News Archive > November, 2008

At Morecambe Bay Movie Makers' weekly meeting, four mini-studios were set up by club members Graham Easton, Dave Weatherley, Alan Lamb and Graeme Isherwood. Each studio had a laptop computer with a different movie editing software program. The remaining club members divided themselves between the studios to learn the basics of how each system worked over a 30-minute period before moving to the next demonstration. The programs are all capable of transforming raw video footage into a finished DVD programme but vary in cost from £0 to £500.

At Morecambe Bay Movie Makers' weekly meeting, a selection of movies were shown that had been made by members of the Pendle Movie Makers. The showreels included copies of historic films shot in the Colne area with cobbled streets and a "Knocker-Up" and the traditional Blackpool holiday excursions.

There were also movies of the local Pendle area special events and industries including bakers and steam engines.

During the interval, a hot pot supper was served by "Sunflowers" caterers of Morecambe.

Morecambe Bay Movie Makers moved their weekly meeting to "Workshop Productions" at Regent Park studios for a presentation and demonstration by one of the founders David T Guest. During the presentation David explained how the company was formed and what movies they had made and how they are helping others to learn more about the movie industry, to a level where they can be given a recognised qualification.

During the evening, a demonstration of the chromakey effect of superimposing live action over a moving background was given. This was achieved by using the blue painted walls of the purpose-built studio, a set of lights, an HD video camera and computer generated graphics. The members were also given the opportunity to look at scale models and the storyboard of a new feature film to be made next year in the Isle of Man by Workshop Productions and to watch one of their award winning movies about unpaid work in the movie industry.

At Morecambe Bay Movie Makers' weekly meeting, members welcomed Mike Fleming from the Lancashire Constabulary Imaging Unit, who gave a presentation on the work of the department. He explained how they collect video and photographic evidence from the scenes of crime, enhance CCTV footage and train police officers to use imaging equipment.

The unit have also made a number of documentary programmes covering drug abuse, careless driving, vandalism and many other areas where a target audience can be shown the consequences of their actions. Examples of the movies were shown with an explanation of how they were made, which led to an interesting and informative question and answer session.