A CAMERAMAN'S TROUBLES 205 



classic African Htint, which was followed by an 

 imitative succession of pictures, good and bad. Then 

 my own South Seas pictures made ten years or 

 more ago gave a certain impetus to the making 

 of films of the far and strange places. Several 

 interesting influences became evident. The motion 

 picture industry became aware, although with some 

 timid reservations, that something beside the syn- 

 thetic drama of the studios could be considered screen 

 merchandise. Various scientific persons and in- 

 stitutions were made more conscious of the powers 

 and scope of the motion picture camera, not alone 

 as an instrimient of interpretation. It was seen that 

 such film was capable of preserving and carrying to its 

 audiences not only the sheer pictorial facts, but also 

 something of the atmosphere and intangible qualities 

 of the subject. 



Evidences of this power to infect the audience and 

 the public mind with spirit and atmosphere through 

 the screen are to be found in the very notable wave 

 of South Sea literature which rose following the wide 

 distribution and success of the South Seas pictures. 



I am inclined to think that if the contents of the 

 motion picture were the only record, both the public 

 and I would long since have exhausted interest. The 

 larger function of the expeditionary picture is inter- 

 pretation of the life scenes recorded. Otherwise it 

 would be as empty of color and flavor as a map. 



