Timperley Community Centre, 121 Park Road, Timperley, Altrincham, Cheshire.
Sunday, April 18th 2004 from 10.30 am to 5.30 pm

What a splendid day it was on April 18th at the Timperley Community Centre (Altrincham’s HQ).

The day started with professional sound recordist, Howard Gregory talking about choosing and using microphones and the advantages of cardioid and omnidirectional mics in different circumstances. He also demonstrated the mic pre-amp which he produces and the results we impressive and afterwards quite a few of the audience bought one.

    Left: IAC President Val Ellis, FACI, chats to David Andrew.
    Right: Garth Hope (left) and David Jackson, with Goldwave on the screen.

After a short break he went on to talk in his easy, informative manner about recording techniques and I learnt a lot especially about terms like ‘flat response’ and ‘bass cut’ which I had heard for years, but didn’t really know what they meant. Howard was ably assisted by Suzanne Walker, they sell all sorts of sound goodies and can be
contacted on 01925 753303.

Then Richard Curry, FACI, who has recently taken over the Music Advisory Service from Gerald Mee, talked about the help he could give in finding the right music for your movie and he played a few examples of the library music available.

He was followed by Gerald Mee, FACI, who talked about the Copyright Clearance Scheme, the licences which can be obtained from the IAC at very reasonable cost and the necessary changes which are being made to the scheme.

Then came lunch: As we arrived in the morning we were asked to choose from a variety of fillings for our lunchtime baps. As we entered the refreshment room there was a table on which were plates, each one labelled with a name and with our chosen baps, along with some salad and a Kit-Kat. Tea and coffee was available freshly made. The catering team of Moira Roberts and Pauline Harrison, with assistance from Richard Curry, did a splendid job and lunch was over in record time, much quicker that if we had had to make our own selections from a buffet.

The first speaker in the afternoon, on the subject of Writing Effective Commentaries was David Andrew, who is a member of Cheadle & Gatley Cine & Video Club and makes corporate videos for a living. He made several valuable points in that when shooting a documentary or travel film, that you should be thinking of the eventual voice-over all the time. All films need an introduction, when perhaps you can tease the viewer a little and maybe whet his appetite. Don’t overload the commentary with facts and figures, keep it simple, mid 19th Century is better than 1856.

Then David Jackson, FACI, talked about and demonstrated Sound Forge, a computer based sound editing and manipulation programme. With this, it was possible to remove background noise from a track as well as chopping out the odd word, here and there. Another useful feature was stopping people breathing, or rather removing the sound of an intake of breath, just prior to the commentator speaking a passage.

After a tea break, David Jackson demonstrated Goldwave, a Canadian shareware programme, a similar and almost as good a programme as Sound Forge, but at £39, less than a fifth of the price.

In his closing remarks, North West Region Chairman Brian Roberts, thanked all the speakers and said what a splendid day it had been and that he couldn’t wait to see the resultant movies, with their pristine sound tracks. A sidelight was that 8 people in the audience enjoyed it so much, that they joined the IAC on the spot.

John Morin

(All Photos by Brian Roberts)

- Source: TRIPOD MayJune 2004

Page updated on 14 February 2008

Authors' views are not necessarily those of The Institute of Amateur Cinematographers

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