The A/V Geeks have been busy over the last couple of months digitizing thousands of TV commercials held at Duke University’s Hartman Center for Advertising. Now you can watch them online at this awesome site - adViews. Right now there are several hundred commercials online but new ones are being added every day! Tell your friends!

http://www.avgeeks.com/2009/07/adviews/

What a better way to celebrate the holidays then sharing DVDs packed full of ironic, corny educational films.

And now, all A/V Geeks DVDs are now only TEN BUCKS! Enjoy these prices before your paper money becomes worth less than Monopoly Money and we have to buy groceries using cell phone minutes. Visit the A/V Geeks catalog!

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How Star Wars Ruined Educational Films

While the blockbuster Star Wars ignited the imaginations of a whole country and brought science-fiction to popular culture, there was an ugly side to this phenomenon. Science-fiction became a gimmick and educational film producers were quick to adopt anything that would get kids' attention. The A/V Geeks present a DVD of educational films that feature sci-fi elements to make their points - often creating a bizarre, muddled mess of a film. Films include - Freedom 2000, Verbstar, Staying Away From Strangers, Lintola, Creatures of the Land and more!

Is It Safe?

16mm safety films that point out that everywhere you turn is a potential calamity that could ruin your happy yet oblivious life. Films include: One Got Fat, The Risk Taker, Fry It Safe, Safety Belts, If You Hear The Explosion, The Danger Has Passed, You And Office Safety and more!

S is for Sissy

What could be worse than to have a little boy become a sissy? The A/V Geeks examine the behavior of potential wimps and what can be done fix it. Films include: Soapy the Germ Fighter, Fears of Children, William's Doll and Neurotic Behavior - a Psychodynamic View.

 

Flash That Smile!

The A/V Geeks compile some of the wackier films about good dental hygiene. Films include The Haunted Mouth, Teeth, Munchers, Flash That Smile, Portrait of the Enemy!

Hosted By: A/V Geeks
When: Sep 21, 2008 7:00 PM
Where Anthology Film Archives
32 2nd Avenue (at 2nd St),
New York, New York|33 10003
United States
Description:
A/V Geeks

Click Here To View Event

Ever since my first trip to Houston, I've loved visiting the Orange Show. I found a kindred spirit with creator, the late Jeff McKissick--a man whose orange obsession grew to a monumental scale. During that first visit, I got this shirt (seen to the left). It's my favorite t-shirt. I wear it all the time. In lines, I can see people moving their lips reading the shirt and then wrinkling their brow in bafflement. Occasionally, someone will ask me what it means. I try to explain the Orange Show as one man's tribute to the orange fruit and that the text is from one of the exhibits.In 2007, when taking my Dad to see the Orange Show, I met the head of the organization. She was very enthusiastic about me doing a film show there. I was super excited. On subsequent visits to the Orange Show, I realized that my favorite shirt was no longer available for purchase - it was out-of-print and there were no plans to reprint it. My shirt was getting pretty ragged and I wanted to get a new one. I decided that I would create a film show based on the t-shirt in the hope that new shirts would be printed. Sure enough, they did print new shirts (although now they are a burnt orange - almost brown - shirt). While not listed on their website, email or call them to buy a shirt.

I put together a presentation with films that were influenced by the Orange Show, films about clowns, lying and of course, oranges.

Citrus On Parade (late 194?) Sunkist
Shows orange and lemon groves where year-round pickers clip the fruit. Demonstrates packing and grading and suggests ways to serve the fruit. The film was in beautiful Kodachrome and was filled with glorious assembly line footage AND shots of various citrus recipes! An 9 year old girl next to me kept saying "This is just a commercial for Sunkist!"
Self-Image: If Mirrors Could Speak (1976) Sandler
Robbie, Laurie, and George all are able to make positive contributions in their class. Instead, all have become 'clowns'. Robbie is the sad clown. Laurie is the sneaky clown. George is the mischievous clown. We see their antics in the classroom, in the lunch area, and on the playground. The results are always the same, but they remain oblivious to the reactions of their friends and classmates.

Lying (1975) Filmation A seven foot tall, morbidly obese urban African-American kid and his gang (aka Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids) learn how lies can get you in trouble. Explains that the gang's friend, Eddie, is back from Florida, where he says he wrestled alligators. Relates that the kids believe him and ask him to show them how to do it. Tells that everyone winds up covered with mud and wringing wet. Concludes with Eddie telling them that they should make up a story to tell their parents to avoid being reprimanded. At this point the kids realize that Eddie is a liar and has cried 'wolf' one too many times.

Toothache of A Clown (1972) Encyclopedia Britannica
I've shown this film a bunch (Best of 4, Schooladelic, Save Those Teeth, Clowns & Cavement) since it is such a crowd pleaser. Not only does it feature a creepy clown but it has some outrageous dream sequence with a kid dentist and teeth with hands and legs. The need for regular dental care is shown in this charming story about a sad clown with a toothache. As they treat the aching tooth, the dentist gives advice about cutting down on sweets, brushing properly and visiting the dentist regularly. The 9 year old girl next to me commented that this film would have scared more kids than it would have helped..

Orange and Blue (1969)
Provides a visual perspective of the world as seen by two child-like personalities, orange and blue. Juxtaposes visual images with a musical score. An experimental film using color and music to create moods. Follows the adventures of an orange ball and a blue ball as they play in the countryside and in a junkyard. Besides having an orange ball, all the metal and junkyard footage is very reminiscent of the Orange Show. While I was screening this film, a 12 year old kid wisecracked "This film was made by a hippie with a movie camera in a junkyard with two balls!"

A Boy Creates (1971) Encyclopedia Britannica
I just saw this film days before the show and had to add it to the screening. Besides featuring clowns, the film typified the Orange Show of Visionary Art experience. It pictures a young (African-American!) sculptor as he creates his masterpiece of 'JUNK ART,' pointing out the ability of an artist to transform existing materials into meaningful and imaginative figures or patterns. This film was very well received by the audience. Watching again, I'm pretty sure I saw this film as a kid...

Photos from the event can be found here.

Rhythmus 21 (1921) Hans Richter
An early abstract film that orchestrates squares and rectangles of the film and screen. Not the most interesting film to our jaded, Flash-addled eyes, but this was almost 90 years ago...

Great Train Robbery (1903) Edwin S Porter
Bandits tie up the station master, stop the train, rob the mail car, take the passenger's valuables and escape. The station master's daughter frees her father, alerts a group at a dance who then chase and overtake the robbers. This was a 16mm from Blackhawk and featured the hand-tinting. While the pacing was slower than what we are used to, it was fascinating to watch and the idea that somebody painted each 35mm frame was mind-boggling.

I Am (1971) Wombat Films
Explores factors involved in the development of a positive self-image, the pain of rejection, the poignancy of near-misses in developing relationships and the satisfaction of recognition and response. Wow, the main kid reflects on how his dad isn't really a hero or famous - just a regular guy.

School Libraries In Action (1960) NC Film Board
Illustrates major areas of a school library program-planning for library use, guiding reading, teaching library skills, supplying instructional materials and guiding reference work.  Most of the film was shot at Sherwood-Bates School in Raleigh on Oberlin Rd near Glenwood Ave. All of the kids are lily white, so we took notice when there were scenes with African-American teens - obviously shot at a segregated school somewhere in Wake County, we guess.

Look What's Going Around (1973) Churchill Films
Emphasizes the ease of treatment, symptoms and spread of venereal disease. Includes a discussion by a group of young people to present attitudes to help dispel the sense of shame. Shows how to use a condom - a rarity for VD films aimed at teens.

Un Chien Andalou (1928) Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí
Yeah, we all saw this in college or if you were lucky, high school. It doesn't hurt to see this film every once and a while. This particular print was silent, which had us all questioning how authentic the sound version is (wikipedia tells us it was added with Buñuel's approval).

Help Woodsy Spread the News (1977) U S Dept Of Agriculture
Features the anti-pollution owl Woodsy ("Give a hoot! Don't pollute!") describing the ways in which the quality of the environment can be preserved by stopping pollution. Wow!  For those of us that remember Woodsy Owl, this version of Woodsy had a little person in very confining owl costume. His partner is a flamboyant, rainbow-suspendered, African-American troubadour who plays a guitar and helps the children sing a calypso style song Help Woodsy Spread the Word. At one point, Woodsy looks to be playing the guitar even though the instrument is as big as he is, he's clutching the neck and just barely faking strumming. (I'll try to get this clip online - it's quite a ludicrous image).

An odd side note, the US Forest Service has updated Woodsy's motto ("Lend a hand- care for the land") and his image, and, in a very strange revisionist directive, ordered that his former costume be destroyed: 

Destroying Old Woodsy Owl Costumes Guidelines

1. Incinerate the complete costume with the oversight of an official USDA Forest Service law enforcement officer*

2. The entire Woodsy Owl costume including each of the separate pieces is to be destroyed beyond recognition.

* If you do not have access to an official USDA Forest Service law enforcement representative, arrangements will be made for dealing with your costume by contacting the USDA-FS Washington Office at: Woodsy Owl C/o National Symbols Program P. O. Box 96090 Washington, D. C 20090-6090

The Apes  (1976) Films/West
Looks at physical characteristics, habits and behavior of the gibbon, chimpanzee, orangutan and gorilla. Shows how each ape is adapted to his physical environment and why their environments are endangered. Some beautiful primate footage here...

Ballet Mechanique (1924) Ferdinand Leger
Another wonderful avant-garde film with lots of visual kaleidoscopic play.

As much as we bellyache about this country and all the horrible things our government has done, I still love this place. Especially because of things like this film below, made for the Bicentennial by Vincent Collins for the United States Information Agency - the propaganda department of our government. Government grant money went to a psychedelic animator to create a beautifully trippy tribute to our country.

http://www.archive.org/details/200

Got to get into the habit of posting to this blog and documenting some of the films from my collection (part of my "irrational passion"). Here's what we saw tonight along with some random thoughts:

Americans At Work: Barbers (1959 circa.) AFL-CIO/Norwood Films
I showed this in honor of Roxxi Dott visiting from LA. She's a hairstylist for the stars and recently a member of the hairstylist union. Anyhow this film was made for TV distribution. I got it from someone who had a closet full of films from WUNC - the local public television station. Rick Prelinger has the film in his online collection at the Internet Archive (embedded to the right). It's also available on my On The Job DVD. The film is part of a series by the AFL-CIO on a variety of occupations, this film shows us how valuable the hairstylist and barber are to the American family. Films like this were part recruitment for the field, but also a reminder to the public to frequent unionized barbershops. The best scene is the father and son loitering outside the beauty salon, waiting for the mother and daughter to get "beautified". Dad smokes while he waits and you can tell they're waiting a while since he's stomped out three cigarettes. Also, we are reminded that ""If attractive people are the leaders of society, then barbers and beauticians are the molders of leaders."

Food 1, 2, 3, 4 (1976) Handel Films
Designed for young kids, this film introduces us to the four food groups circa 1976. Each food group has a different song (the milk group tune was particularly catchy). Best scenes - to illustrate that snack foods are bad, a bowl of soda pop and milk are placed in front of a dog. The dog (who is sporting a San Fran Police Dept collar), of course, goes for the milk (but is cow milk really good for an adult dog?). Then the viewer is shown a series of food choices - a snack and a healthy alternative (candy bar vs. banana, cookies vs. walnuts, candy vs. raisins, soda vs chocolate milk, etc). The camera zooms to the healthy alternative without any narration. My AV database describes the film "Explains the simple and easy ways of obtaining proper nutrition, using a subliminal approach. "

Saying No - a Few Words to Young Women about Sex (1982) Crommie And Crommie
We see a couple making out and the guy is trying to convince his girlfriend to "make it" with him. She isn't convinced. The rest of the film presents young women talking about their personal decisions regarding sexuality, how they have been affected by their decisions, and how they respect themselves for having the courage and will-power to abstain from sex. It's interesting because it gives teenage girls some things to say when pressured to have sex. Crommie and Crommie made another great film for woman (VD and Woman) which tells women to bring their own condoms, since the guys probably wouldn't have them - a great tip which I've never seen in any other sex-ed film. Lots of hair with Farrah Fawcett wings and IZOD shirts in this film.

Comparative Tests on a Human and a Chimpanzee Infant of Approximately the same Age, Pt 2 (1932) Winthrop Niles Kellogg
I was alerted to this experiment by Carrie Mclaren of Stay Free. She wanted to know if I had any films about Kellogg. I didn't but about a month later this film shows up on Ebay. Essentially, Kellogg raised an infant child and chimp together and this film shows how the two's responses differ in various tests. Without any background on the experiment, the tests seem insane -including hand preference, startle reaction time (to a pistol being discharged), delayed reaction, cap-on-head (the chimp hates this), detour, tickle, tasting ice (the child hates this) and rotation tests. This had us laughing hysterically while being baffled and unsettled by what we were watching - always a great sign for a classic film. Hope to get this one online and on a DVD soon...

The Great Silence (circa 1976) Paul Ritts Production
This film seems mildly apocalyptic as puppets tell us about the day when, suddenly (after what looks like a flash from an atomic blast), people can no longer talk. The puppets (an ostrich, a giraffe, a chipmunk, a crow, etc.) all stirred something in my memory. I vague remember seeing them on TV - in a PSA or something. After doing some Googling, I found this clip to the right and I'm sure I saw them on the Pink Panther Show. I'm probably going to have to do another puppet film show just to highlight this film.

Step Lightly (1968) Countryman-Klang, Inc
While this film was made for the U.S. Public Health Services, it seems like it was sponsored by the Reflective Material Trade Association. Walking at night? Even wearing white clothing isn't good enough if you get hit by a car speeding down a dark road (as illustrated by some great scenes of crash dummies getting hit by cars a la UCLA). Solution - strips of reflective materials on your coat, umbrella, shoe heels, pants cuffs, etc.

Dead Birds, Reel 3 (1965) Robert Gardner
There is the perpetual stack of films next to the couch (something I'm always meaning to move to film shelves, but new films come in and keep replenishing stack). Todd jokingly comments about the three reels of Dead Birds and that we should watch reel 3. So I put on Reel 3 and warn audience "You asked for it..." Yikes! Reel 3 starts with the ritual of a New Guinea boy's funeral - where a pig is slaughtered and the boy's body is burned in a pyre. We learn that the boy had been killed by an enemy tribe and about the main tribe's eventual retaliation. A pretty powerful film that won a bunch of awards back in the day.

VD: A New Focus (1971) American Educational Films
Hosted by James Brolin (who was playing the hip doctor on Marcus Welby, MD). Presents an entire picture of the VD problem, giving medical facts, and probing the myths and attitudes of young people concerning VD that often prevent prompt treatment.  The obligatory white coated doctor is Stephen Sacks, MD (who looks to still be practicing in the Los Angeles area) whose eyes slowly scan the cue cards as he reads his lines.  The best part of this film is the dramatic sequences where the teens confront the possibility of having VD. Like most VD films from this time period, there is no mention of prevention (condoms).

Insight: Just Before Eve (1978) Paulist Productions
Presents a revised version of the Biblical story of creation. Shows how God answers Adam's prayer for another human being after providing a checker-playing angel who is too perfect and a dog which cannot understand him.  (Stars Martin Sheen as Adam, Flip Wilson as God, Henry Proach as Angel Josh and very briefly appearance of Darleen Carr as Eve). I knew about the Paulist Insight series from other films in my collection but I saw an excellent overview of the films by Mark  Quigley & Dan Einstein of UCLA at the 2008 Orphans Film Symposium at NYU. I immediately started scouring Ebay for films from the collection. This film looked to be good, I mean, Flip "The Devil Made Me Do It" Wilson as God? My mind reeled at the possibilities, but, alas, the film isn't so great. The simplistic dialog ruined it and Flip was just reading lines. Todd Morman commented that it was like an Sunday School class play. I'm on the lookout for "Clowns of Freedom" where Martin Sheen plays an imprisoned clown.

They (1972) Phoenix Films
Wow, this film was a mess! A little boy and a grabby hippie teen talk about the two types of people "We" and "They". "They" are the enemies who live on the other side of the river. Occasionally "We" and "They" battle - throwing spears at each other, taking the lives of children (shades of "Dead Birds"). Then there are the "Outs" who live on an island and are often washed away by floods. Eventually we all figured out what the film was about (that we are all part of the "We" group if we accept the "Theys".) but it was so muddled with symbolic gestures and pointless, annoying dialog.

Blues Maker (1969) Christian Garrison/Univ of Mississippi
Shows Mississippi blues singer, "Mississippi" Fred McDowell, singing and talking about his blues. Includes scenes of the area which helped to shape his country blues. Everybody was blown away by this documentary short which mostly had Fred playing and singing with shots of living in rural, cotton-dependent Mississippi.

Data Processing (1981) Gallaudet College
Captioned for the deaf. Explains data processing and shows range of jobs from Data Entry Operator to Programmer. Features three hearing-impaired people successfully building careers in this field. This is the second film that I have about hiring the hearing impaired to do computer work - during a time when computers were big and loud.

Inside-Out: How Do You Show (1972) Agency for Instructional Television
Presents three boys who express or withhold their feelings about various things that happened to them in the course of an afternoon. Points out the many ways that feelings can be expressed. In one day, this group of boys horse around in a rickety school playground, get mugged by older boys, break a bunch of bottles, hit a homerun during baseball practice, run scared through a cemetery, fight each other while wearing trash cans on their heads and sneak chocolate cake from under Mom's nose. Ah, to be a kid again in the 1970s!

NASA seems obsessed with Italian food. Their big old logo (and now new logo) is called the "Meatball logo". Now I just saw a cartoon teaching kids the planets with a goofy mnemonic song "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizza Pies" (sung to "Way Down Upon the Swanee River").

Their late 1970s-mid 1980s logo (the more modern logo) was called the "Earthworm logo." I probably would have been more popular if they had called it the "Spaghetti logo".