Visual Education (Jan 1923-Dec 1924)

108 Visual Education Safety Movies Their Field, Value and Appeal TODAY safety movies are penetrating remote corners of the country — sections not yet included in the regular motionpicture circuits — and through the fascinating medium of the screen the message of safety is being carried to thousands of workmen and their families. No community is too far off the beaten track to be reached by the safety movie. Wherever industry has penetrated the wilderness, there the safety man follows with his portable projection outfit and reels of animated celluloid. These pictures are shown in the mess shacks of isolated lumber and construction camps. Even the miner at work below the surface of the earth is visited by the safety movie man, who stretches his screen against the wall of the underground chamber and unreels a vital message of safety. George Earl Wallis Editor, National Safety News Insurance companies are producing films for the education and entertainment of their clients' employees. The motion picture has been recognized as an important part of the safety educational program, and has been taken up by progressive concerns everywhere. Entire evenings of motion pictures are frequently presented by local safety councils for the benefit of neighborhood workmen. The Appeal of the Film So strong is the appeal of the picture that at these illustrated safety meetings seldom is a vacant seat to be found. What such films mean to the worker in remote districts, where entertainments are few and far between, can be readily imagined; but even the more sophisticated city worker finds them absorbing. While these pictures cannot entirely eliminate INTERIOR OF THE "MOVIE CAR" OF THE NEW YORK CENTRAL RAILROAD The New York Central is one of the most ardent believers in safety education by way of the screen. The road has produced four films of its own, and finds them vastly helpful in developing interest in safety. Sometimes local theaters are engaged; sometimes the theater goes to the worker. Several cars have been equipped like the one seen in the picture, each accommodating an optience of eighty. The car is hauled to a siding and the "show" begins. Frequently as many as ten shows are given in a single day, each screening being preceded by a five-minute safety talk. carelessness, experience has shown that they are a powerful force in educating the workers, especially those of foreign birth. Though these aliens may have only a limited knowledge of English, their minds readily grasp the universal language— pictures. There is a crying demand for more good safety pictures — pictures that hold the attention of the audience and clearly and forcibly convey a safety message, without too obvious an attempt at preaching. To meet this need the National Safety Council is planning the production of six new films during 1923, each of which will deal with some phase of public or industrial safety. The scenarios are to be prepared by experts, in consultation with safety men experienced in the production of safety films. The pictures will be produced with professional players, and will be correct from the technical safety standpoint. Where Films Are Shown Most of the insurance companies employ the community-gathering plan in the smaller towns, where employees of all risks in that section may gather with their families at some central point to see the safety "thriller." Several companies, however, supply portable projectors and films to their safety engineers in the field, or employ special operators who put on shows at the plants they visit, either during the noon hour or on company time. While daytime shop meetings as a rule consist only of a showing of the film and a short address on safety, evening rallies, to which the worker is invited to bring his family, are generally on a more pretentious scale. Vaudeville — sometimes by local talent, but often by pro