DVA Meeting - April 2010

Judging from the overwhelmly positive feedback we got from attending members, this must surely be one of the DVA's best meetings to date.  The meeting was held at the Clara Anna Fontein Private Game Reserve in Durbanville.  John and Miranda Coutts had the grape seed fire logs going in a jivi, and in no time dinner was served!  The boerewors rolls and John's secret sauce was a sure hit.

Our programme was filled to the rim with interesting speakers:

 

*First up was Mark Bernabei from Echo Motion Media, an Accredited member, who talked about his experiences with his new Sony EX1R camera.

We got to know more about the stunning features of this unique piece of equipment.

 

 

*Craig Blanckenberg from Solutec, gave an overview of ideal edit systems and why certain "bodyparts" are so essential.  He had a very impressive R50 000 machine on display which was build for Echo Motion Media to handle the new Sony EX1R's workflow.  Craig is mainly working in the film industry with machines hovering at about a million rand, but also services us normal guys with the best that the industry can supply.

 

 

*Julian Breytenbag, co-owner of Websenergy, gave a brief overview of the DVA's new website.  It is based on the Content Management System, which means the designated committee members can now update the web themselves.  This was a great leap forward as we always had to wait for volunteers with the necessary web knowlegde to update even the simplist data.  The development was sponsored by Websenergy.  www.websenergy.com The new dva website went live for the first time on April 4 at 17:30.   

 

 *Then came our surprise visitors (Eddie & Daniel) from Lithuania. Edmundas Sipkus (Eddie) had the audiance spellbound with his interpretation of movie making.  These guys come all the way from the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius, with a population of about 600 000.  Legends in their own country, they have embarked on a seasonal expedition that includes Cape Town.  We were very honoured to have them.  Some of their showreels included a very artistic 5 minute short that involved 200 voluntary actors and 70 black Mercedeses!  They were also recently involved with the shooting of "Running Bride" in the streets of Cape Town.  Their website is:  www.fresco.co.za

Good news is that Fresco will be doing a Wedding Workshop in November.  This workshop will have limited seats and will be R50 to members and R150 to non-members.  Date and venue to be announced.  This is strictly on a "first come first serve" basis.  Interested parties should reserve their names with Vicky.  vicky@dvasa.org or phone 0219768040.

 

*Mac from Sound FX Entertainment talked about the amazing efficiency of L.E.D. lighting.  His company's service overview is as follow's:                 "Allow us to enhance the mood of your special occasion, by infusing stunning colour, with our range of energy-saving L.E.D. lights.."

He said the life span of these lights are up to one hundred thousand hours.  They reduce inviromental impact, are low power and low wattage, thus green friendly.  These lights generate very low heat and limits uv emissions.  They are real time computer controlled.

 

*Our main speaker for the evening was none other than JJ van Rensburg of Edit Cafe.  JJ was the scriptwriter, director and also did the screenplay of the locally produced full featured movie, Intonga.  Amazingly this movie was shot in only 10 days!  It was done with detailed co-ordination and planning and an utter will to make it happen.  We heard one story after the other of the "behind the scenes" happenings, some of them pure miracles!  

 

 

This was an amazing insight into the production of a local full feature Xhosa movie.  They were contacted by Nu Metro, and the movie was screened at various cinemas all over the country.  It is currently available on DVD and I think every person should own one!