Educational film magazine; (January-December 1920)

VISUAL INSTRUCTION IN COMMUNITY CENTER WORK Boys' and Girls' Club Work An Eastern Iowa county agent recently hit upon a novel plan to put over his boys' and girls' club work. He bought a light truck upon which he mounted a home lighting plant, a motion picture projector, and a stereopticon. During the mild season of the year he advertises his coming and all the farmers of a certain section are invited to bring their baskets for a picnic lunch which is enjoyed at the schoolhouse. The grounds and building are lighted and the county agent presents his subject by aid of motion pictures and slides. The blazing liglits would be a drawing card in any rural dis- trict, but a picture show always insures a crowd. Needless to say, the county agent is a real factor in the social as well as business life of that county. Interest in club work is hot mth activity, and the county agent claims he will have a larger delegation of boys' and girls" club mem- bers than any other county in the state. Again, please permit your attention to be C2dled to the effectiveness of the film propaganda during our recent national and international holocaust. Every liberty loan campaign, every Red Cross drive, every activity requiring unanimity of national con- currence, was preceded by a barrage of motion pictures, not excluding other means of visual instruction, such as the slide and printed posters or charts. The War De- partment taught recruits the fundamentals of bayonet drill, gas drill, first aid, care of health, target designation, operation of machine guns, and how to shoot, by means of motion pictures. Yes, the government believed in the effectiveness of the screen. Saving a Community with Movies Another striking illustration which may show how motion pictures may function constructively is found in a little mid- western village of about 200 people. One year ago last November a young minister took up a pastorate in this community. He was quick to size up his task, and his first <liscover\- was that gambling was rampant among the schoolboys. Petty vices and some not quite so petty ruled the lives of the young people. The pastor saw the situ- .ation at a glance and called the most in- fluential members of his congregation into a conference. He pointed out that the neighboring large town was the siren which lured the young fellows away from the village continually because there was nothing more than a disreputable pool hall to keep them at home. Neither the church nor the school offered any social or recrea- tional privileges. The pastor opened his church, and after having convinced his board of trustees that the church was failing in its opportunity as well as its duly, he persuaded them to install a motion picture machine. • .At first educational films were obtained from the state college, but these were later supplemented by carefully selected subjects rented from commercial exchanges. The young people filled the church and gave the minister the opportunity of meeting and knowing tbem in a social way. Crowds grew so large that the little church could not accommodate all those who came. In the summer months the pictures were shown in the village park. Business men soon noticed that the free motion pictures brought people into the town who, even (Continued from Page 9) though they lived in local trade territory, had been going to the neighboring town previously. Motion pictures proved to be the thing that was responsible for almost revolutionarj- conditions. The pastor was able to use his wholesome influence upon the boys and led them into wholesome sports. He had gained their friendship through his association with pictures and had substi- tuted innocent pleasures in place of vicious pastimes. So appreciative have been the business men that they agreed to under- write the enterprise for the ensuing year. Thus we could continue to relate many other instances of community betterment traceable to the instruments of visual in- struction, but we must consider another phase. \'isu.\L Instruction an Educational Economy We hear quite a bit these days about an overcrowded curriculum and committees on elimination have made frequent reports about dropping certain subject matter from our courses of study. Evidently such action is wise. Each school year sees new responsi- bilities placed upon the schools and stUl greater demands imposed upon the teachers. With rare exceptions every time the home fails to do its duty the responsibility is thrust upon the schools. Physiology, sani- tation and health studies are good examples. Mothers failed to teach the daughters how to bake and brew, knit and sew—home eco- nomics was introduced. Sex hygiene is be- ing forced upon some schools. Quite re- cently we heard about a demand for courses in Americanization. Naturally there are those who look upon visual instruction as another one of the uninvited guests trying to take a part of the too crowded school day. Fortunately visual instruction is a form of teaching that promises to justify its pres- ence by the time it will save. It promises not to crowd out other subjects, but rather to teach more quickly and effectively. Someone has said, "More can be poured into the eye with a teaspoon than into the ear with a scoop shovel."' Subjects such as geography, natural , nd applied science, adapt themselves quite advantageously to the visual method of presentation. .A Detroit company is now working on a course of geography which is being tried out in the Detroit schools. Trade journals recently announced that an Easli-rn book publisher is working in conjunction with a New York film manufacturing concern in an attempt to present subject matter in motion picture as well as printed form. Even the most en- thusiastic sponsor for the screen does not believe pictures will ever completely sup- plant books in the schoolroom, but obtuse indeed is he who canni.r see the important and immensely valuable fiild they may fill if permitted to do so. IS e are glad to see a serious effort to prove ilie worth-whUeness of the screen. Many obstacles stand in the way of visual instruction, to be sure, but none are un- surmountable. The whole matter of pro- duction is a matter of wise direction; dis- tribution is a problem of cooperation; and both are problems of finance. Production and Disthibution Problems Visual instruction is unique, inasmuch as it must depend, for the most part, upon slate and federal support more liberally than any other form of instruction. Ap- 26 parently it is impossible for any except the very largest school system to own an ade- quate film library. The original cost of such a collection is all out of proportion to the actual use which would be made of it. FUms deteriorate rapidly and must be fre- quently replaced. A central depository- or exchange is absolutely necessary so that materials may be properly repaired and carefully stored. The life of a single print is estimated at 300 runs through a projector, if most carefully handled. Theatrical ex- changes usually retire a print after three to six months of service unless there is an uncommon demand for the print; then a new copy replaces the old. Probably no school system except in the largest cities would ever have occasion to project a pic- ture more than ten or twelve times a year, and then the entire number of exhibitions for the print would be made within a week or ten days. If the state should own or control the print so that every other school could use this same print it would mean a consider- able saving of time, energy, and needless duplication of investment. If some national educational institution could be the produc- ing center and function as the source for educational releases from which state dis- tributing centers could secure material at cost; if machinery for production and dis- tribution could be economically and effi- ciently supplied; if the national educational institution could save needless duplication, permit equitable division of costs of pro- duction and make film work in the smallest school a possibility, motion pictures would soon be well established. Many commercial motion picture concerns, incorporated to produce educational film, have come and gone during the life of the industrv-. With rarely an exception they have come and gone without making more than a ripple in the educational sea. Dur- ing recent months several of the largest theatrical film producing concerns have an- nounced "non-theatrical" departments, and schools are interested and awaiting develop- ments. A greater part of the so-called non- theatrical film is merely an attempt to use old theatrical production bearing new titles, the old ones being expurgated or revised and the questionable scenes cut. It is also an unfortunate condition which makes it impossible for the teacher to secure the material he wants through a few, rather than many sources; thus, school superintendents find themselves in a maze when they try to locate the film they want. The film in- dustry changes rapidly, new syndicates are formed, dissolved or absorbed over night, and it is difficult to locate the productions of only a few years past. Where Is "Silas Marner"? "Silas Marner," a splendid production, was released through the exchanges a few years ago. The company reorganized later. Recently it dissolved into several distinct companies, and now where can the school man write for "Silas Marner"? A splendid educational has been lost on account of a lack of a depositorv' and the necessarv' dis- tributing centers where the negatives could have otherwise been preserved forever. Lost, because the schools were not prepared to create a sufficient demand to keep the film working. Lost, because it had served {Continued on page 28)