Design For Society Friday 14th October

'Charlie Says' Public Information Films

On Friday we were shown a DVD called 'Charlie Says' that have a number of public information films on it from the late 50's through to the 70's. There were a range of subjects such as being polite on the road as a driver, when to call the coastguard not to leave old fridges laying about as child could lock themselves inside, safety when skating on frozen over ponds, the country code and telling parents to make sure that their children go to see their careers advisor. I found this very interesting to watch, from the design used to the content of the films. Some were quite morbid and others really funny. This helped me see what sort of thing was expected from the brief and how I could possibly structure my animatic. Here are some stills...

Jobs Advice, I love the style of this and how simple it is!

Politeness on the road. Again very simple style...black and white as there wasn't any colour when it was made. I also love this style.

'Charlie Says' childrens information films, for example - 'Don't go anywhere without telling your parents, even if it's  with someone you know' Not as fond with this style but the cat 'charlie' was very funny just through the way he acted and moved.

Coastguard film. I liked the style of this one and lighting was quite moody compared to the others.

Careers advise officer for young women. This one was full of fun which complimented the serious message at the end.

Another careers advice film. 

I don't know what these particular films were called but there were a couple about  the coast guard and one about the countrycode. I didn't like this style at all, I felt that it was quite and 'ugly style' but the films were quite funny at times.

Safety on a frozen over pond. This was funny, and I liked the style but at one point it was n't very sensitive about the possibility of someone falling through the ice and dying.

This film was about remembering to make sure that the home owner goes round the house at night before going to bed to make sure that all the dangers of  a possible house fire are stopped. 

This is another film about being polite on the road.

And finally this one was about making sure that you learn to swim and if you can't that you stay in the shallow part of the sea.

Overall all of the films were straight to the point and simple when it came to giving information.