32-504: (Redirected from Look At Life ) Look at Life may refer to: Look at Life (film series) , British cinema series produced by the Rank Organisation during the 1960s Look at Life (film) , student film by George Lucas Looks at Life , 1967 album by John Hartford Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
64-492: A momentum curtain , a wall of moving air that would limit the amount of air that would leak out. This meant that the same cushion of high-pressure air could be maintained by a much smaller engine; and for the first time, a craft could be lifted completely out of the water. Cockrell tested his designs in the Broadland village of Somerleyton, Suffolk. He tested his theories using a vacuum cleaner and two tin cans. His hypothesis
96-472: A legacy left by his father-in-law. The firm made little money, and Cockerell began to think how the craft could be made to go faster. He was led to earlier work by the Thornycroft company, in which a small vessel had been partially raised out of the water by a small engine. Cockerell's greatest invention, the hovercraft , grew out of this work. It occurred to him that if the entire craft were lifted from
128-444: A partly owned subsidiary of ITV Plc , each episode features a different aspect of British life and culture during the decade, including the changing role of women and how leisure time was spent including the rising popularity of overseas travel. It is presented with original commentary from the series with captions to provide the contemporary viewer with explanation. In the 2020s, many of the original films have been shown regularly on
160-824: A post graduate pupil working for W. H. Allen, Sons & Co. of Bedford from 1931 to 1933. After returning to the University of Cambridge in 1934 to study radio and electronics, he went to work at the Radio Research Company. In 1935, he went to work at the Marconi Company , and soon afterwards he married Margaret Elinor Belsham (4 September 1913 – September 1996). They lived at the now Grade II listed Gay Bowers Cottage in Danbury, Essex from 1940 to 1951. During his time in Chelmsford , he led
192-653: A research team in the Marconi hut at Writtle and worked on many systems, including radar . After the war he contributed to the development of several sophisticated pieces of equipment, including radio location technology, and the first equipment used by the BBC in Alexandra Palace . After Cockerell left the Marconi Company, he bought Ripplecraft Ltd., a small Norfolk boat and caravan hire company, with
224-584: A short illness, Cockerell died at Hythe , Hampshire on 1 June 1999, three days before his 89th birthday. Cockerell was awarded £5,000 by the British Government of the 1960s, the only practical official recognition of the value of his work, though he was given a knighthood. In later life, Cockerell developed the Cockerell Raft, a wave power hydraulic device which may have implications in the future for electricity generation. In his life,
256-653: A speed of 28 miles per hour. Weeks later, it was shipped over to France. It successfully crossed the English Channel between Calais and Dover on 25 July 1959, 50 years to the day after the historic crossing by Bleriot . In January 1959, the NRDC formed a subsidiary called Hovercraft Development Ltd. Cockerell was the Technical Director and the company controlled the patents which it used to license several private sector firms to manufacture craft under
288-605: The Eastern Bloc , particularly in East Berlin and the Soviet Union . The films were generally narrated in the style typical of newsreel films with a principal voice-over while letting the images tell the story. The narration was generally spoken over the natural sounds of the subject being discussed such as motor traffic or the activities within a workplace and with musical accompaniment. People who were featured in
320-551: The SR.N4 hovercraft GH2008 Sir Christopher was named after its inventor. It was operated by Hoverlloyd (later Hoverspeed ) across the channel from 1972 to 1991. A plaque in Cockerell Rise, East Cowes , Isle of Wight , marks the location of White Cottage, where Cockerell lived and worked. The Cottage has been demolished, but the garage still stands. The plaque was erected by Friends of East Cowes with financial support from
352-412: The 'push button' or 'jet age', demonstrating advances in technology and a reflection on the changing tastes, fashions and trends representative of the so-called 'swinging sixties' era, which were often portrayed in a glossy, vibrant and optimistic way. The films also reported on topical issues that were affecting modern day society such as road safety, civil defence and pollution, and often sought to explain
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#1732782361603384-429: The British Government with a view to interesting them in possible defence applications. The leaders of the defence groups were not interested in providing funding and put the idea of the hovercraft on the government's secret list. Being on the secret list stopped Cockerell from making his design public. It remained classified until 1958, upon news of similar developments on the continent, it was declassified, and Cockerell
416-508: The UK channel Talking Pictures TV , both live on broadcast platforms and on demand via the red button and the channel's Encore website. Christopher Cockerell Sir Christopher Sydney Cockerell CBE RDI FRS (4 June 1910 – 1 June 1999) was an English engineer, best known as the inventor of the hovercraft . Cockerell was born in Cambridge , where his father, Sir Sydney Cockerell ,
448-727: The face of more immediate news media, particularly on television with the launch of ITN on the Independent Television service, which began broadcasting in parts of the United Kingdom in 1955. Produced on 35mm film and in Eastmancolor , these eight-minute 'featurettes' melded a light-hearted magazine format with a more in depth documentary approach and depicted aspects of life, mainly in Britain, but sometimes further afield. The films often depicted elements of
480-484: The films have not been seen in full since their original screenings in the cinemas, although a number of films have been previously released on Super 8 and on DVD in themed categories. These include Look at Life – Swingin' London , which explores elements of contemporary London life, work and traditions and Look at Life – On the Railways , which represented the great changes that were taking place to Britain's railways in
512-514: The introduction of the Rank 'gong' logo at the beginning of later films. Television led audiences into a documentary world that had more grit and less glamour than the relative escapism of the cinema and by 1969 Rank could no longer ensure the survival of the series and the concept waned just like other newsreels and magazine films also available at that time, such as the Pathé Pictorial which
544-405: The programmes were seldom heard to speak unless as background sound, their activities and interactions with others generally being commented upon by the narrator. Otherwise the subject of the film or clip would sometimes address the camera directly or perform in a given situation, both in a staged and a scripted manner whereby the narrator could often add a humorous or ironic comment in the context of
576-539: The rapid changes that were taking place in the country in an entertaining and informative narrative. Look at Life also took its cameras abroad to focus on events and affairs within the Commonwealth and British colonies including Aden , Gibraltar and the ever diminishing British controlled areas of Africa . Look at Life cameras were also offered exclusive access behind the Iron Curtain to present life in
608-422: The registered trademark of Hovercraft. Cockerell received an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 1971. In later life, Cockerell developed many other improvements to the hovercraft, and invented various other applications for the air cushion principle, such as the hovertrain . He attended many hovercraft related events, such as the unveiling of many hoverports across the United Kingdom. After
640-653: The subject. On occasions an expert or professional in the field of the subject such as inventor of the Hovercraft Christopher Cockerell could be watched presenting the film directly to camera and providing the voiceovers. In the most part narration of the films was provided by well known celebrities and presenters of the time including Raymond Baxter , Eamonn Andrews , Wynford Vaughan-Thomas , Michael Ingrams , Anthony Bilbow , Sid James and Martin Jarvis in later editions. James Bond’s Island
672-484: The title Look at Life . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Look_at_Life&oldid=1032606815 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Look at Life (film series) Look at Life
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#1732782361603704-507: The wake of the modernisation programme and the decline of steam. However Network has gradually released box-sets of the films over eight volumes, containing a total of 499 films. Volume 1: "Transport" is a four disc compilation released in 2010 and contains 54 films on the theme of transport. Look at Life Volume 2: "Military" containing 45 films on three discs was released in June 2011, whilst Volume 3: "Science" containing 45 films on three discs
736-412: The water, the craft would effectively have no drag. This, he conjectured, would give the craft the ability to attain a much higher maximum speed than could be achieved by the boats of the time. Cockerell's theory was that instead of just pumping air under the craft, as Thornycroft had, if the air were to be instead channelled to form a narrow jet around the perimeter of the craft, the moving air would form
768-561: Was a regular British series of short documentary films of which over 500 were produced between 1959 and 1969 by the Special Features Division of the Rank Organisation for screening in their Odeon and Gaumont cinemas. The films always preceded the main feature film that was being shown in the cinema that week. It replaced the circuit's newsreel, Universal News , which had become increasingly irrelevant in
800-531: Was curator of the Fitzwilliam Museum , having previously been the secretary of William Morris . His mother was the illustrator and designer Florence Kingsford Cockerell . Christopher attended the preparatory school of St Faith's . Christopher was educated at Gresham's School, Holt, Norfolk . He matriculated at Peterhouse, Cambridge to read mechanical engineering. He later returned to Cambridge to study radio and electronics. He began his career as
832-491: Was found to have potential, but the idea took some years to develop, and he was forced to sell personal possessions to finance his research. By 1955, he had built a working model from balsa wood and had filed his first patent for the hovercraft, No. GB 854211 . Cockerell had found it impossible to interest the private sector in developing his idea, as both the aircraft and the shipbuilding industries saw it as lying outside their core business. He therefore approached
864-458: Was introduced to the NRDC ( National Research Development Corporation ). In the autumn of 1958, the NRDC placed an order with Saunders-Roe for the first full-scale hovercraft. This prototype craft was designated the SR.N1 (Saunders-Roe – Nautical One) and was manufactured under licence from the NRDC. On 11 June 1959, the SR.N1 was first shown to the public, which was capable of carrying four men at
896-485: Was narrated by voice actor Peter Hawkins . However the majority of the films were narrated by actor Tim Turner . In the early years at the end of each film the caption "Take a Look at Life Again Soon" would appear on screen. Most episodes were between 8 and 10 minutes long, but some such as Common Market and High, Wide and Faster were more feature length at 17 minutes. When the first issue of Look at Life , "Marrakesh"
928-472: Was released in March 1959, it was hailed in the trade journals as an "exciting venture in film journalism" and Rank announced this innovation would have "a more lasting impact than the present ephemeral newsreel content". Look at Life was a popular formula but did become rather frozen in time with its light-hearted presentation and jaunty theme tune, despite subtle changes to the opening titles, their graphics and
960-542: Was released in September 2011. Two further volumes, Volume 4: "Sport" containing 42 films on three discs and Volume 5: "Cultural Heritage" containing 64 films on four discs were for release in August and November 2012 respectively. Volume 6: "World Affairs" containing 72 films on five discs was released on 1 February 2013. On 10 August 2015, a seventh volume Volume 7: "Business and Industry" containing 60 films on three discs
992-475: Was released. The final 7 disc Volume 8: People and Places presenting a remaining 117 films on seven discs was released in the spring of 2021. In November 2012, the series Britain on Film commissioned by BBC Scotland for broadcast on BBC Four began a twenty-part series providing an insight into life in Britain in the 1960s exclusively featuring footage from the Look at Life series. Distributed by ITN Source ,
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1024-454: Was shown on the rival ABC cinema circuit, and as cinema audiences continued to decline rapidly on the verge of the 1970s. Over 500 episodes were produced altogether. Digitally restored from the original film elements, the Look at Life series is now licensed by ITV Studios Global Entertainment , previously known on screen as Granada Ventures and distributed by the Network imprint. Many of
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