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The Boudicca Awards Gala - 10  April 2012

Hollywood-styled award for club film maker

Bijunu Padincharayil won the Film of the Year competition at the club’s Oscar-styled annual Boudicca Awards evening with his imaginative travelogue, “Drifting Clouds”.

The Mayor of Colchester, Cllr Helen Chuah presented the trophy to the 32-year-old film maker, who studied the basics of film making at www.Filmcamp.TV,  a community of independent filmmakers in Bangalore before moving to England.

“Drifting Clouds” traces Bijunu’s holiday by train across France, Switzerland and Italy during which time he shot some 80 GB of material on his Cannon 7D.  Although this gave him the flexibility of shooting with an array of interchangeable lenses, it did present a challenge when he came to edit it in to only a three minute film.

“I was unable to include some of the best shots because they didn’t fit in to the overall theme and rhythm,” he said.

However, the judges – David Cleveland, the founder of the East Anglian Film Archive, and film buff Bill Allen – were impressed with his choice.

Kerala-born Bijunu’s, who only joined the club at the beginning of the season, harbours an ambition to become a professional film maker.  He also won the Ray Jennings Challenge trophy for his editing skills.

Cllr Chuah found herself in a starring role during the evening.  She was the subject of a 20 minute documentary, entitled “Helen’s Journey” made by Paul Desmond and screened as part of the awards programme.

The film focuses on the mayor’s “journey” from her schooldays in Georgetown, Penang, to when she became the First Citizen of Britain’s oldest recorded town and, in particular, on the charity work she and her partner, Councillor Mike Hogg, undertake in Malaya.

The awards evening also involved the screening of “An Edwardian Priest”, a true story drama about an Essex priest who went down with the Titanic. 

The film was written, produced and directed by Paul Desmond and John Howden and won four stars – the equivalent to a silver award – in the British International Amateur Film Festival.  It is to be screened at the festival on April 14, the centenary of the ship striking an iceberg.

The Boudicca award winners, photographed left to right are: Paul Desmond (joint Holiday), Brian Littlewood (Open), Cllr Chuah, Bijunu Padincharayil (Film of the Year and Ray Jennings challenge), John Howard (Five Minute, Documentary and joint Holiday) and John Jones (Chairman’s Cup).

Chairman's Cup Competition – 20 March 2012



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Film Maker: John Jones. Competition: Chairman's Cup Competition - 20 March 2012

John Jones won first place in the competition with 'A Navy Lark' in a field of six entries.
Bernard Polley with 'Colne Valley Railway at War gained second place and Maurice Newbolt with 'New York - New York' was third

The Ray Jennings Challenge Trophy Competition – 21 February 2012



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Film Maker: Bijunu P. Competition: The Ray Jennings Challenge Trophy Competition - 21 February 2012

Bijunu P won first place in the competition with ‘Drifting Clouds' in a field of six entries.

The film maker Bijunu says, "The short-film Drifting Clouds was shot during my Europe trip in Sep 2011. This was a train journey covering Paris,Switzerland and Rome.
I used a Cannon 7D to shoot which gave me the flexibility of shooting with an array of interchangeable lenses. Making a 3 minute movie out of 80GB HD footage was a tough ask as i could not use some of my best shots which were not fitting in to the overall theme/rhythm. I bought the music from the Vimeo music store and the visuals were laid over the track. I was very happy with the track as it had the variations, beats and the instruments to make interesting cutting points".

Holiday Competition – 24 January 2012



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Film Maker: John Howden. Competition: Holiday Competition - 24 January 2012

John Howden and Paul Desmond jointly won first place in the competition with ‘A Grand Craic' in a field of five entries.
John said: "On a first visit to Ireland and Dublin I was blown away by the music and by Sea Sunday in Kinsale in the South. My grandmother’s family fled from Ireland to Australia in the 1848 Potato Famine and I was able to touch base with that too. The Guinness and the people were great!"
Paul said: "I was delighted John was so impressed with my hometown of Dublin and not just the Black Stuff. The city is so fully of charm and character and an ideal place to shoot film.”

Documentary Competition – 22 November 2011



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Film Maker: John Howden. Competition: Documentary Competition - 22 November 2011

In a field of six entries John took first place with his film ‘Aubyns Reborn’. The movie documents the restoration of a Tudor Hall house in the lovely village of Writtle near Chelmsford. “The house has a fascinating history and is the one building all visitors to the Green at Writtle remember.” John said. “ As a trained architect and now as a film maker I was immediately drawn to the story when the present owners announced their intention of restoring the house to its pre 1934 look. To film something over the period of a year, including some of the worst winter weather for some time, was certainly a challenge. The result was worth it, however, and Writtle can now boast a proper Tudor Hall house lovingly restored by master craftsmen.”

Five Minute Competition – 18 October 2011



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Film Maker: John Howden. Competition: 5 Minute Competition - 18 October 2011

John Howden won first place in the competition with ‘Bedtime Story’ in a field of seven entries.
Asked where John got the idea for his winning ghost story, he said: “It came to me at three in the morning when I happened to be puzzling about what I could do for the competition with the subject ‘Night Life’.
“I thought I’ll make a ghost story film. When I go up in the morning and started to write the ghost story developed into a love story and ‘Bedtime Story’ was born.
“All the actors came from Writtle village, just outside of Chelmsford, and my story teller, Brigid Main, is a Church of England priest with a lot of acting experience. The setting in the local churchyard was ideal.
“The ‘ghosting’ and night time effects were done in post-production. The main scenes were shot in the early evening and it was amazing how many Scouts, Guides, Brownies, Mums and Dads and other walkers came through! Shots filmed to shots used ratio was about 5 to 1,” added John.




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Film Maker: John Howden. Competition: 5 Minute Competition - 18 October 2011

John Howden won second place in the competition with ‘Great Dorset Steam Fair’ in a field of seven entries.
Of ‘The Great Dorset Steam Fair’, John said: “Photographing events always throws up kit problems. With this event the problem was the amount of fabulous material available. Add to this the weather on the day - early September - was hot and dry, and wherever I pointed the camera there was great footage in front of me.
“We arrived around noon and left at 9.15pm. I chose to carry my camera - a Sony FX7 - on its tripod for the whole time. However, this tiring act was worth its weight in gold for the steady shots and the close up work.
“But it was in the late evening that the real magic of the show came about. Traction engines silhouetted against the setting sun, the fairground under a myriad coloured lights and my camera that was set on automatic responding with some stunning pictures. It may only be HDV but I am constantly amazed at the quality. The Steam Fair is enormous fun. If you have not been I hope this film may give the taste to go next year.


Open Competition – 20 September 2011

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The competition was won by Bryan Littlewood's documentary, "Aldeburgh", about the Suffolk coastal town.

A club outing in July inspired his film and Bryan and Thelma followed up with two more visits to research the subject and obtain more footage. The film presents Aldeburgh as an attractive family holiday resort and also focuses on its musical reputation associated with Benjamin Britton, England's prolific 20th century composer.

Runner-up was a music documentary about a sea shanty group, called “Salt Water and Beer”, filmed by Paul Desmond during the 50th anniversary festival of the Blackwater Barge and Smack Match at Maldon, Essex.

Essex Schools Food & Farming Day – 26 May 2011

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The statistics are impressive – 3,000 school children, 500 teachers and helpers, 200 farmers and assistants, 5 zones, 1 day, countless buses, 2 cameramen – all gathered at Writtle College for a Schools Food and Farming Day. The aim? To get across the “Field to Fork message”. It’s very interactive and huge fun. Add sun, rain and wind and the mixture gets very exciting! The commission was to produce a film of the day that could be used as promotion material. The result you must judge for yourselves. The camera team and the editor enjoyed the whole venture and the children had a ball!

Wine film wins International award –  April 2011

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Filmmaker Bryan Littlewood decided to make a club documentary about a home-grown English vineyard after an unsolicited approach from a French businessman to feature his vineyard proved impracticable.

Entitled “New Hall Vineyard”, the film took 12 months to shoot and was awarded a coveted Four Star rating in this year’s IAC British International Amateur Film Festival, only the second time a club project from Colchester had been so honoured in this prestigious competition.
The IAC judges commented: “It is almost impossible to fault such a solid job made by a team who knew what they were doing.

“The photography was first class, with good camera angles, (and) steady pictures with consistent exposure.

“The sound track was good with appropriate music, a good script well delivered and recorded, supplemented by VOX pops of customers and the people who work to serve them a quality product.”

New Hall is in Purleigh, south Essex, and is one of the largest and most successful vineyards in England. The area can trace its wine making tradition back to King John, who ordered a vast quantity of the locally produced wine to mark the signing of Magna Carta in 1215.

With fellow filmmaker John Howden, Bryan visited the family-run business to research every aspect of the cultivation, cropping and bottling, before taking the idea to the club.

Commented Bryan: “The objective was to produce a short documentary that recorded the process of growing and producing wine while at the same time highlighting the vineyard’s outstanding achievements and uniqueness.

“New Hall is the recipient of many top wine growing awards.”

A team of eight club cameramen was put together and allocated sequences to shoot at intervals over the four seasons, starting with New Hall’s Wine Festival in September.

More than 10 hours of high definition footage was eventually edited down to make the award-winning 18-minute documentary. In addition, a music score was specially composed and performed by another club member, David Gilhooly, whose music appears on many members’ films.

The Boudicca Awards Gala - 12 April 2011

There may not have been a red carpet in sight at Colchester’s Headgate Theatre on 12 April but it was the venue for the town’s first Boudicca Film Awards.

The gala event, which attracted a near capacity audience, was staged by Colchester Film Makers Club to judge their all important Film of the Year competition.

The club screened a programme of members’ films which had won their respective categories during the season.

A 14-minute documentary about portrait painter Peter Deighan won the Film of the Year competition for filmmaker Paul Desmond, who was presented with the main Boudicca trophy by Deputy Mayor, Councillor Helen Chauh.

Boudiccas were also presented to Bryan Littlewood for “The Best of Kerala” (Open); John Howden for “Family Reunion” (Five Minute) and “The Passion Play” (Holiday); Mike Saucede for “64” (Ray Jennings); and Paul Desmond “Peter Deighan, Artist” (Documentary).

Pictured (left to right) are award winners Bryan Littlewood, Paul Desmond, Mike Saucede and John Howden.




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