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— 6o —
It will be admitted that our study of the effects of the cinema on eyesight, based as it is upon nearly twenty thousand answers to a specific question, is more than a vague indication. Realising that previous conclusions might have been invalidated by further study and new technical improvements, the I. E. C. I. desired to put the question afresh and, by reference to scientific experts and enquiry among children themselves, to test the value of opinions formed at an earlier date.
Finally, the conclusions to be drawn from this further study of the question are the same as those we published in the May number of the International Review of Educational Cinematography. These conclusions, which with additions we reproduce below, reveal those drawbacks of the cinema most frequently met with but most easily disposed of:
i. Films as such do not have any injurious effects upon the eyesight of persons whose eyes and nerves are in a healthy condition.
2. The phenomenon of intermittence, the excessive speed with which films are projected, proximity to the screen, the use of damaged, worn or perforated films, flicker and the use of defective apparatus may be considered the chief causes of visual fatigue and may have serious consequences, especially for persons with weak sight or neuropathic subjects.
3. In most cases and particularly where children and young people are concerned, it is preferable:
(a) to project in full light or at any rate in half-light;
(b) to prevent children attending evening performances and to arrange special shows for them which will not include unduly exciting or dramatic films;
(c) to project each part of a film for not more than ten minutes or a quarter of an hour and to follow it with an interval of two or three minutes; and to avoid sudden transitions from semi-darkness to full light;
(d) to arrange cinema programmes so that long films alternate with short ones. Apart from exceptional circumstances, the ordinary programme should include one theatrical film in several parts of moderate length, a short cultural or scientific film and a topical film — this, by the variety of impressions made, would provide the necessary rest for the mind.
(e) to impose strict control over cinema theatres, as regards:
(i) permission to smoke, in view of the danger of fire and the need of ventilating the hall, not only at the end of the performance and in the intervals, but even during projection;
(ii) the arrangement of the seats, which should be such as to secure a comfortable view of the screen and save children a physical exertion which has a more or less direct influence upon the visual organs; (J) closely to supervise the condition of films and projecting apparatus not only in schools but in public cinemas.
(To be continued) G. d. F.