The BUFVC Moving Image Gateway includes over 1,300 websites relating to video, multimedia and sound materials. These have been subdivided into over 40 subject areas. To suggest new entries or amendments, please   contact us by email or telephone or visit the Gateway at http://bufvc.ac.uk/gateway/

Bradshaw Foundation
The Bradshaw Foundation is a privately funded non-profit organisation which exists to discover, document and preserve ancient cave and rock art around the world, and promote the study of early humankind’s artistic achievements. The foundation’s online learning resource contains a wealth of material on prehistoric art along with essays, notes, timelines, links, newsletters, links to research papers as well as useful contextual information on paleoanthropology, archaeology and genetic science. The resource is extensively illustrated with hundreds of stills of paintings, carvings and artefacts from many of the most significant prehistoric sites around the world. There is now a new film archive section which includes a series of interviews with eminent prehistorians and other audiovisual material. The Bradshaw Foundation’s podcast can be found on iTunes and is free. Other notable resources include a section on the significance of abstract geometric signs in cave art and the journey of humankind from its origins in Africa, shown via an interactive map and timeline.

eSkeletons
Hosted by the University of Texas at Austin, this resource aims to facilitate the teaching of anatomy by providing three dimensional images and animations of the human skeleton and other primates, including gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans. The site is clearly laid out and easy to use, and the quality of the images – which were created with the use of a 3D laser scanner, high resolution X-ray computed tomography (HRXCT) and digital photography – is outstanding.

A Comparative Anatomy page allows the user to select images of bones from different primates and view them alongside each other. The site’s interface allows information about the bones and how they attach to muscles to be turned on and off. Also of interest, and built on similar principles, is sister-site eLucy, which is devoted to the remains of a member of the species Australopithecus afarensis, whose skeleton is one of the most complete australopithecine fossils ever found.

Good Screenings
The rationale behind this site is to make it easy for anyone, anywhere, to hold their own screenings chosen from a selected list of documentary films. Using a piece of software called “Indie Screenings” the site facilitates the booking of a film online, automatically calculates the screening fee and then takes payment. The films available – mainly on themes of social justice and environmental concerns – are selected by the Channel 4 BRITDOC team as well as director Franny Armstrong and producer Lizzie Gillett (the team behind environmental film The Age of Stupid). After payment of the licence fee – which is calculated on a sliding scale – the person is then free to charge people to attend their screening, thus recouping the fee and, hopefully, making a profit – which makes the scheme ideal for fundraising.

Party Election Broadcasts 1951 – 1964
Digitised Party Election Broadcasts from the UK’s general elections of 1955, 1959 and 1964 form the bedrock of this site, which is hosted by the University of Sheffield. The output of the three main parties is represented, featuring contributions from the major political figures of the time, including Clement Attlee, Hugh Gaitskell, Harold Wilson, Jeremy Thorpe, Jo Grimond, Harold Macmillan and R.A. Butler. To complement the programmes there is also a wealth of contextual information, including the reminiscences of John Grist, links to rules and guidelines governing party political broadcasts, links to transcripts and a select bibliography. Although the scope – there are 22 broadcasts in all – may seem relatively narrow, and video quality is somewhat variable, this is the first time that these programmes have been publicly accessible, offering scholars the opportunity to study in depth the beginnings and development of political communication in Britain in the televisual era.

In the clip above – part of Labour’s “Britain Belongs To You” series – Tony (then Anthony Wedgwood) Benn presents a magazine-style programme featuring animations, interviews with members of the public, endorsements by actress Jill Balcon and philosopher A.J. Ayer and a trumpet solo by Humphrey Lyttelton.

The Public Philosopher
This series of BBC podcasts features Harvard political philosopher Professor Michael Sandel, who presents an audience with a series of debates and lectures on a variety of current issues, such as education, equality, pay and healthcare. The podcast Should we bribe people to be healthy? is a typically provocative look at whether the present constraints on the NHS leave us with no choice but to bribe people to be healthy. Sandel looks at the moral issues and implications behind the premise, using the thought of philosophers past and present to make his argument, as well as involving audience members.