Business screen magazine (1942)

the oullireak of war between Japan and the United States. Basing upon the principles governing the production of educational films as related above, the Ministry of Education organized a Visual Education Committee to direct the affairs of visual education in China. The Committee consists of representatives from the various government departments concerned and from the existing government film producing units. The present writer is a member on that committee and had attended many of its conferences before he was sent to the United States for a survey of the American picture industry. The problem w li i c h king to Hankow and from Hankow to Chungking. The third one, the Educational Film Studio, was set up only at the end of 1940. All these studios suffered greatly from the shortage of film materials and equipment after the outbreak of war between Japan and the United States, and their regular production is seriously liindered on that account. In production, following the principle of "making use of limited materials and equipment for maximum results," the producer, in making an educational film for the army-, will try to popularize so that it is inteligible to a student, a manin-thc-street or a Thousands gather for outdoor cinema shows. the Committee discussed was how to make use of the limited film materials and equipment to obtain maximum results. Three Production Units There are at present three large film production units in Free China. The China Film Studio, under the direction of the Political Department of the Military .\ffairs Commission, works principally on films for educational and training use in the army. There is the Central Film Studio, under the direction of the Central Information Bureau working principally on educational and informational films for use among the public. The third is the Educational Film Studio, under the Ministry of Education and working principally on films for use in schools. The first and the second organizations were established before the war and have a historv of well over ten years. They have followed the transference of the seat of the government from Nan farmer. He will have to seek for methods to arouse interest in his variegated audience and to reap the widest results possible. On the films produced by tlie China Film Studio, for example, there is not only a sound track, but also subtitles. The narrator will read, word by word, what is in the subtitles. This will help those who cannot read to learn some of the characters in the subtitles, and those who already can may have a chance to check their own pronunciation of the words against the standard jjronunciation which the narrator is required to use.* Teaching Tank Defense As an illustration, we may again take the film Ami-Tank Methods produced by the China Film Studio. Since China cannot manufacture her own tanks and cannot produce a large number of anti-tank guns, it is found necessary to omit details in anii-tank warfare that are connected with the use of aero Crowds throng nightly shcw.pgs in the marketing squares of Free China. planes and anti-tank guns. Passive defense methods are therefore emphasized, such as the putting up of tank barriers and traps. The ■'dead angle" of a tank is given a detailed description and treatment, so as to acquaint the soldier or guerilla fighters with the weakness in a tank and by teaching them to make use of their knowledge of the 'dead angle", to reduce tlieir fears. The tank is known in the film as ■'the deaf and blind contraption," and it is explained that the operator and the gunners, while the engine is in operation, will not be able to hear anything, and that since the observation window is small, the visual angle is extremely limited, so that the men inside it are almost blind in effect. It is further pointed out that the violent shaking and the closed interior of the lank cause great discomfort to A WORD BY THE EDITOR "k We deem it a great privilege to present this exclusive article by Mr. Lo, which relates for the first time in the pages of any U. S. publication the inspiring story of visual education in the New China, It is particularly significant since it was in (lis land that the invention of printing brought the light of learning to the world. —O. H. C. Young China pays homage to a flag of freedom. those inside and they are fatigued within a very short time. The principal purpose of the film is to teach the audience I whether it consists of soldiers or men-in-the-street) how to construct barriers and traps to hinder the advance of enemy tanks, and at the same time to reduce their fears of these "deaf and blind contraptions." Hence, we might also say that the making of films which teach war methods on the one hand and strengthen morale on the other is another aim in the visual education policy of Free China. DlUMATIZATION Is AVOIDED Generally speaking, the majority of films |)roduced in China avoid too much "dramatization." Their tempo is generally slow. The idea is to let the average person in the audience grasp the full significance of every action and every word uttered. Sometimes a pamphlet form text book is issued to the audience either before or after the screening, so as to ensure their full understanding of the subject. In ihe army, all set training in the regular army course is mostly omitted from films. Similarly, a film will not include any subject that can readily be made clear in the text book or a lecture. The main reason for this omission is that the limited materials for the making of films will be employed for their specialized function. In order lo train personnel for the making of educational films, the Nanking University and the Ministry of Education have collaborated and instituted a course in Visual Education. After the outlireak of the Sino-Japanese war. the Nanking University has removed to the province of Szechuen. The course is still retained. In 1939. the University sent one of its professors, Mr, Sun Ming-ching, to the United States, where he studied the administrative aspect of visual education. In his research, he also received much valuable help from ( !• I. E A S E' T II R N TO PAGE 22) Jk» \uiHher Sei-en • 1943 i