on 21st March 2020, but obviously we postponed the event, and was rescheduled until 20th March 2021. However, this date is constantly under review and will be dependent on government guidelines in the meantime.

Alastair Taylor ARPS CPAGB/AV

Back in April I had the thought that we must keep the AV community busy during the lockdown period and launch a 1 minute challenge which was very well subscribed. The majority of these productions have been uploaded to YouTube and can be viewed at https://rps.org/ groups/audio-visual/one-minute-av/.

Things got a little out of hand so in an attempt to come up with a new challenge, I had a quick chat with Beatles enthusiasts Keith Watson and Malcolm Imhoff to oat the idea of the Fab Four AV Competition. Everyone agreed that it was a good idea. A quick conversation with Robert Albright and we had a judge in place.

We had to think about how we would make the competition work given the copyright rules associated with the Beatles back catalogue (which is now owned by the Sony corporation following a buy out from the Michael Jackson estate. The things you learn!) means that when uploaded to You Tube, the sound track is stripped out.

The only way forward was to hold an on-line judging session via the Zoom platform and to that end, Jill Bunting and John Smith came to the rescue (They have rescued many people this year) with a showcase evening on 25 June. The productions were judged in advance by Robert and on the evening we had around 40 participants. What an enjoyable evening it was.

I am always intrigued by the les sizes for AV productions

In the end we had 18 entries from 11 different AV workers. Entrants delved deep into the Beatles back catalogue to unearth some seldom heard treasures and to my surprise, there was very little duplication. In the case of this competition the le sizes ranged from 10 Megabytes through to 1.5 Gigabytes. Given that Beatles songs are all roughly the same duration of three to four minutes this came as a big surprise. It made me wonder if the larger les size would struggle to upload over the Zoom platform. As an engineer, my logic is that a smaller le size ought to be less demanding on the technology. As an aside, my view has always been that image resolution should only ever be a big as the screen or projector they are being shown over.

As it turned out, Lucy, by Martin Addison played very well which amazed me given the complexity of the animation and graphics. It was certainly a mind bending production, becoming the original title of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.

The results are shown below and a few images from the winners overleaf. I anticipate that some of these productions may resurface in other AV competitions. Congratulations to all those who entered and thanks for your participation.

There’s

In My

62 Faces That Thrilled The World

Imagine

Eleanor Rigby

Devotion

Allen

Philip Smithies HC

Keith Watson HC

Sheila Haycox C

Richard Brown C

Alastair Taylor C

Above: There’s a Place by Keith Watson

Below: In My Life by Bryan Stubbs

Above: Because by Mark Allen

Below: Magical Mystery Tour by

Philip Smithies

Imagine by Sheila Haycox

Eleanor Rigby by Richard Brown

The Three “A ”s

Lilian Webb AIPF ARPS

Igrew up in Lucan, Co. Dublin, where there were two mills - one a woollen mill owned by the Hill family and the other a our mill, owned by the Shackleton family. I knew George & Sylvia Shackleton as fellow parishioners of St. Andrew’s Church. When I retired and had time to travelthere were two places I had on my wish list - New Zealand and the Antarctic. So, three years after a trip to New Zealand, myself and Geraldine Malthouse from Waterford, though born in Switzerland, went on a voyage to the end of the earth in 2008.

In preparation for this and since then, I’ve attended the Ernest Shackleton Autumn School held each year on the October Bank Holiday weekend, usually the weekend after the IPF AV National/International Festival - which I look forward to.

Endurance, captained by Sir Ernest Shackleton, was trapped in ice in the Antarctic and sunk in 1915. Sir Ernest and crew sailed on 9th April to land on 15th April, 1916 on Elephant Island.

Nine days later, along with Sir Ernest, who was born in Kilkea, Athy, County Kildare, Tom Crean from Anascaul, County Kerry and three others set off in the James Caird boat for help.

They landed 16 days later on South Georgia before commencing an overland march, nally arriving at the whaling station in Stromness (Grytviken). It took a further 102 days before they were able to rescue the 22 trapped on Elephant Island - all of whom survived.

Though I’d taken many photos of penguins and seals on South Georgia, it wasn’t until I set foot on Fortuna Bay, that I felt connected to Sir Ernest and Tom as they had descended here prior to reaching the whaling station. There, at Sir Ernest’s grave in Grytviken, it is customary to raise a glass to “The Boss” as Sir Ernest was known as .. and we did.

I was invited to the unveiling of Sir Ernest’s statue by his grand-daughter, Lady Alexandra on the 100th anniversary of the rescue from Elephant Island. Finally, I attended the South Pole Symposium which included a visit to Sir Ernest’s homestead.

On my rst visit to Athy Museum, I noticed on the family tree - that way down at the bottom - there was a Webb! So - a tenuous connection to one of the world’s greatest explorers, and an Irish man!

Oh. And why did I call the sequence the Three “ A ” s - they are Athy, Anascaul and the Antarctic?!

Reflections

Raymond Hughes

Normally my only interaction with the IAC is receiving my copy of the IAC magazine and after I read Malcolm's AV section that's it until next time. An e-mailed invitation to the 2020 BIAFF weekend would normally be glanced at and ignored but this time it was different. This time we are in 'Lockdown' again with nowhere to go for the weekend. This time we can join the BIAFF from the comfort of our own armchair via the wonders of Zoom. This time we can dip in and out as the mood takes us.

Friday night, well done to Jill and John for hosting the selection of AVs from the IAC Peter Coles International AV Competition. It was wonderful for someone unable to journey to Capel Curig to be able to watch some of the sequences and the ability to put on the programme will I'm sure have minds ticking over for the use of this technology in the future even when hopefully the pandemic has been defeated.

I then followed up watching several of the lm sessions over Saturday and Sunday and I found them most enjoyable. There was a mix of drama, animation and a sprinkling of documentary lms. The animations were entertaining, very professional and could stand against anything seen on television. The dramas and documentaries were equally professionally acted and produced.

Despite the age prole of the IAC which seems to match that of the RPS AV Group there was a healthy entry from young lmmakers. I thought that this group, with some exceptions, were very heavy in their subject and message matter. But I suppose that's part of being young if I remember that far back.

As for the rest of the lms, here again I thought that a lot of them tackled subject matter seldom explored in AV. I must admit that I found myself making comparisons to the making of AV sequences and I thought some of the subjects would have been difcult to portray in a sequence.

One in particular that reached me was 'A Touch of Lavender' a superbly produced and acted lm with minimal dialogue depicting a couple in later life struggling with the wife's advancing dementia. It was a beautiful depiction of the effects of a terrible disease that had me, I admit, close to tears.

So am I ready to get the video camera out, well no, I think despite my enjoying the Festival it has reinforced my belief that in the words of Mr Spock ' It's Audio Visual Jim but not as we know it '.

MESSAGE from the FESTIVAL DIRECTOR

Welcome to “An International Audio Visual Retrospective” organised by The Royal Photographic Society’s Audio Visual Group. This event came about following the decision to postpone the RPS International AV Festive due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Alastair Taylor came up with idea of having a Retrospective and the Committee all agreed it was an excellent idea. I will be writing an article for the next AV News about organising this Retrospective. In the meantime I’d like to thank Alastair Taylor for the idea and hosting the event on Zoom, Andrew Gagg for the graphics, Jill and John for “projecting” the AVs, Linda Gibbs for preparing the programme, introducing the AVs, and publicity, and Sheila Haycox for publishing the event on the RPS website and organising the booking portal and nally to all the authors who have kindly loaned their work.

I hope you enjoy the “Retrospective” which I’m sure will be a very successful event.

Edgar Gibbs FRPS MPAGB AV - AFIAP

Festival Director and Chair of the RPS AV Group

Your TIMETABLE for the WEEKEND

Saturday 26 th September Sunday 27 th September

Title Author Year & Country Award

Rhondda Grey Ian Bateman

2002 England Digital CategoryChristine Woolnough Award

The Gallery Alan Tyrer

Striped Pyjamas Ron Davies & Peter Coles (+)

The Wall Jean Paul Petit

2016 England Highly Commended - RPS Ribbon

2008 England Commended

2018 France Recognition AwardFIAP Silver Medal for 'Production'

Mine the Ecstasy

Eddie Spence

2006 England

3rd Prize & RPS Bronze Medal

Silent Cries

Franz Jesche & Anne D'Oliveira

Recognition Sheila Haycox

2018 South Africa Commended - FIAP Ribbon

2018 England Highly Commended - RPS Ribbon

The Oxford Detectives Alan Boothman

The Forest of Tane Muhata

Erhard Hobrecker

Anniversary John Hodgson

2014 England Commended

2008 Switzerland Grand Prix Trophy, RPS Gold Medal & RPS AV Group Prize

2016 Australia Highly Commended - RPS Ribbon

SESSION TWO Saturday 26th September 2020

Title Author Year & Country Award

Talbot House Linda & Edgar Gibbs

2008 Wales Special Award'Creative Sound Track' - International Federation of Soundhunters (FICS) Medal & RPS Ribbon

This Land Raymond Hughes

2012 Northern Ireland

Commended

Capturing the Moment Martin Fry

Beewun Patrick Rottiers

2016 England FIAP Acceptance

2012 France 2nd Prize and RPS Silver Medal

A Sense of Proportion

Bryan Stubbs

Sweet Afton Margaret Finlay

The Way to Mont Blanc

Malcolm Imhoff

Obscura Ravi Deepres & Michael Clifford

Migrant Mother Howard Bagshaw

2008 England Shown at the Festival

2016 Ireland Commended - FIAP Ribbon

2004 England Judges Mention

2016 England FIAP Acceptance

2010 England Grand Prix Trophy, RPS Gold Medal & RPS AV Group Prize

Why I Gave Up Slideshows

Greg Duncan

2016 England Commended - FIAP Ribbon

Title Author Year & Country Award

People of the Forest

Jacek Zaim & Urszula Gronowska

Passent les Jours Jean Louis Terrienne

Beyond the Wall Alastair Taylor

A Celtic Blessing Lilian Webb

Tsaatan the Last Reindeer Men

Giacomo Cicciotti & Sandra Zagolin

Into Oblivion Marcel Batist

2014 Poland Category Prize'Documentary & Tourism' - RPS Ribbon & Best First Time

Entrant - George & Doreen Pollock Medal

2012 France Category Prize - 'Best Music, Poetry & Song'RPS Ribbon

2018 England

FIAP Acceptance

2014 Ireland Shown at the Festival

2016 Italy Judges Award - FIAP Bronze Medal'Reportage'

2016 Netherlands

FIAP Acceptance

For the Sake of Example Keith Leedham

Crabbed Age and Youth Valerie Rawlings

2012 England Grand Prix Trophy, RPS Gold Medal & RPS AV Group Prize

2010 England Commended

SESSION FOUR Saturday 26th September 2020

The Great Prairie Jean Paul Petit & Jacques van de Weerdt

2014 France & Belgium

Grand Prix Trophy, RPS Gold Medal & RPS AV Group Prize

Title

Author Year & Country Award

Isadora's Legacy Eddie Spence

2008 England 3rd Prize & RPS Bronze Medal

Les Sourires d'Angkor The Smiles of Angkor

Jean Pierre Simon 2004 France Commended

Orkney's Italian Chapel Chris Bate

Sirja Lamia, The Night Born Vampire

2016 England FIAP Acceptance

Johann Werbrouck 2006 Belgium Category Prize - 'Best Theme & Fiction' - RPS Ribbon

Monopolising Oxford Ian Bateman 2006 England Commended

The Holy Brook Martin Fry 2014 England Judges Commendation

Okavango John & Judith Hodgson

AZ Robert Albright

Messiah John Smith

2016 Australia Judges Award - RPS Bronze Medal - 'Nature'

2014 England 2nd Prize and RPS Silver Medal

2008 Wales Shown at the Festival

SESSION SIX Sunday 27th September 2020ESSION

Title Author Year & Country Award

Queen of the Hills Malcolm Imhoff

2016 England Recognition Award International Federation of Soundhunters (FICS) Medal for 'Sound'

The Bridge is Safe Henk Tulp & Albert Slack

2006 N’lands & England

Commended

The Innocents Charles Hulse

2018 Australia Judges Award - RPS Bronze Medal'Documentary'

Thomas Linda & Edgar Gibbs

Sarah Sheilah Peel & Peter Coles (+)

Eric Malcolm & Jenny Gee

The Quiet One Keith Brown

2012 Wales Commended

2004 England 3rd Prize & RPS Bronze Medal

2018 England FIAP Acceptance

2008 England Commended

Beeswing Graham Sergeant

2016 England Top of Festival - Grand Prix Trophy

RPS Gold Medal & PTE

9 Licence key

SESSION SEVEN Sunday 27th September 2020

Title Author Year & Country Award

ReeXtion on Myself Diana Belsagrio

Clara’s War Tony Hill (+)

Jazz Jean-Charles Pizolatto

Hedd Wyn Ron Davies

A Christmas Carol Jill Bunting

Gaudi's Dream André Hartensveld

2018 Italy Judges Award - FIAP Bronze Medal'Creative Imagery'

2004 England Commended

2014 France Category Prize - 'Best Music, Poetry & Song' - RPS Ribbon

2008 England Shown at the Festival

2010 Wales Shown at the Festival

2006 Netherlands

Special Award - 'Best Creative Imagery' - The Doug Mullins Award

The Grey Ghost Keith Leedham

King Krak and the Dragon Andrew Gagg

2016 England Highly CommendedFIAP Ribbon

2016 England Recognition AwardFIAP Silver Medal for 'Production'

SESSION EIGHT Sunday 27th September 2020

Title Author Year & Country Award

Matthew Loney's Miracle Judith Kimber

2018 Northern Ireland

Recognition AwardInternational Federation of Soundhunters (FICS) Medal for 'Sound'

Arctic Dreams Bill Bruce

2008 Norway Special Award - 'Best Photography', Silver Salver & RPS Ribbon

Special Howard Bagshaw & Jeff Mansell

2012 England Category Prize - 'Best Documentary & Tourism' - RPS Ribbon

Room 17 Johann Werbrouck

2006 Belgium 2nd Prize and RPS Silver Medal

In Search of Christina Richard Brown

2018 England Top of Festival - Grand Prix Trophy RPS Gold Medal & PTE 9 Licence Key

Recording Lockdown

Peter Young

One of the roles of photography is to create a social and historical record of the way we live. What happened in the early days of the coronavirus Lockdown, from March 2020 onwards, was never to be repeated.

At rst people were very cautious and did as they were told. But in the following months our attitudes and obedience to the ‘rules’ changed, and continue to do so. Because we are constantly updating our understanding of the world, we gradually forget how life was before. Looking at photographs won’t bring back the original feeling, but it’s a start.

I thought it important to capture what was happening with Lockdown. Some aspects were bizarre, others were amusing. Overall these events produced a strong emotional response. Part of lockdown was ‘permission’ to take exercise walks, and so every day I took my camera and walked into the centre of Worcester to record how lockdown was changing the face of the city. The challenge here was: how do you photograph things not happening?! After all, a deserted street is a deserted street, and it could have been early one Sunday morning.

What was different were the notices stuck to windows and doors of closed businesses – and eventually stuck onto the pavement. There was a sense of desolation. Shops and restaurants had simply closed, plastic tape had been draped around children’s play areas, and drawings of rainbows had sprung up in front-room windows.

So I started peering through shop windows and taking photographs of what I could see inside. Fortunately, at this time, most people were staying at home, so there were few to witness my odd behaviour, so I was neither observed nor questioned: “What are you doing?” while engaged in this activity.

Over those rst few weeks of Lockdown I collected enough pictures to create an AV. I then needed to write a commentary. My thinking is that if your photos are wide-ranging, covering different aspects of a topic, then some kind of verbal explanation is helpful. However, if the images are all pretty much along the same lines, then a musical accompaniment would be sufcient – the pictures would speak for themselves, so to say. I made several short AVs, some with commentary, others without.

Lockdown AV continued ...

The Lockdown AV needed a commentary as it included as many aspects as possible about Lockdown. There was indeed a kind of grim humour to the situation, what with panic buying and general uncertainty about how to behave. Although I had plenty of pictures of people queuing outside supermarkets, I missed some key moments. I never got to witness the toilet roll panic, so I had to rely on downloading suitable images from the internet.

For ‘staying at home’ I simply used the view out of my window of all the cars parked in the street. Some shots were lucky encounters: the woman repainting the O of the Diglis Hotel sign; all had an air of melancholy; the barbecue image suggests social distancing.

With my background in writing, and having just read Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin” (which is written in verse) I thought it would be fun to use that particular format, as it seemed suitable for telling stories.

Pushkin managed to write over 400 fourteen-line stanzas; I managed three.

Lockdown

At rst the streets were void of trafc, The population stayed indoors, The town shut down, a scene quite graphic: No cafés, pubs, department stores. As the lockdown warnings strengthened The queues for toilet paper lengthened And soon enough the shelves were bare With panic buying everywhere. If you weren’t quick you would have missed ’ em. Then stickers on the ground were used, Key workers and the old excused, And thus emerged a working system. But once the scheme had settled down It seemed quite safe to shop in town.

You spent those weeks of harm prevention Obeying calls to stay at home, Yet seeking ways of contravention, Inventing imsy needs to roam, Make sorties out to do your shopping –Those vital needs that know no stopping. Avoiding other people now –Two metres distant. Anyhow, Your job’s on hold, you’re out on furlough The future’s hard to comprehend You wonder how this thing will end Stuck at home and drinking merlot. Resisting calls to wear a mask, You concentrate on your next task

’Cause now you’ve all this time for working Through your list of D-I-Y, Recalling chores that you’ve been shirking –Those little jobs to beautify Your home, which now seems like your prison, You list those tasks which have arisen: To x that sink or paint that fence Do not delay, you’ve no defence. You’re growing veg in your back garden And, taking pride in what you do, Can justify the barbecue. One day you will receive your pardon, Return to how you used to work And see this whole thing as a perk.

Now the thing about writing poetry is that if you adhere to a rhyming scheme the poem often takes you to unexpected places.

I mean, how many rhymes are there for ‘ furlough ’?

Now I could have set up a photoshoot with my friends – once restrictions on meeting others were relaxed – but I went for the easy solution and photographed a shelf of wine bottles in the supermarket.

Lockdown AV continued ... Closed/Open AV

Using a different set of photographs I put together my Closed AV. There was no need for a commentary as these images shared the theme of locked shops, cafés and public buildings. When in July we were semi-released from Lockdown it all changed again.

This too was not like life as we’d known it. My Open AV would, as far as possible, duplicate the shots as I had taken for my Closed AV. So I went round town again with a print-out of thumbnails of all the images I’d used before.

In most cases I could tick them off my list. I did ask permission from the staff of the teashop to photograph the Open sign and the staff working behind the counter. For The Hive, I had to ll in a form, but otherwise, I just did what I could street-wise.

Some establishments, however, remained closed, presumably forever, so I made up the numbers for the Open AV with shots of disinfecting the street furniture, staff members outside shops regulating the ow of shoppers, as well as the queues that subsequently formed.

These two AVs were the same length with the images more or less in the same order. By combining the two sequences it’s possible to see how things changed over that period.

And if things continue to change in the next few months, I’ll be out again, recording a further slice of life under Lockdown.

CEMRIAC AV Competition 2020 for the Jessops Rose Bowl

Ian Bennett

The CEMRIAC AV Competition was started in 1992 and was hosted by Bill and Dorothy Every of ‘Worcestershire AV Group’. Linda and Edgar Gibbs were the rst winners of the trophy. In those days of course it was slides and tape, digital had not been heard of.

Move on to 2020 and things are so different. This year by the magic of the ‘Zoom Conferencing app’ Mr & Mrs Gibbs were able to view from the comfort and safety of their own home along with 42 other participants. Possibly the largest audience ever for this competition!

Last year due to a clash with an RPS event, the room at Smethwick Photographic Society was very sparse as only 13 people attended the event. It was late August 2020 when Rob Day and myself decided we would have to cancel the competition due to the Coronovirus epidemic and also the fact that Smethwick club room was closed. Within an hour of me sending out an email cancelling the competition I received a very kind offer from Simon Sumner. He said it was a shame to not hold the competition and he would be willing to host the event via Zoom. An offer we could not refuse, so the competition was back on! I would collate all the entries and make up the menu, Simon would host and run the competition from his computer.

The competition has historically always been held on a Saturday but it was decided to run it on a mid week evening in hope that it would attract a larger audience. Frantic exchanges of emails to judge Mike Edwards to check he was still available and a date was set, Wednesday 23rd September 2020. Now all we needed was entries!!!

The competition was advertised in emails to past entrants and via Facebook and Eventbrite to give us some idea of interest. Usually the competition attracts around 20 entries but with the CEMRIAC area now growing to take in other regions I did wonder if we might attract more. However, we ended up with 19 sequences which was just the perfect number for an evening’s entertainment. Mike received the entries for pre-judging and in no time at all let me have the results and his comments.

In the meanwhile, Simon, Jill Bunting, John Smith and myself had a practice Zoom meeting. A few hiccups but Jill was able to resolve the issues and the menu was now ready.

On the evening of the competition all ran smoothly and after each sequence Mike gave a few short comments which kept the momentum going. At the end of all the screenings he awarded the following placings.

First : The heART Of The Machine

Second : A Fishing Trip

Third : Inside Outside

HC I Can Stand On Mountains

HC On The West Side

C Serenity

C Autumn Light To Winter Frost

C My Private Peaceful

Best Sound A Fishing Trip

Brian Harvey

Alan Tyrer

Richard Brown

Malcolm Imhoff

John Holt

Brian Harvey

John Holt

Jim Waddington

Alan Tyrer

Malcolm Imhoff and Andrew Gagg had possession of the trophies, and both kindly agreed to send them on to the new winners.

May I personally thank Jill Bunting, John Smith, Mike Edwards and all the authors who entered. Special thanks to Simon Sumner for all his support to the AV community.

Simon was Chairman of the CEMRIAC region but has now moved on to be the Chairman of the IAC, a position I am sure he will enjoy and with his ‘youth’ and enthusiasm will continue to move the organisation forward.

A message from Mike Edwards ...

Thank you for inviting me to judge the CEMRIAC AV Competition 2020. I really enjoyed all the sequences it’s just a pity we couldn’t do it at Smethwick Photographic Society’s club room as in the past.

http://www.cemriac.org.uk/avcomp.html

The heART of the Machine

Brian Harvey ARPS

Iwas extremely pleased to be awarded rst place in the CEMRIAC AV Competition for the ‘Jessops Rose Bowl’ and have been asked for a few words on its creation. Where do I start?

Well rst my interests in life include photography and listening to music, particularly electronic/synth music. I also love producing AVs particularly creative ‘off the wall’ AVs, as some probably already know. It's great sometimes to lighten the mood of the AV world with some less serious sequences. Listening to a well known synthesizer artist I thought what a challenge it would be to create an AV based on what produces this style of music. My thoughts were that the body of electronic music is the hardware, machine/computer, and the lifeblood is the programming and man’s input. I decided on the title of heART of the Machine to cover the beating heart being the music and the ART my visualization of the requirements to produce synthesizer music using a play on the word heart.

I took many images of my wife's electronic piano, my son's various keyboards and synthesizers, circuit boards, old computer internals and my computer monitor with various software programs running. I keep all sorts of odds and ends for photographic purposes including old circuit boards. I call it collecting but my wife refers to it as hoarding. Not only did I want to show straight shots but I also wanted to be creative to keep the viewers interest. A considerable amount of creative work was carried out in Photoshop to produce many of the images.

I then began to build the sequence thinking I only have to make the sequence cover 3 minutes and 1 second the length of the audio track. Starting with a section showing hardware, I moved through electronic circuit boards and on to computer screens displaying software and images of sheet music.

After I started, in order to keep up with the pace of the music, I soon realized I would need a larger number of images than I had planned for, as it’s the music that drives the sequence. Many images did not initially work or needed further work in Photoshop and I nally ended up with something in the order of 500 images to work with. I used PTE 9 to build the AV and made heavy use of Objects and Animation, some slides having up to 10 layers with some using masks. I did not want all slides on a regular beat and so I used the music to slow down some changes albeit still fast just to vary the pace.

The image timing proved a bit of a nightmare at times trying to manipulate dissolve rates of up to 10 images, some within masks, in 6 seconds. The image dissolve rates also create many of the effects including the mixer slider apparent movements.

I was pleased with the end result of much work and just to nish for those who like facts and gures the nal AV is 3 mins 01 secs and contains 188 images, that averages out at under 1 second per image.

I still thoroughly enjoy producing creative AVs but felt I needed to slow down for a while and my other AV in the competition ‘Serenity’ whilst again making creative use of Photoshop took me in the opposite direction of using slow dissolves with heavy use of masks. What a wonderful program PTE is to use and enjoy.

HINTS and Tips 23

Protecting your AV and limiting usage

Malcolm Imhoff FRPS FACI(M)

One of the wonderful things about the AV world is the willingness to share, ideas, skills, techniques, experiences, and of course our AV programmes. In my experience, requests for photographs, articles, and maybe a chance to see an AV I have missed are always met with a positive response. The most generous AV worker I have known is Peter Coles. Sometimes a DVD with a collection of his AVs would arrive unexpectedly in the post, and any questions like "how do I do this?" would be answered in a few hours, usually with some examples to play with.

Most AV workers and competition organisers that I have come across are very respectful of the ownership and copyright of the AVs they receive, and would not share them with others without the permission of the author. I do know one or two people who usually make this a condition of lending their work, insisting that it be removed from the hard drive of the computer immediately after the event. Don't forget to delete it from the Recycle Bin too. A lot of competition rules state that this is what will happen after the nal showing. Some competitions and festivals like to make everything available afterwards, maybe on YouTube or on a DVD which is sent to all the entrants. You have to agree to this.

Left: (Project Options>Screen) shows how it is possible to insert a Watermark which will appear on every slide, in the format and place you specify. I have chosen a "Copyright" watermark in this example.

For those of you who do enter competitions it is difcult to keep track of where your AVs are. PTE has several built-in functions that enable you to protect or limit their usage if you so wish.

Above: (Project Options>Advanced) shows four options for protecting the AV, the rst of which is to force the viewer to enter a password. You set a password in the project and publish the AV in the usual way. Anyone trying to run this will be presented with a dialogue box requesting the password. This also has three options for "time limiting" usage, so that it will expire after (a) a number of days; (b) after a number of runs; or (c) after a certain date, all of which you can specify.

In addition there is an option to personalise the message that views will receive after the expiry date. In this example I have asked them to "contact the author for the latest version". I did this after receiving a request to show one of my AVs with the comment "I already have a copy of it" (which I was unaware of). It was obviously quite an old version and my response was to agree, but that I would much rather they showed the most recent version.

Sound for AV

The Appropriateness of Sound

Malcolm Imhoff FRPS FACI(M)

Sound in AV sometimes appears to be the poor relation, especially when AV sequences are being assessed for distinctions, where there is an overriding emphasis on the photography. In competitions the subtleties and complexities of the sound track are rarely mentioned by judges, and in a way that’s a good thing because it suggests that the sound track has not drawn attention to itself at the expense of the overall message. If there is a category or an award for “the most creative sound track” it has often gone to an AV with lots of bells and whistles, sound effects in particular.

Where the citation is for just “the best sound track” it has been pleasing to see the award go to an AV where the music has been totally appropriate for the subject matter, the voice-over has been recorded perfectly, any sound effects, especially birdsong, are introduced subtly, just adding to and creating the ambience, and the mixing is done with air.

Examples of such audio-visuals that come to mind are James Hamill’s Mountains of the Mind, and Judith Kimber’s Matthew Loney’s Miracle. Both of these have won the coveted FICS “Federation Internationale des Chasseurs de Sons” (International Federation of Soundhunters) medal presented at the Royal Photographic Society International Audio Visual Festival. It is one of my most treasured medals too, a very heavy 2¾ inch lump of bronze engraved in bas relief, which was awarded for my AV Queen of the Hills [photograph below left].

Rule #1 in selecting music for your Audio-Visuals is to choose music you like. After all, you will be listening to it for hours, often short sections of it over and over again as you make the AV. This will also help to personalise your sequence and make it “yours”.

Rule #2 in selecting music it is not necessary to choose music you like. In other words, just because you like modern jazz does not mean your audience will share your passion. So be a bit careful of music which some people may nd it hard to listen to, unless it is used for a specic effect.

In my Photo Harmony sequence Faces of Nepal [photograph below] I used a short section from a 45 minute track of a traditional Nepali Buddhist chant called “Om Mani Padme Hum” which I absolutely love and immediately transports me back to Nepal, but I do know that other people hate it.

Sound for AV : The Appropriateness of Sound Continued ...

That brings me to another point. In those of my AVs which are set in foreign parts, I have often tried to use music from that place, as I feel that it really helps to underpin the sequence with some aural authenticity (do you like that phrase?). I make it a point to seek out some of the local music when I am there. I remember spending a very happy afternoon in a Kathmandu record shop sat by a little CD player listening to a stack of CDs recommended by my Sirdar, Ang Phurba. I bought most of them.

One thing I found was that the really traditional ethnic music can sometimes seem very weird and uncomfortable to our western ears, but, as in this country, where bands like Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span, and the Albion Band have taken our traditional songs and dances and rearranged them with a more modern backing using drums and electronic instruments, the same goes in other countries.

So, I have made quite a few AVs about Japan, and when I was there I had the privilege of a homestay with a Japanese family. I spoke no Japanese and they spoke no English, but I managed to convey to them that I was interested in “folk” music. Unbeknown to me the daughter of the family had disappeared, to reappear a couple of hours later, having ridden into town on her bike, and presented me with a CD of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons played on the Japanese Koto .

On one of my visits to a Japanese school I had the pleasure of hearing a performance of this by an orchestra of Japanese girls playing the Koto very loudly.

The Four Seasons is of course a very well known piece of music and AV workers are often advised to steer clear of very popular pieces, as the viewers may well have their own images associated with them in their heads. I don’t always subscribe to this view, and have used many well known pieces in my own work. Whenever hear Vaughan Williams’ “The Lark Ascending” on Classic FM (usually at least once a day) I can see and hear Wainwright talking about his life and experiences on the Lake District Fells [photograph above], and I think this is lovely.

The important thing is to match the style, the feel, and pace, and mood of the music to the subject matter of the AV. If you are showing us cityscapes, city life, grafti, then your music would probably need to be upbeat, rhythmic, electronic or synthetic. On the other hand, if your AV contains mostly landscapes then your choice of music would probably veer towards the more gentle classical, pastoral, owing style. If it features images of a particular season then the music should reect that; cold and icy for winter, reective for autumn, more jaunty and hopeful for spring, and so on.

In my “autumn” AV At Westonbirt [photograph left overleaf] I used three pieces of music which I thought were appropriate to accompany the reds and golds of the autumn leaves, “A Beginning” played on early music instruments, a Shakespearean sonnet which mentions Westonbirt, and a Purcell minuet, all by the Albion Band.

Sound for AV : The Appropriateness of Sound Continued ...

Another useful source is lm music. Film music is often composed to create a mood and be in harmony with what is happening on screen, exactly what we want to achieve in an AV, so it can be a good choice. The “motion picture soundtrack” CDs or downloads will usually have a good start and a satisfying end, again just what we are aiming for in our AVs.

In my sequence on Bhutan, Land of the Thunder Dragon, [photograph below right] I used some music from the lm Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon which I thought worked very well.

A caveat. Don’t necessarily assume that the title of a lm or a piece of music will be suitable for your Audio Visual of the same theme. I have seen a number of AVs featuring wonderful pictures of elephants, lions and tigers where the background music is “Out of Africa” by John Barry. I love John Barry’s music and have used a lot of it myself, but not having seen the lm that particular piece does not take me to Africa and I would much rather have some African music as I have alluded to before.

I am fortunate in that I like all sorts of music: classical, folk, instrumental, world music, new world music, lm music, rock and pop, (well everything before 1980), just about anything except garage (?), jazz and opera (sorry to 50% of our readers). I listen to a lot, and I buy a lot. When I was making my AV Sunrise on Helvellyn I knew I needed to use Dvorak's New World Symphony. I listened to twelve versions of it, bought most of them, borrowed the others from the library, and only one of them was suitable. Whenever I hear it on the radio I know when it is my version.

The most important thing is to listen to the music.

So, that is the message. Listen to the music. Lots of it. Be open minded. And when you hear something that grabs you and you think “I could use that in an AV”, make a note of it, keep a notebook, download it, get the CD. Make the music as an important part of your AV as the images.

Photoshop – Dehaze Re-visited

Keith Scott FRPS DPAGB AV -AFIAP

For many years most of my Photoshop articles have been prompted by new releases of Adobe’s software versions, usually in the form of reviews, perhaps highlighting new or improved Photoshop features. Some articles resulted from specic functions that I’ve personally found useful, and just a few articles have been written due to specic requests from readers.

This article was requested by our Editor who asked `have I done anything on dehazing? and states that at the time of asking he was doing some dehazing and thought it would make an interesting article’. At the time he asked (March) I was at home doing very little and quite bored during my rst week of self-isolation, keeping away from friends and relatives in order not to catch or pass on the coronavirus.

By the time this article is printed hopefully the dreaded coronavirus will be a past bad memory, although its implications will be ongoing for a long time.

I did write about the Dehaze function following its introduction with version CC 2015, which was the 25th anniversary version of Adobe Photoshop released in June 2015. Searching my les, I found that in February 2016 AV News published this article entitled Adobe Photoshop – 2015 - Dehaze Filter. The two images (left and right below) looking westwards towards South Stack Lighthouse near Holyhead in Anglesey were used as examples of before and after application of the Dehaze Filter.

As always, my original image was a RAW le (NEF) taken on a bright enough April day, but unfortunately at the coast and especially over open sea there was an abundance of atmospheric haze that softened and de-saturated the original image. Readers with good memories may remember this article or recognise these images. Since then I’ve regularly used the Dehaze Filter in both Adobe Camera Raw via Photoshop, also in Photoshop Lightroom Classic, but not just for the removal of haze. In this article we’ll take another look at this useful function to highlight some of its pros and cons gleaned from practical experience.

Photoshop - Dehaze Re- visited continued ...

Whilst it’s true that haze can sometimes be benecial for creative purposes by adding a touch of softness, mood, and mystique to an image, it can also be problematic when it isn’t wanted. The presence of haze reduces contrast, this can vary from quite mild to severe. Haze will also reduce colour saturation in varying amounts, combinations of these two effects will also hide ne detail. Prior to availability of the Dehaze Filter improving contrast and colour saturation of a haze affected image required trialling a variety of different techniques, frequently applied in combination with each other. Rarely does any single technique work satisfactorily on all affected images. A good starting point with mild to moderate amounts of haze is to make two duplicate layers (Ctrl+J) + (Ctrl+J) then change the topmost layer blending mode to ‘Multiply’. This deepens the overall image bringing back some of the tonal denition, this effect can then be adjusted/lessened somewhat by reducing topmost layer opacity, then merge the two duplicate layers together leaving the original Background layer unedited. Following such changes to the blending mode and merging of the two duplicates a combination of adjustment layers can then be applied, by tweaking Levels, Exposure, Brightness, Contrast, Curves etc. Other layer blend modes useful in this technique are Overlay, Soft Light, and Hard Light.

The Dehaze Filter is in my opinion misleadingly named, because in both Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom Classic it can also add haze, it doesn’t just remove it. Moving the haze slider left from its central position adds or increases haze, useful for creating mood, whilst moving the slider right reduces or removes haze. Perhaps a more appropriate name would simply be Haze Filter! When initially opening a (RAW) image it may automatically open directly into Adobe Camera Raw, but if it doesn’t then from within Photoshop click (Ctrl+Shift+A) to access the Camera Raw lter, or select Camera Raw Filter from the main Filter Menu. Dehaze is situated third slider from bottom on the Basic Tab with a Clarity slider just above. The Basic Tab is accessed via the topmost left icon that looks like a lens iris diaphragm, see top red arrow on adjacent image. Reduction or removal of overall haze from an image is accomplished by using combinations of both Dehaze and Clarity sliders.

Whilst it’s important to note that image contrast and colour saturation can be much improved by adjusting these two sliders, it can also be destroyed. Subtlety is usually required i.e. less rather than more. As you may expect on a Basic tab the controls are basic. Adjustments made on this tab include the entire image area with control over the total amount of Dehaze applied but without control over specic areas. To achieve more subtle control by area a different control is needed.

At the top left corner of the Camera Raw panel sits eleven small icons, three of these are useful in applying controlled Dehaze to specic areas although the Adjustment Brush is perhaps most useful. This is the ninth icon from left which looks like a small paintbrush, indicated by the red arrow on adjacent image.

When this icon is clicked another control panel immediately opens which provides access to numerous brush control sliders. Eleventh slider down sits the Dehaze slider, with a Clarity slider immediately above. These two sliders work in much the same way as sliders on the Basic panel i.e. left of centre to add or increase and right of centre to reduce or remove haze. At left and right sides of each slider is a small circle containing a minus or plus sign. Clicking on either will move the slider by xed increments of 25, 50, 75 and 100%, although each slider can be manually adjusted to any intermediate value desired.

By selecting a value then ‘painting’ with the adjustment brush specic small to large areas can be hazed or dehazed as required. This provides much more control over the process because different areas can be given different amounts of treatment. At the bottom of this control panel is another four sliders, these control the size of the brush, amount of feather around the brush, ow of the brush and density. The brush size can also be changed simply by right clicking and dragging the mouse or graphics pen to the left or right, this is much quicker than using sliders and is my preferred method.

Photoshop - Dehaze Re- visited continued ...

To the right of the Adjustment Brush icon sits a Graduated Filter icon, this can be used also with the Dehaze Filter to achieve a graduated Dehaze from Zero to 100% between any two selected parts of an image. The selection is shown as two dotted lines, red at zero and green at 100%. Each line has a small dot indicating its centre, clicking on either dot will activate the selection. Selections can be narrowed or widened to suit individual requirements simply by dragging, it can also be rotated to any angle around 360 degrees.

This is a useful tool for dehazing skies from horizons, or foregrounds to sky horizons. The oval shaped icon next to the Graduated Filter icon is a Radial Filter. Clicking this icon loads a circular control that may be stretched larger or smaller and elongated into an oval shape as required. Slider controls for all these functions work in similar manner, therefore jumping from one to another does not cause confusion. The Radial Filter is my least favourite tool, for total control I prefer to make selection copy layers to treat individual image parts.

Topmost image was taken during October 2015 on a visit to Clavell Tower, Kimmeridge Bay in Dorset. There was a moderate presence of atmospheric haze which lowered the contrast and de-saturated colours spoiling an otherwise reasonable shot.

The bottom image was dehazed using Adobe Camera Raw from the ‘Base Tab’ applied at different levels to several separate copy layers.

See page 65, overleaf, for details of layer edits

Photoshop and Image Editing

Do you have any Image Editing hints and tips you would like to share or is there anything you need to know? Do please contact the Editor if you have any offers and requests and we will do our best to help you out

Contact the AV News Editor: magazine @avnews.org.uk

Photoshop - Dehaze Re- visited continued ...

Adjacent image shows the layout of the Layers palette as used for the nal Clavell Tower & Bay image.

Layer No 1 at the bottom of the stack is the original background layer, this was taken in camera as a NEF raw le. As per my usual practice, no editing was undertaken on this background layer, this always remains intact as a safety measure.

Layer No 2 is a copy layer made from a selection of just the foreground grasses, hill and tower. This layer was Dehazed to 25% with 10% of clarity added. After De-hazing this layer was duplicated to make layer No 3, which was subsequently used solely for sharpening purposes, by applying a High Pass lter at a value of between 3 and 4, then changing the layer Blending Mode to Overlay. Reducing this layer’s opacity to 80% helped smooth an over gritty sharpened appearance.

Layer No 4 is a copy layer made from a selection of just the sea and bay area, this was Dehazed to 35% with 10% of Clarity added. Above this sits layer No 5 which is a copy of the sky area only, this was Dehazed to approximately 50% to achieve the desired effect, Clarity for this layer is higher than on the previous layers at 15%. In the original shot the sky appeared quite grey, this treatment revealed an interesting blue sky with white clouds without any need to replace the sky.

One of the ‘cons’ of using combinations of Dehaze and Clarity lter is that unwanted noise can be added, this is usually most noticeable in skies or areas of even tone. To overcome such noise the sky layer No 5 was duplicated i.e. No 6, this was then applied with just 1 or 2 units of Gaussian Blur. Another unwanted effect of Dehaze is that colours may quickly distort unexpectedly. This is one reason why I rarely Dehaze beyond 50% and preferably much less.

Selections of image parts were used to create copy layers; each was saved with a name identifying its specic area. All selections were feathered by a few pixels to avoid sharp edges, thereby helping to seamlessly blend layer joints. After achieving the desired result, the entire le was rst saved as a .psd thereby saving all selections and layers intact for future use. Subsequently all layers excluding the background layer were merged then copied to a new le, cropped to 1920 x 1080 pixels, then saved as a .jpg in readiness for a sequence.

Brian Sidney Pearce FRPS EFIAP 1931-2019

A Tribute from Richard Brown FRPS

Sid Pearce, who died last year aged 88 was a well known character on the Midlands AV scene in the 1980s. My rst encounter with him was in 1981 when Ray Dowding and I were organising an AV workshop at Fentham PS in Birmingham. Sid rang me one evening to enquire about attending and over the course of about an hour and a half I got pretty much his entire life story. Talking was denitely one of Sid’s strong points! My fondest memories of Sid are from the countless lunchtime conversations which we shared. At that time, he owned a frozen food wholesalers and his self-imposed task was to drive all the way into Birmingham city centre every day to do the business banking. I became convinced that this time-consuming regime wasn’t strictly necessary, but was Sid’s excuse to get out of the ofce. As I worked near the city centre, we would meet up at least a couple of times a week for lunch in ‘Hasty Tasty’ the modest snack bar which he always favoured.

From the 1970s, Sid was a member of his local club, Sutton Coldeld PS. But he soon joined Fentham PS and was elected Chairman a few years later. He became one of the most prominent members of the FADE AV Group and we enjoyed many entertaining evenings in his company. But sadly it was not to last as Sid and his wife moved away, rstly to Surrey and eventually back to their home town of Grimsby when Sid retired.

He gained his FRPS in slide-sound sequences in 1994 and an EFIAP in recognition of his acceptances in international festivals. Probably his best remembered sequence was The Death Railway, a meticulously researched WW2 documentary containing much location photography in Thailand and Burma. Foreign travel was one of Sid and Brenda’s major interests and it would almost be easier to list the countries in the world which they hadn’t visited. Sid’s other great passion was rose cultivation and he achieved his long standing ambition of winning Best in Show at the Royal National Rose Society’s British Championship in 1983. Another sequence was a hilarious skit on the intricacies of competitive rose growing in which Sid himself played the hapless but ultimately successful protagonist.

Sid’s AV activities were entirely in the slide-tape era. But he became enormously interested in digital imaging and in later years was a familiar name as a software and equipment reviewer for the RPS Journal. He also published two Photoshop tutorial booklets in partnership with his old friend from the Sutton Coldeld PS days, the late Eddy Sethna FRPS.

He is survived by his wife Brenda, to whom he was married for 66 years and their children Adrian and Catherine.

Maurice Dobson 1932-2020

A Tribute from John Patton

Maurice Dobson was a towering gure, literally and metaphorically, in the annals of Stirling and District Camera Club. At various points, during his thirty something years of membership, he held each of the major ofces and was noted for his commitment and efciency in each of them. Maurice and Ellen were both ne photographers and regular prize-winners with particular specialism in owers and gardens.

Maurice was the founder and guiding father-gure of the Stirling Audio Visual Group; under his guidance, from the earliest analogue slide/tape productions through to the current digital programs, he established the AV Group as a respected leader in its eld throughout Scotland and beyond. In the process, he raised hundreds of pounds for the Camera Club, making an average of eight presentations annually to a range of community organisations. The quality of the work on display added lustre to the standing of the Club and attracted new members.

This gentle, big man exhibited few of the objectionable clichés about the people of his native county. He was warm and generous with his time to fellow members and in his work for the Club. He was a patient and gifted instructor to members of the AV Group; I knew nothing about constructing an AV until I had some lessons from Maurice. A trie dictatorial, perhaps, in his management of the Group, it was always accepted because he was patient in many other ways and constantly sought to raise individual standards and overall quality.

He introduced me to the Northern AV Group which meets at Snods Edge near Consett. There he had many friends and admirers of his work in the medium. He was clearly at ease and enjoying himself in their company. Many sought and valued his advice on developments in audio visual. It was obvious in those surroundings that Maurice’s work was greatly valued and respected across the north of England.

I visited Maurice at home and in hospital during his nal illness and always came away with total admiration for his quiet, dignied courage and Yorkshire stoicism.

He will be deeply missed by his wife, fellow photographer and AV collaborator, Ellen, their extended family and by the many friends that he had long acquired in the photographic community.

Maurice was 88 in January last.

R A Standing ARPS 1932-2019

A Tribute from Richard Brown FRPS

Bob Standing passed away peacefully on Friday 22nd November 2019 aged 87 years. In his working life he was a dentist in Licheld, where he also lived. After his retirement he and his wife Nancy moved to South Devon.

Bob was a well known and respected member of Sutton Coldeld PS in the 1970s and 80s. He was for many years the AV Secretary of the MCPF and organised the judging of the Midphot AV competition. In the days when many people were still using manual projection, the accepted sequences to be shown at the exhibition in Sutton town hall had be be pulsed to run on Animatic Convar. It was an annual ritual to go round to Bob’s house with your tape and slides in hand to accomplish this. Because Animatic pulsing didn’t permit cutting in, the whole sequence had to be recorded perfectly from beginning to end in one pass. Bob famously maintained that he dreaded the late Eddie Graham’s visits as he was so anxious about getting it right that he had to consume a large quantity of Bob’s whisky to help steady his nerves.

Bob Standing

Maurice Dobson

Sid Pearce

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