Studies of cinema picture elevation in relation to viewer comfort.

This silent, black and white film begins with the following written explanation: "In this film attempt has been made to record some of the changes of posture of different subjects [4 female, 5 male] whilst viewing silent projected film on a screen that could be raised or lowered to permit the top edge of the picture to be set at pre-determined heights giving angles of 55, 50, 45, 40 or 35 degrees from the horizontal line of sight. [...] The subjects were seated in a chair closely resembling an actual cineman seat as to height and rake of back rest. Short films of from 12 to 20 minutes running time were used for the tests. The time in minutes from zero to end of film being registered on a Kodak darkroom timer placed immediately behind the subjects head." The ensuing film appears quite strange and abstract, consisting entirely of people seen from a fixed viewpoint at the side, sitting wearing spectacles with a flat shiny silver side (surreally almost resembling the shape of a key), their heads changing angle now and then thus giving the appearance of a key moving around in space. The results of the study are not included.