Introducing ‘Midlands on Film’ a series of DVD titles celebrating the region through Moving Image

This is going to be a busy year in DVD releases for MACE, not only have we just started to co-produce a documentary on the history of ATV Today, the Lincoln School of Media continue to produce a series of DVDs of local interest to the Midlands region.

‘Midlands on Film’ is a series of nine DVDs celebrating  people and places of the region through moving image preserved in the archive.

Heralded by the release of Nottingham on Film in 2011, Rebuilding Coventry, Made in Leicester and Derbyshire on Film will follow early in 2012 .  Further titles showcasing the range of material held at MACE will cover Lincoln & Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Shropshire and Birmingham. A further title, yet to be confirmed will profile either The Black Country or Worcestershire.

Growing out of the varied material in the collections, many topics and themes are explored across the series: Industry and farming; cityscapes (including the rebuilding of Coventry and redevelopment of Birmingham) and the region’s rural landscapes; And of course home and community life, including the celebrations such as the Coronation in 1953 and the Silver Jubilee in 1977, all reflecting the changing world in which we live.

The production of these nine DVDs is a collaboration between MACE and the School of Media at the University of Lincoln and has been made possible by the generous financial support of EM Media through the UK Film Council’s Digital Film Archive Fund.

Further details on some of these titles will be uploaded to our online shop in the coming weeks and you will be able to click ‘NOTIFY ME’ to be emailed when they become available. Updates on this will be blogged about in due course.

Meanwhile, From ATVLand in Colour and Nottingham on Film are popular titles that can be purchased now

CLICK HERE to visit our online shop

Attention!! JCB employee digs up amateur film collection.

 

Les Humphries helps Full Circle's quest to preserve the Midlands Screen Heritage.

Another great addition to fuel Full Circle’s film search.

Les Humphries worked at JCB (see the JCB toy in the photograph) and was a keen amateur film maker.
He filmed many local events including the Uttoxeter Carnival and the Rocester Carnival  and football match, dating back to 1977. He also filmed
family outings to London, Torquay, Torquay railway station, Torquay beach and  Denbury Camp.
Whilst in the army, Les was based at Denbury Camp, near Newton Abbot  which was built on a former aerodrome. Building commenced in May 1939 and was  completed on the 15th August 1939. The first soldiers to be based there were members of  the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and they marched into the newly christened  Rawlinson Barracks and 19 days later war was declared.

For more information on the Full Circle project  or to find your nearest participating group please contact:

Curator: Lucie Kerley 

 email  lk99@le.ac.uk

call 0116 252 5931 / 07919 896505

Another Hidden Gem -The Alison Cinavas Film Collection.

Alison Cinavas with her Father's film collection

The Full Circle project has been given yet another gem of a film collection. This time by Alison Cinavas, whose father filmed family holidays and  other events from the 1960s onwards.

Some of these hidden gems include footage of  the 1960 FA Cup Final – Wolves v. Aston Villa. (Billy Wright who played for Wolves was a minor media personality, and his marriage to Joy Beverley of the Beverley Sisters  was one of the most successful showbiz marriages of its time).

Other highlights include early footage of YHA, Drayton Manor, Belbroughton and camping nr Aberdovey.

This collection on 8mm film is being processed and clips will be available to view on the MACE website in the forthcoming months.

This deposit is part of the Full Circle project.

Please visit our website for more details. http://www.macearchive.org
Kay Ogilvie Senior Curator, Full Circle Telephone: 01629 823495 or Email: kay.ogilvie@tiscali.co.uk

Pat Keeling Leicester Model Agency’s Film Collection arriving in January!

 

The Pat Keeling Leicester Model Agency Collection

Pat Keeling started her modeling career in 1969 when the hosiery industry in Leicester was buoyant and tights had just come into fashion with the launch of the mini skirt.

 Pat says. “At the time Leicester was at its peak in the  hosiery industry and because I had a good pair of legs I ended up on the cover of packs of tights and stockings – Pretty Polly, Elle and Christian Dior”.

Things really took off in 1972 when she became the BBC’s Golden Girl and this opened the door for many radio, TV and personal appearances. Her modeling assignments took her as far afield as Iran and in 1973 she came third in the Miss UK contest. Other titles followed, including Miss Leicester City FC in 1974.

Realising that a model’s life was limited, Pat started her own modeling agency in Leicester in 1977. While still taking on modeling assignments, she now focused on the agency. The agency’s reputation for professionalism and excellence grew.

Highlights of Pat’s collection include Fantastic fashion shows  which were produced for the Leicester Mercury at De Montfort Hall throughout the 80′s and 90′s featuring local Leicester people. The agency choreographed and produced  shows for Next plc, George, Adams Kids, John Lewis, BHS, Mothercare, Tesco, Matalan and The Clothes Show Live, to name but a few. .

Photographic work for models of all ages from babies to pensioners and promotions throughout the UK were and still are everyday business.

MACE are looking forward to receiving this collection in January.

Pat Keeling Model Agency – 38 Northgate Street, Leicester, LE3 5BY. Tel: 0116 262 2540 Fax: 0116 253 7712

http://www.patkeelingagency.co.uk/

Mablethorpe Visions Foundation join Full Circle’s film search and come up trumps!

Open Day Event. Mablethorpe Team & Mayor

One of our East Midlands Full Circle groups, Visions Foundation, have started their film search and found something!

As a result of a fun-filled Open Day at the Boatshed, in Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire members of the public were invited to come and speak to the Full Circle representatives. John Gregory, Terry Stowe and the team, which includes George Minkley, Rosy Rich and Peter Early, helped introduced members of the public to the Full Circle project and why the search for home movie footage of the Midlands is important. Following it’s success, the Open Day was advertised in the local newspaper ‘The Leader’ and has since generated a great deal of interest.

Visions Foundation say they are still very excited about the project and look forward to seeing what other material comes their way.

Mablethorpe Visions Foundation Article in The Leader Newspaper

Member of the public, Peter Taylor, has just deposited a large collection of 40 reels of film, with lots of footage on Mablethorpe, Sutton on Sea, Sheffield, Derbyshire and outings by the Caledonian Society.

Visions Mablethorpe collects Peter Taylor film collection

“As time went by it became obvious that in order to achieve the ‘Visions Vision’ to promote community film making, we could no longer continue with the small amount of equipment we had plus our own personal equipment that was failing fast. “

Visions Team Cameraman, George Minkley.

 

Senior Curator Kay Ogilvie explains Full Circle project.

 

“There was also a need to improve the quality of our work as technology advanced. With the help from Lincolnshire Community Champions and the Lincolnshire Community Foundation, in the form of grants we were able to step up a level and become more   proactive in the area and record all our work in High Definition, the standard that is now required. With the additional equipment we now have, we have been able tackle bigger projects and loan out equipment for others to use. But there is still a long way to go to achieve our goal. “

Terry shows equipment hired out to groups to encourage film-making in Mablethorpe

 ”The Visions Foundation as it has now become, a far more professional looking organisation and the high standards we set are being maintained. The Foundation is a not for profit organisation and every penny made helps pay the cost.”

Screening of The Will Do's animation at The Boatshed for the Mayor & Mayoress

So if you If you have any film, tape or moving image material, that relates to the Full Circle film search , or have experience in amateur filmmaking or would like to learn, or  even have a project you would like to film or need our help with, why not call in and see Terry Stow & John Gregory at the Boatshed.  Members of the team are available Mondays and Tuesday 10am till 2pm.

The Boatshed. Visions Foundation, Mablethorpe.

The Boatshed
Victoria Road
Mablethorpe
Lincolnshire
LN12 2AJ

Call 01507 473002 /478590

http://www.visions.org.uk/index.php

 Remember, The Visions Foundation’s motto  “Todays Happenings are Tomorrow’s History”.

Midlands News: 10.02.1957: Bill Haley in Coventry

Click on Image to View Film

The American rock and roll singer Bill Haley in Coventry.

In today’s clip of the day, we see the arrival of Bill Haley, fans trying to get into a building, groups of young fans and a queue outside the Gaumont Cinema on 10th February 1957.

Bill Haley played a concert with the Comets at the Gaumont in Coventry and stayed at the Leofric Hotel.

Did you go and see Bill Haley at the Gaumont?

(c) ITV

Coventry on Film – 23rd February at The Herbert, Coventry

We’ll be taking a nostalgic look back at the city of Coventry in February,  remembering the people places and landmarks.

The event held at The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum on Tuesday 23rd February from 12:30pm ’til 1:30pm will be using rarely seen archive film from The Herbert’s own collection and will presented by the Media Archive for Central England’s programmer, Phil Leach.

CLICK HERE for further information, including booking enquiries.

Coventry Evening Telegraph Nov 25, 2005

FILMS FROM THE PAST ON SCREEN AGAIN By Annette Kinsella

Coventry man Philip Adcock is preparing to view films belonging to his father which have not seen the light of day for about 65 years.

The last time Mr Adcock watched the films, which date back over a century, it was in the 1940s at a makeshift “cinema” set up in his parents’ house in Beresford Avenue in Foleshill.

Retired industrial chemist Mr Adcock, aged 77, who now lives in Styvechale, charged his friends coveted cigarette cards to watch the show – and showed his customers to their seats with a torch just like real usherettes at the pictures.

The cellulose nitrate films – one of which was made in 1899,  just years after moving pictures were invented – were the property of Mr Adcock’s father Fred, a research engineer for Courtalds.

Mr Adcock said he did not know where his father got the films but believed he made his own projector while at school.

When his father died, the reels of film, stored in circular tins, became the property of Mr Adcock.

It was only after seeing old films at the Warwick Arts Centre last year, that he decided to hand his own reels to the Media Archive for Central England (MACE) to be copied at a special laboratory.

Now the organisation will show four of them – including rare footage of scenes from the Boer War and a First World War newsreel clip showing women cleaning windows – at a public screening at Warwick Arts Centre on Saturday.

Mr Adcock, who will be guest of honour at the screening, has already been presented with a DVD of the footage.

He said: I wanted to do something with them before it was too late. I remembered some details but there was a lot I had forgotten.

MACE Director James Patterson said: Films were comparatively rare in the pioneering days of cinema and sadly, only a small proportion of them have survived, so the discovery of these three Victorian examples is extremely exciting.