MR ANGRY and the CLUB WEBSITES

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Walter
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MR ANGRY and the CLUB WEBSITES

Post by Walter »

Am I alone in being really angry at Peter Kidman's article in FVM and now on the IAC website?

There may be some poor club websites out there, but we are film makers not web designers. Most clubs are happy just to have their name somewhere on the internet. As for his scathing comments on programme lists ... all too often we do not know what a speaker will talk about. The secretary twists an arm until the twistee agree to give a presentation. He probably makes it up just a week before the show.

As for updates ... we dont all have time to sit round on computers all day.

I hate the way hard-working club officers are belittled like this all the time.

Walter Angry
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Dave Watterson
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Re: MR ANGRY and the CLUB WEBSITES

Post by Dave Watterson »

I don't think Peter Kidman intended to attack club committee members - after all he is one! But he draws attention to the often poor state of many club websites.

With another hat I also look after a website for film appreciation societies and many of the same faults can be found in their websites too. My personal bugbear are out of date sites where the "Latest News" is many months ago.

- Dave
Brian Saberton
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Re: MR ANGRY and the CLUB WEBSITES

Post by Brian Saberton »

I thought that Peter Kidman's article was helpful and contained some very good advice. The problem, I think, is that producing a web-site and keeping it up to date is a big job (I speak from personal experience) and something that must somehow be fitted in to already busy schedules as well as film-making activities. I don't think it's the kind of job that will attract many volunteers unfortunately but it can be rewarding when people show there appreciation of your efforts.
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Arthur Bates
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Re: MR ANGRY and the CLUB WEBSITES

Post by Arthur Bates »

Hi All, Sadly I must agree with what Peter states in his article. The reason is usualy said to be lack of time and the cost. I live a long way from any club and my particular intrest is in animation which as most will know is fairly labour intensive. I rely greatly on net sites for information and I feel they could be put to much greater use. I think the IAC site is very good but wish they would change the films from time to time as it's my only chance of seeing them, particularly competition submissions, perhaps they will. What has not, to my knowledge been stated is the actual estimated cost and time required to set up and maintain a club website, and without that knowledge it is difficult to appreciate the problem. I'm sure Dave could give some idea of what is required. Two other points. As many of us are retired, surely we don't spend all our time behind or in front of the camera or with the editor? Surely someone must find some fun in keeping up websites, I can think of many more boring passtimes. Unfortunately being old and infirm I am not offering my services. Must dash now, I've got a scene to finish before lunch and animation takes time, Arthur B.
Brian Saberton
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Re: MR ANGRY and the CLUB WEBSITES

Post by Brian Saberton »

I'm not sure if I would describe assembling material for a web-site as being fun. It can be satisfying but, then again, it is often disheartening when appeals for submissions fall on deaf ears and you are left trying to find something new to include, usually from your own resources or research. Of course there's nothing new about this problem; it was, and is, the same with club or regional magazines where editors find difficulty in filling pages due to a lack of material. My guess is that many web-sites are not being updated because the web-master has lost interest due to lack of support.
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Dave Watterson
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Re: MR ANGRY and the CLUB WEBSITES

Post by Dave Watterson »

Since this topic started

(a) Jan has been working hard on the long-planned revamp of the main IAC website. It should start to appear soon but the site is so enormous that any changes take a long time to apply. Some pages were written a decade ago!

(b) I have been looking round at club websites with a more critical eye.

I find myself increasingly frustrated by sites which begin with a video on the front page. Not just a link to a video, but one which plays whether you want it or not. I have seen fancy countdowns, zooms in on Google Earth to the club and so on. Aesthetically they are usually good. They set the scene, suggest the nature of the website and the club ...

But in Internet terms they seem to me a turn-off.

I am happy to choose to watch a video online, but not to have it forced on me. They stop me exploring the club website.

Am I just being old-fashioned?

- Dave
col lamb
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Re: MR ANGRY and the CLUB WEBSITES

Post by col lamb »

Well said Dave

If a site has an overly complicated first page then I move on to another website, there should be a simple menu system, and not menu tabs/links all over the place.

No flash playing start, no video on the first page, no long wait to load (I can only get about 4Meg download where I live) this latter really bugs me. The bigger the organization the more complex they make their web site's first page.

Find information fast, a simple logical menu system and no scrolling down a long page of text looking for information.

I am a believer in keeping main web pages to a reasonable size such as 1280x1024. A greater resolution and I cannot read the text.
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Stephen
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Re: MR ANGRY and the CLUB WEBSITES

Post by Stephen »

Unless you really know how to code a page don't use flash on the intro...
but if you do know... it's definately the way forward!

give peeps a choice on the home page ....

the visitor may be a newbee and want to know more about the club... that should be the main route of the site

on the other hand a member may just want some info on the club's programme or see what peeps are up to.

whatever....

the website should be kept clear of :

the dreaded intro vid
iritating animated gifs
overtly bright colours
too much info!!!
Stephen

Film making is not a matter of Life and Death
It's much more important than that.
Laurie Calvert
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Re: MR ANGRY and the CLUB WEBSITES

Post by Laurie Calvert »

Personally I like an intro video but prefer the option of making it play rather than auto-play. But this is the great thing about web sites - there really is so much creative freedom. You can't satify everyone, so just make yourself (or club) happy with the result.

I've made a few websites and I have always enjoyed the creative aspect. I also update one of mine regularly (since the year 2000) and the other one was relating to a film project, so it stopped being updated once there was no more news. The site sits there as a record of events, and a place for people to learn from it.

I am currently making another site. This is my 5th and will be my 4th to go live when it does. Each time my sites vary, depending on the audince they are aimed for, my knowledge, and also the era (or year) they were made. They change like my films do.

But one thing, which links in nicely to a comment made in the previous post, is the issue of 'Web Accessibility'. Basically this revolves around making sites easy and accessible for people, especially those with reading difficulties or an impairment.

A definition:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_accessibility

I will start another thread on this.
Lee Prescott
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Re: MR ANGRY and the CLUB WEBSITES

Post by Lee Prescott »

WEB SITES? :shock:

Well many of those that I bother to visit I confess I find interesting. However I do not spend inordinate time perched in front of a PC viewing them - as many seem to do.

My view is that a club web site is perhaps a method of bringing in new members and as far as I can find out this does not happen, except in a FEW cases!

Another point apparently is that if a club does not have a web site they're considered to be back in candle lit horse and buggy times. Utter B, er sorry rubbish!

Yet again: The age group of most club members not-with-standing this PC Techo. age is not conducive to the more "with it" PC Techno. age group! Just look at the photo's in FVM etc. etc. and on various web sites!

Many clubs these days suffer from a surfeit of techno. babble at meetings instead of doing what (should) come naturally - i.e. MAKING VIDEO FILMS!

It is a fact that clubs that spend a lot of time on techno. babble yakking, fail to grow and that, mon amis, comes from an area bounded by the Americas in the West and OZ / NZ in the East!

Chins Up! Lee
Prescott. FACI. :roll:
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