Film Club Revival????

[Foxbat]

Some people have expressed an interest in the defunct Film Club so this is an update on the situation.

There's a chance that the film club might return some time in the future. it started off well initially but then died a death as folk stopped participating. I basically brought it to a halt when, one month, there were no nominations. I'm currently mulling over the idea of bringing it back (unless somebody else wants to take it on) but I need to be sure that there is going to be enough interest in the subject.

I'd appreciate if folk could let me know how they feel about this (just post a reply in this thread).

Are there enough people interested to make it worthwhile? I think around about ten people would probably make it viable.

Is there a better way that it could be run? I'm no expert in running these things so I'm open to suggestions.

Is there anybody else willing to take this on? I'll step aside if there is (although I'll be happy to provide sticking/unsticking of threads as required if the person taking it on is not a moderator here).

If it does return I'm wondering if it would be better run on a two-monthly rather than monthly basis (giving people twice as long to watch and discuss the nominated movie).

Anyway....that's the situation. Ideas etc. all greatly appreciated

[Dave]

Could you explain how it works again? It's probably here somewhere so I'm being lazy, but I wasn't around here at Chronicles when it ran, I was part of ASciFi. There are probably others like me and new members since then that could be interested.

[Foxbat]

Originally, we had a thread where you could nominate a film. After about a week or so, I ran a poll where folk could vote on what they would watch and then we started a new discussion thread on that film.

It ran on a monthly basis but I think that was probably too frequent - after all, people often had to get hold of and then watch the nominated movie in order that they could then participate in the discussion.

I think it's also worth mentioning that people need to nominate films they feel merit discussion. There's really no point in picking a movie (no matter how good) that doesn't leave any room for debate.

Probably the best thing to do would be to have a look at some of the older threads just to see how it all worked. Perhaps I should say how it all didn't work as it ended up defunct.

Anyway, I hope that helps clarify the structure

[ravenus]

I'd be interested. Again I'd prefer discussion of themes / sub-genres rather than individual titles, a lot of which boils down to just people saying "I liked so-and-so scene".

[j. d. worthington]

That, however, may be just the way things go with such discussions. Look at the various books or stories people have discussed. Unless it's someone who is really into meaty discussions, they tend to keep it to that sort of comment....

[Foxbat]

I think you both hit on valid points. It results in folk pulling in different directions - some wishing to discuss meatier topics and themes, whilst others wanted only to talk about their favourite film scenes.

Unfortunately, I can't see a way around this dilemma without alienating one side or the other. I'm sure this problem led to folk bcoming bored/disillusioned the last time and, ultimately, the demise of the film club. Perhaps we need to thrash out just exactly where we are going with is if the film club is relaunched.

[Dave]

My wife is in a book club. They have an A4 sheet of topics/questions they are meant to discuss about the book when they meet together. It seems a bit formal, and restrictive, and sometimes they discard the idea when they actually do meet, but if you did that for each film then there would at least be a starting point for the discussion. It would define the "meatier topics and themes" and the "favourite film scenes" so no one would be able to say that they didn't realise that was the way the discussion would lead.

[tangaloomababe]

Its sounds like a good idea. Are we talking new or old films, or even a bit of both.I think a couple of months is a good idea, giving people plenty of time to locate a copy and then find time to watch it.
You could have both deep and meaningful discussion along with lighter elements.

[Foxbat]

Sounds like a plan Dave. Unfortunately I'm not the most perceptive at noticing themes, symbolisms etc. I wonder if it would be possible to draw up a kind of generic structure for the Film Club as whole rather than an individual set of questions for each film? Perhaps not. Must think on this

Certainly, even if the plan was eventually discarded during the debate, it would still offer some kind of starting point for discussion.

Its sounds like a good idea. Are we talking new or old films, or even a bit of both.I think a couple of months is a good idea, giving people plenty of time to locate a copy and then find time to watch it.
You could have both deep and meaningful discussion along with lighter elements.

As far as I'm concerned...old....new...doesn't really matter. All that really matters is that the films we choose have something worth discussing in them...otherwise the whole thing becomes a bit pointless

[j. d. worthington]

Well... it might be a bit klutzy, but you could start threads for each type of discussion, and see which one actually flies. After a couple of months or so, if one predominates over the other, let the one that isn't doing that well die. I'd suggest marking it to read first post, and noting which type of thread it is, so people have a chance of going to the type of discussion they want to begin with.

I'm not sure I particularly like the formality of a questionnaire, myself. I like a more freewheeling approach, I'll admit... but to get a meatier discussion out of most people, you may require such an approach... I'm just not sure whether that's true or not.

And I agree: new or old; I'd prefer a broad spectrum rather than keeping it to any period or genre, necessarily. Even within genre bounds, though, if it's open for the entire history of cinema, you should have a lot to choose from.

[Addy]

Count me in. I'm all for it. If you guys want to get the book club back up again, I'm in for that too.

[Foxbat]

I'm not sure I particularly like the formality of a questionnaire, myself. I like a more freewheeling approach, I'll admit... but to get a meatier discussion out of most people, you may require such an approach... I'm just not sure whether that's true or not.

I'm more inclined myself towards a freewheeling way of things but there must be a reason why the film club failed previously (could just be a really bad chairperson of course)

If it starts again, I want to try and do everything to ensure its longevity. If that means change in some way then so be it.

[kcs_hiker]

Originally Posted by Addy

Count me in. I'm all for it. If you guys want to get the book club back up again, I'm in for that too.

I'm up for both as well.

I love discussion groups, but never know how to start...

[Bant Warick]

I'm up for the film club. Very choosy over my books but very open minded about films, so quite like the idea of people choosing films for me to watch to broaden my horizons

[Foxbat]

This thread has been open for a wee while now and, so far, I count seven folk interested. I don't think this is enough to ensure any sort of longevity (there are always some that drop out) so I think the Film Club will have to stay on the backburner for now. Doesn't mean we can't test the water again sometime in the future.