Between the Front Lines: Vocational Training Films, Machine Guns and the Great War

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Authors

This chapter, by Florian Hoof, describes how the military utilized vocational training films in the 1910s and how producing, promoting, and selling such films turned into a profitable business model for filmmakers. It specifically looks at vocational training films produced by Frank Gilbreth for the U.S. Army in the context of the Great War. Due to the development of industrialized warfare, concepts from Gilbreth’s industrial work proved to be newly relevant for the military. Film addressed the problem of how to organize the transfer of complex topics in military training. The chapter sheds new light on the interrelations between film, the organizational culture of the military, and educational theory. Lastly, the utilization of film in the military is situated in the broader context of a film history on nontheatrical film.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationCinema's Military Industrial Complex
EditorsHaidee Wasson, Lee Grieveson
Number of pages15
Place of PublicationBerkeley
PublisherUniversity of California Press
Publication date09.2018
Pages177-191
ISBN (print)9780520291508
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 09.2018