Think bike

STOP LOOK LISTEN
The Magazine's Public Information Film festival

Every day in February, the Magazine is featuring a classic public information film from the past 60 years, concluding with a vote to find the nation's favourite.

In terms of simple but effective, Think Once, Think Twice, Think Bike is a classic.

This short public information film, screened in 1975, asked road users to be considerate toward motorcycles at junctions.

Enter our competition - make your own Public Information Film

Presented by actor Edward Judd, it shows him punching his hand to inform people of the effect a car might have on a motorcycle. A move copied in playgrounds across the country for years afterwards.

STOP LOOK LISTEN Stop Look Listen is the Magazine's festival of Public Information Films, with the National Archives and the COI

The film's classic status was confirmed when the satirical sketch show Not The Nine O'clock News did a parody of it, featuring Mel Smith, a cricket bat and various soft fruit.

(Scene: A man sits at a table. He pulls up the sleeves of his jumper and then holds up his left hand and makes a fist, to represent a car. He then holds up his right hand and opens it so he has a flat palm, to represent a motorcycle)

Man: If you imagine this is your car and then this is a motorcycle. Now when you drive up to a main road it's easy to see other cars.



(The shot cuts to the man using his hands to represent two cars at a junction, then back to his face)

Man: But because a motorcycle is the third of a width of a car he's very hard to see.

(The shot cuts back to his flat palm, used to represent a motorcycle)

Man: But he's dead easy to hurt.

(The shot cuts from the man's fist punching into his palm to a car turning out of a junction and colliding with a motorcycle. The driver rushes from his vehicle to the motorcyclist, who has blood running from his helmet. The shot cuts back to the man's face)

Man: Nasty. That's why at junctions I'm asking you to give a second thought for bikes.



(Shot cuts back to a driver waiting to turn at a busy junction, a car drives by and then a bike)

Man: Stop, think once for cars. Hold it, then think again for bikes. If you want to avoid this.

(Shot cuts from man holding up his hands and punching his fist into his palm to a car colliding with a motorcycle)

Man: Think once, think twice, think bike.

(Man holds up one finger, then a second then slams down his hand on the table)

Enter our competition

Could you do better yourself? Here's your chance to try. The Magazine is inviting readers to make your own 60-second films.

Your brief is to celebrate the art of the public information film. This means you can make a film which warns of modern danger in a contemporary style, or you can produce one in the style of films of old. It's up to you.

You've got until the end of the month to make the film and get it to us. Instructions for sending them to us are at the bottom of the page.

For those of you looking for tips on how to make your film work, BBC Video Nation editor Rosemary Richards says the key thing to consider is what the audience would like to see.

Ms Richards says it's always best to get out to different locations and take lots of pictures so you can illustrate your film well - but don't overdo it.

"Keep it simple," she says. "For example, you might want to use actors but perhaps your friends and family are not great actors. It might be best to just speak straight into the camera yourself. "You should also make sure you don't film your subjects next to windows and that you use the microphone(s) appropriately. And while hand-held camera can be used to good effect, it's usually best to make sure you have a good supply of steady shots.

"However great your creative idea is, the film can't be used unless we can see and hear what's on it," she says.

Also, if you want to get your film on the web or on TV, you must make sure all the work - including the music - is your own or copyright cleared.

So keep it simple, make sure the images and sounds are clear and, of course, get a good story.

Click here for more filming tips from the Video Nation website

Instructions for sending films

Films should be 60 seconds maximum. Please submit your films to us via e-mail or by post.

E-mail attachments should be sent to [e-mail], subject line STOP LOOK LISTEN COMPETITION. Attachments should be no bigger than 10Mb - you may be able to compress the file by zipping it.

If your film is above 10Mb, you can either upload it to your own personal webspace or free online storage sites (such as www.ourmedia.org) and send us an e-mail telling us its address.

Alternatively you could use free online file transfer services - see this Creative Guy blog posting for a list of 50 such services). Again, please address these to [e-mail], subject line STOP LOOK LISTEN COMPETITION.

If you want to post the file to us, please burn them on to a DVD or put them on MiniDV, and send them to:

The Magazine
BBC News Interactive
Room 7540
Television Centre
London
W12 7RJ

Here's some small print.

Terms and conditions If you submit an image, you do so in accordance with the BBC's Terms and Conditions.

In contributing to BBC News you agree to grant us a royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to publish and otherwise use the material in any way that we want, and in any media worldwide. This may include the transmission of the material by our overseas partners; these are all reputable foreign news broadcasters who are prohibited from altering the material in any way or making it available to other UK broadcasters or to the print media. (See the Terms and Conditions for the full terms of our rights.)

It's important to note, however, that you still own the copyright to everything you contribute to BBC News and that if your image and/or video is accepted, we will endeavour to publish your name alongside it on the BBC News website. The BBC cannot guarantee that all pictures and/or video will be used and we reserve the right to edit your comments.

At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws.

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Stop Look Listen is compiled by Giles Wilson

Add your comments on this story, using the form below.

The Think Bike Sketch was done in the Young Ones, not Not the Nine O'clock News
Totexth O'Grady, Darlington

Remember the young ones version of this ad?
"Think once,
think twice,
think 'don't drive your car up on the pavement'"
Dan, Dundee

The Think Once, Think Twice film may have been snappy and effective, but that hasn't stopped people pulling out in front of motorcycles, resulting in more Think Bike adverts recently.
Simon, Northampton

With the number of accidents caused by people driving too close to the car in front, my favourite would be: "Only a Fool Breaks The Two Second Rule", that being how far you should be behind the vehicle in front.
Julian Hall, Barry, S Wales

I was worried this one would be forgotten! It is one of the most memorable because it is easy to send up. The Young Ones also parodied this film. With think once, think twice, think don't drive on the pavement. I think Andy De la Tour was the man in the roll neck jumper and he used a cricket bat with a brick nailed through it.
Edward Rawson, Mansfield

Thirty-one years on we're still running more or less the same ad with the same minimal impact on driving. I can't think why you want to highlight this one as a success.
Jim, London

Yes! At last! This was my favourite PIF. I'm not sure why, perhaps because it was really simple and stark, but got the message across very powerfully. And for years afterwards, I still did the thumping the palm gesture for all sorts of things.
Michelle, London

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