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British Transport Films
British Transport Films was an organisation set up in 1949 to make documentary films on the general subject of British transport. Its work included internal training films, travelogues (extolling the virtues of places that could be visited via the British transport system – mostly by rail), and " industrial films" (as they were called) promoting the progress of Britain's railway network. It was headed by Edgar Anstey until 1974, and from then until its demise by John W. Shepherd. Initially, it made films mostly for the British Transport Commission, but after that organisation was broken up in 1963 the majority of its films were for the British Railways Board. However it also made films for London Transport, the British Waterways Board, the travel company Thomas Cook & Son and the coach company Thomas Tilling. Output Their first film was Berth 24 concerning the operation of Hull Docks. Many of the unit's films celebrated the running of Britain's nationalised railway networ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White Heat Of Technology
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 1974 to 1976. He was Leader of the Labour Party from 1963 to 1976, Leader of the Opposition twice from 1963 to 1964 and again from 1970 to 1974, and a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1945 to 1983. Wilson is the only Labour leader to have formed administrations following four general elections. Born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, to a politically active lower middle-class family, Wilson studied a combined degree of philosophy, politics and economics at Jesus College, Oxford. He was later an Economic History lecturer at New College, Oxford, and a research fellow at University College, Oxford. Elected to Parliament in 1945, Wilson was appointed to the Attlee government as a Parliamentary secretary; he became Secretary for Overseas Trade in 1947, and was elevated ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Public Information Film
Public information films (PIFs) are a series of government-commissioned short films, shown during television advertising breaks in the United Kingdom. The name is sometimes also applied, ''faute de mieux'', to similar films from other countries, but the US equivalent is the public service announcement (PSA). Public information films were commonplace from the 1950s until the 2000s. However, they became obsolete with the closure of the Central Office of Information. Subjects The films advise the public on what to do in a multitude of situations ranging from crossing the road to surviving a nuclear attack. They are sometimes thought to concern only topics related to safety, but there are PIFs on many other subjects, including animal cruelty, protecting the natural environment, environment, crime prevention, how to vote at a general election or how to fill in a census form. Many of these films were aimed at children and were shown during breaks in children's programmes during holida ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robbie (Public Information Film)
''Robbie'' is a 13-minute-long film made by British Transport Films in 1979 and revised in 1986. Although it is not strictly a Public Information Film, it is often considered to be so by fans of the genre. The film, which was shown in schools all over Great Britain, is based around a young boy suffering a disfiguring and/or fatal accident when he trespasses on a railway line, with three different versions being made to demonstrate the dangers of both electrified and non-electrified lines. When it was first released, all three versions were narrated and introduced by Peter Purves, later replaced by Keith Chegwin when the films were revised. ''Robbie'' was written and directed by Ronald Dunkley and produced by James Ritchie. It was a replacement for the controversial and extremely graphic '' The Finishing Line'', and was itself later replaced by a more modern film called '' Killing Time''. Plot All three variants of the film show Robbie, a young boy of about 8 years old with a k ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Finishing Line
''The Finishing Line'' is a short film produced in 1977 by British Transport Films and directed by John Krish. It was written by Krish and Michael Gilmour. It warns about the dangers children face on railway lines. Although it is not strictly a public information film, it is often considered to be so by fans of the genre. It was broadcast in its entirety several times on television, but was so controversial that it was replaced less than two years later by the slightly less graphic ''Robbie'' (1979). It won at least two creative awards: Certificate of Appreciation (Top Category) and Oberhausen Mention at the Festival of Youth Paris. The film was also shown in several schools by invitation. Plot The voice-over of a headmaster tells his students that he knows that some of them have been playing on the railway, and that "the railway is not the game field". A young boy is sitting on a railway bridge wall. As the boy ponders on his thoughts, he pictures a school Sports Day-style ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Watkin (cinematographer)
David Watkin BSC (23 March 1925 – 19 February 2008) was an English cinematographer, an innovator who was among the first directors of photography to experiment heavily with the usage of bounce light as a soft light source. He worked with such film directors as Richard Lester, Peter Brook, Tony Richardson, Mike Nichols, Ken Russell, Franco Zeffirelli, Sidney Lumet and Sydney Pollack. In 1985, Watkin won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his work on '' Out of Africa''. He received lifetime achievement awards in 2004 from the British Society of Cinematographers and the cinematographic-centric Camerimage Film Festival in Łódź, Poland. In ''Chariots of Fire'', he "helped create one of the most memorable images of 1980s cinema: the opening sequence in which a huddle of young male athletes pounds along the water's edge on a beach" to the film's theme music by Vangelis. Early life and career Watkin was born in Margate, Kent, England, the fourth and youngest so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cinematographer
The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera and light film crew, crews working on such projects. They would normally be responsible for making artistic and technical decisions related to the image and for selecting the camera, film stock, photographic lens, lenses, filter (photography), filters, etc. The study and practice of this field are referred to as ''cinematography''. The cinematographer is a subordinate of the film director, director, tasked with capturing a scene in accordance with the director's vision. Relations between the cinematographer and director vary. In some instances, the director will allow the cinematographer complete independence, while in others, the director allows little to none, even going so far as to specify exact camera placement and lens selection. Suc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London Waterloo Railway Station
Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a major London station group, central London railway terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo, London, Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Underground Waterloo tube station, station of the same name and is adjacent to Waterloo East railway station, Waterloo East station on the South Eastern Main Line. The station is the terminus of the South West Main Line to via Southampton, the West of England line, West of England main line to Exeter via , the Portsmouth Direct line to which connects with ferry services to the Isle of Wight, and several commuter services around west and south-west London, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire. The station was opened in 1848 by the London and South Western Railway, and it replaced the earlier as it was closer to the West End of London, West End. It was never designed to be a terminus, as the original intention was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Schlesinger
John Richard Schlesinger ( ; 16 February 1926 – 25 July 2003) was an English film and stage director, and actor. He emerged in the early 1960s as a leading light of the British New Wave, before embarking on a successful career in Hollywood, often directing films dealing frankly in provocative subject matter, combined with his status as one of the rare openly gay directors working in mainstream films. Schlesinger started his career making British dramas '' A Kind of Loving'' (1962), ''Billy Liar'' (1963), and ''Far from the Madding Crowd'' (1967). He won the Academy Award for Best Director for '' Midnight Cowboy'' (1969) and was Oscar-nominated for '' Darling'' (1965) and ''Sunday Bloody Sunday'' (1971). He gained acclaim for his Hollywood films '' The Day of the Locust'' (1975) and '' Marathon Man'' (1976). His later films include '' Madame Sousatzka'' (1988) and '' Cold Comfort Farm'' (1995). He also served as an associate director of the Royal National Theatre. Over ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Scott
Sir Peter Markham Scott (14 September 1909 – 29 August 1989) was a British ornithologist, conservation movement, conservationist, painter, naval officer, broadcaster and Sportsperson, sportsman. The only child of Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott, he took an interest in observing and shooting wildfowl at a young age and later took to their breeding. He established the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust in Slimbridge in 1946 and helped found the World Wide Fund for Nature, the logo of which he designed. He was a yachting enthusiast from an early age and took up gliding in mid-life. He was part of the UK team for the 1936 Summer Olympics and Sailing at the 1936 Summer Olympics – O-Jolle, won a bronze medal in sailing a one-man dinghy. He was knighted in 1973 for his work in Conservation biology, conservation of wild animals and was also a recipient of the WWF Gold Medal and the J. Paul Getty Wildlife Conservation Prize. Early life Scott was born in London at 174, Buckingham Pala ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire to the east, Wiltshire to the south, Bristol and Somerset to the south-west, and the Wales, Welsh county of Monmouthshire to the west. The city of Gloucester is the largest settlement and the county town. The county is predominantly rural, with an area of and a population of 916,212. After Gloucester (118,555) the largest distinct settlements are Cheltenham (115,940), Stroud (26,080), and Yate (28,350). In the south of the county, the areas around Filton and Kingswood, South Gloucestershire, Kingswood are densely populated and part of Bristol Built-up Area, Bristol built-up area. For Local government in England, local government purposes Gloucestershire comprises a non-metropolitan county, with six districts, and the Unitary authorities ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WWT Slimbridge
WWT Slimbridge is a wetland wildlife reserve near Slimbridge in Gloucestershire, England. It is midway between Bristol and Gloucester on the eastern side of the estuary of the River Severn. The reserve, set up by the artist and naturalist Sir Peter Scott, opened in November 1946. Scott subsequently founded the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, which has since opened nine other reserves around the country. Slimbridge comprises some of pasture, reed bed, lagoon and salt marsh. Many water birds live there all year round, and others are migrants on their ways to and from their summer breeding grounds. Other birds overwinter, including large numbers of white-fronted geese and increasing numbers of Bewick's swans. Besides having the world's largest collection of captive wildfowl, Slimbridge takes part in research and is involved in projects and internationally run captive breeding programmes. It was there that Peter Scott developed a method of recognising individual birds through their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
