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

Long, of the Long Filmslide Service, El Cerrito 8, Calif., likes to use a small piece of colored cellopane tape "near the lower left hand corner. When the slides are stacked upside down ready for projection you can see at an instant if any are out of position." Good! We like to run a black mark diagonally across the top edges of the slides as they are stacked and ready for projection. If one is out of order, the line is broken. Are there other ways? We wish everyone would thumb-tab their slides. Don't you? This For Your Library I am often asked what the church should buy for its local hbrary. There are many good materials, many excellent filmstrips. We can't even begin to give a list here. From time to time a production comes along which has exceptional usefulness, good general qualities and is related very closely to one of the curriculum themes in religious education. After looking over the four-part series of color-sound filmstrips recently released by the American Bible Society (440 Park Ave., South, New York 16), "How Our Bible Came To Us," I do not hesitate to recommend it for purchase by the local church. The treatment in each filmstrip is good; the art is a cut above average; the sound is superior; and all this ads up to general excellence and high utility. The titles are: The Bible Is Put Into Writing, The Bible Crosses Europe, The Bible Comes To England, and The Bible Comes To America. The series comes handsomely boxed, complete with study guide and projectionists' manual and the printed scripts. Inquire of the producer or your local library concerning price. Filmstrip Notes Worthy of longer comment, but space limits us to these notes on some recent and current releases: A Meditation for Holy Week and Easter, distributed by the Christian Education Press, 1505 Race St. Philadelphia 2, Pa., is 40 frames, in full color, of the 1960 Passion Play at Oberammergau, with a utilization time of 45 minutes. Price complete $6.00. Printed script only. A neighbor tells me that SVE's First Easter, full-color sound filmstrip for 5th grade and up, was just 'fine'. She says tliat it illustrates Peter Marshall's moving story from his wellknown book. The First Easter. Complete with LP recording and teaching guide, $10.00. Both this, and the one above, are not limited to any season. Religious News Photo Service William Tyndale, first and most influential of the great 16th century English translators of the Bible. This frame is from the filmstrip, "The Bible Conies To England," from the four-part series of sound-color filmstrips, "How Our Bible Came To Us," recently released by the American Bible Society, 440 Park Ave., South, New York 16, N. Y. SVE has done it again— given us two very delightful 'springtime' filmstrips in nice format: Mr. and Mrs. Robin and The Springtime Family, and Mrs. Cottontail and Her Springtime Family. The target audience is 5 through 8 years. While not intended to be religious, they can say much about the goodness of God in the hands of a religious user. Besides, we don't always need to harp on 'religion' as such. Can't we look at things like this for the delight and enjoyment alone? I think so. There are 31 frames in the first, and 29 in the second. Both have captions, and sell for .$.5.00 each. Part II of the color-script filmstrip, What Do We See Of Jesus, by Chrisian Education Press, 1505 Race St., Philadelphia 2, Pa., utilizes art masterpieces and gives us two scripts— one for adults and tlie other for children. Here are 43 good reproductions which can be utilized as indicated or taken as the pictorial basis for the creative building of services of worship, art appreciation programs, or programs of critical theological study. And your investment for all this, plus fines art notes on each frame, is only $.5. .50; certainly a buy for your library. Good Theory, Bad Art The churches by and large can use some good and helpful ideas in the area of Learning Theory and Classroom Practice In Adult Education. This filmstrip, with its commentary on 7V2ips tape, is very good in what it says and very bad in what it shows. The art is of the cartoon type; it tries to be divertive and falls flat because the artist can't quite bring ofF any frame succ-essfully. A silly stab at seriousness is not e.\pected in a flilmstrip with tfiat title. Mr. J. W. Getzels, of the University of Chicago, is clear and comunicative in his commentary but not supercommunicator enough to overcome the handicap of some second-rate art. How did a producer ever let himself in for such a strip of mediocrity. The 'content' is good. It would be a fine and useful tape recording— if those awful change-frame signals were left out. The content is important. Let's hope it takes a new form; tape without bongs on a glass tumbler! Here is a really fine survey of learning theory which covers the last five decades of education in America. I need this in my church but 111 wait for the tape! For Juniors, Too Dr. J. Michael Hagopian, scholar in the field of international culture and proprietor of Atlantis Productions, Inc., (7967 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood 46, Calif.) may know films and filmmaking but I am certain I know children better than he does. That's why I insist that his film, African Girl— Malobi, can be shown to Juniors in the church school as well as to the Junior Hi young people. In eleven minutes it sets forth in fine color photography the experiences of a young girl in west Africa. There is enough commentary to give continuityto the idea-flow sparked by tlie pictures. Here is a film for showing, and then re-showing. It can say much, and you can make your children ready to get much from it. The best of aU the good things this film can show and say is that the African people are, a.s all people, inherenUy fine and very capable of real greatness. Try yout rental library or write to the producer. m Funny, But It's True ^ Let's sit around, enjoying our selfishnesses, and wait till the world gets better. Let's get calluses on our consciences about social evils and injustices, and enjoy our thick-skinned indifi^erence. Let's find a pill to cure oui "compassion fatigue" and "conscience sickness" as Norman Cousins calls it But, how can we? Especially after we have seen a motion picture like A Better World Begins With Me? Produced by TRAFCO of the Methodist Church, this 30-minute film, in eithei color (rental $6.00) or b&w ($4.00) gets its message over. When Kath\ 288 Educational Screen and Audiovisual Guide — June, 196)