Motion Picture News (Oct 1913 - Jan 1914)

THE MOTION PICTURE NEWS 25 arrangement, so that one-half of the lens may be uncovered at a time. A still more simple plan is to use a cap which covers only one-half the aperture, and to control the exposure by means of a shutter behind the lens. This method, however, makes it necessary to "stop down" the lens to at least 1-3, and a long exposure is thus rendered inevitable. It is well known that the nearer an object is to the camera the larger it appears to be in proportion to other objects in the picture; and by taking advantage of this fact some astonishing pictures may be obtained, particularly if a lens of somewhat short focus is employed. Not long ago the writer saw reproduced in a popular magazine a photograph which was described in all serious ness as depicting a cabbage of gigantic proportions. Doubtless, most people who looked at the picture were deceived for the cabbage partially obscured a whole family of five or six persons who stood somewhere in the background. Yet in reality the vegetable was of only ordinary proportions, and merely looked large in proportion to the human beings because of its nearness to a lens of short focus. In the same way, if a fisherman has caught a fish six inches long it may be made to appear gigantic in the photograph. By means of his rod and line the fisherman may hang the fish a good six or eight feet nearer the camera than he himself is, and the lens does the rest. Very laughable caricature photographs may be made by simply mov ing the "swing back" of the camera out of the perpendicular. Your friends may be made to look like reclining giants, or dwarfs with big heads. In fact, an almost endless variety of quaint deformities may be devised by varying the elevation of the camera, and the angle of the back. Care must be taken, however, to "stop down" the lens as much as possible, in order to bring the whole picture well into focus. This, of course, means that a good light is required, otherwise the exposure must be a long one, and poor model may move and spoil it. Phil Gleichman, vice-president and general manager of the World Special Films Corporation, left New York to open branch offices in St. Louis, New Orleans and Dallas, Texas. Motion Pictures in Teaching Children (From the New York Tribune) HOUSE-ORGANS We (The Bioscope) have pleasure in giving publicity to the following: To the Editor: Sir — The exhibitor's life is such a busy one nowadays that he has perforce to limit his reading to the absolutely essential for the well-being and good running of his business. In these circumstances it certainly seems to me that many of the elaborate house-organs and magazines issued by some of the manufacturers are weary reading, and serve no good purpose, unless it be to the printers: It is true that many contain good advertising and useful information, hut, alas! both these are only too frequently lost amongst a number of biased so-called "articles," and a mass of excerpts from various papers, the latter, of course, always being stale by a good week. I. for one, have always read them beforehand in the papers or periodicals in which they have originally appeared, and, doubtless, hundreds of other exhibitors find themselves in the same position. As to trade "news," will the trade papers give me the real thing, not the spurious article — manufacturers' advertising, of course, I want to read, but why shouldn't it be plain and sensible? After all, honest advertising need not be disguised, nor spoiled like good fare is with a poor sauce. Yours, etc , London. AN EXHIBITOR. The Feature Photoplay Co. has transferred its offices from the Exchange Building to the Candler Building at 220 West 42nd Street. The program which the Feature Photoplay Co. has mapped out for its future includes the best product of foreign manufacturers and many productions of its own make. Mr H. A. Lande is, as usual, at the helm of the Feature Photoplay Co. IF Thomas Edison's theories, borne out by actual test, are to become a general medium in the public schools of the land, it is goodby to the timehonored primer and the phonetic method of grouping A B C's. Weighty treatises on phys cs, chemistry, astronomy and botany will become the understandable playthings of the youth not yet in his teens by means of the motion picture. For instance, Mr. Edison proposes to show to the children of the land a cat. Further, that cat will walk, trot, switch its tail, lap its milk from a saucer, nurture its young and creep stealthily on its rodent prey. Its form and habits will be instilleo. into youth so that when the ability to tell of it is acquired cats will be an open book to the juvenile student. Mr. Edison has gone about evolving the most astounding method of mental culture in history. His staff of specialists is being constantly enlarged and his photographers have been given carte blanche to obtain material from any point in the world. How carefully and understandingly he has entered upon the development of this new step in education may best be determined by the admission of the inventor himself that he listed between 700 and 1,000 of the subjects for child study, and so far only 50 or 60 have actually been developed into film form These subjecfs are assigned to experts in'tbe particular field thev cover, and those experts devise the way and the material to put them 'n scenario form. Finallv thev are taW-n to the lrbora'o "y < : "*'r. Edison ,-'nd a chiss of children is brought in. The reels arc run off. and Ed:?on and his corps of assistants plainly can see what stands the test and what does not. Then comes the revision — the cutting out and the adding to — in an effort to make every point clear. Mr. Edison takes an ordinary housefly, magnified thousands of t.mes, and with the aid of the motion picture he teaches the child its every motion, and its habits of living. Twenty-five years ago a primary teacher stood before a chart on which was a line drawing of a dog. Beneath this picture were phrases similar to these: "I see a picture." "It is a picture of a dog." "The dog can run." "It can bark, and also it will bite." "It has long hair and a tail." Naturally the child acquired those facts concerning the dog with rapidity. He probably had a dog at home and studied its habits. But when he came to the subject of the elephant it was a different story. He had only the picture to rely upon If that child could have had an elephant for close inspection the result would have been more quickly accomplished. That is just what Mr. Edison purposes to supply. He's going to bring the elephant from its jungle haunts in South Africa and put it on a screen in act on before the child Child interest is one of the greatest problems of school life. Truancy has been the bane of educators for years. Those who have investigated declare that motion picture instruction will remove much o" this delinquency. It will create a tremendous interest in education. The child, instead of abl o-ring the coming of a school day, wi'l hasten to classes with expectancy.