Reel and Slide (Mar-Dec 1918)

REEL and SLIDE 11 Ticket Sales Earn Church Projector As a minister of the gospel, I have long looked upon the moving picture screen as a power for good, and, misdirected, capable of becoming a decided power for evil. I have always realized that the story a picture tells always impresses the great majority of people more strongly than a narrative of words. I have also realized that pictures are more apt to result in emulation than are written words. The motion picture theaters in our city are little better and little worse than those of other cities. There are notable exceptions to showmen, who believe that the pubhc has a perverted taste and who are entirely committed to the policy of objectionable drama ; and I have not seen that their box office receipts have suffered as against the purveyor of films depicting crime^ Getting at the Source A habit that so vitally touches the everyday life of so many of our people certainly deserves the close study and attention of the church and those who head it. Believing this, I long ago began to study the motion picture as an institution. I found out many interesting things. Above all, I found out that the theaters, in many cases, were making inroads on Sunday church attendance and that the recreation activities of our church were suffering from the condition which took our young people to see the "movies" when they should, by all manner of means, be in the church or Sunday school. I decided that the situation should be investigated deeply, and that the best place was to begin at the source. I had read some of educational films and of the value of the stereopticon. I now began to read more and to lay my plans. Why could not St. Paul's show pictures and thus bring the people to the church, swelling attendaftce, and at the same time having something to say about the class of subjects shown? ' Could it be done? How would I do it? La Crosse Pastor Describes Method of Raising Funds for Moving Pictures and How They Are Used in Bible Study By Rev. Leonard E. Blackmer, (Pastor, St. Paul's Universalist Church, La Crosse, Wis.) Where would I get a projection machine?' Where could I get film? And for how much money? I interviewed a picture house manager and got his advice. I found where I could purchase a machine of the substantial type reasonably. This would throw a picture big enough to care for our needs. I found that there were plenty of films available along educational lines, but I did not demand that all of our subjects be entirely informative. Good, clean drama, pointing a high moral and free from suggestiveness of crime, could be rented for small sums. Travel reels are plentiful. Good industrials, in many cases, may be borrowed free from the owner. I decided to see the thing through. In the first place, at this time, our Sun BIBLE STUDY 44 WE have a program of Bible study. The story is selected by the teachers and superintendent. This is told to different classes in Iangauge varying as to the ages of the pupils. Then, in a general assembly, where all foregather, we show the moving illustrations of the lesson as taught textually by the teachers. This method has worked out well." — Rev. Leonard E. Blackmer. day school had run down to 14 pupils average. One by one they had dropped off. The Sunday picture show was the answer. The reason? Old-fashioned methods of teaching ; old stories ; old songs. The picture show would do the work. But how about the money to pay for the machine and the films? One day I got an idea. I took a chance. I bought all the seats in the two leading picture shows outright. We worked hard to sell extra tickets. As a result, we now have in a steel booth, complete moving picture' projector and all right up to regulations. We earned the money to pay for our oufit and now it is fhe property of the church. Where to Get Films Then the question of pictures came up. We experienced considerable difficulty in^ securing good, reliable pictures on religious topics. We got some films from the state university and others from a well-known educational motion picture concern in Chicago. They were very satisfactory. We are now constantly on the lookout for good pictures of the 1, 2 and 3 reel variety. We run industrials and agricultural subjects when they are entertaining and at the same time helpful. We amplify our textbook Sunday school and Bible class lessons with the screen and the congregation are eager to attend, knowing, as they do, that the lesson and sermon will have added interest because of the films. Our method has worked out well. We have a program of Bible study. The story is selected by the teachers and the superintendent. This is told to the different classes in language varying as to the ages of the pupils. Then, in a general assembly, where all foregather, we show the moving illustrations of the lesson as taught textually by the teachers. Motion pictures, to my mind, are the real, live method of amplifying the Sunday-school lesson. Undoubtedly they will aid the sermon. Gradually the barrier barring such innovations from the church are being torn down. Ministers are learning that in the screen there is much good. League Encourages Films for Young By Adele F. Woodard, (President, National Juvenile Motion Picture League) DAY after day our children are attending the movies. One million children in our land, each day, help form the audience of the regular show. Motion pictures which are played in these performances are produced, sensored, and selected for adults, with no thought of the child. Indeed, the managers of theaters would be relieved of a big problem, they tell us, if mothers would only keep their children out of these shows. They are glad to give a Saturday morning perfornaance for children, so that they can be relieved of the big responsibility of the child at the movies. Here is an opportunity for every individual mother to add a bit of strength towards solving this problem. The National Juvenile Motion Picture League has no connection with the Motion Picture Industry, having no financial interest in any film, theater, exchange, or any other phase of the business. It is thus enabled to be impartial in its activities. It selects films, establishes separate performances for children and 3'oung people, and carries on an educational campaign for better subjects. Would you like to help the children of your neighborhood to see good, wholesome films? Organize a committee of your friends and write us for full directions. It will not take more than a few hours of your time each week — our league views and selects the films and plans your performances. The manager of the theater furnishes funds for the booking of films, etc., working through the already well-established system of educational film distribution. The local committee supervises the performances and provides chaperons tG care for the children, and the work is carried on without further expense to the lo cal committee than the annual membership fee in this organization. Among those who are actively engaged in the direction of this work are Mr. Gustave Straunenmuller, acting superintendent of the New York City Public Schools ; Mr. James Minnick, superintendent of Chicago Tuberculosis Institute ; Mr. Daniel Carter Beard, Boy Scouts of America; Mr. Virgil Prettyman, Columbia University ; Mrs. Frank E. Jennings, Florida Federation of Parent-Teachers' Associations ; Mr. Owen Lovejoy, National Child Labor Association; Mrs. T. C. Morehouse, California Federation of Women's Clubs, and Mrs. Mable Graham, Censorship Board, Saskatoon, Canada. Eighty-seven per cent of the knowledge you gain in a lifetime comes through your eyes. The Chicago School Board has ordered 50 projectors of the portable type for educational work.