Visual Education (Jan-Dec 1922)

292 Visual Education A CORNER OF THE PROPERTY ROOM According to the declaration of the film company, everything from soap to nuts can be found in this place. Courtesy of Goldwyn Pictures The scene painters work with canvas nailed to a framework and mounted on a carrier which may be raised or lowered through a slot in the floor while the painters remain stationary. Their work is so cleverly executed that, like that of the carpenters, it also deceives a critical and observing public. Always the Question of Dress One of the most alluring places in the studio is the wardrobe. When it is recalled that sometimes hundreds of extras are employed, all of whom must have a special costume, it can be seen that the wardrobe mistress is one of the most important studio functionaries. Designers of international reputation, assisted by a skilled staff, work eontinally at break-neck speed. The gowns created for the stars must express their personality, be in harmony with the atmosphere of the play, and at the same time be several miles in advance of the current style. The camera is too frank to permit the use of cheap fabrics and poor designing; the material must lie in graceful folds and have the proper sheen. In one studio on the western coast, the wardrobe contains 5000 costumes of various periods, 61,125 hats and 400 swords of different periods. In the moth-proof vault are sables valued at $100,000. All of these costumes are carefully indexed and numbered, and a record is kept of their use. Transplanting Atmosphere If the director needs the wild beasts of the jungle to fit in with his plot and to create the illusion of a tropical background, it is not necessary for him to travel with his company to Africa or South America. Many of the large studios maintain their own zoos with tender and scientific care. ' In Universal City each side of every building represents some different historical period, as do also the bridges and the streets. This rather astonishing architectural variety is planned in order to provide {Continued on page 311) Stay-in-School Arguments Via the Screen ONE of the most difficult tasks confronting the educator is to make young people realize that to achieve success in life they must be prepared — that without a good general education and specific vocational training they will most likely stay at the bottom. The Vocational Guidance Bureau of the Chicago Public Schools is making a very practical and effective use of the visual idea in solving this vital problem. In order to help boys and girls who are about to graduate from the grammar school "see" that in the high-school vocational courses lies their opportunity to fit themselves for a career, the Vocational Guidance Bureau has developed a series of slides which visualize the activities of the high schools, emphasizing particularly those which are vocational in type. These slides and scores of others are shown to groups of eighth-grade pupils during the weeks preceding the close of school, by way of stimulating and giving concrete form to a desire to continue the educational process. A significant increase in the high school enrollment is proving the wisdom of this use of the visual. The vocational opportunities now available in our big-city schools are surprisingly numerous and varied, In the four-year technical course, for instance, the boy may lay a sound foundation for becoming an architectural draftsman, contractor, machinist, electrician, auto mechanic, architect or engineer. The four-year science course starts embryo druggists, laboratory assistants, doctors or dentists well on their way. One of the slides pictured on the opposite page shows two girl students of the commercial course making practical application, in a loop department store, and under normal, everyday conditions, of what they have learned in school of the science of salesmanship. Many of the city's shops and stores thus co-operate with the schools by arranging to have students do temporary work on Saturdays, work for which the boys and' girls are paid in hard cash as well as valuable experience. O.ther vocational opportunities for girls are suggested by slides showing the work in millinery, dressmaking, interior decorating, cooking and other studies in the Household Arts group.