Pictorial beauty on the screen (1923)

Record Details:

Title:
Pictorial beauty on the screen
Date:
1923
Publisher:
New York : The Macmillan Company
Volume:
Pictorial beauty on the screen
Leaf #:
00049
Language:
English
Collection:
Books
Format:
Books
Contributor:
Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum
Sponsor:
Media History Digital Library
Coordinator:
Media History Digital Library
Description:
Date Added:
December 14, 2023
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CHAPTER III EYE TESTS FOR BEAUTY Do the movies hurt your eyes? Some say "yes" and some say "no." Why is it that photoplay scenes sometimes flash and dazzle, but have neither radiance nor sparkle ? Why is it that the motions sometimes shown on the screen get "on your nerves"? Why is it that you look at so much on the screen and remember so little? These questions can be answered by making certain eye tests for beauty, and, having answerea them, we may proceed to a detailed discussion of pictorial composition in a great variety of cases. In order to understand how the pleasure of pictorial beauty comes to a spectator, we must analyze the processes of looking and seeing. These processes consist partly of eye-work and partly of brain-work. That is, the physical eye must do certain work before the brain gets the visual image. Now if the physical eye has to work too hard, or bear a sudden strain, or undergo excessive wear, it will not function well ; and, consequently, the brain will have to work harder in order to grasp the picture. All this causes displeasure, and displeasure is in conflict with beauty. Let us state, once for all, that motion pictures need never hurt the eyes — quite the contrary. Yet we have 25