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From the collection of the
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Motion Picture
Education
By
ERNEST A. DENCH
Author of "Making the Movies,"
"
Playtartting
for the Cinema," "Adortiing by
Motion Pictures"
CINCINNATI
THE STANDARD PUBLISHING COMPANY
Copyright, 1917
The Standard Publishing Company
CONTENTS
PAGB
I
Do MOTION PICTURES INTERFERE
WITH THE EDUCATION OF THE
CHILD? 13
II
STIMULATING IMAGINATION BY MOTION
PICTURES 20
III
WHAT THE FREE-LANCE HAS DONE
FOR THE EDUCATIONAL FILM . .
23
IV
BATTLES THAT ARE REFOUGHT FOR
THE FILM 29
V
ARITHMETIC, SPELLING AND HANDWRITING
BY MOTION PICTURES. .
35
VI
PENMANSHIP IN MOTION PICTURES.. 38
3
CONTENTS
PAGE
VII
PRINTED MATTER IN MOTION PICTURES
41
VIII
THE MOTION-PICTURE NEWSPAPER AS
AN EDUCATOR 46
IX
THE SHORTCOMINGS OF PHOTOPLAY
ADAPTED LITERATURE 49
X
SHOWING MOTION PICTURES IN OPENAIR
SCHOOLS 54
XI
THE LIMITATIONS OF MOTION-PICTURE
EDUCATION 56
XII
ARE SPEED-UP MOTION PICTURES OF
EDUCATIONAL VALUE ? 60
XIII
CONDUCTING SCHOOL MOTION-PICTURE
CIRCUITS 63
4
CONTENTS
PAQH
XIV
LIVING IN THE PAST BY THE MOVIES 68
XV
THE STUDY OF ATHLETICS AND
SPORTS BY MOTION PICTURES ... 73
XVI
WHY NOT A Zoo FOR EVERY TOWN? 78
XVII
DOMESTIC SCIENCE BY MOTION PICTURES
82
XVIII
SPEAKING WORDS IN THE SILENT
DRAMA 85
XIX
SELECTING MOTION PICTURES FOR
CHILDREN 89
XX
MOTION PICTURES THAT CHILDREN
LIKE 96
XXI
THE MOTION-PICTURE POSTER MENACE
102
5
CONTENTS
PAGE
XXII
CAPITALIZING NOTORIETY IN MOTION
PICTURES 105
XXIII
THE PHOTOPLAY THEATER CRYINGBABY
PROBLEM in
XXIV
OPERA ON THE FILM 114
XXV
SPIRITUALISM BY THE FILM 122
XXVI
BIBLE STUDY BY MOTION PICTURES. .
127
XXVII
PUTTING OVER SERMONS IN PHOTOPLAYS
136
XXVIII
RAISING CHURCH FUNDS BY MOTION
PICTURES 141
XXIX
INCREASING SUNDAY-SCHOOL ATTENDANCES
BY MOTION PICTURES. . .
145
CONTENTS
PAGE
XXX
ALLOWING CHILDREN TO ACT IN A
PHOTOPLAY THEY HAVE SEEN. .
149
XXXI
MISSIONARY WORK BY MOTION PICTURES
152
XXXII
TEMPERANCE AIDED BY MOTION PICTURES
158
XXXIII
STAMPING DOWN CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
BY MOTION PICTURES 162
XXXIV
THE MOTION PICTURE IN SURGERY
AND MEDICINE 166
XXXV
DENTISTRY BY THE FILM 175
XXXVI
FIGHTING TUBERCULOSIS BY THE
FILM 178
7
CONTENTS
PAGE
XXXVII
"BETTER BABIES" MOVIE CAMPAIGN. 181
XXXVIII
HOSPITAL FUNDS THROUGH A FILM
"VISIT" 185
XXXIX
THE "FIGHTING INFANTILE PARALYSIS"
FILM 188
XL
CONDUCTING A PUBLIC HEALTH CAMPAIGN
BY MOTION PICTURES 192
XLI
AMERICANIZING FOREIGNERS BY MOTION
PICTURES 196
XLII
INDUSTRIAL USES OF THE MOTION
PICTURE 200
XLIII
ENTERTAINING EMPLOYEES BY MOTION
PICTURES 214
8
CONTENTS
PAGE
XLIV
SHOOTING AT THE FILM 223
XLV
TEACHING AGRICULTURE BY MOTION
PICTURES 228
XLVI
LIVE STOCK IN MOTION PICTURES. . .
232
XLVII
USING THE MOVIES UNDER THE SEA. 234
XLVIII
MOTION PICTURES AS AN Am TO POLITICS
237
XLIX
THE MOTION-PICTURE CRITIC 247
L
LAW PRACTICE BY MOTION PICTURES 252
LI
AIDING CRIME DETECTION BY MOTION
PICTURES 256
LII
MOTION PICTURES IN PRISON 260
9
CONTENTS
PAGE
LIII
MAKING THE MOTION PICTURE "
OF THE FAMILY" ...... ....... 263
LIV
WRITING A LOCAL PHOTOPLAY ...... 268
LV
ATTENDING TO THE ACTING ........ 273
LVI
COLORS EMPLOYED IN MAKE-UP ..... 276
LVII
SECURING PERMISSION FOR LOCATIONS 279
LVIII
TAKING THE EXTERIORS............ 283
LIX
LIGHTING NIGHT EXTERIORS........ 289
LX
LIGHTING INTERIORS ............. 292
LXI
STAGING INTERIORS ............... 297
10
CONTENTS
PAGE
LXII
TRICK EFFECTS 303
LXIII
TACTICS ADOPTED IN FILMING NATURAL
HISTORY SUBJECTS 307
LXIV
TAKING MOTION PICTURES FROM AN
AEROPLANE 313
LXV
FILM STOCK TROUBLES IN THE
TROPICS 317
LXVI
DEVELOPING THE NEGATIVE 321
LXVII
How TO TAKE FILM TITLES 328
LXVIII
PRINTING POSITIVE COPIES 331
LXIX
HOME MOTION-PICTURE ENTERTAINMENTS
AS A SOURCE OF PLEASURE
AND PROFIT 335
11
CONTENTS
PAGE
LXX
THE VALUE OF PUBLICITY 339
LXXI
IMPROVING FILM PRESENTATION BY
COLOR LIGHTING 341
LXXII
ARE WE TO HAVE STEREOSCOPIC MOTION
PICTURES? 346
LXXIII
SHOWING OLD FILMS TO CHILDREN. .
351
12
DO MOTION PICTURES INTERFERE WITH
THE EDUCATION OF THE CHILD?
OUT
of school hours the average child
is never happy unless attending the
movies. To take a typical town, Duluth,
Minnesota, for instance, City Supt. R. E.
Denfield has compiled the following statistics:
2,621 children attend the movies once
weekly; 1,065 twice weekly; 188 thrice
weekly; 61 four times weekly; 16 five times
weekly; 2 six times weekly; 15 seven times
weekly; 1,044 occasionally; 248 once
monthly.
How do these motion-picture visits affect
the child? We hear reports that, after an
evening spent in a photoplay theater, the
child is not in a fit mental condition to
absorb his school lessons on the next day.
Is this true? Whether the effect produced
is harmful or not depends almost entirely
upon the conditions under which the pictures
are seen and the type of picture shown.
13
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
Many exhibitors, I regret to say, paybut
scant attention to the health of their
patrons. The figures obtained by Dr.
Haven Emerson, Health Commissioner for
New York City, tell their story only too
eloquently. No fewer than one thousand
motion-picture theaters in New York City
and Brooklyn were visited, and of these
but eighty-seven were properly ventilated.
The worst examples were the converted
store shows, but many other houses were
equipped with electric fans, which, for
economical reasons, were not used, consequently
this air circulation outlet was closed.
In other theaters inadequate heating facilities
evidently were responsible for all freshair
outlets and inlets being closed up. To
quote from the report: "Perfumed disinfectants
are being sprayed in some of the
theaters with a cattle-sprayer. The spraying
process does nothing to eliminate germs
coming from the mouths of patrons, which
cause epidemics during the winter. Our
experiments with culture-plates revealed the
fact that the quantity of germs immediately
decreased when the fans were operated."
The stuffy atmosphere which is the inevitable
outcome of poor ventilation causes
14
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
the average patron to leave the theater with
a tired feeling. This is not natural tiredness
it is the kind which makes a child
wake heavy in the morning, instead of with
a clear head. The reason is therefore not
hard to seek why a pupil pays but scant
attention to his or her lessons.
Some assert that motion pictures are
hard on the eyes, while others aver that
they actually prove a beneficial exercise.
Which version, then, is correct? The eye
problem is mainly determined by the projection.
If it is poor, only harm can result.
I know of one girl who had an attack of
nervousness. The optometrist, however,
ascertained that the theater she was in the
habit of attending showed flickering films,
which had done considerable damage to the
retina of each eye. He advised her to discontinue
her visits, as otherwise she would
probably have paralysis of the optic nerve.
The main cause of flicker is old films. Films
rapidly deteriorate, and when they reach
the "rainy" stage they are a menace to the
eyesight. The fault, however, does not
always arise from this, for the operator
may be careless or incompetent
Another serious defect is "speeding."
2 15
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
A reel ordinarily takes from sixteen to
eighteen minutes to run off the screen, but
the operator sometimes shoots the reels
through at almost double the normal speed.
Speaking of this evil, a prominent Chicago
oculist says: "Severe test is put upon the
eyes by the unnatural swiftness with which
films are sometimes reeled off, making every
action abnormally rapid and jerky, converting
the actor's walk into a Chinese trot and
giving all the participants a sort of St. Vitus
dance. The practice of flashing written
letters and printed matter on and off the
screen with almost lightning celerity puts
the greatest strain upon the eyes. The
audience, in its eagerness to get an intelligent
understanding of the action, makes a
strong effort to read the lines, but in many
instances it is given no opportunity to read
all of them, and is kept on a strain in the
strenuous effort to grasp them at a fleeting
glance."
When motion pictures are exhibited
under ideal conditions, the only evil to be
feared is watching the screen for too long
a period. Mrs. Ella Flagg Young, superintendent
of the Chicago schools, some time
ago suggested that a five-minute intermission
16
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
between the reels be made compulsory.
First: Films are of standard lengths and
there are many objections to a stop in the
middle of a reel. Second: Specialists disagree
with Mrs. Young's views.
The average photoplay program occupies
about two hours, which has been
declared the ideal period in which to view
films at one sitting. The eyes are actually
rested, but after this period weariness slowly
but surely comes on. Even hardened newspaper
critics testify that such is the case. As
most theaters are run on the continuows
principle, a child is liable to stay and see
the performance more than once, for it is a
childish trait to watch a thing as long as
possible.
There are many ways by which the character
of the films seen by pupils may be
determined. In South Bend, Indiana, 748
schoolchildren were recently asked as to the
kind of pictures they preferred. Forty-one
per cent, declared in favor of educational;
thirty per cent, dramatic; twenty-seven per
cent., comedy, and two per cent, crime.
But a Vine Street (Cincinnati) school
goes one further. At the morning session
each child is asked whether he or she was
17
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
present at a motion-picture theater on the
preceding evening. The names of these
pupils are recorded and particulars taken
of the amount of work performed.
A Cleveland teacher finds room on her
schedule for holding an oral expression and
story-telling period once weekly. In connection
with this she encourages her pupils
to relate the stories of the photoplays they
have seen. It has proved most popular
with the children because it is a subject dear
to their hearts.
The right kind of films actually assists
the education of a child. A sixth-grade
pupil who saw a film of the Panama Canal
found this engineering wonder so fascinating
that he borrowed books on the subject from
the public library. Another boy stated that
he liked natural-history pictures because he
was able to see how animals and birds live.
A drama appealed to a little girl owing to
the kindness and thoughtfulness displayed
by the small boy.
Bad films do an untold amount of harm.
In this category I would include sensational
dramas and vulgar comedies, which leave
such an impression upon a chilďs mind that
he lies awake all night thinking about them
18
*
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
and consequently is unable to concentrate at
school on the following day.
Not all theaters show such undesirable
pictures, so the child should be taught to
discriminate between the good and the bad.
The woman's clubs are accomplishing a lot
of good throughout the country in obtaining
suitable pictures for children, and in
many cases have induced exhibitors to give
special children's performances once weekly.
The Grass Valley (California) Board of
Education, for instance, is working in co-operation
with the local motion-picture showmen
with the prime object of securing more
and better pictures for children. This plan
might be adopted with advantage by school
authorities elsewhere,
19
II
STIMULATING IMAGINATION BY MOTION
PICTURES
T^HE eye plays an important part in pres-
*
ent-day education, but it has not yet
been brought up to the efficiency point.
Books and slides whet the imagination, but
fail to completely satisfy the same. Not
so with the motion picture, however. Why
are youngsters of all ages so fond of going
to the movies? It is because they are able
to see things as they are.
The average city-dweller's child has a
very vague idea of the beauties of the
countryside, for some parents are not well
off enough to send their offspring to the
green meadows, hills and woods. These
are practically like foreign lands to them,
but present these things in motion pictures
and they will grasp every little detail so
readily that it proves as good as visiting
the places presented. The city child would
in no time be wise as his country cousin,
20
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
especially in regard to the haunts and habits
of wild animals and birds.
A friend of mine, teaching in England,
recently told me a story anent a pupil who
had seen a film covering Englanďs largest
county. "I always thought that Yorkshire
was a red piece of land," the boy remarked.
"Why?" asked his teacher. "Because it is
shown on the map in red."
Facts such as the above, when presented
in motion pictures, would leave an indelible
impression.
The motion picture affords an extensive
insight in regard to the different races
what they are like, how they live, industries,
etc.
The following is an extract from a letter
I received from a girl of fourteen: "Motion
pictures are better to the schoolchildren than
geography books because it is easy for them
to understand and they can see the places
described. People do not have to travel
to see beautiful places and scenes, but they
can see them on the film."
The study of literature is made harder
by some of the classics having to be read
over more than once in order to sense the
story. But let a grade first read the book
21
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
and then show them the photoplay version,
which will only take about an hour to project
on the screen, and they will know the
characters completely and master the story
without the least difficulty.
In regard to poetry, an author often
digs deep and introduces phrases which are
like Greek to the average scholar. But if
a poem is presented in motion pictures, as
a great many have been, each verse preceding
the visualization will be shown on the
screen, destroying all doubt on the subject.
Motion pictures sharpen the brain of a
child, make it move quicker, and allow
things to be grasped which were previously
beyond its mental capacity. All this is done
without "cramming."
22
Ill
WHAT THE FREE-LANCE HAS DONE FOR
THE EDUCATIONAL FILM
WITHOUT
the free-lance writer our
magazines and periodicals would lose
a great deal of their interest.
The photoplay producers, being business
men, have followed the lines of least resistance.
In saying this, however, I do not
wish to reflect upon a body of upright men.
They started out with the idea of entertaining
the masses, so they naturally turned their
attention to comedy and dramatic stories.
With the passing of time, their product
began to show signs of improvement, and a
superior type of patron favored the movie
theater, while the old stagers were gradually
educated up to the point of appreciating
more substantial fare than pure romance.
Europe was first to cater to this demand
by producing short educationals. These
covered natural history, native customs, popular
science, industries and floriculture.
23
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
But experience has to be purchased first
of all, so, instead of treating a subject in a
highly entertaining manner, like the magazines
and newspapers so ably do, the producer,
in too many cases, failed to deviate
from the text-book. His productions were
right in line for educational purposes, but
they were not palatable enough for general
consumption. The consequence was that
the educational got a bad name.
The American producers, in view of this
experience, declined to break down the
prejudice which arose to the surface.
Enter, then, the third party, the freelance
cinematographer. He was not hampered
by having to adhere to a releasing
schedule. He might have worshiped the
guide-book when combining pleasure with
business on a vacation, only he did not, to
his advantage. To get out of the beaten
track he knew that he would have to rely
upon his own observation powers, so when
he ran up against something out of the
ordinary he capitalized it on the spot.
It would take a volume to record all the
accomplishments of the numerous free-lance,
motion-picture photographers. Unquestionably,
the most amazing undertaking down to
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
date is that of the Williamson brothers. In
1914 they perfected their submarine-tube
apparatus. All the underwater pictures up
till then had been taken in tanks and
aquariums, so they determined to obtain the
last word in realism. They quietly set to
work in the Bahamas, where the water is
as clear as crystal and the undergrowth a
thing of beauty, to reveal, for the first
time, what it is like in King Neptune's
domains.
Divers had been the only folks privileged
to view this sight, but none the less a
photoplay audience would soon tire of it.
It was to offset this that such stunts as
native hunting, and diving for coins, species
of fish, sponge-fishing, and a fight between a
man and shark, were added to introduce the
desired variety.
To prove that there was no fake, the
first reel of the picture was devoted to a
demonstration of their apparatus.
Of big-game-hunting pictures in Africa
there have been many, the best being
obtained by Paul Rainey, Cherry Kearton
and Lady Mackenzie.
The Arctic regions have also been well
plucked. Edward Salisbury spent three
25
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
years in filming the wild life of our United
States.
The motion pictures of the ill-fated
Captain Scott South Pole expedition were
of unusual interest, and introduced the
motion picture in a new and useful capacity.
H. C. Ponting, the camera-man, recorded
all the activities of the expedition up to the
time the Southern party made their fatal
dash. Although none of the heroic party
came back to tell the tale, there was one
consolation: they were seen in harness until
they left their comrades.
Coming right home, Professor Ditmars
makes a hobby of taking natural-history pictures,
his position of curator at the New
York Zoological Gardens providing him
with abundant facilities for this sort of
thing. Fiddling with spiders and running
the gamut to snakes is as tedious as it is
dangerous.
It will be news to you to know that
Ditmars is averse to having his machinery
exploited, as it is of a special kind. His
first effort was a series of pictures entitled
"The Book of Nature." Now, however,
he sells occasional "fillers" to the regular
producers.
26
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
Dr. George A. Dorsey has completed
a brilliant piece of work in his series covering
China, Japan and India.
The efforts of these free-lances have
abundantly disproved the presumption that
the general public would not stand for more
than five-minute doses of educationals.
Most of these big productions, occupying
the screen for two hours or more, have been
star attractions at the leading theaters in
New York, Chicago and London.
Why have they appealed? This lies
principally in blending the human-interest
material with the facts in an unusual sub-
ject.
Had these cinematographers been working
on a salary basis for the regular film
manufacturers, they would, in all probability,
have been deprived of the credit.
Even to-day the average regular producer
has not a true conception of the right
qualities for an educational picture. He
attempts to bolster it up with an apology
for a story.
I must not, however, permit my sense of
fairness to run astray, so will state that he
excels in producing one type of educational
the historical. His long experience in
27
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
putting on comedies and dramas qualifies
him to reconstruct the past.
To get down to the point, is there any
chance for the free-lance cinematographer
to make good in this special field? There
is if you have new, practical ideas. What
is wanted to-day are things which have
never been filmed. Just because almost all
the globe has been, seemingly, covered, is not
to imply that little else remains. In this land
of wonderful natural resources, for instance,
there are historical places, scenic charms,
industries and phases of natural history
galore, which have never appeared in
motion pictures. It is up to you to find
them.
This will afford you a rough idea of the
possibilities that do exist. Some of the
regular producing concerns are open to
purchase the negatives of good subjects at
a fair price,
28
IV
BATTLES THAT ARE REFOUGHT FOR
THE FILM
T TOW dearly the average film producer
** loves reproducing battles! All the
thrills he wants are readily made, and he
can steer ahead to his hearťs content. The
mainstay of his work is action spelled in
capital letters, and this is why war pictures
appeal to him more than any other class of
films.
When at school, many of us voted history
a dry and uninteresting subject. It was
one mass of facts, and the nearest we ever
got to the visualizing stage was by a few
sketches contained in books, and our lessons
were accompanied by maps, which were
quite as uninteresting.
The moving picture has changed all this,
and battles that once were only familiar to
us by dates and names, now convey a far
greater meaning. We envy the children of
to-day, who are able to derive their learning
29
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
in the easy and pleasant way the film affords.
Of course, none of us regards the picture
theater as an advanced school. We go
there to be entertained, but if we can learn
in an indirect manner at the same time, so
much the better.
But the director has spoiled himself too
many times by mixing fiction with facts.
The receipt does not blend at all well.
When we see advertised
u
The Battle of
Never Occurred," we certainly look forward
to seeing the historian's record strictly
adhered to. But in the majority of cases
we find the director has gone beyond the
history book by introducing an insipid love
story to hold the interest. To be sure, we
do not object to the gentle passion being
depicted in its right place, but one can have
too much of a good thing. He has, at
different times, produced ambitious war
spectacles, and these have been none the
worse quite the opposite, to be precise
for the love element not being added.
When the latter is introduced, the educational
value of the finished product is
greatly depreciated.
Films that treat the history in our own
country serve to further promote patriotism
30
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
in our breasts. The war now raging in all
Europe can serve to substantiate my case.
In Britain these historical pictures have
acted as a stimulant to recruiting. Although
I have no actual data to force my argument
directly home, undoubtedly the pictures of
our fight for independence, and other wars,
have ably demonstrated to us the price we
had to pay for liberty. To reconstruct a
battle is more than chilďs play. Indeed, it
is a proposition full of pitfalls. That only
stands to reason, for it is a page of life
from the past, and the director, to introduce
the convincing note throughout, must furthermore
reproduce it true to life.
As I have before maintained, he should
not wander outside the history of his native
country in seeking subjects for war spectacles.
He has got his work cut out to
produce a historical picture of his own
country, without rambling abroad.
Probably the most interesting thing of
all is obtaining the correct types. It is not
any earthly use producing a film featuring,
say, George Washington, if the actor assigned
to the part looks it about as much
as the man in the moon. The player must
bear a striking likeness, whatever noted per3
31
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
sonage he may have to portray. In most
cases the players are picked mainly for their
resemblance.
Some time back an English company
wanted to take a battle of the Nile film,
but, owing to their inability to find an actor
who would pass muster as Lord Nelson,
they did not proceed further.
To give the idea that there are two
huge armies engaged when it is not practical
to employ more than a few hundred extras,
requires considerable ingenuity on the part
of the director. Their movements, when
the uniforms of both armies are much alike,
should not cause one to lose sight of which
is which. A very excellent film I remember
was marred because of this fault.
It is a good idea of the film producers
to borrow portions of Uncle Sam's army
and navy, and I would like to see both even
more extensively used, providing, of course,
the necessary official consent is forthcoming.
There is no other country in the world that
treats film producers so liberally as does
our obliging Government. Before now I
have come across good pictures that have
been spoiled by the unmilitary-like appearance
of the extras who filled in the battle
32
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
scenes. It strikes me that a retired officer
could do much to drill them into proper,
shape when the director is at a loss to find
the right type of men. Those so trained
could be regarded as specialists and thus be
always available.
I have seen soldiers, depicting Revolutionary
times, marching along roads lined
with telegraph-poles. Incorrect uniforms
and sundry other errors have likewise met
my gaze from time to time. All these
things tend to detract from the historical
value of such films. It is clearly apparent
that a military expert to supervise war films
would be a worth-while move on the part
of any manufacturing concern.
In its own particular class the "Buffalo
Bill" picture of the Indian wars was a
masterpiece, for it was stipulated by the
Government that if taken at all it was to
be historically correct. This was practically
assured, and afterward achieved, when those
who played the important part in the original
battles likewise figured prominently in
the moving-picture version.
33
ARITHMETIC, SPELLING AND HANDWRITING
BY MOTION PICTURES
IV /f ANY have asserted that such subjects
***- as arithmetic, spelling and handwriting
can not be taught by motion pictures.
I beg to differ.
In regard to arithmetic: On the magic
white screen could appear a blank blackboard,
on which jump a bunch of jumbled
figures. These would form themselves up
into sums, and the numbers could be added,
subtracted, multiplied or divided, as the
case might be.
Trick cinematography allows these stunts
to be presented without the human agent
being revealed. The only thing that might
be said of this plan is that the
u
magic-wand"
element might lead a chilďs inquisitive mind
to wander, so, instead of paying strict attention
to the problem presented, he would
wonder how the figures were made to move.
I know of a producer who has gone one
34
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
better. The motion picture appeals to the
eye, and for this reason I am a strong
believer in presenting the facts by pictures.
Well, to begin at the beginning, this producer
engaged a troupe of child players,
who dressed and acted as teddy-bears.
Their actions, assisted by oranges, enabled
many arithmetical problems to be solved in
a simple and pleasing manner.
Another motion-picture photographer
proposes to show the figure i to be followed
by another figure i, who fights his brother
to the death, the result dissolving into the
figure 2. This performance may be continued
up to any desired number.
All the foregoing suggestions are, of
course, only suitable for kindergarten classes,
but there is no knowing the future developments
in motion-picture arithmetic.
Spelling lends itself particularly well to
visualized treatment. Suppose a troupe of
acrobats were introduced in a scene and each
member twisted his body in such a way as
to form a certain letter of the alphabet. If
these performers lined up in a row, they
could spell words. This is no theory; the
idea has already been carried out by one
film manufacturer.
35
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
Pupils, by this exceptionally interesting
and effective way, would watch every movement
of the actors and in this way readily
grasp the lesson taught.
Another way would be to show the
common version of a misspelled word,
which immediately fades into the correct
spelling.
If one visits the motion-picture theater,
one must have observed how easily handwriting
may be taught by the films. Sometimes
a close-up view of an actor reveals
him actually writing a letter. Take the
Kalem trade-mark as another instance.
Right across the film each letter is formed
with a large, bold, invisible hand. There
are also similar trademarks worth watching.
Mr. Palmer, the author of the "Palmer
Methods," intends to adapt his- system to
motion pictures, and he has already had a
film, three hundred feet in length, produced.
In this picture he writes "West Des Moines
High School" correctly on the blackboard.
The points accentuated are these : The right
writing posture both teacher and pupil
should assume; the difference between writing
comfortably on blackboard, wall and
desk. Incidentally, the minor details, such
86
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
as holding the pen, pencil or chalk, are not
neglected.
The advantage of the motion-picture
method is that the teacher's hand, which
has been filmed close to the camera, is seen
with equal clearness by every scholar,
37
VI
PENMANSHIP IN MOTION PICTURES
HPHE minor, but important, details are
often disregarded in penmanship. A
player, for instance, sits down to write a
letter. His pen glides over the paper at a
sixty-miles-a-minute pace, and before you
can realize it, he has completed a letter of
moderate length, in neat handwriting. That,
at least, is what is shown on the screen after
he is through.
No one wishes to be bored to death
while a character is writing a letter, but
there is a way of getting it over in a plausible
manner.
In a recent photoplay an old man sat
down to write a letter. He started making
each word in laborious fashion, and every
few moments the picture would switch to
another portion of the action and revert
again, until the epistle was completed.
Then, when the note appeared on the screen,
the spectators really believed he actually
38
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
penned the note, so why can not the stunt
be done in a lifelike manner on every
occasion?
Errors are also contained in the letters
relatives write to each other, some being as
brief as business communications. In real
life folks write fairly long letters, in which
they tell all sorts of family news. Each
word consumes a foot of film, and it would
therefore be out of the question to devote
so much space to superfluous matter. A
more effective method is to quote a paragraph
that directly concerns the play.
Then, there is the relationship in characters.
A son writing home to his mother
would hardly sign himself "Richard Dare,'
1
yet this is more often seen than "Your affectionate
son, Dick."
We certainly admire the dainty hands
of the heroine, but our indignation is great
when a large, grubby hand holds the letter
on the film. These "inserts," as they are
technically termed, are taken after the action
has been completed, and generally some
studio hand is assigned the task.
There is also the note which is written
under great difficulties. A picture which I
viewed on one occasion showed the hero
39
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
leaning against the bureau with his back
turned. He kept two desperadoes at bay
with one arm, and he put the other behind
his back so as to scrawl the message on the
bureau without them seeing his actions. He
threw the note out of the window, and when
it cut in on the film the writing was as good
as if done under normal conditions.
But this was nothing compared with
another photoplay in which the heroine
wrote a letter with a pointless pencil.
The motion picture aims to be true to
life, and the prevalence of these careless
mistakes only serves to belie its claims.
40
VII
PRINTED MATTER IN MOTION PICTURES
T^VEN the motion-picture makers can not
-*--1
get along without the assistance of the
printing art. Theirs is supposed to be a
craft by which everything is visualized in
pictures, but the fact remains that the
photoplay producer is as helpless as a sinking
ship in a storm, without explanatory
matter.
Take, for instance, the average motion
picture. First the title and the maker's
name are thrown on the screen, then the
cast of characters, and, after about two
introductory scenes, it is necessary to show
a subtitle, or leader, as it is sometimes
called, to throw light on what the characters
are doing, their relations to each other, etc.
This process continues at frequent intervals
until the finis.
The motion-picture players are very
clever in conveying the meaning of many
things with the aid of gestures and facial
41
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
expressions, but these mediums have their
limitations.
We are not yet sufficiently versed in
lip-reading to understand that the father is
on the verge of ruin, by the lip movements
of the players. Or that a lapse of ten years
takes place. At stages like these, subtitles
render invaluable assistance.
There has been a hue and cry over this
use of explanatory matter, we asserting that
we go to see pictures instead of to pore
over the efforts of printers' ink. So producers
thought that they could easily bridge
the gulf by having Father Time come out
in a scene and chip off ten years. One
other producer had the dialogue fade in
the middle of the scene, when a character
spoke. But all have been in the nature of
experiments, and have never achieved any
vogue, so once again the subtitle reigns
supreme.
Each word employed in a subtitle or
other explanatory matter uses up a foot of
film, consequently scenario authors have to
explain things in as few words as possible,
though they sometimes sacrifice clearness
for brevity. These announcements are first
printed in the ordinary way, after which
42
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
they are mounted on cards and cinemato-
graphed.
Often explanatory matter is adopted to
explain the obvious. The adage about "any
old port in a storm" holds good in this
instance, for the lazy photoplaywright finds
it the easiest way by which to put over his
play. One photoplay, in which a young
couple were married, introduced a subtitle
to explain this incident. But when I came
across the same situation in another, the
newlyweds were shown leaving the house
of the minister, and in the next scene was a
close-up of the bride's hand, displaying the
wedding-ring, which her mother was looking
at.
Sometimes directors are not overparticular
in regard to such things as spelling,
punctuation and grammar.
It often proves annoying to see the
newspaper items. A player has only to
pick up a newspaper for a moment, when
he sees an important-to-him paragraph.
Imagine any newspaper putting it on the
front page.
Then, there is the newspaper write-up,
the headlines of which provide the desired
information. But the first few lines of the
43
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
text are allowed to remain, for atmosphere,
presumably. These, in too many instances,
have no possible connection with the headlines.
What the director does is to cut out
the headline and then fill in the one of the
author's concoction.
Many of the faults of the misuses of
film-printed matter may be traced to the
film editor. When the negative is completed
and developed, all pieces are assembled
and run off in a disjointed condition.
Many stops are made to cut scenes and
place them in their proper places, subtitles
and other printed matter being added where
needed.
Sometimes he finds that the picture
exceeds the standard length, so he cuts down
the space allotted to the subtitles, and then
we are annoyed that they do not remain on
the screen long enough for us to grasp
their meaning.
He is also responsible for the dialogue
subtitles appearing at the beginning of a
scene, instead of about the middle, thus
robbing a photoplay of its suspense, and the
player speaking at the right time.
A perfect photoplay has been defined
as one possessing no explanatory matter
44
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
whatever. But it is absurd to expect this
while the motion picture proceeds along
its present lines.
I have yet to see a photoplay get across
successfully without printed matter, and, in
my opinion, the aim of directors and photoplay
authors should be to eliminate the
prevailing defects,
45
VIII
THE MOTION-PICTURE NEWSPAPER AS
AN EDUCATOR
AY7HILE there are thousands of news-
**
papers published, from Maine to
California, there are but several animated
newspapers. They possess a great advantage
over their press contemporaries in that
they are not localized they cover the
important news events of the world. Condensation,
therefore, is brought down to a
fine art, for all this huge stretch of territory
is covered each week in two thousand feet
of film, taking about half an hour to run
off the screen.
Like regular newspapers, the newsies of
the movies have representatives in a town
of any importance, and, as they have some
sort of an arrangement with their British
contemporaries, they are able to cover other
continents.
The work of the topical cinematographer
is not easy. Indifferent weather may handi-
46
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
cap him; a permit may not be obtainable;
there is competition to reckon with; he has
to work in trying places and there are
inquisitive crowds to be handled diplomatically.
Under all these conditions he
has to grind out the regulation sixteen
pictures a second the results will be farcical,
otherwise. I well remember seeing
an English royal procession film. The
coaches and guards proceeded at a racing
pace, instead of in the usual dignified way.
The audience simply roared with laughter.
The operator in this case must have lost
his head and turned the crank slower,
for this gives the reverse results when
photographed.
When the negative is developed, it is
edited by the picture editor, who cuts out
the dead parts, prepares and inserts the
descriptive titles and boils down each item
to its relative importance.
The motion picture is far better for
teaching children what is going on than the
ordinary newspaper, which often abounds
with crime stories and other stuff objectionable
to children. To sift out the bad from
the good involves much time and trouble,
and even then the lesson is apt to prove dry
4 47
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
to the pupil, for much is left to the imagina-
tion.
But appeal to the eye with the help of
a news motion picture, and a child will sit
up and take notice. He will readily become
familiar with prominent persons; see the
havoc wrought by the European war; know
the meaning of "preparedness," and so on.
From their own lips children have told me
that they have also learned how foundationstones
are laid, the launching of battleships
and the damage done by accidents.
The animated newspapers are also doing
good work in the history field, for all events
as they occur are preserved for the benefit
of posterity, so that future generations will
know what we were like.
Even to-day, when a prominent person
dies, the animated newspapers unearth a
film and include same in the regular edition.
President Wilson, for instance, was pleased
to be presented, after his wife's death, with
a film taken at a garden party at which
Mrs. Wilson was present.
Any film-exchange is at liberty to hire
any topical desired, for a moderate fee, the
amount of which decreases with the age of
the film.
48
IX
THE SHORTCOMINGS OF PHOTOPLAY
ADAPTED LITERATURE
T ITERATURE and the photoplay are
* '
closely allied to each other, for by the
former we read, while by the other the
words are visualized into actions.
More than ever the printed page is
being drawn into the ever-gobbling net of
the film. Many of the great classics have
been adapted, others are in preparation,
and fiction authors are reaping harvests by
selling the film production rights of their
novels and short stories.
On the other hand, we hear complaints
of the harm done as the result of the photoplay
encroaching on the realm of fictiondom.
It is certain that a thing can not do good
to some without hitting others, yet the harm
done, fortunately, is practically nil.
First we have the libraries, who assert
that there has been a big decrease in the
demand for modern fiction. It is certain
49
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
that we fans can not do two things at once,
and we prefer to sit through the "nutshell
screen novel," in preference to wading
through a mass of words to get down to the
story. No doubt authors, publishers and
booksellers alike have felt the draught, but
they alone are to blame, for it is only the
minor novel that is being affected. It has
taught them that the public has learned to
appreciate quality instead of quantity. Yet
in the case of the adapted classics it has
brought them good business. When one of
these had been shown in a town, there has
been a great run on the works both at the
libraries and book-shops, especially the latter.
Many of us make our first acquaintance
with the good things in literature at the
picture theater. The publishers have responded
to this demand by issuing cheap
reprints, which have met with a big sale.
The storehouses of literature have been ransacked
so much that few famous literary
lights of the past now remain untouched.
Now for some criticism on the work of the
producers. Best results are never obtained
by adapting foreign literature. I have seen
versions of Dickens' novels, by American
producers, that have failed to impress
50
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
earnest students of his writings. The characters
looked so truly American that they
were mere caricatures of his creations. The
same applies to the works of other scribes.
Another thing, the Old World atmosphere
was lacking, except on those few
occasions when a company has sent a troupe
of players abroad for the purpose. This
was overcome in many instances by faking
exteriors in the studio, a practice that deserves
to be heartily condemned, inasmuch
as it detracts from the naturalness that is
the motion picture's greatest asset.
I have seen, too, versions of French
classics by English players whose portrayals
lacked the elaborate pantomime that characterizes
the warm-blooded French. I have
therefore come to the conclusion that classics
can only be done justice by being produced
in the country of their origin, by
native players. I also greatly deplore the
tendency to modernize ancient novels by
attiring the characters in present-day dress.
It greatly annoys those spectators who are
at all familiar with the literary work. Small
but important errors of all kinds have been
the rule rather than the exception.
If the screen is to retain its reputation
51
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
as an educator, there must be no repetition
of these serious defects.
Few screen versions follow the original
work minutely. The reason is not far to
seek. In a lengthy novel there are no end
of superfluous side-shoots that would hamper
the straightforwardness which characterizes
the photoplay. But producers should
not overstep their bounds by altering the
main plot to suit their liking.
In modern fiction the plot is secondary,
but the screen portrayals provide something
that the average film plot lacks. That is
characterization, which, so far, is essentially
the gift of the fictionist, and when the picture
is capably produced it gives us great
enjoyment to take an interest in real-life
characters instead of mere puppets, depending
for success on the personalities of the
leading players.
Many prefer first "seeing" the book
before reading it. On the printed page the
story starts in about the middle, and until
the end is reached it keeps switching backward
and forward. How much better,
then, to have the story presented right from
start to finish, as on the film. Besides, it is
more easily followed, and the story that
52
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
would take days to digest can be unfolded
on the screen in an hour or so.
This speeding-up process has prompted
magazine editors to demand clean-cut stories
that are devoid of padding.
The film is also excellent as a biographer,
though our producers have hardly
utilized its great possibilities. In Europe
much more has been done, and on a far
greater scale, and pictures of Lincoln, Queen
Victoria of Britain, Wagner, Anne Boleyn
and Shakespeare call for especial mention.
The success of such films depends much
on obtaining a real prototype of the personages
introduced. This often proves a
hard task and much make-up is out of the
question. In the case of Barker's "Sixty
Years a Queen," the producers were at a
loss to find a player to represent King
Edward, and eventually had to resort to
advertising in the London dailies, offering
$250 for the services of such a man.
Yes, it is certain that the photoplay is
doing a great service to literature, despite
the bad points.
X
SHOWING MOTION PICTURES IN OPENAIR
SCHOOLS
WHAT
are the advantages of showing
educational motion pictures in openair
schools? The motion picture is primarily
an indoor form of entertainment, yet
it need not be debarred from the open-air
school.
To install motion pictures in an indoor
school, it is essential to set apart a room
with plenty of exits, and other safety-first
precautions, if the regulations regarding
same are to be complied with.
With open-air exhibitions there are no
such regulations, consequently the preliminary
expenses are less and no special space
is necessary.
Indoor shows are given in more or less
darkness, which is a disadvantage, since it
places temptations in the way of pupils, and
it is best to be on guard against lack of
attention.
54
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
The outdoor show has one disadvantage
that of light. Most of the screens on the
market are only suitable for presenting pictures
in semi-darkness, so it behooves educators
to purchase the special type of daylight
screen. I would point out, however,
that more electricity is consumed in order
to project a clear picture,
55
XI
THE LIMITATIONS OF MOTION PICTURE
EDUCATION
\ 7ERSATILE as the motion picture is, it
* is powerless to perform the impossible.
There is no such thing in this wide world
elastic enough to be employed for every conceivable
thing and occasion, so when we
come down to the problem of applying the
motion picture to education, we also find
obstacles in our path.
That is precisely why it can not oust the
teaching methods at present in vogue it
can never be more powerful than a competent
assistant.
The best and most practical plan is for
the teacher to give the lesson first in the
ordinary way, then to arrange for the exhibition
of the film or films covering the subject
under notice. The picture should not
be shown as at the photoplay theater, but
the teacher, instead, should lecture on it
and draw the attention of the pupils to the
56
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
most vital points. In a film scene these are
quite apt to be overlooked among the multitude
of details. A lantern would also
further facilitate matters in enabling explanatory
slides to be projected while the film
is stopped at the necessary places, for film
views can not be shown in a stationary position.
The one disadvantage of the motion
picture is that you can not elaborate on any
point, for it changes over to another too
quickly.
There is danger, in the speeding-up
methods governing the presentation of different
subjects in film form, of trying to
cram too much into a chilďs brain at one
time. Some pupils possess greater intelligence
than others, so I recommend not
showing another picture until the preceding
one has been mastered. At this stage the
lights could be switched on and the pupils
questioned, or assigned a composition.
There might also arise a tendency on
the part of pupils to grow lazy, when they
have knowledge imparted in such a simple
and pleasant way. This can be promptly
dealt with, should the situation be noticeable,
by threats to cut off the motion-picture
lessons. No pupil would want that to be
57
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
done, so it should create much more enthusiasm
among the pupils in their other lessons.
English was generally thought to be
one of the out-of-bounds subjects, but I
want to set on record here that the motion
picture is really of great help in this direction.
The letter I recently received from a
girl of fourteen proves this. This is what
she said: "At the grammar school which I
am attending, I had a course to write a composition
from my schoolteacher about the
red Indians. I had not heard very much
about them, so it was not an easy task. One
Saturday afternoon I went to a motion-picture
show and saw a picture of some Indians.
They were having war with some settlers
that had settled in some part of the country.
I saw how they fought, how they
decorated themselves, how they earned their
living and how they lived. It was a strange
sight to see these redskins, but I soon came
to know what kind of people they were, and
I finished my composition in good shape.
This is the reason why I could write my
composition."
But while the cinematograph is not so
superior as is the text-book in getting over
facts, it can impart a deeper meaning and
58
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
relieve them of any dryness. Take, for
instance, the Declaration of Independence.
The events that led up to it could be shown,
and appropriately closed with the historical
incident itself.
In regard to history and geography, it is
a great pity that the photographic difficulties
debar the filming of the interiors of historic
buildings and such things as caves, for frequently
the most interesting things are to be
found under cover. In these details the
teacher must fall back on lectures and text-
books,
59
XII
ARE SPEED-UP MOTION PICTURES OF
EDUCATIONAL VALUE?
TEACHERS, as a rule, are much
*
opposed to anything that savors of
attempting to teach a pupil too much in a
limited time. Long experience has taught
them the receptive capacity of a chilďs
brain. The invariable result of resorting
to the cramming process is that it so confuses
a child that he or she can remember
little more than when it started. Happily,
however, the motion picture has nothing in
common with other hustling systems it
stands on a plane by itself.
In the first place, let it be understood
that the motion picture makes its appeal
through the eye, which imposes no severe
demands on the imagination of a child, for
everything is presented with such reality and
simplicity that no pupil of ordinary intelligence
can fail to grasp what it sees with
its own eyes.
60
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
Several demonstrative lessons may be
covered at once, but each simmers in before
another comes on the screen, so, at the end
of the projection of several films, a child
retains a clear impression of them all.
I have heard teachers aver that such a
subject as the stages depicting the birth of
a plant until the flower blooms should not
be shown in such a short period. In a few
minutes a picture covers the growth of
several months. This, they assert, when
shown on the screen, gives a child a false
conception of nature's work. Certainly the
argument is a good one, but, looking at it
from a broader standpoint, unless the
growths were accelerated in this way they
could not be shown at all. Neither is it a
fake on the part of the film producer. The
subject is covered in a perfectly natural way
by taking a few feet of film at regular intervals.
No child will look upon such films as
the work of a fairy waving her magic wand,
for explanatory titles invariably precede
each incident, telling that a specified time
elapses between certain growths.
Then, we have the scientific film. One
of this type which I had the pleasure of
recently seeing showed blood corpuscles as
61
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
large as dinner-plates. These were at war
with dozens of large microbes, which hit
back at each other. These things were
magnified no less than ten thousand times.
Here is another example of what could not
be done unless the insects were brought
under the microscope and cinematographed.
Faulty operating can do much to mar
a picture, for, should the operator project
the films more than sixteen pictures to the
second, subtitles will not remain on the
screen long enough to be properly comprehended.
On the other hand, instead of
seeing people and things moving naturally,
they do so at a ridiculous pace. Correct
projection, therefore, is essential for the
educational presentation of motion pictures.
62
XIII
CONDUCTING SCHOOL MOTION-PICTURE
CIRCUITS
IN the motion-picture industry new pro*
ducers spring up like mushrooms, and the
ones that survive are those backed up by a
scientific distributing plan. Exactly the same
problem confronts educational bodies in
adopting motion-picture education; they
must worship system.
A circuit of schools is highly desirable,
because it is more practical to purchase the
films outright from a regular exchange than
to hire same on every occasion. It is also
more reliable, for exchanges are prone to
substitute one film for another.
"We need municipal circulating libraries
of motion pictures," said John Collier, secretary
of the National Board of Censorship.
"The city should own the films and rent
them out to public schools, libraries, settlements
and recreating centers.
"When any school tries to get certain
5 63
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
pictures they find them 'on the road/ probably
in some distant part of the country, in
such a circulation that it is impossible ever
again to get any particular picture, after it
has once started on its circuit."
Obviously, therefore, establishing a
school film exchange is the best solution of
the problem, and in this connection the
University of Wisconsin is the pioneer. The
Department of Visual Education set itself
up in business by purchasing 130 reels of
films and eighteen thousand lantern-slides.
Each of the 285 schools receives a set of
eighty-five slides, and the seventy-eight
schools possessing motion-picture projectors
receive a reel of film in addition.
The slides and films are changed weekly,
so there is comfortable time to prepare
children for same. When through with
them, the school sends the parcel on to its
neighbor, the only cost being about thirty
cents for express. The State is arranged in
territories, so as to facilitate distribution of
the films.
How such a system may be inaugurated
is best gleaned from the plan followed by
the California State Board of Education.
The State Board collected all the suitable
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
films from available sources and catalogued
same in order that the schools could select
any particular subject they desired. This
service was also extended to apparatus.
The experiments carried out by the
London County Council are not without
their practical value:
"An educational series of films should
be exhibited in the halls of six polytechnics.
Each series would last forty-five to fifty
minutes, and would be given four times
during the day twice in the morning and
twice in the afternoon between the hours
of ten and twelve, and two and four, respectively.
By limiting each performance to
about fifty minutes, the children could be
changed without difficulty. It would be
possible for about one thousand children to
be present at each performance. The apparatus
would be kept in each polytechnic for
the first five days of the week, and be moved
on to the next polytechnic on the Saturday,
ready for use on the following Monday.
We are considering the advisability of
arranging for a large number of children
to see the films on one occasion only, or for
a smaller number of children to see them on
more than one occasion.
65
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
"A large number of films will be submitted
for selection, and the same program
will be used throughout the entire period.
We have made arrangements for the list
of films to be submitted to us for approval
before the experiment is begun. Instruction
will be given by teachers in the schools on
the subject of the various items, both before
and after the performance. A lecturer at
the exhibition will not be necessary, as, with
the instructions given by the teachers and
the explanatory notes accompanying the
films, the children will be able to follow
without difficulty."
But the difficulties increase when a school
decides to give motion-picture shows on its
own account. This fact debarred the Board
of Education of Pittsburgh, Pa., from carrying
out its film plans, as the city fire and
insurance regulations were too expensive to
be complied with.
No other course is open than to set
apart a special room for motion-picture
lessons on the ground floor, which should
be equipped with the regulation tip-up seats,
screen, a fireproof operating-booth and
plenty of exits.
The most costly item of equipment is
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
the projection machine, and $250 seems a
lot of money to spend, since same will only
be used about once weekly. The Iowa
State College at Ames formed a circuit of
schools, and, by defraying freight charges,
any high school thus unequipped may hire
a projection machine.
Last, but not least, is acquiring expert
assistance, for motion-picture exhibiting is
not without its technicalities. The teacher
could not operate the machine because he
would have his hands full in lecturing to
the film and in looking after his pupils.
A regular operator could, of course, be
hired, but as his services would only be
needed on one day weekly, the expense
would be out of all proportion to the service
rendered. If, however, he could work
a circuit of schools, his salary could be
shared.
The Iowa State College, for instance,
has on its staff a consulting engineer, who
renders assistance to schools in need of
motion-picture advice.
67
XIV
LIVING IN THE PAST BY THE MOVIES
IJOWEVER good the printed page or
* * still photograph may be in recalling
the past, there is nothing to equal or excel
the film. The dead come to life again,
and pleasant evennts in one's lifetime can
be recalled.
To begin with history first, the only
way by which we can learn the history of
our forefathers is through the historian's
facile pen. Word-painting has its limitations,
and that is why we miss the actual
seeing of things.
But the camera can not lie. What
better sight could one have than to be
treated to seeing, in moving pictures, the
fight for independence or the Civil War?
I am not alluding to the historical pictures
produced by the manufacturers to-day, for
these are only based on history, but I refer
to genuine films taken at the time these
great events took place. Alas! the cinema-
68
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
tograph was not thought of then, so these
things will never become a reality.
Then, again, what could be better than
seeing our ancestors come to life again?
How amusing it would be to see them in
their quaint dresses, amid an archaic environment
and the customs that prevailed at
that time! We could then appreciate the
wonderful progress we have made, while if
there were films available, showing the history
of the United States from Puritan days
to the present time, we should feel immensely
proud of ourselves for descending from
such splendid stock.
This brings me down to the modern
times. What about the events that occur
day by day and are duly recorded by the
cinematograph camera ? Beyond their interesting
us, nothing is apparently being done
to preserve these films for the sake of posterity.
Our Government has ordered films
of the red Indians to be taken, but practically
no move has been made in other
equally important directions. A good law
would be to compel film producers to forward
a copy of every topic they make to
Washington, so that a permanent record
may be kept. Far from resenting such a
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
bill coming to pass, the producers would be
only too willing to oblige.
It would be indeed selfish to think of
the present, for when we have served our
allotted span on the earth, our successors
will be naturally curious to know how we
lived and what transpired in our lifetime.
A hundred years hence the world will have
progressed as it has during the last century,
so what better medium for recalling the
past is there than the versatile cinematograph?
Children will have no need to be
taught history and progress by dull books
moving pictures will reveal everything in
actual reality. Thus will the fullest development
of the film as an educational medium
be reached. The sooner that this important
matter is given the attention it demands, the
better.
The producers have been very good in
their laudable attempts to reproduce history
and costume plays on the screen, but, however
excellent their efforts may be, they can
not approach the real thing. But we can
not overlook the marvelous character of the
film actor's make-up. A lot depends on
getting a double of a famous personage, as
near as possible. Take, for instance, Benja-
70
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
min Chapin, who has gained a reputation
for his splendid portrayals of Abraham
Lincoln. The same may be said of William
Humphreys as Napoleon.
For all this, one knows that he is only
witnessing a rehash of the past, so they
therefore fail to convince like the genuine
historical film would. Even now, when a
famous personage dies, his features have
usually been caught by the moving-picture
camera, and the animated newspapers revive
the scenes, which are received with increased
interest and enthusiasm. This surely is a
good proof of the necessity for the cinematograph
to be utilized as a permanent
recorder of history.
France has already established a cinema
archive for the purpose of preserving the
most important public events taking place
the world over, so why should we lag
behind?
Aside from the public side of the matter,
even we private beings would do well to
call in the film's aid.
Let us begin with the baby. By having
fifty feet or so taken of him in a natural
way, and following this up with more fiftyfoot
snaps of a few years' duration until the
71
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
child had grown up, it would enable the
fond parents to revel in their offspring's
happy childhood days. As for the grownup
youngster, how pleased he would be to
hark back to his youth, when in the evening
of his life. He could follow his progress
from babyhood to manhood within twenty
minutes.
In their old age, parents are fond of
relating the intimacies and happenings of
family life, but it often happens that time
has played havoc with their memories. This
plan has already been followed by some of
the wealthy families, who are taking care
that the camera men are kept at work taking
scenes about their estates.
72
XV
THE STUDY OF ATHLETICS AND SPORTS
BY MOTION PICTURES
TN real life athletics put over their stunts
*
at such a rapid pace that a close-up study
of their movements is out of the question.
Photographs have been suggested as a
way out of the difficulty, but it is seldom
possible to catch a motion at the right time,
while the motions would not be continuous.
Motion pictures offer an effective solution.
To obtain films true to life, they must
be taken at the rate of sixteen "frames"
or pictures to the second. There are sixteen
of these frames on a single foot of
film, or sixteen thousand in the case of a
one-reel production.
Therefore, under these conditions, the
study of athletics is just as far off as before.
The only way out is to slow up the movements,
which would seem an impossible task
were not the motion picture so versatile.
Cinematography reverses many things,
73
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
so a number of athletic games like running,
jumping and throwing the weights were
filmed at the rate of one hundred frames to
the second, which feat was accomplished by
a motor attachment to the camera.
In the studio is a peculiar kind of clock
called a "chronoscope," and it is introduced
in order to show the time which elapsed
between each motion.
It contains but one dial, which is operated
by clockwork. The face is divided up
into twenty sections, each one of which represents
one-twentieth part of a second. The
chronoscope is set in motion immediately
the camera man turns the crank, and continues
until the motion has been completed.
The film, when seen on the screen, is
projected at the normal speed. The results
amaze, when the two methods are contrasted;
although the hurdler travels as fast
as an express train, he is made to walk
along at the pace of an old man. When he
leaps the hurdle, he is as graceful as a bird.
Harvard College has adopted the film
as part of its athletic training. The work
is in charge of Percy Haughton, the football
coach, who has had films taken of the teams
at play. He has already been able to trace
74
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
some of the weak points of his men to their
source.
In baseball, the New York National
League has utilized the motion picture to
stamp out all useless motions. With this
object, pictures of the players in action have
been taken. These are diligently studied,
and the speed in which amateur and professional
pitchers, catchers, batters and basemen
work is therefore available. The
method is so scientific that the exact time a
pitcher takes in the wind-up, the speed of
the pitched ball, the angles assumed by its
curving, and how long the batter is in finding
out he has banged it and making a start
for a new base, the precise period the
catcher takes to recover after taking the
pitched ball, and then run 129 feet along
the track to try to put out the runner speeding
from the first base to the second all
these things are revealed.
As to horse-racing, a French trainer has
discovered that it is instructive to visit the
motion-picture theater in order to see the
races in which one or more of his horses
have run.
In 1914 there was a dispute over the
Derby the English classic. "Bumping"
75
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
and "boring" foul play on the part of the
jockeys occurred, but many disagreed with
the stewarďs decision, who stated that it
did take place and disqualified the favorite.
The motion picture, however, had recorded
all these incidents, and thereby proved its
worth as a judge.
In boxing, too, champions have found it
instructive to have their efforts recorded on
the film and self-criticize them when later
thrown on the screen.
In England, not so long ago, an attempt
was made to instruct the amateur golfer in
regard to the correct way in which to play
his strokes. Accordingly, several famous
golfers posed for a bunch of snapshots, but
when these were put on a mutoscope
machine in rotation, it was found that they
lacked continuality.
But all shortcomings were obviated when
J. A. Taylor, five times worlďs golf champion,
consented to give a demonstration for
the film, by which it was possible to follow
every movement of the body, with the start
of the swing-back until the follow-through
was over. The predominant features of
the pictures were the champion's marvelous
driving and his excellent "putting" and
76
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
"stymie" strokes. Several close-up views
served to clearly show the right positions
the hands and feet should be in.
One peculiar thing about cinematography
is that an ordinary quick movement appears
ridiculously rapid when the film is shown on
the screen. For this reason, Mr. Taylor
did not work with his customary pace, but
slowed down in order that his actions would
get over effectively. This film, which only
took fifteen minutes to show, taught the
amateur more than he could have learned
in weeks by any other method.
I am also informed, on very good
authority, that several professionals, when
off-color, find the motion picture highly
instructive.
77
XVI
WHY NOT A ZOO FOR EVERY TOWN?
A NY person interested in the welfare of
** animals must greatly regret that beasts
and creatures of the forest, field, stream and
air are penned up in such artificial places
as zoos. While the animals do not suffer
physical cruelty through their forced imprisonment,
it is certain that it causes them
mental pain. To keep nature's creatures
prisoners is directly opposed to the law of
mankind, no matter how good the intention
may be.
The zoo is only a pretense made to
deceive the animals into the belief that they
are living under natural conditions. Rocky
ponds for polar bears, and caves for bears
and wolves, are but mockeries compared
with their natural homes.
They also suffer considerable discomfort
at the hands of visitors, who overfeed them
with unsuitable food, while children like to
tease them. It is all these unnatural things,
78
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
and more, that contribute to the number of
untimely deaths.
After all, what are zoos really for?
Mainly that folk can study wild animals,
but this purpose holds no ground whatever,
since this desire could only be completely
satisfied by viewing them in their natural
homes. Here they possess perfect freedom
and are not conscious that any human being
is in sight.
How, then, can the long-sought-for
problem be solved? The ideal substitute is
the versatile motion picture. Just think of
the many times it has transported people to
the African jungle, and even to the strange
creatures in the vast wastes around the
North and South Poles.
The men who film these natural-history
studies deserve to be praised for the courage
and resourcefulness they so often display.
In the case of an unsavage creature like the
fox, the motion-picture operator places a
dummy tree or cow near his den. As the
contrivance is hollow, and holes are provided
for observation purposes, he can film
without being seen. But before he commences
the actual work, he generally installs
a motor, in order to accustom his quarry
6 79
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
to the clicking of the motion-picture camera.
When, however, he is on the war-path
of denizens of the jungle, he varies his plan
and employs the most appropriate dummy
animal. He also smothers himself with
some vile-smelling liquid, which completely
deceives the strong sense of smell possessed
by the beasts.
My idea is this: Abolish ordinary zoos,
and deport all their occupants to where
they rightly belong; then replace them with
motion-picture zoos. From time immemorial
the big cities have enjoyed the monopoly
of the ordinary kind, whereas, if the reformation
came to pass, every small town
would be in a position to boast of a motionpicture
zoo, with films of all kinds of
animals, birds, insects and fishes known to
be in existence.
The most suitable place in which performances
could be given would be the
public library. The funds for same would
be very nominal, and could easily be provided
for out of the taxes.
The library could obtain its collection
by buying a positive copy of every suitable
natural-history subject from the producers.
At an appointed hour daily the whole
80
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
collection of motion pictures could be run
through for the edification of visitors, who
would learn more in a few hours than in a
thousand visits to the ordinary zoo, and,
at the same time, find the new method the
more entertaining of the two.
A motion-picture zoo is as essential as
a well-stocked library, and as the film plays
such an important part in American life
to-day, there should be no opposition, but
support rather, on the part of municipal
bodies.
81
XVII
DOMESTIC SCIENCE BY MOTION
PICTURES
NOTHING
seems impossible by the
motion picture these days, and there
exist big possibilities in the field of domestic
science. Several of these possibilities have
been converted into accomplishments, and
if these can be profited by, so much the
better, for the path of the pioneer bristles
with difficulties.
Let us, first of all, take the selection of
food. An Indiana meat-purveyor recently
had a film produced entitled "Meat, and
How to Buy It." This picture informs
housewives as to the different kinds of joints,
the nutritive value and relative cost of same.
The film advises spectators to avoid the
choice cuts, which cost more, while the
apparently inferior cuts are seldom called
for.
Carving is a subject about which a
housewife can not know too much. One of
82
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
the producing companies recently released
for public exhibition a motion picture under
the descriptive title of "Lessons in Carv-
ing."
The picture first shows a chef correctly
carving a roast of beef. In front of the
carver is the rib side of the roast, and he
jabs the fork between the ribs just to the
left of the center. He holds the knife in
his right hand and makes long, even strokes
in the direction of the ribs.
The duck is the next subject dealt with.
The neck of the bird faces the carver's left,
and he places the fork in the side directly
in front of him. To sever the leg he cuts
right through the skin and flesh until he
finds the joint. The same plan is adopted
in removing the wings.
He removes the breast meat by first
cutting a long portion on each side toward
the breast-bone, after which horizontal slices
are cut in the direction of the center.
The turkey is third. The chef just
pierces the skin and continues the right cut
around the leg, using the fork to break
down the joint. With the next cut he divides
the drumstick and second joint. A third
cut, and three pieces are made out of two.
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
Then the breast is attacked. The chef
guides the knife over the shoulder and slices
the white meat in the direction of the wing,
from the breast.
The chef discards his knife when coming
to a ham, and, instead, uses one of a special
type. The carver planks the hock end of
the meat by his right, and drives his fork a
little to the left of the center facing him.
The chef severs a thick, wedge-shaped piece
from the butt end, and makes a horizontal
cut toward the right in order to obtain the
desired slices.
With films such as the two above
described, many facts concerning domestic
science could be portrayed in a more convincing
manner than is possible at a lecture,
where much depends on watching the movements,
which are seldom equally discernible
from all parts of the hall. On the screen,
however, all the points are emphasized in
close-ups, and the person in the back row
obtains as good a view as her neighbor
seated in the front row.
It is perhaps significant that Miss
Grauel, president of the Housewives'
League of Cleveland, now uses motion pictures
in conjunction with her lectures.
84
XVIII
SPEAKING WORDS IN THE SILENT
DRAMA
'ŤHE photoplay is so often referred to as
*
the "silent drama" that one is apt to
form the impression that the actors merely
move their lips when supposed to be talking.
Not so awfully long ago, when realism
was not the important factor it is to-day,
characters were wont to say things before
the camera which had no bearing on the
situation. I well remember one photoplay
in which the hero proposed passionately to
the heroine. The scene was taken in a
desert outside Egypt, and the heat was
baking. Instead of saying "I love you.
Will you marry me?" the hero remarked
for the benefit of the director: "For heaven's
sake, stop the camera a minute. I can't
stick it much longer. The darned flies are
biting my eyes out."
Another case occurred in staging a thrill.
Mountain brigands were holding on grimly
85
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
to dangerous positions on the cliffs, when
the villain complained about his boots. He
was supposed to issue instructions to his
band, but what he uttered was as follows:
"I'm not going to climb this mountain with
my pinched toes. I'm going to change my
boots first." And he did I
An historical production called for an
execution by the ax-and-block method. The
"business" of the hero was to receive the
ax from the headsman in order to feel how
keen the edge was, but when this was being
filmed the headsman chipped in with: "Handle
that ax carefully, old top. It took me
hours to polish it, and if you are not careful
you will remove all the glitter."
Instances like the foregoing were really
quite common, and they got by the majority
of motion-picture patrons. But the minority
had to be reckoned with the producers left
them out of their calculation and as they
were deaf-mutes, their efforts could not be
put to a sterner test. The result was that
the deaf-mutes were provoked to laughter
in intensely dramatic scenes. Sometimes
they left the hall because o-f having detected
bad language. Both indirectly and directly
this was brought to the attention of the
86
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
producers, who promptly took steps to
abolish the grave defect. Signs were posted
around the studio, requesting players to
abstain from bad language in exciting scenes,,
while the director suddenly became strict.
For all this, the players have no strict lines
to adhere to they say things that seem,
natural to the situation. If, for instance, a
character is introduced to another, the first
remarks: "Pleased to meet you." Should
they meet a second time, the greeting is,
"How do you do, Mr. Brown?"
On the screen you may be greeted with
such a title as "You are a coward." Now,
unless the director uses this as a "line," and
requests his players to put the proper
amount of feeling into the sentence, it will
not get across effectively. For this reasoa
we are often able to catch such simple
phrases as "Will you marry me?"
"Mother," "No," "Yes." There is a technique
in pronouncing words so that they
get across the screen, and the recognized
rule is to divide single syllables into two.
This means that when a player exclaims the
word "Father," he says it in this wayr
"F-ather."
The Cincinnati Self-improvement Club,.
87
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
composed of deaf-mutes, decided to test
"Cameo Kirby" because it was a stage
adaptation featuring the selfsame star
Dustin Farnum. After seeing the photoplay,
the club reported that it had been
possible to follow many of the dialogue
passages.
XIX
SELECTING MOTION PICTURES FOR
CHILDREN
HTHE mistake made in setting a high
* moral standard for photoplays has been
in fixing it the same for the matured adult
as for the infant. This is foolish in the
extreme. Take, for instance, the magazine
field, where there is not one publication aiming
to appeal to all kinds of folks, from five
to ninety. It can not be done, so that the
only solution in catering to their peculiar
needs is to run special shows with suitable
films.
The trouble now is that there is not a
big enough supply of films for children being
turned out. There are something like one
hundred photoplays produced each week.
These are of all descriptions and lengths,
but the number fit to show children is
pitiably small. The majority are quite in
order for grown-ups, who are not at all
impressed by viewing robberies, murders,
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
cases of drunkenness and divorces, abduction
of girls, saloon and cafe scenes, and
exaggerated love affairs.
The censorship boards that have sprung
up all over the country have sought to
eliminate these. In so doing they have not
had a grain of common sense. These are
the facts of life, and are necessary vehicles
by which to point out a moral. Let the
producers turn out films expressly for children
as well as for adults and the censorship
boards judge them by the two standards,
and then they will be doing the right
thing.
Why haven't the film producers already
catered for the children? The fault, however,
mainly rests with the exhibitors, for
it is the duty of the former to study the
needs of the latter. They frequently ask,
in their printed matter which they issue to
exhibitors, just what kind of films they prefer,
and they are thus able to gauge the
requirements of the majority. In no instance
I know of has there been an overwhelming
number in favor of films for children. It is
only recently that special performances for
children have been inaugurated by progressive
exhibitors. The Strand Theater in New
90
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
York City, the finest in the world, provides
morning entertainments for youngsters on
Saturday, and its example should be emulated
by every exhibitor in this country.
The producers receive occasional requests
from mothers, calling for improvements
in photoplays for children, but it can
not be expected that they can act on same,
when it is considered that there are twenty
thousand motion-picture theaters in this
country, which are patronized by millions
weekly.
If this reform idea is to be carried out,
it must be done by every woman who has
the welfare of her children at heart, right
now, and in collaboration with the exhibitors
in her community. Unity is strength, and I
would suggest that a petition be got up by
each mothers' club, signed by the members
and the exhibitor whose co-operation they
have secured. The petitions should be
couched along common-sense lines, using the
statements and arguments in this chapter as
the basis. Increased production of fairy
stories, refined comedies in which children
are featured, and educationals of all kinds,
should be advocated. If this is done, the
exhibitor will agree to run those films that
91
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
conform with the standard set, while the
mothers, both individually and in co-operation
with the club, will do everything in
their power to make such shows and films
a success.
There are two things to be considered
in the meantime; namely, roping in the
wavering exhibitor and permitting children
to attend the theaters as they are to-day.
The exhibitor has pinned his faith so
long to the ordinary shows that he is rather
reluctant to experiment on special performances
for children or erect theaters exclusively
for them, but much can be done by
united action.
It is, however, a grave action to bar the
children from attending motion-picture
theaters altogether. They save them from
getting into mischief in the streets.
There are, it should also be remembered,
good and bad photoplays as there
are everything else, some of the latter running
close to the knuckle. In communities
there are exhibitors who are not overparticular
what they show so long as they can
get the crowds in. They often frame their
advertising so as to appeal to the morbid
and suggestive minded.
92
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
The best way to start out is to question
children in regard to the classes of motion
pictures they prefer. If these include Wild
West plays, detective dramas and those
dealing with the shady sides of domestic
life, then it is up to the mother to poison
his or her mind against them.
After this, select the high-class theaters
in your locality, and then only permit one's
offspring to attend when they have desirable
pictures. I do not think it advisable to
permit a child to go unchaperoned, as there
is a great temptation to favor the undesirable
shows.
The Parent-teacher Association of Missouri
expects, on Friday and Saturday evenings,
when the children attend in large
numbers, the theaters to exercise greater
care in selecting the programs. When the
parents in the audience see a photoplay
which is not up to the standard set, they
have the name of it published. They consider
this sufficient without announcing the
name of the theater showing it.
The Minnesota Federation of Women's
Clubs in St. Paul is now securing the co-operation
of its members who attend the
theaters in their localities, to report upon
93
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
the motion pictures shown. Using this as
their evidence, they prevail upon the exhibitors
to co-operate with them. They offer,
in return, to boost their theaters to the
members, local schools, settlements, associations,
women's clubs and children.
In Louisville a Censorship Board for
Children has been inaugurated. To show
that they mean business, a constitution has
been formed and passed. This is to the
effect that at children's performances only
approved films shall be shown, while their
efforts are directed in co-operating with the
producers in turning out films expressly for
children.
The official board has been divided up
into four committees. The Scenario Committee
is for the purpose of advocating
photoplay writing in the territory and to
aid writers by reading scenarios. If they
deem a story worthy enough to be shown
to children, they pass it along to J. J. Murdock,
the executive manager of the Keith
circuit, who places it with one of the producing
concerns.
The business of the Library Committee
lies in getting children to know and appreciate
those films approved by the board.
94
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
The Parent-teacher Committee has been
formed to arrange with the numerous Parent-teacher
Associations in Louisville for
the formation of special motion-picture committees.
The work of the latter is to persuade
both parents and teachers to become
supporters. There is also a Publicity Com-
mittee.
By working along these lines, the?
mothers of the nation can accomplish some
really good work without seriously harassing
the exhibitor or producer.
95
XX
MOTION PICTURES THAT CHILDREN
LIKE
IT is not hard to understand why so many
* movements afoot for the solving of the
child motion-picture problem have failed.
It is one thing to place a program of films
before a bunch of red-blooded American
youngsters, and another thing altogether
to please them.
Most of the folk identified with the
uplift movement have taken a directly opposite
course, while, had they adopted the
middle one, they would have had results to
show for their efforts. They have, for the
most part, demonstrated no intelligence at
all in the all-important matter of the selection
of suitable pictures.
The usual course pursued has been to
eliminate all comedy and dramatic photoplays,
and never was there a greater mistake
made. The business man does not permit
work to occupy all his waking hours; he
96
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
gets relaxation in some form or another.
The same applies to children, who attend
the motion-picture theater to be entertained
and amused.
I am prepared to admit that the film
comedy is the weakest link in the industry.
So many insipid productions, teeming with
vulgar incidents, are produced, that the
desirable ones are hopelessly in the minority.
Crime is often made the subject of burlesque,
and we must also consider those
films which are above the heads of children.
But youngsters want to be made to
laugh. To quote Miss C. B. Watkins, of
the women's clubs of the Eighth Minnesota
District: "Do not eliminate fun if it be
clean. A good laugh always does a lot of
good."
Or, as a girl phrased it: "One afternoon
I went to the friendly house, and when I
came out I was sick to my stomach, I had
laughed so much."
If any one doubts the effect of a comedy
on children, he should attend a motion-picture
matinee and listen to the peals of
healthy laughter when a really funny picture
is occupying the screen.
In the desirable class I would include
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MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
comedies in which children are featured,
cartoons a la newspaper comic section; in
brief, those presenting wholesome humor.
The dramatic photoplay has come in
for more criticism than any other class of
picture, yet nine out of ten youngsters evince
a genuine admiration for same. Naturally,
the dime-novel type of film is far from
desirable, but there are many dramatic
subjects that possess excellent qualities for
juvenile audiences. To sift the good from
the bad is not an easy task, and Miss C. B.
Watkins' analysis is as good as any:
"The actual act of a murder is seldom
thrown on the screen, but portrayal of the
following crimes is common:
"Instigation by bribery to commit murder
or other crime. This is much more
insidious to the morals than an act of
violence, whose very nature repels; kidnapping
and assault, especially upon young
girls; hold-ups; the destruction of buildings
by the use of bombs; the enticement of
girls for immoral purposes.
"It seems to us that a safe rule to
follow is this:
"Eliminate scenes which the child is
unlikely to see in every-day life, if they take
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a trend you do not wish his thought to take.
"The elimination of sights with which
all children are familiar in every-day life
is unnecessary, for instance :
"Do not condemn a scene because some
man in it happens to be smoking. This is
going too far. The fact of the smoking is
incidental and the act is familiar, and therefore
does not impress the youth one way or
another.
"I should also add the play which overstimulates
the imagination by exaggerated
dangers and adventures. Such plays are
unwholesome. I should add, in conclusion,
another film the one that holds up to
admiration the silly flirtation heroine. The
moving-picture heroine can act like a lady,
and frequently does, without losing any of
her charms. Our girls mold their ideals by
the plays they see, the books they read and
the people they admire. Let us put examples
of right conduct before them."
Now for the viewpoint of the child. I
questioned a number of boys, and all unanimously
declared in favor of the Western
drama, because of the pretty scenery and
thrills.
These selfsame youngsters will not be
99
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
slow in hissing the villain when he gets the
best of it, and when the hero comes to the
rescue they applaud loudly. Thus do they
realize the difference between vice and
virtue.
Nothing pleases youngsters more than
to be transported from the every-day world,
and the further they can delve into romance
the better they like it. It is for this reason
that fairy stories prove so popular. Show
them "The Sleeping Beauty," "Hansel and
Grettel," "Golden Lock," "Three Wishes,"
"Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp," "Little
Red Riding-hood," "Jack and the Beanstalk"
and "Cinderella," all of which have
been filmed, and their little hearts will
flutter with joy.
There are educationals and educationals.
I happened to know of a body in Chicago
who tried out the wrong kind. The subjects
were too deep, dealing as they did
with microscopic natural-history subjects,
such as the dining habits of caterpillars and
the metamorphosis of a butterfly. Although
no admission fee was charged, one small
boy confessed he would rather pay a nickel
in order to see interesting pictures.
Educationals like "Wild Birds in Their
100
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
Haunts," "Lady of the Lake," "Panama
Canal," "Uncle Tom's Cabin," "The Declaration
of Independence," "Yellowstone
Park" and "How Plants Grow" possess
genuine entertainment qualities, and do not
make the child feel as though the educational
element is being forced down his
throat.
101
XXI
THE MOTION-PICTURE POSTER MENACE
HPHE plea for better motion pictures
*
should be extended to posters. This
struck right home recently, for I have a
married friend who, preferring to act as
her own censor, always accompanies her
children when they attend a motion-picture
theater. Not because the law in New York
forbids children under the age of sixteen
being admitted without a parent or guardian,
but owing to the fact that her offspring can
not be trusted to keep away from undesirable
shows. All a child has to do to evade
the law is to wait in the lobby for some not
overparticular senior to take him in.
Before the mother had taken this necessary
precaution her youngsters had gotten
into the habit of attending any motion-picture
show that appealed to them. It was
hard to get them to distinguish between
right and wrong, so it came about that they
were fed on a photoplay diet of blood-
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MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
curdling melodramas and suggestive com-
edies.
We knew that this was the case, because
one day Will attempted to choke Alice,
trussed her up like a barnyard chicken, and
forced her to lie in the same position for
hours. When their mother superintended
their motion-picture visits, this sort of thing
stopped for awhile.
One sunny Saturday Will joined a picnic
party, one of whom, a little girl, fell into
the lake. She was rescued by a young man,
who was unable to restore her to consciousness.
Will, however, applied first aid and
revived her, and when we learned of his
good deed we asked him how it was he had
a knowledge of first aid.
"Oh, I saw it done at the movies," was
Wilľs prompt explanation, which went to
prove that if the right kind of pictures is
shown, only good can result.
Shortly after this incident, Will dug a
pit in the garden and was only prevented
in the nick of time from covering Alice with
earth.
The next day Wilľs mother was passing
one of the nickeldromes she had banned,
and noticed a group of children glancing at
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MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
the sensational posters. Among the youngsters
was her Will, and, as she discovered
his source of inspiration, she promptly
placed the theater out of bounds.
What posters are fit for children to see?
I consider these to be artistic creations, containing
nothing sensational or suggestive.
Perhaps the best method is that adopted by
one of the leading photoplay-producing concerns,
whose posters comprise several wellbalanced
photographs of the leading scenes,
with an appropriate border.
The better-class theaters, however, rely
mostly upon a lobby display of stills; that
is, photographs taken when the photoplay
ivas put on.
A photograph can not lie, but the poster
artist may permit his imagination to run
riot and misrepresent a perfectly desirable
production.
104
XXII
CAPITALIZING NOTORIETY IN MOTION
PICTURES
I WOULD be among the first to complain
* were the photoplay director to discard
his excellent "realism first" slogan, but, like
a good many other things, this (the photoplay's
greatest asset) is at times sadly
abused.
What is the dividing-line between realism
and over-realism? In my opinion, it is
perfectly proper for a director to stage an
elaborate train wreck, because such an incident
is liable to happen in real life and only
the question of dollars is involved. But
once he causes the hero to make a parachute
leap from the top of the Statue of Liberty
to the icy depths of the Hudson below, a
human life is placed in danger.
We fans do not care for sensation for
sensation's sake alone. We certainly admire
the heroic deeds of the performers, but we
do not like to see them carried to excess.
105
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
We can shut our eyes to a faked effect, but
each director seems to try to outdo the other
in putting over hair-raising feats. Why do
they do it?
You do not find Mary Pickford, Lillian
Walker, or like well-known players, associated
with much daredeviltry. The truth is
that the performers who take these chances
are not actors at all; they are merely acro-
bats.
For a fee these "doubles," in which
capacity they usually act, will carry out
practically any stunt. They do not care a
jot for police interference; in fact, they
relish it because of the publicity publicity
of the kind which reflects discredit on the
motion-picture industry. One performer
who made a dive from Brooklyn Bridge
was rescued from the North River by a
police squad in boats. He was arrested and
charged with disorderly conduct.
These stunts are not carried off without
personal injury; indeed, sometimes death
results. But once they have recovered, they
are off for adventures new.
It was only by a miracle that one of
these daredevils was saved from certain
death in endeavoring to travel through the
106
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
Whirlpool Rapids, near Niagara Falls. He
steered over the gorge safely, but when he
arrived at the outer edge of the Whirlpool
his engine refused to work. For five hours
he drifted around in the treacherous waters,
fearing that every moment would prove his
last. The boat began to leak, and it was
dark before the searchers, with powerful
searchlights, brought him safely to land.
I know of a man who, for a substantial
fee, was willing to leap from the Eiffel
Tower in Paris. When the time came, he
found his parachute was not in good shape,
and wanted to give up the stunt. The
director, however, would accept no excuse,
so the man made the leap at a fearful pace,
which resulted in his death. The camera
man actually recorded his mangled remains
for insertion in the film.
What effect do these films have on the
morbid-minded? One film company recently
received a letter from an ambitious actor
who was willing to leap from the tower of
the Woolworth Building.
Unfortunately, there is a darker side.
A Philadelphia man, inspired to emulate the
movie feats he had seen, and obsessed by the
desire to have his accomplishment brought
107
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
to the notice of producers, plunged from the
Brooklyn Bridge. His dive 216 feet
was a record one, but before attempting it
he told his wife and friends of his intention.
At first it seemed as though his plan would
be interfered with, for, when he stood in
the center of the main span, two policemen
rushed to stop him. The man, however,
climbed up one of the cables, from which
position he made his dive. His dead body
was recovered from the river several days
later.
Another kind of notoriety is employing
the motion picture to exploit actual criminal
cases. Suppose some crook or burglar is
the talk of the hour. He will doubtless be
persuaded by some unscrupulous film producer,
for a consideration, to re-enact his
crime for the film. The criminal hopes to
influence public opinion, while the fly-bynight
producer thinks only about piling up
his bank roll.
Sometimes the boot is on the other foot.
This occurred in the case of Mrs. Florence
Carmen. Her trial expenses amounted to
$20,000, so somebody spread the report
that she intended to portray the Bailey
tragedy in a film.
108
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
When asked for her reasons against
appearing in vaudeville, Mrs. Carmen
stated it was cheap and sensational, but she
had sufficient good taste not to want to
re-enact her crime on the film. Her ambition,
she admitted, was to appear in a
society role. It is a significant fact that no
motion-picture producer came forward with
a contract.
Some time ago a particularly unpleasant
divorce case created a sensation in New
Jersey. Corine, the wife, not only divorced
her husband, Frank Hallack, without a
motive, but also had him put in jail. Frank
Hallack, to prove his innocence, declared at
the time that he will be starred in a photoplay
entitled "Trapped," which will depict
everything from the time he met his wife
until she divorced him.
Another way by which producers sometimes
turn notoriety to profitable account is
by putting on a photoplay after a sensational
crime has been committed. The story of
this is so much like the actual case that
were the names of the characters not
changed you would take it to be a reproduction
of the crime itself.
An instance of this took place with the
109
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
Frank case, when a producer re-enacted the
lynching details in a film. Fortunately,
however, the censorship boards in many
cities prevented the picture being shown for
public exhibition.
Do the exhibitors believe in pandering
to morbid minds? No, emphatically no, so
far as the majority are concerned, for they
have no desire to see the motion picture
stoop so low.
We go to the motion-picture theater in
quest of wholesome entertainment, not to
revel in the tragedies of the every-day
world. We get enough of these served up
in the newspapers, so we are offended when
they do succeed in gaining admittance to
the screen.
The menace comes from the mushroom
concerns, who aim to make easy money on
opportune occasions, so it is well that we
have producers, censors and exhibitors who
have ideals.
The efforts of these concerns are not
sufficient to do the industry an appreciable
amount of harm, and I should not be surprised
if the censorship boards throughout
the country unanimously agree to taboo films
of this kind.
110
XXIII
THE PHOTOPLAY THEATER CRYINGBABY
PROBLEM
TV/HO has not, during an intensely dra*
*
matic moment in a photoplay, been
suddenly reminded of the cold realities of
life all on account of a crying baby? Of
course the mother strives her best to calm
it, but, having again settled down to enjoy
the picture, you hear those annoying sounds
for the second, or possibly third, time.
A crying baby in the photoplay theater
is a pest; a pest because the very thing you
visit it for entertainment is nipped in the
bud. It is certainly true you do not have
to listen to the players, as in the case of a
vaudeville show or a stage play, but a crying
baby, nevertheless, does distract your attention
from the white screen.
The mother or guardian is not wholly
to blame. As likely as not, there is no one
at home when she feels she needs relaxation,
and if the parent is not to be deprived
s ill
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
of the pleasures she has more than earned,
there is but one alternative to take the
baby with her.
A child in arms can understand the pictures;
a baby in arms can not, so it is superfluous
to consider the character of the programs
shown. The baby's feeble mind fails
to understand what is taking place on the
screen in front of him, and, as the mother
endeavors to follow the picture, her offspring
becomes restless and commences to
cry. The wise mother will coax the baby
to keep quiet, by all the resources known to
her, but she is, after all, but human. If the
baby persists in crying, she realizes that the
pleasure of her neighbors is being spoiled,
and consequently leaves the theater.
Why should spectators endure screaming
babies? And why should the mother
be practically compelled to leave the show
before she has seen it through?
We now come to the fountainhead the
exhibitor who has in his hands the solutions
to both problems. Since the decline of
the nickeldrome many high-grade theaters
have been opened. The program is not all
when from a dime to a quarter is paid for
entertainment we expect some comforts
112
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
thrown in. Many theaters end with a
retiring-room each for ladies and gentlemen.
To the unencumbered parent this adequately
fills the need, but the mother in charge of a
crying baby can not leave the baby to take
care of itself.
In the Bronx district of New York City
is a motion-picture theater which possesses
a nursery. A trained nurse is in charge,
and every mother on entering has the option
of leaving her baby in the nurse's care.
Should the baby prove beyond the control
of the latter, a slide is projected on the
screen to the effect that the mother is
wanted in the nursery. There is little
chance of a baby becoming discontented,
for there is a sand-pile, swings, rockinghorses,
low chairs and a crib.
Such an annex is required in every
modern photoplay theater, and the expense
would well repay the exhibitor, because
many mothers prefer to keep away from
the movies rather than be burdened with a
troublesome baby.
113
XXIV
OPERA ON THE FILM
HPHE invasion of opera in the photoplay
*
world is not exactly new it has been
steadily pushing its way to the fore since
1913. In that year, when in London, I well
remember attending a demonstration of
kine-opera, the invention of Mr. de Caro,
who succeeded in synchronizing human
voices with the movements of the pictures.
Many opera artists from the Scala, Milan;
the Imperial Opera-house, St. Petersburg,
and the Metropolitan Opera-house, New
York, were seen singing well-known extracts
from famous works. The scenes that the
artists appeared in were elaborately staged,
while there were both a chorus and orchestra
to support the principals.
It was anticipated that Edison's invention,
the kinetophone, would make grand
opera possible, but it did not record in a
natural tone or manner what the players
said, as was anticipated.
114
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
In 1913 the Thanhouser Company filmed
"Tannhauser." The famous opera rather
lacked incident, but was not in any way
lacking in interest. The picture, with its
lovely backgrounds and beautiful photography,
was one of great artistic beauty.
Miss Florence La Badie was captivating as
"Venus."
"Carmen" was first done as a three-reel
subject in 1913 by the Thanhouser Company.
The story was one that lent itself
to filming purposes, and the director neglected
few opportunities. Marguerite Snow
made an enticing "Carmen."
The Cines Company's version of "Carmen,"
produced in 1914, with Marguerite
Sylva in the title role, was based on the
book. The players traveled from Rome to
Spain in order to obtain the necessary Spanish
atmosphere, but the war delayed the
release of same. It could not be shown in
France because the rights to "Carmen"
belong to the Opera Comique, and one of
the negatives was lost on the "Ancona"
when on its way to America.
The year 1915 saw the Lasky and Fox
forces at work. The former captured
Geraldine Farrar at a salary unprecedented
115
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
in the history of motion pictures. Her performance
was characterized by realism.
She imbibed the true spirit of the title role,
and when she returned to the Metropolitan
Opera-house she surprised Caruso by her
roughness. That slap on the face momentarily
stunned her famous partner, who,
during the third-act fight scene, found Miss
Farrar none too ladylike. She attacked him
with such vigor that he had his work cut
out to protect himself.
At the end of the embrace, Caruso, to
get even, allowed "Carmen" to suddenly
slip from his hands, resulting in her falling
down. After the performance Miss Farrar
and Caruso exchanged some hard words.
Caruso pointed out that she was not in the
movies, whereupon Miss Farrar suggested
that he get another "Carmen." To this
Caruso courteously replied that a repetition
of the performance could be prevented by
getting another "Don Jose."
The Spanish atmosphere was obtained
In Los Angeles, where the bull-fight was
staged before an audience of twenty thousand,
permission first being obtained from
the city government. Twenty professionals,
Mexican matadors and bulls imported from
116
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
the famous Madero ranch in Mexico added
the desired finishing touches to a realistic
production.
"Carmen" was first shown in Boston to
humor Geraldine Farrar, who is a native
of that city. But it meant another conquest
for the photoplay, since Boston's
famous home of music the Symphony Hall
was acquired. This was the first time
that photoplays were exhibited there. Miss
Farrar attended the premiere performance,
an orchestra of sixty accompanying the
picture.
"Carmen" might have been written for
Theda Bara, for she certainly knew how to
"vamp" in the Fox version, when her Russian-French-Italian
ancestry stood her in
good stead. The picture was staged in New
Jersey, where typical Spanish buildings were
erected, and populated by about five hundred
carefully selected Italians.
Unlike many of her sister players,
Madame Anne Pavlova did not journey to
California in state. The Universal Company
took the studio to her when she made
her debut in "The Dumb Girl of Portici,"
an adaptation from "Masaniello," Auber's
famous opera.
117
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
Pavlova and her company were playing
at the Midway Gardens, Chicago, during
July, 1915, and Pavlova simply journeyed,
every afternoon, to Sans Sonio Park, near
where a temporary studio had been put up.
This enabled her to perform her regular
ballet engagements without interference. At
the end of her Chicago engagement, however,
the lure of California proved too
strong and she traveled in a special train
to Universal City in order to do the exteriors.
Lois Weber, the director, could not
have possibly selected a more suitable
vehicle for Mme. Pavlova's peculiar talents,
while the direction was admirable.
Pavlova was not satisfied with several
of the dancing scenes, and it was at her
suggestion that they were retaken in New
York. Even then, the dancer had to travel
from Boston. On this occasion she objected
to a red-haired property man, whom she
considered a bad omen, and, bowing to her
whim, the director dismissed him.
"The Dumb Girl of Portici" was first
presented at the Globe Theater, New York.
On the first night Mme. Pavlova was
appearing in Salt Lake City, Utah, and was
advised of the reception accorded her film
118
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
efforts, by a special wire from the theater
to her hotel.
Usually the music is written for the
photoplay, but 'The Fall of a Nation" was
written for the music, Thomas Dixon, the
author, even preparing a special libretto.
The original score was entrusted to Victor
Herbert, who spent four weeks in Los
Angeles getting a large orchestra in shape
at the National Film Corporation's studios.
Mr. Herbert worked in the private theater,
and after each reel had been edited by
the cutter, it was run through for his
benefit.
Each scene was treated individually, yet
so skillfully done that the central themes
and motives blended into a harmonious
whole. Mr. Herbert got away from the
patchwork idea entirely.
"Hundreds of music lovers have told
me," said Mr. Herbert in a newspaper interview,
"that their pleasure in picture presentations
was to a large extent spoiled by the
patchwork character of the music. When
the orchestra played, they heard bits of
'Fausť or 'Tannhauser' or 'Traviata' or
'Carmen'; the hearing of the music flashed
pictures from those operas on the minds of
119
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
the spectators, and attention was distracted
from the characters in the story."
How "La Boheme" (Puccini's opera)
came to be filmed is an interesting story in
itself. Alice Brady saw the spoken version
at the Metropolitan Opera-house, where she
met the prima donna after the performance.
During their conversation Cavelieri suggested
that she appear as "Mimi" in a
screen version of same. Miss Brady thereupon
took up the matter with her director,
who decided upon Murger's story as her
next vehicle.
Then Puccini, the composer, threatened
an injunction for infringement of his rights,
but when the picture was completed, William
Brady, the producer, invited Nathan Burkan,
the composer's attorney, and members
of the Metropolitan Opera Company to
attend a private exhibition of the production.
After he had seen the film Burkan
declared it too beautiful to be interfered
with, and cabled Puccini that he was in
favor of its being distributed.
At Boston the picture was given its first
showing at the Park Theater, where Miss
Brady sang for the opera in connection with
same.
120
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
"Queen of the Roses," an adaptation of
Leoncavallo's opera, "La Reginnetta Delia
Rose," was given its premier showing at
Candler Theater, New York. The orchestra
of the Metropolitan Opera-house was
"raided" so as to provide fifty soloists.
The picture was produced in Italy with
an all-Italian cast, and the promoters staked
more on the music than the picture,
121
XXV
SPIRITUALISM BY THE FILM
'ŤHE motion picture has received but scant
* attention at the hands of spiritualists.
This is all the more surprising when, as we
all know, trick movie camera work can put
over some remarkable spooky stunts. Maybe
the genuine spiritualist has purposely
neglected the opportunity because it would
bring about even more accusations of
deliberate faking.
However, about two years ago, in Paris,
spooks were experimented upon with a
motion-picture camera. The medium employed
was a Frenchwoman, who, for a
period covering four years, had her seances
recorded by four cameras, to which she
could not gain access.
The genuineness of this unique film was
proven by showing every portion of the
cabinet occupied by the medium, which
revealed that nothing was hidden.
The medium next entered, clad only in
122
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
a tight-fitting, one-piece dress. Her hands
and face were the only parts of her body
left uncovered. She then sat down in the
cabinet and the curtains opened and closed
in turn, the hands being revealed all the
time.
After this came the spook stunts, the
first of which were many-sized hands which
hovered over the medium's head.
Secondly, shoulders, heads, as well as
complete human forms, floated in the
cabinet.
Then the spirit set itself free from the
medium, moved about like a snake and
disappeared into the medium.
Baron Dr. von Schrenk-Notzing, a
famous German authority, stated at the time
that these tests satisfied the exacting requirements
laid down by science.
Mr. J. N. Maskelyne, who has amazed
Britishers with his spook demonstrations,
is inclined to the opinion that the motionpicture
camera can not put over his best
illusions more convincingly than his present
methods.
I recall, in the fall of 1913, when in
London, seeing a photoplay which exposed
the methods of fraudulent spiritualists. It
123
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
was written and produced in England by a
recognized authority on spiritualism.
In brief, the story told of an heiress who
was puzzled at a supplement missing from
her father's will. She offers $25,000 for
the lost codicil.
A gang of charlatans get her in their
power and persuade her to go through a
seance. There she is much impressed by
their methods, especially when she sees the
spirit of her dead father through the magic
crystal. This effect is produced by one of
the gang making up as the father.
When she asks what is in the codicil she
is advised to invest $25,000 in the Motor
Oil Company, a fake concern run by the
crooks.
What interested me more than the story
was the exposing of the tricks of the trade.
Little does the medium know that her hands
are tied in slip-knots, or that the lower of
the combined writing-pads used for recording
the questions is waxed, the writing later
being reproduced on the other side of the
curtain by using the graphite. The answers
are written with an electro magnet.
But what would surprise the medium
even worse would be to learn that a tele-
124
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
phone contrivance is hidden in her hair.
This repeats everything to a man at the
back of the curtain.
It is only to be expected that a debatable
production of this character would meet
with opposition. The producers got their
first taste of this when a committee representing
the North Midlands District Union
of Spiritualists called at their offices. They
insisted that the production was a direct
attack upon spiritualism in general, whereas
the producers assured them that they only
exposed the fraudulent kind.
The main objection raised was the title,
"Spiritualism Exposed." The producers
had already printed all the positive copies
they needed to fill orders, while the posters
to advertise same were already in the hands
of exhibitors, so altering the title at the
eleventh hour would necessarily be an
expensive procedure.
The company finally agreed to have
slips pasted over the posters, making the
title read, "Fraudulent Spiritualism Ex-
posed."
Whatever your views may be on spiritualism,
when we get down to the domestic
variety ghosts we are all interested.
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MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
A French landlord had the misfortune
to own a haunted house in a lonely part of
Lyons. His tenants were of the come-andgo
order, for, as soon as they became
acquainted with the ghost, which had the
most unnatural habit of appearing at daytime
in one of the rooms, they moved elsewhere.
This ghost was a man so old and
bent that it was with the utmost difficulty
that he walked. He always carried a lantern
and had a most pitiful voice.
There came a time when the landlord
had no tenants at all.
He had what might be called the movie
money-making instinct. "What an unusual
subject for a film," he murmured to himself.
He soon got busy, but he discovered
that camera operators who possessed sufficient
pluck to undertake the task were at a
premium.
At length, however, his man came along
and began his long vigil in the haunted
room. He did this for six days in succession;
still no ghost appeared. He quit on
the seventh day, when, strange to say, the
ghost was on the job. Evidently he objected
to the widespread publicity he would obtain
if he posed for the movies !
126
XXVI
BIBLE STUDY BY MOTION PICTURES
TS it possible to study the Bible by motion
*
pictures? One's mind instantly turns to
such religious productions as "From Manger
to Cross," "Samson," "Daniel," "The
Star of Bethlehem" and "Joseph in Egypt,"
for an answer to the question.
Biblical subjects require reverent treatment,
consequently are full of pitfalls when
produced by manufacturers of modern comedies
and dramas. It must be admitted,
however, that there was no opportunity
for faultfinding in regard to "From Manger
to Cross." This masterpiece was produced
in the Holy Land, and, as evidence of the
pains taken, Sidney Olcott, the director,
returned to America with a letter from H.
H. el-Hussein, the mayor of Jerusalem.
Here it is: "Mr. Olcott did not spare any
effort to perform the production of the life
of Christ on the original spots whenever
possible, but in all instances gathered the
127
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
best data and material as well as a most
competent personnel of artists to attain the
high degree of efficiency." The Turkish
Government stamp proves the authenticity
of the letter.
The scene where our Lord takes the
cross to Calvary, for instance, was filmed
on the Via Dolorosa, the road of sorrows.
"Christ" fell down exhausted under the
weight of the cross near the convent of the
Sisters of St. Veronica. This piece of acting
so much affected the nuns who were watching,
that all gave vent to weeping, one
sister coming to the rescue with wine.
Many scenes were taken in Bethlehem
and on the Mount of Olives.
"Samson," however, from a religious
standpoint, was not so successful.
There was a tendency on the part of the
director to appeal to depraved tastes by
strongly emphasizing Samson's lower life,
while hardly touching upon his higher life.
It can not be denied that Warren Kerrigan
was an ideal actor for the name part.
He has the physique and made the most of
his limited opportunities.
One wonders how Samson managed to
break the jaw of the lion with his bare
128
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
arms, but, to quote from "Making the
Movies": "The director had 'Jack of
Hearts' handle the lion the tamest one in
the zoo and then leave him. The camera
was stopped while the lion was drugged,
and, without any apparent break in the film,
Warren was seen mastering the almost
unconscious beast."
No fault could be found with the costuming
or the settings, but the temple scene
was a marvel of realism. The pillars
looked genuine, and as they are pulled over
one by one by Samson in his fury, one
imagines the "crowd" could not have
escaped uninjured.
The story was founded on the Old Testament,
the subtitles being quoted from the
Bible.
In one of the important scenes, at its
trial run in the studio theater, appeared
what looked to be a large bird above the
skyline.
"Whaťs that aeroplane doing there before
the time of Christ?" commented the
keenest one in the group.
The director's oversight had been discovered,
and it was deemed advisable to
retake the scene. That error ran the com-
129
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
pany into a nice extra sum. This instance
is worthy of mention as showing the pains
taken to insure correctness of detail.
Before Lawrence Marston went ahead
with "The Star of Bethlehem" he consulted
several theologians, who helped him to
decide several vital matters. One of these
was, "What did the prophet Micah look
like?" and he finally chose the picture of
Moses on the mountain. He surmounted
most other difficulties by following famous
paintings.
"In assembling our 'Star of Bethlehem'
characters," said Mr. Marston, in speaking
of his trials, "the problem of the age of
Herod confronted us. Historical fact had
it that he was an old man, and had it, too,
that he was dead four years before the birth
of the Redeemer.
"Again, in the matter of the Wise-men
the text of Matthew stated that 'Herod
spoke to the Wise-men privily' privately.
It is hardly likely that a monarch who
feared strangers as Herod did would have
received three of them 'privily.'
"And so it is that he who produces a
picture on which he must go back into the
ages for facts, must weigh all of them with
130
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
common sense. The task of the producer
of a Biblical story is not an easy one, but it
is interesting and gripping by reason of its
difficulties. The extra thought and care
one must give to so important an undertaking
fill one with a high sense of the magnitude
of such a work."
"Daniel" was a worth-while production
in every respect. The story was written by
Madison C. Peters, who developed the characteristics
in a praiseworthy manner.
Courtenay Foote gave a dignified portrayal
of the younger Daniel, while Charles
Kent, as the older Daniel, was equally con-
vincing.
The fiery furnace was erected after the
most reliable data available were studied,
and when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
are seen stepping forth from the fiery
furnace, not touched in the least by the
flames, one marvels at the director's skill.
Another elaborate setting is "The
Dream of Nebuchadnezzar," who beholds
the great statue of gold and silver collapse
and break into thousands of pieces. The
statue was modeled in clay first of all, then
cast in plaster, a half a ton of which was
used. Gold and silver paint were lavished
131
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
to give it the finishing touches, and, altogether,
over $600 was expended. The
statue stood to a height of twenty feet.
What is the effect of these productions
upon motion-picture audiences? Do they
impress them to a favorable degree?
To take one case: When "From Manger
to Cross" was shown at a Pontefract
(England) motion-picture theater, it attracted
almost the entire population, and the
Rev. W. Cell, the local vicar, took the
liberty of stepping to the front of the house
and calling upon the audience to keep silent
during the projection of the film, which
impressed them so much that the vicar
followed it up with a short prayer service.
Dr. Shriver, superintendent of the Immigration
Board of the Presbyterian Board of
Home Missions, visited a photoplay show
which had "Joseph in Egypt" as its attraction.
Among his neighbors were a mechanic
and his wife, who explained the Bible story
to him during the presentation of the pic-
ture.
As Dr. Brethren stated: "Doesn't that
carry home one thought to you?
"For years you have been trying to
interest the people in the story of Joseph
132
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
in Egypt, bidding them to come to our
churches to hear it
freely. Here is a
theater where people are paying money to
see the story truly and entertainingly told.
I do not propose to turn our churches into
theaters, but I do call attention to the
importance and value of this unconventional
method of holding and interesting your
congregations."
All that Dr. Brethren says is very true,
but the difficulty is to adopt his suggestions,
for it is only now and then that a Biblical
picture is produced.
The Rev. Dr. William Carter, general
secretary of the International Peace Forum,
in addressing an audience of motion-picture
men, said: "What could be more dramatic
than Elijah on Mt. Carmel with the 450 of
the prophets of Baal, waiting for Goďs
answer by fire to show the true from the
false? What could be more thrilling than
Jezebel being thrown from a window to the
dogs below for her wicked and licentious
folly? What could be funnier than Balaam's
ass turning to tell his master to 'go fast/ or
Eutychus falling asleep when Paul preached
too long a sermon, and falling out of a
three-story window, thereby breaking up the
133
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
sermon and the congregation at the same
time?
"There is every element of the dramatic,
the tragic and comic in these Bible stories.'*
To-day is the age of the specialist, and
t^ere are indications that several producers
will arise to supply the present lack of
Bib
1 *
~1 subjects.
Already the National Bible Play Society
has started work at Las Vegas, New Mexico,
where the scenery resembles Palestine. The
society's plays will be adapted from both
t> Old and New Testaments, but first the
scenarios will be passed by an interdenominational
board of ministers, so as to insure
accuracy. These films will go the rounds of
churches and Y. M. C. A.'s.
Frederic Thompson, a well-known director
of spectacular photoplays, provided he
obtains adequate support, will picturize the
Bible. He states that the undertaking will
consume at least eight years, involving an
enormous outlay.
If the project matures, the stories will
be selected by a "cabinet" of twelve members,
carefully chosen from all walks of life.
The players will not be "starred"; their
identities will be concealed because of the
134
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
tendency to see a picture for the player
alone.
Each picture, before released, will be
supervised by a censorship board of one
hundred members.
How Mr. Thompson proposes these
films will be used in churches is that a minister
will need one to illustrate his text, a
library being established for this purpose.
135
XXVII
PUTTING OVER SERMONS IN
PHOTOPLAYS
IT takes a long time for anything to live
* down its bad name, but now the photoplay
producers are endeavoring to break
away from the unwholesome type of picture.
It still exists, it must be admitted,
though the reputable producers, for the
most part, possess ideals. They are not
only out to entertain the masses with their
dramas in celluloid, but to make them think
as well. How do they accomplish it, then?
Many young folks have been inspired
with a determination to lead an honest, clean
life as the direct outcome of a convincing
photoplay. Take, for instance, "The Blindness
of Virtue," which shows how wrong
parents are in concealing the facts of life
from their children. Many parents can not
summon up sufficient courage to take their
offspring into their confidence, whereas they
would not object to accompanying their
136
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
grown-up son or daughter to the local
motion-picture theater showing the production.
The subject is handled in a delicate
way and removes the misunderstanding
between parent and child.
"Hypocrites" is another photoplay of
great educational value.
What is the difference between a motionpicture
sermon and one delivered from the
pulpit? I consider this is best summed up
in the words of Rev. Dr. Harry W. Jones,
of Spanish-American war fame. In resigning
his pastorate in a Long Island town
some time ago, he gave the following explanation:
"I realized that I was wasting my
time, for there are living characters whose
actions as they unfolded their sublime story
were far more important than anything I
can say in the pulpit. A religious subject,
tactfully and reverently treated, will, in my
opinion, do more to advance the cause of
religion and uplift humanity than a thousand
eloquent preachers can ever hope to accomplish
by their oratory."
Suiting the action to the word, he went
into business as an exhibitor of educational
and religious films, drawing patrons from
his late congregation.
137
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
Another thing about the photoplay sermon
is that it prevents folks from going to
sleep, for they have to use their eyes, and
the sermon is so attractively presented that
the temptation is resisted.
The average churchgoer does not always
let a good sermon sink in, for he is of the
"Man from Missouri" kind. The film,
however, shows him the effect and cause in
actuality, consequently the lesson goes right
home.
Naturally, church attendances are not so
good as they were before the coming of the
motion pictures, but the minister can cope
with this competition by adapting himself
to modern conditions.
At the time the photoplay adaptation of
u
Les Miserables" was enjoying an extended
run in Boston, Dr. Meyers, preaching at the
Tremont Temple, viewed the production of
his own accord. It impressed him so much
as an educational vehicle that he delivered
a twelve-minute sermon, concluding same by
advising his congregation to see the motionpicture
version of Victor Hugo's master-
piece.
But the method that commends itself to
me is one whereby the minister can raise
138
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
the moral tone of the photoplay theater.
Every now and then an exhibitor runs an
excellent sermon production, and on such
occasions the ministers in the town might
get together and prevail upon the showman
to hold a private advance performance so
that they may preach upon same. The congregation
will manifest the greatest interest
in such a timely and interesting topic. The
exhibitor, in return, gives advance publicity
to the sermon, thereby inducing outsiders to
attend the church service. If the plan proves
successful, it will inspire the exhibitor to
have such films figure frequently on his
program.
The minister who aspires to address a
larger audience the world itself, in fact
for his sermons, can obtain his hearťs desire
without having to resign his position, for
there exists a demand for photoplay stories.
I could name several pastors who have made
good in writing scenarios in their spare
time, but the leading exponent is Rev. Clarence
J. Harris, who has had over two
hundred photoplays produced, and is now
scenario editor for one of the leading producing
companies.
Many ministers get the mistaken idea
139
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
that the motion-picture producers refuse to
consider their efforts, whereas the reverse
is the case. They know that the minister is
able to study many phases of life at firsthand,
but the mistake too often made is to
write a photoplay with the sermon element
foremost in mind. The average motionpicture
patron resents being preached at;
he must be tackled in an impartial way, and
this is by weaving an entertaining story
around a moral lesson of paramount importance.
The sermonizing value is not impaired
in so doing. The minister would also do
well to steer clear of religion, for it must
be remembered that all creeds are represented
in the motion-picture theater and
what might be in good taste for one might
prove offensive to another. The producer,
therefore, has to maintain a strictly neutral
attitude toward religion.
When a minister has had one of his
photoplays accepted and produced, it is up
to him to arrange with the local theaters to
show the production, when he can deliver a
sermon in connection with same.
140
XXVIII
RAISING CHURCH FUNDS BY MOTION
PICTURES
TT has long been contended by many that
* the motion picture does serious injury to
the church. This belief is based on the
assumption that the motion-picture theater
takes away people from the church on
Sunday evenings. There is no doubt some
truth in the statement, but when a minister
finds his congregation decreasing, he himself
is generally alone to blame. The habitual
churchgoers are loyal because religion to
them is something sacred. There are many
folks who are attracted by inspiring music
and good sermons, and when these things
are lacking, they automatically switch over
to the photoplay show.
Some churches have gone so far as to
introduce motion pictures in their regular
services in order to successfully combat
outside influences; others have utilized same
to raise funds.
To build a $20,000 church edifice with-
141
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
out being a penny in debt is what the
motion picture has accomplished at Bowie,
Texas. "The Alerts," a Methodist Episcopal
Sunday-school class, had five months
in which to raise the necessary funds,
so they went into direct competition with
a local photoplay theater. At first they
volunteered to boost his business, but the
exhibitor rejected their percentage propo-
sition.
Fred Paire, president of "The Alerts,"
thereupon rented a building in the business
section and equipped same with a homemade
stage and screen, borrowing the chairs.
Then projection apparatus was purchased
and films hired. The films were carefully
selected, in order not to conflict with the
ideals of the church, and still be sufficiently
entertaining to attract the general public.
Advertising space was taken in the local
newspapers, and the movement aroused so
much interest that clubs formed motion-picture
parties.
Quite a few parish houses have been
built, thanks to that "Good Samaritan"
the motion picture. Two pastors one in
Peoria, Illinois, the other in Milltown, New
Jersey found the one church building
142
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
totally inadequate for their requirements, so
they went ahead on a parish house, trusting
to the motion picture to defray all expenses.
Nor were they disappointed.
Rev. Dr. James Donohue, of St. Thomas
Aquinas Church, Brooklyn, obtained the
money for a parochial school before the
building had even been started. The vacant
lot which he had in mind he converted into
an airdrome. He provided one thousand
seats, obtained the necessary apparatus and
presented a five-reel daily program. For
ushers and ticket-sellers he obtained the
services of church-members.
When the Epiphany of St. John's Episcopal
Church, at Shenandoah, Pennsylvania,
was much damaged by a tornado, a repairing
fund had to be raised. The aid of the
local exhibitor was sought, with the result
that an evening was set aside for a benefit
under the auspices of the Women's Guild,
the members of which sold tickets prior to
the show.
The Grace Methodist Episcopal Church,
Locust and LaSalle Streets, Chicago, recently
had to wipe out a church debt. At one
of the regular Sunday services a film dealing
with religion in India was shown. The
10 143
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
result was that the required one hundred
dollars was collected.
Over in England, at Nottingham, a large
Baptist chapel found itself in financial difficulties,
so it occurred to the management to
rent the building to a motion-picture con-
cern.
The First Christian Church, Eleventh
and Locust Streets, Kansas City, Missouri,
has a separate auditorium accommodating
eight hundred, which is equipped for the
presentation of motion pictures. This may
at any time be hired for movie shows.
Possibly the saddest case is that of the
Rev. W. B. Codsell, pastor of the Congregational
Church at Westfield, Illinois. He
found that his salary was totally inadequate,
so he inaugurated a motion-picture show at
his church. Some of the more narrowminded
members of his congregation declared
that his shows taught children to
"emulate cowboys," consequently he was
obliged to resign.
144
XXIX
INCREASING SUNDAY-SCHOOL ATTENDANCES
BY MOTION PICTURES
TTHE motion picture is not immune from
*
the abuses which have distinguished
literature, consequently there are bad photoplays
as well as books which are not fit for
young folks to read.
To condemn a thing entirely because it
is defective in some respects is opposed to
American principles, so I can not be more
fair than to dwell upon the desirable kinds
of motion pictures.
Motion pictures are very popular with
children of all ages, and they particularly
enjoy refined comedies, inspiring dramas and
interesting educationals.
There have been many influences to
account for the falling off in Sunday-school
attendances within recent years, and the only
effective way to combat these is to utilize
every possible modern method of enhancing
the interest in lessons.
145
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
The motion picture has won its spurs
because it can serve up dry facts in an
appetizing manner. Bible lessons and the
teachings of Christianity are made much
more clear and interesting when told by
motion pictures, which appeal to the eye.
As a well-known preacher said some
time ago: "You can teach a boy a lesson in
Sunday school, but he is not interested, and,
if he listens at all, he soon forgets what he
has learned, while the lesson of the motion
picture is not only intensely interesting, but
it has a dramatic and lasting effect on the
boy. If I could select my own pictures, I
believe I could reform any bad boy."
The Texas State Sunday School Association,
at its 1914 convention, held at Fort
Worth, made a resolution to the effect that
the motion-picture producers be encouraged
to put out more educational subjects as well
as Bible and mission pictures, as the supply
was not equal to the demand, while the
Sunday schools were resorting more and
more to the motion picture as entertainment.
Rev. C. F. Reisner, pastor of the Grace
M. E. Church, West iO4th Street, New
York City, selects his programs from five
thousand educational subjects. He does not
146
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
show religious films exclusively, but also
lectures to films which depict such subjects
as cotton-growing in the South, and wheat-
raising.
Dr. Reisner is a pioneer in the church
motion-picture field, and one minister who
adopted his methods has increased his Sunday-school
attendance by eight hundred.
In so far as Dr. Reisner's own Sunday
school is concerned, he gave motion-picture
entertainments to seventeen thousand children
during the first year of operation. "I
firmly believe," he said, "that these entertainments
do as much to stimulate interest
in Sunday-school work as anything else."
Not so long ago the superintendent of
the Sunday school attached to the Central
Presbyterian Church, Rock Island, Illinois,
inaugurated a series of motion-picture shows.
These are given on Friday nights, and only
those pupils who have been regular in their
Sunday-school attendance receive tickets of
admission.
The Rev. Oscar C. Helming, pastor of
the University Church, Fifty-sixth Street and
Madison Avenue, Chicago, has converted
his Sunday-school room into a motion-picture
theater, in which he presents his picture
147
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
program. He reports increased attendance,
and the shows have had a marked effect
upon the older children, in that they have
stayed.
All these typical instances go to prove
that motion pictures are a necessary adjunct
to Sunday-school work. The possibilities,
however, in this connection, have not been
fully realized, and the superintendent who
is alive to these can improve his school.
148
XXX
ALLOWING CHILDREN TO ACT IN A
PHOTOPLAY THEY HAVE SEEN
/CHILDREN enjoy motion pictures be-
^-x
cause they appeal to the eye and make
education a real joy, instead of something
to be dreaded. As children are never happy
unless mimicking or describing something
which they have seen, there is no reason
why this trait should not be capitalized in
connection with Sunday-school entertain-
ments.
Every child has his favorite motionpicture
actor. I know of a party of four
youngsters who play motion-picture shows
every Saturday. The eldest sister impersonates
Mary Pickford because she has long
curls; her sister likes to be Ruth Stonehouse;
her brother pretends he is Francis X. Bushman,
while his little cousin acts like Bryant
Washburn. They do not play in their back
yard, but, instead, visit the best scenic places
just like the real thing.
149
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
Up in Canada a class of schoolchildren
went one better. They enacted a certain
popular photoplay on the school platform
Under the supervision of their teacher, and
the imagination and memorizing displayed
were nothing short of remarkable.
The coach of a Sunday-school dramatic
entertainment will not find it an arduous
task to present a production if it is one
which his actors have seen at the local
motion-picture theater. Any photoplay will
not suit that is obvious and the selection,
therefore, of a suitable effort, should be
guided by the following considerations.
Some photoplays are too melodramatic
or vulgar for children to see. This leaves
the refined productions. The average one,
two and three part picture contains as much
plot as a magazine short story. The feature
production in four reels and up generally
possesses sufficient story for a novel of
moderate length, although it only takes an
hour or so to run off the screen.
Care must be exercised not to utilize
photoplay adaptations of copyrighted novels
or stage plays. There is perfect safety in
adapting original photoplays or those based
on copyright-expired works.
150
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
The successful photoplay used to be the
one of action, but the tendency to-day leans
toward perfect characterization. The allaction
story is no doubt easier for children
to grasp, but it is harder for the coach to
stage, as deeds have to be replaced by
words.
After a story has been chosen and the
cast selected, the players and coach should
attend the local photoplay theater in a body
and see the production over twice if this ispossible.
The coach, after the performance,
should draw up a synopsis of the story and
hand copies of same to the participants.
Should dialogue be adopted to fit the situations?
When a photoplay is produced the
players have no lines to go by they say
things that seem natural to the characters.
Of course what they say is not heard, but
as the child actors will have visualized the
story, they might be allowed a little license.
It will perhaps be as well to prepare a
skeleton of the story in order to arrange
the entrances and exits in proper sequence.
The absence of the quick-change-of-scene
element would make this necessary.
This entertainment plan should prove
an excellent drawing-card.
151
XXXI
MISSIONARY WORK BY MOTION
PICTURES
HPHOSE few missionaries who have ventured
into the motion-picture field have
good cause to be satisfied with the results
they have achieved.
Probably the most fertile territory is the
Philippines, where the motion picture has
succeeded in preaching, among other important
things, the gospel of sanitation. The
films, as shown before several wild Filipino
tribes, contrasted the old, unhealthy way
with the modern, hygienic one. In the case
of one tribe, the Secretary of the Interior
for the Philippines reports that roads have
been built, rivers cleared, public order maintained,
hunting, slavery and piracy almost
abolished, agriculture commenced, schools
opened and barriers broken down between
tribes.
In Hawaii the American-Japanese problem
presents the greatest menace, and Dr.
152
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
Sidney L. Gulick is of the opinion that the
motion picture is capable of Americanizing
the Oriental population. He makes the
following suggestions:
"If the sugar plantations should combine,
they might employ an expert man or
two on each of the islands, who could visit
the various plantations and villages, in turn,
and in time completely transform the mind
of the entire population. He should have
courses of lectures and reels on American
history 'Colonial Times and Early Immigration;'
'The War of Independence;' 'The
Civil War and Its Consequences;' 'Recent
Immigration,' etc., etc. The education
should also serve to acquaint the people
with the principal events and meaning of
European history 'The Middle Ages;'
'Feudalism;' 'The Reformation;' 'The Rise
of Nations in Europe;' 'The Rise of Constitutional
Governments and Democracies;'
'The History of Liberty.'
"But even more than this should be
done. 'The Life and Teachings of Jesus'
and the standard stories of the Bible should
be displayed in such ways as to set forth
the fundamental moral and religious conceptions
of Occidental civilization.
153
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
u
By the use of motion pictures (five
cents to adults and free to children) the
entire Asiatic population would be unconsciously
swept into the circle of our Occidental
life. Parents would move along with
their children in their acquaintance and
ideals. The chasm between parents and
children, now dreaded, and to avoid which
the Japanese schools exist, would be largely
overcome.
"The man to give these lectures should,
of course, be bilingual at least. Adults who
understand little English should be addressed
in their native tongues Japanese,
Filipino, Chinese, etc."
Even in Japan much educational work
remains to be done in regard to Christianity.
When "Quo Vadis?" was shown in Japan
under the auspices of the Protestant Episcopal
Board of Missions, it was seen by many
distinguished folks, including members of
noble families, rich merchants and people
of the court who can not be persuaded to
attend church.
The photoplay brought home most convincingly
the principles of Christianity, and
there is no question that its indirect influence
was felt.
154
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
One persevering missionary in the wilds
of Africa tried divers ways of gaining the
attention of the hard-to-please natives, but
failed in every instance. So, when a
stranded American came along to the nearest
township, and was glad to sell his
motion-picture outfit for a mere song, the
missionary decided to try the motion picture
as a last resource.
One night he rigged up his camp show
near the village of the heathens and invited
all the inhabitants to be present. Unfortunately,
as it turned out to be later, all his
films were slapstick comedies, otherwise the
right kind of films might have rewarded his
efforts with success.
The natives were so astonished at first
that they all stood up and then went down
on their hands and knees as if to show
reverence.
Before long they were literally laughing
themselves to death, and became so unruly
that the missionary had great difficulty in
continuing the performance.
He experienced a sample of the effect
the films had on them when, about a week
later, he came across a band of natives
acting with great vigor what they had seen.
155
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
Particularly exciting were the chase
scenes, in which the blacks chased one of
the tribe whose face had been covered with
white clay to resemble a white man.
Things looked very serious when they
staged the trick incident. One of the films
had depicted a man brandishing his club on
another man, only to find him suddenly
disappear.
To the amazement of the natives, however,
the victim remained where he was.
Just as they were going to deal the victim
another vicious blow, the missionary inter-
vened.
When their attention was eventually
secured they were told that the thing was
not done in reality. The fact that they had
been deceived got the goats of the natives,
who, on the next day, attacked the tent when
the missionary was absent and completely
wrecked everything, including the projection
machine. They used the strips of film as
articles of jewelry.
But in the South Sea Islands, Vicomte de
Geron, a Frenchman, runs a chain of
motion-picture shows on the principal
islands, which are doing much to breed the
spirit of content among the natives.
156
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
Outside of dances and feasts, the natives
have no other form of amusement, so the
motion picture came as a boon and blessing.
The theater operator, at the first performance,
blundered, which resulted in one
of the reels of films running loose from his
box. The natives did not know what to
make of the incident, so they each purloined
a strip of the film as a souvenir.
To-day the natives attend as regularly
and are as orderly as any American audience.
They are not, however, particular
how old the films are. Those they see have
first gone the rounds of a number of
theaters in New Zealand.
Apart from enlightening them in regard
to how the civilized world lives, there has
been less law-breaking since the advent of
the motion picture.
157
XXXII
TEMPERANCE AIDED BY MOTION
PICTURES
HTHE weaknesses of the human race are
* the raw materials which the motionpicture
producer is so fond of serving up on
the screen, and since partaking of intoxicant
liquor is one of the predominant ones, he
has not hesitated to effectively put over the
harms of this evil.
Neither the printed page nor the lecturer's
eloquence can approach the motion
picture for hammering the lesson right
home. What is the reason for its superiority,
then? There is, in the first place,
considerable difference in the medium
employed.
The motion picture is absolutely the
nearest you can get to real life. The workingman
addicted to the drinking habit sees,
for instance, the havoc wrought by excessive
drinking. The film reveals a home like his
broken up he is dismissed by his employer
158
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
and later his wife and children desert him
through his brutality, and the drunkard
finally winds up his career in prison. All
this has been such a lesson to him that he
reforms after his prison sentence has
expired.
The motion-picture screen has converted
many a drunkard, and I can offer no more
convincing proof of this fact than the case
of "John Barleycorn," Jack London's temperance
photoplay. When this was about
to be put on the market, the liquor interests
of the country offered the producer thousands
of dollars if he would suppress the
film. The offer, by the way, was promptly
rejected.
The immense popularity enjoyed by the
motion picture has also had an uplifting
influence upon the working classes. After
the day's work is done, the husband naturally
wants relaxation, and until the photoplay
came along his haven of refuge was the
saloon. The entertaining powers and cheapness
of motion pictures proved irresistible,
the result now being that the majority have
gotten into the habit of dropping in at the,
nearest show for an hour or so of an
evening, accompanied by their wives and
11 159
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
children. This is held to be directly responsible
for the closing down of many saloons
throughout the country.
Over in Britain they have had a new
form of the drink evil to combat with. In
many towns the motion-picture theaters can
not open on the Sabbath. Before taking
action in Newark, a suburb of Nottingham,
the Church of England Men's Society sought
first-hand information on the matter in
regard to the moral effect upon the population.
The report received from the chief
constable stated that since the photoplay
theaters opened on Sundays the town had
become so law-abiding that it had been an
easy matter to deplete the police force on
duty by one-half. Moreover, the saloonkeepers
were doing their utmost to have the
theaters closed, as they had experienced an
alarming decrease in their receipts.
The motion picture has also done good
work in Germany. I can not give any
latest figures, but I do know that over
two thousand saloons quit business in 1911,
and also that each inhabitant per head
drank between two and three litres instead
of four litres, as had been the case in
previous years.
160
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
Does not all of this offer adequate testimony
that the motion picture, through its
far-reaching influence and excellent, thoughttransference
plan, has successfully accomplished
the work of a hundred Billy Sundays,
although I have no desire to belittle his
efforts?
161
XXXIII
STAMPING DOWN CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
BY MOTION PICTURES
A T Cincinnati there is an amusement
** place which corresponds to New York's
Coney Island. When a Wild West troupe
appeared there recently, the Humane officers
made it their business to be present at the
first performance and were rewarded by
seeing two acts of cruelty. These were the
bull-fight and a bucking broncho being
forced to perform extraordinarily hard
stunts, by using real spurs such as cowpunchers
use. At the end of the show they
had the show manager and his two riders
arrested.
But they had the proof with which to
put over their charge. It so happened that
an animated newspaper man was on the job
with his camera, and his employers loaned
a copy of the film to the Humane officers.
The European war has done one good
thing: it has stopped the decrepit-horse
162
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
traffic between England and Belgium and
Holland. Horses which had served their
period of usefulness were exported from
London to these countries, there to be converted
into food. The horses were in such
a terrible condition that the humane thing
to do would be to shoot them before they
began their journey.
The Royal Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals, in the early part of
1914, endeavored to pass a bill in Parliament
to stop the shameful trade. They
wanted the public to feel as strongly on the
subject as they did, so that the bill would
pass. They therefore had a film produced,
covering all phases of the decrepit-horse
traffic. The picture, when first shown, was
so harrowing that it had to be censored
before being released for public exhibition.
Having seen the film myself, I can vouch
for its convincing qualities.
It was intended to show the film in
Belgium and Holland, with the object of
influencing public opinion, but the war
stepped in to spoil the society's plans.
With the advent of war, the British
Blue Cross Society came into existence in
order to administer aid to the wounded
163
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
horses on the firing-line in France. Had
not the society in such timely fashion come
to the rescue, the prevailing ineffective
medical treatment of horses would have
continued.
The society, however, was sorely in need
of funds, so the idea was conceived of having
a short photoplay produced. The story
was offered to exhibitors in the ordinary
way, the local member in each town doing
all in his power to attract folks to see the
film.
The various organizations for the prevention
of cruelty to animals owe many
thanks to the photoplay producers for putting
over their "Be kind to animals" slogan
in their regular productions. A typical
example of this was presented in "Rags,"
in which Mary Pickford protected a dog
which had been cruelly treated.
Not so long ago the New York
Woman's League for Animals was responsible
for a two-reel animal drama, the
unique feature of the play being the subtitles,
told in the language of the horse,
who, by the way, acted with human intelli-
gence.
The Massachusetts Society for the Pre-
164
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
vention of Cruelty to Animals later offered
twenty-five dollars for a suitable scenario
featuring animals and children, but bringing
out why it behooves young and old to treat
animals kindly.
XXXIV
THE MOTION PICTURE IN SURGERY
AND MEDICINE
'
I ^HE motion picture in surgery and medi*
cine has not passed beyond the experimental
stage.
By the film a subject is covered in a few
minutes, although the actual experiments
may have involved hours of patient effort.
Nothing is destroyed by the speeding up;
in fact, it is an improvement, since many
movements are brought to light which would
remain unnoticed in the operating theater.
Frequently animals are sacrificed for
surgical purposes, but when this is done for
the film only one such sacrifice is necessary.
The negative records the experiment for all
time, for positive copies may be struck off
and distributed for simultaneous circulation.
Moreover, the experiment is the same every
time, consequently failures are practically nil.
To quote Dr. C. H. Heydmann, speaking
at a medical demonstration in London :
166
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
"The value of cinematographic radiography
lies in seeing the actual processes taking
place in the normal body.
"We shall be able to travel with a piece
of bread, a potato, a morsel of butter or
meat, a pill or a glass of beer, from the
beginning to the end of its journey.
"We shall see, through the eyes of the
cinematograph, what each mouthful does to
us and how it does it.
"Then, and only then, shall we be able
to draw our correct conclusions as to beneficial
or hostile elements without having
recourse to simulated conditions of the
laboratory or rule-of-thumb therapeutics or
dietetics."
Dr. Doyen, who has produced fifty
medical films altogether, is of the opinion
that if the student sees a surgical operation
on the film before viewing the actual operation,
he will be able to follow the latter
with perfect comprehension.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons
intends using motion pictures as part of its
course of instruction. At the first demonstration,
held in New York City during
March, 1916, five phases of surgical operating
were dealt with in a five-reel picture.
167
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
The chief subjects, the removal of a goitre
in the neck and the removal of stones from
the bladder, were handled by Dr. Eugene
Pool, of New York Hospital, and Dr.
Charles Peck, of Roosevelt Hospital, both
of whom lectured upon them.
The films were shown to an audience of
two hundred in the tower lecture hall, in
which a fireproof booth was installed to
accommodate the operator.
How are surgical films produced? In
the early part of 1912, Siegmund Lubin,
president of the well-known film company
bearing his name, invented a machine which
combined the motion picture with the X-rays.
This machine enables a man's digestive
organs to be filmed.
"I do not allow any doctor to go out
to the Philadelphia Hospital and take away
patients to be photographed," Dr. Neff is
quoted as saying in a newspaper interview.
"But such physicians as are attached to the
staff are permitted to do so, if the patient
does not object. If the patient objects, that
ends it. But I have heard of no objections
being raised, and the patients become interested
and enjoy the experience. It is a
change for them.
168
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
u
Mr. Lubin has been good to us. Our
motion pictures of microbes in milk were
made at his establishment, and he placed all
the resources at our command."
I know of a Frenchman who actually
succeeded in filming the digestive organs of
a trout. This fish was put on a restricted
diet which included flour, sugar, peptone,
subnitrate of bismuth and water. For filming
purposes he used a table which was
provided with a glass pool at each end, in
order to provide the necessary water to keep
the trout alive. There was not an inch of
extra space in which the trout could move,
and the top of the envelope was covered
with a piece of paraffin paper. This tube
was placed in the receptacle under the table,
the camera being focused on the glass and
operated by an electric motor. The trout
was compelled to fast for two days in this
cramped position, the constant flow of fresh
water keeping it alive. This is known as
the Carvello system. A special-sized film,
the depth of which is 2 3-5 inches, is used,
and usually two thousand exposures per
second are made instead of the usual sixteen.
A motor controls the X-ray camera, and this
motor can run at whatever speed suits the
169
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
subject. To cover an operation occupying
days, the operator simply switches the clutch
at the right gear, the result being that
exposures are made at intervals.
Attached to the machine is a box which
contains the roll of exposed film and two
reserve rolls. It has been found necessary
to overcome lighting difficulties by using a
cardboard box as a hood. In the center of
this box is a tube which has a fluorescent
screen at its lower end.
Some time ago a German surgeon
invented a machine called the bio-roentgenograph,
which demonstrated some interesting
facts concerning the stomach. In the
film taken, the whole stomach was revealed
at work, but when the animal subjects were
excited or angered the stomach movements
stopped.
The general course followed is to supply
the patient with some digestible food a
regular meal, in fact mixed with bismuth
or barium, to be opaque to the Roentgen
rays, which are behind the patient. The
camera, however, is in front, where it
"registers" the movements of the stomach,
on negative stock larger than the standard
size, at the rate of twelve exposures every
170
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
twenty seconds. The positive copies printed
from the negative are on the regular film
stock.
A motion-picture attachment to the electro-cardiogram
has been invented by Dr. W.
Einthoven, of Leyden, Holland.
The electro-cardiogram is operated by
placing a tiny thread of quartz or platinum,
the diameter of which is no larger than
one-thousandth of an inch, in the magnetic
part of a powerful electric magnet. At the
back of the filament is an arc-lamp, where
the motion-picture camera is located.
Dr. J. Comandon, the famous French
scientist, has produced several X-ray subjects,
chief of which is "Radiography in
Practice." In this several living subjects
were treated, of which may be mentioned
the bones of the wrist, the hand in a rubber
glove, side "close-up" of the knee, likewise
the foot and the bones of the ankle.
In "The Examination of the Stomach"
were shown the methods adopted by the
doctor in getting ready the patienťs stomach
for the X-rays, and we see how the Crookes
tube, which discharges the rays, is worked,
the patient imbibing the dose of bismuth in
order that his stomach does not remain
171
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
transparent to the rays, the Ruhmkorff coll.
After this the patienťs stomach is proceeded
with.
Dr. Comandon set a new precedent in
the producing of these films. The studio
scene was divided into two sections. In the
first the regulation motion-picture camera,
equipped with a quartz lens, was stood and
focused through the opening in the partition,
which was dressed with a fluorescent
screen. This screen was coated with calcium
tungstate in order to affect the luminous
radiation in such a way as to reduce the
exposure.
In the middle of the other section the
Crookes lens was located and the object was
placed in position midway between the tube
and screen.
Mico-cinematography makes it possible
to descend the surgical ladder. One film I
saw not so long ago showed blood corpuscles
as large as dinner-plates. These were at
war with dozens of large microbes, which
kept hitting back at each other.
Lieut-Col. Sims Woodhead, professor
of pathology in the Cambridge University,
recently delivered a motion-picture lecture
before the British Royal Army Medical
172
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
Corps on "Microbes Worse than Wounds."
The first film, "The Blood Circulation,"
depicted the path of blood in a tadpole's
tail. The second picture, "Relapsing Fever,"
dealt with the injection of bacteria in blood
and showed the sperochaetae swiftly gaining
in volume.
To quote from my book, "Making the
Movies" : "The lens of the motion-picture
camera is focused through a microscope
which magnifies objects from two thousand
to seventy-six million times. The French
companies who make a specialty of the work
have fully equipped laboratories in which
trained scientists prepare subjects for the
film. Their work necessitates plenty of
research, while much patience is involved in
taking the films themselves.
"The most exasperating thing about
germs and microbes is that they persist in
moving about in groups and have no respect
for the limited area covered by the camera's
lens.
"The photographer, to avoid this, generally
contrives to have them appear against
a black background. The light at the sides
is of two thousand candle-power and this
is of only just sufficient strength for photo-
173
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
graphic purposes. To make it stronger
would kill all of the objects. The rays of
this light are conveyed to the lens of the
microscope."
In 1912, Dr. T. H. Weisenburg, professor
of clinical neurology at the MedicoChirurgical
College, Philadelphia, presented
five reels of films dealing with nervous and
mental diseases, at the Academy of Medicine.
The leading picture introduced twentysix
patients for the purpose of demonstrating
dementia praecox, which was followed
by cases of maniac depressive insanity,
chronic mania, paranoid states, paresis and
melancholia.
As Dr. Weisenburg said:
u
We can take
pictures showing the action of the heart on
the surface of the body. We can show how
in pneumonia a man breathes with but one
lung. In fact, there is almost no field of
medicine which we can not touch with the
motion-picture machine.
"It is an expensive process, of course;
but the expense is more than compensated
for in the results obtained.'*
174
XXXV
DENTISTRY BY THE FILM
*
I *O Dr. Cunningham belongs the credit
for opening the door to dentistry. As
founder of the Children's Dental League,
he realized that slides and lecturers were out
of date. He wanted something so strikingly
convincing that the lesson would go right
home. Dr. Cunningham could have doubtless
obtained some victims of bad teeth and
paraded them in circus fashion, but this plan
did not please him. The scientific films he
saw at the International Hygienic Congress,
in Paris, convinced him that a film would
enable him to cover much territory at once,
show the harm wrought by defective teeth,
at close range, and cover the subject thoroughly
in a short time. The cost, proportionately,
would not prove prohibitive.
He approached a leading French filmproducing
concern having a large laboratory
for the production of educational subjects,
and, arrangements being satisfactory to both
12 175
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
parties, the producing of "How to Save a
Nation's Teeth" was commenced. A whole
year was consumed in the making, yet the
net results were only two thousand feet of
film. But that seemingly insignificant picture
depicted teeth as they grow from birth to
adult age. The advent of the former stage
was covered by the Symington radiograph.
The lower and upper molars were shown
working. This was done with the aid of
clever models and still photographs. The
second reel was given over to the ravages,
for which microbes are responsible, arising
from decayed teeth.
Sweden was the first country to be
honored with the film, which made its debut
before the Ministers of Civic Affairs and
Education. For not holding the exhibition
in a proper motion-picture theater, the police
arrested Dr. Cunningham and imposed a
fine. So he looked about for such a place
and hired the Brunkelergsteaten, the most
pretentious photoplay theater in Sweden.
Here the film was shown to the press and
four hundred delegates of the International
Federation.
Dr. Cunningham produced the film for
general educational purposes, and not with
176
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
the idea of teaching dentistry to those in
the profession.
Human interest was imparted to the
film by following it up with a picture showing
teeth-drill in a Swedish school.
177
XXXVI
FIGHTING TUBERCULOSIS BY THE FILM
HPHE motion picture has a mission besides
*
providing wholesome entertainment.
That mission is to act as a crusader, and in
fighting tuberculosis it has not proved disap-
pointing.
In presenting facts it sometimes pays to
serve them up highly spiced, and especially
is this the case at the regular motion-picture
theater. Folks go to be entertained, and if
the lesson intended can be indirectly brought
home to them, it is more satisfactory than
the direct method, which is resented because
no attempt is made to disguise the teaching
element.
The Edison Company produced, in
co-operation with the Anti-Tuberculosis
Association, a photoplay entitled "The Price
of Human Lives," the success attained by
which encouraged the Edison Company to
produce another propaganda picture, "The
Temple of Moloch," this time under the
178
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
auspices of the National Association for the
Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis.
While both of these productions were
circulated through the usual channels, copies
of same were afterwards acquired by the
Cincinnati Branch of the Anti-Tuberculosis
League to further the sale of Red Cross
Christmas seals.
The films render able assistance in educational
campaigns conducted by local societies,
and may be hired from a film exchange for
a nominal fee.
We will now pass to some direct campaigns
which have borne fruit. No fault
may be found with the direct method when
such exhibitions are held free of charge,
and the Atlanta Anti-Tuberculosis Association
observed this factor in conducting a
city health campaign. The films showed
how the existing conditions in Atlanta could
be altered to make it a more desirable city
from a health standpoint. The pictures
were lectured to by several well-known local
physicians. As a relief, several comedy
reels were presented.
The exhibitions were spread over five
weeks, a show being given for three consecutive
nights in a different section of the city.
179
MOTION* PICTURE EDUCATION
The tuberculosis movement in Great
Britain has been assisted by two films;
namely,
u
The Fight Against Consumption'
7
and
u
The White Demon of Consumption.'*
The former was first shown at a recent conference
of the Prevention of Consumption
held in London.
The latter was supervised by the
Woman's Imperial Health Association, and
we may profit by the experiences of the
Bristol Health Board in regard to the extent
of exhibitor co-operation. The medical
officer connected with same wrote thirty-five
local, motion-picture exhibitors, twelve of
whom replied. Most were willing to show
the film free of charge, provided they could
obtain the production at the same time as
their competitor, and to this stipulation the
Health Board agreed. To carry out same
they hired messengers to take the film from
one theater to the next. The rental charged
by the Woman's Imperial Health Association
was $15 weekly.
180
XXXVII
"BETTER BABIES" MOVIE CAMPAIGN
HPHE home in which motion pictures are
not discussed is becoming rarer every
day. This tremendously popular form of
entertainment is ever spreading its tentacles
desirable ones albeit and, as a natural
consequence, the motion picture is to-day
playing an important part in our national
life.
All this tends to make the motion picture
an even more powerful propaganda weapon
than it was before. It is a family institution
to which may be attributed the success
achieved by the several "Better Babies"
campaigns which have been conducted by
this eloquent medium.
To commence at the bottom of the
ladder, Chicago's Health Department sometime
ago inaugurated a motion-picture campaign
for better birth registration. The
scenario, "Somebody's Birth Certificate,"
written by Dr. C. St. Clair Drake, dealt
181
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
with the stumbling-blocks faced by a man
because his parents neglected to register his
birth.
The Children's Aid Society once used
a series of films, the most effective of which
showed some flies attracted by a baby's
bottle lying on the table. They settled on
the nipple, after which a "close-up" of a
fly appeared. Then the insect was subjected
to a microscopic examination, the germs of
diseases which he carried by his filthiness
being exposed. The mother next entered
the room cuddling her offspring. The picture
concluded by her giving the baby the
nipple.
The women and children comprising the
audience could not restrain an exclamation
of horror. What more convincing picture
could there be than that?
During New York City's "Baby Week'*
in 1913, Katherine Eggleston, of the Publicity
Committee, while not neglecting the
newspapers, paid particular attention to
motion pictures. To this end she saw that
the several animated newspapers did not
neglect to cover the parades, outings, illustrated
teachings and prize baby shows.
There was a Nursing Exhibition held at
182
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
Glasgow, Scotland, early in January, 1914,
a feature of same being the motion-picture
mothercraft lessons. The following titles
will afford some idea of the subjects treated:
"How to Wash and Dress Baby;
1 '
"Tuberculosis;"
"Heedless Mother;" "Bacteriological
Views of Milk;" "Different Food
Effects on Teeth;" "Do Not Obtain Your
Experience at Baby's Cost;" "Nipple with
Bacteria Attached;" "The Wrong and Right
Baby's Carriage;" "How to Help a Baby
Upstairs."
One of our leading producing organizations
recently put out a series of
"fillers." The pictures were shown at
the regular theaters in the ordinary way,
thereby reaching more people than if shown
under special auspices. The latter phase of
publicity was by no means neglected, for
the co-operation of the Children's Bureau
of the Department of Labor at Washington,
D. C., was secured. New York City's
1915 "Baby Week" was augmented by the
Chamber of Commerce, the Merchants'
Association, the Federation of Women's
Clubs, the Baby Welfare Association, the
Sage Foundation and the International Pure:
Milk and Food Association.
183
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
The material was furnished by Dr.
Roger Dennett, the famous infant specialist.
Each successive step is shown bathing,
feeding, dressing, measuring and weighing
the baby. Then come the mental tests, and
normal children are put through the senses
of smell, touch, taste, sound and sight.
The Missouri Federation of Women's
Clubs, in conjunction with the State Board
of Health, not so long ago paid particular
attention to the baby problem. With this
object in view they purchased reels depicting
such subjects as insanitary and sanitary
dairies, the proper way of handling milk,
how to care for the baby and the transmission
of disease.
It was possible for any interested town
to hire the reels by communicating with
Mrs. H. R. Shands, chairman of the Health
Committee, Jackson, Missouri.
Those diseases peculiar to children
smallpox, measles and diphtheria were
traced to their source in a graphic series of
reels prepared under the auspices of the
Kansas Board of Health. Preventive
methods likewise came in for attention. In
the telling of each subject a story was
unfolded.
184
XXXVIII
HOSPITAL FUNDS THROUGH A FILM
"
VISIT "
T HAVE often wondered why hospitals do
* not adopt the most effective medium in
order to secure funds. Need I add that the
motion picture is the one I have in mind?
It is not easy to persuade people to visit
the hospital to show them how badly it
needs financial assistance, and even though
many folks prominent in local charity work
may be attracted, the masses have yet to be
reached. And their small contributions are
not to be despised.
Newspaper advertising seldom produces
the desired results, for the announcements
seem unconvincing in cold print.
Perhaps a better plan is to inaugurate
a "Tag Day," yet the same fails to induce
the "Man from Missouri" to loosen up. It
has got to be proved to him that the hospital
actually needs the money, and as one out of
every five persons in the country visits the
185
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
photoplay theater at least once weekly, this
is the logical medium.
The motion picture tells the truth as no
other medium can; in fact, it is next best to
paying an actual visit. Why not, therefore,
have a film taken?
The Mercy Hospital of Kansas City,
Missouri, recently had a film produced so
as to raise funds for erecting a larger home.
In the film are many crippled little children
formed in lines waiting for their turn of
treatment at the hospitaľs clinic. Long
rows of overcrowded beds and inadequate
facilities for surgical operations and treatment
also tell the truth only too well.
Suppose the hospital is put in the movies,
what would the cost be? It is hard for me
to answer this question offhand, because
everything depends on the character and
length of the production. But the most
inexpensive, and at the same time most
convenient to the exhibitor, is the one-reel
subject. The best kind of film is that which
"takes" folks through the hospital, as then
no expense is involved in production other
than the bare necessities. The average price
is fifty cents per foot, so, assuming the production
is a one-reeler one thousand feet
186
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
the cost would amount to $500. But, as at
least one positive will have to be made from
the negative, a further outlay of $100 is
incurred.
I know that $600 is a lot of money to
spend in raising funds, but the increased
funds that should accrue will justify the
outlay.
The Mercy Hospital arranged with the
Advertising Film Company, on a fifty-fifty
basis, to have their film shown in conjunction
with several one-reel photoplays in all
of the theaters in Kansas City and vicinity.
If the above plan is adopted, the proceeds
are not all, for spectators have
received full value for their money, and
those who are favorably impressed will
contribute to the fund.
Another plan is to persuade local exhibitors
to show the film free at their regular
performances, and allow fund collectors to
go around the audience after the picture has
been shown.
Local newspaper men should be invited
to attend the production of the film, and
later when same is released for public
exhibition. Much valuable publicity is
gained in this way.
187
XXXIX
THE "
FIGHTING INFANTILE PARALYSIS "
FILM
HP HE infantile paralysis outbreak which
*
struck New York during 1916 resulted
in children being prohibited from visiting
photoplay theaters. Whatever the exhibitors'
feelings on the subject, the New York
City Board of Health could not complain of
lack of co-operation, for the exhibitors,
almost to a body, exhibited slides suggesting
preventive measures against the disease.
The producers were no less alert. Practically
all the animated newspapers contained
views of the principal causes that contributed
to the spreading of the epidemic.
The Universal Company went further.
At an expense of $4,700 they produced a
one-reel picture, "Fighting Infantile Paralysis,"
in co-operation with the New York
Board of Health. Some of the scenes were
filmed under the supervision of an expert at
the Rockefeller Institute. For other material
188
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
the camera man worked with two health
inspectors as far apart as South Brooklyn
and the Bronx. The Willard Parker,
Kingston Avenue, Seabreeze and Neurological
Hospitals were also visited.
In the picture the affected territories
were shown with scenes of uncovered garbage-cans,
near which children and cats play;
fruit covered with fty-specks and touched by
many hands before being finally eaten; dirty
and crowded narrow streets lined with insanitary
push-carts, and how the street department
takes care of the garbage and flushes
the streets.
Scenes were filmed at the Neurological
Institute for the purpose of showing the
methods adopted by Dr. Kaplan in handling
the disease douching the ears and nose,
and boracic acid gargle, to name two typical
incidents.
Other vital features included in this
highly instructive picture were the precautions
taken by the Bureau of Infectious
Diseases, the Quarantine officials and the
United States Public Health Service. In
this connection monkeys were experimented
upon in order to ascertain how and what
causes infantile paralysis to spread. Chil-
189
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
dren were also shown leaving the city for
the country by boat and rail.
Nor must I neglect to mention the two
maps one depicting the plague-spots of
New York City; a larger one showing other
affected parts of the country. The snappy
subtitles, presented in English, Italian and
Jewish, of the "Don'ts" kind, were composed
by Dr. O. M. Leiser, of the New
York Board of Health.
Fifteen prints were struck off from the
negative so that it could be shown at New
York's eight hundred motion-picture theaters.
Thirty-five prints also went the rounds
of the several thousand theaters from Maine
to California.
But the co-operation of a powerful evening
newspaper made it possible to reach
an even larger audience. Several two-ton
motor-trucks such as are employed for
army transport work were obtained and
equipped for motion-picture exhibitions.
The translucent screen, five feet wide by
four deep, was placed at the rear end. The
current for the projection machine, provided
with a short-focus lens, was supplied by two
calcium tanks.
Each motor-truck contained a lecturer
190
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
from the Board of Health, who discoursed
while the picture was being shown to spec-
tators.
It is significant that other States and
towns South Carolina State Board of
Health and Somerville, New Jersey, to
name to applied for copies of the produc-
tion.
13 191
XL
CONDUCTING A PUBLIC HEALTH CAMPAIGN
BY MOTION PICTURES
'ŤHE first spell of hot weather is the time
*
for the municipal authorities to commence
their public health campaigns, and the
most effective medium is the motion picture.
I need only refer to some of the results
achieved in this connection, to suggest ways
and means.
As is perhaps logical, New York City
has taken the lead. The first step in the
"clean-up" campaign, for which Commissioner
Coldwater was responsible, was
arranging with eight hundred exhibitors to
show advance slides in their theaters. These
slides drew attention to such subjects as
flies, typhoid fever and care of the baby.
This was followed up by twenty free
motion-picture shows in the parks and on
the recreation piers situated in New York
City. The program in each case consisted
of four reels of the sugar-coated kind, bear-
192
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
ing the following titles : "The Story of a
Consumptive," "The Production and Handling
of Milk," "The City Beautiful" and
"The Little Cripple." Judging by the interest
manifested by spectators, the stories got
across, sure enough.
Boston, too, inaugurated a campaign
along similar lines, with this exception the
programs were not confined to health films.
The other subjects shown were current news
pictorials, refined comedies and animated
cartoons, which resulted in increased attendances,
the average nightly audience being
from eight to ten thousand.
The exhibitions were arranged by the
Committee on Park Shows.
St. Louis has adopted the plan for two
successive seasons. Each park playground
was equipped with a portable projection
booth and a similarly portable screen, the
gas-pipe frames making it possible to construct
same with practically no delay. This
screen was located fifty-four feet away from
the front row of seats, but this space was
not wasted, as it came in handy to accommodate
children on busy nights.
The mixed programs appealed especially
to the foreign element, who, for lack of
193
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
funds, prefer to spend their evenings in
stuffy tenements. The performances commenced
at 7 145 and concluded about two
hours later.
These free, open-air exhibitions, I regret
to say, are apt to antagonize the average
exhibitor. This occurred at first both at
Cincinnati and Nashville, but, instead of
taking patrons away, these free shows
actually produced extra business, converting,
as they did, many folk to the movie habit.
It is a regrettable fact that both forms
of entertainment come in conflict, for those
to whom a dime is nothing will favor the
regular show, and consequently the hygienic
pictures fail to reach so many people.
It would not be worth while to hold the
exhibitions during the morning or afternoon,
since the majority of the population is
otherwise occupied. Perhaps more satisfaction
could be obtained were the co-operation
of the local exhibitors sought.
I know of a showman in Marshville,
North Carolina, who, of his own initiative,
arranged a summer program. He set aside
one night weekly for the showing of several
health pictures, which included the following
subjects:
u
The Mosquito," 'The War on
194
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
the Mosquito," 'The Fly Pest," "Life in
Our Ponds" and "Boil Your Water."
I am certain that it would not be hard
to prevail upon the exhibitor to do this,
especially as he is assisting the community,
and even were he not thus disposed, perhaps
he would consent to run an occasional picture
of this kind in his regular program.
What stands in the way of the widespread
adoption of this medium is the
scarcity of suitable subjects available, but
even this fact need not deter one from
carrying out one's plans, as a film can be
produced along the desired lines.
The Massachusetts State Board of
Health, for instance, has had two films
produced, the stories of which relate to
unhealthy living in its chief forms, and the
harmful effects arising from same. The
photoplays are entitled "Bringing It Home,"
and "In His Father's Footsteps," and the
Board is prepared to loan these productions
and supply a competent lecturer without payment,
to any organization requiring same.
Children can not be interested in health
and sanitation by the lecture or the literature
routes, but show them a film on the
subject and they will readily understand.
195
XLI
AMERICANIZING FOREIGNERS BY
MOTION PICTURES
W7HOEVER called America the "melt-
*^
ing-pot" was right, for there is no
other country so cosmopolitan in character.
It is no light task to merge all the different
nationalities into one, but the greatest
obstacle of all is the difference of language.
English, therefore, loses its force; there
must be a more powerful medium than the
printed page and the spoken word. I have
that medium it is the motion picture, which
appeals to the eye.
The Ford Motor Car Company has
found it without an equal in increasing the
efficiency of the foreigners in its employ.
The motion-picture department is in charge
of Frank Cody, who loans to the Detroit
night schools films dealing with factory
processes.
The St. Louis municipal authorities made
use of the motion picture some time ago
196
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
to educate ignorant foreigners and their
offspring in regard to the main features of
St. Louis in particular and America in
general, the pictures depicting St. Louis,
New York Zoo and American industries.
The films were exhibited free in such suitable
places as a Catholic church, police
station, Jewish synagogue and a public
school. On the first evening over ten
thousand children of Italian, German,
Greek, Irish and Russian parents were
present, along with their guardians.
The National Americanization Committee
recently held a meeting in Philadelphia
in order to stamp out "hyphenated Americanism."
At this important gathering was
presented a series of films which dealt with
the progress of the average immigrant, from
the time he lands on Ellis Island until he
becomes a full-fledged American citizen.
The exhibition was given in the ballroom of
one of the members' homes. The operator's
booth was placed in the loft, the projection
machine being focused on the screen at the
lower end.
But Pawtucket, Rhode Island, deserves
the greatest credit for putting the motion
picture to its greatest use. It is estimated
197
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
that, of the 105,000 residents in Pawtucket
and Central Falls, nine-tenths are foreigners.
The Rev. J. D. Dingwall has established a
Civic Theater, which has been praised by
such prominent persons as the Governor of
Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Commissioner
of Education and the president of
the North American Civic League for
Immigrants.
There is nothing commercial about this
theater; it is mainly supported by the American-born
inhabitants of the two towns,
foreigners being admitted free.
The chief difficulty at first experienced
the theater has now been running for
more than two years was securing a regular
program of suitable pictures pictures
that were educating as well as entertaining.
The tests made in this direction showed
that war and Western subjects were greatly
appreciated, but the Civic Theater carried
out its ideals by including in its programs
historical, biographical, sociological, hygienic
and scenic subjects.
Another difficulty was the explanatory
matter being in English. At first the
motion-picture manufacturers were asked to
translate their English titles into Polish,
198
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
Italian, Syrian, Hebrew, etc., but the request
was too impracticable to accede to.
The Civic Committee, however, has surmounted
the obvious difficulty by engaging
several interpreters, one for each important
language, who explain in advance the gist
of the subtitles. Each one is given five
minutes for his turn.
199
XL1I
INDUSTRIAL USES OF THE MOTION
PICTURE
most striking feature about the
motion picture is its versatility.
We have all to begin once, if we are to
succeed in life, and hardest of all is selecting
a congenial vocation. Many a young
man is like driftwood; he simply enters a
trade without knowing in the least whether
or not it will prove to his liking. After a
few months he is through and tries another
job. All this valuable time is wasted and
the youth gets discouraged before he has
hardly begun, yet if he could be but shown
beforehand the inner workings of the trades
in which he is interested, he could easily
select the one for which he is best adapted,
without the slightest misstep.
The motion picture, appealing as it does
to the eye, is the most perfect teacher
extant. This medium of training need not
be confined to any particular trade, though,
200
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
of course, those that readily lend themselves
to visualized treatment prove the most
effective.
The Bureau of Commercial Economics
has the subject under consideration, and, if
plans formulate, trade-teaching films will be
shown in such places as public institutions,
schools, missions, settlement houses, parks
and playgrounds. The expenses will be provided
by endowment funds and annuities.
The Carnegie Institute of Technology,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, teaches the steel
industry by motion pictures. You may judge
how completely the subject is covered, by
the title of the pictures: "From Iron Ore
to Finished Steel." The series first takes
us to the Meseba district of Minnesota,
where the largest ore mine, "Hell Rust," is
situated. We are shown the mammoth
steam-shovels digging ore, which is shipped
on large freighters at Duluth and unloaded
at Conneaut, Ohio. After this a visit is
paid to Farrell, Pennsylvania, and the works
of the United States Steel Corporation visited.
Then follow all the details of steelmaking,
as well as the by-products.
The schedule arranged by the College
of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering,
201
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
Lexington, Kentucky, for its motion-picture
course includes the following subjects: "The
Natural Resources of the Canadian Rocky
Mountains," "The Construction and Operation
of the Panama Canal," "Electrification
of the Butte, Anaconda & Pacific Railroad,"
"Motor Construction and Direct
Motor Drive," "Schenectady Works of the
General Electric Company," "Pittsfield
Works of the General Electric Company,"
"Manufacture of Curtis Steam-turbines,"
"Mining of Ore," "Making Wire and Wire
Fencing," "Manufacture of Pipe Tubes and
Pipe Fittings," "Use of Concrete in Roadmaking,"
"Manufacture of Steel, Tin Plate
and Tin Products," "America in the Making,"
"Playground and Welfare Work,"
"Carnegie Steel Company," "Welfare Work
in Mining Districts."
The Prussian Ministry of Education,
before the war, introduced the motion picture
as an instructor in the high schools.
One of the lectures given by Herr Kessner,
the constructional engineer at the Royal
High Technical School of Charlottenburg,
dealt with "The World Power of Iron."
The films accompanying same were taken in
the Krupp works.
202
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
Films have also been taken of the steelworks
of William Jessop & Sons, of Sheffield,
England, and as this concern manufactures
everything from pen nibs to huge
castings for battleships, much ground is
covered. The pictures proved highly instructive
to members of the Bradford Engineering
Society, when exhibited in connection
with a lecture.
Architecture has been extensively dealt
with in Great Britain by the Architecture
Association. The film-lecture course comprises
the following subjects: process of
making hand-made bricks, the quarrying and
working of Portland stone, manufacture of
a ferro-concrete pile, complete operation of
making a door, method of producing fibrous
plaster work.
The experiences of the association may
be summarized as follows:
"
(
i
) It appears to us that, in order to
be of use in a technical institution, the films
must be specially prepared for the purpose,
and with a full recognition of educational
requirements. They must comply with the
fundamental requirement that, where industrial
operations are shown, the whole of the
process shall be displayed in a manner that
203
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
will make clear to the student the exact
nature of the technical operations.
"(2) The pictures must be supplemented
by a technical description given by
a person expert in the subject that is being
illustrated.
"(3) The film must be shown under
conditions that will enable it to be stopped
when required, so that where the subject
calls for a fuller explanation, this can be
given.
"(4) The views must have a serious
scientific or technical interest. A film which
had been prepared solely to entertain or
amuse would be quite unsuitable for use in
a technical institute.
"We beg to report that films complying
with the four conditions named are available,
and could be suitably used for facilitating
the technical study of building-trades
work, mechanical engineering, electrical
engineering, commerce and natural science."
The European war has presented its
labor troubles, particularly in regard to
finding useful occupations for cripples.
Frank B. Gilbreth, the efficiency expert, has
not been idle.
As all cripples can not be classified in
204
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
the same group, Mr. Gilbreth is guided by
the following considerations: Has the man
been engaged in mental work? If so, all
is well. Has the man been accustomed to
physical labor? If his limbs prevent him
continuing, he can be put to mental work.
Is the latter incapable of mental work? If
such is the case, the man must be put to
some light manual occupation.
His films show men engaged in various
forms of physical labor, and the motions
made in performing each operation are
shown in detail. This makes it possible to
determine the facilities demanded of the
human limbs, and the cripple, in due time,,
can be trained to use his artificial limbs to
the same advantage.
The Bay State Street Railway Company
now shows a series of films to the motormeii
and conductors in their employ, at the
various depots. In one film, motormen are
instructed how to operate a car properly.
This, in the main, is intended for the new
employee, but even the veteran can pick up
wrinkles. A third picture demonstrates the
right manner in which to apply first aid to
injured passengers. These pictures were
produced to serve two purposes. One was
205
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
to reduce the number of injuries to the
traveling public, which would result in a
corresponding decrease in the number of
expensive claims they have to meet. At the
same time it is believed that there will be
less need to incur expense in repairing cars
and other rolling stock, when fewer accidents
prevail.
The motion picture has also been found
invaluable as a nerve test for chauffeurs and
others who have control of passenger and
traffic vehicles. The driver sits in the car
at the gearing-wheel in a darkened hall.
The automobile is a stationary one, but a
contrivance makes it appear as though it is
proceeding at full speed. As the driver
faces the screen, he first sees a child running
in his direction. At the crossing a wagon
appears and it looks as if a collision is
unavoidable. A pile of rock now suddenly
appears, and the driver is set the extremely
difficult task of acting as if the situation
occurred in reality. After this test it is
apparent whether or not his nerves are
defective. The films invented by Professor
Munsterberg are so lifelike that, on one
occasion, a dog attacked the screen and tore
it to shreds.
206
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
EFFICIENCY IN MANUFACTURING PLANTS.
The Vickers Company, who possess the
largest steel-plant in England, have undertaken
the production of motion pictures on
an imposing scale. They have three objects
in view to conduct experiments, to present
mechanical processes, and also to demonstrate
in a clear manner the workings of
complicated or cumbersome machines. Several
of the subjects have been included in
the "Britain Prepared" film, and, although
the naval censor has deleted some of the
confidential details, it is nevertheless interesting
to the layman to see the various
munitions of war, such as guns, shells,
engines, submarines and battleships, in the
making.
The motion picture is used to show the
result of projectiles on armor-plate, but here
it has been necessary to speed up the exposure,
for an explosion may only consume five
one-thousandths part of a second. For
this reason the Bull system, which produces
from nine to fifty thousand exposures per
second instead of the usual sixteen, has been
found of the utmost value.
Dr. Hanz Goetz, speaking before the
14 207
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
German Engineers' Society, said: "By illumulating
the moving object with regularly
succeeding electric sparks, and photographing
on a film moving continuously rather
than intermittently, it was found possible to
increase the number of exposures to two
thousand per second. For engineering purposes
much higher frequencies had to be
used than Bull obtained, and the apparatus
employed differed from his in not using a
mechanical interrupter. In series with the
illumulating spark gap was a large condenser,
and in parallel with it a small one;
the large condenser is charged by an induction
machine, and when it is discharged the
small condenser is alternately charged and
discharged across the gap."
In connection with the above, Keith
Jones, an Englishman, has invented a device
which enables dynamite explosions to be
filmed as near as twenty-five yards. The
camera, however, is controlled by electricity,
and the operator, believing in safety first,
stations himself fully a mile away.
Once, when a machine gun was being
tried out by the film, a close-up appeared of
its mechanism, and the see'ers noticed that
every time an empty cartridge-case was
208
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
ejected, specks of dust appeared. For a
time the experts were puzzled, but they
found that something was amiss with the
cartridge, which resulted in the bullet lacking
the powerful start. The fault was hereinafter
remedied.
A manufacturer may have tried timing
his workmen on a given operation, but it
is exceedingly doubtful whether he has
obtained complete satisfaction, as no two
mechanics work alike. One may be as
skilled as the other, and it is therefore hard
to discover the incompetents. The stopwatch
method is destructive because there is
no way of sifting out the underlying faults.
The only constructive system yet discovered
is micro-motion cinematography.
The manufacturer, in trying out this method,
must make film tests of each of his
employees.
Perhaps the one disadvantage is that the
mechanic is aware that he is being tested,
but this can not be avoided, and I rather
doubt whether it is a disadvantage after all.
You see, the man will put forth his best
efforts, and it will then be revealed whether
or not he is efficient. As there are sixteen
separate pictures, or "frames," as they are
209
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
technically named, to each foot of film, and
each "frame" represents an exposure of
one-thirty-second part of a second, sixteen
separate motions are recorded each half of
a second. Two clocks are necessary if the
experiments are to prove successful. One
should be an ordinary alarm-clock, the other
of the made-to-order kind. Perhaps the
timepiece invented by Frank B. Gilbreth, of
New York, is the most suitable. Mr. Gilbreth's
clock only contains one hand, which
covers the dial every six seconds. The time
may be told down to one-thousandth part of
a minute. The dial contains one hundred
parts, each of which is further separated
into one-fifth divisions.
The alarm-clock serves to show the time
taken in completing the job, but the latter
enables each motion to be timed. These
clocks should be placed on a table or bench
so that they are filmed at close range. In
order to give the workman a chance to
make good, all his tools should be at his
elbow preferably on a rack above.
The New England Butt Company, of
Providence, Rhode Island, have found the
micro-study plan thoroughly dependable; in
fact, I might go so far as to cite an actual
210
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
instance. One operation, at this braiding
factory, formerly consuming thirty-seven and
a half minutes, is now performed by a workman
in eight and a half minutes.
In most tests, the efficiency engineer,
after the films have been developed, has
studied each
u
frame" through a magnifyingglass.
He has then been able to detect the
difference between a necessary motion and
a useless one. This is a departure in viewing
motion pictures, but the advantage is
that each movement may be thoroughly
studied, whereas, were the film run off the
screen in the ordinary way, it would not be
.possible to stop it in any particular place.
Each "frame" is but one inch wide and
three-fourths of an inch in height, and it is
the showing of these in rapid succession
which produces the motion effect. When the
complete film is projected on the screen the
objects are magnified several thousand times.
Packing is an art, and it has been suggested
by Consul James Oliver Laing, of
Karachi, that motion pictures of packing
merchandise for export would prove a
valuable object-lesson. To quote Mr.
Laing: "If single photographs of a smashed
packing-case, or a lighter full of goods
211
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
being landed, or other illustrations, are
good, a picture showing how the case came
to be smashed, or how the goods were put
into or taken out of the lighter, would be
better. Every one knows that cases are
smashed and a single photograph shows only
the result, which any shipper can imagine.
"If, however, a shipper of flour, let us
say, could see a lot of Levantine stevedores
swing a loop full of sacks over the side of
the ship and let it down on the run to a
flatboat bobbing about in the waves, the
sight of what happens when the boat rises
suddenly to meet several hundred pounds
of muslin-sacked flour would be an education
to the shipper. If an American furniture
merchant could see a moving picture of his
packing-cases dropped from a cart-tail to a
stone floor by a gang of Maltese dockers,
he would appreciate the cause and effect."
Another problem confronting the average
employer of skilled labor is interesting
the wives in their husbands' work, for the
women, through lack of understanding, grow
discontented when their husbands have to
work overtime. No man can be efficient if
his wife is not interested in his work, and
the Packard Motor Car Company have hit
212
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
upon the motion picture. A film is devoted
to each manufacturing process, and the pictures
are not so technical as to be above the
heads of the women, whose sympathetic
instinct is appealed to by the human-interest
touches.
213
XLIII
ENTERTAINING EMPLOYEES BY MOTION
PICTURES
T^HE motion picture is here to stay.
*
There is no question about that, because
the form of entertainment is decidedly distinctive
in character.
And the individual qualities come to the
surface when we put the versatility of the
photoplay to its truest test, leaving all other
entertainments hopelessly in the rear.
Knowing its many possibilities, it is not
surprising that it is unsurpassed for promoting
good will between employer and
employee. The laboring classes are the
staunchest supporters of the photoplay, and
no better way could be devised of keeping
men thoroughly contented.
The motion picture requires little mental
effort on the part of the men, who, after a
hard day's work, are not in a fit condition to
give it. The men never find the entertainment
monotonous, as films are very versatile
214
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
in character and the program can be changed
as frequently as desired.
Churches, schools and clubs have admirably
surmounted the theater problem without
making material alterations in their
existing buildings. Then, again, in the
pioneer days of exhibiting, the showman
was not above renting an empty store and
converting it into a regular photoplay show.
Employees, accustomed as they are to
roughing it, will not expect to view the films
amid elaborate surroundings. With them
the photoplays are the goods, so any building
available that combines simplicity with
rough and ready comfort is satisfactory.
Maybe there is some building on the
plant which can be fixed up as a motionpicture
show at nights. This should be
lofty, provided with several exits, be well
ventilated and heated. The place need not
be wide, provided it is long enough to
accommodate the requisite number. It is
not enough that there is room for all; there
should be a seat for every person, for nothing
is more annoying to a tired worker than
to have to stand during the performance; it
kills half the enjoyment.
The enterprising exhibitor, during the
215
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
hot months, runs an airdrome. If the climatic
conditions permit this being done
during most of the year, then matters are
made much easier and less expensive. All
that has to be done is to install seats on a
vacant lot, rig up the screen and place the
operating-booth in position. It is advisable,
however, to have an inside building available,
so as to take care of the rainy and
cold nights.
If the above-mentioned circumstances
are not favorable, I would recommend that
you have a frame building erected. When
obtaining the services of an architect, be
sure that he has a chat with a friendly exhibitor
beforehand, on projection, for the
latter can only be perfected when its limitations
are borne in mind.
The outside is the easiest part of inaugurating
a motion-picture show. It is the
1
'filling in," where the troubles and costs
pile up in profusion.
The first item of importance is the projection
machine, the prices of which range
from $250 to $300.
The authorities in various parts of the
country insist upon the projection machine
being enclosed in a fireproof booth, as, if
216
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
there is an outbreak of fire, it can not spread
further. Here an expense of $65 is involved,
but it is worth it in the interests of
"safety first." This booth, made of galvanized
iron, gives the operator plenty of
room in which to work, and is shipped in
parts, the whole easily being set up with
nuts and bolts.
Carbons are needed to run the projector,
and it is cheaper to buy these by the case,
which contains one thousand. They cost
from $17 to $44, but prices vary according
to market conditions.
The next important link is the screen.
In the days gone by a table-cloth or bedsheet
has been used, but science has come to
the rescue, and now there are screens and
screens, and to obtain the best results it will
be necessary to pay about $1.50 per foot
for the material.
For the seating accommodation I would
recommend opera chairs. These are made
in many grades, but I do not think you can
do better than purchase those of a kind
which will stand hard wear.
Without music, motion pictures are deprived
of much of their charm, and, while
an orchestra of several pieces is best a
217
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
single, ordinary piano is a satisfactory
makeshift.
The best photoplays on the market may
be shown, but if they flicker, get out of
focus, and breaks occur quite often, you
stand a good chance of getting the goats of
the spectators.
This means having to secure the services
of a competent operator, who demands from
fifteen to twenty dollars per week for an
eight-hour day.
If, however, there is a man on the staff
who is well versed in electricity, he is in the
position of the photographer who takes up
cinematography. He is acquainted with
the fundamentals of his craft, and it is
therefore easy for him to become an expert
operator.
If he is the right sort of man, he will
not object to doing two or three hours' overtime
of an evening, and perhaps it can be
arranged for his hours at his regular job to
be curtailed in order to ease any strain that
might occur.
There remains one connecting link the
light by which to throw the pictures on the
screen. If a power plant is available, the
current from same can be used.
218
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
Have the operator focus the projection
machine exactly in the middle of the screen,
not an inch to the right or the left, or an
inch below or above. If this is not attended
to, no matter in what advantageous position
a spectator sits he will either have to hold
his head up high or else the players in the
picture appear unnaturally long and slim.
The rays of light take a straight path, and
if they are compelled to turn aside, a
peculiar, annoying effect is produced.
In selecting suitable lens, the size of
building, make of projection machine, the
length and height of screen and the distance
from the operating-booth to the screen must
be taken into consideration. It is false
economy to purchase cheap lens, and when
ordering always furnish the supply firm
with the foregoing particulars, as they can
then execute your orders intelligently.
Once the operator gets acquainted with
the various makes of films he will discover
that there is no standard perforation gauge.
This results in the film jumping the sprockets,
and many breaks.
Carelessness, however, is sometimes responsible
for these defects, and the operator
should make this his creed:
219
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
u
On receiving the films I will inspect
them for breaks, which I will repair.
"Every time the film leaves the sprockets
I will halt the projector in order to set it
right.
"When stopping the machine I will
throw off the switch.
"When rewinding the films as through
with, it will not be my fault that they are
scratched, thereby shortening their life. I
shall carefully but firmly exert a pressure
against the disks of each single reel I am in
the process of unwinding. I shall find it
evenly wound and no damage done despite
the speed at which I have proceeded."
The standard speed at which pictures
are projected is sixteen "frames" to the
second. There are sixteen of these
"frames," otherwise tiny pictures, to each
foot of film, and each reel takes about
fifteen minutes to unspool. If projection
is faster, things in the films move at a rapid,
mechanical pace, while explanatory matter
is snatched off before it can be grasped.
The operator must be provided with a
tool outfit, which should include cement for
mending broken films, a file for sharpening
carbons, lugs, reels and machine oil.
220
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
The three chief distributing organizations,
General, Mutual and Universal, operate
a string of exchanges throughout the
country, and between them release mostly
short productions weekly. The producers
marketing their wares under these factions
receive ten cents per foot for each
print they supply, consequently every reel
costs the exchange $100. It would be out of
the question to show a film for a single day
on these terms, so it is hired out to a bunch
of theaters. The man who scures first-run
service pays the highest price, but even then
it amounts to only a proportion of the original
price. As the age of a film increases,
the rental decreases, until it can be hired for
as low as one dollar per day. Even at this
stage it is generally in good condition.
The service has to be contracted and
paid for in advance, the films being shipped
as required, and reshipped, at the expiration
of the hiring term, to the next theater on
the list.
There is also a bunch of concerns that
exclusively handle special features. They
are the de luxe productions of the photoplay
world, in from five to eight reels, starring
a prominent photoplayer or stage favorite
221
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
in an adaptation from some popular play or
novel.
The producers spend more time, labor
and expense on these pictures, consequently
charge correspondingly high for same. To
secure the first run of a feature of this kind
fifty dollars per day is not considered high.
It is best to try out the regular service
before experimenting on special feature
stuff.
I now come to the actual running of the
show, and, naturally, the times and days of
the week on which the employees are entertained
are governed by the circumstances.
Presuming there are one thousand
employees and only half of them can be
accommodated at one time, it would be
advisable to give two performances of an
evening instead of spreading them over two
consecutive evenings, in which case film hire
will cost twice as much.
222
XLIV
SHOOTING AT THE FILM
JV/IANY wealthy sportsmen now prefer to
ivl u
hunt" with a motion-picture camera.
Whether it be the king of the jungle or the
humble rabbit, there is no suggestion ot
posing in the pictures obtained, which are
therefore unsurpassed for realism. All this
is what must have inspired inventors to
approach as near to the real thing as the
automatic target can go. The results have
not been perfect by any means.
Of the three principal methods in vogue,
life targets undoubtedly possess the best allround
qualities. Attached to a roller is a
long portion of tough, white paper. This
paper passes over a cylinder, after which it
travels backwards and winds itself 'round a
second cylinder, located near the roller.
This doubles the paper, and another sheet
of paper is fastened securely between and
across. When the marksman's shot hits the
screen target, a ratchet, controlled by elec15
223
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
tricity, covers half of the shot-hole in order
to repair the injury. The marksman has no
need to investigate the effect of each shot,
for the picture stops automatically just as
soon as the bullet hits the target. At the
back of the screen appears a brilliant light
in the exact spot struck by the cartridge.
The shot also stops the film for about two
seconds, during which time the marksman
can judge his results. After this the film is
set in motion, when the telltale light disap-
pears.
It has not been found practical to permit
an ordinary film to come to a standstill
before it has been run off, because there is
the risk of the heated projecting machine
causing the celluloid strip to catch fire. But
no such danger exists with the life target,
as a patented cold-air blast insures perfect
safety. Sand-bags are placed behind the
screen to prevent the bullets going astray.
The screen used for flash targets is
manufactured of steel in order to prevent
the bullets from riddling the screen. The
lighting feature here is the same as for life
targets. It is possible for two or more
persons to simultaneously fire and each
marksman be able to trace his shots. To do
224
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
this each marksman employs bullets which
produce flashes of a different color.
A Scotch invention which has not yet
been christened makes it possible to install
a miniature screen and projection machine
in a cellar or dark room. The electric
lamps act in the capacity of weapons. The
pressing of the trigger flashes a spot-light
on the screen in one or more colors, according
to the number playing.
It may be well to now set forth the
shortcomings of film rifle-shooting from the
rifle-shoťs standpoint. The chief drawback
is the confined area in which the marksman
has to work. The maximum distance from
which he can fire at the motion-picture
screen effectively is from seventy-five to one
hundred feet. To a marksman accustomed
to a range up to one thousand feet, this is
a serious disadvantage.
No one has yet solved the problem of
vision from a greater distance. If one sits
a few feet away from the screen, the pictures
appear so large and flat that one
develops eye-strain. The results would be
likewise disappointing if one attempted to
fire at the screen from a distance of one
hundred feet and up. The film would flicker
225
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
to such an extent that it is extremely doubtful
whether the image could be plainly dis-
cerned.
The number of photoplay theaters in
this country which have a longer throw than
two hundred feet may be counted on the
fingers of one's hands, and this has only
been made possible by consuming more electric
current, using more powerful lens and
a larger screen.
The rifleman must also take up a
straight position, for he can not assume any
other angle.
A recently invented device films pictures
of a bulleťs movements in motion at the
rapid rate of one hundred thousand per
second. The test was confined to a radius
of ten inches, and the bullet traversed the
distance so swiftly that only seventy-two
pictures were necessary. What makes the
accomplishment remarkable is that it pierced
a thin piece of wood. No unusual developments
were noticed until the bullet had
nearly completed its journey, when ever-sosmall
splinters of wood began to fly about.
When it completed the trip, the strip gave
way completely.
As yet there are no camera shutters that
226
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
possess this record rate of revolution, and
the difficulty was admirably surmounted by
fixing a contrivance to the camera that was
capable of manufacturing electric sparks to
the extent of one hundred thousand to the
second. A wheel about three feet in circumference
was the resting-place for the film.
When the bullet had been fired, the wheel
turned 'round at nine thousand times per
minute and a spark flashed to record the
exposure of every picture.
Shooting at the film ranks next best to
shooting the object in the flesh. There is
no killing for the sake of killing, while the
life of the hunter is never in danger. It
also succeeds in maintaining the marksman's
alertness up to concert pitch, and in snapshooting
the film is even better.
227
XLV
TEACHING AGRICULTURE BY MOTION
PICTURES
r
~pHE idea of teaching agriculture by
*
motion pictures originated with two
college students. They had the courage of
their convictions, so they outlined their
plans to Prof. Thomas Nixon, of Harvard,
who, with the approval of the Department
of Agriculture, formed the Rural Organization
Service.
After this, Assistant Secretary Galloway
of the Department of Agriculture organized
a committee, the duties of which were to
make films for experimental purposes, review
scenarios, make recommendations and
co-ordinate the motion-picture work.
The Section of Illustration, Division of
Publication, was accordingly provided with
the necessary equipment for taking, developing
and exhibiting films. The committee
gets busy after the chief of any division,
bureau or independent office decides in what
228
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
way motion pictures can assist his work.
The proposition is passed upon by the committee,
and if they approve of it they hand
it over to the Assistant Secretary, who
renders the final decision.
The cost is charged to the bureau,
division or office using the films. The funds
from these sources, however, have not
proven sufficient to enable more than a few
prints to be taken from each negative. This
has greatly curtailed the activities of the
department, which has been obliged to turn
away requests from educational and charitable
institutions. It has, in fact, been a
hard enough problem to supply the needs
of the lecturers attached to the depart-
ment.
The department, during its first year of
operation, produced thirty different subjects,
comprising thirty-one reels. These educationals
are unlike the efforts of the regular
photoplay producers. The latter, for instance,
show you the actual growth of a
plant, from a seedling to a sturdy plant,
within a few minutes. The department,
however, disapproves of this "wizardry," so
they cut out the actual growing. Instead,
the seedling is shown, as in real life, without
229
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
a movement, and when it has grown a little
more, a subtitle appears to explain the lapse
of time.
These films are shown at the State colleges
as well as at farmers' institutes and
county fairs.
In many rural communities, however,
electricity rs not available, and, as the present
equipment of the department prevents
any other generating power being employed
to operate the projector, it has not been
possible to reach all farmers.
The department is endeavoring to surmount
the difficulty, and if their experiments
are successful, a portable lighting outfit will
be substituted.
At the time our Government adopted
the motion picture, Canada began to grow
interested, but the one and only Province
that got to the up-and-doing stage was
Ontario.
Canada is still in a state of development,
consequently the number of settlers
continues. Many of these know practically
nothing about scientific farming, and the
Ontario Department of Agriculture had a
series of films produced so as to dispense
the necessary knowledge. These pictures
230
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
depicted the most important phases of
modern agriculture.
Operators tour the farmers' institutes
throughout the Province, and lecture to the
films as they are thrown on the screen.
231
XLVI
LIVE STOCK IN MOTION PICTURES
YV7ERE I asked to name the most versa**
tile thing within our midst, I should
say, "The motion picture," without the
slightest hesitation.
The method by which the Vilette Slaughter-house,
of Paris, analyzes its meat, is to
take films of live stock immediately after
same has been slaughtered. The pictures
are then exhibited before sanitary inspectors,
cattle-dealers and butchers, who can readily
determine diseased meat by the bacteria
which the film reveals.
Another use for the motion picture has
been discovered by the Bureau of Animal
Industry of the United States Department
of Agriculture. The bureau has had a film
produced under the supervision of Mr.
Downing, which deals with the well-known
"Brooks-Bacon," cured in Brooks County,
Georgia.
This film, so I am given to understand,
232
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
will be shown in rural districts in conjunction
with a lecture, the aim being to give pointers
to farmers on this famous industry.
America can derive a wrinkle from
Scotland. At a recent show of the Highland
Agriculture Society, sheep-farmers had
an opportunity of seeing a film dealing with
the packing of wool.
The Agricultural College of North
Dakota is also doing good work in enlisting
the aid of the motion picture in connection
with its lecture course, one of the films pertaining,
as it does, to the prevention of
disease to animals.
233
XLVII
USING THE MOVIES UNDER THE SEA
\V7HEN the wonderful Williamson subW
marine-tube invention was heralded,
nine out of ten folks thought that it was
destined to remain a scientific toy, but they
were wrong, entirely wrong.
The inventors were more than mere
amusement purveyors, for they invaded new
fields with a practical object in view, their
efforts meeting with success.
In the first film taken off the Bahama
Islands they located a Civil War blockaderunner,
which had vainly tried to escape the
penalties of war. The ship was found at
a depth of fifty feet, and George Williamson
decided to act as a diver in order to
put his brain-child to a new use. He was
loaned a diving-suit by the local government
and investigated the wreck while the camera
men filmed all his movements. He came
across pieces of eight, cannon and other
salvage, all of which he dispatched to the
234
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
surface by means of a wire basket attached
to the end of a rope.
As the experiment was successful, it
occurred to Mr. Williamson that he might
recover some of the wealth which has found
a watery grave. In speaking of his plans,
he said: "Some say there is more gold at
the bottom of the ocean than there is in
circulation; gold and silver have been sinking
in the sea for centuries; millions a year
going down, and none coming up again.
We think we have a method of getting much
of this treasure which is in not too deep
water."
The Williamson brothers made arrangements
to salve the silver bars said to be on
the "Mereda," which sank off the Virginian
coast. They also intend to raise the valuables
that went down in the "Empress
of Ireland," and will take films of their
efforts.
When their feature educational was
shown before a distinguished audience at
the U. S. National Museum in Washington,
the harbor men and steamship officials were
convinced that the invention could be of
considerable assistance in investigating the
supports of wharfs and piers and dangerous
235
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
rocks and reefs little known or unknown to
navigators.
On the other hand, scientists agree that
it can bring much to light on which only
superficial knowledge exists. They were
delighted to discover a new fish in the picture,
which was promptly named "Old
Glory," because of the colored stripes on its
body.
If I am not mistaken, much will be
heard of Ernest and George Williamson,
for they have made an auspicious beginning.
236
XLVIII
MOTION PICTURES AS AN AID TO
POLITICS
HPHE motion picture is a highly efficient
*
political agent. When Wilson ran for
President in 1912, the National Democratic
Committee arranged for a film to be produced
as a campaign booster. The plot
featured Wilson, and, as the production was
a convincing one, it undoubtedly helped to
make Wilson what he is to-day.
Some time ago the Progressive party
announced plans for its motion-picture campaign.
The aim of each film was to present
Progressive doctrines as applied to presentday
social evils.
The Socialist party is represented in
motion pictures by "From Dusk to Dawn,'
77
an industrial drama. This has been witnessed
by large Sunday audiences throughout
the country, in conjunction with lectures
by prominent socialists.
Senator Penrose conducted his political
237
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
campaign for re-election in Pennsylvania by
a reel, which was shown at a number of
theaters throughout the State. On the film
he addresses workingmen, and walks along
the corridors of the Capitol at Washington.
Raymond Robins, the Illinois Progressive
candidate for United States Senator,
held a meeting at the Lyric Theater, Belleville,
where he gave a free program of
selected photoplays.
When William B. McKinley, the traction
magnate, was re-elected to Congress,
the Southern Illinois newspapers declared
that the motion picture was directly responsible
for his success.
Recently an ambitious motion-picture
company decided to produce an educational
subject showing the Senators at work in the
Senate Chamber at the Capitol. The camera
man was allowed by the sergeant-at-arms to
work just before the opening of the regular
session. He filmed the prayer offered by
the chaplain, the introduction of bills by
pages, Senate press gallery and pages at
play. It afterward transpired that VicePresident
Marshall had not granted the necessary
permission, although the photographer
said he had. It is perhaps significant
238
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
that the film has never seen the light of day.
Senator Stone finds the motion picture
an excellent mental tonic. He is a frequent
visitor to the Washington theaters. So
much so, in fact, that the sergeant-at-arms
generally knows where to locate the Missouri
Senator for a roll-call.
When Mayor Johnson, of Gary, ran for
Governor of Indiana he had a film taken to
prove his popularity among townsfolk. He
also expressed a keen desire to
u
star" in a
regular drama as an efficient financier, which
he asserts is Indiana's greatest need.
A regular photoplay proved the turningpoint
in a recent traction franchise fight at
Cincinnati, Ohio. "The Man of the Hour,'*
featuring Robert Warwick, deals with the
young mayor of New York City, who is
requested to sign a traction franchise bill.
The mayor refuses, and instantly the political
machine is put in motion, the mayor winning
out in the end. At the time the photoplay
was shown in Cincinnati the topic of
the day was the local franchise bill. No
photoplay was more lustily cheered by spectators,
and the effect of same was shown at
the Cincinnati election, the bosses being
defeated.
16 239
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
William Sulzer, the ex-Governor of New
York State, was "starred" in "The Governor's
Boss." He was not prompted by
artistic ambitions, which was perhaps as
well, in view of his amateurish acting. The
ex-Governor's one aim was to expose bossism,
for the benefit of voters. The story,
which was suggested by the play, "The
Governor's Boss," was purely fictional.
There is a law in Michigan which forbids
campaign cuts being beyond a certain
size. Politicians discovered this only too
well at a recent election, where AttorneyGeneral
Fellows announced that slides of
the candidates, thrown on the screens of the
local theaters, violated the primary law.
On one occasion the Louisville newspapers
desired to judge what influence politics
have upon photoplay-goers. The movie
theaters maintained their customary impartial
attitude and displayed slides of all candidates
running for city offices. Each slide
received applause mingled with hisses, which
revealed that folks do not object to showing
their political faith when there is little
chance of same being recognized.
The taxpayers of Binghamton, New
York, took the initiative in the 1915 munici-
240
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
pal election. They sought to know if they
were going to have a fixed policy in regard
to Sunday movies. The frank reply of
Frank H. Truitt, the Republican candidate
for mayor, was this: "Movie licenses should
be issued for six days per week. Shows
closed on Sundays."
In 1912 the National Woman's Suffrage
Association co-operated with a motion-picture
company to produce a special photoplay
with special reference to the suffrage cause.
The production was named "Votes for
Women," in which several well-known
suffragists appeared. The story brought
home to the big city audiences the difficulties
which the suffragists experience in canvassing
votes in the small towns and outlying dis-
tricts.
Mrs. Pankhurst, during her visit to
America in 1913, appeared in a propaganda
photoplay entitled "What Eighty Million
Women Want." Mrs. Harriet Stanton
Blatch, the well-known president of the
Woman's Political Union, also made her
motion-picture debut. The story told of a
political fight in New York City during the
primaries. The Woman's Political Union
does everything within its power to extin-
241
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
guish Kelly, the corrupt political boss, and
finally succeeds. At every theater where
the picture was shown, suffragists addressed
the audience.
Another publicity stunt which helped the
suffrage cause was the appearance of Mrs.
Helen Robinson, the only woman Senator,
in an installment of the "Our Mutual Girl"
serial, negotiations for which were transacted
through Miss Jean Parker, the noted
artist. Several prominent suffragists appeared
with the Colorado Senatress.
The Chicago Woman's Citizenship Committees,
during the 1914 elections, utilized
motion pictures to educate prospective men
and women voters, particularly the latter.
In the film, women passed before the registering-desk
and afterward entered the polling-booths.
The slogan of the picture was
"Register on February 3," and it is calculated
that seventy-five per cent, of the
population was reached in this effective
manner.
The year 1915 saw the advent of another
propaganda production, this time put
out by one of the regular producing companies
in the ordinary way. "Your Girl and
Mine" was shown under the auspices of the
242
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
local suffrage associations throughout the
country. It was also favorably received in
Canada, where it helped to raise funds for
the Canadian Patriotic Fund, which cares
for the wives of soldiers. Many converts
to the cause were made.
In April, 1916, the Congressional Union
for Woman's Suffrage decided to portray
in a photoplay the actions of the House
Judiciary Committee in handling the Susan
B. Anthony Amendment for Woman Suffrage.
The scenario was solicited from the
general public, who had the option of writing
a comedy, melodrama or detective story.
The only stipulation was that neither Representative
Webb, of North Carolina, nor
Representative Carlin, of Virginia, must be
made the hero of the story.
During the 1913 general elections in
France, all the candidates posed before the
motion-picture camera in attitudes which
undoubtedly left good impressions upon
prospective voters. The accommodating
film made it no longer necessary for candidates
to visit out-of-the-way parts of their
constituencies. Instead, expert operators
toured these districts with films of the candidates,
who addressed likely voters on
243
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
celluloid, while extracts from their speeches
were flashed on the film.
One candidate went even further. He
had courage enough to dispense with street
meetings altogether, and in their place hired
a photoplay theater, to which he admitted
prospective voters free of charge. The
entertainment opened with two lively comedies,
which put the audience in a receptive
mood. A series of pictures, depicting incidents
in the career of the candidate, followed.
He was first of all seen conducting
a meeting, shaking hands with the prefect
and leaving in his motor-car. He was then
shown assisting an old woman to load a
bundle of wood on her donkey's back, indignantly
declining to be bribed, and affectionately
attending to an old man on a sick-bed.
But he pulled the heart-strings of the spectators
tightly when the last picture revealed
him discreetly giving a bank-note to a poor
man who had just been rendered homeless
through a fire.
In England the advocates of tariff
reform have realized the possibilities of the
motion picture. Before the war, delegates
made visits to towns, but, instead of explaining
the advantages of being a Unionist by
244
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
the spoken word, they employed the film.
In the picture, favorite actors impersonated
Lloyd George, Asquith and Bonar Law,
while dialogue subtitles helped to put over
their arguments.
The Unionist party, on another occasion,
discovered that the one and only effective
way of reaching many folks in rural communities
was by the traveling motion-picture
show. The performances were given from
the back of an auto-wagon, but audiences
had first to listen to an eloquent address
from the candidate's representative. The
undertaking was educational, in that many
aged folks saw the movies for the first
time.
In 1912, at the time of the London
County Council elections, one political party
had fifty projection machines working on
behalf of their candidates. The films
screened by same at open-air meetings
showed how London had changed for the
better since they had come into power.
We have newspapers that support one
political faith, but the unneutral motion-picture
theater is a rarity. One exhibitor
attempted it when running for a municipal
office. He had his portrait thrown upon the
245
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
screen, accompanied by another relating to
his qualifications. He was elected.
The last suffrage laws in Italy appealed
to several million people who had not been
entitled to vote before. It was no small
task to teach them how to cast their ballots,
so the aid of the motion picture was sought.
Films were produced and exhibited to demonstrate
how voting is done properly, again
testifying how useful the motion picture is
for political purposes.
246
XLIX
THE MOTION-PICTURE CRITIC
INCREDIBLE as it may seem, the motion
*
picture is still regarded as a scientific toy
by the daily press. New York is supposed
to set the pace for the entire country, yet
what do we find? Of the regular dailies,
but one is making an honest attempt to
criticize current photodrama attractions.
True enough, there appear columns of film
notes, which are contributed by the publicity
departments of the photoplay manufacturers,
but anything resembling the
regular dramatic department is practically
unknown.
When a newspaper does review a photoplay
it dispatches its regular dramatic critic.
He may be a competent man in his own
particular sphere, but when he tackles the
motion picture he at once betrays his ignorance.
He will say, for instance, that "The
Love Chief" was "produced" at the Blank
theater, whereas he should have written
247
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
"presented." He is also fond of using the
word "posed," when speaking of the actors.
As any fan knows, once a photoplayer commences
to pose, he is artificial. "Appeared"
is a better word.
Speaking at a dinner in March, 1915,
Arthur Brisbane, editor of the New York
Evening Journal, said: "The success of the
motion picture is based upon the stupidity
and lack of intellectual development of the
human race. I am one of the few living
men who have never seen Mary Pickford or
Charles Chaplin or Theda Bara or Miss
Clarke. All I have seen is the 'Durbar' and
Scotťs South Pole pictures and 'Carmen,'
which I couldn't escape because it was given
in Mr. Hearsťs house and I happened to
be a guest there." When a great editor,
such as Mr. Brisbane, permits prejudice to
outweigh all other considerations, we begin
to understand the apathy displayed by many
newspaper editors toward the photoplay.
About two years before this speech was
made, a well-known Chicago dramatic critic
boasted that he had never seen a photoplay
and did not wish to. Another dramatic
critic made a fool of himself at a trade
dinner when he mentioned a perfect, one-
248
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
reel photoplay which it had been his pleasure
to see. Naturally, his listeners thought
he alluded to the old Griffith-Biograph pictures.
"Spartacus," he said, when asked the
name.
U
A one-reeler?" queried his questioner.
"You must have only seen the final
reel!"
Why should not photoplays be criticized
the same as stage productions? The popularity
of the feature photoplay, and the
resulting improvements effected in the producing
end, entitle the silent drama to be
judged on a plane by itself. Why should
a review be hidden among the "legitimate"
stuff and criticized from the angle of a
speaking play? It is not fair to the public
or the producer. The newspapers claim
that the average photoplay is not worth
criticizing the story is too improbable to
begin with. Let us grant that they are
correct in their assumption. What is the
critic for? Is it not his duty to dissect the
faults and show how they may be remedied?
Very well. He should be pleased because
there is some useful work ahead of him.
The producer has been accustomed to taking
things easy because his efforts are sent out
into the world without rebuffs. He may
249
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
obtain a few "roasts" from the trade
papers, but these do not reach the public at
large, so why should he worry? Once a
newspaper engages a motion-picture critic,
he will put the producers on their mettle.
The motion-picture critic has difficulties
which he alone can appreciate. There are
something like one hundred productions, of
all lengths and descriptions, released weekly.
To see the entire output would keep the
critic more than busy during each of the
seven days. Then, there are space considerations.
Under such conditions as exist in
the big city it would not be advisable to just
take the features playing at the leading
theaters in the business and shopping sections,
for the many ordinary shows situated
in various other parts of the town and
suburbs would be missed entirely. The only
fair way is a middle course. It will be presumed
that the critic keeps in touch with the
latest output, which knowledge should greatly
assist him to decide which are the best
six or twelve productions of the week, and
these should be included on his viewing
schedule. This was the policy adopted by
Wid Gunning, when motion-picture critic of
the New York Evening Mail) and proved
250
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
satisfactory in two ways. It prevented
readers from seeing a lemon and was an
incentive for manufacturers to turn out
better productions.
The duties of the small-town motionpicture
critic are considerably restricted.
There are probably but two or three theaters
in his territory, and all that is necessary
is to review the star attraction of each
house. If the theaters favor the daily
change, as most do, it is impossible to review
the features in time to be of service to the
reader. For this reason I am inclined to
the opinion that the small-town newspaper
is best served by a syndicate service.
Where will the successful motion-picture
critics come from? Many will be recruited
from the photoplay-writing ranks because
the first-hand experience thus gained will
have taught them the qualities which go to
the making of the perfect photoplay.
251
LAW. PRACTICE BY MOTION PICTURES
V/ES, it is quite true that law will be prac*
ticed by the motion picture before many
years have passed." This prediction, coming
as it did from George Julian Houtain,
the well-known Brooklyn attorney, was
based on more than mere theory.
"I don't mind confessing that I spend
many a pleasant evening at the photoplay
theater," said Mr. Houtain, "and these
visits have convinced me that there exist big
possibilities for employing the film in my
profession. Every time I think of the
motion picture I see REALISM written in
large letters.
"At the time the United Shoe Machinery
Company was accused of effecting an unlawful
monopoly, the case necessitated much
technical knowledge which jurymen could
hardly be expected to possess. Everything
was therefore simplified by motion pictures,
assisted with slides. The former showed
252
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
how the company's machines were operated
and the various mechanical processes.
"The president of the company lectured
to the films, which were projected on the
wall of the court-room. When the 'bottoming'
process, which is the most important
detail of shoe manufacturing, was unfolded,
the jurors were no longer in doubt that the
United Company was guilty of the charge.
"In technical cases like the foregoing,
educational films prove of great value,
especially in regard to the small details
which count for so much.
"A lawyer may use all the eloquence at
his command, yet he can not help but realize
his own limitations when up against the
condemning motion-picture evidence of the
motion picture. Permit me to cite an
instance:
U
A Glasgow (Scotland) family demanded
several thousand dollars' compensation
for injuries to their boy in a street-car
accident, claiming that the lad had been
crippled for life. The case went before the
court and the rapid-transit company lost the
day, for it certainly seemed feasible enough,
since the boy was on crutches and had his
feet bandaged in a sling.
253
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
"It happened, however, that one of the
company's officials chanced to while away
an idle hour at a motion-picture theater, in
which he saw a topical film dealing with a
local sports event. He was surprised to see
the boy outdistancing his competitors, and
as the race occurred some weeks after the
accident, the company was enabled to lodge
an appeal, winning the day.
"The boy, when he knew the game was
up, admitted that he was as sound as any
normal youngster.
"On the other hand, it is easy for the
unscrupulous to use the motion picture for
purposes of misrepresentation. I well remember
reading about a case that took place
in German Southwest Africa. A lonely and
wealthy farmer, tired of remaining a bachelor,
advertised in a German newspaper for
a wife who was congenial and thoroughly
domesticated. This ad caught the eye of a
fortune-hunter, who had no other qualifications
than a pretty face and a love of gaiety.
She was not, however, without ingenuity,
and to this end persuaded an actress friend
to portray before the motion-picture camera
her talents for domestic work. The prospective
husband duly received a copy of the
254
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
film, and was instantly smitten with her,
cabling sufficient money for the trip.
"When they came face to face he was
angry at discovering that she was not the
same girl as the one that had appeared in
the film. He declined to have anything
further to do with her, but the scheming
woman sued for breach of promise, and the
farmer won the day when the film revealed
her deception to the judge. So, once again,
the film brought the truth to light."
"Do you consider a knowledge of
motion pictures will prove an advantage to
the lawyer presenting evidence by same?"
I asked.
"Indeed I do," Mr. Houtain replied.
"The motion picture has brought many professions
into being, and I am convinced that
the motion-picture lawyer, when he arrives,
will be well versed as to the technical side.
With this knowledge he will be in a position
to act to the best possible advantage on
behalf of his client."
IT 255
LI
AIDING CRIME DETECTION BY MOTION
PICTURES
A RE you aware that the motion picture
** is assisting the detection of crime in
America? Maybe you are not acquainted
with its capabilities in this connection, so
you will welcome being enlightened.
The motion picture is assisting the detection
of crime, and some months ago Commissioner
A. H. Wood, of the New York
Police Department, took the first steps
towards using motion pictures for increasing
the efficiency of his department. He did
this by applying to the Board of Estimate
for a fund of $30,000.
While plans have not yet been put into
operation, it is intended, among other things,
to film the daily line-up at police headquarters.
The close-ups of the burglars and
pickpockets will be filed in the rogues'
gallery.
A motion-picture camera will also prob-
256
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
ably be concealed inside a window facing
saloons, street corners and other places frequented
by thieves, gangsters and thugs.
A film may likewise be put to use in providing
convincing evidence when there is
reason to doubt the statements made by the
witnesses.
Regular dramas exposing the methods
of different types of criminals, and showing
how they are brought to book, will be produced
for the edification of young detectives.
Only those concerned will be privileged to
view these photoplays.
It may be recalled that a riot occurred
about three years ago in Los Angeles. The
rioters broke windows in a reckless manner,
thought nothing of impeding the progress of
trolley-cars, and even went so far as to fire
their revolvers at inoffensive citizens.
The police had absolutely no evidence to
bring specific charges home, but, as is often
the case in such events, several motion-picture
camera men were on the job. They
took great risks to secure realistic views,
and it was on the strength of these that the
jury obtained the proof to pass sentences on
the guilty parties.
I happen to know of a physician out in
257
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
Indiana whose nine-year-old daughter was
kidnapped. He had the law set in motion,
but all searching efforts proved futile. It
occurred to the fond father to try motion
pictures, so, with the co-operation of the
police, hundreds of theaters were obliging
enough to run a slide with his daughter's
photograph as well as a brief description of
her. If any spectator had seen the child,
he was asked to get in touch with the police.
There recently came to light a case of
blackmailing in a Pennsylvania town. A
contractor was confident of securing a renewal
of his contract with the municipal
authorities, but the corrupt councilors demanded
$10,000 for exercising their influence.
The contractor, however, was clean,
and hit upon an idea by which to nip their
unscrupulousness in the bud.
He pretended to agree to their plan,
and invited them to meet in the best-lighted
room at the local hotel. The councilors
fell, and took the wad of bills, which, by
the way, were of the stage kind. Just before
the crooks left he gently broke the news
that a motion-picture camera had recorded
their actions through a hole in the curtain.
Fearing exposure, the councilors deemed
258
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
it wise to play straight, so the man secured
the contract without the bribe.
All these cases make effective replies to
those misguided folks who maintain that
motion pictures breed crime.
259
LI1
MOTION PICTURES IN PRISONS
f^VERY convict finds prison life monot-
-*--1
onous, and this is just the thing that
permits brooding, which often causes a convict
to get his good-conduct record stained.
Motion pictures, however, can do much
to promote a contented feeling, and it is of
more than passing notice that several of our
prisons should have realized this fact.
At the Minnesota State Prison, for instance,
the prisoners attend the chapel on
every Tuesday and Thursday evening for
an hour, during which time they are entertained
with motion pictures.
Moreover, the men may talk to each
other about the entertainment. The Rev.
J. S. Budlon, former chaplain, is responsible
for the statement that the film is proving of
great value as an educational force.
Naturally, it would not be the right
thing to present before lawbreakers photoplays
which portray such things as bank
260
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
robberies, cowboy rescues, Indian fights and
stage-coach hold-ups, so slapstick comedies
and refined dramas comprise the programs,
which, needless to say, are much enjoyed.
That the introduction of motion pictures
to the shut-ins has been beneficial is proven
by the fact that, since they were inaugurated
at the Colorado Penitentiary at Canon City,
the average number of violations of the
rules has decreased by four hundred.
Films could also be employed to teach
convicts different trades and keep them in
touch with the worlďs progress so that they
will not be like Rip Van Winkles when they
are free once more.
Some convicts serving life sentences
make the acquaintance of the motion picture
for the first time, and they are curious to
know all the ins and outs of this twentiethcentury
wonder.
The recent move on the part of the
motion-picture producing companies has
been to take films of prison life. This presented
a menace which Governor Dunne, of
Illinois, was quick to perceive. He did not
see why convicts should be exposed to the
risk of being recognized at the photoplay
theaters throughout the country and thus be
261
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
branded for life, so he stipulated that films
should not be produced in the penitentiary
unless it was impossible to recognize the
convicts.
Strange to say, however, some of the
inmates of the Clinton State Prison, Dannemore,
New York, did not worry who saw
them. Perhaps the photoplay acting bug or
personal vanity got the better of them.
Anyway, it is against the rule for a motionpicture
photographer to film them with their
faces towards the camera, so the operator
had to set up his machine in the rear of the
chapel, with the prisoners at the far end.
When he turned the crank, some of the men
turned round and smiled into the camera.
When permission was applied for to
produce a motion picture of life in Joliet
(Ills.) Prison, the warden refused permission.
This news got around to the convicts,
who prevailed upon him to allow the film
producer to go ahead. The reason they
gave was that they wanted the public to
know how humanly treated they are.
262
LIII
MAKING THE MOTION PICTURE "ONE
OF THE FAMILY"
"""TO many of us the motion picture means
*
a refreshing conclusion to a trying day.
It may therefore be considered as one of
the bright sides of family life. A certain
intimacy, however, is lacking, for motion
pictures are discussed in a like manner in
thousands of homes. We can not help
feeling that they are public property, but
how differently do we regard family photographs,
which we treasure, and we are careful
to whom we distribute same.
Since we are such ardent admirers of
the motion picture, we should make it "one
of the family." The^latest development is
film motion portraiture, which high-class
photographers are specializing in.
Were you to be "registered" before the
exacting lens of the motion-picture camera
for eight minutes, no less than 7,680 separate
portraits would be taken at the rate of
263
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
sixteen per second. Each photograph would
be a momentary record of the sitter's face,
and not one facial expression would be lost.
On the screen you would be under the eye
of the spectator for eight minutes. Each of
the 7,680 photographs would not be a good
likeness, but it would be the whole number
projected in rapid succession that would give
the faithful picture. You can retouch and
fake a photograph in any way you may
wish, but you can not tamper with a film.
In fact, the only way is to do the faking
"beforehand by make-up and this would give
the game away, for the motion-picture
camera hides nothing.
Who would not dearly love to have a
permanent record of all the quaint gestures
and poses that make a baby so adorable?
As he grows older these are lost to us, but
if on every birthday he was to pose before
the camera to the extent of ten feet of film,
we would be able to trace every stage of
his childhood. What an appropriate coming-of-age
present it would make, too!
Children can be shown indulging in their
favorite pastimes and playing with their
pets. As children are born photoplay actors,
they require comparatively little coaching.
264
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
Both Siegmund Lubin, the well-known photoplay
producer, and William Hearst, the
newspaper proprietor, to name but two, are
preserving motion pictures of their offspring
until they are grown up.
A wedding comes but once, and often
the only reminder of it is a group photograph.
As a French photographer advertised:
"Nuptual Cinema. To engaged persons
: Do you wish to preserve a vivid, living
recollection of the happiest day of your
life? Have a film photographed of the
ceremony (civil or religious) of your wedding,
and in after years you will be able to
see yourselves on the screen young, loving,
full of hope for the future."
The filming of the actual wedding is
seldom done. Instead, a private rehearsal
is arranged, as the photographical conditions
render it extremely difficult to record
the ceremony satisfactorily in a church or
home. Weather conditions may result in
indistinct street scenes. Then there are
delays which may cause more film to be
exposed and add considerably to the
expense.
At a rehearsal, however, everything
generally passes off without a hitch. The
265
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
cinematographer explains in detail beforehand
just how he wishes the ceremony to be
performed. This will be staged at his
studio in a scene to represent the interior
of a home or church.
Champ Clark, the well-known politician,
for instance, had the wedding of his daughter
Genevieve, filmed, so that his family
might always hark back to it.
One pair I know, who married in 1909,
entrust their wedding film to the care of
their bank for 364 days during the year.
On each anniversary of their marriage they
arrange a private exhibition of the film, to
which they invite their friends.
Another source of satisfaction is when
one of the contracting parties passes away.
Among the passengers on the last voyage of
the ill-fated "Titanic" were Mary Farquharson
and Daniel Marvin, newly married, on
their honeymoon. The husband went down
with the steamer, but the wife's grief was
somewhat lessened because she had a film
of the wedding ceremony.
Other occasions when films might be
taken are birthdays and other family events
and social gatherings. We should find many
faults in ourselves which we did not before
266
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
believe existed. We would be able to correct
mannerisms in deportment and speech.
Perhaps we do not dress correctly. We
would notice that, too, so the film can be as
useful as it is entertaining.
267
LIV
WRITING A LOCAL PHOTOPLAY
DHOTOPLAY writing is a bug and few
*
people are able to resist it. All aspire
to see their brain-children on the screen, but
in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the
cherished ambition is never realized. There
are something like one hundred photoplays
produced weekly by the regular producers,
and as the majority of these are the efforts
of staff writers, the field for the free-lance
is, therefore, limited.
But if you put on a local photoplay, you
can shut your eyes to these conditions.
Motion pictures have certain limitations.
The first mistake is to take a subject that
lends itself to better treatment as a short
story. Such a play is one that requires a
great deal of explanatory matter in order to
get its meaning across the screen, by way of
leaders and inserts. A certain number of
these is allowed, but as a rule there should
not be more than ten to fifteen to a one-reel
268
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
subject. Even this is a lot, and it is best
that all written explanations be reduced to a
minimum, and inserts used in preference to
leaders.
The action should be kept in one country
all the time. In fiction one has the whole
world to roam in, but when it is realized
that in a photoplay all such settings nearly
always have to be taken on the spot in order
to be effective, you can readily see that it is
impossible in ordinary instances. Besides,
the play will have no distinctive qualities
unless it is set locally.
Characterization is now well developed
in photoplays, and it must be remembered
that these very traits have to be put over by
the actions of the players.
Now to the details of scenario construction.
The word "scenario" is given as the
name of the photoplay manuscript. With
most authors the first thing to do is to think
out well, before putting pen to paper, an
original and presentable idea; then the next
move is to weave a plot around it. When
you have carefully thought out the plot, you
can go ahead and lay out the scenario scene
by scene. To illustrate my meaning, I can
not do better than give an actual example,
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
which will make clear to you the correct
manner in which to set out a photoplay.
There are five separate portions, as fol-
lows:
Title: This should be written around
the main idea of the play, as it generally
enables you to describe the play in an apt
manner, while not at the same time giving
too much away. There is an art in concocting
a title that explains little, yet promises
much. You should strive to get away from
the conventional path by giving the scenario
a catching title something that will arrest
the attention of everybody.
Cast of characters: Briefly explain the
characteristics, etc., of each leading role,
and include any extras that will be required.
See that every character has his or her part
to play, and cut out any that are not necessary
for the successful presenting of the
play. You may, of course, use those that
lend "atmosphere" to the scenes.
Synopsis: Here you set forth the story
of the play in a condensed form. You
must avoid the narrative strain and write
action instead not the action that takes
place in every scene, but that in the story
itself.
270
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
List of scenes: You use this to summarize
in a brief fashion all the scenes there
are in a play.
Scenario proper: This is the most important
detail of all, for you arrange the
play scene by scene. Every time the camera
is moved from one position to another constitutes
the finish of one scene and the commencement
of another. You should detail
the "business" sufficiently to enable the players
to grasp fully the possibilities of the
play. Leaders and inserts should break in
where needed, and an exterior scene should
be used when a person is traveling from
one house to another, so as to impress upon
spectators the fact that it is not the same
house, for it is bad form for a player to
"drop" from the first house into the second
without fixing this detail in the minds of
the audience.
Here is a sample scene :
Leader: The Same Evening.
Scene 2 Parlor-ranch. Flo seated, knitting;
Dick enters; asks Flo to darn socks;
Flo speaks indignantly, saying:
Leader: "I'm Not Your Hired Help."
Back to scene. Dick gets flustered under
the snub; retreats to door; drops socks;
is 271
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
exits. Flo picks up socks; kisses them;
smiles.
Do not introduce a lengthy scene unless
its action is broken with explanatory ma.tter,
as otherwise spectators grow restless. What
is going to happen with the gradual straightening
of things should be left until the
climax, and it improves a photoplay if the
unexpected occurs, so that a surprise is
sprung upon the audience. You should, in
fact, work up the interest from the very
start and keep it going until the conclusion
of the play.
272
LV
ATTENDING TO THE ACTING
DHOTOPLAY acting is the hardest form
^ of dramatic art extant. All the players
who have been recruited from the theatrical
stage admit it. The beginner, however,
possesses an advantage in that he has nothing
to unlearn.
There are, in the producing of a photoplay,
several component parts which go to
make up the whole, and, should one fall
down, there will be a broken link in the
chain, thus marring what would perhaps
otherwise be an excellent picture.
When a director selects a player as an
extra, which means a position in the regular
stock company should he or she make good,
he closely criticizes the face, the shape of
which is the deciding factor.
As you will probably recruit some of
your players from a local dramatic society,
it is up to you to see that they discard their
theatrical mannerisms. A photoplayer, in
273
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
order to convince, must act naturally, avoiding
all meaningless gestures and movements.
But one can not set a standard for all roles.
If, for instance, an actor has to portray a
man of the backwoods, he will adopt roughand-ready
methods. Should, however, he be
a highbrow, there will be a decided repose
in all of his actions.
There is a tendency on the part of the
present-day director to draw hard-and-fast
rules and have the players under him express
their emotions in a stereotyped way. -Everybody
has an individuality, and to deprive
him or her of this is a big mistake.
Although the stars are allowed some latitude,
there is a certain sameness in depicting
the emotions. Such ones as fear, hate,
sympathy, jealousy, surprise and determination
are indicated by different shades of
frowning.
You will discover, too, when practicing
in a mirror, by laughing and smiling in
different ways, that you will express joy,
expectation, happiness and delight. But
when you try out weeping in all its forms,
some of the emotions you will show are
grief, sadness and sympathy. There is also
a knack of acquiring the right poise of the
274
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
body, and in this connection it is worth while
picking up hints from the regular players.
To quote from "Making the Movies"
(Macmillan) : "The actor must be very
cautious in the speed of his movements, for
if he were to walk briskly before the camera,
it would appear as a run on the film. Every
second sixteen different pictures are recorded
on the narrow strip of celluloid, and if the
player does not want his walk to come out
blurred, he must take good care not to travel
faster than sixteen inches per second.
"The width of the stage by the lens of
the camera is nine feet, in which narrow
space a batch of players have to work together
under cramped conditions. The
breadth, however, can be greater as the
length increases, but oftentimes important
situations have to be acted through at close
quarters.
"If the director is not careful, and the
actors equally alert, the work of a player
in the background will be concealed from
view. So you will see that careful attention
has to be given to the grouping."
275
LVI
COLORS EMPLOYED IN MAKE-UP
TV /IAKE-UP in motion pictures is an art;
1 ** indeed, a science. Were it possible to
take all the scenes outdoors, it would not
matter so much, but the electric lighting in
interior sets is so powerful that if the face
is not adequately made up it assumes a flat
appearance.
The face, to be expressive, must have its
features shown up conspicuously. The stage
player is only seen by the audience from the
other side of the footlights, and therefore
heavy make-up is not an eyesore. The
motion-picture actor, on the other hand, puts
over his work within a few feet of the
camera, which magnifies things so many
times at close range that great skill is necessary
if the make-up is not to be revealed to
spectators.
You can not retouch the film in such a
way that all faults are deftly covered up,
for when you consider that there are sixteen
276
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
pictures, or "frames," to call them by their
correct name, each i x % inch, to every foot
of film, you will readily realize that the task
is out of the question.
There are players who err on the side
of liberality, which policy may be advisable
in some things, but certainly not in photoplay
make-up.
Have you not seen a young player with
a pair of black eyes? You must not imagine
they have been received in a fistic contest,
for too much make-up has been applied.
Colors have most peculiar effects when
photographed under the glare of the arclights.
The players, for instance, have to
avoid rouge or any other color with a red
tint, as red has the strange trick of photographing
black on the screen. Rouge, however,
is permitted on the lips, but only in a
light quantity; much would make the mouth
unusually black.
White is another color which is tabooed.
This gives a chalky appearance, and the
same is true of light blue.
The right colors, outside of the abovementioned
exceptions, are merely a matter
of individual tastes, for the player can only
master make-up by adapting it to his
277
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
features. I will give an instance of this.
The player with a fair complexion seldom
uses grease-paint at all. He finds that coldcream
with a dash of a light-brown powder
screens effectively.
The player, however, possessing what I
might term a medium complexion, uses
either a yellow or dark-blue grease-paint
after first applying cold-cream to the face,
but, in order to prevent his face screening
like a ball of grease, he covers it with a
light-brown powder.
This make-up is applied to the face as
well as the front and back of the neck.
To make the eyebrows come out prominently,
the player usually employs a black
eyebrow pencil, but some players prefer to
use it on their eyelashes. This is a tedious
and painful process.
However, should a player be taking a
character part, he accentuates his features
with a brown lining-pencil, but does not
permit an indiscreet close-up to reveal these
lines.
273
LVII
SECURING PERMISSION FOR LOCATIONS
TV/fOTION pictures breathe the very
** essence of life, and this is where the
motion-picture photographer has a chance
to demonstrate his skill. 'The scene painter
takes a back seat, which is as it should be,
for the camera man becomes an artist
instead of a crank-turner.
I spent a recent vacation on a farm, and,
as is natural with rural folks, the farmer
with whom I was staying wanted to know
the ins and outs of my vocation. Having
thus gained his confidence, he told me about
a neighbor of his who had been paid a surprise
visit by a motion-picture company.
They wanted free access to the farm for
one week, for which permission they would
pay one hundred dollars. The extremely
liberal offer was accepted without more ado,
and the farmer made a tidy profit out of
the players' board.
My newly found friend was anxious to
279
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
do the same. The pride of his estate is a
good-sized waterfall, by the side of which
is an old mill. He felt that this was worth
something; so it was, but I took great pains
to point out that no motion-picture company
would run up for these alone unless hard
pressed. These two attractions might prove
the deciding factor, but he would have to
assure them that his farm offered a wide
range of locations.
I cite this case to prove to you how
expensive is the search for locations, and
the attitude taken by rural folks.
The big producing concerns can sustain
it, but how about you, a free-lance? So
many folks have gotten the mistaken idea
that motion-picture producers spend their
money like water, that you are liable to be
branded as one of the tribe.
When you produce a film you take a big
chance, and it is therefore up to you to
reduce expenses as far as is possible. If
you need locations on private property for
an educational subject or a local photoplay,
it is best to feel your way. Try, first of all,
to obtain the necessary permission without
a fee, but, if money is required, explain how
differently situated you are from the national
280
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
producer, and offer a share of your profits.
What is the attitude of your park
authorities in regard to the taking of
exteriors? They may permit you to use a
kodak as freely as you wish, yet impose
certain restrictions when a motion-picture
camera is used.
The Brooklyn park department, for instance,
classifies motion pictures as a commercial
product, and now charges tolls. If
a film company or individual causes a troupe
of not more than ten players to work in any
of its parks, the fee is five dollars.
If, however, heavy "props" or artificial
scenery is employed, or the company is more
than ten and not over twenty-five, ten dollars
is charged. Each horse is rated at one
dollar.
It is not always realized by those responsible
for the control of our parks that harm
is done when they place obstacles in the way
of cinematographers, whose efforts are often
shown the country over, and the "atmosphere"
injected acts as a boost for the place
where the scenes were filmed.
An instance of this occurred in New
Orleans not long ago. The Fox Film Corporation
applied for permission to take
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MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
several scenes in City Park, but were refused
by the City Park Board. The matter was
taken up by the New Orleans Chamber of
Commerce, who feared that their petty
action would prevent New Orleans from
becoming a film-producing center. The City
Park Board, however, had the good sense
to realize their mistake.
The weapons used in war films are
harmless, so a mounted policeman made a
fool of himself when he arrested a troupe
of cowboys and soldiers engaged at fighting
in Van Courtland Park, New York City.
He took them to the Morrisania Court,
where he charged them with carrying guns
as opposed to the Sullivan law.
The magistrate discovered that the guns
were not loaded, and dismissed the players
when matters were explained. The company
in question now obtains a permit from
the police department when any of their
players have occasion to carry firearms in
public.
For these reasons I would advise you to
make inquiries before exposing film in public
parks.
282
LVIH
TAKING THE EXTERIORS
\Y/E realize, when we come to outdoor
work, that motion-picture producing
is more closely linked with the photographic
art than it is with the theatrical stage. The
latter can not give genuine exteriors for love
or money, but these constitute an asset in
motion pictures which more than compensates
for the absence of the spoken word.
Motion-picture producing companies
think nothing of sending troupes of players
hundreds of miles in search of "local color."
It pays them in the long run, because, if they
were obliged to fake natural backgrounds
in the studio, the sets would probably cost
as much as their traveling expenses. The
scenic artist may be the most skilled man in
his profession, yet he can not put one over
nature and get away with it. The artificialness
will be plainly apparent to the fans,
who will regard the produced effort with
disgust.
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MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
In an amateur photoplay, natural backgrounds
are even more important. It is up
to you to inject as much local "atmosphere"
as possible, for otherwise their efforts will
not appear half as effective. Folks like to
recognize outdoor scenes, especially as they
are presented from a new viewpoint the
motion-picture camera.
A photoplay in which exteriors predominate
has, for some unexplainable reason,
become associated with thrilling stunts.
Must you, then, do the same in order to
hold the interest of an audience? Once
upon a time it was generally taken for
granted that the attention of fans could only
be sustained if something was doing all the
time. The word action got to be misinterpreted,
for the new school of directors has
introduced a subtle kind of action that in
which a player expresses a good deal with
a twitch of the face.
It takes years of experience to master
this knack for knack it is so it is best
that you adopt the broader means of expression.
You should therefore attempt either
a slapstick comedy or a refined melodrama.
You can then have the villain ducked under
the village pump, the hero tied to the rail-
284
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
road tracks at the local crossing, or stage
the fight between the hero and villain at the
edge of the nearest cliff. These stunts have
been done innumerable times, and I have
only suggested them so that you may know
along which lines to work. While it is best
to think up new incidents, even the commonplace
ones would interest because you serve
them up in a new "dress."
This is not to suggest, however, that you
kill off any members of your filming party
in actual reality, for if reasonable precautions
are taken, the dangers incurred in putting
over stunts are reduced to a minimum.
The chances are that some of your players
will be opposed to assisting in the manufacture
of thrills, but the danger element, you
must point out, is part and parcel of the
photoplayer's work.
The following experience fell to Leah
Bairďs lot. I tell it in the Vitagraph
player's own words: "In 'Ivanhoe' I was
Rebecca, and King Baggot, as 'Brian de
Bois,' had to carry me off. Well, the steed
threw us both to the ground, but King
Baggot quickly got up and pulled me aside
before the horse had a chance to roll over
me."
285
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
Accidents are liable to occur at any time,
for the players have to carry out almost
everything in grim reality.
The big mistake made by the average
regular producer to-day is to repeat exteriors.
If he chose to do so, he could introduce
a wide variety of natural backgrounds,
but he seems to prefer to confine himself to
a few. This is sheer laziness in too many
cases, for he saves time and trouble when he
does not have to change over for every
scene.
Your position, however, is quite different.
Your footage will, for cost-of-production
reasons, naturally be limited, and it is
to your advantage to make every foot count.
If you must repeat a scene, take a new angle
of the setting, otherwise a "close-up."
Many excellent photoplays are spoiled
through onlookers being permitted to butt
into a scene. The producing of an exterior
always attracts a crowd, and nothing detracts
more from the dramatic value of a
scene than persons who stare hard at the
camera. This may be obviated if you take
scenes early in the morning, when few folks
are about, or by rigging up a dummy camera
to deceive the curious ones.
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MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
Exterior work, of course, depends
wholly on the vagaries of the weather.
Clear work is essential, for bad photography
shows up awfully bad on the screen and
often hides important "business" put over
by the players. Select, therefore, a clear
day. If the sun is shining, the camera
should be pointed north, so that there will
be no shadows to place the players at a
serious disadvantage.
Results also depend upon the right
diaphragm being employed. The most effective
way by which to test the weather conditions
is with a Watkins actimometer.
The height of the lens is another important
detail, and it is one which requires even
more attention in exteriors, which are taken
in all kinds of positions. If you run to
extremes, your players will either appear like
giants or else like pigmies. It is up to you
to hit upon a happy medium. There is no
standard technique, because every worker
has his own ideas of what viewpoint is best,
but most cinematographers prefer to focus
over the actors' heads. You will learn your
best viewpoint from experience.
It is highly probable that you will
require to follow a vehicle in motion. This
19 287
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
is done by placing the camera on a stand in
another vehicle which follows behind.
An artistic way of accentuating a portion
of action without flashing to and fro is to
"panoram" a scene. This is done by letting
the tripod head slowly revolve in the desired
direction.
Lastly, when you select locations, regard
them from the angle of an artist, for they
must be artistic in order to convince.
288
LIX
LIGHTING NIGHT EXTERIORS
'""PHE cinematographer who is anxious to
*
increase his versatility and I have yet
to know one who is not will find nightwork
an excellent outlet.
Night-work in the studio is no different
from that done by daylight, but exteriors
may be given a new slant and some unusual
subjects secured.
You need not confine yourself to one
particular kind of picture night outdoor
cinematography is equally possible with the
news film, educational or the regular photo-
play.
I have seen views of native processions
at midnight, campfire and battle scenes, New
York's Broadway illuminated at night, the
exterior of a house with the lights shining
in the windows, and an automobile race in
the dark.
I mention these instances to prove the
scope which exists.
289
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
Now, the vital detail in night cinematography
is getting the artificial lighting just
right.
For scenes of short duration and taken
but a few feet away from the camera, magnesium
or aluminum flashes are generally
satisfactory. These are made by mixing
one part of magnesium or aluminum ppwder
with four parts of well-dried and finely powdered
sodium, same being placed in long
cylindrical cardboard cases.
What has to be guarded against is the
powerful light of the flares being exposed
to the glass of the camera's lens. The
fogged film which otherwise results may be
obviated by reflectors.
If a flare is not long enough for a scene
of a minute or so's duration, somebody
must be ready with another light before the
first one goes out, or the camera stopped
while the change is made.
In developing the film, plain metol
should be employed so as to eliminate
harshness.
A more reliable device for all-round
night-work is the Panchroma Portable Arclamp,
which has been effectively employed
as automobile and locomotive headlights,-
290
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
street-lamps, burglar-lamps and searchlights
on vessels. This is to name but a few of
its accomplishments.
It contains two arcs which require fifteen
amperes at no volts, giving forth eight
thousand candle-power.
The lamp is
decidedly distinctive in that
the same solenoid feeds the two arcs, which
waste comparatively little resistance current,
as they operate in series, with fifty volts
across the arc.
The lamp is exceedingly easy to carry,
its weight not exceeding twenty pounds.
D. C. or A. C. current may be used, and the
lamp is easily connected where electric current
is obtainable, as it is self-contained with
collapsible reflector, necessary resistance
wires, etc.
The light is of a soft, brilliant tone.
This is because the small carbon is subjected
to chemical treatment, with the result that
the ultra-violet and a tiny portion of the
spectrum are discarded.
The blue portion of the spectrum often
prevents photographic daylight in that the
blue is accentuated. This lamp produces a
varied range of colors and shadows.
291
LX
LIGHTING INTERIORS
DADLY lighted interiors do an untold
*-* amount of harm to a motion picture,
and must be guarded against.
In some of the efforts of the regular
producers, who should know better, I have
seen the interiors so dimly lighted that they
reminded me of the utmost depths of gloom.
On the other hand, at times the illumination
has been so unskillfully arranged that the
features of the players' faces were blotted
out.
It is the easiest thing in the world to
make a blunder in the lighting of interiors.
I will take it for granted that you have not
yet obtained a studio. Out in California,
and even in the East during the summer
months, it is possible to stage interiors in
the open. This is usually done on a platform,
without the aid of artificial light.
The wind plays havoc with the windowcurtains
of such interiors.
292
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
There are, however, many days in the
year when this inexpensive method is out of
the question because of the weather, so you
will need an indoor studio rather than
remain idle.
The ideal location for a studio is one
facing north and south, in an elevated position,
so that other buildings will not shield
the flood of daylight. It is preferable that
the roof be about twenty feet above the
stage. Glass should be used for the roof,
and the glass should extend to within three
feet of the ground on each side.
The regular motion-picture producers
\ise three kinds of lamps for interiors;
namely, the mercury vapor-lamp, the arc
and the thousand-watt gas-filled incandescent.
If these skilled workers have found
them entirely practical, then you can not do
better than do likewise.
There will be days when the light which
filters through will require but little artificial
aid, and in this connection the thousand-watt
gas-filled incandescent is unequaled.
But on those days when the daylight is
inferior, the other two lamps may be
adopted. Of the two, I would advise the
mercury-vapor lamp.
293
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
The arc sheds such brilliant rays that it
seriously affects the eyes of the players, who
strive hard not to show the fact in their
work. Not infrequently a player has to
take a day off, as the after-result is inflammation
of the eyes.
To the layman the mercury-vapor lamp
does not seem so powerful; it does not consume
so much current and yet gives a nice,
soft light for photographic purposes. The
mercury-vapor lamp is in the form of a
tube, from twenty-eight to seventy-five inches
long, with a 500-6000 candle capacity. The
advantage of these lamps is that they light
a fairly large area.
The motion-picture producers, as a rule,
arrange the tubes in unit banks, each one
containing eight tubes.
The reflectors supplied in connection
with the tubes are satisfactory for still
photography work, but motion-picture exposures
are so short that double the number
of lamps is needed. It is therefore advisable
to employ white enameled semi-cylindrical
reflectors.
Next is the arrangement of the lamps,
If you desire to take big scenes, you can not
do better than adopt the fixed-light method.
294
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
The use of portable lights, however,
allows you to concentrate all your lighting
facilities on a single small scene.
You may use overhead trolley or mono
rails for switching the lights in the desired
position, or else have the lights fixed onto
frames and moved on casters.
The best article to use when it is
necessary to shut out overhead light is
a heavy canvas screen, which you should
fix by ropes above the players' heads.
This should be attached in such a way
that it is easy to cut off any angle of side
lighting.
You can not light every scene in a like
manner; you have to be governed by the
principles of interior lighting; if, for instance,
the time is twilight, you must suggest
the shades of night. The same is true of
the interiors of a workingman's home and a
millionaire's mansion.
Much depends on the staging being in
harmony, and things to be avoided are
glossy white bric-a-brac and deep black picture-frame
and furniture.
The most general principle of lighting is
on a gradual scale. Make it more powerful
on one side than on its neighbor, and
295
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
also make the light stronger at the front of
the set than at the back.
You must also take care of the top
lighting, and the attention to all these details
insures the players being shown up in relief.
Do not neglect to provide adequate ventilation,
for the powerful artificial light is
apt to make the studio stuffy. In the summer
months the heat is almost unbearable.
296
LXI
STAGING INTERIORS
OTAGING the interior sets in a photoplay
^ is not so easy as it looks. One is apt to
credit the regular motion-picture producers,
by their extensive experience, with being
perfect in this important detail, yet the fact
remains that they commit an awful blunder
every now and then.
Who has not seen films in which the
clock kept the same time, although several
hours' lapse of time occurred? Maybe you
have also spotted furniture of a wrong
period in a historical production. A connected
telephone in a vacated house is also
a common error.
These are some of the things the average
director has gotten into the habit of
overlooking. It is not because he is afraid
to stage them that he avoids interiors
wherever possible. Expense is the deciding
factor.
You, as an amateur, might deem an
297
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
interior necessary in many places which the
director would cover up with an exterior or
leader. Supposing, for instance, you have
the extremely likely situation of a character
going into a store to make a purchase. In
all probability nothing takes place, of importance
to the play, inside the store. Why,
then, go to the expense and trouble of staging
such a scene?
I will tell you what a regular director
does when confronted by such a problem.
He shows the actor entering the store, after
which he introduces a scene from another
portion of the play. He then switches back
to the same exterior, which now shows the
actor coming out of the store with his pur-
chase.
There is also the well-worn situation of
the hero proposing to the heroine. Is it
necessary that this should be done in the
parlor? If not, it may be filmed in the
garden or a similar place, with equally good
results.
And when a director does introduce an
interior he generally contrives to make it
work precious hard. He will have it appear
near the beginning and continue at intervals
during the play until the end.
298
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
I want also to impress upon you the fact
that the fewer interiors in your local play,
the better it will be. Since you will wish to
know my reason, I may say that you naturally
want to make your local photoplay
decidedly distinctive in character. Your
actors and story help to this end, but what
audiences will look forward to most will be
familiar local backgrounds. Those put on.
inside the studio can not be any different
from those contained in a regular photoplay,
so only make use of interiors when absolutely
necessary and there is no other way
of avoiding them.
Some directors are addicted to the bad
practice of faking exteriors. Probably the
director will be called upon to stage an outdoor,
summer party scene in New York in
December. It is, naturally, impossible to
obtain the desired backgrounds when the
country is snow and ice bound. A troupe of
players could, of course, be sent to either
Florida or California, but the expense would
be prohibitive.
Natural backgrounds represent the greatest
charm of the motion picture, and it is
therefore all the more deplorable to see a
director follow in the footsteps of the so-
299
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
called legitimate stage, which, by its limitations,
is compelled to adopt such methods.
I say, and will repeat, that if you are
unable to secure the exteriors you require,
leave the play alone until you can. In the
interim you are free to proceed with an-
other.
I well remember reading the experiences
of two young men who started a feature
film company. The faults they made in the
putting on of interiors were to stage a
garden scene in a conservatory and permit
the roof and sides to show in the picture.
Another interior revealed a stage-hand
calmly walking in at the back of the scene,
while a mirror in one of the scenes was
placed in such an inappropriate position that
it disclosed the camera man turning the
crank.
It is absolutely essential that the canvas
employed for the scenery has not been
painted upon before, because there is the
big chance that the portions which are
invisible to the naked eye will come out on
the film.
In painting a scene, you are no doubt
under the impression that black and white
are most adapted for photographic pur-
300
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
poses. They are not, however, but, instead,,
impart a funeral appearance to a scene.
The most effective colors to use are
brown and white of .the same hues. In no
case should different tints be mixed, but an
equal mixture be made of the same shades
of these two colors.
The actors are now called upon to accentuate
the coloring scheme by being dressed
in clothes which afford a powerful contrast
of light and dark. Dark brown or
blue and yellow will photograph most satis-
factorily.
It might be well for me to point out
that in such a scene as the interior of a log
cabin, where a player opens the door revealing
a mountain or prairie back-drop, this,
should not be photographed too close to the
camera, else its artificialness will be readily
apparent. In the painting of a back-drop alighter
white and a darker brown should be
used than in the near scenery. The lattermust
likewise be substantial, as it would not
do to see an actor lean against a wall and
its flimsiness be shown.
Such "props" as armor and silver plate
may reflect in such a way as to distract
attention fro~i the players. To take the
301
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
brightness out of shiny articles, it is advisable
to rub soap over them.
In regard to furniture, oak gives rather
a doleful appearance to a room, while walnut
produces a satisfactory effect under all
conditions. Mahogany, however, comes out
far too glossy. You should also place
satinwood and marqueterie on the taboo list,
as they both photograph the direct opposite.
Always make a point of having your
principal actors near to the middle of a
scene. Then, if you want to put across a
bit of "business" which can not be shown in
the full scene, it is easy to inject a close-up.
You should also see that no actor hides
the action of another, nor allow their heads
to be in a straight line.
You had best set the camera upon a tall
tripod, as then there will be no danger of
the players appearing shorter than they
actually are. The best way to prevent them
from getting out of focus is to draw a
chalk-line all round the area covered by the
camera.
302
LXII
TRICK EFFECTS
r
I 'RICK effects are so common in regular
photoplays that you may desire to
experiment on a small scale.
Suppose the character lies asleep in a
chair; the soul removes itself from the body,
walks about the room as though through
air, and finally goes back to the body.
You would have to film this situation
twice on the same strip of negative, making
the two images superpose. First gradually
close the lens to zero, but on the second
exposure open up the diaphragm in a like
way. Before re-exposing the wound-back
film remove the gauge.
Another good effect is that in which the
players fancy a ghost is in their midst. The
actors must remain perfectly still, which is
very hard if they have to put over any
emotional work. Rehearse these scenes
carefully and mark with chalk the exact
path the ghost takes, for the "ghost" must
20 303
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
also know his bearings if his actions are to
tally.
First film the actors and permit the
ghost to do his stunts all alone. After completing
the two negatives, place one at a
time in a rotary printing-machine and turn
the negative film towards the unexposed and
sensitive side of a positive print. Pass the
two films at the same time so that an impression
is made. Repeat the process through
the printing-machine with the second negative,
after which develop the positive print
in the ordinary manner.
Suppose you introduce a player in a dual
role and desire him on the stage in both
parts at the same time. The two characters
can not come in actual contact, so the best
a player can do is to "register" at the
proper times.
Divide the scene into two component
parts with the aid of a thread. Attach a
piece of black cardboard to the front of the
camera so that only half of the lens is
exposed. Place the camera in the exact
middle of the set, and when the action in
one-half is completed, attend to the other
half, but before "shooting" remove the
hood to the other side of the lens.
304
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
You must take care of perspective, for
if the hero and the villain are one and the
same, it would be up to you to keep them
both at the same distance from the camera.
If, for instance, the hero was allowed to
remain in the background, while the villain
was near the camera, they would appear
respectively as a pigmy and a giant.
Maybe you have wondered if there are
any secrets about taking close-ups, especially
those showing facial studies. As the lower
part of the body is concealed from view, it
is very simple to lay foot-guides on the
studio floor. These should be six-inch strips
of wood, from six to eight feet long, held
upright by braces. Arrange them in V
shape. This method insures perfect naturalness
on the part of the players in taking
their poses.
The keyhole, or magnifying, effect is
technically termed a "mask." Attach a
rectangular-shaped metal plate, the size of
which should be one inch by three-quarters
of an inch, to the lens of the camera. Inside
the first mask fix another to correspond
with the shape desired.
The dissolving in and out of scenes is
far superior to the old, abrupt method, and
305
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
is especially effective in visualizing people's
thoughts.
Attach a lever to the diaphragm and
shut off at the conclusion of a scene. Wind
the first exposed film back to the camera's
upper box, and keep the diaphragm almost
closed when commencing to expose the second
scene. Gradually open the diaphragm.
Maybe you will want to show a vision
in the corner of a scene. Proceed by placing
a mask in the lens shade. The shape of
the mask depends upon the portion of negative
you wish unexposed, but you will have
to take the vision scene with a mask which
tallies with the previously exposed portion.
To complete the effect, run the film back in
the top box and expose same for the second
time, when use a mask that corresponds with
the previously unexposed portion.
306
LXIII
TACTICS ADOPTED IN FILMING NATURAL
HISTORY SUBJECTS
T TNLESS you possess unlimited patience,
^ do not attempt natural history subjects,
as you are at war with Nature, and you
know what that means.
I honestly believe we can learn a whole
lot from the experiences of others, hence my
reason for mentioning the tactics adopted
by other cinematographers.
Edward A. Salisbury, who has put
America on the natural history map, secured
some snappy views of the eagle by climbing
up an exceedingly tall pine-tree, struggling
gamely with his camera, which weighed
eighty pounds. To guard against possible
attacks on the part of the mother bird, he
carried a nasty-looking stick. It proved,
however, no easy task to fix the camera
in the top boughs of this majestic forest
specimen, so he tried one way and another
until the machine would keep in position,
307
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
and then had the utmost difficulty in
coaxing the young eagles to remain in their
nests.
To obtain a film study of herons, he
made screens out of vegetation growths
picked from a tract haunted by the birds.
These screens were so cleverly arranged to
match the undergrowth that even Mr. Salisbury
himself, on returning the next morning,
wandered for over an hour before he could
locate his hiding-place. He was soon rewarded,
however, by two male birds appearing,
and, while they indulged in a scrap a la
Jack Johnson, he turned the crank of the
'Camera. Imagine, if you can, his disappointment
when, upon developing the negative,
he found that a blade of grass had
obstructed the view of the lens.
I happen to know of one cinematographer
who attempted to film the kingfisher.
He went about it by studying the haunts of
the kingfisher for himself, after which he
took up quarters in a stream at a place
where it was four feet deep. Over his head
and shoulders he placed a large mask
formed of tree branches, and when a kingfisher
ventured within view he moved
cautiously so as to deceive the bird into
308
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
thinking that the boughs were being floated
along by the current.
And where was his camera? That, let
me tell you, was under his sheltering contrivance,
fixed to an anchored floating base.
His first filming effort was a failure, for the
camera's clicking noise frightened the bird
away.
But one futile attempt did not daunt
this enterprising young man, for he next
procured another camera and attached it to
the same floating base. Day after day he
waited for the regular appearance of his
victim, and turned the handle of the second
camera, which was minus any film. This
went on for seven weeks, at the end of
which time the kingfisher paid no attention
to the working of the motion-picture machine.
All he had to show for his untiring
efforts was a strip of film, two hundred feet
in length.
Some birds are cliff-dwellers, and this
introduces an element of danger. The cinematographer
usually works with a tripodless
camera, and has himself lowered down
a tall cliff on a rope. The extra-powerful
lens comes in handy to approach the birds
at a distance, unawares.
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MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
Equally tedious to film are those birds
that favor the ground for building their
nests, for, apart from requiring considerable
skill to focus the apparatus in the .
right
angle, it is hard to "snap" the feathered
creatures off their guard.
Prof. Raymond L. Ditmars, Curator of
Reptiles at the New York Zoological Park,
produces natural history pictures as a hobby,
and in putting on a recent subject, "The
Moonlight Habits of the Lance-head
Snake," he had a very narrow escape.
Mercury-vapor lamps gave the desired
lighting effect, and paper was rustled to
make the reptile think there was an animal
close at hand. Ditmars, who, in addition
to working the paper stunt, began turning
the crank, was congratulating himself on
the excellent picture it was going to prove,
for the snake first moved his head and
wriggled his body to make the letter S
several times. He then leaped right in
front of the camera, but, fortunately, Mr.
Ditmars had the presence of mind to step
aside, the reptile landing within a foot of
him.
The operator, when handling a cobra
for the movies, usually keeps a safe distance
310
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
away and employs a motor-engine to work
his camera. The wiseness of these precautions
can not be disputed, for the camera
is oftentimes disfigured with deadly venom.
I therefore consider Mr. Ditmars rather
reckless when he decided to obtain a picture
of the deadly ringed cobra.
He and his wife, who assisted him,
deemed it advisable to wear auto-goggles as
a protection against the sprayed poison.
The electric motor, attached to the camera,
turned the crank, the snake being but four
feet away. A long pole was employed to
coax the cobra up close to the machine, but
Mrs. Ditmars wanted the snake to display
his spiteful nature, so she waved a handkerchief
in his direction. Before you could say
"Jack Robinson" its temper was up and the
snake made one big leap for the lens of the
camera. Finding its progress hindered, it
calmed down for a moment, stepped back,
and advanced toward Mrs. Ditmars, who
thought her last moment had come. Luckily,
however, she stepped on the housing of an
electrical coil, the cobra gliding by under
her feet.
But the filming of wild beasts in their
native haunts is attended by all sorts of
311
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
dangers. Usually an artificial animal or
tree-trunk is employed for the purposes of
concealment. Such a structure is hollow
inside and usually made of cork, with the
painting of the animal or tree-trunk outside.
The operator enters the structure from the
rear, and, to provide for the long hours of
waiting, the concealing structure has a
special compartment containing refreshments
and a stove. All the time he watches
through the peep-holes, and as soon as his
quarry comes within range, he sets to work.
But for days previous to this the electric
motor has been deputizing for the clockwork
mechanism of the camera, in order to
get the animals accustomed to the sound.
Wild animals possess such a keen sense
of smell that they can detect a human being
a long distance off, and, to disguise his
presence, the operator covers himself with
some vile-smelling liquid.
312
LXIV
TAKING MOTION PICTURES FROM AN
AEROPLANE
T TOW rare it is to come across a motion
picture taken from an aeroplane !
Those, however, showing a flying-machine
in full flight are as plentiful as strawberries
in June. There surely must be some reason
for this apparent lack of enterprise. It is
because such films are very difficult to
produce.
Naturally, you could not operate a tripod
motion-picture camera from an aeroplane,
while traveling. The apparatus is
far too clumsy. What is required, in my
opinion, is a special hand camera, for it
must be remembered that you are at loggerheads
with the principles of cinematography.
The chief difficulty encountered when
working in the air is that the aeroplane flies
at too high an altitude for the earth below
to be sufficiently distinguishable. You may
use the longest focus lens possible, but it is
313
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
hard to regulate the speed. An aeroplane
travels so swiftly that the resulting pictures
are apt to be blurred, hence the many
failures.
What is necessary is a shutter which will
take pictures at many times the regulation
sixteen-a-second speed.
Personally speaking, I am a booster for
air cinematography because it is a phase of
motion-picture work which has been little
exploited. It permits of some wonderful
panoramic effects, especially over towns.
The possibilities in this direction are
unlimited, and I am confident that any
experiments would be worth while.
It will be reassuring for you to know
that there have been some successful aeroplane
ventures with a motion-picture camera,
and it is with the intention of helping
you in your work that I shall proceed
to relate the experiences of the principal
exponents.
Several years ago John C. Hemmett, of
African-hunt fame, put over a filming stunt
from a hydro-aeroplane. He made a test
over Marblehead Bay, Massachusetts, and
attached a contrivance of his own invention
to the propelling motor of the flying-
314
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
machine, this automatically turning the
crank.
At first it seemed as though Mr. Hemmett
and his camera were a too heavy
burden for the aeroplane to carry, for they
turned the scale at 265 pounds, while the
machine weighed approximately 100 pounds,
apart from the airman.
Mr. Hemmett set the crank in operation
when they rose to a height of 150 feet. The
first subject that came to his "net" was a
bunch of wild ducks flying up from the
water in a hysterical state. The aviator
kept these in view while Mr. Hemmett
exposed some "meaty" film.
The flight occupied eight minutes, during
which time the cinematographer attained a
height of three hundred feet and took several
hundred feet of negative. His other
subjects included excellent coast-line views,
rigged schooners at anchor and half-submerged
reefs. The speed at which these
were taken was sixty miles per hour.
The most notable motion-picture feat of
1914 in Europe was the filming from an
aeroplane of the arrival of the King and
Queen of England in Calais Harbor.
Mr. R. A. Ferguson, the clever, ani-
315
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
mated newspaper man, attributed his success
to the "Aeroscope" camera, which has simplified
outdoor cinematography. His flight
consumed an hour altogether. He soared
to a great height during the first part of the
trip, but eventually swooped down to within
two hundred feet of the yacht. The hardest
task of all was keeping the yacht in focus,
for the aeroplane circled unsteadily.
Recently Giovanni Fabbri, attached to
the Aviation Corps of the Italian army,
invented an automatic tripodless camera.
This enables panoramic views to be obtained
when an aeroplane is in mid-air. In the
camera are two bobbins, over which the roll
of film winds and unwinds. One side of the
film is perforated at places equally apart.
The tooth in the camera, on coming in contact
with a perforation, automatically brings
the film to a standstill. This frees the shutter
and results in an exposure. A tiny
propeller, set in motion by the air, serves
to unroll the film. The camera can be
manipulated as high as four thousand feet.
The free-lance who can successfully surmount
the problems which have arisen in
connection with air cinematography will
reap the rewards of his labors.
316
LXV
FILM STOCK TROUBLES IN THE TROPICS
you switch your operations from
the temperate zone to the tropical, you
will find yourself confronted with new problems,
which result through the unhealthy
climate, uncertain light values and the intense
heat.
I know of a cinematographer who made
a trip to the Canal Zone during the rainy
season. When he removed the film stock
from the cans, it was soft, and, within an
hour of placing it in the box of the camera,
it was as wet as, wet could be, while the
following morning It was completely covered
with mildew.
How may this be avoided? One cinematographer,
working in the heart of
Africa, deemed it advisable to carry the
film stock in a cooling-case, built along the
lines of the vacuum flask, and prevented the
exterior from becoming hot by covering
same with cool banana leaves. Unfortu-
317
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
nately, however, this camera man would not
reveal the details of his invention, so we
must confine ourselves to the generally
followed plan.
Before setting out on your journey, store
the film in air-tight cans and place adhesive
plaster all round the edges of the lids.
If you take my advice, you will not
burden yourself with more film than you
actually need, as it deteriorates rapidly. If
you can arrange to have small consignments
dispatched as required, so much the better.
Once you have arrived at your destination,
select a dry and cool place for the filmboxes,
which are kept in a better condition
if placed in an ash-can or some other airtight
receptacle, not overlooking to include
a dish of fused calcium chloride.
Reload the camera only just before you
plan to "shoot."
You may experience considerable difficulty
in turning the crank, for the heat is
apt to heat the brass and make it too hot to
be operated with the bare hands. A pair
of gloves will therefore come in handy.
The developing is best done on the spot
with as little delay as possible.
A camera man of my acquaintance told
318
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
me of his experiences while working in the
Sudan. He discovered that sunrise was the
ideal time for developing, since the air is
not too warm, and the water, which has
been standing in canvas buckets since the
heat of the previous day, is nice and cool.
This operator utilized an oblong-built
straw hut, 17 x n feet, for his dark room.
The inner covering, to keep out the light,
was a red and black Turkey cloth, slightly
smaller in size. No ventilation was provided,
although there were openings both at
the top and the end. These were to accommodate
the wooden frames, over which were
placed ruby glass, ground glass and thin
wire netting.
He made his own developing-frame out
of native timber, shaped like a 3 feet 6
inches drum, and painted it with a paraffin
wax.
My friend also needed two troughs, one
for the developer and the other for hypo,
and made these of wood, joining the sections
together with pitch. He allowed for
a space of an inch to occur between the
film and the trough interior when at work.
Each trough had two wings, so that the
developer and hypo would be caught on
21 319
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
falling from the film, thence conveyed back
into the trough's well.
To hold the axle carrying the drum, he
equipped both of the troughs with slotted
side arms.
The developing materials used were B.
& W. "Tabloid" pyro-soda and a little bromide
of potassium. He used eight cartons
to develop two hundred feet of film, and
placed the solution in a bucket half filled
with water.
320
LXVI
DEVELOPING THE NEGATIVE
OME cinematographers, like the amateur
photographer who has his films developed
at the corner drugstore, may prefer to
entrust the developing of their negatives to
hands more skilled than theirs. Others,
however, will prefer to master the difficult
art of developing. It is to advise the latter
that this article has been written.
The first essential is a suitable dark
room. This must be well ventilated and
kept spotlessly clean. There should also
be plenty of room to move about in, while
the temperature is another important point,
best results being obtained when the heat is
between 65 and 75 Fahr.
The illumination may be candle, gas or
electricity, and you have equal choice between
a red, green or yellow light. Some
workers are naturally careless; not necessarily
because they are inefficient, but because
familiarity breeds contempt. Blacken
321
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
the walls as a precaution against leaving
doors ajar and other sources through which
daylight may filter.
The selection of suitable apparatus is
the next important detail. This should
consist of the following articles: one developing-rack,
three developing trays or tanks,
one drying-drum.
The developing-rack is used to wind the
exposed negative and is not hard to construct.
To hold about one hundred feet of
film you will need a frame thirty-three
inches square. This should be of teak and
the sides of thicker wood than the ends.
Round the ends of the end bars.
You do not want the strips of film to
become tangled, so separate each by driving
headless brass nails at distances of one and
'One-half inches apart, and projecting about
one-fourth inch on both of the side bars.
Wind the film by attaching the end with
a drawing-pin to the top bar. Manipulate
it away from you, taking care to keep each
strip of film in its proper section. As wet
film expands, wind it tightly.
You will need a support for the rack,
and the best is a strong wooden frame.
I now come to the developing-trays,
322
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
preferably flat and of stoneware. They
should have a depth of at least two inches,
and if it is about fifteen inches square, it
will hold the developing-frame, with one
hundred feet of film, nicely.
Should you decide to make a wooden
frame, it must be both water and chemical
proof. Some cinematographers use oilcloth,
but I do not think you can excel
sheet zinc or lead for lining the trays.
Use one of the trays each for developing,
washing and fixing the negative.
The next essential is a drying-drum.
Bearing that one hundred feet of film in
mind, this should be one foot three inches
in diameter. Procure two wooden discs;
nail a bunch of thin wooden strips, say, one
and one-half inches apart. In the center of
each disc bore a hole so as to accommodate
the axle. Make two wooden supports, one
at each end, on which the axle rests.
While there are several brands of film
stock on the market, the most widely used
kind is Eastman. Each manufacturer has
his own formula, so I can not do better than
confine myself to the one recommended by
the Eastman Company. Here it is:
Water (8 1-3 imperial gallons), 10 U.
323
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
S. gals.; metol, 180 grains; sodium sulphite
(des), 31 Ibs. 5 ozs. ; hydrochinon, 8 oz.;
sodium carbonate (des.) i Ib. 9 oz.; potassium
bromide, i oz. 63 grs. ; citric acid, 400
grs. ; potassium metabisulphite, 2 oz.
Make this solution up just prior to
developing. It will generally keep for two
weeks, during which time you may use it
for other negatives.
Let us now pretend we have produced a
one-hundred-feet subject, and, as we know
that negatives do not improve in their unexposed
state, we immediately proceed to
develop.
The first thing we do is to weigh and
mix the chemicals, which is no easy job if
you have not had previous experience. Do
not guess the weighing, for the slightest
deviation in the standard formula will upset
the whole bag of tricks. See that your pair
of scales is true free from dust and other
harmful ingredients.
There is a knack in mixing the chemicals.
First mix all the chemicals, with the exception
of sodium carbonate and potassium
bromide, in a vessel filled with warm water,
which is improved with the addition of a
drachm of preservative. Next dissolve the
324
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
two remaining chemicals in another vessel,
the contents of which pour into the developing-tray
and fill up with water.
After this empty the first vessel into the
developing-tray and mix well. Enameled
buckets are ideal vessels for the purpose.
If you follow this procedure, you will save
much time and trouble. However, if you
are a beginner and would prefer not to
experiment until you get your bearings, purchase
developing powders from your nearest
photographic dealer. The correct proportion
for the developing-tray we have in mind
is five powders, which will cost you about
twenty cents.
Wind the film on the developing-frame
and place same carefully in the developingtray.
Remove any bubbles that appear, with
a soft cameľs-hair brush. Keep the temperature
of the developing solution between
65 and 70 degrees, and move the frame
about every two minutes so that the solution
produces even development. If you have
developed a photographic plate, you will
readily detect when it is sufficiently devel-
oped.
This over, place the frame in the rinsing-tray,
which should contain plain water.
325
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
It is now ready for the fixing bath. Here,
again, are pitfalls for the careless. Dissolve
in each pint of warm water not less than
four and not more than eight ounces of
clean hypocrystals. Before doing this place
the hypo in a sheet of linen and tie up in a
bag, which place below the surface of the
fixing-tray. In this way the heavy liquid
falls to the bottom of its own accord, while
grit and splinters remain in the bag and you
avoid spoiling the emulsion of the undeveloped
negative. Now place the frame and
allow it to remain until the film is trans-
parent.
Next attach a rubber tube to the faucet
and wash the film for about an hour.
The only thing necessary now is to dry
the film. Most studios have special dryingrooms
in which the films are wound on huge
drums and dried by electrically heated air.
A one-horse-power motor serves to drive
the drums.
I know of one studio which has cut down
the time necessary to one-quarter by operating
a 3,ooo-watt air heater behind each
drum. In the ordinary way it takes from
seven to ten hours to dry a reel.
But your methods will necessarily not be
326
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
so far advanced. To transfer the negative,
attach the end of the film on the drum, turning
same slowly while unwinding the film
from the developing-frame. An electric fan
will quicken the drying, but a warm room
is the next best.
327
LXVII
HOW TO TAKE FILM TITLES
OOME films require little assistance from
^ the "doctor," but every picture needs
at least one title. There are, of course,
different kinds of explanatory matter.
The main title is self-explanatory, but
the most widely employed device is the subtitle.
It is so called because it acts as a
guide over stumbling-blocks; that is, when
something can not be explained in pictures.
It is used in all types of films.
But the screen message is practically
confined to the regular photoplay, where it
may be in the form of a letter, newspaper
clipping or telegram.
The methods in vogue at the various
studios differ, but in all cases the titling
details are attended to after the play has
been completed.
Undoubtedly the most simple and inexpensive
way is to cut out the letters carefully
on white cardboard. If, however, you
328
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
do not wish to go to this trouble, engage a
sign-painter to draw them on a sheet of
white cardboard.
If you adopt the former method, place
the letters on a flat surface against a black
background, allowing an equal space between
each word. To photograph same correctly,
place the camera box on a stand directly
above and arrange the lens so that it faces
downward towards the middle of the title.
Use positive stock in the camera, and be
sure to turn the emulsion side away from
the lens, as, if this is not done, your title
will be filmed backwards.
Why I advise the use of positive stock
is because you obtain greater contrasty
results, but you can not be too certain of the
correct exposure, which you should test with
a film meter.
In developing, take good care that the
letter is transparent and on an opaque
ground. The following formula has been
tested and proven:
Glycin, i J4 Ibs. ; sodium sulphite, 3 %
Ibs. ; potassium carbonate, 6 Ibs. ; water, to
60 pints.
After you have developed the negative,
print a positive from the same and use it as
329
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
the title negative. Attach this to the complete
negative in the correct place and join
with acetone cement.
Allow one foot of film for each word,
so that it is easy to calculate the footage
necessary for a title.
Although a well-lighted room is suitable
for taking titles, you will obtain more satisfactory
results if you can supply artificial
light, one lamp at each side of the camera.
330
LXVIII
PRINTING POSITIVE COPIES
PO one not conversant with cinematog-
*
raphy, the next stage after developing
the negative would appear to be printing
the positive, but there is another process in
between editing. This work consists of
inserting such titles as are necessary to
make the film clear, and using the pruningknife
freely in spots where the film lacks
interest. If you do this, you will only
waste negative stock, but if you leave this
important detail until after the positives are
printed, you will have waste of raw stock
on every print to account for.
The printing-machines used by the regular
producers are too costly for the average
amateur, who may make a passable printer
out of his camera.
The lighting is an important factor, and
electricity is undoubtedly far superior to
anything else. Failing this, however, either
gas or acetylene may be substituted.
331
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
You have to fix up the camera, and you
start by taking away the lens. Open the
shutter wide and equip the top with an arm,
to which attach a spindle, to hold the negative
film-spool. Now place the camera on
a table or bench against a wooden partition,
cutting a little opening so that the electric
bulb or gas-burner, which you install near
same, reflects a light.
Blacken a cardboard tube; place one
end in the camera opening and the other
in the partition entrance. This will carry
the light into the camera.
Fill the upper film-box with the unexposed
positive stock and insert same into
the camera. Thread the negative via the
upper slot, after which thread the positive
below the guide roller, then below the upper
sprockets to the gate, where it meets the
negative, finally leaving the lower slot. It
is highly important that both gelatine surfaces
touch each other.
Shut the camera and turn the handle, the
speed of which depends on how the negative
has been developed. If overexposed, take
your time over it.
Develop the positive in the same manner
as you would the negative.
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MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
In order to bring out certain effects,
black and white may fall flat, so you resort
to tinting.
If you have some fire scenes, the following
formula will answer your purpose :
Distilled water, 80 gallons; film red R
No. i, i
pound; citric acid, 13 ounces.
Orange helps to make rooms illuminated
by artificial light impressive, the formula
for which I give below :
Distilled water, 80 gallons; film orange
G No. 6, 15 ounces; citric acid, 7^/2 ounces.
Yellow, on the other hand, is excellent
for suggesting midday sunshine in exteriors.
Here goes:
Distilled water, 80 gallons; film yellow
T No. 5, i pound; citric acid, yj^ ounces.
Night scenes look perfectly natural when
tinted a dark blue. This is the formula :
Distilled water, 80 gallons; film blue G
No. 4, 10 ounces; citric acid, 10 ounces.
You will now require one bath for each
solution, and the work has to be done with
great care, for the particular scene may be
in the middle of a reel. You will, of course,
already have it wound on a wooden frame,
so, to prevent it from getting tangled, rewind
same on another frame until you reach
333
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
the particular place. Dip the strip in
the bath and leave it there for about
five minutes, after which rinse same for
about a minute in order to free it of
excess dye.
334
LXIX
HOME MOTION-PICTURE ENTERTAINMENTS
AS A SOURCE OF PLEASURE
AND PROFIT
1HILMS cost more to put on than ordinary
*
photographs. On the other hand, there
are sixteen pictures to each foot of film, so
when you produce a full-reel subject you
have no fewer than sixteen thousand separate
photographs.
There are several ways and means of
extracting both pleasure and profit from the
hobby or business, according to which angle
you regard it from, such as by getting the
local photoplay theaters to remunerate you
for the privilege of exhibiting your efforts,
if the negative is sufficiently widespread in
appeal and interest.
But now the motion picture has entered
the home, and an excellent opportunity presents
itself to specialize in home entertainments.
I will now proceed to lay out some
methods for your guidance.
22 335
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
After you have devoted much time to
motion-picture photography, you will, naturally,
have gotten together a collection of
films. These will probably embrace several
classes of educationals, local topicals and
short local comedies and dramas.
You will, first of all, need a projection
machine, if you do not happen to already
possess one, and there are two kinds of
these on the market. The miniature projector
has a shorter throw, but points in its
favor are that it is easier to manipulate
and does not consume so much current. It
also costs about one hundred dollars, while
the standard machine is three times as
expensive.
It is, of course, a matter for you personally
to decide, though if you intend confining
yourself to exhibitions in ordinary homes,
the miniature machine will suit just as well.
In the case of large halls, and so forth, however,
the large machine stands supreme.
The authorities will not permit you to
show films unless you project same under a
"safety first" roof. In the catalogues of
the theater equipment concerns you will find
a film booth listed at fifty dollars. It is
four feet wide, five feet long and seven feet
336
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
high. This metal enclosure is just the very
thing for your purpose, for it is portable,
and only twenty minutes is occupied in
erecting it or pulling it down after a show.
We now approach the problem of a
satisfactory screen. The size of this will
depend upon the room itself, so it is advisable
to purchase two different sizes. One
about three feet long by three feet wide
might about fit in, and another several times
the size for where big rooms are available.
The material, I understand, costs anything
from ninety cents to $3.75 per square yard.
It is also possible to hold exhibitions at
garden parties and the like, for there is a
screen which gives as good results by day as
by night.
When you have everything in readiness
for your operations, the time is ripe to write
all your friends and acquaintances, soliciting
their support. Motion-picture home entertainments
are quite a new thing, and offer
a refreshing change from the usual run of
social functions.
Your own film library will fit in like a
glove, and you will not feel guilty of competing
with the regular photoplay theaters
in your neighborhood. In this way you will
23 337
MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
be able to retain the friendliness of the
exhibitors and continue to supply their own
special needs.
You have, of course, the option of fixing
your own territory, but I would recommend
your not going beyond a radius of several
miles. This will secure for your films a
warmer reception, because the spectators
will evince special interest in knowing that
they are strictly local efforts.
If you desire further clients, an advertisement
in the local newspaper, setting forth
the charms of a private motion-picture entertainment
for social gatherings, at clubs,
societies and lodges, will no doubt produce
the desired results.
The usual fee charged is ten dollars for
an hour's entertainment, comprising about
three reels, and five dollars for each additional
hour. It is advisable to vary the
films as much as possible, for it is variety
on which the film industry has been built up.
You can, for example, have a one-reel educational
and a drama and comedy, each of the
same length.
There are brilliant possibilities in this
field for the cinematographer who is enterprising
enough to grasp them.
338
LXX
THE VALUE OF PUBLICITY
I CAN not place too much emphasis upon
* the value of publicity in connection with
your motion-picture-producing activities. All
the photoplay manufacturers employ men to
dispense information in regard to their plays
and players.
The fans are so mighty inquisitive that
their interest really only begins with the
seeing of a photoplay. They want to know
how it was produced, and so on. A dozen
publications thrive on catering to their
whims, and the exhibitor, too, wants all the
available information, as it assists him
greatly in advertising a film which he has
booked.
This reminds me of the case of a freelance
cinematographer who has attained no
little success in marketing educationals. Instead
of disposing of the negative, he merely
sells the number of prints required.
The manufacturer finds still photographs
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of great help in advertising a production,
but this particular free-lance does not take
any at the time of producing, nor does he
permit any to be reproduced from the negative.
The positive gives such indistinct stills
that they are not worth the trouble taken.
Several times the publicity director has
endeavored to obtain a story of his methods,
and has at last succeeded. The cinematographer
is perfectly right in keeping some of
the secrets to himself, but there is much
scope for legitimate material.
Publicity in the way of photographs and
write-ups causes the public and exhibitors to
be interested in your work, resulting in an
increased demand for same. It therefore
does not pay to neglect this phase of your
activities.
340
LXXI
IMPROVING FILM PRESENTATION BY
COLOR LIGHTING
IN color-lighting effects the speaking stage
*
easily excels. The theatrical boards revel
in a wealth of colors, which is not the least
agreeable feature to audiences. How enjoyable
it is to see the rapid changing of colors
to tally with the atmosphere of the scene.
But on the photoplay screen there is
none of this lifelike coloring, and, instead, a
deadly, monotonous black and white meets
our gaze throughout the entire performance.
True enough, we do witness attempts such
as red to suggest fire, and a dark blue to
pass muster for night, but these are so crude
and ineffective that the films thus treated
would be all the better if left in their glory
of black and white. The portions are faked
by toning them with liquid chemicals. According
to F. M. Wiltermood, a motionpicture
expert, this is greatly harmful to the
high lights in the scenes, destroys much of
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MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
the beauty of the faces of the women players,
shrinks the sensitive films, produces
static (the bane of all cinematographers),
and otherwise damages the delicate images
in the film.
Every now and then we come across
examples of color cinematography, but the
efforts are so amateurish and impracticable
that it is better to see a dozen black and
white pictures than one of the colored
variety. These are usually produced in the
ordinary way and colored by a stencil
method. As the films are magnified thousands
of times, it is not unusual to discover
the colors running into each other. Besides,
if colored motion pictures are perfected, the
black and white subjects will continue their
vogue, for they are the most natural, despite
their lack of color, which can be added
afterward by the exhibitor, not the producer.
In other directions some exhibitors are
striving to present their pictures realistically
by employing mechanical effects to accentuate
things like a character knocking at a
door or the throb of the auto engine. I also
happen to personally know of a motion-picture
showman who, when presenting a film
of Turkish life, made the audience appre-
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MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
date the picture tenfold by the simple dodge
of spraying the hall with an Oriental perfume.
Why not, then, give attention to the
most neglected detail of all color lighting?
Mr. Wiltermood some time ago held
tests at a Los Angeles theater to demonstrate
the possibilities of his invention. His
arc-light, with a forty-five-amperage power,
was fixed to the projecting machine. It was
got over convincingly that many hues could
be produced at the same time, thus allowing
a scene to be appropriately tinted. Sunset
on the sea was a perfect gem, for the red
hues among the clouds cast a crimson glow
over the waters, while the spot-light was
shifted about in order to show the shifting
clouds moving past the sun. Then the time
was gradually changed to night, and pale
blue made a lovely moonlight effect. This
device should enable many subtitles such as
"That night" to indicate lapse of time
to be dispensed with.
The experiment also proved that, by
switching a pink color on the players, it gave
them an air of naturalness. Their ghostly
white faces, make-up lines and shadows were
abolished. Interiors of offices were improved
by pale amber to suggest the glow
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MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
from electric light. Woodland scenes were
also revealed in their natural beauty.
It also appeared that many unique effects
were possible. These the director will hail
with delight, for he can tackle things that
were beyond his power. For example, fog
on the sea was produced by placing a bluish,
clouded glass in front of the projector, showing
the ships moving about in a mist.
It is only since the advent of the transportable
lamp that the director has been
able to take outdoor scenes on a dark night,
and do his interiors in places such as subways,
stores and office buildings where there
is not sufficient daylight to photograph them.
These accomplishments, aided by color lighting,
should give a perfect illusion.
The progressive motion-picture exhibitor
will not be content with a white picture
piercing the dark hall, so, once the device
is placed on the market at a moderate
figure, he will introduce same in his theater.
The light under notice does not reveal
how the effects are obtained, for the colors
find their way to the screen by means of the
streak of light thrown out by the projector.
"I got more knowledge out of these tests
than I had before," said Mr. Wiltermood,
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"and I am sure that eventually my method
will revolutionize the projection of films.
So far as I know, I am the only cinema
expert who has ever experimented scientifically
with big arc-lights in the throwing
of color hues on moving pictures. I made
the auditorium look like a vast rainbow of
color, and some of the movie scenes appeared
to have a fairyland aspect."
345
LXXII
ARE WE TO HAVE STEREOSCOPIC
MOTION PICTURES?
IT is easy to find fault with a thing, but to
*
set it right is quite another matter. Every
new industry has to survive an evolution
period. Although the motion picture has
progressed more quickly than the average
new creation of man, it is still full of faults.
Most of these are minor in character, but
the biggest proposition facing motion-picture
workers to-day is stereoscopic cinematog-
raphy.
Some aver that there is no art in motion
pictures, and, while not entering into a controversy
on the subject, I affirm that were
photoplays to be shown in bold relief, all
doubt would be destroyed.
Aside from this, it would automatically
bring about several improvements which we
fans would heartily welcome. Who has not
strained his neck in having to sit in one of
the front rows through seats being at a
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MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
premium? And why is it you can not
view a motion-picture performance for
more than two hours at one sitting without
experiencing a severe attack of eyestrain,
the cause of which is the inevitable
flicker which occurs even in the best regulated
theaters?
You may, on the other hand, have sat
so far away from the screen that the players
resembled midgets. All this, by the way,
stereoscopic cinematography would rectify.
Is it not, therefore, a goal well worth
striving for?
What, then, have inventors to do in
order to reach it? First of all, it would
have to answer all practical requirements.
No photoplay exhibitor, for instance, would
adopt a stereoscopic method unless it did
not necessitate a special projection machine,
or that material alterations would not have
to be made to adapt the projector at present
used by him. He would also insist upon
using ordinary films.
With these preliminaries over, we are
in a better position to criticize the threedimension
cinematography invented by
Edwin B. Porter and W. E. Waddell. A
demonstration of their method was given
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MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
at the Astor Theater, in New York City,
recently.
Every one of the invited spectators was
required to use the pair of red and green
glasses provided. With the aid of these,
as all the lights went out, the viewer was
treated to a motion-picture feast, the like
of which no fan had ever gazed upon
before.
Natural backgrounds, and particularly
those of rural surroundings, revealed the
process at its best, the stereoscopic effect
being most pronounced.
When, however, interior work came in
for treatment, results fell short of the first
samples. Especially was this true of scenes
containing rapid-fire action. These failed
to register at all, but the sets were invested
with a greater depth and the images seemed
more lifelike, the shadow illusion being
partly obviated.
The audience couldn't resist the temptation
to see what difference the glasses made,
so they discarded them, but not for long.
Everything on the screen was so distorted
that they had the utmost difficulty in seeing
anything resembling a film.
What produces this peculiar effect?
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MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
Well, let me tell you that the inventors are
a little chary of giving away their secret.
They were, however, good enough to
divulge the following facts.
The camera is equipped with two lenses,
each of which operates together. The first
used are first produced in black and white,
after which they are toned green and red.
As the two lenses are separated by the distance
of the average eye, it is essential to
use the glasses in such a way that the picture
on the right is seen by the right eye and the
left side by the left eye. The two colors
are merged into one of a different but
pleasing tint when seen through the glasses.
The process is practical, with the single
exception of the glasses. A spectator would
soon get tired of holding them up to his
eyes he wants no artificial aids.
Then, again, what exhibitor would incur
the expense of providing us fans with a pair
of glasses apiece? Transparent paper of
the right colors would serve the purpose,
but even then the cost is not a small item.
It would probably mean that no spectators
would be admitted unless they purchased a
pair of glasses. We might care to do this
as a novelty, but not for all time.
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MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
It now remains to allow the naked eye
to do the work. Then the invention, with
the slow-action defect set right, should
stand a fair chance of revolutionizing the
motion-picture industry.
350
LXXIII
SHOWING OLD FILMS TO CHILDREN
'""THE motion-picture exhibitor is evidently
under the impression that the child
problem is solved by setting aside special
matinees, but these, while a step in the right
direction, are far from satisfactory.
On the seven evenings weekly that the
exhibitor solicits the patronage of adults, he
generally presents the best of the latest productions.
At the special children's performance,
however, he seems to take a pride in
showing motion pictures anywhere from a
year old and up. This "junk," as it is
termed in trade circles, is what is standing
in the way of an adequate supply of new
juvenile subjects. The exhibitor rents these
films at the rate of one dollar per reel for
one day from the exchange. Each reel the
exchange has purchased from the producer
for $100, so, in order to recover the initial
outlay, two years must elapse before the
exhibitor can obtain same at his price.
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MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
The exhibitor avers that the children's
performance is not a paying proposition, but
he is not going the right way to make it so
when he puts on a cheap program.
He also considers that anything will do
for the kiddies. There is a marked difference
in the photoplays released several years
ago and the present-day output. Now,
wholesome stories, good acting, careful
staging and attention to detail are the order
of the day, and to feed children on an antiquated
motion-picture diet is a penny-wise
and pound-foolish policy.
Then, there are the educational subjects
to be considered. Some of these are of
timely interest when first shown, yet, by the
time they are exhibited at the average children's
performance, their instructive qualities
are practically nil.
A child who has been taken to an ordinary
performance will find many desirable
qualities lacking in the children's performance,
which will, in all probability, become
a bore. He may then attend the photoplay
theater without the parents' consent when
undesirable (to him) pictures are on the
program.
I realize that there is the exhibitor's case
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MOTION PICTURE EDUCATION
to be heard, but were he to charge, say, five
cents additional, I feel sure that parents
would not resent such an increase if it
meant the newest juvenile productions being
shown.
It is useless to appeal to the producer,
who is a business man and must be guided
by the needs of the exhibitor the retailer.
The exhibitor must, therefore, be approached
before any response can be made
to the increased production of these pictures.
The problem, in my opinion, will only be
solved when companies that specialize in
the production of child photoplays are
formed, and a chain of theaters opened all
over the country catering to young folk
only. But until this time comes it is up to
the mothers to leave no stone unturned to
persuade exhibitors to forsake their present
cheap policy.
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