The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

Ictobcr, 1923 387 A Picture Service on Wheels Everett B. Parke, Motion Picture Director, Middlesex County Bureau of Agriculture and Home Economics, Waltham, Massachusetts IT hardly seems possible that any broadminded individual, especially one in extension service or welfare work, can ;eriously doubt the value of motion pictures. 5ome educator has said, ''We learn threeiighths of what we hear, five-eighths of vhat we see, and seven-eighths of what we io." That, to my mind, gives visual instrucion the balance of power. Through the proper kind and use of motion pictures, the nind is taught to retain more than threeiighths of what we hear and more than sevm-eighths of what we do. When you want :o remember a 'phone number or street address, don't you try to see that number in ^our mind? As a matter of fact, you want a Dicture to remember rather than a sound. More than once when our agents have been conducting a demonstration of how to do a thing, someone has interrupted with, ''That isn't the way they did it in the movies." The movie method of doing had stuck. vSo the why of motion pictures did not trouble us long. It was the how, and then the best method of using this power after we obtained it. Even then we made mistakes, and no doubt we will make more mistakes, but I hope each will prove its lesson. Our trustees, believing in the value of motion pictures to supplement the work of our other departments, supplied the money for the outfit, consisting of a No. 2 Graphoscope projector, a Half-tone screen, the portable, asbestos-cloth booth required by our State law, and a second-hand, light, Ford truck. Later we added a Victor stereopticon. With this very complete outfit we put on a show that, when supplemented by good music, compares favorably with a city "movie." We plan our schedule and book the films weeks in advance in an endeavor to avoid conflict of dates with local organizations, as it is inadvisable to split the smalltown audience. We book the films far in advance in order to get seasonable subjects or those that fit the projects the County agents are working on. During the Fall, Winter, and Spring we run shows five and often six nights a week in a dififerent town each night until we have covered the rural towns of the County. Then we start around again with a new program. Our shows run from 8 to 10 or 10:15 p. m. We do not believe in keeping the farmers or the children out late. This means nine or ten reels except when there is a speaker. We have found that a rural audience attracted to the hall through the movies will give close attention to an instructive talk for about fifteen minutes, no longer. So it is up to the speaker to get his message over in that time. Most of them can do it if they understand the game. Some preacher, speaking of long sermons, said, "There are no souls saved after the first fifteen minutes." We usually have piano accompaniment, sometimes voluntary, but more often because of a small emolument and when the music is fair to good, it adds much to the value of the program. Eittle accidental noises and the side remarks of young people are not noticed and therefore do not distract attention from the picture. We generally start the evening entertainment with a scenic reel so the latecomers (and if we didn't start until nine, there would be some lat^-comers) will not miss any part of a story or educational reel ; also because we do not like to have interruptions after we get into the main part of the program.