Last night at Chapter MovieMaker: crossing lines

After an indulgent encore performance of the lynchian intro from our Greatest Hits night, things quickly got Hot Wet And Dirty with daredevil director David Newton, then Robb Howells introduced Smoke into proceedings and Catherine Cole even brought her Horse. After Jon Rennie uncovered Matthew Savage's Reign of Death, Ryan Owen captured Viktoria with Swanton Bombs and Ally Parkhurst decided to Have A Go. Alun D. Pughe teased us with a glimpse of The White Room, and yours truly urged everyone to maintain Secrecy.

And the Greatest Hits were ...

On Tuesday the 24th of November 2009 a whole bunch of you turned up for our special screening during Chapter's relaunch night. Thanks for coming! The programme is below - I tried to put together an entertaining selection that represented the breadth of films and filmmakers MovieMaker has featured over the years, but it shouldn't be taken as a definitive 'best of' list. There were loads of great pieces we were unable to include, many of which are featured on this very blog. Anyway, here's what we saw:

* Lynchian Intro
* Bad Company trailer - directed by Jason King
* Risen: The Howard Winstone Story trailer - directed by Neil Jones
* Die Zwoelfte Stunde - directed by Keri Collins
* Hollow Trees House Hounds - directed by Ewan Jones-Morris and Casey Raymond
* Mono - directed by Twm Gardner
* Untitled #1 - directed by Sophie Millien
* AJ's Best Bits - directed by AJ
* Around the World in 80 seconds - directed by Malcolm Boorer
* Anticipation - directed by James Plumb
* Is Elvis There? - directed by Neil Bebber
* Friend - directed by Keiron Self
* A Hard Day's Night of the Living Dead - directed by Ryan Owen
* The Perfect Film - Directed by Tom Severn and Simon Lawson

Plug: Experimentica 09: 10th to 15th November

Chapter's annual live art and time-based festival returns in November with another great line-up of local and international artists. Beginning with a special preview party courtesy of TactileBosch, the Experimentica buzz continues until the weekend. Geumhyung Jeong from Korea returns following her hit vacuum cleaner performance in 2007; Marya Erin Jones from the US tries to communicate with Robert Louis Stevenson across the space time continuum and Syd Barrett is re-appraised, baroque-style in a UK première performance. Click here for the full programme.

Chapter MovieMaker: The Greatest Hits6pm ~ Cinema 1 ~ Tuesday 24th November 2009

As part of Chapter's relaunch night we'll be digging deep into the archives to bring you a special screening featuring some of the best films we've shown over the years. There's still time to influence the programme, so please let me know if there's something you'd like included, either because you remember it fondly or have heard good things. I eagerly await your nominations. And to get your FREE ticket please visit the Chapter box office or call 029 2030 4400.

Plug: Soundtrack Film Festival 18-22 Nov 2009

The Soundtrack International Film and Music Festival is now in its second year and will be running from the 18th to the 22nd of November at various venues around Cardiff. This year guests include John Cale, Julien Temple, Gruff Rhys and the Super Furry Animals, and you can find details of the full programme here.

Last night at Chapter MovieMaker: sharing platter

The evening began with two short pieces from James Robson, charting his cinematic and personal development from his first film, cunningly entitled The First Film, to Self Defence, a more recent work. Coral Worth kept things up close and personal with her depiction of domestic Civil War, then lifted the mood with Aotearoa, which documented her journey across New Zealand's south island. The night ended with three strikes from the Subjective Realities team: dazzling vocal antics in Beatbox Fozzy Live; concentrated whimsy in While I'm Wishing, and finally celluloid mastery in Running Away.

Last time at Chapter MovieMaker: 'From a Castle in Wales'

(2009) (7 minutes)
Written and directed by Tracy Williams

A promotional Trailer exploring the themes of loss and imprisonment. Shot on location at Craig y Nos Castle, which was owned by opera diva Adelina Patti, it’s a story about yearning for home, and how home is ultimately where the darkness is. It’s about imprisonment and how the past has such a strong hold over the present that the future results in insanity.

Last time at Chapter MovieMaker: 'Blackout'

(2009) (21 minutes)
Written and directed by Tracy Williams

To escape the desolation of the Welsh Valleys a sacrifice must be made; but when this is your heritage and your chance for fame, is the price too high?

Screening: Monday 2nd November 2009

6pm, Chapter Cinema 2 (just past the lovely new foyer). We still have room for one or two more films, so if you have something you'd like to show, please post here or email chaptermoviemaker@hotmail.com.

Last time at Chapter MovieMaker: 'A Very British Cover-Up'

(2009) (15 minutes)
Directed by Ian Smith

In this comedy short film Welsh drag queen Rhiannon gets caught in the middle of a right royal scandal.

Plug: Dog in Snood

MovieMaker regulars David Melkevik and Simon Stratton present:



Join their Facebook Group for more info and chuckles.

Previously at Chapter MovieMaker: 'Five People'

(2009) (16 mins)
Written & Directed by Neil Bebber

Last night at Chapter MovieMaker: teasers

The evening began with our discovery of Rhiannon Grand Slam Glam and A Very British Cover-up, thanks to director Ian Smith and co-writer Nina Barnfather. Next up: multi-hyphenate Tracey Williams screened two works-in-progress: one a spooky story From A Castle In Wales, the other unravelling during a Blackout. Then Christopher Dickson - another writer/star - unleashed Paladin: The Eternal Battle, Stephen Selby tenderly depicted The Life of Haribo, and James Robson promoted the upcoming Pizzaman project with a tasty trailer.

Screening: Monday 5th October 2009

6pm, Chapter Cinema 2. To avoid crushing disappointment, tickets can be collected in advance from the box office.

UPDATE: Sold out!
Congrats to those with golden tickets; apologies to those without.

Plug: Composer needed

Friend of MovieMaker Simon Howells is looking for a composer for his film Love Me Love My Dog. It's near completion, approximately 12 minutes long, and can be summarised thusly: A dark comedy about a man who, distraught at his long-suffering wife’s departure, reluctantly takes some gruesome advice from his disgruntled dog. Interested? Please send an email to simonhowells100@hotmail.com.

Plug: SSAW / Cult Cymru one-day workshops

Screen Academy Wales has teamed up with CULT Cymru (a joint project between the five unions in the cultural and creative industries in Wales - BECTU, Equity, the Musicians Union, the National Union of Journalists and the Writers Guild) to offer a range of one-day workshops for freelancers and limited spaces for graduates and tutors from the Screen Academy Wales.

One-day introductory workshops are available in Photoshop /
Pro Tools / E-marketing / Dreamweaver / CV development / Blogging / Podcasting and more…

Costs between £15 - £35 for the day. Further information about the courses and tutors is available here, and if you have any additional queries please call the Screen Academy Wales office and talk to Greg on 02920 480344 or send him an email.

Last time at Chapter MovieMaker: 'Cake'

(2009) (4 minutes)
Directed & Produced by Ben Reed and Ryan Owen.

Official Video for Race Horses' debut single 'Cake'.

Last time at Chapter MovieMaker: 'Hollow Trees House Hounds'

(2009) (5 mins)
Directed by by Ewan Jones Morris and Casey Raymond

A short film set to the music of Cate Le Bon.

Plug: 'Pizzaman' party

From the producers of Pizzaman, Cardiff’s first internet drama series:

Please come along to our party @ Club X in Cardiff on Friday 18th September from 8pm to 2am. There’s a comedian, an instillation artist, a Bhangra singer, DJs and Rappers. £5 on the door. We’re also filming the final scenes of Pizzaman. Bring everyone you can, we need all the help we can get. All the best, James Robson (077 4394 6009).

Last night at Chapter MovieMaker: it was busy

Oh so many of you came - slightly too many, in fact - but it went surprisingly well. Exiled filmmakers David Melkevik and James Plumb were briefly allowed in to present Anticipation; Casey Raymond and Ewan Jones-Morris unveiled Hollow Trees House Hounds, a music video for Cate Le Bon; Kevin Jones and the Fiction Factory team told the story of The Cornet Player; Malcolm Boorer introduced us to the work of Victor Jara and A Song for Angelita; Mark Williams and the Phaelon folk led us Off The Beaten Track; then Ryan Owen, Ben Reed and the Race Horses gave everyone a big slice of Cake.