Sponsor (Oct-Dec 1964)

SPONSOR WEEK Anything-Can-Be-Done Attitude Essential In Selecting Film House^ Says DDB Exec New York — A film company should not only be a service organization to the agency "but should also bo interested in advertising and not only in profit margin," Don Trevor, vice president for tv commercial production, Doyle Dane Bernbach, Inc., last week told an ANA workshop. Trevor added, "We have found that only a handful of production houses fall into this category." What is important, he said, is the attitude of the film company that anything can be done. As a case in point, Trevor cited his agency's Volkswagen Sedan commercials. "When we shoot the Volkswagen Sedan commercials, we like to have our motion picture lens exactly lAVi inches off the ground ... At this angle, the bumpers look straight and not curved and the car looks more attractive." Trevor continued: "For one recent commercial, I required a 180 degree circular shot around the car. No equipment was ever built to make the shot at the required 141^ inches off the ground. When I asked three production companies to bid on this project, I told them this shot might require construction of special equipment. Two of the companies told me that this was not necessary — they would use conventional equipment and do the shot at 18 inches. So what if the Volkswagen does not look as good as we like to have it?" Needless to say, they did not get the job, Trevor declared. "The company that actually went out and built the dolly and shot the scene exactly as we had requested was Tunnel No Obstacle To Radio Reception Cape Charles, Va. — Sponsors won't have to worry about their selling messages reaching car radios in the 17.5 mile long Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. A new radio system, consisting of AM antennas mounted at each end of the tunnel and connected with amplifiers, boost the signals and feed them to antenna cables rurming the length of the tunnel ceilings. "As far as we know, there is not another tunnel anywhere with AM radio reception," said J. Clyde Morris, executive director of the bridge-tunnel. Chief engineer Leon R. Johnson said that the new AM antenna will eliminate the annoyance motorists feel when they drive into a tunnel and their radio goes dead. "I don't know why it is," Johnson said, "but it always seems to happen just as the announcer says, 'We interrupt this program for a special news bulletin,' or 'It's the last of the ninth, the score is tied, and Mickey Mantle is stepping up to bat.' " The ceiling antenna cables were built into the tunnels originally to provide two-way shortwave communication for patrol cars, maintenance and emergency vehicles. rewarded with first prize at the American Tv Film Festival and lots of repeat business from us." Continuing his discussion of how to choose a production house, Trevor brought up the matter of money. "While it is important to make sure that prices are in linei by using competitive bidding," he^ said, "we do not feel that price! alone should be a prime consideration. I feel that, once wc have established a mutual respect between the cameraman, director, editor, etc., on one side, and the tv production department at an agency on the other side, competitive bidding is absolutely unnecessary." Trevor wound up his talk by citing what to avoid in selecting a production house: "Those who say, 'no, it cannot be done' just because the agency concept is unorthodox or difficult; those who are content with conventional techniques in lighting and set design; those who use a slick, conveyor belt attitude in turning out commercials as though they are pieces of machinery." "But I really don't worry about them," Trevor concluded. "Because sooner or later, they will dissolve and fall by the wayside." Maltex Tv Commercial Uses Automated Puppet New York — Automation is even making inroads into the ancient and honorable art of puppetry with development of an experimental commercial for Maltex cereal in which 57 simultaneous human actions in a puppet character are computer-controlled. Created by the Fletcher Richards Co., the required puppet actions were pre-programed into the computer. "Then, by a flick of a switch, the computer literally puts the puppet through its paces — smoothly, flawlessly — as if 29 expert puppeteers were putting on a command performance." The commercial spotlights a "Professor Nutty" selling the "nutty," or nut-like, flavor of Maltex to youngsters, and opens with the puppet coming through a kitchen window. "Professor Nutty" lands on the breakfast counter to present a box of Maltex to a pair of wonderstruck real children. \ 22 SPONSOR L