Moving Picture World (July-Dec 1910)

THE MOVING PICTURE W'OKI.H howi .i. the i igcncii of duty oblige them to K<t'i> in the I mm!. I he title at the heading of this article may possibly i abstruse or difficult to understand. Unfortunately terminology of our subject is not so simple as it might be. Jt is necessary to use terms which, though, quite . to trained men of science, frequently confuse and perplex the ignorant. Still we will endeavor to be as plain as possible, consistent with the due and proper treatment of our subject. Briefly, what we want to say in this article are a few words about a somewhat neglected field in moving picture science. We mean the union of the moving picture with the microscope. That is why we have chosen the above term, the micro-kinetoscope, to convey what we have in mind. In the. original kinetoscope put on the market some seventeen years ago, it will be remembered that one looked through occulars on to a tolerably large image in a cabinet which moved across the field of view. With slight variations this is the basic principle of the mutoscope and other devices. But here you don't look at a continuous film, but upon a series of different pictures which recede from the axis of the occular or eye piece. Anybody who has worked with a microscope or who has studied it, or who is familiar with the scientific field that it embraces must realize how great are its potentialities for conveying instruction, information and, in many senses, amusement to the seriously inclined. The microscope shows us what are practically enlarged pictures of exceedingly little, or virtually invisible objects. Were it not for the microscope, the principal part of which is a carefully made objective of exceedingly short focus, it is doubtful if any American breakfast table to-morrow morning would be free of poisonous food. It is the microscope which, in the hands of Dr. Wiley down at Washington, enables him to keep tab of attempted adulteration. It is the microscope which enables the bacteriologist to locate, identify, isolate, typhoid, diphtheria, rli. .lera germs, etc. All these scourges of humanity are tracked clown by the microscope. Of course, there are adjuncts to this beautiful instrument in the work of the constant espionage of nature and life in miniature, such as photography, drawing, lantern projection, organic analysis, etc. But it is the microscope itself which primarily renders all this work possible. Consider, now, if in the hands of all men of science, scholastic professors, chemists, experimentalists, investigators and physicists who use the microscope for research work — consider what a great additional power would be placed in their hands if to the enlarged images of the minutiae of organic life, which it is their duty to examine and study, the valuable property or element of motion were imparted. In other words the presence in the laboratory, the lecture theater, the class room, on the parlor table, of moving pictures of microscopic objects: the lower organisms in water ; zymotic germs ; animalculae ; diatoms — everything in fact in the world which, on account of its miniature form or structure, it is desirable to photograph and enlarge. From the sublime to the ridiculous : just fancy a moving picture of pulex irritans under the microscope. Verily, that would be a great sight to many a suffering mortal. Radium is said to be a substance which possesses something like the property of perpetual motion. Would it ii' >t be interesting to have a microscopic moving picture 1 l it? We pause in our suggestions, for this is really such a vast subject that it is impossible for us to handle it completely in such a short article. Our present object is to throw out the suggestion and draw attention to the fact that progressive science and its up-to-date methods of teaching demand the union of the mi' \\ith the moving picture. We are not betraying secrets when we say that the manufacturing and assembling work of the micro-kinetoscope is actually being proceeded with at the present time. The practical outcome of this would be that sooner or later for a comparatively small sum we shall be able to buy a small table microscope in which we may view moving pictures of small objects. There is clearly a wide field awaiting this application of the theory of persistence of vision. The Usual Thing. Second Article. When we printed our little article last week under the above title, wc hardly expected that it would secure the reception that it has. It has pleased us very much to hear it quoted, requoted and generally approved of by all sections of the moving picture field with which we have come into contact these last few days — and we get about a bit, as the reader knows. The phrase, "the usual thing," is, of course, as we pointed out, not our invention. It has caught on in people's minds as describing, or indicating, a mediocre, or indifferent, moving picture. We are glad of it. There is much virtue, much power and much potency in a phrase. A phrase killed Mr. Blaine's chances of the Presidency. Mr. Roosevelt's phrases are far-reaching in their effects. Even such a wealthy man as the late Edward Harriman was afraid of them. The late Mr. Cleveland asserted the dignity of this country in a controversy with Great Britain, in a single phrase. This phrase of ours, then, "the usual thing," may not improbably be the means of relegating the mediocre to its proper place. Even as we are writing this article we have visitors who are disclaiming any desire, any intention, or any advantage to themselves of making "the usual thing" in the way of moving pictures. They are aiming to produce the very highest class of picture that can be produced so that the public will be satisfied and attracted to the picture instead of disappointed and repelled. "The usual thing," in fact, is doomed. The race for quality is being run in deadly earnest. Only last week we felt it our duty to condemn both orally and in print, several pictures of the type of the usual thing, in the preparation of which many thousands of dollars had been expended if not wasted. It is not pleasant for us to have to do this; we would rather praise than deprecate. At the same time we are ever desirous, nay anxious, to encourage. There is always room at the top. Several manufacturers, who at the present time are producing "the usual thing," must not take it amiss from us if we are severe on their work. We are severe only to be kind. Commendation and praise may help a good picture into popularity, but they will never advantage a bad picture. Failure teaches many valuable lessons, not the least important of which is that good work, and good work only, is one of the primary conditions of success in moving picture making. This is a truism and may be trite, but it is a lesson that requires to be driven home. The real uplift of the moving picture, of which so much was written about last year, is the uplift of quality — photographic, producing, artistic, narrative quality. With all these at their best there will be no need to talk about uplift: the goal will have been reached. All that is left, then, is competition, emulation and progress. Look at the illustrated magazines and publications that are issued from the press in such great numbers to-day compared with the productions of ten or twenty years ago. Note the conditions: "The usual thing" in magazine and public illustration has been killed off. By "the usual thing" we mean the old wood cut of badly drawn subjects.