Motion Picture News (Oct 1913 - Jan 1914)

i6 THE MOTION PICTURE NEWS A PLEA FOR EDUCATIONAL SUBJECTS "rpHE application of the Motion Picture to Educational Purposes" is the title of a paper recently delivered before the Photographic Society of Philadelphia by Henry Leffmann. Mr. Leffmann gives a. practical exposition of some of the ways in which motion pictures can be an almost invaluable aid to instruction in various lines. His paper follows : "The development of efficiency in motion picture apparatus has been due, as in almost all other cases of progress, to the labors of many workers, only a few of whom have received full pecuniary reward for their services. So far as can be at present asserted on published evidence, the first person to show motion pictures on a screen was Mr. H. R. Heyl, of Philadelphia, who, at a public lecture in 1870 under the auspices of the Franklin Institute, showed pictures of a waltzing couple, these being from negatives taken from the original moving figures. "Muybridge's work is well known. It was obtained by a very complex and expensive set of cameras, but was of great importance in showing the error of the ordinary representations of animals in motion. The child's toy is also well known. It is probably very ancient, as Mr. Jenkins, of Washington, D. C, has pointed out lines in Lucretius' poem 'On the Nature of Things' that indicate that such apparatus was known at that date, the first century of the common era. "It seems to me that concerted effort should be made by educators to secure facilities for the making and exhibiting of films for the many forms of educational work for which the art is so well adapted. Those that are occasionally shown of growing plants, movinganimals, microscopic or otherwise, are usually interesting, but as a general thing, in these the scientific value is sacrificed to the dramatic effect, and one is not always sure that some of the results are not faked. The educational use that should be made is, for example, to show: movements of ameba and infusoria, circulation of the cell-contents in plants, movements of nuclear structures. * * * 44 \ S the camera can be so operated that exposures can be made at any interval, and subsequently the positive film can be run at high speed, it is possible to exhibit to a class some of the very slow processes of cell-action in rapid demonstration. Moreover, since a teacher may often search for a long while to secure a vivid demonstration of some biologic action, it is possible when such has been obtained to secure a permanent record of it. "Not the least of the scientific application of the motion picture camera is the preservation of public occurrences. It is greatly to be desired that the authorities of our large cities should establish a department for obtaining films of every important parade or other public event, and should preserve the same with care, so that in later years it would be possible to show the residents of the city how their ancestors celebrated. "Some progress has recently been made in the application of the method to the recording of symptoms of disease, but although these films are praiseworthy and have been received with much approval of physicians, yet it appears that they have been obtained only by the sufferance of one of the great film-making firms, and that control over the films is retained by the makers. The need is for a free sale of films and of all apparatus for making and exhibiting them. "The papers have recently contained a statement that under the threat of immediate prosecution a company that has monopolized much of the photographic supply business has said, 'Don't shoot, Davy, I'll come down,' and it is likely that if the powerful educational institutions of the country would enter on a vigorous campaign, the interferences that still exist in the application of motion pictures to classroom work will be removed, and it will be possible for educators to obtain films at reasonable rates and use them without any restrictions other than those relating to fire hazard. "Several cameras and exhibition machines have been devised for the use of films of other than standard size, but these do not meet fully the requirements, as the standard film is likely to be manufactured in larger quantity and of better quality, and it will be much better for all if but one size is in vogue. "AS an instance of the value of cinematographic study of animal motion, I may mention some results obtained by Dr. Samuel C. Schmucker and myself. A garter snake, eighteen inches long, was marked with white, narrow, transverse stripes, about six inches apart, and was then allowed to move over a crosslined area of moderate size. The study of the pictures taken at the rate of about fourteen per second showed that each part of the snake's body moved over a different point in the field, that is, that the motion was not like that of a railroad train, with which all parts go over the same track, but each part of body pursues an independent set of curves. "Among the lines of study that might be pursued is investigation of the details of explosions. A good deal of photography has been done, it is true, on such incidents, but it is almost entirely limited to a single picture, showing only one moment of the phenomenon and giving no idea of detail." THREE KEYSTONES A WEEK COMING Beginning December 15th, the Keystone Company, a s .bsidiary of the New York Motion Picture Corporation, will release three comedies a week on the Mutual program. These will come Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. In addition, one multiple-reel comedy will be issued a month. These will be specials. The first of these is ' Zuzu, the Band Leader," with Mabel Normand and Ford Sterling. Next will come "Baffles, the Gentleman Burglar."