The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

Page 310 The Educational Screen beginning to understand. Then the lights were turned off, and the projector was turned on again, and this time everything slowed down — through the entire second showing we never heard a sound except the heavy breathing of women. The pictures were clear, brilliant, they could be slowed down when necessary, speeded up when necessary—and at the end of it all 2000 women went back to the country having learned that a baby can be bathed. They learned how to use a diaper. They learned about feeding a baby every four hours instead of every time it cries. They learned to keep the infant in its crib, they learned how to prepare milk by using Carnation and boiled water, etc.—they truly said, "We learned well this evening." We are now in the midst of prepartions for making a film on Tuberculosis which we hope will be of added interest and of more general value to the Korean public. This film will also be entirely Korean, and will include the adaptation of fresh air, and sunshine to the Korean house, with its hot floor for sleeping. In addition to the work on health films, my camera has been used in photographing the missionary work of our Pyengyang Mission station. This is stated to be one of the greatest mission stations in the world, and the work includes every phase of missionary endeavor. The camera has gone into the smallest churches and taken the people at their Sunday School hour. It has gone into the Sunday School Kinder- garten, and even under most adverse light conditions has taken the infants learning their first lessons of God. It has gone to the great South Gate Church with 2000 communicants sitting on mats on the floor, and shows them receiving the Sacraments of the Lord's Supper. It has gone into the operating room and demonstrates our Korean surgeons doing actual opera- tions. These pictures are prepared for the churches in America and are for stimulating interest in the missionary work. We have been making pictures for the past year and one half under most adverse light and weather condi- tions. In more than 3000 feet taken with the camera, we have not had to discard a single foot of film because of mechanical difficulty. This means economy of operation. Our latest experience -with the camera has been in making pictures of Korean Evil Spirit Worship, An- cestor Worship, and the celebrations of the Korean festivals in connection with the Korean "Oh-Wahl- Tan-Il" (Fifth day of the Korean Fifth Month cele- bration). In the pictures of spirit worship we were driving along a country road and found the Evil Spirit Worship going on outside of a house where a patient was sick. The object of the worship is to drive the evil spirits out of the sick person in the hope that he will get well. I drove the car beyond a short distance and left it running with a companion at the wheel ready to move promptly if necessary. Then, taking the camera under my coat, I sauntered back to the place where the' "devil worship" was going on. I joined the crowd standing around, and asked what was going on. After watching for a few minutes, I slipped the camera out of my coat and took pictures of the weird dance motions, etc. The operation of the camera being so quiet made it possible for me to make more than fifty feet of film without anyone realizing what I was doing. The practice of "devil worship" is gradually passing away, but a permanent record of the practice has been made on motion pictures. Ancestor Worship was also filmed in much the same way. I was able to be close at hand for some pictures. Even being within twenty feet of the sub- jects as they worshipped did not attract their attention. In other cases, Ancestor Worship was taken with the 4-inch telephoto lens at some distance from the sub- jects. They were not aware of my presence in the locality at all, and the result is close-up views of the worship. In the case of the celebrations in connection with the Festival of the Fifth Month-Fifth Day of the Korean calendar, we mingled with the crowds and took what pictures we wished without attracting any attention. This festival is the great play day of the Korean calendar. This is the one day especially planned for women to play. Their greatest diversion is swinging; great straw rope swings are prepared, and the women, young and old alike, swing to their hearts' content on this day. It is their one day of play. Nebraska Pastor Enthusiastic Over 16 mm. A Nebraska pastor writes: "I am very enthus- iastic over 16 mm. films, as I think they present a wonderful opportunity to schools, churches, and other institutions where the cost of the larger films is prohibitive. I use the projector to exhibit films in our church parlors on different occasions. In these programs I usually have one or two reels of special interest to the children, some scenic and in- dustrial films, and from one to three reels of mis- sionary pictures. These 'shows' are fairly well attended. No admission fee is charged. Once in a while not even a collection is taken. "I hope soon to start a small library of my own, so that at intervals I can 'carry a picture show' to shut-ins, invalids, and to the children's and old- people's homes that are in the reach of my church."