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American literature History 20th century American literature History 21st century Composition (Photography) Digital media Study and teaching Motion pictures Motion pictures Production and direction Vocational guidance United States Photography Digital techniques Photography Study and teaching Schama, Simon Technology Social aspectsFilter By Subjects
American literature History 20th century American literature History 21st century Composition (Photography) Digital media Study and teaching Motion pictures Motion pictures Production and direction Vocational guidance United States Photography Digital techniques Photography Study and teaching Schama, Simon Technology Social aspectsSummary: Life, death, heroism, tragedy-subjects that, until the latter half of the 20th century, propelled the canon of Western art. How do the abstractions of Mark Rothko figure in that tradition? Are they, in a sense, its swan song? This program depicts Rothko's engagement with timeless themes that dominated his thinking long after the mythic grandeur of Abstract Expressionism had yielded to the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
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Summary: This program was filmed at the Biennial Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival, where poets gather every two years to read and discuss their work with large audiences of students and fellow poets. In this program, poets Robert Bly, Galway Kinnell, Sharon Olds, Octavio Paz, and William Stafford read and discuss their work. As Robert Bly observes: "Suppose you only knew 15 words. You could still make...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: Filmed at the Biennial Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival, this program features the poets Robert Bly, Lucille Clifton, and W. S. Merwin, reading their works and discussing them. Robert Bly often uses music to emphasize the spiritual nature of poetry. He believes that the aim of poetry is to "drop us into the moist, nurturing underworld where the soul lives. Lucille Clifton's work often focuses...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program profiles Stanley Kunitz, one of America's leading poets. Kunitz reads his poetry and discusses his work in extensive interviews. "You don't choose the subject [of your poetry]," says Kunitz, "it chooses you. He asserts that poets must aim simply to "be as true as we can to the grain of life. Kunitz also stresses the importance of reading poetry aloud: "It is important to test your...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Backed by a Church struggling to connect with the faithful, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio painted images imbued with physical immediacy and in-your-face drama. As this program shows, there was a trade-off: Caravaggio's biblical scenes frequently eschew, in the words of presenter Simon Schama, "any vision of consolation or redemption." Exploring the artist's humble origins, penchant for...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program features poets Li-Young Lee and Gerald Stern in a poetry reading and in extensive interviews. A main subject of Stern's poetry is memory. His Jewish heritage provides him with the inspiration and direction to resurrect and reconstruct past experiences. Li-Young Lee's poetry reflects his struggle with his Chinese heritage: how to recognize a culture to which he has been inextricably...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
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Summary: If the French Revolution had an official painter, it was Jacques-Louis David-although "official propagandist" is a much more accurate term. This program follows David's career from his early ambitions as a Prix de Rome scholar to the actions that defined him, morally and artistically, during the reigns of Robespierre and Napoleon. With The Death of Marat as its centerpiece, the program studies...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
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Summary: Although rendered in stone, the sculptures of Gian Lorenzo Bernini convey a sense of weightlessness perhaps unequalled in the history of Western art. This program illustrates Bernini's nearly miraculous ability to turn marble into a vessel of rapture, both spiritual and sexual. With The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa as his principal focus, presenter Simon Schama examines numerous works by the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program features poets who turn to the past and to their own cultural heritage to understand the present. They eloquently reflect their own personal journeys through poetry. Garrett Kaoru Hongo's work reflects his Japanese-American heritage. Hongo began to write poetry because he wanted "more than anything to belong to the history of Asians in America. Joy Harjo's poetry is influenced by...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program features poets James Autry and Quincy Troupe, both of whom work with the oral tradition to lift poetry off the page and bring it into the community. James Autry, a businessman and publisher, writes poetry about the business world and the Southern culture of his youth. His work includes such poems as "Thoughts on Firing a Salesman. In this program, Autry reads his poetry at a...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
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Summary: Using computer-generated animations, this program clearly demonstrates the structures and changes of state in water-specifically in ice melting, in water evaporating, and in water boiling-all at the molecular level. Each demonstration scientifically clarifies student misconceptions about the process and reinforces concepts that carry over into molecular change in other elements.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
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Summary: With nano-enabled drugs that destroy diseased cells and enable tissue repair, doctors may one day extend life expectancy far beyond our current capabilities—at least in countries wealthy enough to afford the technology. But the medicine that so radically redefines our standards of health and mortality will also profoundly challenge our social support systems and cultural values. In this Fred...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: Nanotechnology will likely transform the security and surveillance industries in the near future. Governments, corporations, and even individuals may have highly sophisticated sensors and tracking apparatus at their disposal—keeping tabs on everyone from customers to potential terrorists to aging parents. In this Fred Friendly Seminar moderated by Peabody award-winning correspondent John...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: The town of Sunnyville is thrilled with the jobs and development promised by a new factory, which will make efficient, inexpensive solar cells. However, nanomaterials used in the manufacturing process pose an unknown level of risk to city residents and the environment. In this Fred Friendly Seminar, Peabody award-winning correspondent John Hockenberry leads expert panelists through a series of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program, divided into three parts, gives several examples of reactions: potassium thiocyanate solution with iron (III) nitrate solution to explain ionic equilibrium; acid-base chemistry, using ethanoic acid as an acid, and ethanoate ion and ammonia as bases; and copper metal with silver nitrate solution to illustrate redox chemistry.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: This program, divided into three parts, looks at the difference between melting and dissolving using the example of sodium chloride. The reaction of sodium chloride solution with silver nitrate exemplifies precipitation; ammonia, added to a solution of copper (II) nitrate, forms a copper (II) hydroxide gel; and the successive complexation of copper (II) by ammonia molecules serves as an...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: Sunlit windows and decorative lamps may look attractive to the human eye, but they don't always fit into the color palette a cinematographer wants to create. This program examines methods of color correction and filtration and how they can be used to alter existing light, either subtly or dramatically, when shooting film and video. Featuring several camera set-ups and lighting examples, the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: No matter how photogenic the subject, a close-up shot must be properly lit if it's going to launch a thousand ships. This program presents a comprehensive look at the art and science of lighting people. It teaches viewers the importance of adjusting the size, distance, and position of a light source; how to control contrast by manipulating hard and soft light; and how to make use of the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: Although the foreground subject in a moving image is, by definition, the focus of attention, the importance of the background elements can't be overstated. This program provides detailed lighting demonstrations that reveal the importance of background illumination and how to manipulate it. From low-key scenes shot in a living room to the flashy environment of a broadcast newsroom, the program...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: The use of fiber optic technology continues to change the way we live today. This video demonstrates the various ways it has been incorporated into our everyday surroundings, and how it may be used in the future. Beginning with a history of fiber optics development, the video then goes on to describe the basic principles of light and how it interacts with matter. Building on this understanding,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
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Summary: Smallpox has officially been eradicated worldwide—but the destruction of lab cultures in government-sponsored biowar facilities was never monitored. A blend of dramatization and documentary, this program considers the weaponization and deployment of smallpox—or, by extension, any lethal virus—from preexisting stockpiles and by laboratory manufacture from mail order genetic material and online...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: February 21, 2003, was just a normal day at Hotel Metropole in Hong Kong—until a guest, infected with SARS, became patient zero for an epidemic that rapidly infected people in dozens of countries around the world. This program—part dramatization, part documentary—illustrates how the SARS virus spread and was gradually contained. In addition, virology experts shed light on topics ranging from...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Tabloid journalism. Kinky TV talk shows. "Gangsta" rap music. Sexually explicit and violent movies. The media have established new outposts in the frontiers of taste that were thought impossible 30 years ago, and all in the name of First Amendment rights and giving the public what it wants. But with these rights come responsibilities that are seldom respected. What leverage can society use...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: In this down-to-earth program, the unconventional yet extremely demanding sports of rugby, synchronized swimming, and double-Dutch rope jumping provide the context for teenage girls from a cross-section of ethnic backgrounds to probe the issues of adolescence. They discuss their feelings of liberation within the strict regimentation of competitive sports, their search for identity and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006