The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

Page 344 The Educational Screen SCHOOL MADE MOTION PICTURES HARDY R. FINCH. Editor Head of the English Department Greenwich High School, Greenwich, Conn. Film story of Michigan School Movie Makers magazine reports, in its September issue, a student-made film entitled Education for Free- dom. The film was made by Nistor Potcova, a stud- ent at the Monroe High School, Monroe, Michigan, who completed it as a summary of his school's activi- ties. The 16mm. black and white film is 760 feet in length. Designed primarily to acquaint new students with the activities of Monroe High school, Education for Freedom has many scenes from actual sports events. Many other sequences of the film were planned and rehearsed. To insure the identification of students in the film, young Potcova filmed individuals carefully. Some four hundred students were able to recognize themselves in various sequences. Film showings are accompanied by a narrator who spoke over the school public address system, and a supplemental background of musical selections is sup- plied by records. Titles for the picture were printed by the school press. Tom Martin and Bill Dusablon, fellow students, helped with the planning of scenes and the lighting arrangements. Courses in Film Production The Institute of Film Techniques of the College of the City of New York is beginning its third season. Because of war demands, the Institute will devote its efforts solely to courses in film production. The Institute offers lecture and workshop courses emphasizing the immediate preparation of technicians for documentary, educational, war information, and war training films. One of the courses, Fundamentals of Film Production, which gives the practical aspects of documentary film production from script to show- print, includes budget planning, treatment, scenario direction, etc. In Experimental Studio, a workshop course, students will make a film. Other courses are offered in Film Writing, Motion Picture Photography, Sound Recording, and Film Editing. Insurance oi Equipment Duncan MacD. Little, well-known amateur film maker and organizer of the annual Film Party at which outstanding amateur films are shown, advises owners of expensive cameras to insure their equipment. He recommends that they obtain an all-risk camera floater policy that affords broad protection against loss or damage of practically any nature. The rate is two percent of the value; the minimum premium, five dol- lars. Mr. Little is willing to answer further questions about this insurance. His address is 80 Maiden Lane, New York City. IVitfi a question box on the making of school film productions, conducted by DONALD A. ELDRIDGE, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn. Yearbook Recognizes Value oi Public Relations Films "Today's Techniques," (Ann Arbor Press, .Ann Arbor, Mich.. 1943). the First Yearbook of the School Public Relations Association of the National Educa- tion Association which presents, in lucid .style, ways of publicizing education, devotes four of its 259 pages to the making of school films. B. I. Griffith, Director of Public Relations of the Illinois Education Association, in his chapter entitled "Filming the Facts," advises schools to use 16 mm. film and to plan the public relations film carefully be- fore shooting any scenes. In discussing the making of sound films, Mr. Grif- fith describes the making of the Illinois Education Association's film. Backing Up the Guns. This fif- teen-minute sound picture, presenting the importance of education in the war effort, was photographed by a commercial film laboratory in less than five days at a cost of $3500. Forty-eight copies of the film have been in use in Illinois, and thirty-five copies have been purchased by state teachers' associations and other educational groups. "While the cost of the production of such a film is not within the reach of most school systems," Mr. Griffith concludes, "our experience suggests that edu- cational organizations can profit through the mutual production and exchange of such public relations materials." QUESTION BOX ON SCHOOL FILM PRODUCTION Question: I've observed that some of the (|ues- tions appearing in your Question Box Column have beeft'asked by novices, so I am encouraged to add mine. I have recently been assigned to guide the Photography Club of our high school—which is a case of the blind leading the not-so blind, a situation which, you will have to agree, is paradoxical particularly when the objective is i)hotography. The men of our faculty are no longer available, either because they are working for the Army or in local war plants after school hours, so the Club was an orphan, and I. having been known to have taken some snapshots during the past few years, was appointed guardian for the duration—if I sur- vive it. I mention all this by way of apologizing for asking a question which I suppose is quite naive, but one which has come up, along with others, as a result of the Club's recent decision (more gray hairs—premature, I assure you—for me) to make their first movie. My first im- pulse was to "squelch" the proposal, but the boys and girls were so enthusiastic that I didn't have the heart. and I was optimistic enough to hope that it might be possible, especially when funds were made available to us. (Concluded on page 346)