Motography (Apr-Jun 1916)

1430 MOTOGRAPHY Vol. XV, No. 26. The public's judgment on present picture quality is indecisive. Question a number of laymen on their observation of current pictures, and you will find opinion divided. Some will tell you that the improvement over previous years is marked, and that progress is clearly defined. Others will insist that the pictures of the day are rotten and growing worse. Without checking up their opinions against the programs they have seen, the information gained by a straw vote seems worthless. The fact is, as we see it, that a few films produced today are so wonderful we can hardly see any possibility of improvement. The balance, we regret to say, show little, if any advance beyond the productions of 1910. The few excellent examples are doubly welcome in that they serve to establish the standard by which our art is judged. But the majority of the dear people see only the mediocre many. The pictures they see may be longer and graced with the name of "feature," but about the only difference between the average five-reel picture today and five single-reelers six years ago is that the five-reel feature produced now hasn't got so much story in it. No doubt the free-lance scenario writer must be taught his place and kept in it, or he will think he is the whole thing. But we've got to give him the respect due a human being and encourage him a little with courtesy and square dealing, and send him a check occasionally or go without original material. "Atmosphere" in the Picture Theater THEATER men who screen pretentious productions of definite character frequently exercise their ingenuity in making the whole theater, clear out to the sidewalk, carry out the scheme of the play. An Indian drama, to these clever and enterprising gentlemen, may call for a totem pole outside and beads and moccasins for the ushers. A simple pastoral story (of which, by the way, more might be produced) suggests rustic decorations inside and out, with a sunbonnet for the cashier and a cow-bell as part of the orchestral equipment, and so on: every picture possessing real individuality can be made to project its atmosphere from the screen to the street curb. Some people call that the psychology of picture presentation. That is the right word, of course, though there is no necessity to inflict it on a humble and hard-working exhibitor. It is just common sense plus the showman's instinct, with maybe the most credit going to the latter — a sort of uncommon sense. And the showman's instinct is a pretty safe guide to pleasing the public — safer than any amount of studying of psychology. All theatrical entertainment depends upon illusion of some sort. That is a good principle for the practical business man in the show business to keep constantly before him. People to whom the illusion is perfect; who are able to forget completely for the hour, that they are looking" at clever posing, and who can accept the play as a window in real life ; those people get the maximum enjoyment. The showman who helps them to this attitude gives them the most enjoyment for their money and hence is the most popular showman. All the decorations and suggestions that help to eliminate the outside world and put the observer right into the life on the screen make the picture more valuable as an entertainer and more beloved by the people. The oft-noted effect of appropriate music has practically the same explanation: its value lies not merely in the fact that the people enjoy music, but rather in its power to activate the emotions and lull the critical and analytical sense. The structural details of the theater, the walls, the commonplace garb of the ushers, all tend to appeal to the critical sense and work against the illusion of the play. Anything that either disguises these distractions or provides means for eliminating the consciousness of their existence and concentrating attention on the illusion of the play makes for a higher appreciation and a greater enjoyment. And enjoyment — not pictures — is what the showman sells. He is successful only as he purveys a good brand of pleasure and, as we said before, the pleasure of theatrical entertainment lies in illusion — in the ability of the audience to forget that it is an audience seated within four walls and looking at a mere picture.