The Use of the Film in Technical Training

Abstract

The film is a valuable aid to technical training and there are many effective ways of using it. The advantages of the film over other media are briefly these :

• 1. it brings a variety of exciting situations of the outside world into the classroom;

• 2. the instructor’s task is lightened by a film, but not eliminated;

• 3. expert treatment of a subject, and the results of much skill and time in planning, are made available to the class;

• 4. the performance runs reliably from beginning to end, if properly conducted;

• 5. the film is a means of introducing variety into the instruction;

• 6. large classes can be dealt with;

• 7. repetition can be easily effected as required;

• 8. the attention of the class can be focused on a small area of interest, by ‘close-ups’ and magnification;

• 9. all the tricks of emphasis known to film-makers, notably animation, can be used to make vivid impressions on the class;

• 10. it can survey a broad field of study in a short time and can be used to reveal and explain movements vital to the proper understanding of many subjects, through the use of slow motion, and time-lapse techniques.