The Totem Group was a club within the Victoria Amateur Movie Club -- a sub-group of 16 mm users that banded together to produce their own film, The Princess and the Frog "... a nine-minute, black-and-white, sound-striped fiction story written by member Walter George." (Sharcott)
This film was produced at some time in the 1950s.
A golfer is knocked out by a golf ball and dreams his friends are ballet dancers as well as other surreal incidents.
"There Runs No River: Francis J. Barrett, who entered one of the top prize winning films in our 1950 competition, again displays his fine camera technique in this 8mm black-and-white narrative of contemporary life in drab surroundings. An excellent music and sound recording on tape enhances the presentation of this commendable amateur effort." American Cinematographer, May 1951, 192.
"These Bloomin' Plants, by Eugene L. Ritzmann, has been given Honorable Mention because of the striking technical tour de force which it represents. In it, Mr. Ritzmann has pictured, by means of a camera controlled by a mechanism of his own design and construction, the actual blossoming of some half dozen or more flowers. Through this device of time condensation, buds are seen bursting open before one's eyes, often in cascades of beauty which vividly suggest the magic of colored fireworks against a night sky. The technical management of this difficult and esoteric phase of photography was almost without flaw. In the opinion of the judges, however, Mr. Ritzmann failed to do full justice to his material, both in his editing and in his title treatment." Movie Makers, Dec. 1936, 551.
"Local newsreel on events in Thetford filmed by Ben Culey, showing the Palace Cinema, which he owned and where people came to see his local news films." (EAFA Database)
"Local sound newsreel, made by Ben Culey, showing Armistice Sunday parade and remembrance ceremonies." (EAFA database)
"Local sound newsreel, made by Ben Culey, shows the floods at Lakenheath." (EAFA)
They Stood Alone won an Honorable Mention and Special Judges' Award for a Teen-Age Production and for outstanding use of animation. This 16-minute color film of "little green men" and their fight for survival will be a real revelation to those film makers that have tried some clay figure animation. The story is a little loose but an excellent use of angles, lighting and timing more than deserves the award won by Bill Peterman 16, Ray Katos, 16 and Dick Miklos, 18, of Chicago.
Total Pages: 203
Amateur Cinema