Preservation of the Film.
Libraries in general have failed to appreciate the educational value of the cinematograph during the growth of the last fifteen years. For years now the National Board of Censorship has been urging the development of the use of educational films.
The first attempt at anything in the nature of a Lending Library of Films was inaugurated by Gaumont & Co., in 1904. The scheme enabled the amateur or professional possessor of a cinematograph-projecting apparatus, to hire or loan on reasonable terms a selection of film subjects, so that by the outlay of one guinea per night, the private exhibitor could command an inexhaustible supply of film subjects.
There are a number of elements entering into the production, distribution, and the public exhibition of pictures. The raw stock of celluloid from which films are manufactured has a limited existence. The base of the film is usually of a highly inflammable composition. Again, before the pictures are perfected, for public exhibition, the producer’s outfit should include highly perfected cameras, studios, staging, and star actors, and a search, often, for appropriate outdoor settings for the scenes to be enacted. The skilful direction of people and scenes to obtain illusions requires an expert at the business; for it necessitates a high grade of technical ability for the production of scenic, travel, and scientific pictures with the minimum film waste. Once the picture has been constructed, prepared with subjects and sub-titles, and has been submitted to the Board of Censorship, it must be extensively advertised, circulated amongst exchanges throughout the kingdom, and the commands of the public exhibitors awaited. All these complicated processes have emanated from the regular daily demand of the people for entertainment, not necessarily enlightenment. The manufacturers know the percentage of film subjects demanded, whether tragic, thrilling, artistic, humorous, or educational.
I will give some idea as to the film. Each picture in size is roughly three-quarters by one inch; the average length of a black and white film is 1000 feet, giving a total of 16,000 pictures. When rolled this film fills a tin box—allowing for the fact that it is round—equal to the size of a royal octavo volume, but considerably heavier. Thus it is evident that the question of space is unimportant. The number of films produced and published does not equal the number of books published in the same time. A great number of the films published are unsuitable for preservation, and, therefore, would find no place in a National Historical Repository.
The method of the present classification of books would be applied to the classification of the films, covering, as they do, historical, scientific, artistic, and technical subjects. The life of the film depends upon its treatment. The period varies, but when in daily use it should last for twelve years; and, if every care has been taken, and the film is seldom used, it will last for fifty years. Twenty-five years may be taken as a fair average under ordinary methods. Of course, new films can be reprinted from the old, and therefore, no film need be discarded.
A fairly satisfactory solution of the difficulty of making provision for a regular service of films at a minimum cost would be the appropriation, annually, by the State, of a sufficient sum to allow the purchase of a number of the best films by State Libraries, or (seeing that libraries now come under the protecting wing of the Education Authorities) by a State Department of Education. This increasing library of films could be held at the disposal of Library Authorities who contribute towards its acquisition and maintenance.