MORTON HEILIG : VISIONARY

Philosopher/Visionary
Some Papers, Publications

LECTURES

In Class Lecture at CSULB – by Morton Heilig (Oct 15, 1994) – low audio Watch Part 1 (2 1/2 hours)
In Class Lecture at CSULB – by Morton Heilig (Oct 15, 1994) – low audio Watch Part 2 (2 hours)

ARTICLES (about him or by him)

Enter the Experiential Revolution – Cyberarts – by Miller Freeman
Cinema of the Future – Originally published in Espacios in 1955, later reprinted in MIT Press in 1992. Read Online
Psychical Design – Annenberg School of Communcation, Pennsylvania – by Morton Heilig(1960) Read Online
The Learning Wall – The Dubnoff School of Educational Therapy (1971) Read Online
Blueprint for a New Hollywood – by Morton Heilig (1971) Read Online
Experience Theater Proposal – by Morton Heilig Read Online

IDEA BOOKS (qty 57)

During the course of his life, Mort filled out 57 spiral notebooks with his thoughts. He called these “Idea Books”. They were a collection of ideas, his philosophy and comments, new inventions, drawings, plans etc. Some of these were later developed into his future inventions, and some of them even patented, see list of these in his Biography section.
His idea books are in the process of being transcribed and put in electronic format for easier viewing and navigating. Herein is a VERY incomplete list of some of the contents of some of the Idea Books.

Idea Book #1 (1944) Read Online
This first book was written in 1944, when he was 17-1/2 years old. It is the summer before he has to go in to military service. He writes a 2 page biography about himself and his plans and dreams. The rest of the 23 pages are experiences as infantry at the end of WWII in Europe.

Idea Book #2 (1944) Read Online
Mort ‘s Age – 18 , 29 pages-some loose
Invention Topics: 3-D three dimensional films of big bands and Broadway, virtual reality, early Sensorama ideas, immersive education
Philosophical Topics: education, utopian society, freedom, teleportation, inter-planetary travel, creativity,lost knowledge, democracy, big business,

Idea Book #3 (1944) Read Online
Mort ‘s Age – 18 , 47 pages-some loose
Invention Topics: 3-D three dimensional sound, Panorama of Life, walnut stamper / dispenser, spoken word into visual form machine,

Philosophical Topics: hormone treatment, revolution, Charles Darwin, Socialism, Classes, Evolution, Sex, education, transmission of knowledge, mortality, God, faith, dating, ideas for a novel, a song, penicillin, bacteria, wealth divide, co-living, collective living, Plato, exams, Atheism

Draft of a letter of condolences to a deceased friend’s parents

Idea Book #4 (1944) Read Online
Mort ‘s Age – 18 , 46 pages
Invention / Idea Topics: optical sound manipulator, water engine, automatic lawn mower, whistling golf ball, automatic bed maker, ready cooked meals, tide powered generator, 3-D three dimensional planetarium

Philosophical Topics: Socialism, Sociology, happiness, justice, gender equality, toxic masculinity, sexual education, scientific method, love, experiments, capitalism, 1929 stock market crash, capitalistic waste, logic, emotion, marriage, meaning of life

Poems: Chocolate Girl ; Ballad of the Slaves

Idea Book #5 (1944) Read Online
Mort ‘s Age – 18 , 45 pages
Invention / Idea Topics: 4 screen projector, early Sensorama ideas, television recording device, 3-D three dimensional color television, “Don’t Bite Your Fingers” protectors, 3-D three dimensional pictures in books and magazines,

Philosophical Topics: Democritus, Pythagoras, sex, ideal college education, ballet, photography, no exams, Hobo’s Haven, importance of reading, human nature, happiness, education, simple pleasures, utopian society, fraternities, pursuit of joy, individuality, Galileo, evolution, predeterminism, authorship, seize the day, US Army, value of manual labor, A World Constitutional Government, Hume, Kant,

Story ideas: med student who falls in love with cadaver

Additional ideas: Heilig’s Plan for Student Living, a series of History movies, persuade a few millionaires into becoming Socialists

Idea Book #6 (1944) Read Online
Mort ‘s Age – 18 , 29 pages

Philosophical Topics: loss of a friend, enlistment, Christmas Eve, despair, chronic transition, war is senseless, cynicism, determinism, tolerance, write a manifesto, Nathans, Wittman, Wilde, does not want to go to war, Jews, Germans, Palestine, privacy is the most important thing

Idea Book #7 (1945) Read Online
Mort ‘s Age – 19 , 49 pages

Invention / Idea Topics: synthetic music (synthesizers), toilet paper w/ cartoons or poems, over-the-tub book or radio support, “for smell at a movie”, gun attachment that fires from undershirt, device to inform museum visitors about the art via recordings, study chair, art masterpiece micro prints, radio attachment for pencil, 3-D theater

Philosophical Topics: education, overindulgence, over expression, incoming students, Fraternities, God, war veterans, democracy, Fascism, Socialism, religion, freedom, anti-reform school, quantum theory, art, sex

Additional Ideas: “The Body Beautiful” educational film, P.F.C. “poor frightened civilian”, ready for a romantic partner, why no short story films?

Idea Book #8 (1945) Read Online
Mort ‘s Age – 19 , 49 pages-some loose

Invention / Idea Topics: possible precursor of Sensorama, Thompson Lens, possible precursor to the Experience Theatre, nail scissor attachment, emotion transfer, color/music equation, automated blanket covering device, brain sense perception device,

Philosophical Topics: egotism, education, college, William Mortensen, Plato, Aristotle, morality, nature,

Additional Ideas: the Philosophical Education of Hollywood

Idea Book #9 (1945) Read Online
Mort ‘s Age – 19 , 49 pages

Invention / Idea Topics: preliminary Sensorama, 3-D three dimensional animation, closed circuit security system, shortwave energy via radio frequencies,

Philosophical Topics: the nature of reality, man’s desire to be God, material wealth, independence, the new millennium, existence of evil, self-possession, spiritual sterility, travel, Five Characteristics of an Educated Man, Dogma, religion, ideal community, Plato, Christ, Freud, Adler, Jung, evolution, Schopenhauer, enlightenment, self-teaching, Atomic Age, nuclear energy

Idea Book #10 (1948) Read Online
Mort ‘s Age – 22 , 116 pages

Invention / Idea Topics: none

Philosophical Topics: death, beauty, love, Beethoven, Orson Welles, Eisenstein, quantum theory,

Other topics: short story “The Prostitute”, film idea for a scientist that falls in love with a water drop fairy seen through a microscope, “Symphony of Movement”, many untitled poems, Mystical Experiments of the Soldiers, “The Baby”, “The Child”, fashion

Idea Book #11 (1948) Read Online
Mort ‘s Age – 22 , 112 pages-some loose

Invention / Idea Topics: artificial hair implants

Philosophical Topics: laws of nature, physical discipline, materialism, pessimism, optimism, Jewishness, promiscuity, Zionism, Fascism, Socialism, Communism, Democracy, Capitalism, tolerance and respect,

Other Topics: Washington D.C., Temple of Man at the Carlsbad Caverns, hitch-hikers’ union, fantasy films in Carlsbad Cavern, song lyrics for “Not in the Mood”, story – violinist’s music makes the Grand Canyon crumble, good posture, short story ideas for – “An Anti-Social” , “The Working Man in America” , “A Night of Confusion” , “A Sonnet to Outdoor Work”, “A Story of Hate”

Extras: Institute des Hautes Études Cinématographiques pamphlet, maps of Paris with drawings on the back, Harper’s Magazine article “The New Cult of Sex and Anarchy” by Mildred Edie Brady,

Idea Book #12 (1945) Read Online
Mort ‘s Age – 19 , 239 pages – many loose

Invention Ideas: 3-D three dimensional planetarium ; simpler army equipment ; artificial nerve endings in the brain with electric stimuli ; clothes with outer layer that helps with grace and form of the body + movement, and an inner layer with fabric pleasing to the skin ; custom playing cards with a family’s or an individuals portrait ; grape vine cutter ; new science of agro-meteorology (weather making) ; radio where you could listen to anything ; a writing kit + board with moveable light ; self focusing silent 3 dimensional still and motion picture camera ; leg strain preventer for standing workers ; a newer better means of refrigeration ; fresh fruit drinks and fresh vegetables in vending machines that give proper change ; sperm banks for exceptional men / ovary donation from brilliant women ; baby rocking chair that plays lullabies ; ideal study room ; comb hair oil dispenser ; changing seasonal 3-d landscape display for homes ; art with phospherescent paint ; drawing for 3-D face mask

Philosophical Topics: joy in change ; ego ; individuality ; “Productive Egotism” ; “Evil thrives on indifference” ; Howard Roark ; Ayn Rand ; Robert Buckminster Fuller ; psychological subjectivism ; compulsory voting ; a person is their physical form and mind ; over-momentum is as uncomfortable as under-motivation ; society is helter skelter ; know thyself ; Oscar Wilde ; the atomic bomb ; self- navigation ; God ; religion ; humane discipline ; clothes make the man ; one madman with few atomic bombs could destroy all humanity “maybe we are at the very eve of our destruction” ; “mankind is finally being blackmailed into peace ; Truman ; “love or benevolence is the cure for many nauseating pettiness” ; “love, work, and thought – the cure all for almost anything” ; the past ; “How crazy the unexamined thoughts of even intelligent men can be…” ; nature of fear ; Patrick Henry ; worlds within worlds (from the solar system to the atom) ; the idea of greatness of a person ; happiness ; Socialism ; “This is the year of our Disgrace 1946” ; peace v boredom v restlessness ; death ; Plato’s Republic ; utopian society ; treatment of POW’s ;

Other Topics: Make 2 films on – evolution, interplanetary travel, cancer research, sex, geology, astronomy, scientific method, “the good life,” human origin, in full color + 3-d ; students reenact past civilizations ; make a series of films proposing a World Government ; a painting of the Hamp’s Deviltry ; a film on history of fashion ; eliminate sideburns

Extras: story about a transatlantic ship voyage ; Esquire pin up girl mini booklet with Mort’s doodles ; various publication clippings ; list of books and topics to read ; address “book” 1 sheet paper ; furlough permission letter ; list of film equipment and things todo ; 32 page plan for ideal schooling curriculum and environment ; treatise on photography and motion pictures

Idea Book #13 (1947) Read Online
Mort ‘s Age – 21 , 75 pages some loose

Invention Ideas: “telepathic experiments” ;

Philosophical Topics: ills of the modern world ; Fascism ; temptation of man ; life after death ; fluctuation of one’s beliefs ; Theism to Agnosticism ; the unknown limits of man ; eugenics ; evolution ; friendship ; the cost of WWII ; virtues of yoga ; Asceticism ; Epicureanism ; homo vs usual ; life as a trip ; in the “era of commonsense” ; will raise his children to be unafraid ; “oriental” philosophy ; magnitude of the soul ; heaven is to live virtuously death ; ego death ; karma ; subliminal self ; “the little things” ; mysticism ; liberalism ; communism ; life after death vs existence before birth ; tyranny ; hypocrisy ; significance of dreams ; Huxley ; D.H. Lawerence ; Copernicus ; Newton ; Einstein ; “Tertium Organum” philosophy

Other Ideas / Topics: distaste for Paris , subways / metros, bureaucracy ; systematic scientific reexamination of all ancient taboos and beliefs ; film on female and male body beauty and grace ; Mort’s love of smells ; a series of people doing conventional things but naked ;

Extras: poem “An Ode to Falling Rain” ; rough draft of a letter to Walt Disney

Idea Book #14 (1948) Read Online
Mort ‘s Age – 20 , 121 pages

Invention / Idea Topics: double or triple firing valve system with high pressure ; pen / lighter combination ; revolving lamp shade ; bubble blowing gun ;

Philosophical Topics: a life half-lived ; post-war Paris ; “Paris needs good food + heat, soap + clothing like a beautiful tree needs the spring’ ; Veda ; Brahma ; Jesus and Saints ; Animalism vs Spiritualism ; imagination can lead a man’s reasoning astray ; Esoteric Knowledge – Gradation of sex , Transmutation , Mysticism , Evolution ; ascendant sex ; happiness ; self hypnosis ; Fascism ; the Hearst Syndicate ; there are great truths in humor ; evolution of man ; origin of man ; Picasso ; Cosmic Consciousness ; Hinton ; Kant ; “spiritual malaise” ; liberal skepticism vs practical action ; eugenics ; Human Types ; tyranny ; Western Education can benefit from the Oriental Education model ; “art can become lost in politics + preachery + pedagogy” ; observations on the Italian peoples ; the city is “static motion” ; Jewish symbols and figures ; L

Film /Photo Ideas: Biblical Creation (nude) photos ; Satire on New York film ; Peeping Tom photo series ; film on East + West ; Satire on advertising ; Tour of the Body film ; Life of a Woodman ; great war film “Beach Red” ; ideal community film ; film on sex ; Portrait of Paris through the seasons ; Rocketry ; Satire on City Life ; “The Story of Elmer and Waldo” a satire on modern man ; Nature of Prejudice film using Jean Paul Satre’s “Portrait of the Anti-Semite” ; film on yoga ; story of minds in the afterlife ; love scene ; The Defense of Individualism film ; philosophic films ; The Business of Light ; How Animals Do It – A Satire on Modern Man ; list of shots to be filmed in Paris ;

Other Topics: “gather all the paraphernalia of the optical world” ; explanations of various film / photo equipment ; 16 mm Kodachrome in 3-D asap ; developing negatives ; most painting exhibitions are set up poorly ; test to determine artists as sculptors or painters “Rodin sould have painted, Michelangelo stuck to his sculpting” ; description of street beggars ; cinematography ; self-portraits of various moods ; Frank Buck ; list of those he considers masters ; what is needed to make a film great

Extras: various poems ; list of books to read ; lists of film equipment ; photography class bibliography ; photo club meeting minutes ; a few drawings ; list of telephoto lenses and how to use them ; list of songs to make films to ; list of things to bring to Paris ; drawings of film shots ; list of people he thinks are good models ; a chain letter ; article “Filters… Magic Eyes of Photography” from Popular Science Magazine ; essay titled “American Immaturity” ; “Reflections of a Young American” essay ; to-do list ; plans for academic future ; list of books to get ; Photo Club outline ; essay on “Development of Film Language”

Idea Book #15 (1951) Read Online
Mort ‘s Age – 25 , 149 pages many loose

Invention / Idea Topics: Designs for Studio Portrait Camera and Dolly

Philosophical Topics:

Film /Photo Ideas: handwritten shot list for “City Without Wheels” ; typed shot list for “City Without Wheels” in Italian ; general film shot ideas ; notes on Transportation in Venice ; handwritten shot list for “City Without Wheels” (first page is in Italian)

Other Topics:

Extras: postcard with handwritten poem

Idea Book #17 (1952) Read Online
Mort ‘s Age – 26

Invention / Idea Topics: preliminary ideas / design for Telesphere Mask ; multi-track audio ; 3 dimensional color and sound ; second skin for feeling cinema ; electronic suit and accessories ; cigarette holder that is also a lighter ; “good all purpose functional lamp in 4 parts ;

Philosophical Topics: art ; self expression ; cinema ; religion ; great talent exists everywhere but many can’t explore theirs due to lack of time and means ; bourgeois individualism ; babies ought not to lie down inside all day ; types of therapies ; raison d”etre of film ; Blake ; Boesch ; Leonardo ; Socialism ; modern technology ; drinking for art is like taking stimulants for sports ; immediate and long term natural needs and spiritual needs ; two types of Art – pure and integrative ; “movement is the sould of cinema” ; 3 types of films – Thought / intellectual , Dramatic / passion , and Feeling / abstract subconsciousness ; Integrative Synthesis Discipline ; “I don’t want praise. Flattery is not the aim of my work. I want the real chance to do substantial work – work that will help other people – live and do good work too.” ; evolution ; gross materialism ; Western Humanism ; summary of Mort’s life philosophy ; death ; the bourgeoisie ; spiritual hunger ; ideas for a Guide to Socialist Cinema ; “maturity is the recognition of forces indifferent to and overwhelmingly more powerful that the petty plans of the individual”

Film /Photo Ideas: two long “Films” Woman and Man conception to decomposition ; make 3 very different short films and try to combine them into 1 feature ; cowboy film ; gangster film ; boy meets girl film ; musical film ; documentary on the life cycle of a tree ; film on man’s interaction with nature ; documentary “The Story of a Car” ; stop-motion film using live people ; 40 min. documentary / poem about a molecule of water ; series of seven 3 hour long films “all the intellectual clarity and dramatic passion of this world view” ; “the social organization of animals and plants: documentary ; “Human Energy” film ; “Social Man” film

Other Topics: “Ideal Working Regiment” ; “Ideal Cinema Construction” ; “Montage is the music of ideas” ; the role of the directors ; “The Perfect Intellectual’s Working Day” ; “the first phase of a cine artist’s development if the documentary phase” ; telescopes / microscopes ; “O Leader” poem ; book idea “The Right Speaks” on socialism ; “The Builder” story ” ; Cinerama

Extras: drawn rendition of the soul of man ; poem “The Spiritual Atomic Bomb!” ; list of books to read ; organizational charts on labor in capitalism and socialism ; various drawings and lists

Idea Book #18 (1949) Read Online
Mort ‘s Age – 23

Invention / Idea Topics: handheld “cultural gadget” with all books, all artworks in color, all music, all reference material ; group of researchers to publish an independent journal dedicated to debunking falsehoods and propaganda ; experiment to find remedy for baldness ; exhaustive map of USA

Philosophical Topics: virtues of living a simple country life vs sedentary city life ; eat a clean diet ; how do various diets affect man’s physical and mental attributes? ; “Sugar is the death of teeth” ; fulfilling sex is a great “nerve tonic” ; why do humans shave, animals don’t ; Zoos are unnatural ; “So called ‘healthy skepticism’ is that comforting excuse of minds that have no concrete personal experiences. It comes so easily to wealthy people, it is almost a characteristic.” ; “It should be a law that the sons of all wealthy men should work as the lowest paid laborer + subsist solely on their salaries – reaction to reform would soften up quickly.” ; “If men as a group lock women up in the nursery they are depriving themselves of excellent brains, an ocean of talent, feeling, + energy.” ; the human race is “a collective organ” ; real quality for all ; values are relative ; “Idealism expressed in realism has always been the highest goal of art.” ; rain brings people out of their hum drum lives ;

Film /Photo Ideas: film called “Truth” that shows the realities of societal ills ; film called “Peace” showing the virtues of bucolic living ; television company called ‘Great Ideas of Our Time” and list of possible topics ; candid camera ;

Other Topics: pan review of Are Waerland’s book “The Cauldron of Disease” ; Waerland claims the gut can’t tell temperature of hot liquids / may be burning out insides – Mort thinks this is false ; cold liquids with a fatty meal is dangerous ; book on film language ; natural food restaurant ; $1 all you can eat deal ; ideal cinema school ; magazine called “Problems” deals with a new issue each week ; farewell to / description of Naples, Italy

Extras: chart of “life needs” and how they can be satisfied artificially or naturally ; “Impressions of Poland and Czechoslovakia”

Idea Book #19 (1952) Read Online
Mort ‘s Age – 26

nvention / Idea Topics: examine worldwide beliefs on health and test it scientifically ; Museum or Palace of Home Cinema ; mitten-sponge ; light ray device to look inside something opaque without cutting it open ; camera w/ spherical tripod mount for camera movement in any direction ;

Philosophical Topics: egotism of humanity ; are there any cultures / religions that celebrate death? ; man often knows the right thing to do but is too lazy to do it ; world government ; communism ; socialism ; all arts are human ; WWII settled nothing – Fascism is alive today + befriended by its sworn foes ; “America is not free from want – as she promised the people she would be” ; “the only way to defeat an idea is a better one” ; ignorance is the great tragedy of our time ; overpopulation – doubles in 70 years ; war (guerra” is death ; going from capitalism to socialism changes man’s view on life ; yoga and socialism meet in the formula E=MC2 ; the only “God” to some is money ; Faust and Mephistopheles ; Christ ; static vs dynamic cinema ;

Film /Photo Ideas: animation so perfect it doesn’t look like animation ; photography that is highlighted truth ; public, nationwide televised debates on politics ; “The New Republic” film on ideal society ; feature documentary “The mistaken road” ; list of “Themes for Films” ; Cinema School Center – best defense of cinema against television ; “in cinema, rather than seeing things from all angles, we should feel from all angles” ; film “God Money” doc showing how greed is a cancer on society ; “Close the Gap” doc on wealth distribution under socialism ; “The Triad of Cinema” soul / science / survival ; “The Machine” documentary ; four episode series on four people who feel smothered or chained by society “Voglio Vivere – I Want to Live” w/ rough outline ; “The Magic Pen” written for Alec Guinness ; :One Second for Life Moments Fancy” ; “Little Revolt” ; “Leap into Tomorrow” ; “The Only Road to Health” ;

Other Topics: how to increase one’s reading speed ; the characteristics of a cinema artist ;

Extras: “A Thinking Poem” ; drawings symbolizing capitalism and socialism ; ideas for a “Center for Cinematography” ; “The Engineering of Human Energy” ; story called “The Builder” ; article clipping on Edgar M. Queeny ; article “Photographing the Invisible” ; first draft of “Over the Ridge of History” ;

Idea Book #20 (?) Read Online
Mort ‘s Age – 20’s

Invention / Idea Topics: alcoholics anonymous for ‘psychotics / neurotics’ ; butter curler ; how-to books on everything ; 3 in 1 combination shoe brush ; adjustable one-size-fits-all camera filter ;

Philosophical Topics: Van Gogh ; mysticism ; description of poverty ; “First fire was our God – then when we learned to control it, it became our slave” ; nature of art ; capitalism ; communism ; Christianity ; “Stato d’anima” ; Georgia O’Keeffe’s art ; far east Asia religions are more ‘definite’ than the vague western religions ; Dostoevsky / Shakespeare / Keats are great artists ; “4 Fights of Man” – against Truth/God, himself, other men, and nature ; friendship ;

Film /Photo Ideas: “Dances of the World” jitterbug / Indian / tango / waltz ; film on genetics ; film about gondolas in venice ; rudimentary story board / ideas for “City without Wheels” ; films on those in poverty in cities across the globe ; ideas for film “Chita the Cat” w/ rough shot list ; bullfighting movie in Spain ; film on mountain climbing ; “The Art of Eating Spaghetti” ; “A Drunk” ; “The Argument” rough story boards ; “Winter Beach” ; “The Thrill of Skiing” w/ a shot of people falling while skiing

Other Topics: differences between national cinematography styles ; character tropes ; make the ideal cinema school ; “Different cats better for different films” ; photo book on “Emotively Significant Images” ; pan review of film “Without Pity” aka “Senza Pieta” ; merits of “Oliver Twist” ; critique of “The Fugitive” ; critique of “Kampen om tungtvannet” aka “Le Bataille d’eau Lourde” aka “The Battle of Heavy Water” ; critique of “Life in Africa” ; life circumstances of Giuseppe G. in poverty ; favorable review on film “La Terra Trema” by Visconti ; List of “Exceptional People” Mort has met ; list of equipment for dark room ; book Lessons and Observations in Photography ;

Extras: French news article on professor working with KGB ; two pages from National Galley art book ; one page form a book on painting ; pages from 1928 book on film printed by Maurice Darantiere

Idea Book #21 (1954) Read Online
Mort ‘s Age – 28

Invention / Idea Topics: plastic mechanical pencil ; automatic fruit juicer veding machine ; directional focus sound microphone ; automatic electric blanket ; “finger wheel” for people with nervous hands ; special hat for hot climates ; device to project regular films in 3 D ; adapting game Fronton for America ; ergonomic bath with book holder ; idea for Cinerama

Philosophical Topics: stages of consciousness ; working conditions in modern factories ; Man v Social Man ; pondering the ideal number of working hours a day for ultimate creative output ; spiritual values ; Community is the ultimate value ; capitalism ; fascism ; the modern healthy home ; we live in a false society ; inertia of man ; Russian politics ; “We are helpless instruments of truth , justice , and love” ; Darwin ; Marx ; criticism of US Television ; unity of politics and production ; ideal economy ; Reflections on Cinema ; Reality v Cinema ; war ; education ; religion ; socialism ; Confucius ; Lao Tzu ; billions spent on atomic bombs should be spent on social science and social art ;

Film /Photo Ideas: 7 three hour Futurama films – Overpopulation , The World is Sick , and The Reign of Vice ; film India Today ; East Meets West / The World Shrinks ; short film “The Two Lifes” ; film series on the birth of the universe to the dawn of man ; film – The Civilization of Tomorrow ; series of great idea films for the men’s mind ;

Other Topics: book – The Soul of a Social Man ; book – 10 Creative Men ;

Extras: Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes IV Programa 1954 ; Juventudes Musicales de Mexico programa ; review film The Sea Around Us ; Mort’s “J’accuse” essay ; 2 drawings of women ; “Road to Happiness” essay ; acceptance letter to cinema 16’s “A Program of First Films” ; film profits percentages

Idea Book #22 (1950) Read Online
Mort ‘s Age – 24

Invention / Idea Topics: research how to reduce the elements of cinema to manageable and economic size ; model set for / black stage ; “paint on Kodachrome with colored light stylus ; camera with celluloid overlays that can be painted on ; initial ideas on virtual reality ; Filmatone ; standardized cinema notebook ; pen that holds “a lot of ink” ; fork and knife camping set ; pen with lighter and pencil with flashlight set ; “permanent comfortable adjustable glasses for cinema ; aromas for cinema theatre and dispersal method ; 3D sound for cinema theatre ; early ideas for Cinerama ; Dr. L.B., chiropractor, idea for a prism ; Kino table w/ easy film rewind and forward

Philosophical Topics: nature of film making ; truth ; science ; religion ; health ; society ; what are the tolerance limits of mind and eye ? ; atomic bomb ;

Film /Photo Ideas: technical specs and potential shot list for filming Gondola film ; Stop the War series ; Promises of Peace series ; Carrozza ride film

Other Topics: Mort’s living budget ; ideal social group customs ; ideas for monthly weekend trips with social group ; list of books to read ;

Extras: none

Idea Book #23 (????) Read Online
Mort ‘s Age – 20’s

Invention / Idea Topics: hair brush ; “Film in the realist tradition should push color, stereo, smell, touch – natural sounds to their furthest boundaries…” 3D virtual reality ; ;

Philosophical Topics: education ; evolution ; Greek and Roman civilization ; individualism ; religion ; capitalism ; yoga ; eastern philosophy ; caste system of India ; the richness of pregnancy ; prayer ; socialism ; communism ; thoughts on love, thinking, creating, contemplation, religion, exercise, nutrition, cleanliness

Film /Photo Ideas: none

Other Topics: a story “Reign of Reason: ;

Extras: none

Idea Book #24 (1954) Read Online
Mort ‘s Age – 28

Invention / Idea Topics: “Rite Form Pencil” ; individual or family “Tortilla Keeper Warmer” ; Cinemasphere polaroid glasses ; pressure gun to force ink back up into ball point pens ; lamp dimmers ; “The House of the Future Today” ; automatic cable winder ; rubber soled shoes – sweat proof – with air holes in the sole for ventilation ; “Design for a Swimming Pool” ; “functional bed” body form mattress ; light distribution mirrors ; “Observations on Smell for Cinemasphere” ; fresh air / scent device for cars ; ideal living facility with specs ; create an “Institute of Invention” ; “International Restaurant” with a different country / region for each day ; scientific clothing – a second skin ; rubber diapers for dogs that are not potty trained ; feminine douche called “Hi-Jean” ; combination parachute / balloon for humans and airplanes ; wearable electric heating pad ; voice transcription machine ; design for a “lake pool” ; automatic scissors ;

Philosophical Topics: “value is given by life, not man” ; universal truths ; justice ; “The Third Road” ; Bacpn , Marx , Engels , Lenin ; methodology of art ; social engineering ; “The city is false because it is not a straight proportional projection of man’s place in the universe – It’s a temporary distortion – a indomitable aberration – that soon must be corrected if men are to remain physically and mentally SANE.” ; critique of American schools ; the ideal daily schedule ; mass production ; “Plan of Action for Cine” ; differences between “individual life” and “social life” ; steps to build a true civilization ; “Intensity is relevant to all compassions” ; ideal living facility ; “scientific humanism” ; yoga ; egomaniacs ; machine replaces man’s muscle ; treatise on “Art of Consciousness” ;

Film /Photo Ideas: film “The Big Picture” on global situations ; “The Miracle of Flight” ; series of televised debates on social issues ; 3D color film “The Story of a Drop of Water” ;

Other Topics: method for settling disputes without violence ; poem “The Man Who Had to Love” ; write a book called “A Philosophy to Live By” ; presentation notes for speech in Mexico pitching the idea that Mexico can become bigger than Hollywood with Mort’s 3D cinema

Extras: newspaper article “Industry Improves Research Methods”

Idea Book #25 (1957) Read Online
Mort ‘s Age – 31

Invention / Idea Topics: buffet restaurant with spinning “Round Tables” of food ; Cinemasphere (3D Experience Theater) Institute / Program ; magnetic buttons ; stereophonic car ; “Communication Design Inc.” ; Telesphere ; The Sensorama Car ; “Experience Supermarkets” ; “Experience-Land ; hot air blowing machine to heal infected wounds ; 3D filming ; TV Eating Chair ; food delivery and dish removal device for restaurant ; wall tv that can change the color and patterns of house ; “electronic clothing” ; bath/shower hybrid ; “All Sense Mask” Telesphere ; “Passenger Safe Gondola” ; plastic cover/ lid ; Oxygen + aroma dispenser cans for inside cars ; Heilig Bathing Suit ; less glare inducing light bulbs ; Telephone silencer ; disposable disc ;

Philosophical Topics: Method of Realization ; Application of Social Energy ; “America is plagued by the ‘All of Nothing Mentality'” ; game shows ; “Hollywood has developed a Cult of Death – I will bring a Cult of LIFE” ; Individual Man v Social Man ; Social Man and the “Cinemasphere” ; Architecture of the Future – Dynamic Functionalism / Group Living ; prehistoric man’s evolution to society today ; examination of different forms of communication ; “The Science and Art of Brain Farming” ; American school system ; the ideal community ; virtues of healthy eating ; Reflections on Princeton ; “The American Movie Industry needs a three pronged program (offensive) to save itself” – Form (complete conversion to electronic recording and projection – Content (the themes of the films can no longer be escapist junk) – Presentation (presentation of a film must be an event) ; community living ; the Churches of a New Religion of Life ; industrial revolution ; “a man should own his body and soul, and no more” ; “The film industry is not to entertain, to distract, to escape – but just the opposite – to engage” ; science and art ; man’s possessiveness of their female partners ; “Science has become insane, and Art, impotent” ; “mutual inspiration” ; ego ; spirituality ; nature ; mathematics ; virtues of baths/showers ; good design ; expressing an idea/though/emotion unburdens the mind, creates new thoughts/demands in others, and gives a feeling of accomplishment ; 3rd and 4th dimensions ; “the creative cycle” ; “You cannot reform NBC” ; Pete Seeger ; audience participation ; “the film maker’s job is to help people live” ; e=mc2 ; research gas exhaust effects on air pollution ; Europeans make better art films ; films as method of hypnosis ; yoga ; “The United States suffers from a spiritual malaise, a black hollowness of soul ; Cultural Centrism ;

Film /Photo Ideas: film series on Great Men / Great Ideas / Great Periods / Great Problems / Transcendental Poems ; film on health ; film series on “The Nature of Man” , “The Society of Man” ; film series “The Designers” ; film on New York with hidden camera ; 90 minute film “One World” or “World Government” ; “The Cycle of Life” ; program on other cultures ;

Other Topics: review of film “Seven Wonders of the World” ; list of potential financial backers including Frank Lloyd Wright ; new company idea “Design for Man, Inc.” ; write “The Nature of Organization” and “The Method of Design” ;

Extras: buffet restaurant plans ; receipt for certified mail May 02 1977 ; Mort’s letterhead that has written “Morton Heilig is a jerk ; newspaper clipping of Summer Theatre ; newspaper clipping “Exhaust Fumes: Relation to Lung Caner is Indicated by Study” ; newspaper clipping from New York Times April 15, 1957 on atomic weapons ;

Idea Book #26 (1957) Read Online
Mort ‘s Age – 31

Invention / Idea Topics: Telesphere Mask ; an airplane ; heat and pressure suit for complete tactile impressions ; robots that walk / wheel / fly ; baby bottle holder ; ‘Psychic Engineering Consultant” business ; stereoscopic sound recordings ; soft comfortable soundproof ear shields ; shower with hot/cold handle and full power/off for strength of water flow ; a sex restaurant ; broadcast on demand ; Experience Chair ; rocket shaped theatre to simulate flying around earth and space ; Cinemasphere ; Sensorama ; Sensorama / Robot hybrid ; Sensorama Suit ; Electronic TV Restaurant ;

Philosophical Topics: design ; pro-interracial marriage / relationships ; The Agony of Self Motivation ; social services ; energy ; the ideal society ; e=mc2 ; American politics ; religion ; yoga ; film making ; organization ; “Democratic Centralism” ; American school system ; world politics ; thoroughly research an area you visit before you leave ; the average man limits his own experiences ; One World Government ; “Psychic Engineering of Air Travel” ; evolution of capitalism ; “work out a complete plan for electronic government” ; abolish private property ; dictatorship ; nature ; ideal community Theatre ; Television industry

Film / Photo Ideas: film on prejudice and discrimination ; “Observations of Photography Resulting from Dominican Trips” ; series titled “Here’s to Your Health” ; film “Man + Machine” ; worldwide correspondents on location ;

Other Topics: book idea “Dreams of a Communication” ; book “Designing Society” ; book “The Art Form of the Future” ;

Extras: none

Idea Book #27 (1958) Read Online
Mort ‘s Age – 32

Invention / Idea Topics: Sensorama Robot + Suit ; Sensorama ; POV films for Sensorama Suit ; Sensorama Suit for puppetry ; Cinemasphere ; “Ideas of an Amateur for Hydrogen Fusion Engines” ; 2 way recording and projection suit ; 2 way recording and projection robot ; method for “sea farming” ; TV-electrome screen form ; energy transmission through air ; light gun ; film and projector rental system ; 3D Cinemascope camera ; Experience Theater ; loop system ; rescue mirror for downed airmen ; Dancearama – the TV dance visual ; impact-safe automobile ; automatic baggage rack ; “The Heilig Ultra-Portable Snap Out Sun Reflector” ; pocket translator ; portable dictionary ; “good candid camera design” ;

Philosophical Topics: man and robot in sensory communication ; human perception ; space travel ; design ; yoga ; atomic energy ; patterns ; individual v social man ; artistry ; science ; content ; hypnosis ; psychiatry ; benefits / uses for the Sensorama Suit ; test feedback response to various “incoming forces” ; adaptation ; choosing subjects for films ; “Information Hunger” ; physical health ; “All sources of air pollution must be completely stopped” ; “Thoughts on Aesthetic Form” ; “The Evolution of Communication” ; Social Engineering ; “The road for America’s salvation is not to undo Russia – but to outdo her” ; analogy of human nervous system and social nervous system ; sea farming ; realism ; the world will be connected w/ electronics ; neurology and electronics ; The Design of Social Togetherness” ; essential problems of our civilization ; nuclear and atomic energy ; “Laws of Good Expositioning” ; Disneyland ; the future of cinema and tv ; human soul ; exercise ; love ;

Film / Photo Ideas: film on air hygiene ; film “The Search for Energy” ; film “The Struggle Towards Unity” ; dramatic poetic documentaries ; short film series “The Face of America” ; film “Patterns of Control” ; series “Your Health” ; series “Let’s know Ourselves” ;

Other Topics: book “The Form and Process of Design” ; pitching / financing / marketing plans

Extras: Op-Ed article on US fuel ; to-do list ; article on technology in Cyrillic language ; Sensorama details ; Op-Ed “Science vs. Culture” ; article on space frontier ; “A Program for Inner Space” ;

Idea Book #28 (1959) Read Online
Mort ‘s Age – 33

Invention / Idea Topics: Dancerama ; abstract pattern to physical pattern converter ; “body radar” (GPS) ; Experience Machines – large group / Experience Hall – small group / small Experience Center – individual / Sensorama ; “Regeneration Cenrter” ; “Fulfillment City” w/ robot doctor ; genetic engineering ; “full neural, external and internal Sensorama machine Sensorama suit ; snack sized meal vending machine dispensers ; “Stop-Biting Finger Tips” a protective device for nail biters ; “Experience Supermarket” ; 3D films ; swimming pool projector w/ radio + goggles ; educational films w/ a quizzing device ; sex machines ; “The Rester” sleep machine ; list of machines for Living Inc. ‘ ; new kind of dance shoe ; racket ball-esque game and court ; “no rewind endless tape supply” ;

Philosophical Topics: psychic communication ; exercise ; gauging one’s contribution to society ; “money is certainly no indication of health, intelligence, or social contribution” ; “Integration of the Film Exp.” ; an institute for positively affective people for creating machines for a better future” ; evolution of politics last 100 years ; new means of production for better life than assembly lines ; new “Temple of Life” ; process of design ; freedom vs tyranny ; “Hollywood is a status quo town created by selfish men who don’t care what happens after they are gone” ; USA is spiritually bankrupt ; community ; thoughts on treatment of the mentally ill ; yoga ; “Social Man” ; evolution of art ; “men should build machines, not be one” ; mass communication ; studies on sex ; solitary confinement ; metal profiles for people ; experience engineers / designers ;

Film / Photo Ideas:

Other Topics: idea for business “Experience Engineering” ; an Institute of Communication Arts ; book on modern life ; various ideas for books on philosophy / film ; book “Science + Human Life” by E.V. Butler + Heilig ; magnetic tape ; idea for a museum of modern art ; how to get more people interested in baseball ; list of basic fields of research ; book idea “The Experience Design of Mankind”

Extras: new daily routine schedule ; Redbook Magazine August 1959 “Why Don’t We Enjoy Our Freetime More?” ; unidentified newspaper article ; August 23, 1959 article “The Breakthrough of Buckminster Fuller” from The New York Times Magazine ;

Idea Book #29 (1960) Read Online
Mort ‘s Age – 34

Invention / Idea Topics: new design for squash rackets ; “Life Machine” ; “Group Regenerative Machine” “Individual ; new pen / pencil design for finger grooves ; Sensorama ; new seating theater arrangement (reclining w/ footrests) ;

Philosophical Topics: designing society ; “private kingdom” (individualism) doesn’t work ; garbage disposal is inefficient ; a collective society ; housing problems ; opportunities for sexual expression ; “the great sex repression is the last chain tying us to Victorian, Protestant, and (illegible) of the past” ; must eliminate the two dangers of sex – venereal disease and undesired pregnancy ; contemporary marriage needs to evolve into “sequential monogamy” ; pro women’s equality / they have higher standards of men now (a good thing) ; good violence (defense) vs. bad violence (oppression) ; context is important for design ; revolutions ; studies on sex is needed to not be morally against it ; “Psychical Design” ; nature of the soul ; health is important ; traffic problems ; Atomic Energy ; Solar Energy ; Hydroelectric Energy ; education communication ; ideal communities ; boredom in small towns ; ideological nourishment ; workers want opportunity to mature and gain agency ; time devoted to learning needs to be increased ; new intellectual / emotional / spiritual religion “The Electronic Temple” ; contemporary movie industry is closed-minded / like medieval guilds , hard for newcomers to gain access ; the potential for media is so much more than entertainment and profit ; Past / Memory , Present / Integration , Future / Creative Imagination ; raise human consciousness ; “It is a great loss for society that young people, in the full bloom of their energies, are given no power – no opportunities – when they can make the best of them” ; need 30 year old US president / 30 year old city planners ; keep active physical / mentally to stay young / alert ; “build first and let fantasy follow” ; Charles Eams ; modern DaVinci’s – trained dreamers ; nature / consciousness ; “Why Life?” ; nature of beauty / ugliness and concepts of rich / poor ; “Anticipating the day when we will make contact with beings more intelligent that ourselves in outer space” ; methods of improving human intelligence ; cinema helps communicate in ways that simple words cannot ; Sensorama helps communication ; subconsciousness ; religion / science ; “Truth and Form make great art” ; “Design oof Nature” / “Design of Man” / “Design of Society” ; fraternities are not useful ; energy ; Nazi Germany ; process of film making ; “poetry is the algebra of the emotions” ; love / loneliness ; tenets ;

Film / Photo Ideas: photos of crystals ;

Other Topics: book “The Scientific Development of Human Consciousness” ; book / article “Essential Design” by Robert Malone and Mort Heilig ; ideal daily schedule ;

Extras: New York Post article on Ben-Gurion , March 13, 1960 ; Saturday Review article “A Mythology for Grownups” January 23, 1960 ; Time Magazine article on religion March 14, 1960

Idea Book #30 (1960) Read Online
Mort ‘s Age – 34

Invention / Idea Topics: information input machine ; output machine ; automatic film maker ; machine like aqualung for Sensorama suit ; perfect unit for private living ; perfect unit for social living ; still camera for rapid shooting ; single piece suits ; “Eat Machine” / “Study Machine” / “Create Machine” / “Wash Machine” / “Eliminate Machine” / “Exercise Machine” / “Love Machine” / “Clothing Machine” / “House Machine” / “City Machine” / “Nation Machine” / “Universe Machine” “Medicine Machine” ; remote controlled camera ; remote controlled TV ; biaural sound for filming movies ; “Offer Mask Patent to Phillips – Westinghouse or RCA ; psychotronics / neurotronics / bionics ; Sensorama machine for intense Sexual Experience / Sensorama suit programmed for seduction w/ “body manipulator – in + out” ; device “physical feedback to make exercising a joy” ; idea for a “God Machine” ;

Philosophical Topics: religion ; mental growth ; community centers ; Hollywood needs to nurture young creative minds ; sedentary life style ; sedentary lifestyles ; for education “long stationary periods of reading are unnatural, unhealthy, and, with today’s technology, unnecessary” ; cinema is the best form for displaying abstract ideas ; technical form ; aesthetic form ; “we must free the cinematic form” ; designism ; “every 4 years (the) voting we do (is) for the lesser of 2 evils” ; Design of Man / Design of Society / Design of Nature / Intersystem Design ; individual / society ; Communism ; Industrialism ; psychical design ; “All Men are ENERGY STEALERS. The only question is from whom should they steal the energy from, Nature or their fellow man?” ; aliens ; 3. systems “Physiological System” / “Social System” / “Universal System” ; life / death / belief in the afterlife ; “we cannot quarrel with death” ; self-optimization ; new religion
“Lif(e)ism” ; “Design of a Day” ; “Forces of Economy + Selection” ; “A Religion and Ritual for Our Times” ; “The Built in for Non-Obsolescence Design” ; the Three Loves of Man – Love of Self / Love of Society / Love of God ; theory of content ; man has been cut off from nature ; “Growth Through Use” ; Productionists / Designists / Scientists / Goalists ; “The Religion of Designism” – based on science ; Diagram of the Religion of Designism ;

Film / Photo Ideas: film about exploring / spiritual adventure in Sensorama suit ; “America My Country” ; 5 Sensorama films on “Theory of Design” / “Design of Man” / “Design of Society” / “Design of Nature” / “Comprehensive (intersystem) Design” ; a film on “The Agony of Misplaced Ideas” ; “Principles of Aesthetic Form for films that are emerging evermore clearly” ; film ; idea for photo article showing the differences in the daily lives of a US person and Russian person ; film “Planetoid USA” ;

Other Topics: idea for an open letter to Hollywood to create a new wave ; book about exploring / spiritual adventure in Sensorama suit ; 5 books on “Theory of Design” / “Design of Man” / “Design of Society” / “Design of Nature” / “Comprehensive (intersystem) Design” ; story idea on “earth invaded by a superiorly civilized / intelligent beings” ; Disney

Extras: letter “Way of Design” ; symbol / logo of Designism ; “How to Go About Writing a Script” ; ideal daily schedule ; News Article “Rapid Commercialization” by John Crosby in New York Herald Tribune 1961. ; notes written on “Pianta Topografica dei Padiglioni Stranieri” pamphlet ; “Aesthetic Form – Lessons of Shadows” ; “To Your Health” ; “Lover of Life” ;

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