Practical Cinematography and Its Applications

by Frederick Arthur Ambrose Talbot

Although animated photography is regarded popularly as an amusement, and the picture palace is maintained to be the poor man's theatre, efforts are being made to lift the invention into a higher and more useful plane. It is sought to adapt it to the schoolroom, the college and the technical institute. Up to the present, however, little headway has been made in this direction, though the market is flooded with so-called educational films.

Unfortunately the attitude of the responsible authorities is lukewarm, somewhat to the chagrin of those who are specializing in the preparation of these films. The authorities are said to be prejudiced against the invention, and no doubt the impression still lingers that the cinematograph is an instrument of frivolity.

Up to a point the authorities are correct in their attitude. It is the producer who is at fault. The former recognise the many advantages arising from the appeal to the eye, but unfortunately the producer looks at the question from the showman's point of view. He is not content to prepare a subject which shall appeal only to pupils as such, but is always trying to introduce an element which shall make the film popular with adults as well. He seeks to arouse the enthusiasm of the schoolroom and of the picture palace at one and the same time, though the two are as widely apart as the two poles, and what is suited to one is by no means adapted to the other. The patron of the picture palace must be entertained only. Education, if any, must be unconscious. On the other hand, the essential consideration in the school is the training and teaching of the young mind. If amusement is introduced the educational value of the film is liable to be small.

In this attempt to supply two different markets simultaneously many producers over-reach themselves. They fail to realise that a schoolroom film must be absolutely natural, that there must be no trickery or faking. There are several films on the market to-day, aiming at the requirements of education, wherein the most attractive incidents are nothing more nor less than examples of fake photography. The educational authorities are only too well aware that trickery is one of the cinematographer's most useful tools, and accordingly many films of an apparently astonishing character are regarded with suspicion. Until all traces of faking and chicanery are abandoned the authorities are certain to look coolly on the suggestion of teaching by the cinematograph.

Nevertheless the film must be prepared in such a manner that the pupil is not bored. It must be rendered interesting and fascinating or it will be no better than the old Dry-as-dust teaching. And the infusion of interest is by no means difficult. Every branch of science, every item in the curriculum, can be taught by motion pictures. One producer has prepared a novel and interesting film for teaching the alphabet and the spelling of simple words with the aid of a troupe of acrobats. The acrobats contort themselves into the shapes of letters upon the screen before the children's eyes. The children naturally follow the process with interest, and the finished letter at once impresses itself upon their minds. The spelling of the words is carried out in the same way.

Another producer has a novel idea for explaining the principles of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. He has devised animated scenes with teddy bears and oranges, and the setting itself is a schoolroom. The actors, who are children, are dressed in bear skins, and they behave in a truly grizzly manner. The very fact that this favourite toy is introduced rivets the attention of young children, and they follow the arithmetical adventures of the oranges with the utmost fascination. The bears themselves perform their parts most decorously, without any horseplay or clowning. The youngsters following the incidents upon the screen are induced to regard the projection seriously, and it has been found that afterwards, in their leisure hours, they reconstruct the incidents with their own toys. In this way they show that they have grasped the idea that was to be conveyed.

In dealing with the sciences similar methods must be practised. Suppose, for instance, that it is intended to teach physics, chemistry, or electricity with the aid of moving-pictures. The film must commence at the very beginning of the subject. The text-book should be taken as a model. The producer of the film, if he is well acquainted with his subject, can devise experiments to suit any stage of knowledge. He can vary the experiment so as to bring the pupil face to face with something which has never been illustrated by diagram in the text-book. He can lead the pupil on step by step, and the more deeply he plunges into a particular science the wider is his scope for the portrayal of fascinating experiments.

(1) Moorhen sitting on her Nest.