Learning on ScreenOur Secret Century
- Synopsis
- A series of themed CD-ROMs, edited and selected by ‘media archaeologist’ Rick Prelinger, comprising an anthology of films, film segments, text, still images and artifacts depicting trends and developments of the 20th century.
1: Seven colour films explore how 1950s’ glitz seduced Americans into an obsession with the look of designed objects.
2: Three black-and-white industrial films of the 1930s. Two of them borrow heavily from heroic Soviet imagery to attempt to humansie the face of mass production.
3: Eight comic and sinister social guidance films document the postwar social crusade to instill family values and 1950s’ style.
4: Seven safety films about the perils of haste and carelessness, shot between 1936 and 1962.
5: Six films explore the late 1950s and early 1960s : In GANG BOY white and Chicano gangs in working-class Los Angeles call a truce; in THE DROPOUT Robert’s downward spiral includes a stint in the malt shop waiting on his one-time peers, and THE TERRIBLE TRUTH hase well-brought-up girls becoming addicted to ‘horse’.
6: A visual record of the changing face of urban and rural America. IN THE SUBURBS celebrates the white suburban dream, a paradise for advertisers, and in AMERICAN HARVEST the exploitation of the country’s natural resuources culminates in an automobile.
7: Considers how and when young people learn to be true to their sex: THE HOME ECONOMICS STORY points out that ‘cooking is practically applied cemistry’.
8: Documents the growth of mass advertising and its migration from cinema to television. Early adverts include the journey of an animated droplet of gasoline through the fuel-efficient bowels of a 1935 Chevrolet, and ‘RFD Greenwich Village’, a ‘suburban oasis’ where the modern villager relaxes in modern corduroy clothes.
9: Six sex education films from the 1950s and 1960s.
10: Films of America at is patriotic best, mobilised agains its enemies - the Axis, communism, trade unions, bad attitudes. CONQUER BY THE CLOCK is an ode to wartime productivity; MY JAPAN is a propaganda film promoting war bonds; in DESTININATION EARTH a Martian visitor learns that what’s good for business - especially the oil business - is good for the individual.
11-12 (in preparation) - Language
- English
- Country
- Great Britain
- Medium
- Multimedia; 12 CD-ROMS. PC Windows or Apple Macintosh (separate versions)
- Year of production
- 1995
- Availability
- Sale; 1997 sale: US$29.95 (each set of 2 volumes)
- Subjects
- History
- Keywords
- United States of America
Credits
- Producer
- Rick Prelinger
Distribution Formats
- Type
- CD-ROM
Sections
- Title
- Rainbow is yours, The
- Synopsis
- 1: Seven colour films explore how 1950s' glitz seduced Americans into an obsession with the look of designed objects.
- Title
- Capitalist realism
- Synopsis
- 2: Three black-and-white industrial films of the 1930s. Two of them borrow heavily from heroic Soviet imagery to attempt to humansie the face of mass production.
- Title
- Behavior offensive, The
- Synopsis
- 3: Eight comic and sinister social guidance films document the postwar social crusade to instill family values and 1950s' style.
- Title
- Menace and jeopardy
- Synopsis
- 4: Seven safety films about the perils of haste and carelessness, shot between 1936 and 1962.
- Title
- Teenage transgression
- Synopsis
- 5: Six films explore the late 1950s and early 1960s : In GANG BOY white and Chicano gangs in working-class Los Angeles call a truce; in THE DROPOUT Robert's downward spiral includes a stint in the malt shop waiting on his one-time peers, and THE TERRIBLE
- Title
- Uncharted landscape, The
- Synopsis
- 6: A visual record of the changing face of urban and rural America. IN THE SUBURBS celebrates the white suburban dream, a paradise for advertisers, and in AMERICAN HARVEST the exploitation of the country's natural resuources culminates in an automobile.
- Title
- Gender role call
- Synopsis
- 7: Considers how and when young people learn to be true to their sex: THE HOME ECONOMICS STORY points out that 'cooking is practically applied cemistry'.
- Title
- Tireless marketers
- Synopsis
- 8: Documents the growth of mass advertising and its migration from cinema to television. Early adverts include the journey of an animated droplet of gasoline through the fuel-efficient bowels of a 1935 Chevrolet, and 'RFD Greenwich Village', a 'suburban o
- Title
- Busy bodies
- Synopsis
- 9: Six sex education films from the 1950s and 1960s.
- Title
- Make mine freedom
- Synopsis
- 10: Films of America at is patriotic best, mobilised agains its enemies - the Axis, communism, trade unions, bad attitudes. CONQUER BY THE CLOCK is an ode to wartime productivity; MY JAPAN is a propaganda film promoting war bonds; in DESTININATION EARTH a
Production Company
- Name
New York, NY 10012
- cdroms@voyagerco.com
- Web
- http://www.voyagerco.com/ External site opens in new window
- Phone
- +1 212-431 5199
- Fax
- +1 212-431 5799
Distributor
- Name
Voyager Company
- cdroms@voyagerco.com
- Web
- http://www.voyagerco.com/ External site opens in new window
- Phone
- +1 212-431 5199
- Fax
- +1 212-431 5799
- Address
- 578 Broadway, Duite 406
New York
NY 10012
USA - Notes
- The company is now defunct (5/2008).
Record Stats
This record has been viewed 340 times.
