Film and TV Technician (1957)

December 1957 FILM & TV TECHNICIAN 173 Films in the Service of Industry MAX ANDERSON REPORTS ON THE HARROGATE FESTIVAL THE Harrogate Festival was the first opportunity ever for sponsors, producers and users of films for industry to meet, show one another their wares and discuss common problems. Among the 500 or so attending were representatives from practically every production unit, from many official and other public bodies, from all the country's major industries and many of the lesser ones, and from several overseas companies. Other than ourselves, there were only four Trades Union delegates, from the T.U.C., E.T.U., NATKE and the Union of Post Office Workers. Officials of the National Union of General and Municipal Workers and the T.U.C. were among the speakers and the latter body was represented on the Council of the Festival and on various sub-committees. Of course, nearly all the delegates from the producing side were A.C.T.T. members. Wide Range of Subjects Of some 330 films submitted, 131 had been selected for exhibition. They carried the credits of 60 separate units, and carried a wide range of subject matter, purpose and treatment and cost. In each of the ten categories into which they were divided, there were two awards to be won, and a list of the winners appears at the end of this report. Incidentally, it is a sad comment on the position of scientific training and recruitment in British industry that there were comparatively few entries under the heading " For Use in Schools " and " Guidance on Careers " and that in these categories and that of " Technical and Technological " the juries found no film worthy of a second prize. Lord Mancroft, in a lively speech opening the Festival, had firmly suggested that " film making should be left to the professionals" and this advice was repeated by several subsequent speakers. There were, in fact, besides the work of contracting companies, and of fulltime " internal units ", some ten films on view produced for industrial firms by their own regular staff. When available finance is small and intended audiences very limited, such productions may well be considered as complementary to, rather than in competition with, the work of professional technicians. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to watch the development of the move by Colour Film Services Ltd., to sponsor an association of bodies engaging in this sort of activity. Discussion Sessions The discussions sessions were perhaps the most difficult part of the proceedings to assess. The subjects chosen ("Productivity", " Public Relations ", " Technical Education ", " Sales — Home and Overseas ", " Health and Safety ", " Job Training " and " Distribution") were in themselves interesting and important but offered too wide a scope to be dealt with adequately in a couple of hours, and this problem was accentuated by the number of platform speakers — usually four — at each session and by the restriction of the floor to questions rather than discussion. As a result, while the general exchange of views and information was useful, it was rare for any single point to be pursued to a satisfactory conclusion. Difficult to Assess One of the primary objects of the Festival, of course, was to spread the gospel of the film to sectors of the industry which have so far made little or no use of the medium. On this point, too, the results are difficult to assess without fuller knowledge of the interests represented, but it is obviously, in any case, not a shortterm matter, and the very fact that a co-ordinated attempt has been made on the problem is itself a hopeful sign. At the close of the proceedings, delegates were asked for their views on whether the occasion should be repeated. It is our view that if the inevitable teething troubles mentioned above can be overcome, the event should become one of positive value to the specialised side of film making. The Winning Films PUBLIC RELATIONS AND PRESTIGE 1st Prize: Oil Harbour — Aden World Wide Pictures for George Wimpey & Co. Ltd. Producer: James Carr. Director: Derek Williams. Honourable Mention: Atlantic hint; Technical and Scientific Films for Central Office of Information Producer/Director: Jack Greenwood. Director of Photography: John Wiles. SALES PROMOTION 1st Prize: Introducing Telex R.H.R. Productions for Creed & Co. Ltd. Producer: Ronald H. Riley. Director: Richard Tambling. Honourable Mention: Pipeline into Persia Greenpark Productions for Costain John Brown Ltd. Producer: Humphrey Swingler. Director / Cameraman: Roland Stafford. TRAINING INSIDE INDUSTRY 1st Prize: Successful Instruction R.H.R. Productions for Army Kinema Corporation. Producer: Ronald H. Riley. Director: David Villiers. Honourable Mention: Safe Transit Pilot Films for British Transport Commission. TECHNICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL 1st Prize: High Speed Flight — Approaching the Speed of Sound Shell Film Unit for Shell Petroleum Co. Ltd. Production Consultants: Film Centre, London. Director: Peter de Normanville. FOR USE IN SCHOOLS 1st Prize: Mirror in the Sky Realist Film Unit for Milliard Ltd. and Educational Foundation for Visual Aids. Producer: Basil Wright. Director: Alex Strasser. SALES AND DEALER TRAINING 1st Prize: Golden Minutes United Motion Pictures for Wolf Electric Tools Ltd. Producer: J. J. Sheppard. Director: Forbes Taylor. Honourable Mention: Demonstrational Selling Harold Goodwin for the Gas Council. HEALTH & SAFETY IN INDUSTRY First Prize: Don't be a Dummy Verity Films for Central Electricity Authority. Producer: O. Skilbeck. Director: J. Mendoza. Honourable Mention: Criticality Film Producers' Guild for U.K. Atomic Energy Authority. Producer: G. Buckland Smith. Director: Bill Pollard. CAREERS IN INDUSTRY 1st Prize : Golden Future World Wide Pictures with Film Centre for Transvaal and Orange Free State Chamber of Mines. Producer: James Carr. Director: Julian Spiro. INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTIVITY 1st Prize: Introducing Work Study World Wide Pictures for British Productivity Council. Producer: Hindle Edgar. Director: Clifford Parris. Honourable Mention: Think of the Future Halas and Batchelor Films for European Productivity Agency with Central Office of Information. Producer /Direct or: John Halas. (continued on page 174)