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A British award-winning amateur working with people in the 20-30 age range
asked them to look at some video club websites. Among the problems they
highlighted were:
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cluttered pages with unnecessary information, distracting animated gifs etc.
They found that especially annoying on the home page, which should be clean
and with prioritized information.
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Many of the sites had old information, sometimes referring to ... 'up and
coming events' ... 1 year ago !
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Many had difficultly with navigating a site ... "unreal choices of colour
schemes" was a favourite cry.
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Of the 10 people involved not one would come to a club based on what the
websites told them ... they used words like "looked dowdy, old fashioned,
full of old people."
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There is no doubt a club is a great place to go when you first decide to
start making real movies as opposed to moving snapshots. But after that initial
plus many people find them slightly sleepy social groups. There's nothing
wrong with a good social program in a club, but keeping up with technology
and with the art of film is what should be at the heart of the regular meetings.
When new technology comes along, try to help folk get to grips with it. Way
too many club programs are a series of shows by members with their latest
travelog.
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A writer to a popular forum commented: "with a very few exceptions [they
are] not film making clubs, they are places that closet holiday exhibitionists
who have bored all there friends and family find solace amongst similar
unfortunates."
He suggests we look for people who wanted to join the film and tv industry,
went to film or media college but then got a job in a regular industry, when
they settled down with families. Somewhere in their late 30s those people
want to get involved again. They know they cannot go into the business, but
they do want to make interesting, adventurous films. They know the importance
of team work and that their great project will involve other like-minded
people joining in.
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I was surprised to learn that many clubs in different countries have expelled
members from time to time. This seems like an extraordinary thing for a group
of enthusiasts who share a hobby. The implication is that we can get too
formal and bureaucratic.
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One club meets in an attractive hall with built-in video projector and screen
... but the screen is 16:9 and the president will have none of it. He insists
they bring in their own 4:3 screen every time and forbids 16:9 entries in
club competitions.
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If I know a club exists somewhere it can still be difficult to discover details.
One has its own premises but keeps the address secret to discourage theft
! Their website, local shop-windows and even the local library were no help
either. It took a couple of phone calls to track it down.
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