Documentary News Letter (1947-1949)

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66 DOCUMENTARY FILM NEWS NEW DOCUMENTARY FILMS How, What and Why? Made by Basic for G-B. Director: Kay Mander. Editor: Kitty Marshall. Animation: Cynthia Whitby. 20 mins. each. this series is a completely new departure for the G-B Children's Film Department and should prove a very useful addition to the programmes of the Saturday morning film clubs. The child perpetually asks the wilting adult, often just as ignorant, the how, what and why of everyday things. Presented simply and imaginatively popular science expositions can help to satisfy some of this eager curiosity. Children's encyclopaedias have already provided a partial answer; but one has to remember that only a small proportion of the child population has access to them. A film magazine shown at the Saturday morning clubs can have a very much wider coverage. The first three issues of How, What and Why? have got off to a good start as far as the choice of items is concerned. Each issue contains three items of the following kind : What makes a fire go out? Why does the outside horse on a roundabout go faster than the inside one? Why does a doctor feel your pulse? How do railway signals work? How do animals walk? The chief limitation is in the way in which the material is presented. In one or two cases the explanation does not actually answer the question. Why does a doctor feel your pulse? is, in fact, an account of how blood circulates through the body. The intermittent action of a stirrup pump squirting water through a thin Why does a Doctor feel your Pulse? rubber tube shows very well what is meant by pulsation. But no indication is given at the end of the significance of differences in the pulse rate with which the doctor is concerned. This kind of confusion could be avoided by more careful scripting. Again, in the item which shows why lock-gates are needed on canals, the explanation is perfectly lucid, but would have been helped a lot if the camera had been moved ;> little further away from the lock itself, enabling one to see the actual difference in the water levels, which is the key point to establish. Finally, if this series is going to hold the attention of child audiences under the exacting conditions of the Saturday morning clubs, more imagination is needed generally in the visual presentation. One cannot rely on the spoken What can the Elephant do with its Trunk? commentary getting over more than a small part of the explanation. The magazine is clearly up against a host of problems, but the service it can provide is an important one, and we look forward to seeing the progress made on succeeding issues. Moving Millions — Crown Film Unit Moving Millions deals with London Transport. It surveys the widespread activities of the machine that trundles millions of Londoners every day on their various occasions. In a style reminiscent of one of those popular versions of White Papers which, some civil servants imagine, grip the interest of the public like the fooling of Mr Danny Kaye, it gives all the facts and presents a perfect picture of an efficient, cheerful, punctual public service for the existence of which we should all be truly grateful. In this rather overcrowded vehicle, millions may be moved, but they will not include the members of the audience. sir: In the May issue your correspondent Mr Mervyn Reeves complains, quite rightly, that nobody really knows the effect of films in agricultural education. We, who are so deeply engaged in this type of work, are only too much aware of this lack of knowledge. We have now arranged for the Social Survey, the Government's own research organization, to do a field survey in the autumn and winter into the effect of a sample agricultural instructional film on agricultural audiences. We hope to get answers to some at least of the questions Mr Reeves askes. Yours faithfully, RONALD TRITTON Director, Films Division