AV Peter

It is quite amazing what differences are achieved through the employment of different Juries.

Congratulations to all those who scored well in Adelaide, particularly to our friend from Belgium, Johan Werbrouck, who won the Grand Prix; he must have been less well pleased with the reception that the same Sequence, that same weekend, received in TrÉlazÉ, where apparently, it was eliminated at the Pre-selection stage!

I went to Chelles, on the edge of Paris, this same weekend to an event which seems less well known in the UK; “The International Festival of the Projected Image” is an annual event which shows professional work as well as “The Challenge” for Sequences like the ones with which we are more familiar. The professional sessions usually use at least two or three projectors with quite complex programming and they can show us the sorts of progress to which we can aspire, even with more “basic” equipment. The ideas within this professional work, where attention has to be grabbed and retained, can give lessons to us all. I went there with Willem van den Berg and Henk Tulp, our two friends from Netherlands. Henk”s Sequence made with Albert Slack “The Bridge is Safe” was on the menu and played well on the superb sound system employed in this big theatre. I had a particular interest in two Sequences, “Flutterings” and “Striped Pyjamas”, the later being made recently with Ron Davies and, this version, performed in French, with the help of a young relative of Jacques van de Weerdt. These two Sequences, apparently, were in contention during the Juries” final deliberations for the Award (There only is one winner!) but eventually they decided on “Différent” by Denys Quélever, made, I believe, with the considerable help of our Parisian friend, Jean-Paul Petit. An English version is currently under construction, so I expect we shall witness this shortly. However, the same fate was received for “Différent” in Trélazé where it failed to get through their Pre-selection! The audience vote in Chelles went to “L’Oubli” by Christian Hendricks from Belgium.

The audiences in Chelles are drawn from two different sources: quite a few Diaporamists decide it is well worth watching the latest works and the local community has become expectant of a good Show each night of the Festival. Local musicians also take part; on this occasion we were entertained by a local group of Gospel singers, accompanied with Audio-visual projections on translucent screen between them and the audience. The audience is expanded with their admirers and supporters. So AV is exposed to a wider audience.

Meanwhile, Ron Davies was in TrÉlazÉ where, much to his personal delight, our “Striped Pyjamas” won the Grand Prix. The full results are shown elsewhere but just one or two of our British AV workers had some success there. As I write these notes, over two weeks after the event took place, I have still received no communication from the organisers of the Competition. I have no programme and no idea of which British Sequences were entered for the event. The results were gleaned from Ron Davies who was there. It also seems curious that so few FIAP Acceptances were awarded when there were so many more very worthy Sequences. Another eight Acceptences would have been usual under the 50% rule. I do know, from what Ron told me, that one of my own Sequences, “Reincarnation”, was included in the Gala Evening but was not “Accepted”! There may well be other “foreigners” who feel equally agrieved. Are the Organisers or All-French Jury trying to discourage entries from countries other than France? (Just over three weeks after the event, the Programme and Prize List did eventually arrive via post. 80% of the 15 Awards were French and 73% of FIAP Acceptances were French.)

In Chelles I met up with an AV acquaintance going back a long while, Bernard Sanch. He was a member of the Jury and I had not seen him for several years. He has not taken to working with digits, but if we look at his record of achievement, we may care to note that he had made more analogue Sequences than almost anyone in the world: 2 Grand Prix; 111 other Prizes and 45 other FIAP Acceptances, from a total of 47 Sequences. His first recorded work was in 1965, so Bernard has been making Diaporamas for over 40 years!

At the end of the Festival in Chelles there was a discussion and conversations in English and French ranged over many topics: What was the place of movement within the ways we work in AV? Were most recent alternative transitions just passing gimmicks? How do we encourage more young people to take part in our art? How do we encourage a greater involvement within our normal communities? How can we gain sponsorship for Festivals. Some of these topics deserve our attention in future issues of AV News or on any of the web sites making this possible and more immediate.

The 321 event held in ten different venues provided us with quite a few surprises. The full results may be seen elsewhere but here are a few comments from Ian Bateman who ran the Aldbourne Session.

Highlights are:

a.. 1st went to Ricardo Zarate with “Memoria” (came 5th at Aldbourne)

This variation phenomenon is not restricted to the anomolies within International events; we can spot these throughout all occasions where the same Sequences are graded by different Judges. Essex judges differently from Leeds who are again different from Leicester in those delightful friendly wars that take place between our AV Groups. As long as we don’t take such judgements too seriously they can be good fun; any surprise Award can then be regarded as a sort of bonus in addition to the main joy of taking part.

On Saturday 10th March, I went to Leeds to their “Spectacular”. Here the Judge, Ray Brightman, singled out “Mary Myfanwy Evans”, by Eddie Spence, as the winner, chosen from 17 Sequences by 17 different authors. I am sure that Eddie will forgive me for reporting that the real winner, however, was Ralph Smith! Ralph started this event some 32 years ago and the audience in Leeds for this occasion must rank as the biggest in the world. We should all recoginise these remarkable achievements and try to learn from them.

On saturday 17th March I was one of the Judges in Rayleigh of the East Anglian AV Competition. The results of this event are posted elswhere on this site.

These two events gave me considerable pleasure not just for the priviledge of witnessing 55 excellent Sequences, but in particular in learning that there are new AV workers making serious progress.

In Leeds we find Madge Gibson with her first Sequence “Swaledale in Autumn” showing that here is a new talent who can find beautiful light and play with this before our eyes.

In Essex I find Barbie Lindsay, some may recall her “Changing Faces”, seen at recent national events, is not just a one-off; two more excellent Sequences, “Life is Like a Bowl of Fruit” and “Impurrfect” graced the day. This lady is certainly different and so are her Sequences. Once I have mastered the skills required to ornate this site with more images and Sequences, I will show you more clearly what I mean! Whilst commenting on my days in Essex, I must report that this Competition must rate as the best Regional AV Competiton I have witnessed so far. 38 First-Class

Sequenecs none of which would have been out of place in our IAC Geoffrey Round event on 24th & 25th March in Capel Curig.

The saga continues, following the IAC Geoffrey Round event; one or two well recognised distintinguished Sequences failed to be “Accepted”; these included both of Eddie Spence’s works, “Mary Myfanwy Evans” and “Conquest of Paradise”; I was more surprised by the first of these decisions than the second, but this remake of Eddie’s Tape Slide Sequence of the same name still seems more than “Acceptable”! Keith Scott’s “A Little Place in the Country” just failed to make the top nine and received a special mention by the Chair of the Jury, Keith Brown, but personally, I was more surprised that “If Only …” missed out on even an “Acceptance” by the Jury’s decisions; quite a few of the audience were surprised too, as they voted this Sequence into second place. I suppose that it is easy to point to Sequences like “Venice Clandestine” by Jean-Pierre Simon, “The Brooke” by Julie England and “A Love Affair” by Maggie and Malcom Imhoff which might well have at least been “Accepted” and to note, in doing so, that all of them have done much better elsewhere, like in Australia. However, it is certainly much more difficult to nominate Sequences which would need to be demoted in order for this to happen. It has seemed to me for many years that the real remedy would be to allow any well-qualified and experienced Jury more discretion and less restriction through such inapproriate crude statistical embargos, imposed on them by an apparently inflexible set of FIAP regulations. I am aware of several more-than-competant AV workers who have stopped sending their work to FIAP-Patronised International events because of the “slight” they regard has been handed out to them, by rules imposed on well-meaning Juries. I, personally, who have done so well in so many Internationals, have come to resent most Awards Sessions, finding them the least enjoyable part of such events. I often feel I would rather not be there when the results are declared. They seem to generate more pain than joy. It is that joy element of AV production and performance which keeps me in the game. I enjoy the deadline element of Competition; I do not enjoy the sense of “failure” it sometimes generates. It rarely gives much room for the encouragement of new workers’s productions. There are exceptions of course and, for example it is really good to see Geraldine Malthouse’s work being appreciated by our Geoffrey Round Jury. Let’s hope this may give encouragement to others to take part.

I would be particularly interested in others’ comments on this issue.