Documentary News Letter (1944-1945)

DOCUMENTARY NEWS LETTER 65 Schools and Their Needs (continued from page 63) 2. Geography demands a series of regional studies, with animated diagrams and maps, designed to illustrate such things as the location of industries, distribution of natural resources, relative density of population, characteristics of various climatic zones, lay-out of trade routes, interdependence of industrial and agricultural regions and general peculiarities of life characteristic of the various parts of the world. 3. In both science and geography the problem is simply one of applying to the specific needs of the school a technique which is already well developed. The case is very different with history, which offers a big field for the production of school films, but which as yet has been very little explored. Obviously the film can be of immense value in giving that reality to the past which the average pupil finds such difficulty in envisaging through verbal descriptions of teachers and textbooks. Social and economic history possibly offer the material upon which existing techniques can be employed most easily and effectively. For younger children we should like to see a series of short films dealing with the development of various aspects of material culture, such as housing, transport, food production and dress, from the earliest times to the present day. We should also welcome a film on the Industrial Revolution ; with lavish expenditure and great care in production the film can be used to bring a whole historical epoch to life. Normally, the most effective way of doing this is through the biography of some famous person. Commercial film companies have achieved something in this direction, but unfortunately most of the efforts, however admirable they may be artistically, are educationally almost valueless. If the screen biography is to be of any use, it must stick closely to the facts, give far more attention to the public rather than the private life of the subject, and indulge in sensationalism only when the events themselves are of a genuinely sensational character. The Young Mr. Pitt, Lady Hamilton, Suez, Disraeli, Penn of Pennsylvania are definitely not the kind of historical film the schools require. Pasteur, The Magic Bullet, Alexander Nevsky, and Marshal Suvorov, represent a much more accurate approach to the subject. 4. The Teaching of English offers less exciting prospects; but nevertheless we can think of at least one "English" film which is just crying out to be made — a full-length feature showing the development of stagecraft and dramatic technique from the Greek Theatre to the present day. 5. The film has been little used in the teaching of modern languages, apart from the G.B.I. experiments. This is rather surprising as the subject offers no technical difficulties. All that is necessary is to make a number of little dramas and conversation pieces, adapted, in respect of speed and vocabulary, to the stage which the pupil has reached. Each film could be preceded by an explanation of the more difficult words and phrases, and followed by a questionnaire designed to make sure that the pupils understood what the characters were saying. 6. Art and music also offer easily-realisable opportunities. An excellent film could be made to illustrate the development of architecture. Children could be made familiar with the instruments of the orchestra, and the analysis of largescale musical works could be made by critics working in collaboration with leading orchestras and individual performers. These are just a few of the possibilities, in respect of established school subjects, which the development of the educational film opens out before us. Great as these possibilities are, however, the film has an even more important part to play. After the war no school must be allowed to neglect the latest-developed aspect of education — training for citizenship, and here the film has already proved its worth. An industry which has produced The Nutrition Film, The Londoners, Children at School, North Sea, The Harvest Shall Come, World of Plenty, and many other excellent interpretations of national and international affairs, should have no difficulty in making films which would give the schoolchild a most living picture of the realities of his social environment, a genuine feeling of responsibility for what is happening in the world, and a knowledge of how, when vested with citizen's powers, he can act effectively. Our social life has become so complicated, and the field of democratic acfion so wide that only films such as these can give the average citizen an imaginative grasp of his place in the scheme of things and of the possibility of his doing something which may influence and control the great impersonal machine in which he feels himself caught up. If "citizenship" films are to become acceptable to education committees they must be free from party propaganda yet vigorous and creative in their interpretation of facts. The way ahead for the educational film is clear enough, but a great deal of propaganda work must be done if the authorities are to be persuaded to act quickly. That propaganda must be organised with the greatest possible vigour, starting now. The first thing is to convince the teachers, the training college stall's, the inspectors and administrators. When that is achieved the Board of Education will find itself subjected to a concerted pressure which will be difficult to resist. Booh Review Presenting Scotland. Norman Wilson. Edinburgh Film Guild, 21 Castle Street. 2/-. Presenting Scotland has an introduction by Norman Wilson, an excellent selection of stills, and an iconography of films made about Scotland. The introduction and stills make the book of interest to the general reader, while the list of films is valuable to those studying the history and development of the cinema. Mr. Wilson's thesis is that, in the nineteenth century, Scottish prestige was supported all over the world by the novels of Sir Walter Scott. The cinema age, by placing the centres of film production outside Scotland, has deprived her of a method of expression of great value. For this reason, he suggests, the documentary film is of paramount importance in the North. He recommends the revival of the Films of Scotland Committee which was responsible for a notable series of films before the war. Wilson argues that a country which has produced such documentary film men as John Grierson and Harry Watt is surely capable of supporting film units (continued on p. 68) LCI. Film Productions Imperial Chemical Industries are engaged in the production of films as visual aids in scientific education. The following productions have been completed: From the TECHNIQUE OF ANAESTHESIA SERIES: Open Drop Ether Nitrous Oxide Oxygen Ether Anaesthesia Endotracheal Anaesthesia Intravenous Anaesthesia Part 1 Spinal Anaesthesia (Available to approved medical audiences only) From the HEALTH OF DAIRY CATTLE SERIES: Mastitis Contagious Abortion Tuberculosis From the SCHOOL SCIENCE SERIES : Water Water Cycle THIS IS COLOUR (A Technicolor film about the British Dyestuffs industry and the nature and use of colour) THE HARVEST SHALL COME (A sociological film about the British agricultural ivorker) With the exception of This is Colour (in 16 mm. only) these films are in 35 mm. and 16 mm. sizes. All are Sound films. All the above are available through tin Central Film Library, to which applications for loan should lie made. Other films in production will be announced when completed. IMPERIAL CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES LTD.. NOBEL HOUSE, BUCKINGHAM GATE. S.W.I