Moving Picture Age (Nov-Dec 1919)

MOVING PICTURE AGE 39 Undersea Flora andj^Fauna Filmed for School Use By Jonas Howard Submarine motion pictures of undersea flora and fauna are to be brought to the school moving picture screen by the use of the Williamson Submarine Tube and Patented Inventions, according to Mr. J. E. Williamson, who recently returned from the West Indies where he purchased an island for a base from which to further his studies in marine life. While the Williamson devices have heretofore been chiefly of value in reproducing submarine scenes for dramatic purposes, the great possibilities created by these remarkable inventions are now to be utilized in the production of educational reels, suitable for projection in the class room. "The study of oceanography," said Mr. Williamson, "is getting more in favor every year. In fact several important colleges are contemplating the establishment of chairs of oceanography. Life under the sea is intimately connected with the development of life abdve and many revelations have been made in recent years under the ocean which are of value to the scientific world in general. "We have already photographed some excellent views of submarine foliage and fish of many kinds. These pictures have been incidental parts of dramatic productions and have already had projeetion in the leading theaters, though there was no effort made in their showing to explain in detail the subjects by means of technical titles. That is a work that will require much thought and preparation. "We have been approached by many scientific men concerning the possibilities of utilizing the Williamson devices for strictly educational purposes and have found much enthusiasm among these men who have learned to be conservative. That a pictorial course in oceanography will be a practical addition to the curriculum of the average high school cannot be doubted. When we first projected our original undersea film containing our foliage and fish subjects before an audience at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, scores of scientific men and others requested permission to be present. As it was, the room was stuffed to suffocation with senators, public officials and men of learning. The undersea films were pronounced perfect specimens and their possibilities were lauded by all. "Since then we have improved our tube and apparatus and it is even more efficient now than before. We have descended to a deoth of 60 feet under water and carried on our work and we can now project light and photograph within a radius, of 150 feet under water, while one original experimenter of note declared, after many tests, that it is impossible to photograph through more than three feet of water. With the Williamson apparatus there is practically no depth to which we may not descent in time to come, and we are prepared to adapt our tube and apparatus to greater water pressure when we go to greater depths. "The wonderful work accomplished in oceanography by the Prince of Monaco is of great interest, but where his devices merely bring specimens to the surface for examination, our tube permits us to study creatures in their natural surroundings. The value of this can be scarcely estimated. "The element of motion certainly adds to the value of any pictorial representation of water creatures and only the moving pictures can make this possible. They are superior in this respect to actual eyesight since a film may be repeated as many times as desired for the purpose of close study, a thing not natural when the actual specimen is confined to a glass tank. "Films dealing with oceanography will require careful preparation and much planning before they are actually made. They will be produced best under the supervision of experts and authorities. We cannot hope to film everything under the sea, so we want to get those specimens which are of the most value to the naturalist. We are experts in the line of submarine photography and do not claim to be naturalists though we are amateurs. We will co-operate with the proper experts when the time comes to make these school reels most effective. "The market for such a library should be immense since much of the material can be presented in popular form in theaters. Our first undersea pictures were shown for twenty-one weeks at a leading London theater at a high price, because of the attractiveness of the subject of marine life." George J. Zehrung, director of the Motion Picture Bureau of the International Committee of the Young Men's Christian Association, has been elected a vice-president of the American Educational Motion Picture Association. H. H. Casselman of the Graphic Department of the Interchurch World Movement and G. Clyde Fisher, Associate Curator of the Department of Public Education, American Museum of National History, have been elected members of the Advisory Committee of the association. Paramount Uses New Device in Animated Drawings A new device in the production of animated drawings for the screen by W. O. Hurst, of the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, has been employed in forthcoming numbers of the Paramount Magazine, the new weekly one-reel subject being produced by the corporation's educational department. By this device it is said to be possible to show animated drawings simultaneously with photographic subjects, so that when actual photography will lend greater clarity and atmosphere to an animated drawing it will be used with the drawings. Mr. Hurst, it is said, hit upon the device during the production of "Forty Minutes to France," one of the subjects in the second release of the Paramount Magazine, which treats of the route, construction and operation of the long-discussed tunnel between Dover, England, under the English Channel, to Calais, France. One of the scenes in the picture shows an animated drawing of a tunnel train passing the French landscape after it has emerged from the tunnel. In ordinary animated subjects the landscape would be drawn by the artist; but in this subject the artistdrawn train passes against a background of real French scenery. The Victor Animatograph Company of Davenport, Iowa, has recently issued their catalogue of Viopticon lantern slides, which includes both the Standard and Viopticon size. The subjects range widely and include religious, scientific, industrial, educational, art, literary and many others, and most of them are accompanied by lectures. PRIZMA A new method of practical, color motion photography that re-creates Nature on the screen in all her splendid colors. Entertaining, instructive, and altogether delightful ! Now showing in leading theatres. ASK THE MANAGER OF YOUR FAVORITE THEATRE Distributed by all WORLD FILM BRANCHES