Motography (Apr-Dec 1911)

84 MOTOGRAPHY Vol. V, No. 5. Hulfish isn't a faddist. Everything has interest for him, but the things that interest him most are thoroughly analyzed. He bores straight through the "mystery" to its foundation, separates the troublesome elements and assigns each to its proper place and then tells you how simple it is. He is a photographer, a book-keeper, an electrical expert, an astronomer, a text-book writer — always on technical subjects, a musician. He is always proficient in the thing least expected. An acquaintance covering a string of years will never get to the bottom of Hulfish. No one knows him intimately. He is everything but a mixer. He never courts familiarity with his fellows. His associates all swear by him, because he is most valuable to them. He will always lend a helping, do it quietly and quickly and blush like a girl at a compliment. And there is nothing vainglorious about him. The proverbial "plain as an old shoe" would be a decoration if it was meant for this modest Dave. But nobody calls him that. Nobody calls him David. He is Hulfish. The Chicago directory is full of Hulfish, but they are not his kin nor his kith — he isn't that kind of a fish. Incidentally he don't know how to fish. It is his notion of nothing to do. As an author Hulfish is gradually piling up a considerable series of books. His latest is "Cyclopedia of Motion Picture Work" — two big volumes of authoritative information on the subject of motography. When you find that this work contains 600 pages, each seven by ten inches, and 300 illustrations, you begin to realize that Hulfish must know something about the motion picture business. The work, indeed, embraces all there is about optical projection, motion heads, film making, photography, color motography, talking pictures, theater management and electrical applications — to say nothing of scenario writing, editing and criticism. The fact that Hulfish was selected to prepare this work by one of the largest publishers of technical books is sufficient commentary on the thoroughness and practicality of his knowledge of the subject. In fact, his was one the first names ever appearing on a motion picture text book — "The Motion Picture, Its Making and Its Theater," published by the Electricity Magazine Corporation. He has also written a remarkable book for the telephone industry, entitled "How to Read Telephone Circuit Diagrams," which enjoys a large sale in its field. Hulfish was technical editor of The Nickelodeon, and has a similar connection with Motography. His name will be found at the head of the department, "Recent Patents in Motography" on another page. In this work he has made an enviable reputation for both himself and the publication. Motograpliy as an Arm of the Church By K.. S. Hover SATAN has a new enemy. They are fighting the evil one with the flickering films that were formerly used only to amuse and in some instances to instruct. The moving picture machine has become a preacher and its sermons are most effective because they are addressed to the eye rather than to the ear. We will look when we will not listen. It is more interesting to see the right prevail than it is to be told about it. It is more interesting to see with your own eyes that wrong is always punished than it is to be told that the "way of the transgressor is hard." The motion picture has actually become a part of the equipment of the up-to-date church. It is almost as necessary as a janitor, an organ or the heavy and depressing looking pews of oak. Some of the enthusiasts are of the opinion that a moving picture machine and a few thousand feet of film will do more good in the world than a beautiful window stained with all the tints that artists love to dream. They are the radicals, however, and the great mass of church educators and fighters are somewhere behind them in these revolutionary views. A change has come about in the picture business. Some of the film dealers saw it coming and were ready, while others have been losing money for months and are wondering why. The change had to do with morality. You can not "peddle" a bad picture any more ; that is, a picture bad from the moral side. Something has caused people to grow tired of anything that tells a story of crime triumphant or vice getting the better of virtue. Pictures with titles like these : "My Wife Has Gone to the Country," or "Sapho," or "A Smart Trick," are not so popular as they used to be. They do. not "go" very well even in those benighted communities where the moving picture show is looked upon as a very recent invention. You will have to find a town of less than 1,500 people nowadays to escape the presence of the nickelodeon. You can find them anywhere and everywhere. How recent the whole thing is may be seen from the fact that at the Chicago World's fair the nearest thing to the moving film was a little box that you looked into and turned a crank, thereby causing a collection of photographs to pass before your eyes much as the later picture reels have done. When these pictures first came into public notice no one was bold enough to prophesy that a time would come when they would be used to fight the forces of evil and to drive home welltold moral lessons. At first these pictures were full of most of the crimes on the calendar. Smuggling, robbery, murder, kidnaping and burglary were the favorite subjects. Last year the change began and the picture makers ceased to represent crime in their efforts to entertain the 4,000,000 patrons who daily visit these places of amusement. Some boys will attend Sunday school and others will not. All boys, however, will and do attend the moving picture shows. They may prefer scenes of battle, murder and sudden death, but if they can see the "Passion Play," "Life of Christ," or the "Story of the Good Samaritan," told in the roll of pictures, they will remember them far more accurately than if these stories were told them by an indifferently interesting teacher on a sunshiny Sabbath morning. Some time ago the churches began to buy moving picture machines and use them. First, they were used