Moving Picture Age (Jan-Dec 1922)

March, 1922 MOVING PICTURE AGE 17 pictures until the pupils' minds are confused. Give some time to the study of the various details in each picture. You will be surprised to learn how many interesting points you can bring out. Show only pictures that are really related with the subject you are treating. Don't lose sight of the central theme of your subject. If-, for example, you are teaching the surface features of Japan, don't drift away from the underlying idea that five-sixths of the land is mountainous and impossible to cultivate. Dwell on the volcanoes, the pilgrims wending their way up the slope of Fujiyama, the life in the country villages, if you will — but in their proper place. In visual instruction, as in any other line, the temptation to digress from the point at issue is ever present. Allow free discussion by the class, and honest questions, but don't let the lesson degenerate into aimless inquiry or the mere asking of questions to speed the time. However, there is less danger of this fault with visual instruction than with many other methods, for the pupils are eager to see the next pictures from sheer natulal curiosity. Impress upon the class at the outset that this is a regular lesson, part of the regular work, and not entertainment or recreation. Expect and secure just as good order as you would in an arithmetic lesson or the writing period. Clapping, stamping, or whistling should never be permitted — yet I have observed this in a lesson supposedly devoted to visual instruction. You are conducting a class in geography or history, not a theatre. Combining Classes for Visual Instruction Two teachers may frequently combine their classes for visual work with excellent results. In such instances one teacher should be responsible for the general order and possibly the handling of the lantern, leaving the other free to conduct the lesson, her attention undisturbed by the distractions of petty details. With older classes it is often a good idea to train two or three of the more responsible pupils to manipulate the lantern. Don't try to handle the lantern yourself and conduct the lesson too, except under circumstances where it cannot be avoided. Experienced professional lecturers can do it if they have to, but for the amateur it is difficult in the extreme. The distraction of the mechanical details, changing slides and the like, is certain to detract from clear thinking and the mental concentration required of the person conducting such a lesson. Whoever handles the lantern should have some safe and handy way of caring for the slides before and after use. If slides are piled in a heap on the small table used with the lantern, haphazard as they come from the carrier, sooner or later there will be a topheavy pile, or an incautious hand or elbow in the semi-darkness comes into contact with them; and then the janitor has some extra work sweeping up broken glass, and some of the choicest slides in your collection must be replaced. We have found shallow wooden trays the width of a slide and of varying lengths, made of some light stock, the best solution of this problem. Almost any handy man can make them for you. In our case the boys made them in the woodworking room from bits of discarded stock. One or two partitions will separate the used slides from the unused, or slides used in different parts of your lesson. If you keep your slides in one of the cabinets made for the purpose, with cardboard partitions between the slides, be sure the slide reaches the bottom, and does not stick up enough to catch when the drawer is pushed in. We have had more cracked slides from this cause than from all others put together. Don't be without facilities for making minor repairs. A few inexpensive materials may save much lost time and disappointment, as well as interruption of your program and schedule. A dozen or so cover-glasses, a few masks, some strips of black gummed paper cut to the proper length, for mending cracked or broken slides ; an extra bulb for your lantern, that may be inserted at short notice; a spare fuse or so of the proper size and capacity; possibly an extra set of condensers — these will save you many extended delays. The last item, while good insurance, is not absolutely necessary, for with the incandescent lantern there is not much danger of condenser breakage with the low amperage used. An extra plug with some ten or twenty feet of cord is often a great convenience in reaching otherwise inaccessible sockets, and in permitting the use of your lantern in almost any part of the room. Don't think that you must have a large picture for best results. A small, brilliant, clearly lighted picture is worth far more for teaching purposes than a large one where the contrast of lights and shadows is blurred and the outlines are hazy. Some of the best professional lecturers I have heard used a comparatively small picture. Let the Church Give! (Continued from page 15) Still another month my Sunday-evening congregation visited " The Great Cities of the World." How intensely everybody watched these views, and what a rich fund of sermon-lecture material is to be found here ! One plan that I have used very effectively is to group my services for a month. For instance, the following ticket will show this plan for the month of January. On January Sunday evenings we had a "World Tour" ; we took a trip abroad. The card here shown was printed and handed out. It served as an announcement and furnished a " ticket " for the trip, thus making an attractive and worthwhile advertising stunt that created a great deal of interest and attention. This Is Your Ticket To "A WORLD TOUR IN MOTION PICTURES" At the Methodist Church, January Sunday Evenings "China and Her Customs" .. January 1, 1922 "Japan and Her People". . . . January 8, 1922 "Egypt and the Pyramids". . January 15, 1922 "France and the Riviera" . . . January 22, 1922 "The Stream of Life" January 29, 1922 "The Stream of Life" will be the feature picture of the scries This series of services proved to be most interesting and helpful. Much missionary information can here be given, and, with China and Japan so much in the world's news today, you may be sure that they were interesting meetings. I spoke each evening on the country visited, and to see these people in their own lands proved to be most beneficial. By actual count a total of 2,079 people attended this " World Tour " — and this in a city of 3,016 population ! My people are now asking for more of these services. It is usually my practice, though not always, to speak on the subject that is found in the picture. We have the regular church service of music, prayer, and short address ; then we show the pictures, consisting of usually two or three and sometimes four reels. The Week-Night Entertainment During the two years I have used films I have given on week nights what I call " The Methodist Church Motion-Picture Entertainment Courses." Using the plan ,of the lecture-course idea, I group four feature pictures into one course of entertainments and sell the course tickets at $1 each. I have no trouble at all in selling every seat in the church. I put on two of these courses each winter, one before the holidays and one following. Of course I get the very best pictures I am able to rent, and my folks know that when a picture is announced it will be good. For example, for my recent course I used " The Hearts of Men " (with George Beban), "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" (with Mary Pickford), "The Copperhead" (with Lionel Barrymorei, and " The Servant in the House." In each of these courses I plan to show one picture that will be of interest to children. I run this as a "special" at 4:30 in the afternoon, and charge an admission of ten cents. There is another feature about this picture for children that I have used to good advantage. Each teacher in my Sunday school provides a free ticket for each member of the class. You can imagine that this creates interest in our Sunday school. There are many other important subjects I have not touched upon, and many other questions to be answered ; but let me, in closing, merely say that there is great merit in the use of motion pictures for churches and it will pay any pastor or church to give the subject earnest heed. To me it is surprising that we have ignored this opportunity for so long. Motion pictures make the church program attractive, and they can be used successfully and effectively if handled properly.