ENTERING A FILM FOR BRITISH SHORT FILM OR BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION IN THE EE
The Film in British Education.pdf
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8/14/2019 The Film in British Education.pdf http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-film-in-british-educationpdf 1/5 VISUAL AIDS—1 The Film in British Education by Oliver Bell irt uxr cf tht ritish Fibn Institute Even in the opening years of this century the possibilities of the film in education were recognized by a number of younger British teachers. In 1913, indeed, the London County Council considered the question of using their Council's school organisation for the purposes of enabling head teachers to take parties of pupils to cinematograph enter Mi^rn^nts* In 1917 the matter was considered again. In 1920 a group of Northampton teachers, most of whom were geography specialists, had acquired projectors, given lessons in the classroom in which die film played the major role, and published their tentative conclusions. During the 1920's similar work was going on all over me country and a Report of the Committee on the Cinematograph in Education, pub- lished by the Board of Education in 1924, reached the conclusion that a strong prima facie case had been established in support of the view that th e cinematograph could be of real value as an adjunct to education methods. Progress in equipping schools remained, however, painfully slow. The difficulties involved in the use of standard films and the feet that none were specially devised for the classroom, were enough to damp the enthusiasm of all but the stoutest hearted. In 1929 came the advent of sound, which complicated the problem still more. Progress was therefore spasmodic and though by 1932 it was possible for the chairman of the Geographical Association to announce that there were 200 projectors in use in the schools of the country, it was not until the British Film Institute was created in 1934 that it was possible to bring continuous pressure to bear upon all sections of the educational world. During the 1930's progress was relatively rapid. Th e sub-standard sound and silent projector was perfected. The well-known firm of Gaumont-British Instructional sank nearly a quarter of a million pounds of capital in the production of sound films specially made for the classroom. The Local Education Authorities upon whom fell the 12
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VISUAL AIDS—1
The Film in British Educationby Oliver Bell
irt uxr cf tht ritish Fibn Institute
Even in the opening years of this century the po ssibilities of th e filmin education were recognized by a number of younger British teachers.In 1913, indeed, the London County Council considered the questionof using their Council's school organisation for the purposes ofenabling head teachers to take parties of pupils to cinematographenter Mi^rn^nts*
In 1917 the matter was considered again.In 1920 a group of Northampton teachers, most of whom were
geography specialists, had acquired projectors, given lessons in theclassroom in which die film played the major role, and published theirtentative conclusions.
Du ring t he 1920's similar work was going on all over me cou ntry an da Report of the Committee on the Cinematograph in Education, pub-lished by the Board of Education in 1924, reached the conclusion thata strong prima facie case had been established in support of the viewthat th e cinematograp h could be of real value as an adjunct t o educationmeth ods. Progress in equipping schools remained , however, painfullyslow. T he difficulties involved in the use of standard films and the feetthat n one were specially devised for the classroom, were enough to da mpth e enthusiasm of all bu t the stoutest hearted. In 1929 came the adv entof sound , which complicated the problem still more.
Progress was therefore spasmodic and thou gh b y 1932 it was possiblefor the chairman of the Geographical Association to announce thatthere w ere 200 projectors in use in the schools of the co untry , it was no tuntil the British Film Institute was created in 1934 that it was possibleto bring continuou s pressure to bear upo n all sections of the educationalworld.
Du ring the 1930's progress was relatively rapid. Th e sub -standardsound and silent projector was perfected. T he well-known firm ofGaumont-British Instructional sank nearly a quarter of a millionpounds of capital in the production of sound films specially made forthe classroom. Th e Local Education Authorities upon whom fell the
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onus of buying the material for schools under their control werepersuaded that it was no longer a question of whether films should beused, bu t rather on e of how they should be used. By 1939 over 2,000projectors were in operation.
Early in its career the British Film Institute had established aneducational panel whose subject committees produced reports on theuse of the film in teaching geography, history, science, physical educa-
tion and languages. In its Monthly F ilm Bulletin were included reviewsby exp ert teachers who used films in their ordinary work. In 1939 therewas in feet every indication that the country was on the threshold offar-reaching developments both from the point of view of equippingschools and the production of films The optimists believed that theso-called vicious circle was definitely broken. Th e vicious circlewas caused by the feet that many schools were unwilling to instal pro-jection apparatus because there was insufficient good material to justifythe cost. And on th e other hand the commercial filrn makers were un-willing to lock up their capital until there were sufficient projectors inthe schools to give them a reasonable hope of seeing a return on theirmoney within a year or so.
T he outbreak of war in 1939 stopped development dead. All themachines which the1 manufacturers could produce were needed for theservices. All the educational production facilities of the country w erewanted to turn out training films. Schools were evacuated. Mac hinescould not be adequately serviced. Th e younger teachers who wereaccustomed to use the projectors in their teaching methods were calledinto the services. Yet looking back it is possible to see that not mu chground was lost and from t he experience of the services new ideas havecome to birth, notably in the integration of the various visual mediafor teaching a particular subject into one visual un it.
T he feet that so little ground was lost, I may say without und ueboasting, was due to the efforts of the British Film Insti tute . Early in1940, with the help of the Board of Education, it sent four teachers
round th e country for six mo nths. The y were charged to keep interestalive, to train the older teachers in the practical manipulation ofapparatu s, and to help to solve administrative difficulties. In 1941,with the help of the Carnegie Trustees a teacher was temporarilyreleased from the R A .F . to continue this work for a further yea r. In1943 another teacher was found to carry on the work and in 1945 yetanother teacher was added, so tha t there w ere two experts ever at n? irlto keep the importance of the visual method in education constantlybefore the educational world.
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How well they succeeded is shown by the fact that late in 1944 theMinistry of Education asked the Film Institute to draw up a plan forthe development of visual education after the war. T he Ins titutesuggested the establishment of an organisation on the lines of the verysuccessful Cen tral Council for School Broadcasting. Th at is to say,that the Institute recommended that a survey be undertaken on theneeds of curriculum in terms of visual education. T ha t the pro ductionof this material be financially assisted by the Government through theestablishment of a guaranteed market for material produced under thescheme. T ha t distribution be undertaken throug h a series of regionalfilm libraries.
Though the scheme has not been adopted in toto it forms the basisof the Ministry of Education's new schemes. Th e subject is now con-sidered to be of sufficient importance to justify its being taken over bythe two agencies responsible for education in Great B ritain, namely, th eMinistry of Education on the one hand and the Local EducationAutho rities on the other. On the former is to devolve the responsibilityof seeing that films and other material snail be mad e, mainly it is und er-stood by private enterprise : on the latter that of seeing that they are
adequately distributed. Th us production and distribution are to beseparate. T he old ideal of British education that the Ministry sh ouldno t actively intervene with th e liberty of the teacher has been vindicated .
Looking forward, it seems that Great Britain will organize her visualeducation in a typical British manner. Th ere will be com promisebetween direct State intervention and private enterprise. Th ere willbe com promise between the extent to which the state is to be responsiblefor production of material and the extent to which it is to be producedby private initiative. Th ere will be compromise between the centraliza-tion of distribution under the auspices of the State and between itscomplete decentralization in the Local Autho rities. In this way theBritish hope to have the best of both worlds and to organize the matteron an effective but essentially loose basis.
It is generally believed tha t the film will come to p lay an increasinglyimp ortant role in education. Th ere is scarcely a subject in- which it isno t possible to use the film effectively. We all know t hat a great d ealremains to be learnt as to its limitations. At what age for example canthe film first be used and for what purposes ? Preliminary observationssuggest that children can take in a silent film even in th e nursery school.Again there is still unsolved the old controversy as to whether t he soun dfilm or th e silent film is most effective in the classroom. One strongbody of British teachers holds most strongly that up to the age of 12
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and even beyond, the silent film is best for classroom use. Th ey upholdthis view on the grounds of ease of manipulation of the apparatus andbecause of the greater flexibility of the silent film in th e hands of a goodteacher who can adjust his com ments to his knowledge of the minds ofthe group he is teaching.
Another equally large group holds that the sound film is normallyto be used even it if means taking the class to a special projection room
suitably treated to ensure good sound reproduction.As to the types of film which can be used there is less argument.
Th ere are three main types. First there is the Illustration Film. Th isshould be short and serve to emphasise one point and one point only.Exam ples are th e cyclic films for showing, say, the passage of an electriccurrent round a bell circuit, or the passage of the rays of light througha lens. Anoth er example is a street scene in a foreign country, or themovem ent of an nnimni T h e teacher uses this film solely to push hom eone point.
T he second type of film is the Lesson Film , a film which forms thecore of a lesson. I t has to be suitably introduced into th e teacher's courseand the class prepared to derive as much advantage as possible from
looking at it. Th is is the most common type of film. It is believed thatof all types, good, bad and indifferent, there are probably nearly 1,500such films available. Th ey cover all subjects, science, physical educa-tion, th e arts, mathem atics, economics, history, geography and so forth.They are suitable for use in primary or secondary schools and in higheror adult education .
Th e third type is the Background Film. This is a film which is notdesigned to teach a specific subject but to give a general background orintroduction to a subject or to formulate an idea for behaviour, dis-cussion or general education. Th is film nniiV^ the lesson film whoselength is normally restricted to 10-15 minutes, may run as long as40 minutes, since all that is needed is to produce an impression and notto give exact knowledge of every detail which must be remembered.Fo r die purpose of background film education, much use is mnrlp of thedocumentary type of film, a type of film, incidentally, in which theBritish have established a world reputation for themselves. Th esefilms treat social problems like housin g, unemp loym ent, traffic proble ms ,town planning or inter-impe rial relationships. Potentially, these havethe widest appeal of any type of educational film, and are beingincreasingly used by progressive teachers.
Another type of film should also be mentioned. Th at is the film usedto teach Film Appreciation. It is recognised that the cinema has great
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