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COMMENTS ON PRODUCTION 225
motion pictures was but an embellishment — an effect comparable to that of a novel lighting or colouring system. However, it was soon found that a new art, revolutionary in the field of entertainment, had come into existence, one that would not only affect the making of motion pictures, but that might exert a material influence on the future of the theatre. At the outset, furthermore, most of the pictures were limited to the exploitation of accompaniments of sound effects and music, and in but few instances included dialogue. Practically all films, moreover, were made in duplicate as silent pictures for use in the many theaters that were not equipped for sound projection. As an indication of the progress that has been made, however, during the year 1929, let me say that more than three hundred and fifty major productions with musical accompaniment or dialogue, or both, have been scheduled by producers.
In order to keep those within the industry informed of the progress that was being made, and to familiarize them with the problems that still had to be met, a systematic control by questionnaire was inaugurated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. At first the most difficult of such problems arose in connection with story construction direction and vocal rendition. Such problems, of course, were not to be solved as readily by research methods as by developments brought out through actual experience. In another direction research was already prepared to contribute. From the ranks of the large electrical organizations that had developed the various sound devices the technical forces of the studio were augmented, and the industry was schooled in the use of the apparatus involved. The cinematographers, beginning with the information thus made available to them, conducted further studies. In addition, many producers imported from the legitimate theatre dramatists and directors who brought