Intra-Actions with Educational Media at the National Film Board of Canada, 1960-2016
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Making Waves: Intra-actions with Educational Media at the National Film Board of Canada, 1960-2016 CAROLYN STEELE A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PRODRAM IN COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE APRIL 2017 YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO © Carolyn Steele 2017 ABSTRACT This dissertation aims to excavate the narrative of educational programming at the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) from 1960 to 2016. The producers and creative staff of Studio G – the epicentre of educational programming at the NFB for over thirty years – produced extraordinarily diverse and innovative multimedia for the classroom. ‘Multimedia’ is here understood as any media form that was not film, including filmstrips, slides, overhead projecturals, laserdiscs and CDs. To date, there have been no attempts to document the history of educational programming at the NFB generally, nor to situate the history of Studio G within that tradition. Over the course of five years, I have interviewed thirty-four NFB technicians, administrators, producers and directors in the service of creating a unique collective narrative tracing the development of educational media and programming at the NFB over the past fifty- six years and began to piece together an archive of work that has largely been forgotten. Throughout this dissertation, I argue that the forms of media engagement pioneered by Studio G and its descendants fostered a desire for, and eventually an expectation for specific media affordances, namely the ability to sequence or navigate media content, to pace one’s progress through media, to access media on demand and to modify media content. As new waves of mediated practices emerge throughout the time-period here covered, the complex interconnections between media innovation and pedagogical practice are revealed to be deeply interwoven within the political, social and economic pressures of particular historical moments. The first of these waves focuses on the media produced by Studio G primarily during the tumultuous 1960s to the mid-1980s. The second wave (early-1980s to mid-1990s) marks the shifts in practices and social expectations with the rise of the PC computer. The third wave (mid- 1990s to 2004) recognizes yet another shift as Internet technologies and the privileging of ii consumer expectation eclipsed what were by then seen as dated practices. In the fourth wave (2004 to 2016), the NFB’s focus on interactivity is co-opted as a strategy of audience engagement in an ever-more competitive media landscape. The four affordances are realized to a greater and lesser degree in each of these waves. The narrative of the NFB’s production of educational multimedia provides an ideal lens through which to identify and more deeply understand the nuanced and complex intra-action between technology, practice and society in which the interface is revealed to be far from neutral. iii DEDICATION With gratitude to my parents, who did not live to see this milestone reached, but whose support and encouragement made it possible. They would have been delighted, of this, I am sure. With apologies to my children, Matthew, Jessica, Cody, Kieran and Quinton, who grew up with a mother who must have seemed always to be buried in books or on the computer. You are, and always have been what I have cherished most in life. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I was gifted with an uncommonly wise, insightful and very experienced committee, and for that I will be forever grateful: Dr. Caitlin Fisher (Supervisor), Dr. Gail Vanstone (Committee Member) Dr. Seth Feldman (Committee Member), Dr. Kevin Kee (external examiner), Dr. Steven Bailey (Dean’s Representative), and Dr. Chloë Brushwood Rose (Internal-External Examiner). I will have everlasting respect and affection for to Caitlin Fisher and Gail Vanstone, whose loyalty, encouragement and belief in the value of this project have been pivotal to its completion. Time and again, they have proven that scholarly excellence and authentic relationships can co- exist, and indeed reinforce each other. Floyd Elliot and Tamara Lynch who figure prominently in this dissertation, provided countless emails, phone calls and conversations over the five years this project took to complete. It was they who brought to life for me the magic and frustrations that infused the creative spirit of Studio G. It is my most fervent hope that this work, in some small way, might repay their generosity and kindness by ensuring the legacy of Studio G is never forgotten. Every person whose has been entranced by media technology has had someone in their life who opened their eyes to its possibilities and taught them how to envision new ones. For me, that person was Kelly Parke, a gifted media designer, producer, teaches and problem-solver who has been unfailingly generous with his time and knowledge for many years. He not only urged me to reach for the sky, he became my wingman in the process. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………………...i Dedication ………………………………………………………………………………………. iv Acknowledgements .…………..………………………………………………………………….v Table of Contents …………………………..……………………………………………………vi List of Figures …………………...………………………………………………………………vi Chapter One: Introduction – Audience-Controlled Media ………………………………………1 Chapter Two: First Wave – Humble Media: Learning to Use Media ………………….…….....28 Chapter Three: Second Wave – The Digital Turn: Non-Linearity and Agency….……………..81 Chapter Four: Third Wave – Creating Mediated Experiences ‘By, For, With’ Children and Youth ……………………………………………………………………………128 Chapter Five: Fourth Wave – Creating Mediated Experiences ‘By, For, With’ Teachers and Students………. ......................................................................................................................... 176 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………...212 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………….....220 Appendix A: Studio G and ACI “Filmography” of media projects included in the research …………….…..245 Appendix B: List of people interviewed………………………………………………………………..…….246 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: NFB Logo………. .................................. 1 Figure 2: Slide Sets…. .......................................... 56 Figure 3: Media Kits. ............................................ 62 Figure 4: Projecturals…………………………….70 Figure 5: Perspectives in Science ......................... 103 Figure 6: Bar Codes. ............................................ 111 Figure 7: Has Anybody Seen My Umbrella? ...... 116 vii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION - AUDIENCE-CONTROLLED MEDIA Many children who grew up in post-war Canada have memories of sitting in darkened classrooms, their heads propped up on their hands, watching filmstrips and slides about the beaver, Native Canadians, the Habitants, and early explorers produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). The images were projected onto a blank wall or a screen pulled down from the ceiling and teachers provided explanations of the images being shown, oftentimes with students contributing questions or comments. Periodically, the sound of a chime was heard, and the students who had begun to drift off were brought to attention as the teacher clicked the remote controller to advance to the next image. For generations of Canadian students, these lessons formed an early understanding of a Canada that was far removed from their daily existence, faded with the passage of time, but to which they were inexorably connected. This is where they learned the official narrative of their national identity, and for many, it was also their first encounter with the NFB, whose brand was signaled by the iconic Man Seeing logo, designed by Georges Beauprés in 1967 (see fig.1), that appeared at the end of every production, immediately followed by the blinding glare produced by the classroom lights being turned back on. Figure 1: The NFB's iconic logo was designed in 1967 by George Beauprés. It depicts a human figure raising its arms in celebration. The head and arms double as an eye, which references visionary or animated man (Evans 149). 1 These NFB media presentations were welcome breaks from the regular routine of both students and teachers as early as the 1950s.1 They provided professionally produced complements to the curriculum, supplementing the often-meagre classroom resources teachers had to animate the curriculum for young attention spans. Sometimes, students would be rewarded for good behavior with the promise of a movie or filmstrip, and particularly deserving students would be given the much envied honour of operating the projector, rolling the filmstrips into their canisters, or loading up the slide carousel (Baron 2013). This was the first time most students had encountered media technology beyond their family cameras or televisions. The ability to click a button to advance a slide at the sound of a tone or to replay a particularly interesting filmstrip-story were novel experiences for both students and teachers living within a pre-computerized landscape where people did not interact with media to the degree they do today. In this sense, the NFB not only educated students about Canada and their place within it, it was arguably the most ubiquitous venue through which Canadians learned to use multimedia to extend their own communicative repertoire (Möller 1963). Using these media forms, teachers and students learned to integrate multimedia into their presentations, they used them to animate lessons and generate conversation,