Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers (1930-1949)

But one thing is certain — these technical developments and the excitement they have created, within and outside our field of professional engineering, are together the most encouraging symptoms to appear in the past ten years. They are evidence of a new, widespread, and healthy interest Excerpts From Address by Gen. George I. It is a distinct pleasure for me to join with you at the opening session of your 72nd Semiannual Convention and to be given the opportunity of presenting some of my thoughts regarding motion pictures and television within the Army. Broadly speaking, the Signal Corps, in keeping with its responsibility for providing an integrated communications system for the Army, must be prepared to transmit information (or what we call intelligence), whatever its form may be. This intelligence may be transmitted as the spoken word, the written message, or in the form of a pictorial representation. It may be directed to a single person or to several addressees at different places throughout the world. It may also be intended for mass distribution to thousands. In the process of transmission, intelligence may take many and varied forms as it is transformed through electronic, mechanical magnetic or photographic processes. But whatever the processes employed, they must be designed to provide a thoroughly integrated, but flexible, system which will deliver the message accurately and rapidly. The motion picture has served the Army well through two world wars. The sound motion picture is doing the same important job in the Korean conflict, as a medium for training our forces, as a means for promptly acquainting the American public with our operations in combat, and finally as a means of pictorially documenting military history as it is written. Of possible interest is the fact that seventy million man-hours of military training are accomplished annually by the Army through the use of training films. Furthermore, many of these films are extensively used by our allies after the script has been rescored in the appropriate language, thus creating a unity of military thinking and a better understanding of mutual security problems. Similarly, in in the technical future of both motion pictures and television. I sincerely hope they will spark a chain reaction that will eventually stimulate each one of us, working together in this Society, to accomplishments greater than any we have yet attained. Back the field of research and development of military equipment, methods and tactics, the motion picture has become an irreplaceable tool, since it provides a means for repeated analytical study of critical phases of a given operation, whether it be a military maneuver or the testing of such weapons as the atomic bomb or the guided missile. While military applications of the sound film continue to multiply, television has become available as another medium for the transmission of sound and pictures, a medium which offers tremendous possibilities with its potential of speed and accuracy. Although the full military possibilities of television have not yet been determined, we have for some time been engaged in exploring its manifold applications. In this work we have been guided by our past experiences in the pictorial communication field. Many possible applications for military television suggest themselves. To mention but a few: Distant tactical observation of military positions and actions from the ground and air. Bringing distant or relatively inaccessible subjects into many training classrooms simultaneously. The tactical briefing of widely separated commanders. Guidance and control of land vehicles and light aircraft. Close-up observation of the action and effect of our weapons. Mass dissemination of important information in pictorial form to reserve and civilian components of the armed services and to the public at large. These are only a few of the suggested fields of employment. I believe, however, that they indicate the trend of military thinking toward full utilization of this new method of communication. 436