288 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE, ETC. 



years, particularly in schools, both Secondary and Elementary, from which, if at all, 

 the main demand must come. The Committee know that teachers are not backward 

 in recommending the provision of new educational aids, nor are Educational Authorities 

 generally backward in supplying them. What appears to be lacking, however, is a 

 knowledge of the technique of the instrument, such as can be readily acquired in the 

 case of the gramophone and of wireless with little expenditure of time and trouble, 

 but which in the case of the cinematograph has to be sought for in highly technical 

 papers and other publications. 



The Committee have, therefore, come to the conclusion that since they must 

 limit their aim, and leave it to more representative and more permanent bodies to 

 survey and advise over the whole field of cinematography, they can most usefully 

 direct their efforts to elucidating, with the help of well-qualified experts, three or 

 four outstanding technical questions with which the teacher who desires to make 

 use of cinematography is faced. And since, as it seems to them, the early realisation 

 of the possibilities of cinematography and the creation of an adequate demand for 

 educational films depends upon the introduction of the cinematograph projector into 

 the schools, they propose in the main to deal with the technique of the instrument 

 under school conditions and with special reference to classroom use. 



They note that the Commission on Education and Cultural Films has instructed 

 its third Committee on Film Production and Technique, Distribution and Circulation 

 to co-operate with them, and they understand that this Committee agrees that their 

 co-operation can usefully take this form. 



For the suggestions which foUow upon 



(a) Cinematograph Film ; 



(b) Cinematograph Apparatus ; 



(c) Illumination and Eye Strain ; and 



(d) Structural Conditions 



the Committee as a whole accept responsibility, but they desire gratefully to acknow- 

 ledge that the memoranda upon these subjects were originally drafted by Mr. J. S. 

 Dow, B.Sc, A.C.G.I., Honorary Secretary of the Illuminating Engineering Society, 

 Mr. A. E. Munby, M.A., F.R.I.B.A., Dr. T. Slater Price, O.B.E., D.Sc.,F.R.S.,Director 

 of the British Photographic Research Association, and by Mr. W. Vinten, Manager 

 of the London Branch of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers. 



A. Cinematograph Film. 



Safety is the first essential of any cinematograph projection outfit intended for 

 use in schools. It is common knowledge that a certain amount of danger must arise 

 when nitro-cellulose is used as a carrying medium for the photographic emulsion, 

 and special precautions must be observed and properly carried out, not only when the 

 film is on the projector, but also during transit, storage, inspection and re-winding. 

 So long as this element of danger exists and special precautions — personal and 

 structural — have to be taken to avoid it, there is little possibility that such films will 

 become part of the apparatus of instruction in schools. 



There is practically no risk of fire when ' safety base ' films are used. Their 

 wearing qualities are, however, only about 60 per cent, of those of the nitrate film, 

 and they are at present slightly more costly than the usual films. Therefore, the 

 professional use of this ' non-inflammable ' film is limited, but it is very much safer 

 than nitrate film. Although there is no legal compulsion in the matter, there is a 

 recognised practice in the film industry that all sub-standard film (16 mm. and below) 

 shall be made from safety base only. Hence, in a performance where one of these 

 sub-standards is used, there is no risk that some of the film is nitrate, i.e. ' inflammable 

 film.' 



For these reasons the Committee have come to the conclusion that there is little 

 hope of an early and widespread use of cinematograph films in schools unless they 

 are of the ' non-flam ' or ' safety base ' type. As this report will show, the acceptance 

 of this principle will not add greatly to the difficulties of the teacher who wishes to 

 make his own motion pictures for classroom use, and will certainly encoiu-age the 

 professional picture maker to add to the- stock of educational films on a safety base, 

 both by the production of new films and by the reproduction and reduction of films 

 which have already been taken on the ordinary inflammable material. These pro- 

 cesses are to him comparatively simple, but reduction may result in a certain loss 

 of effect, since scale is of the essence of good picture making. 



