The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

Page 436 The Educational Screen SCHOOL MADE MOTION PICTURES SCHOOL film production is in the news again. The Education Page of the November 18 Christian Sci- ence Monitor showed four pictures of school film pro- ducers accompanied by an article on "Producing School Movies." The December 1 issue of Time magazine displayed a picture of students at J. C. Murphy Junior High School, Atlanta, making a film in connection with the Thirty-First Annual Meeting of the National Coun- cil of Teachers of English. Throughout the United States, school film produc- tion groups are making news and are making educa- tional history. Today these producers are viewed as experimenters, but tomorrow they will be looked upon as more important to the school program than the school newspaper or the school debating club. Reports on films California Hester School at The Alameda, has produced a docu- mentary film in color on The Santa Clara Valley. The 4C)0-foot film, made by the sixth grade and Miss Ruth O. Bradley, is in four sections: Historical Points, Scenic Beauty, Civic Interests, and Industrial Advant- ages. West Virginia The Mercer County (W. Va.) Schools have just com- pleted production of a teacher-training film especially designed for use in the one-teacher school field. The new film, Time to Spare, is a two-reel sound-on-film subject. Through screen picture and narrator's com- ment it explains one way in which the daily schedule of the isolated one-teacher school can be organized to provide sufficient time for the individual and group attention that pupils need. It uses a typical one-teacher By HARDY R. FINCH Head of the English Department Greenwich High School, Greenwich, Conn. With a question box on the making of school film productions, conducted by GODFREY ELLIOTT, Oakvale, W. Va. Readers are invited to submit questions. Scene from a film produced by Mercer County Schools, W. Va. school already organized in this fashion to illustrate the important points of teacher-pupil planning and execu- tion of the two major time blocks of the school day. The film attempts to show in a positive way how pupils in the one teacher school can be organized in broad ability groups, thereby giving both teacher and pupil much more time than would be found under traditional plans of organization. This film is specifically designed as a teacher-training film for use with the personnel of one-teacher schools, either in the pre-service college period or for in-service training of such workers through their study groups, institutes, and other local meetings. Correspondence concerning sale or rental of prints should be addressed to: The Audio-Visual Aids Service, Mercer County Schools, Princeton, W. Va. Kansas Caldwell High School reports a 2C)0-foot film on Homecoming, showing a parade and other activities of the day. K. R. Hinkhouse was the film director. New York Charles Cook, author of Cinema Handbook (Field- ston School, New York, 1940, $1.50), reports that his Cinema Arts classes have made a film version of The Fieldston Plan, 500 feet with sound. Other films made by Mr. Cook's students recently include Anthracite, Posture, Fall Sports, and a newsreel. Philip Livingston Junior High School, pioneer in the public relations film field, has made a revision of its all-color Day i)i. a Junior High School (1200 feet). Ac- cording to Theodore W. Cassavant, counselor for boys, it is "the visualization of the curriculum of the modern Red Schoolhouse. It shows the adaptation of the school program to fit individual differences in pupils' needs, interests, abilities, and aptitudes." Ohio A film showing faculty members of a college how to order films for their lecture rooms has been made by Melvin Moorhouse at Muskingum College, New Con- cord, Ohio. The film. Films for the Classroom at Muskingnm, is on 8mm. stock and is 200 feet in length. Future plans for the Muskingum producer include the making of a film to show the operation and care of a projector. John Hay High School, Cleveland, has made another film on typewriting techniques. The film is used in teaching typewriting to students. It was produced by the Commercial Curriculum Center in the school.