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I Remember, I Remember (clip 1)

John Grierson introduces a clip from 'Heart of Scotland'

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Description

A personal account John Grierson of a life spent in documentary film-making, including his early life in Stirling. This film was screened at the 1968 Edinburgh Film Festival to mark John Grierson's 70th year and his importance to the development of the Scottish film and TV industry. This clip shows the ageing Grierson sitting at a desk in a television studio talking to camera about his part in the development of the documentary film as an art form. Grierson talks about his own early life and the film then cuts away to a hypnotic extract from the film Heart of Scotland showing panoramic vistas of the Scottish countryside around Stirling. Go to clip 2 of this film.

Questions & Activities

Questions

  • Why are the filmmakers making a film about this old man?
  • Which town is shown in this film?
  • How is the importance of the castle emphasized?
  • What do you know about the early history of documentary film?

Activities

Media Studies: Research the history and historical importance of the documentary films. Discuss Grierson's claims about its importance as a means of communication.

Social subjects (mapwork) / Geography: Compare the physical landscape shown in the film to a map of Stirling.

History: Use this film to help show the importance of the landscape around Stirling and the battles of Stirling Bridge and Bannockburn.

Biology: Use the clip about swans to show how birds fly.

Clip Details

Record Id 007-000-000-277-C
Resource Rights Holder National Library of Scotland
Project Ref 2232
Date 1968
Genre Documentary, Tv Doc, Biography
School Subject Media Studies, Geography, Biology
Subject Matter Rivers and Coasts, Social Subjects
Who Films of Scotland (sponsor), James Sutherland (director), John Grierson (writer), Scottish Television (production company)
Where Glasgow, Stirling
Event Edinburgh Film Festival
Attributes Black and White, Colour, Sound
Clip Length 6:32
Film Length 53:08
References The Grierson Trust. http://www.griersontrust.org.