circle eight film group 50th anniversary picture album

50TheCircle Eight

Bumper PictureAlbum

Contents

Introduction 3

Comedy 4

Drama 12

Animation 16

Documentaries 18

As We Were, As We Are 28

Behind the Camera 30

Tools for the Job 34

Social 36

Awards 38

Publicity 40

Chuckles 42

OUR FILM MAKING HISTORY: (* denotes Award Winners) 1964 - The Maestro 1964

Circle Eight’s Bumper Picture Album is brought to you by:John Myall, Dawn and Martin Owers, Malcolm Bridger,

Steve Grove and Terence Patrick.

First reprint:

Introduction

It doesn’t seem that it was half a century since I gathered a small circle of old school friends together at a house in West Clandon and suggested that we made a film with my newly purchased second hand 8mm cine camera. Hence the Group was soon to become known as - Circle Eight. No one who attended that meeting on March 26th 1964 - and some of them are still around and involved - could have imagined that the group that commenced its existence on that evening 50 years ago, would still be producing movies in 2014 and by then would have:-

• Produced 201 Film and Stage productions• Won 127 Regional, National and International Awards• Won a Movie Maker ‘Ten Best Oscar’ in 1979• Won the London Film Productions Gold Cup for Best Club Film 6 times• Had a capacity 1,000 audience attend a Premiere show in Guildford• Presented 1,348 shows to local audiences in the Guildford area• Reached an estimated audience of upwards of a quarter of a million, when shows and the sale of DVDs are taken into account.

When we first started back in 1964, we completely lacked any sort of film making experience and weren’t particularly interested in receiving any tuition in the subject. As a result, we have all had to learn the hard way and we think this has provided the basis for the polished productions that our audiences expect from us today.

In this celebratory album, liberally peppered with pictures from our photographic archives, we tell the Circle Eight story through some of our productions, genre by genre, over the last 50 years. We also look briefly at the amazing technological advancements, which have taken place over this period.

Finally, we tell you a little bit of what we as members of Circle Eight get up to socially, when we are not making movies!

Terence Patrick

Chairman’s Message

Terence Patrick

Let me start with the mostimportant message - thankyou for deciding to comeand see ‘The Tales of thePilgrims Way’! Whilst wein Circle Eight have greatfun making films, there isnot much point to it all if

no one watches them. So whether youare back as one of our regular customersor here to see our films for the first time,a very warm welcome.

Circle Eight has been an important part ofmy life for nearly 40 years now. Littledid I realise what I was starting when Ipicked up a little wind-up Kodak 8 cinecamera in 1964 and decided to get a fewold school friends together to make a“movie”. Now, some 164 movies and 90awards on, what surprises and delightsme is that many of that class of '64 are stillplaying an active role in the group. Iam quite sure that bond of loyalfriendship between us has been a keyreason for our survival and success overthe years; long may it continue!

Of course, as with everything else, theamateur film world has changed out of allrecognition since those days of themanual wind-up cine camera of the1960s. Indeed, with so much advancedtechnology now available to the massmarket (at a price of course!) the linebetween “professional” and “amateur” isincreasingly blurred. We like to seeourselves as professional amateurs.Certainly the video age with thewonderful advantage of being able to playback what you have shot straightawayrather than waiting 10 days for Mr Kodakto process it, has certainly encouraged alot more of our members to have a gobehind the camera. Having said that,‘The Tales of the Pilgrims Way’ was shot

on dear old 16mmfilm. Dear being theappropriate word!Not many peoplesupply it anymore;in fact we had to getone of our membersto buy some in NewYork whilst onholiday earlier thisyear! So this islikely to be our lastmajor production on“real” film.

Circle Eight thereforehas to invest in thefuture if we are to keep up. Over the lastyear we have been reviewing what weneed to update in the way of film, soundand editing equipment. Having done that,we now plan to make some majorpurchases in 2001 with, we hope, somesupport from the Lottery Fund. Our casefor funding centres on our wish tocontinue to make films for YOU which wehope will interest and entertain. If wesucceed in doing that then it's “the icingon the cake” for us in Circle Eight.

Enjoy the show.

5

- The Thirteen Clocks 1964 - Three Men in a Boat 1964 - A Masterpiece of Wishful

ComedyWe have always enjoyed making films to amuse. Admittedly, our early efforts back in the mid sixties were more for our own amusement rather than for anyone else’s. It was only our nearest and dearest who were obliged to sit down and watch them. Our first two ‘comedy’ films were both screen adaptations of existing stories – “The Thirteen Clocks” (a costumed piece and very obscure for everyone involved save perhaps for the director) and then “Three Men in a Boat” (better known and understandable and therefore much more fun to make). But every single comedy film we have made since has been an original screenplay.

Three Men in a Boat, 1964The Thirteen Clocks, 1964

Set free from the shackles of screen adaptations, and inspired by what we were seeing at the cinema and on television, our fertile imaginations were soon into over-drive, as our next three comedies were to demonstrate. “Anymore for the Skylark” – all 3 hours 41 minutes of it, yes really - was our first explosion of pent-up need to do something original. The story revolved round a mad scientist who invented a time machine so he could go back in history to get rid of people he detested (eg Tarzan, Chaucer and Dracula).

However, other strange individuals wanted to get hold of the time machine too and the film unwound relentlessly showing the many mad-cap schemes they hatched to try and achieve their ends. The plot developed and expanded as we went along; in essence, if we thought of a new twist, an opportunity to film in a different location or include an acquired prop (eg a dalek) it was written into the screen play. It may not come as a surprise to know that Movie Maker said at the time that as far as they knew it was the longest amateur film ever made!

Anymore for the Skylark? 1965

Thinking 1965 - Anymore for the Skylark? 1966 - The Man with the Flashing Shoe 1967

Comedy...

The Man With The Flashing Shoe, 1966

Love, Set and Match, 1969

Our next film, but certainly not so long, was our take on James Bond who in our case was Gerald A. Smithers – “The Man with the Flashing Shoe”. The plot centred on Smithers’ mission to infiltrate a fanatical sect and sabotage its evil plan to detonate a bomb designed to sink Great Britain into the sea. You need to understand that the sect lived solely on a diet of fish and they needed more fishery grounds. Can Smithers save the nation from a watery end?

And then, more down to earth and with a comparatively simple story, came “Love, Set and Match”. This was the classic Romeo and Juliet scenario but in a modern setting, in this case a bricklayer and a debutante meeting and falling in love. Their hopes, fears and jealousies arise and of course parental opposition. But finally triumphantly, the elopement…..with the help of a fire engine. It was to be the first film we felt confident enough to show to a wider audience. Indeed it became the first amateur film granted a film certificate for public performance by Surrey County Council. We were on our way…..

- Don’t Look Now, but we’re being watched - Stage Revue 1967 - Solitude* 1967 - The

Comedy...

On The BoardsWith these films under our belt, and bursting with youthful exuberance and self confidence, we felt it was time to widen our comedy repertoire by taking to the stage. We morphed into “The Entertainers” and toured village halls in 1967-68 with three revues. We went on to enter one or two stage festivals with short plays and even dabbled with something a bit more serious.

Flat Mate, 1969

Boo! 1968

Richard III, 1970

Rise & Fall of a Pair of Braces, 1967

Don’t Look Now But We’re Being Watched, 1967

Rise and Fall of a Pair of Braces - Stage Revue 1968 - Boo! - Stage Revue 1969 - Love, Set

A Turn For The Worse, 1976

Comedy...However the flirtation with the stage wasn’t to last and we soon hankered to make another comedy feature film and again about something that everyone could relate to - love. The result was “Let’s Do It” - the history of courting down the ages. Many well known names from the history books were featured in this extravaganza from the earliest cavemen to people like Pythagoras, the Emperor Nero, Henry VIII, Casanova and finally into the future with a flying space bedstead!

One of the film’s most popular aspects was our choice of narrator - the late lamented J. Leslie Rodgers, whose wonderful voice added significantly to the film’s popularity.

Circle Eight has produced many comedy films over the years but “A Turn for the Worse” is still reckoned, by all those who’ve seen it, to be the Group’s best. Back in 1976, it won an International Award at the London

Amateur Film Festival plus the London Film Productions Gold Cup for the Best Club film and received a major award in the 1977 Movie Maker Ten Best Competition.

Shooting started in a quiet lane in Albury near Guildford in the Summer of 1972 and continued through the summers of 1973 and 1974, before finally being completed just before Christmas 1975.

Let’s Do It , 1972

and Match* 1969 - The Insect Play - Stage Drama 1970 - The Haunting* 1970 - Sweet

Comedy...

Storm Force, 1984

From the nineties onwards, we have concentrated on making shorter movies, which are more appropriate as entries in film competitions whether local, regional or national. We have picked up a good haul of awards for these over the years. The arrival of video and later digital equipment has also encouraged other “non teccy” members of the group to try their hand at camerawork, sound and editing. More about this can be seen opposite.

Jaws Too, 1983Suspicions, 1981

Scott, 1989

Thames Run Softly* 1970 - The Tramp 1972 - Let’s Do It!* 1972 - Guildford’s Own

Looking Up Linda, 1994

Comedy...

Suburban Line, 1993

Gone to Earth, 1999

Spread a Little Happiness, 1997

Saturn Rising, 1991

With A Purposeful Gait, 2006

Show 1972 - Time for a Bite 1972 - Future Bright* 1973 - The Fair in the Square 1973

Comedy...

Unfinished Business, 2010

Crumbs! 2014

Off The Wall, 2008

Finally under COMEDY we should mention the silly short sequences we produced for the start of public film shows/premieres and those to introduce intermissions. These were a product of the period 1970-90 and came to be expected and enjoyed by our loyal audiences. For example, at the start of a show it was announced that the film spools/canisters hadn’t arrived. Cut to the screen to see someone parachuting from a plane and landing outside the venue. Then up came the lights and the parachutist ran into the hall carrying the film for the show. On another occasion, pirates were lost at sea and losing hope before eventually “spying land” and coming ashore - just by the hall of course. We lost the enthusiasm for the mix of film and live action format for show openings as we grew older, but intermission films stayed the course longer and were particularly popular. Here are a few of our favourites…

- Meanwhile, in a nearby chimney 1973 - Behold the Milkman Cometh 1973 - Around

Arabian Connection, 1978

Comedy...

The Tramp, 1970 The Good Ship Hispaddiola, 1980

Behold the Milkman

Cometh, 1973

Shere in 4 minutes 1973 - Flatmate - Stage comedy* 1974 - Looks Good, Sounds Good

Drama

The HauntingAfter a comedy romp through the sixties, we began the new decade with something completely different, a film drama. “The Haunting” depicted the nightmares of a condemned murderer in his cell in the final hours before his execution. To say it had a dramatic impact is an understatement. Surrey County Council’s Licensing authority banned it for public showing, deeming the horror in it just too realistic.

This was a financial set back for the group, as we had to abandon a planned programme of perfor-mances around local village halls. But we went ahead and entered “The Haunting” for the 1970 London Amateur Film Festival just for the devilment. Much to our surprise and delight, it came away with three top awards - an International Award, the London Film Productions Gold Cup for the Best Club film and the Wallace Heaton trophy for the Best Use of Colour. Suddenly Circle Eight’s name became more widely known in the amateur film world.

The Haunting, 1970

Terence Patrick, Ken Walton and Roger Needham receive Circle Eight’s three awards for “The Haunting” at the 1971 London Amateur Film Festival from Sir Richard Sharples MP.

1974 - Circle Eight’s 10th Anniversary Show 1975 - Circle Eight regrets..... 1975 -

Drama...

The Bed, 1978

Film dramas over the years have covered a range of different plotlines including:

• The life story of a bed• A wife’s agonising wait to find out whether her husband is dead or alive• Supernatural goings-on in Cornwall • A night time intruder calls on an unsuspecting woman alone at home• A house that draws strangers into its grasp and doesn’t let go• A dark alleyway – who’s following you?• The story behind the mysterious veiled stranger walking by the seashore?

Stills from some of these stand-alone film dramas, together with dramatic sequences enacted within some of our local history productions, are featured on these pages.

The Altar Stone, 1980Delayed, 1976

Another Touch of Local Colour 1975 - The Guildford Film Makers 1976 - A Turn for

Drama...

The Lady in White 1996

Short Cut, 1995Hear No Evil See No Evil, 1980

Open House, 1992

the Worse* 1976 - Forgotten Waters 1976 - At home with the Grotts 1976 - Delayed*

Drama...The Grand Hall

Great War Hospital

1950’s Girls’ School

“The Grand Hall” was an award winning film made to celebrate Circle Eight’s 40th Birthday in 2004 and featured the stories of people who had lived and worked in a grand mansion during the past century or so. Episodes included the mansion’s use as a family home in the 1880s; a Con-valescent Hospital in 1916; the auctioning of the Hall’s contents in 1926; its use as a secret HQ in 1943; a Girl’s School in the 1950s and a Hotel in the 1990s.

Victorian Halloween Dinner

1976 - Sovereign Travel commercial 1977 - Cranleigh Pancake Race 1977 - Sovereign

We are fortunate to have in our group a talented animator, Norman Lilley, who has been delighting audiences with his imaginative, witty and sometimes poignant animated films over the years and has picked up a host of awards.

No doubt, his most highly praised and much loved film to date has been “Above and Beyond” , about a teddy bear mascot’s adventures during a bombing raid in the days of the Second World War.

Stills from this film and examples of some of his other work are illustrated below.

Animation

Above and Beyond, 1985Phantom of Milford St Giles, 2004

Remembering Ted, 2010The Messenger, 2008

Travel commercial No 2 1977 - Guildford’s Silver Jubilee Carnival 1978 - The Bed*

Animation...

The Devil escapes from ‘Mother Ludlam’s Cave’ from Tales of the Pilgrim’s Way, 2000

The Griddly Fatlow, 2012

Hugo and the Runaway Stories, 2008

Days Away, 2009

1978 - Tug* 1978 – Jubilation 1978 - The Arabian Connection 1978 - Gunfight at the OK

Documentaries...The Early Days

Guildford’s Own Show, 1972

A Masterpiece of Wishful Thinking, 1964

One of our first ventures into documentary work was in the sixties, when we made a film on the last days of the Guildford-Horsham railway line entitled “A Masterpiece of Wishful Thinking”. It isn’t that good by today’s standards, of course, but it is of greater local historical interest now. Little did we realise then that local interest themed documentaries would play such an important part in the group’s future story.

Following all the publicity from our horror film “The Haunting”, in 1972, we were unexpectedly commissioned to make a documentary about a local playgroup for children suffering with Spinabifida entitled “Future Bright”.

It was all about a local scheme to get disabled children into mainstream schools and won Circle Eight a Very Highly Commended award at the 1974 London Amateur Film Festival.

The same year, another local interest documentary was produced entitled “Guildford’s Own Show”, which featured the events and happenings on the showground in Stoke Park during the two days of the town’s annual extravaganza. The film is still shown today and shows life in Guildford at its best in the 1970s.

Another successful documentary from the 1970s was “Forgotten Waters” - a journey along the now closed Wey and Arun Canal, which used to run from Guildford to Portsmouth during the Victorian era, carrying goods by an inland route to London before the arrival of the railways.

Future Bright, 1972

Forgotten Waters, 1976

Sauce 1978 - Guildford Carnival ‘78 1978 - Circle Eight says Goodnight 1979 - Mad

TUG, 1978 and the award notification telegram from Movie Maker magazine

In 1978, one of our members John Morris bought a Super 8mm Beaulieu 4008 camera and was inspired to make a short film on the BAC Weybridge’s Tug of War Team’s fortunes in the World Championships . “Tug” won a Movie Maker Ten Best Oscar, a national achievement in the amateur film world, and also the Eumig award for the Best Use of Sound. The awards were presented by Sir John Mills at London’s National Film Theatre on September 1st 1979.

“Tug” went on to win six other regional, national and international awards at film festivals all over the UK and abroad.

Documentaries....TUG

Dogs and Circle Eight go down to the Guildford Show 1980 – The Eastbourne Mermaid

Documentaries...Tales of Olde Guildford

By the end of the seventies, we had started to build an audience base and decided to make a feature length local interest documentary. This would be about local history and legends told in an interesting and entertaining way, drawing on the group’s other film genres as appropriate for different sequences. “The Tales of Olde Guildford” commenced shooting in 1980 and featured local historian Matthew Alexander and Circle Eight member Dawn Owers touring the Guildford area on a tandem.This was then used as a linking device between the various legends to hold the whole film together. The completed movie was premiered to an audience of 700 people at Guildford’s Civic Hall in 1984 to much local acclaim. A shorter version for

public viewing at Guildford Museum entitled “The Story of Guildford” was commissioned the following year.

Merrow’s Springheel JackThe Rabbit Woman of

Godalming

The Clandon Dragon

Martha & Catherine, Giant Sisters

The Story of Cow and Gate

The Guildford Massacre The Guy Riots

We had learnt very quickly after starting to show our films to the general public that including a local interest item in any show was very popular and drew in the crowds. At first, these were quite short films and were usually linked to a particular event or venue. But these were basically local news snippets to support the main film and could hardly be described as documentaries. They also had a short shelf life.

1980 - Suspicions* 1980 - Hear No Evil, See No Evil* 1980 - What’s in a Name?* 1980 -

Documentaries...Tales of Olde Guildford

Because of the instant success of “The Tales of Olde Guildford”, in 1986 work started on a sequel “The Tales of Olde Surrey”. The new film again featured Matthew and Dawn but this time they took to the air in a hot air balloon to get a bird’s eye view of West Surrey, starting from Guildford

and travelling via Ash, Weybridge, Ripley, Horsley and Dorking in search of more Surrey stories and tales. The finished film, which ran 90 minutes, was again premiered at the Civic Hall in Guildford,

only this time the audience was 1,000 people - the largest audience that Circle Eight has ever had.

The Alchemist of Stoke

Documentaries...Tales of Olde Surrey

Major Labelliere’s Eccentric Funeral on Box Hill

The Leatherhead Organist’s Ghostly Revenge

Matthew Trigg and Ash’s Crooked Spire

Shere Villagers’ Rough Musick

The Altar Stone* 1980 - Hostage* 1980 - Bang Bang 1980 - The Good Ship Hispaddiola

Documentaries...Tales of the Pilgrims Way

The Tales Trilogy was completed in 2000 with the completion of “The Tales of the Pilgrims Way”, which had started shooting in 1993 and had taken 7 years to complete. The linking device that held the various tales and legends together was changed and we focussed on the progress of a side of Morris Men, who were taking part in a sponsored Morris dance along the Pilgrims Way from Winchester to Canterbury.

The Miller of Reigate Hill

The Murder of Thomas Becket

The Hanging of Christopher Slaughterford

Mother Ludlam, The White Witch

Morris Men at Puttenham

The Pilgrim Morris Men

King Henry’s Penance

1982 - Guildford Carnival ‘82 1982 - The Leatherhead Carnival 1983 - Jaws Too!

The Tales Trilogy spawned and inspired several other local interest films and stage presentations like “Grandad’s Guildford” - a Victorian Lantern slide presentation about the history of the town produced in 1991; “Guildford....This is Guildford”, made in 1995 to celebrate 150 years since the railway arrived in Guildford and “Grandad’s Picture Palace”, to celebrate the centenary of the cinema in Guildford in 1996.

The Making of Surrey, 1990

Documentaries...

“Grandad’s Picture Palace” was first produced in 1996 to celebrate the centenary of the cinema and uses rarely shown film clips to tell the story of Guildford’s cinemas, some of the UK’s pioneer film makers and takes a retrospective glance at some of the movies that captivated the town’s audiences in years gone by.

‘Guildford.... This is Guildford!” was produced in 1995 to mark the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the first train in 1845. Narrated by Bob Symes-Schutzmann, the film tells the story of the town’s railway development and how Surrey’s ancient county town was changed forever.The impact of the railway was so great, that by 1900, Guildford’s population had trebled and the town became the centre of a busy rail network that became one of the most important railway junctions in Southern England.

Documentaries...Tales of the Pilgrims Way

“The Making of Surrey”. This educational cartoon was animated and directed by Norman Lilley in July 1990 and depicted in a lighthearted way how the county of Surrey was geologically formed over millions of years. It was produced in association with the Surrey County Council, who used it for showing in several Surrey schools.

Although simplified, the various stages of Surrey’s evolution are depicted as they are believed to have happened and are essentially accurate, apart from a few liberties that cartoon characters are bound to make. In just under 6 minutes, Surrey’s geological history is zipped through at an average of One Million Years a second!

1984 - The Tales of Olde Guildford 1984 - Storm Force* 1984 - 20 Years of Circle Eight

Documentaries...In 1997 we produced “Alice Through the Camera Lens” to mark the centenary of the death of local children’s author Lewis Carroll and “Royal Guildford” to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002; “The Mayors of Guildford” in 2011 and “The Story of Guildford Cathedral” in 2012.

“Grandad’s Guildford” was first presented in 1991 and is essentially a Victorian Lantern slide show narrated by Matthew Alexander. This unique collection of photographic images show Guildford as it was between the years of 1860 and 1950. Because of its rarity value, Circle Eight only present this show occasionally but it still attracts capacity audiences.

“Alice Through The Camera Lens” was the first full length feature film about the life and times of children’s author Lewis Carroll, who was a frequent visitor to Guildford and died there in January 1898. Produced in 1998 to mark the centenary of his passing, the film tells the story of Lewis Carroll’s life in Yorkshire, Oxford and Guildford; how his great masterpiece ‘Alice in Wonderland’ came to be written and the true story of Alice, the Dean’s daughter, and how she inspired one of the most famous children’s stories in the World.

1984 - Circle Eight’s In-Flight Movies 1984 - The Great Shere Pram Race 1984 - The

Documentaries...Royal Guildford

In December 2001, Circle Eight representatives approached the Guildford Borough Council to see if they would be interested in sponsoring a video to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of 2002. They agreed and so “Royal Guildford” was born. The concept was to trace the monarchy’s association with the Borough of Guildford from Saxon times, through medieval, Tudor and Victorian times, right up to the 21st century.

Circle Eight arranged the film’s Premiere to take place at the Electric Theatre as part of the Guildford Summer Festival on July 19th 2002, giving the Group just enough time to include sequences of local Jubilee events shot during the nationwide Jubilee celebrations the previous month.

Shooting got underway at the beginning of May 2002 and really got into high gear over the Golden Jubilee weekend in early June. Our camera crews filmed at no less than 15 locations in the space of four days, capturing the celebratory scenes as they happened.

Editing continued right up to the day of the Premiere, with “Royal Guildford” finally being finished in the early hours of July 18th, leaving just enough time to manufacture 40 VHS cassettes for sale to the public at the film’s Premiere the following night. Circle Eight’s Golden Jubilee film had taken just 10 weeks to produce and proved to be a great success. So much so that DVDs of “Royal Guildford” are still selling.

Henry III in his wine cellar

Narrator Matthew Alexander with Guildford’s mace presented by Henry VII in 1488

Rabbit Woman of Godalming* 1985 - Above and Beyond* 1985 - Triple Jubilee*

Documentaries...In 2001 came “Don’t Forget the Diver” , followed by “70 Years in the BBC” in 2010 and “The Story of Guildford Cathedral” in 2012.

Our 96 minute documentary “Seventy Years in the BBC”, was premiered at an IAC Convention of fellow movie makers at Worthing in 2010 and traces the history of the BBC in association with the careers of two members of the same family, who between them worked for the Corporation over a period of 70 Years.

Dont Forget the Diver, 2001

Royal broadcast from New Zealand, 1953

Early children’s TV - Andy Pandy, 1951

Prime Minister Chamberlain’s declaration of war, 1939

“Don’t Forget the Diver” was a 7 minute documentary telling the story of deep sea diver William Walker, who between 1906 and 1912, worked in the flooded crypt of Winchester Cathedral to underpin the building’s medieval foundations with modern concrete blocks.

This film was originally des-tined to be one of the stories in the “Tales of the Pilgrim’s Way” but emerged to become a separate short movie that went on to win several awards.

1985 - Anything Goes (Team A) 1985 - Anything Goes (Team B) 1985 - Anything

Documentaries...Using rarely seen archive film, Circle Eight told “The Story Of Guildford Cathedral”, from its earliest beginnings in 1927, right through to the cathedral’s Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2011.The sequences included the laying of the foundation stone in 1936, the deserted half-finished building on Stag Hill and its uses during World War Two, the buying of a brick for two and sixpence campaign in 1952, the consecration in the presence of the Queen in 1961, plus coverage of events during the cathedral’s Silver Jubilee in 1985 and Golden Jubilee in 2011.

Circle Eight established another first with this local documentary, when it was actually premiered on a 20ft screen in the Nave of the Cathedral in April 2012, raising much-needed funds for the upkeep of the building.

“The Mayors of Guildford” was a film/slides/stage presentation that was produced in 2012 to mark the 650th anniversary of Guildford’s Mayoralty. Narrated by Matthew Alexander, the Borough of Guildford’s Remembrancer, and past Mayor Terence Patrick, audiences were taken on a journey back through the centuries to take a look at some of of the distinguished, successful, philanthropic, scandalous, barbaric and downright devious citizens that have held the office!

Goes (Team C) 1988 - Ignorance is Bliss (Team A) 1988 - Ignorance is Bliss (Team B)

As We Were...

Publicity photo to mark Circle Eight’s 10th Anniversary in 1974

Publicity photo for Circle Eight’s 1976 Premiere Night at the University of Surrey

1989 - The Tales of Olde Surrey 1989 - Scott* 1989 - The End of the Line* 1989 - The

As We Are...

Group portrait taken to celebrate Circle Eight’s 50th Anniversary in 2014

Members of Circle Eight in Guildford’s Guildhall at the installation of their Chairman Terence Patrick as the 657th Mayor of Guildford in 2011

Alchemist of Stoke* 1990 - The Making of Surrey* 1991 - Grandad’s Guildford 1991

EARLY LIP SYNC DIALOGUE RECORDING

Believe it or not, we used to voice all our dialogue like this. An actor would have to speak his lines into a microphone, whilst watching his image on the screen and get them perfectly synchronised. Sometimes an actor would turn over two pages in the dark and cause total mayhem to the recording process. It was hopeless!

FILMING SCOTT OF THE ANTARCTIC

All the horrors of Scott’s expedition to the Antarctic were filmed on the stage of West Clandon Village Hall in 1989, as this picture shows. It was very hot under the film lights, despite the actors having to look cold and freezing.

MORTAL DANGER FOR THE CAMERAMAN

These brave souls have to put themselves at risk sometimes to get the perfect ‘point of view’ shot....like here, when we filmed the Murder of Thomas Becket sequence from “The Tales of the Pilgrims Way”.

MOPPING UP AFTER THE MURDER OF THOMAS BECKET

Mopping-up a marble floor and getting rid of the theatrical blood after shooting the Murder of Thomas Becket sequence.

Behind the Camera

- Saturn Rising* 1992 - No Turning Back 1992 - Open House* 1993 - Suburban Line*

Behind the Camera... MUCK SPREADING IN THE CHURCH YARD

In the ‘Foolish Villagers of Pirbright’ sequence in “The Tales of Olde Surrey”, the villagers placed loads of dung around their church steeple in an effort to make it grow taller. How do you show that on screen? We took some Plasticine and did what is called a glass shot. The camera was lined-up looking at the church through the glass with the Plasticine in the foreground, as the photo of the result shows.

Grandad’s Guildford - remastering the original plate glass slides

KEEPING THE LIGHT OUTChanging the film - old style

1994 - Looking Up Linda* 1995 - Guildford....This is Guildford!* 1995 - Short Cut* 1996

Steve freshens up the clapper board and the crew freshen up whilst shooting “Tales of the Pilgrim’s Way”, 1999.

Behind the Camera...HANGING IN THE HIGH STREET

One of our most spectacular shoots was the hanging of Christopher Slaughterford in Guildford High Street in 1994. Circle Eight obtained permission to close the roadway and erect a full size gallows with a crowd of 50 costumed onlookers to watch. We were just clearing up, when a policeman drew up in his police car and said - looking up at the gallows - “Bring that down to the Police Station when you’ve finished with it.....we might find a use for it”!

Joseph Mawle and friend

- Grandad’s Picture Palace 1996 - The Lady in White* 1997 - Spread a Little Happiness*

Behind the Camera...

Circle Eight’s complex projection setup for the IAC British International Film Festival 2008

Crumbs! 2013Off the Wall, 2008

Projecting in the Cathedral

A word about your performance

Jed and Bryan line up their next artistic shot for Crumbs.

1998 - Alice Through the Camera Lens* 1999 - Gone to Earth* 2000 - The Tales of the

Tools for the Job

John Morris editing 8mm film and Terence editing 16mm on his Steenbeck.

The Arriflex BL camera was used on all our 16mm

productions.

Circle Eight’s first camera was a second hand clockwork driven Kodak 8, which was purchased from a Guildford photographic shop in January 1964. It used 25ft spools of Kodachrome II, which cost £1.20p at today’s money values. To show our early stuff, we invested in a Eumig P8 Phonomatic projector, which was lashed up to a Robuk quarter inch tape recorder in a brave attempt to achieve lip-sync sound. In those early days, our actors did their best to speak and synchronise their lines while their mute mouthing images appeared on a screen in front of them. Lip sync it was not!

Matters improved with the purchase of a Eumig Mark S projector in 1967, which recorded the sound on a magnetic stripe on

the edge of the film. The synchronised sound improved but the post dubbing of dialogue remained with us until about 1980.

The Kodak 8 was replaced by a Bolex P6 in 1967 and then by a Bolex H8 reflex in 1968 and we continued to shoot on Standard 8mm until 1978. Actual sync sound recording became possible that year with the purchase of a Beaulieu 4008 connected to a modified Uher recorder.After 16 years using Standard and Super 8mm, the big change to 16mm came in 1980, using an Arriflex BL with a Nagra quarter inch tape machine. To edit 16mm, we usually hired a six plate Steenbeck editing table, with one path dedicated to the actual picture and the other two paths dedicated to narration, music or sound effects using 16mm magnetic sound film (sepmag).

NAGRA tape recorder, a digital recorder and trusty rifle mike

Pilgrims Way 2001 - Don’t Forget the Diver* 2001 - The Miller of Reigate Hill* 2002 -

Tools for the Job...

Terry with Aad Wirtz on the sound dub of ‘Tales of the Pilgrims Way’

In 1987, we purchased an Eiki 16mm xenon arc projector and with its very bright light, could show a film on a 20 foot wide screen without any trouble. For all our 16mm dubbing and sound mixing, we usually used a professional dubbing theatre in either Soho or North Acton. In 1990, we also purchased a Hi 8 video camera for use by members on our many productions for competitions.

From that time onwards, Circle Eight finally embraced video as the logical way forward and we produced our last 16mm feature in 2000.

In 2001, we bought a Panasonic camera using the DVC Pro format for a bargain price from the Roman Catholic Church (don’t ask!). Other purchases around this time were an Adobe Premiere editing system and a Sanyo video projector, which we are still using today. For a time, we used DVDs for our many shows but after several embarrassing occasions, when the DVD froze and refused to budge in front of large audiences, we reverted to using Mini-DV tape with a machine that could play it.

We bought our latest digital camera - a Sony S270e - in 2010 and we have recently upgraded our editing systems to a new editing laptop, which can also be used for the many shows that we do as well. We use modern digital sound recorders to replace the old Nagra tape recorder but our trusty microphone keeps on going.

It’s all a far cry from the little second hand Kodak 8 that was purchased in 1964.

Sony HD video camera

Carol and Jenny at our video editing suite

Sanyo video projector

Sony mini DV player

Tools for the Job

Royal Guildford 2003 - The Spirits of Brooklands* 2004 - Eight over Forty 2004 - The

SocialWe have always seen ourselves first and foremost as a group of friends, who happen to enjoy making films - whether in front of the camera or behind it – and then showing them. Most of us have been members of Circle Eight for a very long time and obviously lasting friendships – and marriages – have been forged. So, we do enjoy getting away from all that filming stuff now and again and doing something completely different. We don’t have a set pattern of group meetings as such but keep in touch through the group’s Newsletter – Pieces of Eight – and the usual day to day social media. Annual events include:• The Day at the Sea - when family members are invited to join us down at East Wittering to make interesting constructions in the sand before the tide comes in and washes them all away – not the family members. We then have fish and chips and go home very tired.• Rob’s Ramble - named after Rob, who always organised the 5-6 mile summer walk until he got trouble with his feet. Now it’s re-named appropriately each year depending on who’s sorting it out – eg Malcolm’s Meander, Dawn’s Dawdle, Tim’s Totter etc. The walk is traditionally followed by a pub meal. It’s interesting to note that as members have got older, more just come along for the meal afterwards!• The Christmas Dinner – we try each year to find a venue where we can have a private room, so we won’t trouble the other customers!

Our Day at the Sea, 1980

Trip to the London Eye, 2000

A welcome drink after Rob’s Ramble

Grand Hall* 2004 - Tall Tales 2004 - The Phantom of Milford St Giles* 2005 - The

Social...

Every other year we have a short holiday break away together. We rent a multi-bedroomed mansion large enough to take us all for a few days. In recent years, we have been to Lundy Island, Norfolk and the Lake District. In 2013 we stayed at a big house and estate near Worcester. There was an extensive miniature railway layout in the grounds run by a local society. Luckily our holiday coincided with one of their open

days. We got such a welcome from the society plus numerable free rides during the day that we decided to show our appreciation by making a film of the event for them. They loved the edited DVD we sent them.

We also arrange occasional days out – recently, we had a short conducted tour of the Inns of Court in London followed by a slap-up lunch at Middle Temple Hall. In 2013 the “boys” had a conducted tour of a private Second World War museum by its curator at Dunsfold Airfield. We’ve also had a day trip round the Isle of Wight in a paddle steamer, a trip to the top of Big Ben and an outing to see the ceremony of ‘The Keys’ at the Tower of London.

All this and a book club too. It’s a wonder we have time to make films…..

Our 30th and 40th anniversaries

Holiday at the Hyde, 2013

Story of Guildford* 2006 - With a Purposeful Gait* 2007 - The Tale of Christopher

Awards

The Casanova’s Last Stand sequence from Lets Do It wins the Woking Challenge Cup, 1972

The Haunting’s actors and production team with their

awards, 1971

Storm Force wins the Staines Inter-Club Silver Salver, 1985

Spread a Little Happiness, Surrey Film-Video Festival 1997

Tug’s production team, with their six awards. 1979

Let’s Do It, wins SERIAC’s the Kent Cup, 1972

Slaughterford* 2008 - The Messenger* 2008 - Off the Wall* 2008 - Hugo and the

Awards...

The Grand Hall wins the London Film Productions Cup, 2005

Unfinished Business, Surrey Borders Inter Club competition, 2012

Don’t Forget the Diver and Miller

of Reigate Hill at the Surrey

Film-Video Festival 2009

Production team wins the North vs South John Wright Trophy for Suburban Line, 1994

London Film Productions Gold Cup for Open House 1992 Three awards at the Surrey Film-Video Festival, 2005

Runaway Stories* 2009 - Days Away* 2009 - Die Geschichte von Guildford 2009 -

PublicityGetting the public out of their homes and away from their televisions to see an “amateur” film show has never been easy. As has already been said, including a local interest film has always helped but you still have to get their attention in the first place. In the early days, when we weren’t known, we put up posters in shops and leafleted the local area before a film show and even sold tickets door to door. On one occasion, we organised a cave girl stunt in Horsley shopping parade (see photo). This certainly helped to swell numbers for our show at the village hall later.

For many years from 1969 onwards, the Circle Eight Cinema Tent at the annual Guildford Show in Stoke Park gave us valuable publicity. It was the only occasion when the audience actually came to us, by passing the front of our free Cinema Tent. Entries in Guildford’s Carnival procession did us no harm either and for several years, we shot a 16mm film of the Carnival on Saturday night, rushed the footage up to London for processing and editing, before showing the result to capacity audiences in our Cinema Tent on the Sunday. The whole exercise was a great success and proved quite a novelty at the time, when the immediacy of video was in its infancy.

To celebrate our tenth anniversary in 1974, we published a booklet on our film-making activities entitled ‘Fully Exposed’, with one of our lady members Dawn Owers on the front cover. It was commented upon at the time as an unusual step for a film-making group to celebrate and advertise their movie making activities, after only a period of ten years existence. But in publicity terms, it proved its worth in bringing Circle Eight’s films to the public’s attention.

Trapped* 2010 - Unfinished Business* 2010 - 70 Years in the BBC 2010 - Remembering

Publicity...In the 1970’s, we entered the Guildford Carnival on four occasions and won First Prize for the best float in the procession, twice.

In more recent times, a public Circle Eight film presentation at the Electric Theatre is usually included in the annual Guildford Summer Festival. We also stage a large number of film shows for local clubs and societies.

Once you have your captive audience, you need to offer them something to take away. Sometimes, its an A5 size leaflet on the particular film we are showing, with more information about the group or a brochure about our films for hire or maybe a DVD of one of our local interest films.

Examples of some of our publicity material are illustrated below.

Always Something Cooking in Circle Eight, 1979 Circle Eight’s World of Horror, 1971

Ted* 2011 - Surrey Tales 2012 - The Mayors of Guildford 2012 - The Griddly Fatlow*

ChucklesOur award winning horror film “The Haunting” was banned from public showing on the day of its Premiere in October 1970, an occasion that the then Mayor of Guildford, Alderman Frank Sparrow had accepted our invitation to attend. Terence, as Chairman of the Group, had to phone him up and explain the difficult situation. Frank Sparrow asked “Well Terence, what is in this film anyway?”

TP replied saying “Well there’s lots of executions, hangings, bodies lying in open coffins and lots and lots of stage blood throughout”. Frank replied “Well when I was working, I was a butcher and I had to go into blood soaked abattoirs at four o’clock in the morning, so your horror movie won’t worry me!”. And it didn’t.

In 1972, we made a documentary about the annual Guildford Town Show. It was the last show that its founder Sam Baldwin masterminded, before he retired and emigrated to South Africa. Having produced a successful film, Circle Eight were asked to make an 8mm sound copy of the movie for Sam to keep and the two reels of film were parcelled up and sent off by ship to their destination in the southern hermisphere.

Unfortunately, the vessel caught fire in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and was beached on the island of St Helena. After a considerable delay, the ship was refloated and towed back to its

starting point in Rotterdam, where the undamaged items of cargo were salvaged. One of those items was the 8mm print of our film “Guildford’s Own Show” and so it was placed on a safer ship and dispatched to South Africa again. It arrived safely and became a lasting memory of Sam Baldwin’s involvement with the Guildford Show.

We held our auditions for “The Tales of the Pilgrims Way” in the summer of 1993 at Holy Trinity Church Hall in Guildford. The auditions had been publicised in the Surrey Advertiser and nearly 100 people turned up. Unfortunately, the event was picked up on the newspaper radar and publicised by the Southern Daily Echo in Winchester, which was the start of the Pilgrims Way in medieval times. To make matters worse, the Echo said that these auditions would be taking place at the local Holy Trinity Church in Winchester, while the real action was taking place 40 miles to the east in Guildford. We heard later that a small queue of 20 disappointed thespians had formed outside that Holy Trinity Church Hall.

We were filming ‘The Legend of the Silent Pool’ episode for “The Tales of Olde Guildford” in the summer of 1981, when the horse that Bryan Payne - the actor playing King John was riding - suddenly became lame and his owners had to get their horsebox and take him home. Luckily, we had filmed all the wide shots but we still had to shoot the close-ups.As our photograph shows, a pair of steps was procured and Bryan stood on the top of them to get the required height, so that he appeared to the audience that he was still on horseback.

2012 - The Story of Guildford Cathedral 2013 - A Day on the Kyre Valley Railway

Chuckles...

Opportunity knocked for Mr Goodey - a messenger at the local Ministry of Transport offices on the Epsom Road in Guildford - when it came to our attention that he was playing the spoons to a rapt audience of staff members there - as he delivered their post.Little did he realise that a talent spotter from Circle Eight was amongst them. Before Mr Goodey knew it, he was catapulted to a starring guest spot in one of our revues “Don’t Look Now....but We’re Being Watched” at West Horsley Village Hall. Alas, he turned away from the bright lights and the Ministry of Transport and returned to his old job as a brewery lorry driver. But he could certainly play them spoons!

We were shooting a spooky super-natural sequence for “The Altar Stone” at Lanyon Quoit near Lands End in Cornwall in the summer of 1979. The sequence featured a lost lamb, which was bleating for its shepherd on top of the remains of the prehistoric burial chamber.Obviously, we couldn’t use a live animal for such a shot, so we borrowed a life-sized Plaster of Paris model of a lamb from a friendly butcher’s window in Burpham and took it with us to Cornwall for our location shoot.

On the evening we shot the sequence, the rays of the setting sun were very strong and some way had to be found quickly of making the plaster cast lamb darker, so it would silhouette properly against the sky. One of our lady members made the ultimate sacrifice by handing over her dark coloured tights and this plaster cast lamb was then sewn into them in a car parked on the roadside, much to the amazement of those passing by. As you can see from our photo, the effect of the bleating lamb against the setting sun worked perfectly.

The police had given us until 9am on the Sunday we hung Christopher Slaughterford at the Guildhall in the High Street for the film “Tales of the Pilgrims Way”. I was in the belfry up in the cupola at the top of the Guildhall filming downwards onto the hanging scene in the street below. Terry shouted ‘Action’ at exactly 9 o’clock. I knew it was nine o’clock exactly as the bell right next to me started to chime.... My ears ‘urt.

The premiere of “Guildford.... This Is Guildford” was to have the audiences’ tickets looking like railway tickets and to have them clipped at the door by a ticket collector with a proper cap and clippers. Getting the cap was easy but obtaining a ticket clipper was harder. On Woking station one evening, a station

official was asked if we could borrow a ticket clipper. ‘We’re not allowed to have them now, wot wiv the new ticket punches’. It was suggested I spoke with the Area Manager. Another member of staff with broom and anorak, sidled up. He thrust his hand into mine and passed me an unused but rusty ticket clipper! ‘That’ll save you speaking to the Area Manager’, he said. Well, my flabber was truly ghasted. What are the odds of being at the right place, the right time and the

right person not only hearing my request but actually having a pair and just giving them to me. Following a quick cleanup with emery paper and oil, these clippers, in mint condition, were used to proudly clip tickets for the premiere of the show.

2014 - Crumbs! 2014 - Guildford in the Great War 2014 - 50 Not Out!

© Circle Eight Film Group 2014www.circle-eight.org.uk

Many of these productions are available to purchase on DVD. See our web site for details. We can also arrange film shows based on any of the films mentioned.

All enquiries via our web site.

circle eight film group 50th anniversary picture album

Documents

sort of film

wein circle

members of circle

best club film

theamateur film world

stage productions

polished productions

international awards