Gillian Gatland

Having always been the family photographer, I was on holiday in 1994 visiting relatives in Australia, and watched other people filming their experience. That’s for me, I thought, moving pictures. I got a camcorder in time for a holiday to the USA Rockies in 1996, that saved film to a small VHS tape, then a ‘digital’ camcorder in 2002, but not digital we know it now, film was saved to a ‘mini DV’ (digital video) tape cassette which you could upload in real time via ‘firewire cable’ to computer to edit.

Editing on PC was a vast improvement, and of course, now we save to SD cards, and simply transfer the file easily to our editing PCs. I realised when I tried editing my first mini DV film that I needed some expert advice, and that was when I found Surrey Border Movie Makers.

I still mostly film holidays, but I try to add information to make them of interest to a wider audience. I like to take part even if in a small way when the club makes a film, and twice was the editor of a club production. Otherwise I usually do shot logging or clapperboard. Very occasionally I appear in front of the camera.

I went on the club committee about 2005, was Secretary for 3 years, and have been Treasurer since 2010.

Cecil's Law

Some of my films can be seen in the club competition pages of this website (see below), but some earlier ones which may be of interest are as follows.

Cecil’s Law – this was the first club production that I edited, in 2010.

Basic premise of the film, Cecil, going for a job interview, had one of those days when everything that could go wrong, did!

Buzz in the Boardroom – this club production in 2012 was the brainchild of fellow member Peter Frost, and again I edited it. Two employees bidding for more responsibility, and using every bit of jargon you’ve ever heard, and probably some you haven’t! The new secretary taking the minutes was totally baffled, she was played at the last minute by the lady who had been going to be doing make up, as the actress booked had a last minute emergency, and brilliantly she did it.

Buzz in the Boardroom

Pranburi Rain by Gillian

Pranburi Rain – this simple film of a rainy day in Thailand, somehow won 4 prizes in the club competition in 2006, including best film, plus photography, edit, and best creative.

As it is, in fact, a simple montage, I am not sure it was deserved, but who am I to argue?

I sat on the patio of our hotel room, as it was still hot,

despite the rain, mostly reading, and simply filmed the rain and the state of the garden as the day wore on, picking the camera up every hour or so to record a few minutes of film.

One of the other ladies in the club wanted to make a film about Mary Watts and the Compton Memorial Chapel that Mary designed, and wanted a bit of help with the filming.

Luckily the assistant curator of the Watts Gallery was sufficiently interested in the project to agree to be interviewed, which makes the film.

My friend made a long version of this which was

Mary Watts

for a while shown at the gallery, but we wanted to enter the club competition, for which films are limited to 6 minutes, and as Sally did not want to ‘cut’ her version, I used it to make the 6 minute version shown here.

We did win the club competition in December 2007.

Home Alone

All the lady members of the club, five of us, wanted to make a film, without the men taking over the ‘techy’ bit, using sound in particular, and we got together with a friend’s daughter to do just that.

Called Home Alone, we did win best use of sound in the 2008 club competition. I operated the camera, and did the edit.

Phang Nga Bay, Thailand is a pure holiday video featuring one of the most scenic places I have ever been.

Travel by kayak through (very low) caves into the lakes in the interior of limestone casts rising vertically from the sea.

I entered this in the club competition, in 2013.