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Electric SERIAC
1913 saw the opening of a handsome new Electricity Works on Onslow Street
to provide power for Guildford town centre.
As the consumption of electricity
rose over the ensuing years it became clear that a bigger station was needed
and a replacement building opened on another site.
By 1968 the building lay dormant, used only as a scenery store for the various
amateur theatre groups based in the area.
Twenty years later the building's
potential as a theatre was recognised and the Guildford Amateur Theatre
Association (GATA), representing the interests of the many amateur arts companies
in the area, began to lobby the Borough Council for a new base.
GATA was successful, and 1997 saw the opening of the Electric Theatre.
It is now home to a thriving youth theatre as well as the prestigious Guildford
Festivals, and it was to this theatre that we travelled on Sunday 1st March
for the SERIAC 2009 AGM and Film Festival.
Many of you will have already
been there as it was also the venue for this year's Surrey Film Festival,
and once again we were privileged to see outstanding movies from the South
East Region of the IAC.
The theatre has a seating capacity for an audience of around 180. It is
positioned in the centre of Guildford close to the mainline railway station
and the Bedford Road car park, being only £1.00 for all day Sunday parking.
There is a riverside terrace and inside the cafe bar is bright and airy.We
were offered a good menu to pre-book supper for 6pm and the speed of service
was excellent.
Doors opened at 2pm for the 2.30pm start. The three festival entry sessions
were spread out with breaks at 4pm for tea and 6pm for supper.
During the
supper break the SERIAC AGM was held in the auditorium where Mike Shaw (Orpington
Video & Film Makers) was voted in as the new SERIAC Chairman; all other
Council members remained the same.
There were some six hours of films shown but unfortunately there were too
many entries to see them all. With ever increasing costs and no sponsorship
for the event, we were very pleased that so many members of the audience
supported the raffle, which helps us with the costs of printing the SERIAC
News.
The MC for the festival was Reg Lancaster, President of the I.A.C., and having
settled in the comfortable raked seating, we were ready for the first offering,
a comedy by the Orpington Video and Film Makers - Gnomeman's Land.
There was an entertaining variety of videos including, drama, documentaries,
comedy and animation throughout the whole festival.
After the presentation of the awards Julian Baldwin, Competition Secretary
of the Bristol Film and Video Society and one of the three judges for the
festival, gave the summing up. He spoke of the extremely high standard of
the films entered and the difficulty in judging. Julian ended by giving some
good pointers regarding the making of films and their presentation for film
festivals which were as follows:
1. Drama can be let down by the acting not being up to scratch - always worth
the trouble to get decent actors.
2. Non use of tripods - distinguishes amateur from professional films.
3. Sound recording - don't use the mic on the camera, especially in dramas.
4. Voice over / narrations - this can make or mar a production - try to use
a professional wherever possible to turn mediocre films into outstanding
productions.
5. And avoid entering movies with glaring defects!
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