Business screen magazine (1938)

BUSINESS SCREEN PRESENTS: THE CASE FOR SLIDE FILMS In a Little Less than a decade, the usefulness and ejjiciency of sHde fihns have amply demonstrated their value to business and education. No apologies need be given or asked for the medium which is daily proving one of the most valuable weapons in the training and selling programs of many great national organizations. Today, with the advent of fine color and many technical improvements in both projection and sound, the possibilities of the slide film have been tremendously advanced. First — consider the many fields in which these continuous strips oi illustration are now predominantly successful. In the field of salestraining, for example, the recent introduction (if syndicated sales-training slide films (notably, the Firing Line series) has opened an entire new phase of training potentialities. The enormous group of smaller businesses employing from five to fifty salesmen, sometimes operating a small number of branch offices and which, heretofore, have been unable to afford the custom-built training film, are now to get excellent .syndicateil nuiterials. In the department store, in other lines of retail dealer education and in almost every field of selling activity, the slide film is proving its useful and permanent place. Other fields of use include those of public relations and consumer education. In the several installments which wil fcillow this comparatively general introduction (in subsequent issues of Business Si'rcen) , many programs for large national corporations will be discussed. Thi National Association of ManufacturerIliiusehold Finance Corporation, CocaCola and .Associated Wool Industries are >|iiin.sors of notable series in these fields. .\ slide film produced for a national pipe manufacturer, for example, proved to be a jiowerful factor in improving employee rilations when it showed the lowly tobacco ( Icrk ways and means of achieving new stature ill his livelihood. More than 600,000 women li.i\e seen the educational slide films released by Household Finance which achieve good wi lliiough constructive advice on better home iii.iiiagemcnt. .Another field of use for the slide film has been ilrmonstrated in its extensive replacement of 'iiilky charts and tables usually carried for li rhnical lectures and sales meetings. One company. International Harvester, makes a nuni1" r of films each year for this purpose alone and ^.i\es many thou.sands of dollars as well as the w( ar and tear on its executives. In general, when the question is asked, how am I to decide whether to use a motion picture IT a .slide film for my problem? — the question if I ii>t is 7iot the most decisive element. It is true ; that the slide film is immeasurably more eco I nomical since it consists of a number of "still" 1. The Extent of Their Use This is the first of a series of articles on the use and appreciation of slide films. photographic illustrations to which a synchronized sound record is added. The printing of these "strips" of illustrations is comparatively inexpensive. The differences in usefulness are a great deal more definite than mere price indicates, for many motion picture producers will frankly advise the slide film and maintain excellent departments for their production when such use is indicated by subject matter. This assertion is by no means a startling one, as indicated by the fact that many industrial concerns use both sound slide films and motion pictures. Each has its own peculiar qualifications and limitations. In many ways, their differences are as wide as the differences separating direct mail and radio advertising. What are these limitations and qualifications? In what jobs does the sound slide excel nnd to what task is the motion picture film particul.irlv well suited? ♦ In general, we have found that where action is a predominant essential element in the proper presentation of your story the motion picture is the proper medium. When that story can be as effectively presented with a scries of stills suplemented bv the illusion of motion and the sound commentary, the sound slide is a very satisfactory medium to employ. Thus, in presenting sales promotional material involving methods of creating effective displays, the sound slide is admirably suited to tile task. A sufficient illusion of action in dramatically-posed stills stimulates interest in the production as a whole and is adequate. Window-display methods of placing counter cards, mass displays, store "traffic" locations, et cetera, come in this category. Similarly, where a .set of still poses of characters may be used to "highlight" certain points, this medium is entirely acceptable. For example, the clerk in a retail store may be shown proper w'ays of greeting a customer, of displaying stocks, et cetera. The narrative voice here performs the function of getting across the proper way of addressing the customer, putting over sales points, et cetera. It would, indeed, be foolish to "burn up" eighteen or twenty feet of motion picture film when a single frame would as effectively get across a single point. Similarly, if the picture is to be predominantly devoted to charts, drawings, graphs, and the like, the sound slide may be the more practical medium. ♦ The best of the .sound slide producers are frank to admit the limitations of the medium. When, for example, a narrative theme must be Ijrcflominant in your story, it is usually essential to have motion in order to sustain interest from sequence to sequence. Where equipment must be shown in operation, the movie film is naturally more desirable. Thus, for a film on lubrication, a punch press in operation or a tire going through a number of processes involving motion, the moving picture is preferable. In general, it may also be said that, where movement of thought is relatively slow and good attention is to be concentrated upon a single subject, the sound slide film is preferable. If, on the other hand, we must carry our audience rapidly from one subject to another through a series of fast-moving, interrelated thoughts, the movie is to be considered more desirable. There are, of course, exceptions to all rules, and the above comments are not to be considered final and binding. They are merely our observations on the successful slide films and motion pictures we have seen. It should also be noted that the major content of your film problem should be established. Thus if it is predominantly composed of ideas best expressed in action, a motion picture treatment is indicated; but, if the majority of I houghts to be conveyed need not be expressed n movement, the slide film is the answer. ( To be continued in Issue Three. Additio7ial material appears 07i Pages 31-44-15) .