Reel and Slide (Jan-Sep 1919)

REEL and SLIDE 17 Educators Urged to Supervise Their Motion Pictures Step Declared Necessary if Visual Instruction Is to Become More General Methods for Nation-Wide Organization and Plan for Financing Outlined By Albert C. Derr, D. D., Ph. D. (Moving picture supervisor at Camp Dodge. From an address before the Superintendents' Club at Des Moines) IT has been a privilege and a pleasure to have gathered some first hand information during a wide and varied experience with moving pictures covering a period of about twenty-five years. I purchased the fourth machine Edison had for sale in 1893. Not much of a machine and not much picture, compared with what we have today. I have followed down the line of development, using pictures in the class room, the ministry, the lecture bureau and in Chautauqua work. For the last twelve years I have given considerable attention to test lessons in the classroom. These have been with the kindergarten, primary, various grades, high school, college and medical schools. The use of moving pictures in the classroom has really become somewhat of a hobby with me, for I have been spending several years working on a curriculum for the classroom, ranging from the kindergarten to the post-graduate course, including the medical school. When I speak of moving pictures for the classroom I am not bringing to your attention the entertainment side. That will always take care of itself. I am thinking of the pedagogical side and the use in the classroom as a means to accomplish the greatest amount of good and the lowest expenditure of dollars and cents to the school board. The objection has frequently been raised that it is too expensive. The films have cost more than they should. They have been produced entirely by the theatrical producers, who .thought there was a wide field for the educational films. They thought that was as great a money maker as in the theatrical field, where they were making the big spectacular pictures. However, they charged too much for their films, and the schools did not accept their endeavors. About six months ago I was doing a little maneuvering to find out how much of this available material could be gathered for use in this curriculum for school work. I found there were between four and five million feet of film available. All this material is not entirely satisfactory, as it is not entirely in harmony with the teachers' method of teaching, but a number have been made which are quite satisfactory and which bring out many good educational points. Many of these are helpful and available. It is necessary that an advance step be taken to get something which is fully satisfactory for the classroom. Let me tell you of a brief illustration given in the classroom. The subject was geography — Japan — the industry, rice culture. When I assigned that to the class, I asked them the day before the showing to get all the information possible regarding rice, such as where first discovered, how found, all about culture, gathering, hulling and distributing. When the picture was being shown I gave a talk explaining it in detail from the teachers' standpoint. While I was giving the picture I could see the children's eyes brighten up. Here they were actually seeing what they had been reading about. In other words, it was bringing the abstract into concrete form. Let me say here that motion pictures are made to be shown at the rate of sixteen pictures per second. Below ten you do not get a moving picture. A thousand-foot reel should take twenty minutes to run, but theaters often rush them through in ten or fifteen minutes. For an educational picture I always run from twenty-five to thirty minutes for a whole reel. Films Big Aid to Memory The next day after viewing the picture I told the class I wanted them to write a letter to some friend, but before it was sent the teacher was to look over the letter. -This letter would bring out the natural impulse of the child. The teacher saw just what needed correction or encouraging. Another lesson was on Yellowstone National Park. Nine months after these two lessons were given I came back again and I asked for the same classes and the same teachers. Let me here state that I had two paralleled, classes. One was given the privilege of seeing the picture, one was not. The one which had not seen the pictures had the most extended description. When I asked each class questions I found that those who had seen the pictures remembered 90 per cent, while those who had not seen the pictures remembered 10 per cent. Another test : those seeing pictures without previous preparation remembered only 40 per cent, showing that this preparation develops thought, concentration and power of observation. Seven years ago I began writing a letter to each state university and many of the colleges. Six years ago I followed with another letter. Five years ago I followed with another letter with the object in view of a co-operative movement by which educational pictures would be produced by educators. It is this same message that I wish to bring to you today and hope something may result from this meeting which will start a nucleus for putting the matter in a concrete form which will soon become a national movement. My plan is this. The teacher knows best what is needed for proper instruction in the classroom. The idea is, then, to have the educational pictures produced by educators. Let each state university or state educational institution purchase (if they do not already own) a moving picture camera. Let one or two of the professors become thoroughly familiar with the use of the moving "picture camera and the necessary lighting system. Whenever any special experimental work or lessons or student activities are given, the camera man is on the ground equipped and ready to take the picture. He and the accompanying teacher or teachers know just what should be taken for practical instruction. In this way the various universities having different lines of studies can contribute their respective parts. Thus the entire number of universities would or could produce all the necessary pictures to complete the required curriculums. It would be rather expensive for each institution to have its own developing plant. For this reason a centralized head should be established, which would have the entire oversight of all the work being done by the various universities. It should have its developing plant and training school for camera men. All negatives would then be sent to this plant to be developed and such positive printed as necessary. This would furnish sufficient work to employ capable and skilled men and furnish sufficient work to justify the expense of such men. This central headquarters could then become the clearing house and jobbing concern to furnish the material for such places in each state, which should be made the distributing point for the state, which should preferably be placed at one or more of the state institutions. This would reduce the overhead and bring to a minimum the exchange expense. If the work became too heavy for one distributing plant as many as necessary could be established. Methods for Financing Work There are several ways in which the financing of the central head could be done. One would be to make a co-operative movement with some incorporated company which has had wide experience in the educational and religious moving picture work. The developing by this company could be" done at a trifle above actual cost on the furnished negative and finished positive copies. The negative would remain with the company, which could pay the institution where the negative was taken a small royalty on all copies made for rent or for sale, which would approximately pay for the raw stock and overhead expense on negative and camera work. The state institution or distributing point could distribute to all educational institutions within the state either at the cost of transportation, or the transportation and a very nominal rental fee could be charged to cover the cost of purchasing the film library and upkeep. This would bring the cost very much below prevailing rental prices today. The incorporated company should then have the privilege of renting the subjects to the Y. M. C. A., churches, woman's clubs, etc., in order to give it a reasonable profit to justify its investment. Another plan of financing would be for the various state institutions to contribute toward the installing equipment and pay the salaries and overhead expense of the men in charge of this department. These men would have an opportunity to study each institution and find which are best prepared to make special lines of subjects necessary to complete a perfect curriculum. Judging from the new federal movements either of the above methods would be preferable to having the development start from the Department of Education at Washington, as it would put the actual practical work in the hands of practical teachers who are now engaged in teaching. The work should be done in co-operation with a committee from the N. E. A. and also each state teachers' organization. This would prevent it from starting in a stereotyped form, which would not be practical or become practical for years to come. The above methods could be put