The Bioscope (Feb-May 1931)

February 18, 1931 MODERN CINEMA TECHNIQUE THE BIOSCOPE xiii > MAKE IT Shout \ Letters received during the past week or two suggest that there are many exhibitors throughout the country who are still without any definite policy as regards their advertising and exploitation. Many of them regard the work as a routine necessity, of no very great importance. So many advertisements have to be placed, so much printing ordered, and there the matter ends for them. Here and there one finds an exhibitor who regards exploitation and publicity as the most important item in his week’s work. These men are constantly searching for new suggestions and bright ideas and they throw into the execution of those ideas every scrap of energy and ability they possess. More than energy and ability is, however, necessary for work of this kind. We have had several specimens of work submitted to us for criticism during the past few months which reveal untiring energy on the part of the senders, but which have failed to achieve their full results because the energy has not been backed by adequate knowledge. Death by Surfeit or Starving ? A period of bad business always brings defects in publicity and exploitation vividly into relief. The average man who finds himself faced by falling receipts has two courses open to him. He either cuts down on his publicity with a view to economising, or else he makes a violent splash and spends more money than he can hope to recover. It is difficult to say which of the policies is the worse ; perhaps more permanent harm results from cutting down the publicity, but the immediate results are as bad in the one case as the other. Very often an exhibitor will tell you proudly of how he waged a war with his opposition in the columns of the local paper. Brown suddenly increased from 4 in. two column to 6 in. two column, so I promptly answered that by going 8 in. two column.” A few weeks later he discovers that he has merely been increasing his advertising account, without proportionate benefit, except to the balance sheet of the newspaper. Let Brains Beat Bulk ! When one man starts fighting another in the local journal by increasing space, the proper retort is, not to take more space in competition, but to see that the space actually taken is used more effectively. The conventional 4 in. two column advertisement is admittedly a poor counterblast to a three column 11 in., let us say, but a skilfully thought-out 6 in. two column can certainly be made almost equally effective. It means that every ^ in. of the space taken must be made to pull its weight, which, in turn, does not mean that each J in. must be filled with type or illustrations. In fact, nowhere in advertising is generous white space more effective than on the crowded amusements page of a daily paper. What is needed is careful concentration on the essentials of the story to be told and a type layout that will make the advertisement conspicuous, even against bulkier announcements. This is not impossible. Every skilful Layout Man knows that there are certain tricks and devices effective in bringing a small space on a crowded page into pro minence. If the exhibitor will make a point of studying massed pages he will find, after a quick glance, that one advertisement has stood out above the rest. A little studying as to why this is so will be enormously useful to him in planning his own advertisements. The special appeal might be in an unusual border, an odd shape, an original style of type or lettering, or in some arresting phrase. No exhibitor can study 20 or 30 pages carefully in this way without collecting invaluable information on how to make a small advertisement a genuine eye-catcher. Don’t be Panicked into a Space War It is useless to underestimate the impressive effect of sheer space. A big advertisement of equal quality is just so much better than a small one, but the time for splashing out in big advertisements is not when times are bad. It is just during times like this, however, that the advertisement canvasser puts in some of his most devastating work. He will tell an exhibitor that the time to make a splash is when business is falling. He will approach you confidentially and, under pledge of secrecy, let you know that your rival is taking more space than ever this week. If the bait hooks you. then next week he will try precisely the same method on your competitor, and the following week you will find yourself faced with a similar proposition involving a still further increase in space. Do not fall for this cheapest and stalest of all the tricks in the space-seller’s repertoire. The proper answer to every stage in this “ come on ” game is to smile, refuse to increase your space, but quietly devote more attention to its effective use. An Ideal Set of Publicity Aids An advertisement is like a frock : its effectiveness depends entirely on the way it is filled. Nowadays there is no excuse for an exhibitor failing to make a thoroughly satisfactory job of his film publicity. The renting firms devote a tremendous amount of care and skilled attention to the preparation of publicity material. We have before us a P.D.C. campaign book relating to “ Her Man.” It is packed full of suggestions for advertising stunts, slogans, catch lines and a very wide range of blocks and poster material of all types. Effective half-tones can be supplied from half-a-crown upwards, and illustrations can be selected from a wide range to fit every kind of paper and publication. It is worth pointing out that their prices are very low ; from a quarter to a half of what an exhibitor might have to pay if he bought his own blocks. Here again a word is evidently necessary on something which should be quite elementary. Do not use coarse screen or line blocks on art paper, and conversely do not use fine screen blocks on rough paper or for newspaper work. These two rules should be axiomatic with any advertising man, but the fact remains that programmes and newspaper advertisements are continually being submitted to this office for criticism in which these most elementary of all rules are violated. Too much praise cannot easily be bestowed on this P.D.C. campaign book. It permits an exhibitor with even sub-normal brain capacity to arrange publicity matter of a pleasing quality, but we would especially emphasise the advantage of original work to those capable of it. Too often a newspaper page may be found to consist of a selection of renters stereos and publicity matter. Each of these advertisements might be quite effective if it were not for the others clustered around them. These conditions are precisely those which the man with originality can take advantage of. An hour’s patient work with a pencil should result in a simple type lay-out with plenty of white space around it which should make his message stand out prominently from the mass of drawing and fancy lettering around it. The men who arrange renters publicity matter are under no illusions in this, direction. They know that, however effective their work might be, it is necessarily somewhat stereotyped, whereas a local man with only one or two small advertisements to concentrate on should easily be able to achieve a distinction no mass product can rival. All this is not to suggest that the exhibitor need make a detailed study of advertising layout work, useful though that might be. It is, however, intended to suggest that a really intelligent exhibitor will make a point of studying his personal reaction to advertising wherever he meets it and analyse the causes of the effects he notices. In this nay any man with a fair share of brains can develop a genuine advertising sense against which his rival’s display of sheer bulk will appear comparatively childish. The Interesting features have been incorporated into the general scheme of alterations just carried out at the old Super Cinema, Charing Cross Road, which opened on Monday as the " Tatler.” The whole of the theatre has been thoroughly redecorated, recarpeted and reseated, whilst the projection box equipment has been completely replaced. The main vestibule has been artistically redecorated in a rich yellow, at ceiling height, and passes through deep yellow to a golden brown at floor level with a prominent bronze dado, enhanced by the amber lighting and bronze treatment of the front of the pay box. Rear Shutter Gaumont Projectors The decorative scheme of the auditorium is in the main of cream and gilt, with the pillars of the side walls conspicuously treated in a deep salmon pink. A notable feature of this interior decoration is the bronze lustre colour of the lower portion of the walls. A rich deep green upholstery has been selected for the seating, which same colour has been introduced in the furnishings of the waiting lounges and boxes. New stage tabs, and a pelmet of bright red, strike a contrasting note in the general colour scheme. Keen regard has been paid to the projection equipment. Two of the latest type Gaumont machines with rear shutters have been installed, and it is of interest to note that apart from two similar machines at the New Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, there are no other machines of this type yet in use.. British Acoustic sound system is utilised.