Burgess, Zoe (2026) A mixed economy: 9.5mm in Ciné-Club Environments​ Crystal Productions – Bournemouth Film club. In: BAFTSS (British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies) Conference 2026, 15 March-17 March 2026, Bournemouth.

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Abstract

In March 1931 Robert G Torrens alongside Vera D Maskey laid down the constitution for the newly formed Crystal Productions – Bournemouth Film Club, an amateur society formed with the intent to ‘[…] to produce films, plays and other material for the screen and stage [and] to arrange meetings for private or public entertainment in accordance with the wishes of its members’. The club, like many of its kind, was borne out of a groundswell of cine-enthusiasm that had been steadily developing in the late 1920s. The club itself, bestrode the boundary between public and private practice, with the creatively devised collective outputs actively promoted by the club’s proponents on both a local and national level. Asking its members for an annual subscription of just 10s, the club sought to deploy its limited means to best effect through a mixed economy in which 9.5mm equipment and film played no small part. There are six club films extant in the collection of Wessex Film and Sound Archive (WFSA), three of which were recorded on 9.5mm film. This paper will examine the demographic composition of the Bournemouth Film Club’s membership, consider the work produced on 9.5mm, and compare this with the approach across gauges deployed by participants. Drawing on comparisons with the output of other regional amateur societies, I will consider how the economic and technical benefits of 9.5mm were particularly conducive to communal filmmaking practices.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Subjects:	Film and television
Related URLs:	Organisation
Date Deposited:	14 May 2026
URI:	https://repository.uwl.ac.uk/id/eprint/14950

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