Educational film magazine; (January-December 1920)

I a great deal of talk about overcrowded school conditions id consequential lack of personal attention to the individ- II pupil. The motion picture will remedy that to a certain cent by enabling the instructor to convey his message to jy number of pupils in such a manner that every one vdl\ jve a thorough comprehension of its meaning. But this tbject has been threshed over again and again and has no fice here. St.\te Distribution Not Competitive The distribution of educational film for visual instruction trposes should by all means be done through a non- tratrical distributing agency. The film exchange of today ii the commercial institution catering to the wants of the rn-theatrical field are not in a position adequately to meet t; real need of the visual instructionists. And this is sted with all respect to such exchanges and in no wise r;ant to be derogatory. State distribution of film should It be considered as in any way entering into competition \lh the established exchanges, whether theatrical or non- Uatrical. Rather it develops and fosters interest in the r)tion picture and is actually to be considered as an asset. Let's hear from someone else. :0-MMlMTY MOVIE SHOWS IN SYRACUSE. N. Y. Ce of the Pioneer Eastern Cities in the Movement Now Embraincg 380 School Community Centers in This Country A ( omniunilv motion picture show was given recently at Haware school, Syracuse, N. Y., under auspices of the Jtle\sare Women's Club, which has been working out lirious community activities under the supervision of the lal recreation board. There were two performances, at |iind 9 p. m. The feature was "The Land of Opportunity" and there s a comedy reel also. The picture equipment was in- Ued by the board of education in Delaware school when 'as first built. G. Carl Alverson, principal, assisted the men in their efforts to hold community mo\ies. This was the first community movie shown in the city, ticing SvTacuse among the 380 cities where centers have hn organized and motion pictures are one of the neighbor- led interests. The neighborhood movie is popular in vstern cities and towns. S\Tacuse is among the pioneer Ktern cities in this movement. Mrs. Gustavus Young is the club leader who, bv tireless fort, succeeded in bringing the motion picture to the sioolhouse where the children of that section of the city pld convenientlv attend. In other communities where p movie has become a neighborhood actiNity, it has been i?d to teach community, civic, health and other lessons has been a vital factor in Americanization work. GOLDWYTS HAS FI>XEY BIRD FILMS recent risit to New York by X^ illiam L. Finley. nationally known naturalist, has resulted in the GoIdw>n-Bray organization acquir- 16.000 feet of Mr. Finley"s motion pictures of wild bird and life. The pictures represent the work of Mr. Finley and his the past three years. It is their custom to take to the field mer with a motion picture camera and about 20,000 feet negative to photgraph wild birds and animals in their nvironment. The average result of a summer's v.ork is about et of good film. On their trips Mr. and Mrs. Finley live ^ tent and are accompanied by their two young sons. fhe work of Mr. Finley is unique, as few lovers of wild life hunt Ih the camera. Tlirough his painstaking work a careful record i been compiled on tlie motion picture screen of the actual condi- is under which wild birds and animals live. The difficulty in aining these pictures is due to the fact that the subjects are ays shy. not only of man but of the camera. In order to get close ugh to the birds and animals to photograph them. Mr. Finley has had to plant his camera the night before and wait for the or animals to come to their feeding or drinking place at day- laL— Moving Picture World. AMERICAN RED CROSS FH.M SERVICE \\ . E. ij'addell. Director of Their Motion Picture Bureau. Gives Exclusive Statement to This Magazine on Their Producing and Distributing .Activities ^. E. \^'addell, director of the Bureau of Pictures of the American Red Cross, Department of Publicity, was asked by a representative of this magazine for a concise statement of the organization's producing activities with motion pic- tures and the nature of the film service which the Red Cross was offering schools, churches, clubs, and other non- theatrical institutions. '"Heretofore," he said, "we have devoted our film activities almost exclusively to our 3,700 Red Cross Chapters. We have recently compiled a list of non-theatrical exhibitors in the United States, such as churches, schools, clubs, etc. We will hereafter distribute motion pictures through our thirteen division oflSces to all such exhibitors. "We are producing from time to time in this country, films on such subjects as Home Hygiene, Dietetics, etc. "We have a large corps of cameramen in various sections of the world from whom we are receiving most interesting negatives, not only of Red Cross activities but those of scenic and educational value. For the sake of variety we also release industrial pictures that are of sufficient value to warrant our distributing them. "Heretofore churches and schools have found it most difficult to secure a sufficient number of appropriate films for their showings, and we believe that the Red Cross is the logical agency to supply this much needed demand. A very nominal rental charge will be made—in fact, merely enough to cover the cost of handling." / S" 9= PATHESCOPE DINNER TO N. Y. PRINCIPALS Interestiiig Addresses and Convincing Demonstration of the Latest Model Projector Ordinarily when a commercial concern tenders a dinner to its customers and prospective customers the affair turns out to be a clever business-producing scheme rather than one for mental help and social betterment. The informal dinner given by the Pathescope Company of .America. Incorporated, to some of the principals of the New > ork City public schools on Friday evening. -April 30. at the Cafe Boulevard. New York, was a refreshing exception to the rule. The menu stated tliat the dinner was given "in the interest of educational motion pictures" and "the royal road to learning lies alone the film highway" was a significant and lyrical phrase which appeared on the menu cover. W iUard B. Cook, president of the company, was toastmaster at the dinner, but did not take advantage of his official position to ''talk shop" and make a plea for business, for which ever>one present was grateful. In fai-l. such a plea was unnecessary as those present had a \'isual and convincing demonstration of the improvements which have been embodied in the latest model Pathescope projector as ci>mpared with the old model. One of the most interesting fea- tures of the evening was the comparison on the screen of the pic- tures projected by the old model and the new model, both machines runninir at the same time and projecting pictures and blank rect- angle- of light side by side. The speakers in their order were: Frank D. X^ilsey. Commissioner and \ i..e-President. New York City Board of Education, whose topic was "Safety First in Visual Education": Dr. Ernest L. Crandall. Dir' i>r of Lectures and Visual Instruction. New York City Board of 1 Mcation. "Some Recent Experiments in Visual Education": Don Carlo- Ellis, Director Educational Production. Universal Film Man- ufai taring Company. "The Place of Films in Class Room Instruc- tion": William P. McCarthy. Principal of Public School 52. the Bronx. New York City. "The Selection of Projectors for School Use": Dr. Edward W. Stitt. District Superintendent of Schools, New Y'ork. City. "Do We Teachers Talk Too Much?" Jlr. Wilsey made the interesting statement that the Pathescope ma. hines. of which there are about 150 in the New York City scho-Is. are an unqualified success, lie said that there is an average of .'I tires a year in the New Y'ork schools, and although these ma' ines had been in use for four years and thousands of reels had ! -en handled, no fire had yet occurred which could be traced to the i:~e of these machines and films. In connection with the work in 'lie city schools Mr. Cook generously oflfered to replace anv old moile machine with a -New Premier latest model, without additional cost. 11