Is electronic communication a young persons thing?

[John Simpson]

Sometimes as people get older they communicate less. It can take a lifetime to work out what the world is about. But once all the conclusions have been reached then there is no need to ask any more questions. Company is still nice, we often quote Gabriel Oak from Far from the Madding Crowd "And at home by the fire, whenever you look up there I shall be— and whenever I look up, there will be you." Film clubs can be a bit like that.
Many young people mainly commicate digitally and are members of Facebook type groups which may hardly ever meet up in the flesh. Work can be done in the same way. These groups give a sense of belonging
Indie film makers submit their films to festivals never actually speaking to anyone, perhaps even if they get an award, sometimes on the other side of the world - strange when you think about it?

[Michael Slowe]

Strange certainly, and something I find difficult to manage. E Mails are a great benefit because if you can't phone someone you know they'll see your message. Text also is good, but the FaceBooks, Twitter etc etc are not for me. As to the film festivals, I only enter those that plan a screening, other wise to my mind, they are pointless. Unfortunately we have so few opportunities to see our films on anything larger than a TV now that Clubs are almost extinct as are the IAC Regional festivals. I am almost at the stage of wondering whether it's all worthwhile.

[Albert Noble]

I use Facebook to keep in touch with what is going on in my village and
nearby Market town. Any road closures due to flooding to avoid etc.
Up and coming events that might be of interest and much else.

[John Simpson]

Reply to Michael Stowe

now that Clubs are almost extinct as are the IAC Regional festivals. I am almost at the stage of wondering whether it's all worthwhile.

That is a big statement Michael! The funny thing is film makeing is more popular than ever! Many colleges offer filmstudies degree courses, and they are popular with young people. I have had the luck to connect with that circuit a bit, enough to work out that acting and learning scripts is hard, and being a semi professional cameraman or editor and the other roles is quite hard work and self-effacing, as for directing that is another cup of tea. I'm sticking to amateur film efforts

As we know our film clubs derive from the 9.5, 8mm, & 16mm days and they were great, and now the world has moved on and it seems students form groups to make their own films which last after they've left college, and they may form into a film company if reasonably successful - but in my opinion success is not likely, as it must be so easy for companies to make their own corporate films. To break into the feature film market must be more or less impossible. The future of arts funding is not good.

I hope you are able to keep your interest in film-making Michael, maybe you could work with Howard Smith on something

[James Mitchell]

I think the distinction between film making and film making as a hobby has to be made here.

For whatever reason - probably reasons, plural - all hobbies are in decline, which is a sad thing .

It would be great to sit down - with tea and biccies of course - and indulge in the companionship a shared interest brings.

While I can get most of the technical info I need regarding film and sound recording from the internet and books what these things don't supply is comradeship and human interaction, thus we end up being technically literate but in a void in human terms.

As I think A Bunch of Amateurs showed, the benefits of being in a group go beyond the subject (film, whatever) the group is interested in.

[Albert Noble]

Unfortunately it's the way humanity is going. Less and less face to face
chat. Less speaking over the phone. We do online shopping so never
converse with shopkeepers.

We are all becoming bits and bytes.
Texting each other....overuse of the thumb and forefinger will probably
result in Arthritis as happens with violinists etc.

Maybe it's all part of evolution of our species, slowly loosing the
ability to talk !

[ned c]

Electronic communication is an everybody thing; with family spread across the USA and UK it is the way we keep in touch; far better than the very expensive occasional phone calls when we first moved to America in 1975. I like e-mail as it creates a storable record; text for quick response, WhatsApp for face to face.

The whole world of film making changed with the advent of digital technology; the technical process is relatively easy; creativity as elusive as ever. The clubs were typically middle aged male dominated, generally with a very conventional approach to film. This is no place for the experimental young which has made it very difficult for the IAC to determine what its role is in this new world. What is its constituency now?

I will try not to weary you with repetition but organisational survival and growth is dependent on good management; look at the successful clubs and there will be good management. The problem for "hobby" clubs is continuity; voluntary workers tend to have a limited life span as you see the same people carrying the load year after year. Do we need a formal club structure to make films? No but we do need a structure for group viewing preferably on a local basis which is a possible future for the IAC in a new regional structure.
Am I making films? Yes; just completed a safety film for our fire department and started a BTS for a local film maker and the the Guerrilla Challenges.
ned c

[Michael Slowe]

Ned, you have put your finger on my problem. Getting your films actually seen is now much more difficult, apart of course, from the Vimeo, You Tube etc.

[James Mitchell]

Ned and Albert have hit the nail on the head when they say we all communicate digitally; we wouldn't be on this or any other internet forum if we didn't.

The core of this discussion doesn't seem to centre so much on communication but on viewing films remotely - via computer, etc. - rather than attending a screening in person.

In a situation similar to the one we're discussing here, the professional cinema has been losing audiences to television ever since the latter appeared, this being due at least in part to the convenience of watching films at home.

While today's home entertainment technology can compete with that of the cinema, what is not catered for is the opportunity to interact with other film makers in person.

Yes, there's the opportunity to communicate digitally (e-mail, social media, etc.) but that "in the flesh" contact is absent.

I can see why Ned is in favour of group viewing in a social situation, but go back to John Simpson's original post on this thread young people just don't seem to be doing this anymore and communicate digitally instead.

That's just how things appear to be these days and will probably stay that way until an as yet undiscovered technological breakthrough makes it more convenient to view films some other way.

[Dave Watterson]

Reading this thread, I keep thinking about the number of music festivals around the UK and everywhere else. These seem to be packed with enthusiastic young people. Why are they willing to pay a lot of money to squash in with a crowd to hear bands playing? Yet they can hear the music better in their homes with fine hi-fi gear.

If they gather together for that social experience, why do they choose not to do so for films?

[ned c]

Music festivals are about seeing and hearing our heroes in the flesh be it R and R or classical at the Proms. At film festivals we may have a Q and A and perhaps meet the film makers but there is not the same sense of involvement as a live music concert.

I will put a short piece on the IAC website about how we have regular screenings in a theatre in a remote corner of the American South West.
ned c

[TimStannard]

(Re music festivals)
If they gather together for that social experience, why do they choose not to do so for films?

A thought:

The difference between watching musicians live and watching a screening of a film is that the film is always the same. Even when watching bands performing to click track with a highly regimented performance there will still be something that makes this a one-off, a unique event.

Now, admitedly watching Howards latest film one night sitting next to Jill Lampert and the following night next to Michaels Slowe, unique (and, I hasten to add, equally enjoyable) events, Howards film, however brilliant, is the same on both nights and the same as it was when he first showed it and will be the same when it continues to be shown long after his death.

It lacks the "I was there when" that a music festival (or gig) has. "I saw Queen at the Hammersmith Odeon at the Christmas Eve show that was broadcast on the Old Grey Whistle Test" or "I saw Queen at their free Hyde Park" gig provokes a response (Which may be "I was there too", "Lucky you, wish I'd been there" or even "Why would you want to waste or money on that"?) where "I saw '2001: A Space Odyssey' at Walton Odeon" doesn't (though it may well provoke a discussion about the film).

[John Simpson]

The need for a social group is huge, whether on facebook or at a pop festival. Traditionally fullfilled by family life and village but family and much of village life gone, so has to be fullfilled in other ways.

When I say family life gone I mean the family may be together but leading seperate lives.

[Michael Slowe]

Reading this thread can be rather depressing in that it is obvious that community and communal shared experience is becoming less a part of our lives.
Within our own sphere of non commercial film making the demise of local film clubs is having an enormous effect on middle aged and elderly people and I'm not sure where the young film makers are showing their work, You Tube and Vimeo presumably, the same outlets that we are forced to use.

It so happens that I am currently arranging to screen my latest documentary to as many friends and film makers as I can muster. The venue is to be our Family Office here in Hampstead where we have the facilities, including two large digital screens. If any of you readers is interested in attending please let me know as we need precise numbers for caterers etc. (E Mail michael.slowe@btinternet.com )

I personally haven't viewed a film in a cinema for months, it is too easy to use Netflix or Amazon Prime, shame on me!