Moving Picture Age (Jan-Dec 1922)

Vol. V No. 9 Moving Picture Age SEPTEMBER 1922 ASK the EDUCATOR! The Editor YOU have seen it happen yourself, if you are familiar with the field of visual instruction. A film producer, his attention caught by the steadily accelerating activity of educational institutions in the use of motion pictures, decides to capitalize the opportunity by producing educational films. Usually he utilizes the news reels and other odd material he has at hand in the preparation of his initial reels ; in some cases the producer, with a somewhat sounder understanding of the requirements of educational material, formulates, as best as he can in consideration of the training he has had, scenarios of educational films that ought to serve the needs of educators, and thereupon produces the films. Too often, no matter what method is employed, the result is the same. The producer, although finding some demand for his product, sooner or later begins to feel that his productions have not definitely filled the want for which they were intended. And why not? Well, have you ever yet written to a tailor to send you simply "a suit of clothes"? If you did not give definite specifications as to measurements, style, color, weight, you would certainly be surprised if the tailor sent you anything but a letter of inquiry. And yet the producer has simply made "educational films," and has turned them loose upon the market with the optimistic hope that they will "fit something, somewhere" ! However, I hasten to assert that the producer is entitled to credit more than blame ; without this unguided production of educational pictures the field of visual instruction would have nothing by which to establish its standard, whereas now it can at least point out what is acceptable and also what is not satisfactory. When the educator has indicated to the producer his true needs, then the producer may make a fresh start with the assurance that his productions answer a tangible rather than an undetermined need. The questionnaire reproduced here has been circulated solely for the purpose of collecting the best thought of visual educators on the educational film. The published opinions merit the careful study of every user of visual aids and every producer of educational films, for they go far to indicate the status of such films in the eyes of those best qualified to judge. The earnest visual educator will be glad to study these conclusions for the furtherance of his own work; the alert producer will seize upon the THE EDUCATIONAL FILM Part I Of so-called educational films (including industrials) that you have used in the classroom, what is the name of the one film that seemed to possess the greatest pedagogical effectiveness? Who produced it? Number of reels? In what subject was the film used? What per cent of the film was devoted to action? ; to diagrams? ; to animated drawings? ; to maps? ; to subtitles? Were the subtitles competent in fact material? ; in grammatical construction? ; in scope? What can be said regarding the character of the action? ; of the diagrams? ; of the animated drawings? ; of the maps? What pedagogical qualities constituted the effectiveness of this film? What features hampered the effectiveness of this film? If you were to edit this film for further classroom use, exactly what changes would you make to give the picture greater educational value? Remarks : Part II Supposing you were to produce for your institution a film on (choose a subject in which you now have classes), how many reels would it contain ? How would you combine the material to be presented; what would be the plan of procedure? What per cent of footage would you devote to each of the various elements such as examples and demonstrations, animated drawings, subtitles, etc.? Would you pay especial attention to subtitles in regard to frequency, length, and content? What educational features would you particularly emphasize as being the essential material upon which the teaching worth of this film would depend? Remarks : material because he recognizes the opportunity to be guided instead of working in a direction that may prove futile. The questionnaire is reproduced for the benefit of those visual educators who now wish to express themselves on the subject. Some of the institutions most prominent in the use of educational films will be glad to accept this last-minute opportunity, and the entire field will benefit by the contributions of thought. In alphabetical order, we first hear from A. G. Balcom, Assistant Superintendent of Schools, Newark, N. J., who is in charge of visual instruction in the Newark public schools. He mentions the film "Henry W. Longfellow" (one reel, Kineto Co. of America) as one of a number of films containing great pedagogical effectiveness. The picture was used in a literature course, and 75 per cent of the film was devoted to action and 25 per cent to subtitles. The subtitles Mr. Balcom considered competent in fact material, grammatical construction, and scope. As for the character of the action : "The action is good, barring the injection of the note to the village blacksmith from the children, 'I love you !' " What constituted the effectiveness of this production was that "it gave in a straightforward, simple manner worthwhile facts concerning Longfellow's life." A feature possibly hampering the effectiveness of the film was "the excessive blowing of smoke by the village blacksmith." Mr. Balcom discusses in detail his thoughts on the subject of making films that are right : I have very clearly in mind the matter of producing pictures in the not-far-distant future. My thought is to base such a picture on school activities, having especially fine photography and good settings with titles that carry the sequence of the subject and that are linked up properly to the pictures that follow each. I do not believe that there will ever be evolved a cut-and-dried principle that will govern the production of pictures for school use, any more than there is at present a particular principle or scheme for teaching a subject. The human element enters into all of this, and consequently there must be scope for individuality and for originality. An important matter is the selection of a title for a film — quite as important as selecting the text for a sermon. Every subtitle and every picture should reinforce the thought involved in the title ; every stroke of the hammer should