Reel and Slide (Mar-Dec 1918)

REEL and SLIDE The problem of films is a complicated one, especially for those who hold to the more traditional views of the Church. Because of the antagonism between the Church and the theater those occupying the stage have too often voluntarily absented themselves from the Church and maintained standards of life that were denounced by the Church. The dramatic work of these people before the moving picture camera has not always been in accordance with the standards of the Church and the books dramatized have not always been those the Church would have selected. Again, when the professional actors have taken Biblical stories or the lives of religious leaders, they have not had the background of Biblical history to bring out the religious value of the story and the sacred picture breathes the secular spirit of the theater. But better films will come as the people demand them. Religious and educational institutions must pioneer the way. I believe any film portraying a moral tone can be of service • to the Church. Pageants picturing the progressive events of secular history have an educational value that equals the educational value of dramas picturing the storied events of sacred history. And, there are successions of events in which the religious value of a secular picture equals the religious value of a socalled sacred picture. Sycamore is a city of 4,000. It has one moving picture theater that runs week days by which service to the community the manager gets his living. It has one Church equipped with a moving picture that runs only on certain Sunday nights and then without paid admissions. There is thu^ maintained a friendly feeling between the Church and the theater and by or tv^ro reels of moving pictures covering the same story, and the subject matter of the discourse is amplified and illustrated and the whole is more effective than either would be alone. And the audience is increased from two hundred to five hundred per cent because of the picture. If the Church is to deliver its message to the people, it must do one or two things : It must attractively induce the people to come to the Church and give them something when they come, or it must employ nurses and social workers to carry the message to them. This is our third year in the use of the screen. We give once a month the whole evening to a moving picture feature film, using films that measure up to high moral standards, such as "Snow White" staged by the National Organization of Woman's Clubs, "The Old Homestead," "Hulda of Holland" and David Harum," which we secured from The Lea-Bel Company, Chicago. One Sunday a month we use the stereopticon alone. Another Sunday a month we use a straight lecture or sermon by an imported speaker. The fourth Sunday is taken care of by an endowed union service, "The Stevens Free Lecture and Concert Course" which is put upon the community basis by the trustees of our Church. The Problem of Films Our pictures are used exclusively upon Sunday nights and form a part of our regular Church service. The evening offerings are applied toward the expense of films and slides, etc. Whatever deficit remains at the end of the year the guarantors gladly pay, rejoicing to assist in an enterprise that is rendering such religious service to the community. iniraiiniiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiinniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin^ the right co-operation a higher grade of films are presented both week-days and Sundays. A Message for Modern World The moving picture, like many other good things, has been "tabooed" by the Church until it was finally moved by the spirit of its manhood to place the "rejected stone as the headstone of the corner." The educational and inspirational value of pictures is not fully realized by those who shape the policies and direct the progress of the Church. Beautiful pictures appeal to the best that is within man. Pictorial presentations of moral courage, the righteous spirit, and conscientious persistance combating the forces of evil, call forth nobility and the heroic qualities from the depths of the soul. I wish the Story of Ruth were filmed so as to preserve the marvelous affection of one woman for another as portrayed in devotion to domestic duties ; the conflict between religious ideals and economic conditions ; and the social changes wrought through the dissipation of wealth. I wish the book of Job were rightly dramatized for the moving picture screen. It has a message for the modern world that could be delivered to the people if presented where the people gather. The Story of Esther could be another marvelous production both from the standpoint of beautiful court scenes, strong religious convictions, and the just consequences that follow deceptive plotting. There is no end to the possibilities in this religious field for moving pictures, but until the rejected stone is fully and properly built into the true arch of life, we of the Church shall have to "feel our way" along the highway to larger usefulness. Sees Projector in Every School By Arthur E. Curtis, B. A. i i f WOULD rather have one reel of I film on certain subjects than all the teaching one teacher can do in a week." This brief but powerful statement was delivered to the writer a few weeks ago by the principal of one of the Chicago schools. And he is considered a conservative man, too. His words of wisdom are directly in line with those of Thomas Edison, who some years ago made the statement: "Every subject in the schools, except mathematics and grammar, can be taught effectively by motion pictures, and personally, I don't care whether grammar is taught or not." Having been a grammar teacher, and having witnessed many terms of grammar shed from pupils' minds like the proverbial "HsO" from the duck's back, I agree with the last clause in Mr. Edison's sentence. Perhaps I did not know how to make the H2O stick, but I did my best. A New Force and Power I second Edison's entire statement with all the weight of my conviction. I do not mean that pictures will supplant texts ; they will complement them. They will be the mental clincher. They will make the student an eyewitness to the real life of book abstractions. And with many students they will be the chief source of information. To the largest percentage of pupils, pic tures are the butter on the bread of knowledge which they glean from text books. Much depends on the subject and the teacher. Motion pictures are developing a new kind of pedagogy and a new type of teacher. "The instructor and professor of the future will have a new and powerful and elaborate force to handle. The universities and normals will train him to use it. It will make the teacher's work at once more pleasant, more complicated, yet more effective. Can Show Pond Life The first normal schools and teachers' colleges turning out teachers skilled in the handling of the instrument of visual instruction, and equipped with the practical knowledge of securing and using films, are blazing an educational trail which will be written as one of pedagogy's most important advances since the invention of printing. And what professor or teacher who ever used a map or illustrated book can doubt this? You and I will live to see motion picture equipment built into every new university hall, college chapel and school assembly room. We will See portable machines for every class room. The school board of one of the largest cities of the middle West has passed a rule that no school building can be built without a motion picture booth included as a part of the architecture of the auditorium. Other cities will follow suit. One limitation up to the present time has been the lack of information concerning available films and equipment suited to the educational institution. How many teachers of zoology are aware that there are available, films which make microscopic pond life live before your eyes? How much can a professor add to his course by commanding the amoeba, the paramoecium, the stentor and the hydra to perform their natural evolutions on the screen, magnified thousands of times with each minute detail brought clearly out? Canada's "Rookies" Study German Army Pictures C.\NADA'S new recruits have been studying the German army with the aid of moving pictures. Since the outbreak of the war the censors have placed a ban on practically all German war pictures, but an exception has been made in the case of nine reels which were taken at the eastern front and show Von Hindenburg's army. These were first exhibited in Canada, in Camp Borden, under military auspices and were viewed by large numbers of "rookies." The pictures give the new recruits a very good idea of how the German soldiers look and act, and for that reason are considered of real value in the training camp. So interested were officials in securing these nine reels, it is said, that one of the battalions paid the duty on them. This idea may be taken up by Uncle Sam.