Our latest satirical production has stimulated me in thinking about previous adverts made by the club, and some members, both before and after I joined in 1968.
The oldest club advert, as far as that I am aware, was made on black and white standard 8 film during the early 1960's. I think the soundtrack was magnetic stripe. It may not look exciting, but today, might, to some people, seem 'quaint'. Certainly a museum archive piece.
Apart from the aforementioned, I am not sure how many other ads were made prior to the commencement of my membership. But I know there was at least one other. And in colour!
Circa 1970, I learned at a meeting that there were two incomplete productions. A member enquired could they be completed? One was a story film which despite having some material we added to it was, and is still not completed. The title is THE LONG WAIT. Therefore, we are still waiting. However, the other production, WE WANT YOU, was completed. And yes. It was a comedy advert to join our club. It had members of the public being kidnapped. Then bound and gagged and dragged to a club meeting. Then horror of horrors! They were forced to watch our films. A voice-over stated that we did not always have to do this, and then gave details of our activities to join. It is sad to relate that a member named Vic White died after the initial shots were made. In fact, I believe it was the last club meeting that he attended. I never met him. But I did appear in the later shots. A memorial trophy was dedicated to him for the best use of sound. The relevant competition ran for several years.
There probably were other small ads that might have been made.
So far, I have referred to ads made on standard 8.
However, eventually, we started to produce ads in super 8.
The first was possibly IS THIS YOU? Again, a storyline was utilized. We had a man, portrayed by Tom Lowrence (correct spelling), buying a cine camera. He then went around filming. Afterwards, he then sees an advert for our club, and joins. However, when we project his film for him, it is a load of rubbish. Even Tom is cringing. Then he is shown the error of his ways, resulting in him becoming a member.
However, another super 8 film made during the 1970's was suggested by the late Phil Empson. I am not sure if there was a storyline in this, or whether its content was just showing the advantages and joys of joining our club. Or is it that my memory is failing me, and it was the same film as above?
We also sometimes had set theme competitions. Occasionally, the theme was 'make an advert'. I remember two that I entered. One was an eye catching advert in a shop window. The material used was a long strip of foil. It was twisted, like the foil used in Christmas decorations. However some print was on it. It read, "HILLMAN. THINK OF THE BRAIN or POWER BEHIND IT. It was set up so the foil revolved. I thought it was very effective in a shop window. Hence my filming it. But there was another advert competition I was not sure that I would enter. However, something hit me all in one go. I noticed that not only a street lamp post near me needed urgent repair, but there were other lamp posts needed attention here and there. Quickly, I thought if these posts needed attention, why not dog owners buying their own private lamp posts for their respective canines? So I made an ad. Toward the end, I gave a fictitious name and address where the owners could purchase them by mail order. The name and address was:-
MR. AL SATION,
UPPERTREE,
INNAWOOD,
BARKING,
ESSEX.
It got some laughs. However, the then chairman thought it in bad taste as an entry for HACCA, the annual county film competition.
The advert competitions continued every-so-often throughout our standard 8, super 8, video tape and DVD eras.
The last few years we have not had internal competitions.
However, undeterred, I did some DVD ads. to try out on my computer before it went kaput, irrespective whether they were experimental, for self amusement. Surprisingly, I produced one which was chosen for either HACCA or The IAC competition. Guess what? The judges did not think much of it. It was about washing dishes.
However, there is one advert that holds a mystery. It was called INTERVAL. It was made on super 8. It has been referred in one of my blogs on our previous website. And hopefully, it will get returned, with some others, eventually, to our archives. The idea behind it; was to project the advert to join our club during the interval of any film show that we did. It started with a story of a film show. Then it is interval time. Then the audience rudely make a dash for the poor vendor selling the refreshments, thus leaving him rather dishevelled. Then there is a notice atop of a piano. It states that the show is being presented by Hemel Hempstead Cine Society - See projectionist for further details. In addition, there was a notice next to it advertising the pianist who was playing an out of tune version of O SOLE MIO! This was also known at the time as JUST ONE CORNETTO! I think that at this point, the lights were supposed to go on, while the genuine real life interval took place. Therefore, our advert was on for much of the duration of the break. Although my hands are seen, and I am heard playing the piano, the part of the pianist was visually performed by David Harrington - at least, for the first filming session. This was sadly due to the fact that my father died the day before. In the script, the pianist was to be called Albert Makepeace. A creation by Brian Harris. But the name does not appear in the film. Tom Lowrence was the refreshment vendor. The notice boards were designed by Brian Harris. The fictitious audience were members of the club and guests. But the query is, what has happened to the film? I am suspicious that it is possible that the last time that it was shown, it may not have been wound back to its proper spool. However, an early slide and musical production that I made, does feature some photographs somewhere, that I took when I was able to attend the second filming session. For reference, the title of the DVD production is A FRENCH: MOVIE MAKER: THE STILLS. The reason why the small placards call us Hemel Hempstead Cine Society, is because that was, at the time, our name.
However, as far as DVD is concerned, Paul Welton, was responsible for submitting an advert. It had nothing to do with joining the club. It was THE ROOF OVER YOUR HEAD. I got involved late in the planning, and was to act as a man cleaning the windows. It was a very interesting part. I acquired a superfluous volume of water upon my person as a result. I then had to sit out in a back garden to dry out.
Now we are in process of making a political satire about Brexit. This is in the form of an advert. Watch our website for more details.
The oldest club advert, as far as that I am aware, was made on black and white standard 8 film during the early 1960's. I think the soundtrack was magnetic stripe. It may not look exciting, but today, might, to some people, seem 'quaint'. Certainly a museum archive piece.
Apart from the aforementioned, I am not sure how many other ads were made prior to the commencement of my membership. But I know there was at least one other. And in colour!
Circa 1970, I learned at a meeting that there were two incomplete productions. A member enquired could they be completed? One was a story film which despite having some material we added to it was, and is still not completed. The title is THE LONG WAIT. Therefore, we are still waiting. However, the other production, WE WANT YOU, was completed. And yes. It was a comedy advert to join our club. It had members of the public being kidnapped. Then bound and gagged and dragged to a club meeting. Then horror of horrors! They were forced to watch our films. A voice-over stated that we did not always have to do this, and then gave details of our activities to join. It is sad to relate that a member named Vic White died after the initial shots were made. In fact, I believe it was the last club meeting that he attended. I never met him. But I did appear in the later shots. A memorial trophy was dedicated to him for the best use of sound. The relevant competition ran for several years.
There probably were other small ads that might have been made.
So far, I have referred to ads made on standard 8.
However, eventually, we started to produce ads in super 8.
The first was possibly IS THIS YOU? Again, a storyline was utilized. We had a man, portrayed by Tom Lowrence (correct spelling), buying a cine camera. He then went around filming. Afterwards, he then sees an advert for our club, and joins. However, when we project his film for him, it is a load of rubbish. Even Tom is cringing. Then he is shown the error of his ways, resulting in him becoming a member.
However, another super 8 film made during the 1970's was suggested by the late Phil Empson. I am not sure if there was a storyline in this, or whether its content was just showing the advantages and joys of joining our club. Or is it that my memory is failing me, and it was the same film as above?
We also sometimes had set theme competitions. Occasionally, the theme was 'make an advert'. I remember two that I entered. One was an eye catching advert in a shop window. The material used was a long strip of foil. It was twisted, like the foil used in Christmas decorations. However some print was on it. It read, "HILLMAN. THINK OF THE BRAIN or POWER BEHIND IT. It was set up so the foil revolved. I thought it was very effective in a shop window. Hence my filming it. But there was another advert competition I was not sure that I would enter. However, something hit me all in one go. I noticed that not only a street lamp post near me needed urgent repair, but there were other lamp posts needed attention here and there. Quickly, I thought if these posts needed attention, why not dog owners buying their own private lamp posts for their respective canines? So I made an ad. Toward the end, I gave a fictitious name and address where the owners could purchase them by mail order. The name and address was:-
MR. AL SATION,
UPPERTREE,
INNAWOOD,
BARKING,
ESSEX.
It got some laughs. However, the then chairman thought it in bad taste as an entry for HACCA, the annual county film competition.
The advert competitions continued every-so-often throughout our standard 8, super 8, video tape and DVD eras.
The last few years we have not had internal competitions.
However, undeterred, I did some DVD ads. to try out on my computer before it went kaput, irrespective whether they were experimental, for self amusement. Surprisingly, I produced one which was chosen for either HACCA or The IAC competition. Guess what? The judges did not think much of it. It was about washing dishes.
However, there is one advert that holds a mystery. It was called INTERVAL. It was made on super 8. It has been referred in one of my blogs on our previous website. And hopefully, it will get returned, with some others, eventually, to our archives. The idea behind it; was to project the advert to join our club during the interval of any film show that we did. It started with a story of a film show. Then it is interval time. Then the audience rudely make a dash for the poor vendor selling the refreshments, thus leaving him rather dishevelled. Then there is a notice atop of a piano. It states that the show is being presented by Hemel Hempstead Cine Society - See projectionist for further details. In addition, there was a notice next to it advertising the pianist who was playing an out of tune version of O SOLE MIO! This was also known at the time as JUST ONE CORNETTO! I think that at this point, the lights were supposed to go on, while the genuine real life interval took place. Therefore, our advert was on for much of the duration of the break. Although my hands are seen, and I am heard playing the piano, the part of the pianist was visually performed by David Harrington - at least, for the first filming session. This was sadly due to the fact that my father died the day before. In the script, the pianist was to be called Albert Makepeace. A creation by Brian Harris. But the name does not appear in the film. Tom Lowrence was the refreshment vendor. The notice boards were designed by Brian Harris. The fictitious audience were members of the club and guests. But the query is, what has happened to the film? I am suspicious that it is possible that the last time that it was shown, it may not have been wound back to its proper spool. However, an early slide and musical production that I made, does feature some photographs somewhere, that I took when I was able to attend the second filming session. For reference, the title of the DVD production is A FRENCH: MOVIE MAKER: THE STILLS. The reason why the small placards call us Hemel Hempstead Cine Society, is because that was, at the time, our name.
However, as far as DVD is concerned, Paul Welton, was responsible for submitting an advert. It had nothing to do with joining the club. It was THE ROOF OVER YOUR HEAD. I got involved late in the planning, and was to act as a man cleaning the windows. It was a very interesting part. I acquired a superfluous volume of water upon my person as a result. I then had to sit out in a back garden to dry out.
Now we are in process of making a political satire about Brexit. This is in the form of an advert. Watch our website for more details.
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