Talking pictures : how they are made, how to appreciate them (c. 1937)

The Road Ahead Out of 16,375 motion picture equipments we have in the schools of this country, there are only 1675 talking picture projectors, or less than 10 per cent of the whole. And there are thousands of schools which have no film projecting equipment, either silent or vocal. Today a course in a good technical school, plus practical telephone or radio experience, provides valuable background for film sound engineering. There are so few cameramen needed in the studios that the chance for an outsider to enter this present select circle is quite remote. New studio cinematographers are being developed by an approach to the old guild method, wherein a boy of sixteen would attach himself to a "master" or helper, doing menial work, cleaning and repairing and adjusting, until he gradually learned his trade. But when the educational film broadens, as it surely will, there will be many positions for trained motion photographers. Some of these are sure to come from men who have been amateur cameramen in high school or college cinema clubs, or youngsters who have carried a hobby to its furthest degree. No rules, educational or otherwise, can be laid down for writers. The writing flame burns where it pleases. It may be found in the mind of an Oxford graduate or in the soul of a tramp. And it is already apparent that persons who can really write never need seek the studios. The supply of really great stories is so small, the demand by picture makers so great, that the successful author quickly finds a path beaten to his door by eager film story editors. Like the recipe for rabbit stew which began, "First, catch your rabbit," to be asked by a [289]