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New Film Resource
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Film as Evidence: Britain in 1900.
A video compilation and teaching guide.
Cost: £34.99
British Film Institute (phone: 0870 241 3764)
The core of this new teaching resource is 37 films dating from around the turn of the century. Each film has been remastered and is mostly of a much better quality than we are used to. Films range in length from 30 seconds to just over 6 minutes, and are grouped in various themes. Together they really do bring to life the period around 1900. Content ranges from boys playing, traffic jams, royal garden parties – yes, Queen Victoria does smile sometimes! – to films made to amuse and entertain. All in all this forms a superb teaching and learning resource which can be used at Key Stage 2, 3 or even 4. An imaginative teacher will find innumerable ways to use these clips in lessons. The shortness of the clips lends themselves to classroom discussion and debate. It might be easier in some cases to copy several films you want to use onto your own video tape, rather than searching through the whole tape for one particular film. There is a clear index with timings to help in this process.
Along with the video tape there is also a CD-Rom packed full of support materials and teaching activities. These range from reproductions of old variety hall posters to detailed lesson plans and activities focusing on some of the themes of the films – transport, warfare, royalty, as well as questioning the reliability of these old films as historical evidence. All are eminently practical and could be used ‘off the shelf’ if you wanted, or readily adapted for your own specific classes and teaching scheme. There are also plenty of leads for teachers to further reading, other sources of film and supporting websites. All in all a really cleverly thought out teaching resource that will help bring the late Victorians to life in a way that is entertaining as well as informative. It could also be used very effectively as a ‘film history’ resource, with supporting materials on early film-making on the CD-Rom too.
The pack is worth the purchase price for the video footage alone – that it comes with such high quality and relevant teaching resources is an added bonus. Highly recommended.
http://www.bfi.org.uk/education
Story updated: 04 July 2004
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