Educational film magazine; (January-December 1920)

u arri\e at the precise problem? which intelligent consid- Uion i)f the League of Nations entails. "Let me beg of you. take the definition out of geography d put the picture in." \ ALIE OF InSTRLCTIONAL SlIDES The ~tere(ipti(on offers a means of geting all pupils to see r ^-anie picture at the same time, to hold the slide long Bugh for study and explanation bv pupils. It has this vantage over the movie. \^ eeklv I am giving special usiraled talks to my pupils below the seventh grades on ! next month's work in geographv, giving them material supjdement their text, matter to recall as they proceed th their study. It used to be our practice to use the de exercise tor review work. The main objection to It is that when new countries are immediately taken up i pictures have no longer any place in the class discus- ins. I do not mean to say that I do all the talking. The pils trv to find out the points after leading questions. In tlie junior high school the pupils have a weekly stere- ticon Exercise in each geography class in both seventh i eighth grades. Here the pupils do all the talking, after study of the slide, text book, and slide description, nong the most helpful and interesting classes in our entire agram are to be placed these days of visual instruction. e stereoscope is used often for class exercise, but more iquently for individual study before and after school. Class Movie Difficulties The movie presents some difficulties for class use. A lied operator is necessary for the standard machines. me difficulty is experienced in getting suitable films, when u need them. Often the films are not suited to class irk. Lack of editing for class use is the main criticism. The I niversal Film Manufacturing Company is promis- r a fine series of films to illustrate the text books of D. )pleton Company. The most satisfactory form of film iting known to me at present is done by the Community )tion Picture Bureau of N. Y. City. Here things are done the liking of a school man. Of course Ihere are tTie 'ety standard projectors with their claims. We had a )rt demonstration at the round table meeting by the lited Projector and Film Company to show what the aller machine had to offer. This is steadily gaining adway in our section of the country. Its advantages are iW'-burning film, a machine that is nearly fool-proof, and [air-sized film library which is being carefully edited at • present time. Magazines were distributed at the meeting calling atten- n to the care which is now being taken to make the de and movie real aids to the schoolroom. One of the igazines thankfully received was the EdlC-VTIONAL Film IG.AZINE. From its columns I have gained much valuable ;gestion and help. A portion of a set of slides from the International Har- iter Company was shown to demonstrate what a wonder- I teaching agency is offered in agriculture at little cost the real educator. I would urge every schoolman to : in touch with this great company. The unconverted should write to the Communitv Motion rture Bureau at 46 West 24th Street, New York City, r "The Motion Picture in Americanization'' bv William ;An<lrew. It is the best pamphlet I have read in manv lay. Educators will find much help in the pamphlet issued the New ^ ork Department of Education, Albany, 'caching of Fifth Grade Geography"' is the title. Send r it before the edition is exhausted. "Will [he\ Ever Foroet It?" The subject of visual instruction is one of my hobbies lit which I am proud. We are working it hard in the Munhall schools. My teachers are in sympathy with the movement and are assisting to give the boys and girls Something that they will remember longer than most text- book facts. .About every six weeks I have a general assembly of the entire school in the large auditorium of the Carnegie Library one block from the school. There we sing and see the best of movies selected by such organizations as the Community Bureau. My 1.000 youngsters get something worth while bv going to these gatherings. Last year we ,' showed "Alice in Wonderland" after each grade, from the first through the high school, had spent two weeks with the story. Will they ever forget it'? •VISLAL EDUCATION" ■"\ isual Education." edited by Nelson L. Greene, formerly instructor in French at Amherst College and official lecturer with films and slides to the French army during the late war, is the official puhlica- tion of the Society for Visual Education, Incorporated, of 327 Soiiili LaSalle street. Chicago, Illinois. This is a commercial enterprise organized by educators in all parts of the United States whose object is to provide schools and colleges with visual instruction material of a pedagogical character, chiefly motion picture films. The journal is a monthly and is designed to promote the movement for visual education in general and the affairs of the society in particular. On the covers of the number, dated January 1920, are printed the names of the officers, directors, general advisory board, and commit- tees of the society. There is an interesting "Foreword"' by the edi- tor, followed bv significant articles from Otis W. Caldwell. William F. Russell. W.' Arthur Justice. Wallace W. Atwood. Forest R. Moulton. and C. H. Ward. The journal is to be issued monthly except during July and .\ugust. The following brief extract from the "Foreword" is so thoroughly expressive of what Educational Film Mac.\zine has stood for from the beginning that itis reprinted here with gratitude to the editor of "Visual Education:'" We believe tljat the future awaiting tlie present efforts toward visuat education will be more brilliant than the dreams of its most ardent devotees. Undoubtedly, much of the prophecy now being uttered so freely on all sides will prove to have been either false or gravely misdirected. But the future will come—as the future always does—and it will bring to American educa- tion great beneBt or untold harm according as it is moulded by the sound judgments of educational experts or by the bungling hands of enthusiastic tvros. ^ s- CAMERA TO SCREEN-30 MINUTES In the report of a meeting at the Royal College of Science. London, a demonstration in flashlight photography was given by K. Hickman. .\ "snap" of the audience was taken and a photogri'ili of the chairman. The plates were then given a rapid development, with a lightning wash; fixation in a fi-xing solution which was ef- fective in 30 seconds, an invention of the lecturer: a further washing for 2 minutes, in which time the hypo was removed by dilute per- manganate: a bath for 2 minutes in formalin solution, after which the plate was rinsed, dried in a stream of hot air from a machine of the lecturer's design, and finally printed on a lantern plate. Within half an hour of the exposure, a lantern-slide photograph of the chairman was projected onto the screen. Mr. Hickman also dealt with the screen-plate method of color photography which, he said, by its simplicity and the beauty of its productions, had ousted all other methods for amateur work. Many examples were screened of slides taken by the Paget process, in- cluding flowers and scenic studies and portraits. FOl R KINDS OF FILM SERMCE FOR L. S. NAVY The Sixth Division of the I. S. Na\y, the morale division, has completed arrangements to supply the latest motion picture films to be used for the sailors throughout the service. This will make it possible for the very latest releases to be shown aboard ship and at shore stations at the same time they have their initial showings at the theaters. The ser\ice will be paid for out of the funds of the welfare office. The shows, as at present, will be without charge lo the men. This service will be of four kinds: "Daily" for individual ships and stations; "Fleet" for large units; "Long Term" for a period of eighteen months and "Distant" for ships and stations in isolated places. The new arrangement will take the place of the former ■\". M. C. \., Knights of Columbus and Jewish Welfare Board service. 13