Movie Makers (Jun-Dec 1928)

EDUCATIONAL FILMS Visual Education in Schools and Homes Edited by Louis M. Bailey schools, it should not be forgotten that the text which is the most valuable is the one which holds the eager interest of the student. Application of this principle in filming will go far to popularize and make effective the whole program of visual education. News of State Movies ' I 'HE Daughters of the American ■* Revolution are back of a movement which has an excellent informative motive. It proposes to film the story of each state so that the children in its schools may become better acquainted with the community in which they live and also that they may know the characteristics of the other states in the Union. These films are to include a picturization of significant historical incidents, the natural resources, geography, industries, cities and other features of interest. Such films will do much to bring about a better understanding between the various sections of the country, for knowledge and appreciation of the good qualities of each will break down whatever prejudice might exist. Of course this filming should be done from a purely educational point of view in order that commercialism may not exert an influence. They should be the property of the D. A. R. or on completion be turned over to proper visual education authorities to be loaned for use in keeping California poppies with their purpose. Blooming on a Pillsbury Film Teutonic Achievement Flomers and Film JUDGING from German and American educational pictures recently observed we have much to learn from the former concerning the skillful use of film in visual education. In a series of nature studies in which the nuances of psychological appeal have been very wisely respected Ufa has achieved the success of producing educationals at once both accurately informative and highly entertaining. In Life of the Twilight, for instance, in which the subject is botanical and zoological, a human interest element is secured, which both heightens its attention value and strengthens its educational content, by translating the activities of lower forms of vegetable and animal life into corresponding human values. That such a picture, in which the material is more readily grasped and longer retained, carries its message with greater force is readily seen, since its appeal is naturally much stronger for all age groups than a film whose subject is treated in a coldly scientific manner. In the effort to differentiate clearly between the theatrical and the educational, when producing films for the 592 OR. A. C. PILLSBURY, whose ■!■»■* film, The Birth of a Flower, is now on world tour under the supervision of Mr. Clarke Irvine, has opened a field of fascinating interest, the latent possibilities of which rival in dramatic incident anything offered in the drama of human endeavor. This has largely been accomplished through the invention by Mr. Pillsbury of the "tandem microscope" camera, the use of which permits the most intimate details of flower life to be photographed, and compresses into a moment's time growth which actually may have required days. The drama of plant life is as intricate and complex as humanity's own. The poignant and fragile beauty of the anemone, with flaming senses pulsating to the growth, love, tragedy and decay of life, furnishes a subject of startling and profound interest. Because the continuity of such a story can be so perfect the use of subtitles is eliminated, thus making possible a picture completely cinematic. The educational value of such films, especially when translated into their relationships to human life, can not be over estimated. Young Russia Revolts TPHE semi-educational pictures be•*• ing shown in special houses for boys and girls in Leningrad under the auspices of Professor Byelsky, of the Institute for Children Hard to Educate seem to have rather strenuous competition in the form of the regular movie houses. The children somehow prefer pictures of the "Wild West" to those meant for improvement of the mind. In fact, it has been found that the favorite star is Harry Piel with Douglas Fairbanks a close second, and that most of the young fans do not wish to grow up like Lenin, Trotsky and other great chiefs of the Commune but look forward to being cowboys, acrobats or even croupiers in big gambling resorts. In view of some of the events of the past decade in Russia's history this normalcy of taste in the present generation seems almost hopeful, as even Russian children should not be expected to give up all sense of pleasure in life even when confronted with a choice between that and intellectual advancement. Thus it will be seen that educational films in order to cope with the drawing power of films made purely for entertainment, must include qualities of entertainment as well as educational values. Farm Films RECENT 35 mm. film releases by the United States Department of Agriculture include a one-reeler on the principal of selective breeding as practiced at the Sin-a-Bar Farms, Grain Valley, Missouri. The film shows improvement in the beef type of cattle brought about by breeding ordinary cows with pure bred bulls. Results gained through years of experience are compressed into a fifteen minute film, one scene showing by a series of fadeouts four successive generations of calves whose actual breeding and growth required nearly ten years. The successful results in animal husbandry demonstrated at this farm have hitherto been available for study only to the few who could make the trip there. Now that the project has been filmed the benefits may be seen anywhere by anyone interested in the matter. Bookings for the picture may be arranged by application to the office of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.