Business screen magazine (1938)

As with silent films, the early sound films were institutional, attempting to create good will for General Electric by showing the application of its developments as a matter of public interest. Theatres used these earlier sound releases and audience response was good. Some sales films were made, but the district machines were much too complicated and bulky to permit easy .showings. 16mm. sound was the answer to the major problem of making our pictures effective sales aids. During the period of readjustment, we produced for the Lamp Department the first industrial sound picture in color. Titled Stepping Ahead, it was shot on Dupont bi-pack, developed in our own laboratory, and printed bj' Multicolor. Similarly produced sequences have since been used when color has been warranted. There are many standards of judging a picture and probably as many variations of these standards as there are judges. Theatrical films are graded by box-office receipts; industrial pictures. General Electric's at least, are judged by their effectiveness in doing the job they were designed to do. Their primary f miction is to sell — whether it be an idea or a product. If entertainment is essential to creating the sale, then theatrical treatment is resorted to; otherwise, it is omitted and a straightforward, ungarnished film is made. This does not mean that technically the picture should not be well produced, but that only essential story material be included. Thus, many of the pictures may seem very uninteresting and a waste of time and effort, but that opinion would not hold if you were familiar with the sales angles involved. It is in applying the advantages of motion pictures to the projection of an idea, whether simple or involved, which will influence ultimate sales favorably, that industrial pictures best serve their purpose. To do this, the Visual Instruction Section, though small, is physically well equipped. STUDIO SPECIFICATIONS ARE GIVEN ♦ In one building is a studio some 40 by 30 by 15 feet. Because of its location within a noisy factory area, it is really a room within a room. The walls, floor, and ceiling are spring floated and the inner surfaces treated with Sabonite plaster and bats of rock-wool. A sufficient number of incandescent lighting units is available for most any type of lighting. Two kilowatt 19" spots and lY^ kilowatt rifles are most generally used, though 5 Kw bulbs of strip or broadside units may be used. These same units may also be used for location work though lately the department has been successful with some Art Reeves portable photoflood imits. Pockets, carrying 150 amperes each, are conveniently located on the studio walls, so the annoyance of cables all over the floor is reduced. Since height is at a premium, we use diffusers on most of the units and often add a (Please turn to page 30) THE BUSINESS FILM ABROAD by ANDREW BUCHANAN Editor. Gaumont-Bnthh News • Though Brit.^in's entertainment fllm industry remains in a critical condition (with a brighter future just appearing on the horizon) , her non-theatrical film activities are making rapid progress. Her output may be divided into three broad categories: — 1. Productions sponsored by industrial, agricultural, commercial, and other concerns, designed for road showing, and projection in halls other than cinemas. 2. Productions, similarly sponsored, but designed for general cinema release. 3. Five hundred foot direct advertisement films, designed solely for cinemas, but regarded as "additional" to the programme. In Group One, production has increased considerably owing to growing interest on the part of industrialists, in the screen. The now famous films made by the Gas Company, at the rate of about five a year, are a popular feature, and an excellent example. Complete film shows are given each winter of the new productions made during the preceding summer. The general appeal of these shorts is wide. Musical sequences, fantasy, humour, artists of repute — have all helped to capture the public. Production values are high, and infinite care is taken over preparation of scripts. There are a number of parallel examples of complete shows sponsored by important concerns, ranging from the films of car manufacturers to those emphasizing the advantages of certain chain stores. Political parties are making ingenious films for projection on fleets of vans, and certain agricultural groups have spent a great deal on the making of first class informative shorts, both for non-theatrical and cinema release. Film Centre, in London, an advisory organization controlled by John Grierson and Arthur Elton, and including Basil Wright and Paul Rotha, can be regarded as the hub around which the non-theatrical documentary move Inijierial Airivai/s has been jeatured in one oj the best documentaries produced in Britain. ment revolves. The most prominent business groups have come to regard Film Centre as a reliable source from which to gain advice on all matters appertaining to film production. The fundamental weakness of short films designed for general theatrical release in Britain is lack of adequate distribution. Double-feature programmes have reduced programme space to a minimum, and exhibitors regard shorts as unimportant flll-ups, which can be rented quite economically. In fact, it is primarily due to this position that the non-theatrical world has developed so rapidly, for leading docnmentalists have turned their attention to the task of building up their own audiences outside the cinema. This universal cry that there is "no room" for shorts in the commercial cinema leads me to remark on the danger of being victimised by Advertising Mania — a disease from which most exhibitors appear to suffer. They declare their programmes have no room for shorts, however good, and yet they can devote ten, fifteen and sometimes more minutes to Trailers advertising next week's attractions. I know full well the value of these snappy excerpts, but it does seem somewhat illogical that space should be taken up to boost future attractions to the exclusion of current ones. An organist can play for, perhaps, fifteen minutes; a series of trailers can occupy another ten minutes (minimum); and an advertisement film (Group 3) can play for a further five minutes — thirty minutes in all, and yet there is no room for first class short filmsl How could there be.' There is a place for everything, including advertisements, but a greater power of selection and understanding should be exercised by exhibitors in this particular respect. As I have explained. Group One contains sponsored films for showing outside commercial cinemas, but, equally if not more important, are the sponsored films designed for general release. Despite bad conditions, many do penetrate into cinemas, and achieve surprising success. They do not, of course, contain any direct advertising. Amongst these shoidd be mentioned the excellent shorts made by the famous G.P.O. Film Unit — a group possessing small studios at Blackheath, on the outskirts of London. One of its latest efforts is North Sea — a fine three reel documentary on deep sea fishing, which has been booked up and down the country. One may ask what has that to do with the GcniTal Post Ofiiee? But one should remember that ramifications of this vast concern extend into the most unexpected channels. Consider, for a moment, the unparalleled success. Night Mail, the two reel dramatic fllm telling the 24