The international photographer (Jan-Dec 1930)

November, 1930 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Nine Idealizing an Industry "s Future Writer Tells of Great Sacrifice of Time, Effort and Expense Simply Through Avoidance of Banding Together By CRITICUS JN OBSERVING, enjoying and analyzing the rapid development of the motion picture industry and what we are tempted to call its philanthropic influence upon mankind, there comes an irrepressible temptation to visualize a future perfection of screen pleasures which we hope are not castles in Spain or a vanishing mirage. On more sober thought the number of obstacles to be overcome, the to-day existing baffling problems, the woefully crude details of equipment in optical, chemical, acoustic, chromatic and mechanical sciences and practice bring about a reversal of enthusiastic hopefulness. The short span of the existence of the motion picture gave slow-working evolution no chance to evolve a mo tion picture psychosis, so necessary in its full value for the logical improvements of the practically unlimited possibilities of the motion picture industry in its beneficial influence upon the psychic evolution of man. The goal, however, is of such a value that it is worth great efforts and even sacrifices of momentary values to reach it or even come perceptibly nearer to it. Single Human Limited Even serious considerations of such thoughts, however, are of no value as long as they are of abstract nature. We know that thoughts are the necessary start of every practical achievement, but call for practical efforts and application to bring practical results. We also know by experience that the practical efficiency of any human being in developing a thought is rigidly limited. The realization of this limitation evolved the banding together of individuals for the effective and rapid evolution of practices based upon thought. This is true throughout the history of mankind in all of its aspects, be they based upon religious, sociologi cal, national, commercial or any other forms of original thoughts or desires. It is also true in regard to the building up of the vast motion picture industry, founded upon a single thought — the illusion of motion, produced by a rapid succession of fixed photographic images. Single-handed efforts were startling in results, but progress was slow. Logical vision of future possibilities brought about concerted action of interested individuals. Their banding together increased at a rapid rate, resulting to date in the existence of a number of vast organizations spread over the whole world. Bands Increase Rapidly The rapid increase of this banding together process increased the size of these organizations, in the number of their correlated individuals, their financial and other facilities and consequently in the perfection of their products at a rate unprecedented in the known history of industrial developments. This process, however, has reached a period of more or less stagnant character. The innumerable problems confronting the development of this industry are of course segregated into definite groups, calling for segregated efforts to bring them to a phase of solution. These definite groups are well known and characteristic of the motion picture industry. They are so broad in their fundamental characteristics that they constitute a standard program of problems for everyone of the great number of motion picture enterprises. Each of these enterprises bent its honest, untiringly energetic efforts individually upon the solution of such problems — common to all the enterprises. Each one of these enterprises owes its success to the banding together method, each one realizes that the practical solution of a number of such problems is difficult of solution, many such organizations are even aware of the fact that they are individually Expression on the face of an Egyptian as with bare hands he examines a scorpion. Photographed by Essellc Parichy not fully able to solve some of these problems. Not Banded Yet Despite this knowledge, despite the beneficial experience of their own evolutionary methods, based on the banding together principle, there is an apparent lack of the knowledge of the realization, that that fundamental thought of useful banding together is still waiting for its broad application for the common best interests of the motion picture industry at large, and thereby for the best interest of each individual enterprise or organization Assuming that all these enterprises are working under the severest ethical code of fair competition, this principle of competition, ever useful for the common good, apparently acts as a brake on the momentum of rapid development. There is a tendency of secrecy permeating most of these organizations, a fear of imparting information of any further approach in the solution of such problems to the industry at large, for fear of strengthening the position of a competitor. The lesson of the application of the banding together thought for the benefit of all and individually has been forgotten. There is apparently no realization of the tremendous amount of saving of money in vast sums for every individual enterprise — of years of time now lost in individual problem solving efforts — of an inconceivable loss of possible financial returns, ever paralleling perfection of product and service — all due to only individual efforts, limited in their results by the fact that such efforts are individual Speeding Up Urged Is there no way to speed up progress in the motion picture industry, to speed up progress for the benefit of all ? Is there no way to prove that castle in Spain, that mirage, not a dream but a reality? There certainly is, theoretically We fully realize that to enter into a practical application of such theoretical possibility constitutes perhaps a greater problem than all the other motion picture problems combined, if its solution should be attempted in its entirety. There is, however, a practical way of reaching this goal by applying the banding together principle to one detail problem after the other. This procedure is now successfully employed by the greatest and most successful enterprises and industries we know of. It's the banding together of the most efficient number of the most efficient individuals for the solution of one detail problem after the other, of the organization, in other words, of what is commonly called a research organization. A study of the history of research of the banding together type in any (Continued on Page 4f>)