THE NORTH v SOUTH by Sylvia Bull

The North v South final took place on Sunday 30th January 2005 and was, again, brilliantly hosted by Orpington Video and Film Makers at the Village Hall Farnborough.

We had lots of support for our entry "Time Out". Along with Norman and myself there were Diggy and Eve, Barbara and John, John Gannaway, John Green and Jack and Gwynne Ligertwood. Ken Kendall was unable to attend as his lovely wife Cecilia was poorly but I know he would have been there if he could.

The show started promptly at 3p.m. and the opening film was from the North and was entitled "Checkmate" which as you can guess from the title was about a game of chess that a man played against himself. I thought it was pretty good and I made a note that I particularly liked the music. Next came "Interception" from the South which, again, I liked. It was, however, over long. It was about a bomb disposal man investigating a box of Cadbury’s Milk Tray. I felt that a strategically placed clock could have shown the passing of time as our hero laboriously removed the cellophane wrapper and gingerly lifted the tray containing the chocs etc. - some fades would have built the tension far better but all in all a good use of the theme I thought. The next film was from Newcastle - "Intention" again I liked this one it was centred around a husband wanting to bump-off his wife and move in with his mistress - who was incidentally the wife’s best friend. They come up all sorts of ideas to frighten the wife into having a heart attack which she obligingly does. A bit long and drawn out. The next film was from our friends Spring Park and was the superb "Flat Out" - I wrote about this in SECOND TAKE following the Southern heat - and on second viewing it was just as good and every bit as funny as the first time. The final film of the first half was "End Game" from the North - I am afraid this one didn’t capture my imagination. It was a very well acted film aided by good sound recording considering that most of it was recorded outdoors on a windy and blustery day. The story revolves around a family, mother, father and teenage son being threatened over a mobile telephone by, as it turns out, a hoax car bomber. The title infers a game of chess as of which the protagonist treats his victims.

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