The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

December, 1928 269 P" lllllllllllllllllllllllltllllllMllil iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinii iiiiiiiiiiitiiii AMATEUR FILM MAKING Conduaed by Dwight R. Furness Director of Publicity, Methodist Episcopal Board of Education s I (THiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiimiiiimiimiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiii IIIIKIIIIIIIIII IIIIIKIIIIIIII liHIIIItllllllllllKlllllllllllllllllIMM ^ How A High School Produced An Educational Movie VISUAL education has now an established place in the world of youth and the small motion picture projector is no stranger to the classroom, but the Health Committee of Roosevelt High School, Seattle, Washington, with nearly two thousand pupils, has gone a step further and produced its own educational movie film. The long summer vacation was approaching and the Health Committee wished to emphasize certain warnings before the young people scattered to the woods, camps and beaches of Puget Sound. If they were to be on the beach they must learn how to handle a canoe or rowboat safely ; an hour must elapse after eating before going in swimming. They must never drink doubtful water from old wells or from streams or lakes that might be polluted. They must be able to recognize poison ivy ; they must realize that sudden and prolonged sunburn may cause illness. They should have some knowledge of life-saving and first aid treatment. The Health Committee had the use of a sixteen millimeter projector and immediately began a search for a film that would illustrate their points and be suitable for showing in the school auditorium. They did not find it. Then the girls' gymnasium teacher, a member of the Committee, said, "Why not make our own?" The idea caught like fire, and the teacher who was an amateur movie fan was consulted. He was enthusiastic and the plan grew until it included a number of the faculty and a considerable group of students. The Health Committee was in charge and the boys' gymnasium instructor offered his summer camp as a location. One of the English teachers prepared a scenario with a cast of fifteen characters and also suggested titles, and a teacher of oral expression became dramatic director. A teacher of art tended to the makeup and the movie fan oflfered to do the "shooting." The students chosen for the actors' parts entered into the play most heartily and rehearsals went on merrily. One Saturday early in May the whole party crossed the Sound by steamer to the gymnasium teacher's summer camp and the filming of "What Price Folly?" began. In the story Mrs. Macey and Marguerite and Bill Macey invite a group of young people to their summer home for a house party. Among the guests are Mary Jane Hill, an athletic, fine type of girl; Diane Chandler, the "flippiest flapper that ever flung a mean heel ;" Phyllis King, "who looked like an E string and was still reducing;" Bob Murdoch, selfish and a very poor sport ; and "Spike" Wilson, very fat and a gourmand at picnics. The plot is complicated by the presence of an uninvited guest to whom a bogus invitation has been sent as a joke. True courtesy is illustrated by the manner in which the Maceys receive him. The story now proceeds to make the Health Committee's points in realistic fashion. The flapper sprains her ankle because of her high-heeled shoes, and gets a painful dose of sunburn because of her sleeveless dress. The fat boy, who is continually purloining food, is no good at hiking. The heedless boy drinks from an unknown spring, despite his comrade's warnings. The boy who doesn't know poison ivy picks a spray for his buttonhole. The thin girl who is reducing refuses milk and sandwiches for lunch and demands pickles and pop. But the real action comes after luncheon when Mrs. Macey says that though they may put on their bathing suits they may not go in the water for an hour. A disgruntled boy and girl slip away and go out in a rowlioat though they do not know how to handle it. In changing jilaces they tip over. The uninvited guest, who is a strong swimmer, rescues the girl and then goes back for the boy who has been taken with a cramp. First aid treatment for the drowning is given the limp actors and life is restored. There was great eagerness among the students to see the film but first the lettering of the titles was done by a manual training student and humorous line cartoons were added by an art student. When pictures, titles and cartoons were all developed, {Concluded on page 276)