Tomorrow is our last meeting of term! We will elect your new exec positions, premiere the society film, and of course go on our end of term social! The theme for the social is retro: 60s & 70s, and will involve a bailey bar crawl which will most likely end up in Fishtank or Studio.

In order for the hustings to be constitutionally viable we need as many members there as possible so please come, even if it’s only for the first 20 minutes or so!

Please can anyone who is thinking of husting let me know by tomorrow afternoon (and ask any questions by then as well).

See you tomorrow!

Ellie Onions – Secretary
Durham Student Film
www . durhamstudentfilm . co . uk

“No day but today”

First of all, a reminder that next week will not only see the premiere of our society film but will be your chance to get on the exec for DSF! There will be hustings for the position of Secretary, Treasurer, Events Officer, and President. These roles look great on your CV no matter what job you’re thinking of! If you have any questions about the roles please don’t hesitate to ask.

Secondly, we’ve had a request from a charity called Norcare to help create apromotional video. Please read the below information and if you’re willing to help get in touch with Frances (f.h.weetman@durham.ac.uk) who will be heading up the project. This sounds like a really good way to help out a great charity and use filmmaking skills in the process!

Norcare a charity helping vulnerable people and mainly focus on re-housing. Many of our clients are ex-offenders, individuals with substance misuse issues and some forces veterans. Other schemes support care leavers and people fleeing domestic violence. All of our clients are vulnerable and need support and advice around independent living skills and tenancy maintenance.

Our client groups are very diverse and are under threat from Government cuts as the loss of schemes funded by local Government could leave these groups unable to cope and homeless. We are looking to enter a presentation to our local council as part of a tender for services and were thinking that a short video (2 – 3 Minutes) would be an ideal tool.  Just something short and catchy and from ‘the horses mouth’. Some of our clients have agreed to take part so they can get their feelings across about what Norcare has done for them. Often these groups are not considered vulnerable but the story behind their life choices tells a different story.

As for when, the sooner the better. We have signed consents for the clients taking part and were wondering about taking some to locations of public interest such as the Sage and Baltic to use these icons as a backdrop. We would arrange to pick you up and take you round to the individuals houses or we would meet clients outdoors.

Any questions, get in touch!

Ellie Onions – Secretary
Durham Student Film
www . durhamstudentfilm . co . uk

“Spare me your lies, temptress! Your emperor’s defeated, and I’m immune to your bewitching good looks”

At tonight’s meeting we’ll be introducing the roles for our AGM (hustings next week) and coming up with ideas for our social. We’ll also discussing the premiere of our society film and we’ll get a sneak preview of some of the best bits!

See you there – ER 142, 7 pm!

Ellie Onions – Secretary
Durham Student Film
www . durhamstudentfilm . co . uk

“Blue flower, red thorns. Blue flower, red thorns. Blue flower, red thorns. Man, this would be so much easier if I wasn’t COLOR-BLIND!”

5:20 pm – Ellie arrives at exec. Ellie is 20 minutes late because Will insisted on the Techno Café. Ellie’s lecture went until 5:05 so she has done very well in getting to the Techno Café so quickly.
5:23 pm – The mood of DSF today seems to be very positive. March is here, spring is here, Frances and Lyle are here, Caleb is on top weird chat form and Will has some radical new glasses.
5:24 pm – Jo is also here. Jo is from Jo Butler (!) and would like the camera and the charger. She has the camera but alas, not the charger, as Ellie, despite being happy, has had a disorganised day.
5:25 pm – What ensues to get Jo the camera is rather farcical. Caleb insists that Livia, who has the charger, should not know that Caleb, who has the camera, is ‘in cahoots’ (copyright CebsyP) with Ellie, who does not have the charger, but needs the charger. As Ellie has forgotten her phone, Ellie phones from Will’s phone, not Caleb’s phone, because if she phones from Caleb’s phone Livia will know of the cunning plan that Caleb is rather incompetently devising. As Will’s phone is far from the height of its technical capabilities, Ellie must speak to Livia on speaker phone, while Caleb pretends he isn’t there.
5:30 pm – Jo leaves DSF, no doubt thinking that she will never hire such an incompetent and ridiculous team ever again.
5:32 pm – Ellie asks about progress on DDF videos. Paul Moss needs an invoice for DDF. There is a small debate over whether helping DST with DDF will be worth it next year. Will will (how often does this come up!) talk to Paul about the possibility of putting stills rather than video clips next year, as it would be a lot less effort. Ellie concurs. She also intends to write something about the problems faced by DSF with DST and DDF this year.
5:36 pm – The AGM is discussed. Will announces he will be running for President again. Caleb says he will not run against Will because Will has announced his campaign with his arms open wide. This sign of confidence is a deterrent for Caleb and Caleb considers the open position of Secretary rather than competition for Presidency. Lyle and Frances can keep their roles. Cuz they’re fab. And also it was an EGM not an AGM. It is also decided that there will be a new position for DFF organiser.
5:40 pm –Ellie briefly ponders that with DSF, DST, DDF, DFF, PTV, AGM, and EGM Durham has far too many acronyms.
5:42 pm – Lyle says he will take on the role of DFF organiser if no one runs for it, as he is unsure what he actually does as Vice President. Will suggests that Lyle is simply there to do what Will tells him to do. Ellie is unsure of Lyle’s contentedness with this state of affairs.
5: 45 pm – The society film issue is raised, and the mood of the meeting takes a slight dip. Caleb remarks that the society film has not been finished, and it had not been finished last term. Ellie wonders whether this point is rather obvious. Will insists it will be done by the end of term. Ellie points out that the end of term is in two weeks. Will seems slightly less confident, but confident nonetheless.
5:50 pm – It is decided that there will be a society film screening in ER 142 when the film is done. This will be in the last meeting of term, when husts will also be decided. We will then also have a social. It will be a very busy meeting.
5: 52 pm – There is a brief contemplation about the future, and how everyone will return to see the society films. Ellie is planning on being unemployed, Frances will pop over from Newcastle, and Will will (?!) return the year afterwards with old man make-up and use the phrase ‘whipper-snapper’ because this phrase ‘sets him alight’. Ellie and Lyle are simply reminded of the Simpsons.
5:55 pm – Frances says to Will ‘I love your face’. Despite this being a rather odd comment, Will appreciates this. What ensues is Will showing everyone the photos of him on Facebook, pointing out each face he has made. A particular favourite of Ellie’s is the one that Will describes as his ‘yeaaa boiizz…’ face.
6:00 pm – Another extremely productive and not at all inefficient exec meeting has finished. Everyone is in good spirits. As she heads home, Ellie is rather sad that in two weeks time she will no longer be DSF Secretary.

Sunday, February 26, 23:24 pm: Ellie discovers it has been 3 weeks since the Durham Film Festival, and she has not supplied minutes for a single week since. Ellie decides that typing up minutes now might be rather irrelevant. So she decides to tell a story.

This is a story about commitment, dedication, hard work, slumps, and triumphs. We shall begin on the post-DFF high. A chink of glasses at 7 pm on February 4th marks the end of Durham’s first film festival, which has been a riotous success. The film screening was enjoyed by all, a new filmmaker has belief in his talent, and dozens of Durham students have learnt the ins and outs of filmmaking. Durham Student Film’s popularity has trebled, and the exec is exhausted yet pleased. They decide a week off meetings would be beneficial, and so the Monday meeting is cancelled in a rare spontaneous moment (so spontaneous that a few members of the society were disgruntled at the late notice. But that is by the by).

The Thursday that follows sees decisions on 30-second film workshops, allocations of filmers and editors for events, and the advent of the ‘Durham University Memes’ page which rapidly reduces the efficiency of the exec. The exec is relaxed, happy, and ready to begin some new projects. In the words of one member of the exec, people are ‘chillaxing’ (copyright CebsyP). The prospect of Durham Drama Festival is touched upon, and pushed to the vague musty recesses of the mind where it glows like a dulled warning light.

The following Monday sees the advent of a 30-second film workshop, where creativity flows through the hallways of Elvet Riverside and mobile phones teeter on the edge of characterisation. Popular songs are converted into lecture hall obstacle courses and tripods and cameras fill clatter and whirr. The exec meeting that Thursday is missed by Ellie, who attends a BBC career talk and spends the weekend filling in application forms in a blind panic. The Monday meeting showcases the quality teaching capability of Lyle, who explains the necessities of filmmaking, accompanied by gripping visual aids and a preview of Lyle’s favourite film, Children of Men. The meeting is a success, and everyone leaves content in their knowledge of film. Then, as one member of the exec predicted as the term began, ‘panic ensues’ (copyright CebsyP).

The Thursday exec sees a mid-term slump as Frances is sick and Will is rushed and Caleb is busy and Lyle is tired and Ellie is making cups of tea in her cereal bowl and starting to go mad. On the upside, it is discovered that Arkaos is extremely cool, especially when Will’s face becomes a dog that talks. The weekend continues with DSF members turning up at the right time to film shows, and everything running like clockwork.

Until Saturday. 5 pm. Will phones Ellie, informing her he has not got a firewire, and is waiting to capture clips as Lyle does not have a firewire cable. This raises Ellie’s stress level 1 notch, and she phones Caleb. Caleb informs Ellie that his computer has decided today is a good day to stop working. Ellie’s stress level rises 1 notch further. Luckily, Alex informs Ellie he has his clips, and Caleb will be dropping everything off. Stress levels die down. Until Ellie and Will realise that Lyle’s laptop does not have a firewire port. Ellie’s stress levels rise to level 3. Rapid thinking happens between Will and Ellie.

A plan is decided on. Will will (!) edit, Ellie will use her rubbish camera for clips, and all will be okay. The evening continues in a similar manner of raised stress levels and stress relief tactics like belting out ‘The Power of Love’ in the Assembly Rooms office. Durham Drama Festival runs significantly over time, with the rapid filming and editing of clips stepping up to new levels of pace. Caleb slots in clips into Arkaos, everyone focuses on getting tapes recorded, cameras charged, clips exported. Ellie runs from the theatre to the office to the box office to the theatre to the office, and Will tells Ellie to stop stressing. Realising the wisdom in these words, Ellie runs home. On her way, she passes Li. Leaving the hub of rising stress levels, Ellie sees this as a good omen. Reinforcement is on its way.

She eats her food, changes into a dress, buys snacks for the crew, and returns in a hurry, imagining the worst in the scene before her, with panic-stricken faces of DSF exec. Instead, the office is full of DSF members working away to get the clips done. The team is focussed, happy, and ready to go. Ellie runs to the DSU to check on tech before rushing to the train. As she leaves the DSU, she hears Will shout her name. Turning around, she sees the DSF crew traipsing down to the DSU with the equipment, the confidence, and the skill to carry of DDF. Ellie no longer feels stressed. Leaving the incompetence of the D’Aftas in the competent hands of DSF, Ellie runs off into the rain and makes her train. In the morning, she hears tales of late nights, crazy Arkaos effects and ‘banterous times’ (copyright CebsyP), and looks ahead at the rest of term with an excitement about the awesomeness that DSF will bring.

Thank you to everyone who helped out at the Durham Drama Festival – despite the late hours it was a great success and the hard work paid off.

At the meeting tomorrow we will be going over the basic tech knowledge you’ll need if you’re hoping to make any kind of films: i.e. what format to export in, what frame rate and frame size to use, and all the other details that are essential in completing a project.

ER 142, 7 pm, see you there!

Ellie Onions – Secretary
Durham Student Film
www . durhamstudentfilm . co . uk

Something different, in honor of the Oscars:

http ://www . cracked . com/video_18156_a-trailer-every-academy-award-winning-movie-ever . html

We have another opportunity for work experience over the Easter holiday. Please read the information below from Rik, the Assistant Access Officer:

‘I’m e-mailing from the University’s Access & Student Recruitment office. We are running a residential event for Year 10 students on the 1st-2nd April this year. As part of the event students all take part in a project, one of the options we usually offer is ‘film’.
In previous years we have enlisted the help of various societies including yourselves for this event and it has been successful, I’d like to do the same this year. What we usually ask for is two or three society members to bring some filming equipment (we can provide some stuff but we can work that out later) and to help run a workshop/lesson and assist students to create a short film over the course of the event.’

This is a great opportunity to get experience working with young people and will be a good thing to draw on to show organisational/management/film-making skills. 

Reply if interested!

Thanks,

Ellie Onions – Secretary
Durham Student Film
www . durhamstudentfilm . co . uk

“Let me tell you something my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.”

Filmers:

I have attached a log sheet for everyone who is filming a play for DDF – it is really important for you to log any time that you think would be a good shot for creating the clips for the awards. This will make editing way easier as the editor can simply go to the time you have written down and use that shot to make the highlights clip.

Every play would like a copy of it on a DVD, so make sure you get everything filmed. The tapes are only an hour long so if the play is going to go over that please make sure you change the tape before it completely runs out – i.e. in the last four minutes, change the tape when there is a break in the action.

If you will only have one camera then don’t zoom in too much unless you are sure that the action will be focussed on one location for a while.

Editors:

On the side of the log sheet there is a list of possible awards each performance could get. You will be able to discount some immediately (for example, if you are filming a play, it would not be considered for best musical number), but keep these in mind when you are filming.

Each clip of highlights will need to be one minute long with several shots of the play. This will result in, for the majority of the performances, 3 clips:

1) A set of shots of the main actor (Could apply to Best Actor)

2) A set of shots of the main actress (Could apply to Best Actress)

3) A set of shots of the play as a whole (Could apply to Best Director, Best Play/Musical Number, People’s Choice Award, Best New Writing)

For the sake of convenience we will not be including sound, so make sure youdelete all audio before exporting. Please try to get the clips finished for the next day, if possible (this is necessary for people filming on Friday, and people on Saturday will need to be editing it during the evening).

I have also attached a copy of the filming schedule so please double check that you know when you are down to film.

Thank you – any questions let me know!

Ellie Onions – Secretary
Durham Student Film
www . durhamstudentfilm . co . uk

DDF Evening Schedule

ddf log sheet

Alex Eccles is looking to do some filming this Sunday – if the following sounds interesting please get in touch with Alex at  alexeccles@ymail.com:

This Sunday, February 26th, filming fight scenes from about 9 am on the science site. This will depend on weather and

finding someone to play Colossus. If anyone can recommend a friend who might be interested in the role, it won’t require

much acting but will require candidates who look at least vaguely like this: http ://upload . wikimedia . org/wikipedia/en/f/f8/AstonColossus . png

There will be a bit of stunt work and some interesting shots to try out so a good opportunity for anyone keen to get some camera experience!

Get involved!

Ellie Onions – Secretary
Durham Student Film
www . durhamstudentfilm . co . uk

This week is Durham Drama Festival! Meaning we will need as much help as possible from every member of the society. If you are down to film one of the plays please come along to the meeting so we can go over the basics of what you’ll need to know on the night. If you’re not scheduled to film anything but would like to be involved we still need editors and back up camera-people so come to the meeting and we can slot you in!

A reminder of the schedule that I have:

Wednesday, 7 pm til 8:50 pm: Karina filming and editing Two Days and Love Lust

Wednesday, 9 pm til 10:30 pm: Alex filming and editing Emeric Fontal

Thursday, 7 pm til 8:30 pm: Will filming and editing The Shoe Shop

Thursday, 8:39 pm til 10:30 pm: Rachel filming and editing Improvised Tragedy,Marshmallows, and 24-hr Musical

Friday, 7 pm til 9:20 pm: Will filming and editing Satin

Friday, 7 pm til 9:30 pm: Caleb filming and editing Incognito and Dead Letter Office

Saturday, 7 pm til 7:50 pm: Karina filming and editing Just Do It

Saturday, 8:10 pm til 9 pm: Izzy filming The Death of Victoria Wade, Will editing

Saturday, 9 pm til 9:40 pm: Caleb filming and editing Scream Queens Anonymous

We still need editors to make montages of some clips before the D’Aftas awards ceremony at 10:50 pm. We also need a lot of help to run the D’Aftas, so there is still room to get involved.

At the meeting tomorrow will go over these details and be finishing our 30-second films.

7 pm, ER 142.

See you tomorrow!

Ellie Olives – Sexcretary
Durham Student Film
www . durhamstudentfilm . co . uk

‘Any other defining features?’

‘…It’s a swan…’