International Review of Educational Cinematography (Jan-Dec 1934)

MOTION PICTURES IN EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES 455 educational, dramatic and artistic values of films and on their suitability for the entertainment needs of the family : America Library Association ; Boy Scouts of America ; California Congress of Parents and Teachers ; Daughters of the American Revolution ; Federated Church Brotherhoods of California (Stage and Screen Committee) ; General Federation of Women's Clubs ; International Federation of Catholic Alumnae ; Los Angeles Branch, American Association of University Women ; National Council of Jewish Women ; National Society of New England Women ; Young Mens Christian Association. The committees report to the respective organization headquarters, and after the reports have been approved they are made public through the publicity channels of the organizations and the monthly publications. The organizations themselves, through their own contacts, and through their own local groups have disseminated the preview information throughout the country. The national Board of Review of Motion Pictures, also, reports on films and encourages the formation of local better-films-committees. There are several thousand local committees at work at present. Competent opinion regarding the relative merits of films may have far-reaching effects upon public selections, but the fundamental place to begin a consideration of the ethical and social values of a motion picture is at the point of production. One step in this direction has been taken by the industry through the Production Code which was adopted in April, 1930. The corollary in the administration of this code is represented by the Studio Relations Committee of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America. In addition to a director, the committee consists of a motion picture director of each of the companies affiliated with the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America. All scripts must be approved by this committee before production begins and the finished picture must likewise be approved before being released. However in the three years this self-imposed code has been in operation, the criticism of the objectionable moral tone of pictures has not materially abated. The most extensive investigation of the influence of motion pictures on children and youth that has been made in the United States is the Payne Fund studies, which extended over a period of five years (19281933). Eminent psychologists, sociologists, and research workers, faculty members of several leading universities made independent, though closely related, contributions to the total findings of these studies. They constituted the membership of the Payne Fund Committee on Educational Research in Motion Pictures under the Chairmanship of Dr. W. W. Charters. The investigations included studies to find out what children learn from motion pictures and the effects on (a) attitudes, (b) emotions, and (c) conduct. The report which has recently been published in nine volumse shows the following : 1) On an average, each child in areas where motion pictures are physically available goes to the movies once a week. 2) Three out of four of the pictures that are shown are related to sex, crime or romantic love. 3) The child retains 2/3 as much as the adult from his attendance at the movies. 4) Motion pictures change children's attitudes and these changes have a lasting influence. 5) One measurement of the emotional effects of pictures was done in terms of the influence of movie attendance on children's sleep. Other measurements of the emotional reactions of children to motion pictures were also extensively used. In summing up the findings of the report, Dr. W. W. Charters recently stated, " We