Hüttenwerke Oberhausen AG
HOAG factory newsreel (April–December 1954)
In the 1950s, the motto on the works premises of Hüttenwerk Oberhausen AG was “move on!”. Because the company's own press office shot so-called factory newsreels, which were shown to the workforce every three months.
Still image from "HOAG factory newsreel"
© Hüttenwerk Oberhausen (HOAG)
FIMOGRAPHIC DETAILS
Client: Hüttenwerk Oberhausen (HOAG)
Director and film editing: HOAG press office headed by Karl-Heinz Sauerland
Year: 1954
Runtime: 13 minutes
Format: 8mm film, black and white
MOVIE INFO
BACKGROUND OF FILM PRODUCTION
The first director of labor at Hüttenwerk Oberhausen AG (HOAG), Karl Strohmenger, suggested this film format. Based on the well-known newsreels of the cinemas, he had the company's own press office produce factory newsreels. According to their own statements, they were a novelty in Germany as “internal information media”. Highlights of what was happening in the company were presented on celluloids – technical, operational and also social “news” were shown – which meant that these factory newsreels took on the role of an “audiovisual company newspaper”.
TO FILM PRODUCTION
The films were produced with the simplest of film technology. This becomes very clear when you pay attention to editing and soundtrack. The HOAG press office, headed by Karl-Heinz Sauerland, carried out the shooting and directing work as well as the film editing. The first shots were taken with an 8mm film camera. It wasn't important to produce an artistically high-quality film, but "a film tells about what's going on in the company, and on the other hand is up-to-date". Today, the HOAG factory newsreels are an excellent source for the social history of the factory.
GO TO CONTENT
The "Werkswochenschau" ran as a preliminary program to the quarterly works meetings in the HOAG works inn. The factory newsreels should have an identity-forming effect. These are not professionally shot films, but amateur recordings.