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

PASwaluatioH of new films by L. C. LARSON Director, Audio-Visual Center Indiana University CAROLYN GUSS Assistant Professor, School of Education Indiana University and JOHN FRITZ Instructor, School of Education Indiana University Film reviews and evaluations on these pages are based upon discussions by a preview committee composed of Indiana University faculty members, public school teachers, students of audio-visual education, and staff members of the Audio -Visual center of Indiana University. Preview prints should be sent directly to the Audio-Visual Center. Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. THE PEDDLER m THE MDMEYS (Coronet Instructional Films, 65 E. South Water St., Chicago 1, III.) 10 min., 16mni, sound, color or black and white. $110 or $55. Teacher's Guide available. DESCRIPTION The film shows how primary-grade pupils, whose imaginations have been stimulated by their teacher's reading them the story "The Peddler and the Monkeys," act out the storv. Opening on a scene of youngsters listening to their teacher reading, the film shows how the children join their teacher in imitating the sound of monkeys and repeating phrases from the story. The film also presents a dramatization of the story as imagined in the minds of the children. .\t the end of the story, they ask their teacher to let them act it out. The teacher immediately enters into the spirit of the project and gives them vari-colored paper to make hats. After they have chosen parts and made other preparations, the hats are placed in a bag, chairs are scooted together to make a tree, the "monkeys" climb into the tree, and the play begins. -^t the end of their acting, the teacher moves out from her role as an interested observer and speaks di 286 rectly to the film-viewing audience, saying: We've had fun acting out this story and we think you too will have fun acting out stories — as much fun as a tree full of monkeys. With a close-up of the "tree full of monkeys," the film ends. APPRAISAL This film should be equally effective with primary-grade youngsters and their teachers for showing (1) how much fun language arts can be, (2) how language arts activities can be expanded to include many interesting activities, and (3) how a group of youngsters can plan, organize, and create. Pupil spontaneity, the skill of the teacher, careful direction of the film, and an interesting story combine to make this an effective film. Some members of the previewing committee questioned the desirability of having the youngsters imitate monkeys in such detail, but there was a consensus that this activity was not especially harmful. All of the group praised highly the manner in which the film showed a unit of classroom work integrating in a meaningful fashion; listening experiences, creative artwork, individual and group creative dramatic participation, observational experiences provided by a field trip, and cooperative planning and executing. FACING REALITY (McGraw-Hill Book Co., Text -Film Dept., 330 W. Forty-Second St., New York 36, N. Y.) 12 minutes, 16mm, sound, black and white, 1954. $70. (Series of three films, $195.) Produced by Knickerbocker Productions, Inc. DESCRIPTION: This film is one of a series on "Psychology for Living" and is correlated with the book of the same title by Sorenson and Malm. It discusses the variety of defense or protective mechanisms often manifest in human behavior and presents a case study of a high-school student who resorts to the use of some of these mechanisms in the course of his daily experiences. The first part of the film describes the nature of some prominent defense mechanisms and exemplifies their dynamic form through exaggerated demonstrations by individuals in ,t symbolic situation that is abstracted from the real world. The narrator identifies and explains the motivating forces in cases of rationalization, projection, and negativism. Further avenues of escape are shown in daydreaming, the use of alcohol, identification, suppression, and malingering. Michael Squires is then introduced: a high-school student who is unable Coronet Films . . as much fun as a tree full of monkeys Educational Screen