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This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
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Topic: R-rated movies being shown in school
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Stephen Furley
Film God
Posts: 3059
From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England
Registered: May 2002
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posted 12-22-2004 03:30 PM
When I worked in schools film was much used. Almost everything was 16mm, I seem to remember that a 35mm portable machine was hired in a couple of times. Most of it was 'educational' stuff, anything from 400 to 2000 feet, and we would typcally have about 50 prints in from the film library each week. Feature flms were run once each week for the film club, plus the odd one for class use, typically films of English Literature exam set books.
Some teachers ran film themselves, some preferred us (technicians) to do it. Many of the prints were in a really terrible state, some should have been scrapped about thirty years previously. Every foot of film was inspected as it came in.
We also had a few 8mm film loop cartridge projectors; anyone remember those? The original ones were Technicolor, the later ones THD. Super-8 ones were still available new, but standard 8 ones had been out of production for many years, and our science department had a lot of standard 8 loops. It took a lot of canibalisation and engineering work to keep the old Technicolor standard 8 machines running.
Leo, there was one film that we used to show that would have served that purpose quite well. It showed various fairly revolting aspects of pregnancy and birth, including a birth which went wrong. This thing used to turn up each year, and I just couldn't watch it. I won't go into detail of what it showed, but there was lots of blood involved; the baby came close to death. Quite early on just about all of the boys in the class would have turned strange colours and left the room, and few of the girls, who seemed somewhat stronger-stomached about such things managed to last until the end.
What purpose showimg this to anybody other than a student midwife or obstetrician was supposed to serve, I cannot imagine. After a few years the education authority, who ran the film library where most of our prints came from, withdrew the film from general circulation, and would only allow it to be shown under special circumstances, by prior agreement. What sort of 'special circumstances' would have been considered suitable I don't know, but at least it meant that we never got the film again.
For some reason the really revolting biological films always seemed to be shown just before lunch! I remember there was one on dissecting earthworms, and another on inspecting animal carcasses in an abattoir, and how to identify unfit meat. No doubt very useful if you are training to be a meat inspector, but what use to the average London school child?
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 12-22-2004 04:23 PM
We have a fair few 16mm educational films in our collection, and when we show them (or, more usually, edited clips from them) at screenings in cinemas and community venues across the region they never fail to bring back memories. The Newcastle-based production company Turners did quite a bit in that market (it operated from 1945-96) and we now hold their collection. My favourite is a 10-minute short from 1953 entitled 'That Time of the Month' (need I explain more?). In one shot, our teenage schoolgirl walks out of the school gate looking somewhat flushed, while a matronly commentator explains in a voiceover that 'Lucinda felt a bit grotty after break this morning. Not to worry - that's perfectly normal. After a relaxing afternoon tucked up in bed with her hot water bottle, she'll feel as right as rain!'
The wonderful thing about this clip is that younger viewers laugh out loud at the (unintentional) double entendre, while their parents and grandparents can just take it in as nostalgia, so you don't have to worry about a bad reaction from anyone.
Among the more grisly educational films we have is a print of The Smoking Machine from 1966. It dates from the first wave of anti-smoking propaganda released by the Central Office of Information. Such was the importance of this campaign that the Documentary Movement veteran J.B. Holmes (of Coastal Command fame) was hauled out of retirement to supervise the production. The film consists mainly of shots of a transparent plastic anatomical model of the respiratory system. The viewer is shown tar from a cigarette being ingested and then settling in the lungs, with the predictable intended audience reaction. After I showed it to a friend, her reaction was 'That was gross! Now I need a fag to get over that.'
Other shock tactic films include I'm Train Trained from 1977, which emphasises the indavisability of playing near railway lines (especially electrified ones) and Play Safe (1981) which delivers a similar message in respect of electricity substations. Both are based on fictional stories in which children are killed, and were intended to be shown to kids in the 7-10 age range.
I could also go on about nuclear civil defence training films from the '50s and '60s, but it's getting towards bedtime (hot water bottles and all)...
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Scott Norwood
Film God
Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 12-22-2004 10:18 PM
We had the "Technicolor" film-loop machines in my elementary school, both the regular-8 and super-8 versions (this was in the early 1980s). The cartridges were cleverly designed so that a regular-8 cartridge would not physically fit into a super-8 projector (and vice versa). The regular-8 model could run at either 18fps or 24fps (neither could reproduce sound). The machines were designed to project onto a small screen (maybe 3-4' wide at most) and were not bright enough to use to show a film to an entire class. Supposedly, there is a 16mm version of the film-loop machine, but I've never seen one.
We also had 16mm, of course--B&H 545T auto-shredders and, by the late 1980s, Eiki and Elmo slot-load machines.
As for showing "R"-rated films in class, I don't necessarily have a problem with it, provided that a) the film in question has educational value, and that b) the teacher believes that it is appropriate for the age and maturity level of the students in a given class. In other words, the decision to show or not show a film should be made in the same way that teachers decide to use or not use books and other materials in classes. I'm very strongly opposed to the idea books or films or other materials which have educational value should be banned from use in public schools. The MPAA ratings system is intended to provide a general guideline to parents, and shouldn't be used as an excuse to censor materials.
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Stephen Furley
Film God
Posts: 3059
From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England
Registered: May 2002
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posted 12-23-2004 02:34 AM
Scott, The Super-8 loop cartridges we had were blue plastic, whereas the standard 8 ones were colourless, I might have got that the wrong way round, it's been many years now. The use of the things declined in later years, but they were still much used in the late '70s, mainly science subjects. We were always having loops in for repair. They also used to scratch film, we tried various lubricants on them, but without much success; there wasn't any Film-Guard in those days.
Technicolor did make a sound loop projector, I saw it demonstrated at an exhibition, and it was listed in catalogues for a while, but I don't know anybody who actually bought one. It was much larger, ran up to 400 feet of film, Super-8 only, and could play optical and magnetic tracks. Given the problems with the 50 foot cartridges, I wouldn't even want to try it with 400 feet. The one I saw demonstrated jammed at least once while I was watching it.
I never saw a 16mm machine of similar design, but Elf made a loop attachment for conventional 16mm projectors, it was a sort of flat, platter type thing, about the size of a 1200 foot spool, I think it fed from the centre, unlike the Technicolor cartridges. It wasn't like the star-shaped 35mm endless loop systems, the film was in a normal circular roll, so it must have been loosely wound, and slid over itself as it moved through the roll.
We also had, but never used, a thing called a loop absorber, which was a metal bar, about 1.5 metres long, which attached to the spool spindles of a projector. Attached to this, and able to be adjusted along its length were two metal rods, pointing upwards, with about six closly spaced rollers along them. There were a couple of other rollers to guide the film to and from the projector. This thing would take up to about 16 or 20 metres of film. I think it would have been a real pain to set up without dropping the film in the process. More useful for continuous running than easy loading; exhibition stands or shop window displays maybe. At least, unlike the Technicolor and ELF systems the film didn't have to slide over itself, so it shouldn't have had the problem with scratching.
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 12-23-2004 03:31 AM
quote: Mike Williams
I am sure there are some equally obnoxious movies that are slanted the other way. To be fair, the teacher should have shown those as well to contrast in my opinion.
I guess we're getting very close to off limits for this forum, so the following is without expressing any viewpoint for or against F9/11. But surely it's a good thing for schoolchildren to be taught how to recognise political propaganda when confronted with it, of either colour? And F9/11 is probably an appropriate example to use, for the simple reason that it generated a huge amount of publicity and controversy, so kids may well have heard their parents talking about it or people interviewed on the TV at home &c. &c. Of course you'd have to be very careful introducing this material in a school, and the teacher would certainly need to offset it with some of the rational criticisms of Moore, his beliefs and his film-making style which have been made. But if you're going to tell teachers that they can't introduce any sort of level-headed political debate into the classroom, then unless their parents do an extraordinarily good job of bringing them up, kids aren't going to be well prepared when the time comes for them to vote in their first election.
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Barry Martin
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 203
From: Newington, CT USA
Registered: Jul 2002
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posted 12-24-2004 10:07 AM
Only films I remember seeing in school were Medicine Man (some middle-school science/biology class, maybe 7th grade?) I think the teacher showed that to relate the importance of the destruction of the rain forests to us (better choice than Fern Gully, although I loved that movie as a kid ![[Razz]](tongue.gif) ) and the older version of Romeo & Juliet for a high school english class. I don't recall permission slips for that, and I believe you get to see Juliet topless ![[Eek!]](eek.gif) after she and Romeo ![[sex]](graemlins/sex.gif) I remember everyone laughing when they saw Juliet's chest, must have been a joke about size or something. ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
Overall, I think that films can be used in certain circumstances to punctuate a lesson, but never in place of one. Rated R or not, when you drop your kids to school you are entrusting the school and its faculty to educate your kids the way they see fit. There are plenty of communities where there are more than one school and you have the choice. Most parents don't even research them and decide on a school, they just choose the closest so they can sleep a bit later and not worry about a longer drive. ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif) If you have a problem with a curriculum or school's choices, discuss it with the teacher, then principal, then superintendent, etc.
Still wondering what educational value Tin Cup offered...... ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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