Oscar Film Unit

Mike Bailey of AVS has died

2009-10-01T16:03:00.003+01:00

I'm obviously a bit slow with this particular bit of news from the Surrey alumni news obituaries section:

"Mr Mike Bailey (Retired Manager of Audio-Visual Services), April 29, 2009. Mike is remembered for his good natured and willing attitude and as an active member of the Wates House Committee in the early 90s."

A generation of OFU staff and committee members will remember Mike as the examiner for the Projectionists' Licence, the little yellow laminated cards that were issued up until 2001 and which authorised use of OFU's Fumeo and AVS's slide projectors and portable 16mm projectors. At the time I suspect we hassled Mike into doing the tests as though it were somehow our right to be let loose on university-owned equipment; in retrospect he must surely have been giving up his own time, willingly and regularly, in order to support us.

An arts cinema for Guildford?

2009-08-13T17:25:00.002+01:00

There's quite a bit of momentum - online, at least - behind plans for a new arts cinema in Guildford, within the shell of Guildford's first cinema, West's Picture House, latterly a bookshop and furniture store. The Facebook group has over 600 members, which isn't at all bad.

However, there doesn't appear to be much, if any, support from the local authority, according to the local rag.

You wait years for a filmsoc, and then two come along at once

2009-04-23T17:37:00.003+01:00

Despite The Shadowrooms apparently having state-of-the-art digital projection, 3D films and a nice comfortable theatre (these kids today, they don't know they're born) - USSU is apparently running a second film society called Front Row.

As is now de rigueur, there's next to no information on USSU's website but it's all organised via Facebook instead. The Shadowrooms does the exact same thing.

Of course, as any ex-OFU committee member will tell you, having two competing groups is a recipe for society vs. union fights and meaningless quibbles over the differences between a "society" and an "amenity". Or was that just us?

Tsk. Back when I were a lad it were fields as far as the eye could see; you watched films by all crowding around a flick-book. (Well, near enough.)

ofu.org.uk: OFU's home since 1999

2009-03-26T16:44:00.004Z

The domain name that points to this blog (ofu.org.uk) has been in use by OFU on and off since 1999. It originally pointed to the actual OFU website [now archived here]. Following the demise of SSC it lapsed briefly, until 2005, when we re-acquired it to point to this blog. (2005 also saw an unexpected flurry of other OFU-related activity, including the launch of our anthology DVD.)

Why bring this up now? Several reasons. The OFU "community" has been quietly dwindling away for some time, as the relative silence on this site and our Facebook group attest. I am currently consulting with ex-OFU techies over the value of our domain name, in historical, emotional, practical and financial terms. If you'd like to contribute your thoughts, get in touch.

University of Surrey has new film society

2008-12-12T11:49:00.003Z

The University and Students' Union have collaborated to do something truly unexpected: after a gap of seven years, they've started showing films in a theatre environment once more.

It's not called OFU, and it's not called Surrey Student Cinema either (don't blame them, really): it's The Shadowrooms. There's not a huge amount of information available, but it appears to be high-definition projection, so no late nights looking for lost splices or any of that other really fun stuff. They also appear to have ruled out popcorn, which is probably a good thing. And their selection of films isn't too shabby, either, although I might be a little critical of Cliffhanger amongst an otherwise thoughtful programme.

Their website doesn't give a time or place for the showing, possibly because of film society regulations, or possibly just by oversight. However, I've seen an internal flyer for the launch event, and it's in a comfortable large theatre on Thursday evenings.

I would love to receive any comments from punters at this week's showing. How busy was it? What was the AV quality like? Was audience feedback generally good?

This news follows on from USSU's recent launch of a new student media hub which might conceivably also see a return to filmmaking at Surrey.

Edit: Good grief, they are even showing films in 3D. Is there no end to this crazy burst of creativity from USSU?

OFU is now on Facebook

2007-10-04T10:09:00.001+01:00

Oscar Film Unit now has its very own alumni group on Facebook, courtesy of Andy Ga. It's closed membership at the moment, so send Andy a message or poke him until he lets you join. Includes photos, the odd video (when we get around to uploading them), and of course intellgent witty banter about splicing reels in the wrong order and amputating limbs using the rewind table.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2330364599

Oscar Film Unit Christmas 2007 get-together?

2007-10-03T18:07:00.001+01:00

It's been two years since the last OFU Christmas get-together, which was very enjoyable and rather successful (though I do say so myself). Is anybody interested in a follow-up this year? I'm proposing 8th December, probably in London. As before, because people may be travelling from far and wide, I suggest a lunchtime shindig, but people can stay all afternoon / evening if they want.

Any thoughts? Or are we all beyond this kind of thing now?
Email or post a reply here.

Where's my film society gone?

2006-09-08T18:46:00.000+01:00

Dear University Of Surrey student,

Welcome to the new term. If you've found this page, you're probably looking for Oscar Film Unit. Did you find our profile on the Student Union website? Did you spot the bit in the university prospectus about how Oscar Film Unit "shows films for the whole university community" and come looking for us?

I'm sorry to say, we're not Oscar Film Unit. No! Wait! Don't go yet! Let me at least explain.

Oscar Film Unit (aka OFU, pronounced "off-yew") was the film society and it was the campus cinema. Apart from one-off special events, OFU hasn't shown a film at Surrey since 2001 and hasn't made a film since 2003.

This site exists to promote both these aspects of the society and to enable we graduates to tut about how great it was back in our day. One of the main aims of this, apart from to be really irritating, is to encourage you, the current student to get involved. Do you think it's bizarre that a university the size of Surrey has no active film society? Well, get off your behind and organise it. Go on. Go now. The Union, contrary to popular belief, is waiting, right now, for you to volunteer.

Drop us an email and we'll even help you out in any way you can. (But beware of advice that starts, "It was better in our day because...")

love,

Oscar

Saved for the nation

2006-07-03T16:29:00.000+01:00

Long ago, in November 2005, in fact, we reported that the University / Union had begun disposing of OFU's assets.

One of the last of OFU's Old Guard, Scoot, told us that the Fumeo projector and rewind table had gone. More disturbingly, the cupboard containing OFU's 16mm, 8mm and VHS archive had also ominously disappeared.

We have always believed that the contents of that cupboard represented a unique and valuable historical resource for the University of Surrey and the community at large. The humble spools of film contained therein are completely irreplaceable.

Fortunately, we have already preserved a number of the films as part of the Oscar Film Unit Gold Anthology project. But the most important piece of good news is that Scoot himself rescued several reels of film, including the legendary Boy With A Moon And Star On His Head and has donated these to the Official OFU Archive, to which this site belongs.

Along with the few remaining films, Scoot supplied complete Projectionists' Logs covering the period from 1993 to the society's eventual demise, which perhaps form the most substantial written record possible of OFU's days as a film exhibitor.

Update: We have located the missing 16mm prints. They are, mercifully, currently safe and sound in the care of the University of Leicester Students' Union.

OFU films available for streaming

2006-02-18T21:02:00.000Z

Have you been wondering exactly why it is that we're issuing OFU DVDs, but haven't got around to putting any films on the Interweb yet?

So have we. In fact, we've become so attached to the idea that we've launched a new Web Cinema - the WebPlex - for that very reason.

OFU's films will appear, bit-by-bit, in its very own dedicated "screen" at http://ofu.webplex.co.uk/. The first film, Kidnap!, is available for streaming right now in Windows Media or RealMedia formats.

Update: Also available (in Windows Media format only): Rag '69, Under Construction and The Famous OFU Sex Film.

Update: The streaming problem for Firefox users has been resolved.

Update: Now also available: Rag '67, in full Kodachrome(TM) colour!

50th Anniversary DVD - website launched

2006-01-30T00:46:00.000Z

We've put together a brief website about the Gold Anthology collection, which lists all the films on the disc and offers some helpful hints if you're having difficulties with the DVD.

(URLs updated following Xillennia server move, 25th July 2006)

50th Anniversary DVD released

2005-12-05T16:27:00.000Z

It's taken us a while, but we've finally made it: the first DVD of films from OFU's archive. We've called it the Gold Anthology, in celebration of the golden anniversary of OFU's earliest documented film.

Highlights of the DVD include:

Rag '67 (Battersea)
Rag '69 (Guildford)
The Famous OFU Sex Film
Peter The Cow
Jaws In The Library

Are you an ex-OFUer? We'd be delighted to send you a copy of the DVD. With more than a dozen films spanning the last four decades, it's sure to evoke a great sense of nostalgia. All we ask in return is that you write to us (via email, or leave a message here on the Blog) with your memories of your time in the society. Don't forget to include your postal address so that we can send you your DVD.

andy at ofu dot org dot uk

david at ofu dot org dot uk

Problems with your DVD? The DVD is in DVD-R format. If you require a disc in DVD+R format, simply return the old disc to wherever you obtained it for a replacement. Also, on some television sets, the DVD menu buttons may be off the edge of the screen. There will be a modified disc available in the new year to fix this problem - again, if you would like a copy, simply return your old disc for a replacement.

What's OFU up to these days?

2005-11-01T13:27:00.000Z

It's suddenly become clear, in the wake of a veritable deluge of responses about the proposed Christmas lunch, that many OFU alumni haven't got the faintest idea what's going on with the society these days, nor how it got there.

"With more than 400 members, OFU is surely one of the biggest and most exciting societies on campus."

That's what I had to say in a Barefacts article celebrating OFU's breathtaking 2000-2001 season. Then I quickly and quietly left the university before I had a chance to be proven wrong.

What follows is a distillation of OFU history in easy-to-digest nuggets. If you have any information that can help fill in the blanks, please leave a comment on this blog or email us.

1955: OFU's earliest documented film - for the BBC, no less.
1967: OFU's earliest surviving film - Rag '67.
1969-1974ish: OFU's golden era of filmmaking under Robert Lenk et al: Enter The Newt and Boy With A Moon And Star On His Head.
1972ish: OFU logo designed by Gail Edwards. Still in use today.
1970s: OFU showing films in LT-D.
1980s: OFU showing films in parallel with Stag Hill Film Club. OFU helps bail out SHFC financially.
1990s: OFU showing arts films to the public in association with the university (trading as University Arts Cinema). By now, OFU has moved out of LT-D and calls LT-G home instead.
Early 1990s: First serious attempt to move to 35mm abandoned.
Early 1990s: Some films produced on video. No true filmmaking capability at this time.
1995ish: First year that OFU fails to make an operating profit. Latenighters etc. stop around this time.
1998: Union strongly advocating moving OFU to video projection in the Helyn Rose (Lower) Bar. Rejected.
1999: OFU acquires 16mm, Super-8 and 8mm cameras and resumes film production.
2000: Faced with growing competition from USSU (which shows its own video-projected films - for free - every week), OFU promotes itself by projecting South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut against the side of the Duke Of Kent (EIHMS) Building. Air Traffic Control phones to complain.
2001: Filmbank ceases 16mm distribution. OFU launches second serious attempt to move to 35mm.
2001: OFU acquires Vic8 35mm/70mm projector from the Millennium Dome sale and swaps it with Union Films Southampton's Vic5 35mm projector.
2001: OFU demerges into filmmaking society and a new amenity, Surrey Student Cinema. Film exhibition outside of the main Union building ceases.
2002-????: OFU making films on DV.
2003: USSU effectively kills SSC by refusing to support its 35mm proposal, as laid out in 2001.
2005: USSU reportedly commences disposal of OFU's assets, such as its 16mm Fumeo studio projector.

Xmas shindig & updated FAQ

2005-10-17T10:42:00.000+01:00

Well, we were thinking that it was about time to have a bit of a get together, so we are planning a Christmas pub lunch for ex-OFUers and associates. Probably in London on 3rd December.

It would be nice, don't you think, to get together over a roast dinner and reminisce about injuries suffered at the hands of the rewind table?

If this tickles your fancy, then get in touch with either Dave Abbott or Andy Gale.

Oh, and I've slightly updated the OFU FAQ.

For old times' sake

2005-08-31T15:11:00.000+01:00

There is still plenty of Oscar Film Unit documentation and information on the Web. Here are a few places you might like to look, for old times' sake:

The entire original OFU website - now 95% broken-link free!

USSU's Surrey Student Cinema document [PDF] (warning: strong stomach required, provokes righteous outrage), the 35mm document [PDF] that sparked it and the original Film Society Guide [PDF] on which it was based.

Barefacts articles The Lion's Final Roar and I Can't Talk, I'm In The Library (the latter detailing the shooting of Jaws In The Library).

A set of OFU and more general UniS-related Barefacts articles by alumni of the 1950s to 1970s, published in 2001/2 - hosted by UoSSnaps.

OFU FAQ

2005-08-17T01:53:00.000+01:00

The OFU FAQ is now live! All you ever wanted to know about OFU, and more besides!

Some photos

2005-08-15T23:31:00.000+01:00

I've scanned in a few photos of Christmas meals and a summer picnic. (Warning to those on dial-up: images are rather large).

The lion roars again

2005-08-10T10:05:00.000+01:00

Hello, and welcome to the start of a new site for ex-OFUers who yearn for those days of muffled sound, uncomfortable seats, and splicing errors.

Very soon we'll be putting some Christmas meal photos, FAQs and reminisces up here, so do come back and take another look. And maybe we'll even stick up some old minutes, if we can find them.

Andy G & Dave A