International Review of Educational Cinematography (Jan-Dec 1934)

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MOTION PICTURES IN EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES 457 on motion picture appreciation may supplement the instruction. The procedure is flexible at the present time. It is anticipated, however, that after further experimentation during the next two years best practices in teaching photoplay appreciation will gradually be established and motion picture appreciation will be taught regularly in the high schools throughout the United States. Two States already have included units in motion picture appreciation in their high school curricula. b) Non theatrical Remarkable engineerMotion Pictures. jng advances have been made in the production and the projection of films. The technique of production to create interest and secure desired emotional effects has been reduced to a fine art in the industry, but has only been partially utilized in the non-theatrical field. For example, sound motion pictures are little used in education at this time. With its present technical excellence, the motion picture is a tremendously powerful tool which is not being fully utilized in education. This applies to silent as well as to sound pictures. According to the report of the President's Research Committee on Social Trends : Non-theatrical uses of the motion picture are varied. It is estimated by the Department of Commerce that over 1 90,000 non-theatrical projectors are in use, including home sets. In 51 7 primary and secondary schools within one year there were 44,186 showings of pictures, of which 73 per cent were in connection with curricular activity. Churches have used motion pictures extensively as a means of attracting and holding younger members. It is also used in connection with sales campaigns, advertising and demonstrations of products, and an extensive market has developed for non-entertainment films of this character. Films also have value in showing scientific techniques. Non-theatrical uses of motion pictures promise to develop far more extensively in the future ((1), P. 210-211). Thirty-two of our forty-eight States have film libraries of varying qualities under the supervision of educational directors. Most of these are in the extension divisions of the State universities, a few are with the State departments of education, private universities, art institutes and museums. There are approximately thirty registered State visual educational associations working to extend the use of visual aids to education throughout their communities. This is being accomplished by experimentation, demonstration and educational propaganda. In his visual instruction survey, Dr. F. Dean McClusky found that six city visual instruction departments spent £ 830,000 in 1931. Twenty-three State bureaus of visual instruction, located for the most part in State universities, spent £276,000 in 1931. The following are a few of the other interesting facts recorded in this study: 1) Thirty-four cities owned 2,579 projectors. 2) There were 350,000 non-theatrical projectors in the United States. About 6/7 of the total number were 16 mm. projectors. 3) The estimated value of non theatrical projectors was £ 70,000.000. 4) Sixty cents per pupil per year for visual instruction would provide an annual market of £ 12,310,000 ((2) p. 63-64). More than thirty-five reliable commercial companies produce non-theatrical films, and nearly two hundred companies distribute them. The non-theatrical films include instructional, cultural, technical, industrial, religious, general information and entertainment subjects. The 16 mm. (1) President's Research Committee on Social Trends, Recent social trends in the United States. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1933, 2 vols., 1568 p. (2) F. Dean McClusky. Visual instruction : its value and its needs. New York City, Mancall publishing corporation, 7 West 44th Street, 1932, 125 p.