2026 May Club Night

DARKNESS VIDEO MAKING CHALLENGE

John Hawthorne Surrey Border Movie Makers Competition Officer set members a challenge of producing a short video with the theme of ‘Darkness’ where limited lighting was to be used. Six entries were submitted, some were made by groups within the club others were made by individual club members.

The first film shown was by club group the Pioneers called ‘The Medium’ it was filmed in one evening which was quite an achievement and took the theme of a seance with a touch of comedy and intrigue thrown in as the people involved thought they were going to a marriage counselling event! The next movie to be shown was. ‘The Medium 2’ an alternative version of the original entry but this time with an alternate edit by Jonathan Hill and Matthew Collins.

The next film to shown was ‘Shelter’ an animation by Cameron Gilroy, this 3min. 3 sec. movie about a girl working her late shift in a bar developed some un-expected spooky happenings when someone took shelter inside the bar from the rain.

The fourth entry made by John Thompson and Paul Ashworth, titled ‘Tell Tale Heart’ this intriguing movie was based on the short macabre story by Edgar Allan Poe the well-known American writer and poet.

David Dewhurst member of the Pathfinders groups created the next film called ‘The Looking Glass’ this 4 min. 38sec. entry told the story of an ageing man receiving his rather interesting Birthday presents one of which was a mirror with rather mysterious properties.

The final film was by the ‘Weyfarers’ group called ‘ISO & F-Stop for the Sony A6600 Camera’, this comedy directed by John Hawthorne highlighted some of the hilarious and annoying difficulties you can experience when trying to set up your own camera in the dark whilst attempting to make a film on your own.

After viewing all the films the audience voted by a show of hands. The winner was Cameron Gilroy’s animation ‘Shelter’ with ‘The Medium’ and ‘The Medium 2’ by the Pioneers Group taking joint second place.

The next meeting is on Friday 5^th June where previous Film in an Evening entries will be shown and a brain-storming session will take place in preparation for this years Film in an Evening event.