Metadata
WORK ID: NEFA 22564 (Master Record)
| Title | Year | Date |
| THE DURHAM COLLEGES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION | 1958 | 1958-01-01 |
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Details
Original Format: 16mm Colour: Colour Sound: Silent Duration: 28 mins Credits: Durham University Education Department Genre: Student Film Subject: Sport Education |
| Summary Amateur 1950s documentary about student life at Durham University, from fresher to graduation, made by students of the Education Department. The film records work and leisure at the university, including footage of the student Rag Week, a don's dinner and Durham Regatta. |
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Description
Amateur 1950s documentary about student life at Durham University, from fresher to graduation, made by students of the Education Department. The film records work and leisure at the university, including footage of the student Rag Week, a don's dinner and Durham Regatta.
Credit: The Durham Colleges Department of Education
Two women student freshers travel to Durham University by train. Travelling shot from train of arrival in Durham City with view of Durham Cathedral and Castle.
[Dark...
Amateur 1950s documentary about student life at Durham University, from fresher to graduation, made by students of the Education Department. The film records work and leisure at the university, including footage of the student Rag Week, a don's dinner and Durham Regatta.
Credit: The Durham Colleges Department of Education
Two women student freshers travel to Durham University by train. Travelling shot from train of arrival in Durham City with view of Durham Cathedral and Castle.
[Dark footage]
The train arrives at Durham station. A man takes the suitcase of one of the new women students as they exit the train. A group of women students wave as they leave the platform.
Title: The Durham Colleges in the University of Durham are Ten in Number
Photograph and illustrations illustrate the location of the university and its various colleges: Hatfield, St Chad's, St John's, Bede, St Cuthbert's, St Mary's, St Hilds, Neville's, St Aidans. Overhead view of castle and university grounds and surrounding streets. Male students and staff are pictured around the university.
A young male student indoors looks out of a college window. Exterior shot of two student friends looking up and smiling, the student hanging out of the window now to greet them. Other students and staff are coming and going from the college.
Close-up of the college badges on the blazers of two male students.
[One speeded-up sequence]
Students and staff wearing academic gowns arrive at their university college. Close-up of St John's College wall shield above the college entrance. Other students and staff wearing white choir surplices leave a college building and head to a church. General view of the Chapel of the Venerable Bede and Bede College, Durham.
Women students walk through the college grounds. A group in purple or blue Hild Bede blazers head off the university campus and down to the river, pausing to look at a view of the Cathedral, before continuing up a cobbled lane.
Various views follow of women students in 1950s frocks relaxing and strolling in the grounds of the university. Three women set off on cycles. A fellow student opens a gate for the cyclists as they head off down the road to Durham City, arriving at St Aidan's Society, part of Durham University.
Panoramic view of the construction site for the Durham relief road.
Title: Work is most important
A group of students head to a class. Close-ups of different professors as they stand at blackboards presenting lectures and of students taking notes.
A student in a dressing gown reaches for his hot drink as he studies late at night back at his digs. He flings the text book down in exasperation and gives up. The next day he is back studying. He meets with a tutor and looks pleased.
General views of another college building, the Cathedral in the background.
Students use surveying equipment and maps on a project. Other students are in a chemistry lab, studying flowers or practising electrical engineering. Ceramics are on display and other students learn pottery in an art room, throwing clay on a wheel. Some students discuss paintings on an easel outside. A tutor lectures outside to a group on a small Indian statue and Chinese wallpaper or fabric sample.
Title: But After Lectures
Male and female students are at the Durham Union Society enjoying a drink and smoking.
At midday students leave lectures, some using the university library. Inside, studentsare studying and browsing books on the shelves. A woman student checks out her selections at the library counter.
A male and female couple go for a stroll together in the sunshine.
General views follow of Durham Cathedral and castle.
Students take a punt on the River Wear, others sailing. Groups of male students practice rowing for the Regatta. Large crowds are gathered on the banks of the Wear for the Durham Regatta racing (the Henley of the North) held annually in June. A man uses binoculars to watch the race. Teams compete on the Wear.
Some male students lounge in their college gardens. Two students practice fencing. Others are playing croquet, tennis and practicing cricket in the nets. Cricket, rugby, women’s netball and hockey matches are in progress.
Floats line up for the Durham students Rag Week. A float of women students bears a slogan ‘There’s Many A Slip’. A man carries a poster board with slogan ‘Wanted Big Ike’. A Bernard Gilpin Society lorry slogan reads: ‘The isle of Too Many Cooks’. Other elaborate floats follow, students throwing things at the assembled crowd as they drive past.
Women students tuck into meals in their college canteen. Another mixed group of older students are eating at a table in their flat. A woman is studying and embroidering in her room. Outside some women students lounge in the sunshine in their college quadrangle, studying, sunbathing or chatting. A woman irons indoors, another makes sandwiches. Relaxing in a student room, some women put on a record.
Title: While ….”Dons Delight”
A meal is laid out with candelabras and wine in a decanter. The dons are dressed in black suits and bow ties for dinner, poring themselves wine.
Title: ….. Time Passes And …..
A sign on a door reads: Lecture Room No. 21 Examinations in Progress
Students emerge from the college after exams. Exam results are pinned up on display boards. Students gather and check out their results.
Title: For the Successful – Congregation and a Degree
Students in traditional graduation gowns and their families gather outside at Durham University for the graduation ceremony. A procession of students proceeds towards the university hall, greeted by dons (lecturer) in ceremonial red or black gowns and mortar boards. The dons pose for a photograph at the steps to the hall. The dons (very few women in their midst) process past the students led by a man with a ceremonial mace. A few family groups watch. The students follow behind two-by-two in a long line.
A student in gown smiles at camera and proceeds to rub out a blackboard on which the film end credits appear. [Reverse trick shot]
Credits: Film Made by Students of the Education Department
Title: The End
He bows.
Context
The film was made by students for the education department and was sponsored by the Durham Colleges Department of Education. It is an amateur documentary about student life. The film is part of a collection that was deposited at the Beamish Museum and is part of the Durham Education Department’s studies that include recording school and university education. This film would have been used as an advertisement to show what student life was like at Durham university and because it was made by...
The film was made by students for the education department and was sponsored by the Durham Colleges Department of Education. It is an amateur documentary about student life. The film is part of a collection that was deposited at the Beamish Museum and is part of the Durham Education Department’s studies that include recording school and university education. This film would have been used as an advertisement to show what student life was like at Durham university and because it was made by students one can believe that it is a relatively accurate depiction. Another film that was made is the ‘Richmond Girls High School and Dyke House Secondary Modern Girls School West Hartlepool 1950’. This can give a good insight into female education.
At the time this was filmed higher education was expanding rapidly, with the number of students attending university between 1945 and 1950 doubling . Additionally, during the 1950/60s the education sector began to be seen as ‘the most crucial instrument of social policy ’. Therefore, this amateur film would have been made in this type of environment, where education was becoming increasingly more important with people staying in school for longer. This would mean that a film like this advertising Durham University could also be seen as encouragement into education. Interestingly, when you watch the film it seems as though there is a higher percentage of men attending the university, which was a common theme at the time. There is a statistic that in 1939 women constituted less than a quarter of the university student population, a proportion that remained fairly stable until the late 1960s . The gender issue continued in shaping the university experience between the 1950s-1960s as there were formal and informal patterns of discrimination to help stop an expansion in the proportion of women students, which remained at an even lower level than in the mid-1920s . The 1950s was a conflicting time for women, many found themselves with typically male jobs during the war. However, once the soldiers returned they were without a job once more and were required to stay at home and look after the family. Whilst some women were happy with the return to normality others disapproved, which is where one can start to see the changes in gender roles. Within the film it shows multiple different things that students can do whilst at university. Like the different subjects they can study for example it shows lecturers teaching maths as well as students practicing science in labs. It also shows life outside of university at the Durham Union Society where students are having a drink and a smoke. Plus, the sporting activities like fencing, tennis, cricket, and rugby. One specific example of life as a student at Durham is the showing of the Durham Regatta Racing, which dates back to 1834 and is the second oldest regatta in the UK . The Regatta started out of an annual procession of boats from Prebends Bridge to the Old Durham Beck as a way of commemorating the Duke of Wellington’s victory at the Battle of Waterloo. From then on this event has become increasingly popular attracting over 2,000 competitors. There is also a scene which shows what looks like a parade and this is the ‘RAG week’. This is a student run university organisation that raises money for their ‘raise and giving’ communities. The idea has been around since the 19th century and it is where students perform different activities like parties, blind dates, skydives etc. as well as pranks and jokes to raise money . The film is good at showing this light-hearted atmosphere as it captures students enjoying themselves on handmade floats and there being large crowds to join in with the activities. One particular example of a RAG week activity is something called ‘Jailbreak’ where students are given up to 36 hours to get as far away from the university as possible and they are not allowed to spend money on transport. Two students from Durham actually managed to get to Sydney Australia . However, over the years, RAG week in universities have changed in form becoming a smaller event and happening throughout the year. The Manchester RAG Secretary estimates that fewer than 20 percent of students take part in RAG and that the amount collected has dropped by £1000 each year . In 1922 amateur films started with the introduction of the 9.5mm film stock specifically for home cinema and amateur filmmaking. Amateur films are ‘polished short works aimed at an audience of fellow amateurs and members of the public ’. The films are produced outside the commercial system and include portrayals of everyday life as well as drama, comedy, travel etc. The amateur film making process for a while was criticised by film critics however “this genre of film cinema still became a number one favourite in living rooms of every household .” The 16mm silent film stock was created by Kodak in 1923 as a cheaper alternative to 35mm film for professional and ‘non-professional’ filmmaker alike. The 16mm film was still expensive and accessible to only the wealthiest amateur filmmakers. One famous contemporary example filmed in a pseudo-amateur style is the Blair Witch Project, released in 1999, which follows three student filmmakers searching for the local legend of the Blair Witch. This one particular film has been argued to have changed the way people view filmmaking with its ‘amateur aesthetic’ prompting a generation of filmmakers to pick up a camera, however low-tech ’. This shows that over time films such as the ‘Durham College of Education’ footage have helped inspire different ways in which films can be created and viewed. It also can highlight the variety of subjects which amateur films can cover, from everyday life all the way to a horror movie that made $848.6 million at the global box office . Gillard D (2018) Education in England: a history www.educationengland.org.uk/history Gillard D (2018) Education in England: a history www.educationengland.org.uk/history http://www.historyandpolicy.org/policy-papers/papers/going-to-university-funding-costs-benefits http://www.historyandpolicy.org/policy-papers/papers/going-to-university-funding-costs-benefits https://durham-regatta.org.uk/about-us/our-story/ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/higher/bad-behaviour-thats-all-in-a-good-cause-students-are-carrying-on-the-rag-tradition-6298083.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/higher/bad-behaviour-thats-all-in-a-good-cause-students-are-carrying-on-the-rag-tradition-6298083.html https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/mar/01/students-rag-week-quieter-manchester-1962 https://www.filmtheory.org/amateur-cinema/ https://www.filmtheory.org/amateur-cinema/ https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/30/movies/blair-witch-project-1999.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/30/movies/blair-witch-project-1999.html |
