FVM October 2022 issue

[Martin Evans]

Hi Folks,

The postal strike notwithstanding many of you should, by now, have received the latest copy of the magazine - and my first. I'm looking for feedback please.

Cheers
Martin

[Dave Watterson]

Not received our one yet ... will give ruthless feedback when it arrives!

[Martin Evans]

The address to send really bad feedback is

Jacob Rees Mogg
Minister for standing around in a top hat
Somerset

[TimStannard]

Browsing the new issue. It's certainly different and a livlier than previous issues - at least as far as editorial goes. Nice to see some bigger pictures in there - that will please Ned & Tom, at least. Not sure about the background for the laurels/festivals article - it's a bit busy and I can see some people struggling to separate the text from the background(good article by the way, whoever the writer is), but generally I approve of the more modern look.
It also doesn't feel like it's aimed soley at septuagenarians and above.
Well done.

[Martin Evans]

Thanks Tim for your feedback. You're right about the background on the laurels article. It didn't look as good as I'd hoped. You're also right that I'm aiming at a more general demographic. It can't hurt! Watch this space...

[Dave Watterson]

Envelope half-open at the bottom!
Cover striking. Not sure FVM has been serving anyone since 1932, though IAC has.
Like the "National & International" tag - UK is four nations all by itself.
Was there supposed to be a white "strikeout" line through the top line?

Though I am wary of underprinted backgrounds, I had no problem separating text from them and welcomed the additional colour.
Watch out for changes to the list of IAC officers etc on the inner front cover ... The Video Library appears defunct and other officers may change at the AGM. Is it worth putting that stuff elsewhere, so that readers get straight to some meat in the issue?

Main pages: clear font, nice big bold headings and better pictures. Love the big images in the AV pages.

You may get some stick for having the AV section at the start - especially in view of the current issues raised by Ned Cordery. Worth considering moving features items around from issue to issue. That may surprise readers and make them read sections they otherwise skip over.

QR codes better than long URLS, for sure, but a surprising number of older people (ie our members) still have "dumb" phones.

• Ken Wilson looks older in his current pic ... and it would be nice to have more photos in his article.

• Normally I do not like book reviews in this type of magazine, but John Owen writes so well that they really work.

• Tom is always worth reading even if I can't afford some of the kit he enthuses about.

• "Convivial" is an interesting way to describe Paul Kittel. Good plug for the Open Nights with neat cross-references to Facebook too.

• I do not like the fonts used for the Letters page. The heading and typeface seem to denigrate the contents.

• Brian Dunckley always writes well and often, as in this issue, touches on problems familiar to most of us.

• Ian Reed's article on sound is little more than a plug for field recorders ... but anything which encourages better sound is welcome.

• John Sharp's article on Karel Zeman's museum wa fascinating and something I'll look out for the next time I am in Prague. (I don't do so much European travel these days!)

• Mererid Harries is an author to cherish. Humour and sense do not always sit well together by any means. She is good. I see what Tim Stannard means about text and background interfering with one another a bit here.

• Ned Cordery offers interesting glimpses of non-commercial film making in the USA. The colour blocking under his text is a little odd. I expected the pale section on the right of page 31 to be a "box out" with separate but related info.

• The regional news is necesarily a but thin at this time of year, but all the contributors managed to glean snippets of interest and inspiration for others. I liked the fact that the backgrounds were the countries concerned!

• How to use Film Freeway: I sighed when I saw this ... but what is obvious to those of us who deal with the internet daily is often obscure to those who approach it for the first time. Large images and marked-up screenshots made this clear and helpful.

• As for Lord Spoon ... you did warn us at the start that your sense of humour might intrude from time to time!

• What's On? - it may be worth ensuring all listed festivals accept entries from amateurs. Some of the biggies like London and Cork do not really do so.

Finally: thanks for plugging this forum! And thanks for the striking back cover of UNICA posters.

It is a great start to the new regime and builds on the fine work of your predecessors.

Ideas for the future? How about occasional profiles of IAC Council Members. The Council always seems to be secretive, usually without good cause. Many members will not know the people involved and so may find it difficult to have confidence in their decisions.

[Martin Evans]

Hi Dave,
Thank you for your thorough review. I'll try to respond to those that require it:

Envelope half-open at the bottom! It seems everyone's was. It is on my ToDo list to write to Buxton Press about it.

Cover striking. Not sure FVM has been serving anyone since 1932, though IAC has. TBH, in the interest of not changing too much all at once (therein lies hell) I copied this line from previous editions.

Was there supposed to be a white "strikeout" line through the top line? Not sure what you mean here.

Though I am wary of underprinted backgrounds, I had no problem separating text from them and welcomed the additional colour. I'll be worknig to improve on this in any case.

Watch out for changes to the list of IAC officers etc on the inner front cover ... The Video Library appears defunct and other officers may change at the AGM. Is it worth putting that stuff elsewhere, so that readers get straight to some meat in the issue? I'm reliant on others informing me of any changes. I'll keep my ears open but if I don't hear about it, it doesn't get in. Meanwhile, I quite like the look of the standard stuff at the front.

You may get some stick for having the AV section at the start - especially in view of the current issues raised by Ned Cordery. Worth considering moving features items around from issue to issue. That may surprise readers and make them read sections they otherwise skip over. Can't please everyone. AV is integral to IAC and their photos are most likely the best. But I accept your point about moving stuff around the mag. Like the supermarkets do !

QR codes better than long URLS, for sure, but a surprising number of older people (ie our members) still have "dumb" phones.
This whole future thing - it'll be the death of me. I shall try to include the original URLs alongside to keep everyone happy.

Ken Wilson looks older in his current pic ... and it would be nice to have more photos in his article. He provided the mugshot. And I have begged him for photos/screen shots/anything.

"Convivial" is an interesting way to describe Paul Kittel. MY dictionary says "*of a person) cheerful and friendly; jovial:"

I do not like the fonts used for the Letters page. The heading and typeface seem to denigrate the contents. Agreed, will try something else next time. The typeface is Special Elite - meant to bring a typewriter to mind. But it did look a bit crap. Will swap out.

Ian Reed's article on sound is little more than a plug for field recorders I work with the articles I get. Sadly, too few. And Ian's are of interest to me at least.

Mererid Harries is an author to cherish. Humour and sense do not always sit well together by any means. She is good. She;'ll be delighted to hear that.

I see what Tim Stannard means about text and background interfering with one another a bit here. AGREED.

Ned Cordery offers interesting glimpses of non-commercial film making in the USA. The colour blocking under his text is a little odd. I expected the pale section on the right of page 31 to be a "box out" with separate but related info. The background to whole two pages is actually a large graphic of a section of celluloid film - as echoed in that surrounding his photos. With hindsight I can see that it's a little confusing as it doesn't immediatly stand out as a frame of celluloid.

How to use Film Freeway: I sighed when I saw this ... but what is obvious to those of us who deal with the internet daily is often obscure to those who approach it for the first time. Large images and marked-up screenshots made this clear and helpful. A necessary evil as I was briefed that ye olde online system was moving to that floppy disk in the sky and FF was the way forward.

As for Lord Spoon ... you did warn us at the start that your sense of humour might intrude from time to time! Humour is very personal and subjective. I like to think that it doesn't intrude however and some may find it funny or at least raise an eyebrow in proto-mirth.

What's On? - it may be worth ensuring all listed festivals accept entries from amateurs. Some of the biggies like London and Cork do not really do so. Point taken re London & Cork But TBH I was scratching around as nobody had sent me any events, and nobody seemed to know of any.

Ideas for the future? How about occasional profiles of IAC Council Members. The Council always seems to be secretive, usually without good cause. Many members will not know the people involved and so may find it difficult to have confidence in their decisions. Excellent Idea.

Thanks again.

Martin

[Dave Watterson]

Don't worry about the QR codes. Those who use them often know how to handle them - and you have explained to others how to get apps and use them. The technophobes would not use an URL !

I was really trying to indicate that I liked the way it all looks. (Back to "Expressive Writing class 101 for me)

[Martin Evans]

Hello Dave, to be clear, I am most grateful for your detailed feedback. Proper feedback is always so hard to squeeze out of people. Folks don't want to upset I suppose. What you provided was exactly what I needed. I was just being thorough in answering them all as though we were sat across a table.
Thanks again
Martin

[Ken Wilson]

I have just finished reading the new look FVM and have a few comments. Overall I like the new look/ style and the feel of the paper. It feels like a quality magazine, very professional, so well done Martin for that.

I don`t use QR codes, never have, so these looked a bit full on all over the magazine. I have a smart phone but feel no need of these at all, but obviously some people will use them.

One of the first pages I always read is Brian Dunckley`s and then the letters page (if there is one).

I have no objections at all to the inclusion of AV articles, though I did think 6 pages was a lot and the huge images ate up a lot of space.

I saw no problem with the font on the letters page.

The article by Mererid Harnes on film festival entries was really good. Lord Spoon was a bit odd and to me a bit of a waste of a page.

My thoughts are that Dave Watterson`s criticism was a bit harsh, nit picking every detail and finding fault, but rather like the way Dave judges films actually. He is getting grumpier as he gets older. And what about the comment that my picture shows me getting older! It might surprise you to know Dave that we are ALL getting older, that`s what ageing does for you. But then Martin replies to you with this:

Ken Wilson looks older in his current pic ... and it would be nice to have more photos in his article. He provided the mugshot. And I have begged him for photos/screen shots/anything.

This is all wrong and needs my correction. In the first place, I didn`t supply this photo and don`t like it at all. In the second place I don`t know where it came from and suspect it was downloaded from Facebook. The glasses I am wearing on there look to be years old and in fact I believe this was taken before the more recent one Mike Whyman was using, so perhaps I am ageing backwards like Benjamin Button.

In the third place I supply pictures where appropriate as I have done when writing about making a specific film as I did with the Laurel and Hardy one with frame grabs. This time it was about finding an audience so no appropriate pictures were necessary for that. Surely everyone knows what an audience looks like? So sometimes what I am writing about doesn`t require a picture and none are required or available. Personally I would rather have text than pointless pictures. You can`t read a picture. And finally, I did message Martin before this article to explain the above and saying I can`t always supply a suitable picture. He understood this and at no time did he BEG me to send something...anything. This is incorrect! Martin!

[Martin Evans]

Hello Ken,

Thank you for your thoughts on October FVM.

Firstly, apologies for the photo I used. A whole load of mugshots were sent to me upon handover (which I presumed came from you) and I used that which I thought was clearest and with the best resolution – some of them were not up to print standard. To be fair to Dave he was probably just pointing out that I could have used a better photo. I have never, to my knowledge met you so could not and did not comment on your age. But you’re right, we are all getting older – in fact, I feel I’ve aged ten years since I posted that flipping appeal for feedback. Apologies also for my over-dramatisation when I suggested I had begged for photos. I had merely requested.

Anyway, FWIW, I am not a fan of masthead mug shots in any case. But if I change too much all at once I will have to fend off even more incoming flak.

QR codes aren’t going away any time soon. And I appreciate they’re not for everyone. They each only take up about a square inch of space and are an easy and convenient way to have a quick shufty at a website.

Re the AV section… 6 out of 40 pages is just 15% of the total. AVers make up a sizeable portion of the IAC membership. If they send me good photos, with interesting articles then I will use them. It was quite the struggle to fill the pages as it was. Re the size of the images - the issue prior came under fire for making the AV pictures too small.

Lord Spoon was written by me. Insufficient pages had come in and so I wrote the intentionally odd spoof review you thought was a waste of a page. One person’s guffaw is another person’s groan. The alternative was a page with the legend: “This page is intentionally blank”. Or another photo of my cat. Besides all that, Lord Spoon will probably keep writing irrelevances for future issues until someone begs him to stop.

My wife had said that I shouldn’t have asked for feedback in the first place. Maybe she had a point!

Anyway, glad to see the forum getting a run out.

[Ken Wilson]

Hi Martin. Thanks for all your comments. To reiterate what I said at the start though, I like the new-look magazine and think you have done a great job. You have to cater for all tastes and everyone would ask for different things. Some would ask for more articles on making documentaries, some on more fiction or holiday films. Some want more technical articles and advice and so on, so you can never please everyone.

It all a question of balance and no doubt length, prominence and subject matter of articles will vary from issue to issue. So no real problems here. I am a little surprised that you have been a bit short of material though. I guess this varies quite a bit also. I know the previous editor Garth said at one time that he struggled to get articles sent in and then at another time he was holding things over to the next issue. So hang in there and I am sure it will all settle down soon.

[ned c]

My issue has arrived having made the 5,000 mile trip with the bottom of the envelope completely open, I just pulled the magazine out of the opening.

First impression; different, an energetic style; everything easy to read, well done, the usual contributors, pass on Lord Spoon.

Yet again the AV folk get the best picture reproductions even though the shot at the top of page 11 is out of focus; my photographs are framed in faux sprocket holes at the bottom of the page with no descriptions. Don’t complain that you are short of material to fill pages when you can extend the photo coverage of other articles to a reasonable size.

Can you clarify the photo requirements; are there any photo subjects that are of particular interest, what level of description is needed?

Good start; good luck

Ned c

[Martin Evans]

Hello Ned,

Thank you for your thoughts and feedback. I'll try to answer each point in turn.

The opened envelope was nothing at all to do with me. I only edit the mag and write content. I have raised the issue with Buxton Press our printer and distributor, as it seems everyone - mine included - were open.

The AV folk get the best picture reproductions arguably because they send in the best photographs at the best resolutions and cropping ready to use. I also disagree that the photo on p11 is out of focus - it is an ultra-shallow DOF and the left part - the grub - is in focus.

The "faux sprocket holes" were to add aesthetic interest to the page. The photos as supplied were wide angle and so I cropped to the centre of interest and ran them in the frames you saw. I can only extend the coverage of other photos IF the photos are of sufficiently high resolution. Not only that they have to be interesting. I was sent some photographs last month of the back of people's heads.

The requirements for photographs are simply this: Huge, plenty and of interest (to the subject in hand). Resolution has to be 300 dots per inch. So if the photo is at just 30 dpi but is 5000 pixels wide, I can adjust to be 500 pixels wide at 300 dpi - but this would make the image just less than 2 inches on the printed page. Sufficient for a small pic but I cannot feature a photo at this size. So as big as you can make it and send as many as you like, there is no such thing as too many.

Magazines are intended to be read, for sure, but they are very much a visual entity, for thumbing, glancing. Long uninterrupted blocks of text leave a reader daunted and so the photos and strap lines and pull outs are what add visual appeal to the page.

I won't please all of the people all of the time that's for sure, so as for Lord Spoon, you get me as editor, you get my S.O.H.

Regards
Martin

[TimStannard]

QR codes seems to be an issue. To my mind they are fantastic as a means of providing a link to further information about a subject or a product. A no brainer for that! If we include them, it sort of makes sense to have them as link to films but purleeeease keep URLs. Anyone who's read any of my critiques will know I favour content over technical quality, but even I balk at the ide of watching fellow film makers' work on a 6.7" screen.

It's true, one could scan the QR code then email it to an account on a desktop but it's all a bit of a faff in this day an age.

This is where the pdf version of the magazine with clickable links comes into its own (like the BIAFF programmes) but again, I don't particularly want to read FVM online. I like the physical magazine (there are always too many other distractions online). Having said that, a pdf version with clickable links, emailed to subscribers would be a very welcome addition. I could then save every copy in a searchable format and never run the risk of someone referring to an article from three years ago that I threw out last week.

Perhaps as a compromise we could have a page of links on the IAC website to accompany each issue.

It's good to see Martin trying out so many things without throwing the baby out with the bathwater. It's also good to see opinions being expressed. Let's hope they are not limited to the same old people.