Motography (Apr-Dec 1911)

April, 1911. MOTOGRAPHY 13 grasp of those who have not given the combination of moving pictures and advertising the study it deserves. Moving pictures offer an extraordinary opportunity to the progressive advertiser, and they are worthy of more than an ordinary direction. Church to Give Illustrated Songs and Sermons The first church in • Los Angeles to adopt the motion picture as a means of arousing interest in religious work is the Salem Congregational church, at Twentyeighth and Paloma streets. The motion pictures will be used for the first time on Sunday evening, April 2. Such pictures as "BenHur," "Pilgrim's Progress," "Uncle Tom's Cabin," and "The House of the Seven Gables" will be shown. The purpose of this move is to aid in the elimination of undesirable pictures from public theaters, and to give the people a place where they may find good, clean amusement. All pictures relating in any way to theft, robbery, murder, etc., will not be tolerated, as it is believed that such pictures exercise an abnormal influence upon young minds. Another feature which the church intends to provide is the illustrating of songs such as "The Holy City," "Nearer, My God, to Thee," and "Rock of Ages." The Baraca club's orchestra of eight pieces will furnish music at all the services. It is the intention of the pastor of the church, Rev. B. H. Reutepohler, to hold services at the church every Tuesday and Thursday evening, at which times motion pictures will be shown and illustrated sermons given. "In the past," said Mr. Reutepohler, "we have sent out our people to be amused by the devil. The direct cause for such a large percentage of the people seeking amusement in places of ill-repute is that a large portion of them have at least eight hours each day in which to be amused. As nearly all amusements have been commercialized, the keen minds at the heads of them have resorted to the practice of giving the public shows of a sensational and suggestive nature, instead of furnishing them with places where good, uplifting pleasure can be had. "We have canvassed the city from Sixteenth to Thirty-sixth street, and from Main street to Long Beach avenue, and find that only about one-half the people attend church. I do not think that anything that will amuse and interest the people is necessarily bad; therefore, I believe that the installation of moving pictures in the church will eventually tend to elevate the moral character of the entire community." Buffalo Schoolmen Consider Motion Pictures "The moving picture as an aid to education in the public schools is bound to come, and that before long." Such is the opinion of Warren W. Zurbrick, principal of school 37, Buffalo, N. Y., and which is held by nearly all the principals in the city's public schools. The general opinion is that properly selected films would prove of the greatest benefit to the school schildren. There are many serious difficulties, however, in the way of the adoption of this machine, whether separate from the ordinary stereopticons, with which a large proportion of the city's schools are equipped, or as an adjunct to them. For one thing, it is a difficult matter to find a film that is exactly suited to the needs of the children. "The difficulty is this," explained a man who is interested in the business. "The big firms that manufacture these films are dealing with customers who demand something in the nature of the dime novel and the comic supplement. It would not pay them to go in for the making of good, honest films of educational value, which could easily be done; since until a majority of the thousands of schools throughout the state alone, let alone the rest of the country, take up the biograph machine and themselves become regular customers, it would be next to impossible for a single school or even half a dozen to get a regular supply of educative films. "There would be no difficulty in their manufacture — the country teems with subjects; but to make half a dozen films would be altogether too costly." Yet the enormous advantages of the living, moving record of an operation in wheat garnering, for example, over the flat picture of it as given by the stereopticon and its slides is bound to cause the adoption of this method of teaching all through the country. Buffalo is a pioneer in the use of the stereopticon, as it is ; having been one of the very first to use this visual instruction. When the idea was first taken up the state started out to supply slides to the cities in proportion to their size; but this system of distribution was quickly abandoned, and now Buffalo has the honor of getting from the state the largest proportion of slides of any city in the state, not even excepting New York City. And what is more, the schools have been equipped with the machines solely at their own expense. It is believed, therefore, that Buffalo will be the very first to take up the proposition of equipping her schools with the biograph machines, once they come in. Indeed, were there an adequate supply of proper films, several of the schools would now be equipped. "If I were assured of getting films such as would really educate, I would buy a machine for this school myself," said Mr. Zurbrick. "The cost is not so very great, being not more than three times that of the stereopticon, in place of which it can be used anyhow. And it's always possible for a school to get up an entertainment to raise funds for anything of this nature." The possibilities of the project are very large. For example, the processes of pickjng, ginning and spinning cotton could be taught by this means as in no other way. Similarly, the various processes by which iron ore is turned into the finished article could be shown without difficulty. "The moving^picture for this purpose is as much superior to the ordinary picture as the latter is to none," said Mr. Zurbrick. "The picture tells its story to the eye, which is much more retentive, in a way, than the ear. And with motion added, it is still better." Pictures Aid Mission Worker For the past five years Mrs. A. I. Bradley, in charge of juvenile work among the foreigners at Bethlehem Institution, Los Angeles, has given a stereopticon picture show every Sunday evening, to a large audience of children. Women come with babies in their arms, and sometimes men join the company. This is always done in connection with a class she conducts in the public hall in the hotel building, and the picture shows are so popular that she never lacks a crowd.