Broadcasting Telecasting (Jul-Sep 1953)

TIPS TO THE NOVICE FILM BUYER {Continued from page 82) has been agreed upon and you are ready to Sease the film, the matter of specific contract arises. There are many varieties of film contracts in use. Some film companies have devised their own film contract release forms. Some stations have theirs. But whatever film contract release form is used, it should contain the necessary legal points for the use of a film over television, that is, complete clearance for the station (exhibitor) from the responsibility of right and clearance of t'ne fii'Ti itself, its rights and its contents. The film distributor should agree to indemnify the station against suit arising out of use of its film product, and the station should guarantee the film distributor such points as prompt payment, proper use and care of the film, return of prints as scheduled, and promise of no copying or duplication of the rented films. How much should you pay for a film? That can be determined by several factors, the amount that your local market and sponsors can afford and the total number of films being purchased. A film program series may be of the very best quality, but if the price asked is beyond the advertising budget of any potential local sales, then the station cannot afford to contract for the series. And if the price of a film series of 13 is beyond the budget, perhaps by purchasing 26 instead of 13 the overall price may be reduced. From careful advice from the station's programming department on the type of films needed and from the station's sales department on the local advertisers' budget problems, a high and a low basis for your cost of half-hour and quarter-hour film series may be evaluated, thus giving you some yardstick of measurement for purchase, particularly for sponsored use. In the case of sustaining use, the amount of time for film and the type of film to be used are guides for your price. Most stations have a budget to follow for this type of film purchase, and film buyers can determine an average that they can allot per feature or western or a rate per reel for miscellanous shorts, for this sustaining use. There seem to be two ways of selling film to local sponsors, the first by actual selection of the film by the sponsor, and the second by show casing the film on the air by the station. The former, of course, is the better method; the station screens several films for the local sponsor, allows him to make his selection, and then the station makes the actual purchase of the film for air use by the sponsor. The latter necessitates the purchase first by the station, placing the film program on the air, and then selling to the local sponsor an established program. To summarize what a television station buys in film, the groupings^ regardless of the specific films, fall into three classifications: Those films which are purchased for local sponsorship, those films that are purchased for sustaining needs, and those films which are purchased on a library basis to build participating programs or meet emergency programming needs. Good practices are a necessity in any business, and therefore the station film buyer ' should try to abide by some of the following ' suggestions: Sufficient advance notice of' scheduling, careful handling of film while in station's property, immediate notification of \ receipt of damaged film, assuming liability i for damages incurred while films are in the [ station's possession, immediate return after ' air use, prompt forwarding to another station if so designated and prompt payment of rental charges. All of these points are necessary to the film company as the loss or damage to a film print and failure of prompt return are as important to the film distributor as the loss of air time or lack of ' sponsored time are to the station. If the station film buyer knows the local . market's tastes and needs, knows the available films and their prices for the market, ^ knows the budget problems of the station and local sponsors, works closely with the programming department for specific type subject matter and amounts of film needed, works closely with the sales department for knowledge of local accounts, their tastes in programming and their budget problems, the result should be better film-programming in the total programming schedule, better local sales of film programs, and a more appreciative audience. TIPS TO THE NOVICE FILM PRODUCER (Continued from page 83) on a locale or an event but rather go and j film a subject as they find it, ad libbing shots 1 as they develop the movie. The most satis j factory kind of film-making is from a rough ■ shooting script where you have seen in ad ; vance the problems and possibilities in the material and have made a loose outline of how the story might visually go. No other script need be necessary except in the case i of dialogue sequences which you might want to write and "set" in advance. The easiest kinds of dialogue sequences are , those which are impromptu or spontaneous, ' as in informal interviews. The idea here is to shoot the conversation as it naturally happens and then cut it later in the editing stages. Single system, incidentally, is much . more difficult to edit than double system, i so you should realize this in the planning : stage. In live TV, as well as on film, it has been found true so far that close-ups and a wide ^ variety of medium shots are perhaps best ; suited for the TV medium. Some TV producers would differ with this, maintaining, for example, that long shots of the political conventions, shots such as Times Square on . New Year's Eve, and the Hit Parade Show produced on location abroad the steamship ■'United States" have been quite effective. ^ Raw stock refers to unexposed film for ' shooting purposes and is available in the widths and types discussed below (it is i more professionally acceptable to use the ; word "widths" instead of "sizes" in speaking of 35mm versus 16mm versus 8mm. Note that 35mm can be subdivided as follows: (1) black and white; (2) Monopack color; (3) Tripack Technicolor. ' Technicolor production is so complex and expensive that it is generally not advisable on TV. Thirty-five mm film is always perforated YOUR FAVORITE MOMENTS IN SPORTS BILL STERN America's Favorite Sportscaster 15 MINUTE TV PROGRAM ON FILM SCREE GEMS, INCORPORATED TELEVISION SUBSIDIARY OF COLUMBIA PICTURES CORPORATION 233 West 49th St., New York City • Circle 5-5044 ^^^^ST STARS fiOBBl' THOMSON SCREEN GEMS IV Progiams Or Film N»w Available fof local and Regional Sponsoisbip YOUR ALL-STAR THEATRE 33 Hall Honrs Originally lelecasi Over 61 NBC Stations as tlie FORD Iliealie PROF YES 'N' NO 26 Qiiaitei Hour Ouiz Shows Starting TV DISC JOCKEY FILMS 60 Silent Films to Otamaliie Music i MUSIC TO REMEMBER Great Music Played by Dome Page 84 • August 10, 1953 Broadcasting • Telecasting