Visual Education (Jan 1923-Dec 1924)

March, 192 3 89 "Equal work" began in play for Mollie and Jim when children, and ended in "equal pay" in the factory. A mashed finger, a dirty bandage, and "Go home for the rest of the day," are the reward of long hours of work to an over-fatigued and underpaid Rosa. Mollie's bright eyes and fine physique speak of short hours, adequate wages, and good working conditions. Making a Propaganda Motion Picture Mary N. Winslow Women's Bureau, United States Department of Labor IT IS a hot August day, and in a large New Jersey factory a motley group of perspiring but enthusiastic people, laden with odd equipment, forms the center of attraction. Three or four members of the group carry rolls of manuscript which they consult every few minutes, with anxious frowns and much lively discussion. Large black boxes — the all-important "lights" — tripods, unending rolls of insulated wiring, and other mysterious equipment travel with the intricate-looking mechanism known as the camera. Among the group is a slight girl with lovely eye-lashes and abundant curls, who occasionally eludes her mother's eye to mingle with the young men in charge of the equipment. She is making the best of her few remaining moments of pink cheeks and silken skirts, for shortly she will emerge from the dressing room as a pale, tired working girl, her Mary Pickford curls confined in a careless knot, her pretty gown changed to a dingy gingham apron. For she is to be Rosa, the girl who is obliged to take the first job she can get because she must support her mother and brother. And the first job she can get is going to be a very poor one, since she has had no training of any sort and her need of money is too urgent to permit of delay for instruction. The Problem of "Locations" The particular places in the factory where the scenes are to be taken have been selected in advance, for all these people are paid by the day and their time must be used as advantageously as possible. With the locations chosen, the attachment of the lights begins. All this is done as quietly and quickly as possible, for there are more than a hundred girls in the workroom and curiosity must not be stimulated to the detriment of output. As one of the scenes scheduled is to show brother and sister working at the same job and earning the same pay, a process must be selected on which both men and women are employed. Besides the necessity of accuracy from an industrial point of view, this process must be so located as to meet the requirements of both photographer and electrician — no easy matter, for each has very decided views and is the final authority on the possibilities of his own technique. Rehearsing the Scene The action of the scene is now to be worked out. Here the manuscript holders come to the fore and issue certain ultimatums to the director, who is a veritable stormcenter of suggestions and criticisms while he plans the action. Suddenly every head in the room is raised. The two "leading ladies" appear. With whitened faces and blackened eyes, clad in overalls and caps appropriate for the work they are to perform, they are an exotic-looking pair ; but these highlights of color and costume that stand out so conspicuously in the grey-toned workroom will show in the film only to picture more clearly the story of standards and efficiency which is always the burden of the Women's Bureau song. The actresses and actors must, however, do more than look their