Reel and Slide (Mar-Dec 1918)

REEL and SLIDE Madison Has Its Own Picture Sho^v As a forerunner of what we might expect in the future, the enterprising capital of Wisconsin, Madison, has inaugurated a pubhc picture show, open to the general public and in the best room of the capitol building. How was it done? In the first place, I decided that if I could aid in educating the public to the fact that our nation is at war, I would be doing a worthy thing in helping to win it. This was my first thought. Naturally I turned my attention to the moving picture screen, and began looking around for the right kind of subjects in the educational .and industrial line. I found plenty of good reels from which to make a selection. But, I wanted, chiefly, pictures that would come under the heading of "war educationals." And I wanted to entertain as well as to instruct, in order to make my exhibition a success. Next came the question, where shall we give the show? ^f^J^t-ja»n?P'^^^\5-^T(P^^ Wisconsin uses the best room in its capitol building to show educationals. Perhaps the finest and most beautiful room in any public building in the country is the Hearing Room in the capitol building at Madison. It offered ample seating capacity and first rate conveniences for projection. My plan was to give a show every Saturday, since there are more people with the time to attend on that day. I started to use one of the larger Edison machines and gave three free shows ,to at least 250 people at each show. At the first Saturday matinee, the first picture shown was "Paul Revere's Ride," followed by "Civilian Preparedness" repeated at the three shows. The next Saturday we showed four reels, ■"How England Prepared," 'The Birth of the Flag." Wisconsin Official Takes Over Finest Public Room in Country to Show Industrial and War Preparedness Subjects — Plan a Success By M. F. Blumenfeld. Superintendent of Public Property, Madison, Wisconsin. The third Saturday we showed four more reels, "How England Prepared," "A State Fair Picture" of one reel, showing the unfurling of the battleship Wisconsin flag which, by the way, was won by the ship in target practice, and "From Grass to Glass," a dairy subject conserving food, from the cow in the pasture to the milk in the home. The fourth picture was also an agricultural picture, "The Kernel of Wheat," showing the seed, how cultivated, finally manufactured into flour and the family at the table eating their meal. We shall try to continue showing free pictures on Saturday afternoons, not in competition to the movie houses, but purely for educational purposes, which has been our intent from the start. The attendance has been more than we ever anticipated, and therefore I will soon be obliged to use the assembly chamber, which will seat 600. We have enjoyed the very valuable assistance and co-operation of the State Council of Defense. There is no reason why other cities cannot do as well as we have done. All that is needed is a little co-operation on the part of those in office. New Stereopticon Uses Moving Picture Film A STEREOPTICON that uses standard width motion picture film in place of glass slides is being put on the market by the Autopticon Company of Chicago. This machine is designed primarily for educational and church work, though it offers also a wide range of use in advertising. "We have aimed to produce a stereopticon that would overcome many disadvantages," said Mr. W. R. Mengel, "and I believe we have hit the bullseye. Above all, the Autopticon is convenient. We have made elaborate preparations to manufacture film on any subject wanted, but we are chiefly going to concentrate on subjects created by our users. We are able to turn out excellent 'slides' on standard width motion picture film, at a very low cost, which can be hand-tinted or stained if desired. This film can be easily rolled up and mailed in a can for a few cents with no fear of damage. Our machine will take from 1 to 100 pictures at one loading. "The screen has become so widely used in educational and church work that we have seen the need for a compact and at the same time efficient stereopticon of this type for some time." M. F. Blumenfeld conceived the idea of shozving educational reels at public expense. He is Wisconsin state superintendent of public property. Birds, Fish on Color Films Tried by Stone GEORGE E. STONE of Berkeley, California, who is undoubtedly one of the most successful photographers of educational subjects in the country, ha? just completed a year's work experimenting with the new Prizma color method. In an especially built hothouse he has been filming flowers of the rarest kind. Other subjects which Mr. Stone has been working on include the trout in the Eel River, Mendocino County, California, in which he also used the fish hatcheries on Mount Shasta. It is shown how the trout are able to leap waterfalls. Mr. Stone pictures an interesting forest fire near Mount Shasta. Besides the above, Mr. Stone has secured excellent pictures of the cormorant, the pufiin, the petrel, the gull and the murre. In Nature study especially is this new process important.