International Review of Educational Cinematography (Jan-Dec 1932)

229 evidence for the films than Great Britain, Belgium and Holland have against them. The objections of the last named countries are based upon the fact that in films dealing with the traffic, scenes representing the worst results of thab traffic must be shown in order to convey the necessary warning and that such scenes are apt to stimulate the sexual instincts generally without bringing about the desired state of mind. However it is clear that there is no type of scene required in a traffic film nor even a story which has not already appeared thousands and thousands of times in ordinary enter tainment films. Thus the traffic film may, without introducing new and more immoral scenes than already exist in ordinary Cinema entertainment, have at least the chance of conveying the desired warning. Therefore while it would appear that no definite encouragement need necessarily be given to the producers of traffic films there is no reason why they should not simply pass the ordinary form of film censorship in force in the country concerned. The Committee concluded their report by quoting some German film censorship methods. AN EXHIBITION OF PUBLICITY FILMS This Exhibition, the first of its kind, was held recently in Paris. Inspite of its purely commercial character we must make mention of it here as the I. I.E. C. is interested in the publicity film which has much of the instructional film in it. This interest has already been shown by the attendance of Dr. de Feo, by invitation from the Spitzenorganisation der Deutsche Filmindustrie and the Lehrfilmbund, at the International Congress of Cinema Publicity, organised by those two large German bodies in Berlin, the first of its kind in the industrial world and the second in the world of Cinema education. The use of publicity films in schools through lack of others shows that they often have educational value. Not that they can ever be considered as substitutes for the latter but they can help to educatel the Cinema public in many ways. The essential aim of the publicity is after all to show and to convince. The Paris Exhibition was organised by the producing and distributing firm " DamPublicite " and it corroborates the above opinion. Curent types of publicity films were shown : the entr'acte film, which with a smaller format may become the shop window film, the documentary film with con fessed publicity motives and the big propaganda film. The first type is generally short, often made of animated cartoons or a combination of these with natural photography or simply the latter. These have, in spite of their generally comic nature, a certain instructional value. A film that shows how an automobile can move off a pavement into the street without shock is in a certain way instructive. This is surely the same for films showing the manufacture of foodstuffs, etc.? Let us pass to the documentary film with avowedly advertisement aims. These films are too long and too obviously publicity to be shown in the ordinary cinemas. They are generally lent for use with potable projectors or in travelling cinemas. In this connection, there is to be found in Italy an interesting combination of educational and publicity Cinema. A large manufacturer of foodstuffs has offered to the educational Cinema authorities of various towns, fine film projectors mounted in motor vans which are also fitted with radio and pick-up gramophone. Naturally every educational programme shown in public places from these machines, includes a publicity film adversiting the products of the firm. This is good business combined with public service.