The New Alchemy (1976)

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  • Release Date: 1st January 1976
  • Asset ID: 802302
  • Synopsis: This programme looks at the petroleum chemicals industry which produces the basic raw materials for the mass manufacture of a vast variety of products which improve our living standards and enhance the quality of life - plastics, fibres, synthetic rubbers, paints, fertilisers, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and many more. But petroleum chemicals and plastics are not mere substitutes for traditional materials; they are often far superior to those materials and highly desirable in their own right. Furthermore, they satisfy demands which could not be met by the world's supply of natural materials.
  • Shotlist: 00:59:59 START BP Shield logo. Caption to explain the film is commemorating the foundation an ethylene plant in Grangemouth, Scotland 1951. 01:00:30 Caption 'The New Alchemy' over jellyfish. Starts Concorde taking off along runway through heat haze. Aerial shot of Concorde in British ariways livery flying above couds. Aerial view of ship in sea. LA of train. GVs of busy traffic. Pylon. Camera pan over plant at sunrise or sunset. 01:02:20 Fixed shots of plant. 01:02:43 Scientists at work in the plant's control room. 01:03:15 CU of bottles of chemicals. CU of tablets of manmade materials being poured into a container. Polyetherine granules being poured into tube. Overhead shot of granules. Granules being formed into a plastic film which rotates on a reel. 01:04:06 Granules being extruded into a viscous translucent fluid. Butadiene and acrylonitrile being poured and processed into an extruder to emerge as a synthetic rubber. 01:04:32 GVs of Grangemouth plant. The products are transported to the next destinations where they will be processed further. 01:05:11 Manmade fibres factory where thin thread is put onto reels and woven into material. 01:06:36 Threads being dyed by machine. Patterned material being produced. Patterned carpets being manufactured. CUs of patterned carpets and wallpaper. 01:08:09 Women putting on stockings. CU of coloured tops on a rack. People shopping for clothes. 01:09:02 Fur coats. CU of frills on woman's top. CU of black outfit on woman. 01:09:22 Cars being made in factory. 01:10:24 WS car racing on track. 01:10:30 Plastics being moulded, blown, extruded and pressed in a factory. Bottles, plastic cups, sieves being made. 01:11:38 Pan across plastic household products. 01:12:12 Perfume bottles. Women shopping for perfume and cosmetics. 01:13:01 CU of needle being placed on LP on record player. People shopping in record shop. CU of record player, TV, radio, cassette player. 01:13:32 children on a merry-go-round. CU of toys. 01:13:52 Men parachute jumping. Man skiing, bike and car racing, canoeing, water sports, hang-gliding. 01:14:39 CU phone and man picking it up. Factory where phone wires are manufactured. Polyethylene for deep sea cables. Cable being laid in sea. 01:15:08 Food items with plastic packaging. Shelves of food in supermarket with people shopping and at checkout. 01:15:39 Crops being sprayed, tractor in field laying fertiliser. Helicopter spraying crops. Trav shot L across field until it reaches the plant. 01:16:24 Scientist collecting air sample near the plant and taking it back to a mobile lab for a detailed analysis. CU of microphone with plant in BG recording noise intensity for scientist to check back in the mobile laboratory. 01:17:04 Boat at sea with scientists taking samples of the water to check quality. They pull out a fish to check how marine life is affected. 01:17:42 Petrochemicals in a factory - medicine capsules being poured into rotating machine. Petrochemicals on a conveyor belt. 01:18:20 Surgeons and patient in operating theatre giving a man a plastic kneecap. New mother lying in hospital bed with nurse beside her. CU of baby being checked by doctor. CU of mother. 01:19:28 Trav night shot of plant. Credits roll over the shot. 01:20:27 END.
  • Production Company: None
  • Licensing Restrictions: None
  • Viewing Restrictions: Public
  • Format: BetaSP_Small
  • Alternative Language Notes: None