Business screen magazine (1938)

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A SURVEY ON THE USE OF FILMS AT RECENT EXPOSITIONS THERE ARE, according to a comprehensive survey of past expositions conducted by a national projector manufacturer, several distinct functions performed by films in exhibit work, closely paralleling their function in other forms of advertising activity. It is important that the contents, length, form and presentation methods of exposition films be carefully considered in the light of the function the film is intended to perform. These functions may be classified. a) To attract attention of passers-by. b) To tell the story of the product exhibited. c) To sell that product to the audience. d) To teach others to sell the product. For the first type of use, just to attract attention, it is obvious that the film should be short, extremely striking, obtrusive, its form much more important than its contents. A short animated talking picture cartoon, visible to people in the aisles, is typical of films serving this function. The second type, which is part of the exhibit itself, and frequently the major part, has a much wider latitude both of form and contents. The third type, the direct sales film, must be so designed that interest will be held clear through to the "clincher". The fourth type is really a training picture, and should be kept away from the general public. What Is the Job to Be Done? ■*: The methods by which films are shown, and the equipment selected, are also conditioned by the kind of job that is to be done by the film. It does not pay to skimp on either film cost or equipment — the main consideration is that your story be told as it should be, with a maximum of quality and a minimum of interruption. In the more than five months of the Century of Progress Exposition of 1933 in Chicago, ten to twelve hours per day, and for 169 days, the equipment used received as much use as it would have had in from ten to thirty years of normal business or educational usage. Furthermore, much of this use was under more adverse conditions of high temperature, dusty surroundings, unskilled operation, etc., than would normally be encountered. The cost of film and equipment is small in comparison to the price of exhibit space, fixtures, personnel, etc. It is therefore only simple economy to purchase the best equipment and to make adequate arrangements for maintenance — motion pictures are expensive only while they are NOT running. If the job is essentially one of attracting attention, of KEY TO DESIGNS ON THESE PACES 1. Attention: arrested by a striking projector unit 2. Another type of exhibit projection tor a wall 3. The motion picture theatre with many exits 4. Devote a Comer to your customers 5. The pushbutton will be a favorite of visitors "ballyhoo", a very short sound film, shown right on the aisle, may be recommended; if a more extended educational exhibit is wanted, quieter and less crowded settings should be arranged. At the Century of Progress, some projectors were housed in special cabinets, some were built into regular exhibit fixtures, some worked right out in the open with the picture projected across aisles or booth space, while others were concealed behind walls, beneath floors or above ceilings! Projectors may be in front of the screen or behind it, either in a straight line, or, where space limitation forbids this, with the use of mirrors HOW TO USE FILMS IN EXHIBITS