What do you do when bombs fall from the sky? Who do you call in an emergency? How should you act in the lunchroom? All these questions and more have been answered in educational films: the movies you (and your parents) watched on whirring projectors in darkened junior high classrooms and gymnasiums.
Skip Elsheimer (known to some as Skip the AV Geek) has gained notoriety with his huge collection of educational and industrial films from decades gone by. If you’ve ever been to the NC Museum of Natural Sciences on First Friday to see the Natural Horror Picture Show, Skip is the guy who runs it. This week on Mystery Roach, we will be talking about the music and history of these films and playing music from audio and video compilations he has put together.
Skip Elsheimer founded and maintains the A/V Geeks Educational Film Archive, an archive of over 22,000 educational and industrial films which he screens for audiences across the country. He curates film programs and presents them at such venues at the American Museum of the Moving Image, Coolidge Corner Cinema, Anthology Film Archives, Aurora Picture Show and Chicago Filmmakers. Recently, Skip co-wrote an article with film professor Marsha Orgeron entitled “Something Different In Science Films – The Moody Institute of Science and the Canned Missionary Movement” which was published in The Moving Image – Journal of the Association of Moving Image Archivists. He has released several DVD compilations based on his collection through Fantoma Films and Alpha Video and makes many of his available for viewing online at the Internet Archive and at his website, www.avgeeks.com.
So listen to Mystery Roach this Saturday, January 17th from 8-10 am, where we’ll be talking with Skip and listening to his clips and music for the full two hours. We will also be doing some giveaways.
Talk to you then.
-La Barba Rossa
UPDATE (1/17/09): Skip has provided links to a lot of the films discussed on today’s show. (Some of the films aren’t online.) Thanks to all the callers. I’m glad you enjoyed the show. Thanks again to Skip for coming on and for the links below.
Duck And Cover (Department of Civil Defense)
Crash, Bang, Boom
Drugs Are Like That
Malapakadoo Skip Two
Munchers
Telezonia
Shake Hands With Danger
Live and unplugged version of “Shake Hands with Danger” by the song’s composer, Jim Stringer
Clip of “Shake Hands with Danger” singer, Charles Oldfather, on “The Day After”
VD is for Everybody
Lines Are Fun
Magnificent Major
Teeth (ADA)
NASA/Space Program site
Skip’s NASA fan site