[Please note this is an archived report from 2000. IAC no longer organises courses at Wansfell College.]

Recently, after two years of trying, I felt myself very lucky to be able to attend the course on Premiere 5, run by the Film and Video Institute. During those two years, several courses had been run, and sometimes I was on holiday, but twice the Course was full by the time I had applied, so I was very surprised to hear that this time the numbers were almost too low to hold the event. However, we were not let down, and by the time I arrived at Wansfell College, the students were nine in number, which was a very pleasant sized group.

The College itself is a lovely old building, which can cater for up to 60 Adult Education students, who generally come on 2 or 3 day courses on a variety of subjects. During our stay we were the only students there, so we had plenty of space, and the full attention of the excellent staff, who kept producing lovely meals, including home baked scones for tea. As promised, the College was set in beautiful grounds, and surrounded by Epping Forest, so we were able to enjoy convivial strolls after breakfast and lunch, to prepare us for further spells of concentration.

Naturally, one of the delights of such events, is meeting fellow enthusiasts, and I felt especially lucky that our number included people I had heard of, or read about, but never met - these being Val Ellis, Reg. Townsend, and young Jason Dainter (winner of various Youth Awards). Together with Eric Granshaw, the IAC Training Officer, who popped in on occasion, and David Jackson, our tutor, they enabled me to understand more of 'the workings' of the Film and Video Institute than I had before. Discussions during break times were always lively, with people sharing experiences of subjects they had filmed, and what they enjoyed about video making.

As I was attending from Jersey, and flying over, it was not practical for me to bring my own equipment, and when I arrived I found the five people who did bring their computers busy setting them up. I dare say there was some trauma, but it all seemed to go successfully, with David's support, and certainly everyone was up and running in quite a short time. There is an advantage in bringing your own equipment, because each set up is different, and you will be learning with the one that you are used to. And if you have a specific problem you would like to discuss, it is easier for David to resolve if you can demonstrate it, and he can see your various settings etc. However, we were all partnered off with someone suitable, and soon working in pairs.

The course itself consisted firstly of David going through the Premiere Interface and Settings - something one tends to skip as a beginner, hoping that your supplier (DVC or whoever) have done it all properly, and you don't have to think about it. But you should know what they are all about, because they may be causing problems, and there are times you will need to alter them. David had prepared an excellent hand-out with this information, as it is not easy to locate from other sources.

Next we looked at the practical side of editing, with explanations of the different ways of joining and trimming clips, use of the keyboard etc. Once again, at home it is easy to be stuck in a rut of doing it the way you first succeeded, whereas there are other choices which will be better in some circumstances. We also looked at preparing titles, including scrolling, and filters, particularly 'motion'.

David then gave us all a 4 minute video clip, which contained plenty of shots suitable for editing into a very simple film, so that we could put our new knowledge into practice. Unfortunately, being film makers, it was very easy to get bogged down in the minutiae of which frame to cut, rather than getting on with the job, but we all more or less finished.

We also spent time looking at Photoshop, and how we could use it to enhance our films, as well as considering the uses of Sound Forge. During the second evening, we had been invited to bring along a film to show, if we wished, and of particular interest to me were the ones using some of the effects that we had been shown - making me wish I could manage to be more imaginative!

All in all, it was a most enjoyable and informative couple of days, which brought me new contacts, and which I would be happy to recommend to fellow members. And added to that, David has been very helpful and patient with email queries since!

[Please note this is an archived report from 2000. IAC no longer organises courses at Wansfell College.]

Q: Have you lived in this town all your life?
A: Not yet.

Page updated on 21 March 2008

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

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