Evening star., 1936-07-18
By Randolph Roberts.
VERYBODY knows about Walt
- Disney, celebrated creator OF
| Mickey Mouse and the Three


Hollywood artists produces at least one
cartoon feature every two weeks. But
here's a real surprise! Army movie
wizards, trained in the motion picture
capital, but with headquarters in
Washington, are now able to produce
substantially the same results with
animated cinemas. On a far smaller
scale. of course But with only two
artists.
The scene of their movie magic is
tiny room in an out t-of-the-way build
ing of the Signal Corps cinema labora-
tory, located on the grounds OF the
Army War College.
Here the two artists, William c.
Kennedy and Vernon Snow (both
civilians) spend most of their time
making queer looking drawings and
cutoutS that are used in making ami
mated scenes for movies of a sort un-
known elsewhere in the world. For
instance, there are truly amazing
trick shots of targets and armor, the
pictures showing not only the effect
on big gun as a projectile leaves 1t,
but the exact destructive result of the
meeting of the projeCtile and its OBJ
ject-both highly important as a
means of correcting any structural
defects in ammunition and armor
plate.
All these cartoon cinemas are OF
tremendous practical value to Army
officials, machinery designers deto-
nation experts. Cavalry and Infantry
specialists, and also they are of great
aid in teaching the recruit salient
facts about the mechanical procedure
of our first national line of defense
facts which otherwise would remain
forever obscure.
Just the other day Vernon Snow was
observed laying out a scale on which
tiny cutouts of boats would be photo
eraphed to illustrate on the screen
the exact route followed by war yes
eel in laying submarine mines for the
purpose of defending harbor. The
wee boats had to be made so small
that the artist required the use Of
high-powered magnifying glass.
ITO THE observer these tiny marks,
barely visible to the naked eye,
and placed approximately 1-64th of an
inch apart. represented the movements
made between successive pictures to
be used in the animated section OF
training movie. Just imagine it! Here
was an artist spending eight hours
day for four entire days to help COM
plete tiny bit of trick photography
which the eye will see for only min
ute and a quarter on the screen. For,
as Maj. M. E. Gillette, in charge of,
the laboratory, points out, one must
realize that in looking at an animated
cartoon you see an average Of not
less than "a individual drawings per
second.
Another new series of drawings
when completed will enable the eye
TO see on the screen for six seconds
an arrow moving smoothly and con-
: tinuously to represent the flow of oil
within the recoil cylinder of big
gun. This bit Of screen movement
required the use of l60 separate
sketches. and it actually took the ar
fist. Snow, eight hours a day for an
entire week to complete the series.
Often the Signal Corps laboratory
has been nicknamed the Army's
Miniature Hollywood in Washing
ton" And rightly so. For here, in
deed is a novel factory" that man
ufactures, develops, prints and dis
tributes high-grade animation movies
unlike anything hitherto attempted.
HMArTNE for tba y,oopoept fbot yo,,
p are privileged to make personal
visit to this novel cinema unit. You
will see first of all a two-story build
ing located on the War College grounds
alongside the golf course.
Entering this building you meet the
officer in charge, Maj. Gillette. He's
sturdy 6-footer, with friendly
smile.
Concerning the purpose Of the cine
ma unit Maj. Gillette explains that
the Army movie moguls today are
thoroughly sold on the idea that sound
pictures provide an excellent means
Of instruction to training personnel,
and indeed, can teach certain me-
chanical things far better than any
other method.
The method provides. for instance,
the only really striking way of show
Ing what takes place on the inside of
an automobile engine when you put
your feet on the starter and the gaso-
line explosion occurs. The Army ex-
perts achieve such "visualized me-
chanical action" by means of novel
=. animation technique. They can we'll
nigh match the fascinating tricks of
the leading cartoon movie studios.
But more of that later.
Actually, then, the training movies
represent the very last word in the
comparatively new science of visual
education. 1t will be recalled that
for the past few years the University
of Chicago, among other outstanding
educational institutions, has en-
barked on this sort of thing on
large scale. The Army is entering
into wholesale visual education with
the underlying idea that here is an eco
nomical teaching method whose i'm
oortance and effectiveness have been
demonstrated concluSively again and
again for mass instruction purposes.
Furthermore, Army movies are now
being made to cover huge areas so as
to visualize for commanding officers
various strategic maneuvers of troops
while on the march. And finally.
scientific uses of cinema films are
almost infinite. They include chro-
biological studies of weather condi-
tions and offer tremendous practical
potentialities to the entire Nation in
the maintenance Of health, comfort
and convenience.
RUT where did the Army's anima-
ton wizards pick up their novel
technique? Nowhere else but Holly
wood Back in 1880 an arrangement
was made with the Academy of Mo-
tion Picture Arts and Sciences for
practical training in the movie capi- |