Film and Radio Guide (Oct 1945-Jun 1946)

December, 1 945 FILM AND RADIO GUIDE 9 projectors as they favor autos. Some swear by one make while others swear at it. But by and large, remember that just as you cannot buy a low-priced car and expect the performance and luxury of a high-priced one, you cannot buy a cheap projector and get the perfection and durability of a costlier one. Do not be taken in too much by Navy or Army “E’s” as a sign of distinction. All the major companies received these “E’s” — they were as common as Ph.D.’s, and we know how plentiful they are. Many schools are awaiting the opportunity to buy a good projector from an Army or Navy surplus-property distributor. It is our understanding that there will be few such projectors declared surplus and that hospitals will have first priority on them. Army and Navy projectors have had hard service. Some were made with zinc instead of aluminum frame-work. These zinc outfits are movable but hardly portable. We are often asked: “Which type of projection equipment should be bought first?” We have just as often stated in these articles that a sound-film projector is, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, that “first.” No matter what other pieces you buy, you will continue to long for a sound projector. The more other pieces you buy, the greater your longing will be. It is therefore our advice to get the sound projector first and then buy all the other pieces when, and if, you find them necessary or desirable. This plan will save you money, except in special cases. Future Projectors We look for a great revolution in the projector field. Projector evolution has gone by easy stages from 35 mm to 16 mm FILMS OF MERIT 16MM SOUND SILENT 8MM For Teaching, Recess and Entertainment Write for Listing Nu-Art Films, Inc. 145 WEST 45th STREET NEW YORK 19, N, Y. RENT SALE to 8mm. But we want something more personal than a projector provides. Projectors immediately suggest a “show” and an “audience.” What the world is waiting for is a device — perhaps 4mm — which will be so simple in operation, so free from electric connections, and so low in cost that one may be owned by each member of the family to serve his individual requirements. It must be a device which one can use at any place and at any time as conveniently as one uses a book or a newspaper. It must be small enough to fit in the pocket or purse along with films. The viewing must be done directly without resorting to projection or electricity, except such as small dry-cells can supply. To take its rightful place as the great tool of communication that it is, the motion picture must be free from the use of screens. It must be given directly and personally to the individual, just as books were unchained from church pillars in the Middle Ages and given to the individual. This will come — it must come to make the motion picture of fullest value for enjoyment— both for entertainment and for instruction. Devices are now on the market which accomplish this after a fashion, bLit they are rather cumbersome affairs, suitable for film-editing work, and are aid to produce eye-strain. Here is a challenge to inventors who are looking for multi-billion-dollar returns for their work. We have every reason to believe it can be done. The Slide & Film Exchange of the State Department of Education of Ohio stands ready to buy the first device of this nature, even though it costs as much as the present sound-on-film 16mm projectors. So here is a challenge to inventors. The mass viewing of pictures by means of a screen is harmful in education because viewing and learning rates vary with individuals. This same mass viewing for entertainment leaves eight percent of the public not using the motion picture at all. In spite of the appeal of the moving picture, only twenty percent care to surrender all personal convenience as to time, place, and climatic conditions demanded by mass-showing in theaters. So the theaters are filled with the young and the hearty, those with an average age of less than twenty-two. That sector of the people which stays at home reads newspapers and magazine digests, or listens disconcertedly to radio programs. As to the most numerous sector, we find it searching for first-hand experiences via the automobile, or other outdoor conveyances the year round. The motion picture must conform to personal conveniences to be completely popular. Then indeed will the film achieve its destiny as an effective, universal medium of communication, transending that of the printed word. Our next article will consider the question of Free Films. Coming: ^^What Makes Confusion in the English FielcC”