Video Club Future Developments

[edin]

Has any video club taken the opportunity to take a step back and look at where you want to be in say five years time - and then considering how you’re going to get there. In other words a strategic review of your club membership, skills and resources. What is your reason for being a member of video club - just somewhere to go to, a social evening, to learn how to make better videos, to take part in competitions, to !!!!! Do you have a vision of where you want your club to be in say five years time? I would say that all video clubs in the UK have no clear idea of what they exist for or have never thought deeply enough about it to find out. More importantly how are you going to develop over time and embrace the new technological developments in the video production. Is the convergence of say HD DSLR cameras and camcorders going to change the nature of the club membership mix with photography and video clubs morphing into one!

Is the concept of the conventional video club about to change, or have we missed the opportunity!

The quote copied below , by Ned C from Dammeron Valley, USA, is from another forum topic on "Club Publicity - Ideas Wanted" and offers a different type of club structure and may provide the way video clubs may require to go. I look forward to your feedback how you see future development of video clubs going.

It's interesting that the script writers we have met do stay around. the winner of the 2009 contest is now a regular grip and a great still photographer; he loves working on productions and is writing on more scripts. So people don't fall into rigid classifications. At our last auditions we took on some actors who auditioned but were not selected as crew members to build up a reserve of multi skilled people. The Space Between is not a club in the usual way but a base for artistic performance productions and has embraced theatre, puppetry, poetry readings, multi-media as well as film/video. We don't have regular club evenings but rather a constant swirl of productions in various stages plus classes run by the expert members. There are social events, see the website for next Saturday's wig and wine party!! The great advantage is that there is no limit on age or experience so we don't have the problem of an aging membership. I believe that this is a model for the future as it crosses a lot of boundaries in the creative world and there is a demand for both artists and technicians. The Film & Video Unit shoots theatre rehearsals, auditions, theatre productions and have been involved in a number of multi media productions as well as making movies. I am saddened when I read of the difficulty of getting ideas for productions our problem is the exact opposite

[ned c]

Thanks for quoting my post. I have written a number of times on the future of clubs and this can be summarised in my belief that movie making is THE modern art/communication form and along with theater is a co-operative art that requires a range of skills that combine to create a production. The traditional movie club is based on individual camera ownership but this is not still photography; to make a movie requires people who write, direct, act, photograph, help on location/set with lights equipment, edit, project etc. There is a huge amount of fun to be had and at the end a product to be shared with the public and at Festivals. The traditional club falls into a certain age range, retirement or close to it; my view is accept this and see it as a strength and recruit other creatives in this age range; there are lots of them out there who have time and the desire to be involved in creative activities but do not own or plan to own a video camera.

ned c