The Northern Audio Visual Group

The next meeting of the Northern Audio-Visual Group takes place at Snods Edge on Saturday 17th October 2026—and there’s plenty to look forward to.

Malcolm Imhoff has kindly agreed to return and finish the presentation he began at our last meeting. Readers of the IAC’s Film and Video Maker magazine will know Malcolm as its AV correspondent. With years of experience in producing, judging, organising and entering major national and international competitions—and an impressive collection of distinctions and awards—he knows more than a little about what makes an AV programme stand out. Malcolm will build on his previous talk, share some of his latest productions and reveal the ingredients that can help turn a good programme into an award-winning one.

As Malcolm has agreed to attend in person, we will not need the Zoom connection at Riding Mill. The meeting will therefore take place at our original venue, Snods Edge.

And that is only the headline act. We will also be screening programmes made by our own members. If you submitted an AV for the last meeting but it was not shown, you may keep it in the running or swap it for another. If yours was shown, please send us something different this time. New programmes from attendees are, of course, always very welcome.

If all that sounds like quite enough excitement for one day, we have one more item up our sleeve. The committee will invite everyone to join a short, informal conversation about the future of the Northern Audio-Visual Group. As a committee we make decisions on your behalf, so we want to be sure the Group is heading in a direction that members genuinely value:

For example, Should future meetings explore new ways of producing AV programmes, focus more on distinctions, spend more time discussing our own work, or showcase the work of other creative programme makers? What will keep you coming to our meetings? Bring your questions, ideas and hopes—there are no wrong answers, and your views will help shape what comes next. Before the meeting, we will produce a questionnaire to help guide our thinking on the day, so keep an eye on this website.

It promises to be a full, friendly and entertaining day—and here’s an extra reason to come along to Snods Edge: because the last meeting ran to a shortened schedule, the NAVGroup will cover the cost of this one. Attendance is free; you will only need to pay for your refreshments. Our usual caterers are away on holiday, so we have booked a different supplier who may add a little new “spice” to the occasion.

Your secretary will email application forms in September, you can also pick up a form from this website, so please complete and return it as soon as you can. Let us know whether you will be attending and which AV you would like to share. Come for the a-v, stay for the conversation—and enjoy a day of entertainment, inspiration and good company with fellow enthusiasts. We hope to see you there!

Marching On – Back Together at Snods Edge

Over the past few years, we’ve split our meetings between our March get-together at our original home of Snods Edge and our October meeting at Riding Mill. Riding Mill has been a great help, especially because the internet connection has allowed us to bring in speakers by Zoom. But, for whatever reason, our membership has slipped a little, and the committee feels this is a good moment to give the Group a fresh boost.

So, we’re planning to return to where it all began at Snods Edge and. In  March 2027, in addition to members sequences, we also intend to enjoy a programme led by four of our own ‘experts’. We are inviting four of our experienced members to share their skills, experience, and enthusiasm, with each person leading a one-hour session on each of these topics:

Creative scriptwriting.

Preparing Images for Audio Visual.

Movement by Modifiers in Pictures to EXE

Da Vinci Resolve, An Alternative.

You’ll hear more about this at our October meeting when we will be hosting the

Return Visit of Malcolm Imhoff FRPS FACI(M) AV-EFIAP. And, of course, we’ll send out more details nearer the March date, but we really hope you’ll come along, take part and help make the day a friendly and lively success. And if there are any other subjects or ideas you think members would enjoy, please do let the Secretary David Niman at david.niman@gmail.com know.

Two or three members temporarily forgot how to sign in, while a few others—somewhat unfairly during David’s place at the top of the AV screening list—forgot the small but mighty ‘mute’ button. Happily, order was restored before anyone was too confused, and we were soon properly underway by ten o’clock.

As usual, Patrick had put together a well-ordered playlist of members’ sequences, and the programme flowed beautifully. There were fifteen AV presentations in all, and, strikingly, everyone kept to the given theme of Photo Harmony. They ranged from Newcastle is Home, which explored the contrast between London and Newcastle from the perspective of a proud Geordie to Andrew’s A Lively Sea at Whitley Bay, where crashing waves, frozen by fast shutter speeds, revealed wonderfully intricate patterns.

Peter’s sombre black-and-white images from a churchyard offered a thoughtful contrast to Val’s vibrant Colours of the Lake District. Ian’s After the Rain brought us beautiful views of Cumbria from the enviable vantage point of his back garden while Pat’s reverent depiction of the former seminary at Usher College was sensitively matched with beautiful ecclesiastical music.

Not everything was quite what one might expect, however. Kevin’s Dirty Little Zine really did have to be seen to be believed: a YouTube-style exploration of a montage that ultimately became a picture book, accompanied by music that could safely be described as ‘different’—and perhaps best left at that.

The variety continued throughout the morning, from Allan’s flighty Bumble Bee to Gillian’s melodic collaboration with her dad, Flowers of Italy. David’s seven-minute Himalayan Garden sequence sat comfortably alongside Kath and Harry’s concise 1 minute 45 second Forever Flowing. Carol’s bustling modern Liverpool contrasted nicely with Andrew’s tranquil Spring Walk around his village. Taken together, the sequences provided a varied, entertaining, and thoroughly enjoyable two-and-a-half hours, rounded off with appreciative responses and constructive comments from the Zoomers.