Educational screen & audio-visual guide (c1956-1971])

Produced for use with Junior Hi and Senior Hi young pcopk', this fihiistrip can help the thoughtful youth leader give new and deeper meaning to Christian stewardship. The art is fjuite a(re|)lahle in quality; the content well organized; and the narration well-spoken and effective. It is a creditable and useful job. .Available from Presbvterian Distribution .Service, 1,56 Fifth Ave., New York 10, N. Y. Block Drama One way to evaluate a filmstrip is to measure it against what the maker says he set out to do; against what he intended to accomplish. In producing Tlie Builders, the Division of Evangelism of the United Presbyterian Church in the USA (156 Fifth Ave., New York 10) says it "is to state clearly and briefly the basic responsibility of the evangelism chairman and committee in the local church." . . . That it is not a philoso |)hy of evangelism and not "intended to be an exhaustive presentation of the \arious methods or program ideas on evangelism. . . . The one focus of attention is upon the work of the conniiittee." It is "to show exactly how a vital evangelism committee will organize itself to do its task." Measured against this description. The Builders is just short of a total flop. We have a hunch that more money than know-how went into its planning. The visual goes one way; the auditory another. While we look at some five or six adults fooling around with some over-size blocks we are supposed to listen to a narration having little or nothing to do with this block drama. .\s our attention shifted back and forth between the two totally luiintegrated elements of this so-called filmstrip. we wound up with little or nothing of what the maker said he was going to give us. Being visual, our attention seemed Advertisement HELPFUL BOOKS THE AUDIO-VISUAL EQUIPMENT MANUAL. By James D. Finn. Published under the general editorship of Edgor Dale. 384 pp. 1400 illustrations. Henry Holt and Co., 383 Madison Ave., New York 17, N. Y. $9.50. EDUCATORS GUIDE TO FREE FILMS. Compiled and Edited by Mary Foley Horkheimer and John W. Diffor. Educational Consultant, John Guy Fowlkes. 18th Annual Edition, 1958. Educators Progress Service, Dept. AVG, Randolph, Wis. $7.00. AUDIO-VISUAL MATERIALS: THEIR NATURE AND USE. Revised Edition. By Walter Arno Wittich and Charles F. Schuller. 570 pp. 249 Illustrations, 14 Color Plates. Harper & Brothers, 49 E. 33rd St., New York 16, N.Y. 1957. $6.50. AUDIO-VISUAL METHODS IN TEACHING: REVISED AND ENLARGED. By Edgar Dale. 544 pp. Illustrated; and with 49 full-color plates. Henry Holt and Co., 383 Madison Ave., New York 17, N. Y. $6.25. MITCHELL'S MANUAL OF PRACTICAL PROJECTION. 450 pp. Illustrated and cross-indexed. Covers every aspect of motion picture projection. Material presented in easily understood language — not too technical, yet technically accurate. Most complete and practical handbook for projectionists ever published. International Projectionist Pub. Co., 19 West 44 Street, New York 36, N. Y. $6.00. EDUCATORS GUIDE TO FREE SLIDEFILMS. Compiled and Edited by Mary Foley Horkheimer and John W. Diffor. Tenth Annual Edition, 1958. Educators Progress Service, Dept. AVG, Randolph, Wis. $6.00. STANDARDS OF PHOTOPLAY APPRECIATION. A Course of Study in Photoplay Appreciation, Including a Photoplay Approoch to Shakespeare. By William Lewin and Alexander Frozier. Illustrated. Educational & Recreational Guides, Inc., 10 Broinerd Road, Summit, New Jersey. $4.75. EDUCATORS GUIDE TO FREE TAPES, SCRIPTS, AND TRANSCRIPTIONS. Compiled and Edited by Walter A. Wittich, Ph.D., and Gertie Hanson Hoisted, M.A. Fourth Annual Edition, 1958. Educators Progress Service, Dept. AVG, Randolph, Wis. $5.75. A WINDOW TO THE CHILD'S MIND — Alpark's New Educotional Handbook by Dorothy R. Luke, 268 pp. The first authentic analysis of Helen Porkhurst's recorded interviews with children. An indispensable guide for teachers. 1955 Starbridge Publications, P.O. Box 574 Grand Central Station, New York 17. N.Y. $3.50. to stick by the stooping, lifting, ant aligning of the block-drama — a nioun tain of pseudo effort that finalh brought forth a very silent and upi meaningful cinirch-arch. What is this filmstri|) good for Clertainly not to accomplish the ob jectives of the statements above! I neither shows how to have fun witf blocks, or, how to get yourself organ ized and motivated to do local duircli e\angelism. It does illustrate sii|)erl)l>i hou not lo make a fihiislrip. The Power of literacy After Saeed learned to read he was not the same again; nor was his vil lage ever the same. That's why tht filmstrip that tells of this translorma tion is titled. Village Reborn. When literacy came to his village life got a new dimension — for th( men, for the women, for the children But. what would they read? Wlu would supply abundant iodder for the mind? .-\nd. what woidd be its c]uality: Serious c|uestioi)s, and all to be an swered for young people and adult? who will let Village Reborn take therr into a quest for more information about the work of the Committee on Workl Literacy and Christian Litera ture, which carries on work in more than 50 countries and more than 25( languages. On this write to Lit-Lit 156 Fifth Ave., N. V. 10; for the film strip, write to Friendship Press, 25/ Fourth Ave., N. V. 10. Price, §5.00; a good buy for your local .AV library From the saine source you can gel Freedom Higfni'/iy. 35 minutes worth of episodes and memorable events in American history. Good and useful for men and women — when history is what you want. Sound and Fury Battle On A Small Planet is a 94frame 15-minute "sound filmstrip in color cartoons for youth on the meaning of the Gospel." The commentary is LP recorded with music and sound effects, and there is a use-guide to complete the package. It was produced by the Division of Evangelism of the United Presbyterian Church in the US.\ for use at presbytery youth rallies and in local church fellowship groups. Boiled down to essentials, as the title suggests, the content is concerned with the battle of Gotl with the Devil for the souls of the inhabitants of this "small planet." How is this message on the "meaning of the Gospel" delivered? On the art side, I found the visualizations off-beat, ineffective, crude, disg u s t i n g and disconcerting — when 42 EdScreen & AV Guide — January, 1959