American television directory (1946)

A MOVIE fashion show — Television please copy! By IRVING BROWNING Producer of Motion Picture Shorts As i see it, television promises much for the motion picture cam¬ eraman’s future. It offers a fasci¬ nating outlet for serious experi¬ mentation in lighting, composition and perspective. It provides oppor¬ tunities to capture further honors in his art. The rich half-tone values with which we are familiar in fine still photography and on the mo¬ tion picture screen will soon be evident in television. At first glance, a television stu¬ dio’s stationary lights, fixed to the ceiling, are depressing to a movie cameraman accustomed to the high¬ ly mobile lighting equipment in a modern motion picture studio. War¬ time restrictions, understandably, have prevented advancement in this respect and improvements are promised. Modern photographic fa¬ cilities are an imperative need. And more sensitive iconoscopes, which have recently been demonstrated. With motion pictures steadily shooting an increasing percentage of film in color — and tele-engineers working feverishly to perfect nat¬ ural color television — one may well wonder which medium will be the first to use color exclusively. Television can revive all the old time movie tricks and use them successfully. A new generation of youngsters would find them fresh and entertaining. Miles of factual film, movie shorts, comedies and cartoons — popular with all audiences — will be rapidly devoured by television projection machines. And camera¬ men will rove the world over for new scenes and thrills to satisfy their insatiable appetites. Film transcriptions will become to television what electrical disc transcriptions are to radio — with costs low enough to meet the budg¬ et requirements of the most con¬ servative advertising campaigns. Film innovations to meet this need are in development. I myself have some very definite ideas. As I watch “live talent” tele¬ vision shows I am convinced that much of this new art can best be presented via the medium of film. Viewers are certain to compare tele-picture quality with motion pic¬ ture quality and the latter repre¬ sents the cream of much footage from many angles and many re¬ takes. Live television at present attempts to capture perfection in “one take.” The gamble is too great to succeed often. Television will be a living news¬ paper, yes, with many parades, conventions, fires and big games presented as they happen — but the bulk of regularly scheduled tele¬ newscasts must be made up of care¬ fully edited newsreels. News, other¬ wise, will monopolize the medium and completely upset commercially sponsored schedules. Libraries of news events will be required for the use of every commentator. The film cameraman will not be crowded aside by television; he will become more important than ever. PIONEERING A RELAY NETWORK ( Continued from page 27) more and more advertisers will seek the benefits of sight-and-sound selling via television. Sponsored programs will require the best efforts of the new school of television actors, writers, pro¬ ducers, cameramen and sound techni¬ cians who have learned the specialized techniques of telecasting during our pioneering yesterdays. I visualize the development of an entirely new art, calling for the varied talents of many thousands of men and women. This growth of television program¬ ming will present countless opportuni¬ ties to alert, aggressive young Ameri¬ cans, many of them returning veterans. We in the television industry may hope to attract the “cream of the crop” of young America, for development of both the technical and artistic phases of television, because ours is a new industry with many chances to get in on the ground floor. Also, as television grows through the expansion of television networks, I can see in it boundless opportunities for service to America and to the world, in education, news, entertainment, mer¬ chandising and the creation of a better understanding between people in fardistant areas. In this way, television networks bringing sight-and-sound pro¬ grams of all kinds to all peoples can certainly help notably toward that com¬ mon goal of mankind — an enduring, democratic and prosperous era of peace. BEYOND TOMORROW? ( Continued from page 9) Communications, both domestic and foreign, may in the future be by photo¬ graphic rather than telegraphic meth¬ ods. Thus, a message, or a letter, or a newspaper page, may be placed before the televiser at the sending end, and instantly photographed at the receiving end of the circuit. This would represent accurate, high speed transmission un¬ equalled by any system of communica¬ tion in use today. Beyond tomorrow, what? In television the answer lies in the extension of man’s vision far beyond his immediate horizon, beyond the boundaries of his own country, until the world becomes one great neighborhood. Courtesy, Electrical Merchandising "Will you feel better if I personally guarantee it to be as good as your old crystal set or refund your money?" 140