Educational film magazine; (January-December 1920)

INDUSTRIAL INDUSTRIAL USES OF MOTION PICTURE Uiiw liip liiisincss i.« utilizing the inliercnt power of authentic pictorial appeal, and adapting the possibil- ities of permanent visualized records to the com- mercial needs of the hour By R.\YM0ND CAVANAGH, vice-pres. CHARLES RAYMOND Thomas, inc.. New York City D0\\'.\ in an obscure corner of your bookshelves there is a volume of Emerson's "Essays"' that possibly has not been disturbed for years. Skim the pages past some of the better known lilies—"Compensation" and "Self-Reliance"—and you may chance upon "The American Scholar." The quotable quality of the Sage of Concord seems largely to hinge upon his universality, with which he is rarely credited, and upon his prophetic vision. Photography in his time had barely passed the daguerreotype stage, yet in the quiet of his study he might easily have been writing not of the ".\merican Scholar,"" but of the not yet invented industrial motion pictures, when he outlined this purpose: "to cheer, to raise, and to guide men by showing them facts amidst appearances." One gets a deeper insight into the inherent power of the screen's 1 iciorial appeal when the eye is caught by such bits as: "The Worlds eye: "the slow unhonored and unpaid task of observation," or "the world lies no longer a dull miscellany and lumber room, hut has form and order." Further on we read: ■'.Man is surprised to find that things near are not less beautiful and wondrous than things remote. The near explains the far. The drop is a small ocean * • * xhe perception of the worth of the vulgar is fruitful in discoveries." To one who thoroughly knows the present possibilities of tht- motion picture, it is a simple matter to sense the correlative connota- tions in the above passages, and to make practical application ol them to our immediate subject. Space will not permit a full anil free exposition of the sub-divisions which follow, but a mere intelli gent cataloging of the industrial uses of the motion picture will serve to broaden the understanding of interested readers. For purposes of brevity the following list of users is submitted with only necessary comment or explanation. EXECITIVE—.< ViSlALIZED RECORD For company or corporation archives. For a general survey—instead of written reports. For future comparison—as changes or improvements are contem- plated or made. Fl.NANCIAL—.\ ViSVALIZINC OF PHYSICAL HoLDl.NGS (a) Sources and extent of raw material supply. (b) Demonstration of uses of product. (c) Production capacity. (d) Transportation facilities. For the information of foreign investors or those at a distance. For the information of executives, directors, stockholders, pros- pective stock or bond purchasers. For the information of the American Bankers' Association, Amer- ican Institute of Banking, or any individual or organization that is interested or that you wish to interest in a financial way. iManagemknt— To Give the Genehal .Managf.r A comprehensive view of any part, or of the whole plant—for use 111 the privacy of his own office, in studving present practices: ini- [iroved methods; or as a report or record of any operation, shop [practice, routine, increased production, etc. The everyday conduct of each department, in which personnel may be studied; industrial relations may be seen and compared with those shown by films from other plants. Laroiiatory and Encineeri.nc Working out abstract ideas by means of animating teclmical draw- ings. Recording tests and experiments with scientific accuracy—by elim- itiating the fallible human element. Demonstrating mechanical movements or principles. Visualizing the continuity of electrical, chemical or optical motion. Production The motion picture alone provides visual records. For comparison of methods of shop practices, of material handling. 'I ileparlmental customs. For the study of any operation down to the smallest detail—such .IS the number of manual movements in anv operation For visualizing not only results hut the details of all preceding I'tivity. '^ For registering facts with machine-like precision. For replacing all depen<lence upon the "mind's eve," memorv .V"f^n-M^"u"" "'" ",''"■■■ ""'<-•"« ^^'"cli is subject to 'the errors of the talnble human element. I 1- \ I- S 1 Weekly iiuiuslriiil-educalional ecent indllstri.-il lilms cxhiljited by the Ford These pictures show some of the big possibil Educational ities of the