Edition 3
Not a lot of footage remains of the family videos made in the early days of the access video centers. However, one video maker has managed to preserve a lot of his work - Alan Dyall.

Early Arrow Video

Alan Dyall’s introduction to video began in mid September 1974. Just two weeks later, he participated in one of Turtle Videos largest community organised projects, the videotape recording of the “Back to Altona” celebrations.

Many of Alan’s early programs were family based videos including “Altona Incidents”, “Holiday Capers” and “Beach Walk” – this video is a compilation of those programs.
Black and white to colour

This clip shows an example of some of the many projects shot by Alan Dyall over the years.

Made for family, friends and community organisations, Alan has videotaped nearly everything you could imagine. From construction sites, dance concerts, weddings, boat building, family fun days, street parades to the Great Victorian Bike Ride.
Speakers with a history

In 1977, Alan was a guest on the program “The Last Three Years” a retrospective of the first three years of Turtle Video’s operation.

In this segment from the production, Alan shows us the speakers he painted tracing the history of Turtle, with various symbols representing the many early videomakers and places along the way.

The subject choice for these speakers shows how video making was never far from Alans thoughts.
The kids concert

Everyone knows the joys and delights of a childs family concert. Performed in the safety of the home where mistakes are never seen, children have always loved to sing and dance - especially in front of a camera.

This clip captures one of those moments and is representative of the many recordings made by early video makers.

Since the introduction of the video camera, millions of family concerts have been recorded . . . this is but one.
Space for learning

Right from the start, videomakers at the centres were asked to pass on their skills to others. Once you learnt how to use the equipment, you’d pass that knowledge onto the next person.

Members like Ted Peck and Alan Dyall would take that process a step further and run regular workshops – Ted ran his workshops at the Williamstown Youth Club and Alan ran courses from the Altona Library.

Westcom may have closed its doors in 1981 but Alan Dyall continued to teach video making. This clip is a cut down version of one of the projects his students made in 1984, shot entirely at Alans home.

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