Business screen magazine (1947)

THE TELEVISION SCREEN Filmed Commercials a "Must" AGENCY EXEC;UTIVE C;iTES FOUR BASIC ADVANTAGES ■*• Onlx lilltcii iiiiiiulLs (il cxpcii iiitiuiiit; with "li\c" lcle\ isioii iDiiiiiKTcials WLiL' needed lo ton\iiRe Edward H. Weiss, piesideni 111 Weiss and Gcller ad af^enty, ilial video connncrtials "titml be lilnicd il ihe\ are to Ije edective. " Weiss was commissioned to do ilie advertising for the two-hour all-star Thanksgiving Day show sponsored bv the Elgin-American Division ol the American Watch Ciase CompanN, makers ol compacts, (igarelle cases, lighters and dresser sets. .More than .SoO.OOO was poured niio ilie show h)r ^lage and screen talent alone, so Elgin-.Vmerican had a right to demand potent, perfect commercials. Films Rkmovi-. Chance Ei.tMKNT .\lter watching models fumble (he sponsor's product and pale iiun sheet-whiteness under the glare ol the necessarily powerhd tek'\isioM lights. Weiss decided on hlnis. "Television advertising is a coniliijiation of ever\ thing we ha\e e\er learned from conniiercial hlnis, HoUwvood dramas, radio programs, the stage and ihe printed page." the ad man asserted. "The value of television as a sales device de|jends upon skiiUidh cool diiiat log all these lactors." .\ccording to Weiss, there are four great disadvantages lo li\e television commercials. Films easily overcome them all. First of all. too man\ ihiiigs arc liable to go wrong during the actual broadcast. In a recent Tenderleaf commercial, a shapely model brewed a pot of tea before the audience's eyes, took a sip and remarked how delicious the Ten derleat tea tasted. On the table. embarrassingly visible, was a box III Liplon's le.i uhich li.icl been used dining the uhiile \isu,il cxpri imenl. FiMiu.rs )isr C.\x't Hai'Imn During the lilleen-miiuue re hiarsal lor ihe ElginAmerican piiigr.nii. a model dropped a comp.iii. Had she done this while c)n ilii X ideo screen, all the careful pK p.ii .11 ii.m ihai Weill iiiiii the loiiimert iai \\ o ii Id ha\ c been wiped iiul. Secoudh. iluinsincss is i.iboD. Pal lent direction is necessarx lo insliiict ihe models on how lo show off the products to best advantage. Even aller a ihousand lehearsals. the producer can iim be certain that a model wouldn't slip back inio some old, ungraceful habit during ihe real cominercial. Onlx lilming assures i he spun sor ol a perfect job. Thirdly, the television cameia does not do an adecjuale job ol ])rodiici prcsentalion. Weiss puis it ihis way, ".Vmiospherc, slylc ap peal and backgrounds all liaxc lo be ininiini/ed to show llu iiiosi imporlanl ihing of all— ihe pioiluct itsell. Small items, such .is .1 cigarette holder, must be pictuiccl in a close-up or il will be losi coin pletelv. Motion pic lures are boili the iiiosi cHicient .ind ihe mosi ellectixe wax lo achiexe ihis. " Fourthly, television has lecliiiical disadvantages which molioii pictures can oxercome. Fm one thing, television lighls licc|uenilx are loo powerful lor adxerlisiiig purposes. In the case ol shinx. steel objects, the lighls 011 llu metallic siirlaces can be so blinding they appear only as xxhile blurs. Careliil ligluiiig lechnicpies ol a film studio eliiiiinale this. Uses Seven Film Commirciais Ihe icsiili of Weiss' experinieni in lelexisioii adxerlisiiig was a sei ies ol sexeii smooih-running. pleasant. Iihiicil commercials, which were shown at intervals during the live show. The xxhole program was also lihned loi rcbioadcasi in dilleiciil areas nl ihe I llUlltl X . Hinx much enib.ui .issmenl llie lilined commercials saved Elgin ,\mericaii, no one knows. I5ul ai least Weiss and company officials weren't plagued wilh a nighimaie ol falling compac Is, c liniisy models and timet ogni/able lighters jiisi belc5re going on the air. For iheii commercials were perl, pal and ptrlect— frozen on film just the xx'.ix lliex wauled llieiti. Can \ ROM I X'liitci ( otiuuifi mis i^ivr ti nt'it' imolf nii irfallta vtporls iciil]iini» pnnhiil. Novel Chevrolet Weather Films Put New Twist on Commercials ♦ .\nx leseiulihuu c bc-lweeu .1 Chevrolet convertible and a xveaiher vane is strictly coincidental, but the fact remains that a C^hevrolet is being used on a lelexisioii coinmeicial to show viewers the latest weather forecast. If ihe weatherman predicts rain after a lair day, a young lady cm ihe X idec) screen pushes a button on the Chevrolet dash and ihe lop .iiilomatically goes up. II ihe xxeather forecast is storm) aller .1 clay ol sunshine, the Chexrolet is shown \x ith the lop going clown. .\nolher Cihevrolet video commercial on New ^'ork stations lealures the slurdy construclitjii ol ils Fisher body. ID drixe home his |)oint. the saleman slams the dooi. Ihe resulting good, solid sound emphasizes the sturdy Fisher boclx construction, he says. (!. |. French, advertising manager ol the Chevrolet Motor Division of Cieneral Motors, pointed oui ihe advantages of aulomobile adxerlisiiig xia telex ision lliiis. " I elexision has added a third dimension to Chevrolet advertising. I he prospective customer is gixen a real demonstration of the cai in use, just as if a salesman called at his door to give him a ride. He sees and hears the product in opeiaiion " New Combination for VIcJeo Films ♦ \'iuEc) .Associates Inc. and SirRf;i.s-GRANT Productions Inc. haxe announced a combination III ])roduce moderate-priced, animated telex isioii films. Tfle-pak. a mail-order television service in couiplele kit form, and Tele-pops, a semi-animated cartoon lechiiicpie, are bolh lealured bv \'ideo. Siurgis-Ciraui are producers of special purpose films and filmstrips xxiili animaiion a spcciallv. Television Fdcllities Now Reach AutJiences In Twenty-Three Cities ♦ Like lojjsy. lelexisioii has ■just glowed "—but somexvhal lasl er than even its most rabid admirers have believed possible. Ihis month, 43 lelexisioii sia lions in 23 cities were sending programs to ihe screens of some liL'II.OOO television sels. Of these sets. .\'ew ^'l)rk has more than 3411.000. belter than half ihe lotal. F"ar behind New ^ink, xxe liiiil Philadelphia with approximatelx 75.000 sels; Chicago and Los Angeles, wilh 40,000 sels each, and Detroit wilh aboul 1 3, .500. .\c cording to the Radio Mannlaciiirers .\ssocialion, .5.000 sels a day are being currenlly produced by all makers. .\t this rale. 1.500.000 sels lan be liniieil 0111 in a xear. Iinporlant lo piochiteis .mil users ol niolion pictures is ilir lacl thai lilms are playing an increasingly imporiant pan in lelevision's phenomenal growth, despite aniatemish ellorts ol local sponsors and embryo producers. Film programs make up aboul 30';|, of all video broadcasting hours, excluding film sjiot commercials. Of the larger stations. New 'fork's W.\'I'V' is one of ihe exteiisixe film users, with oxer ;)()";, of ils total tele-time dexoled 10 hlms. Other great film using stations include KSTP-FV of Si. Paul wilh f,5"„. and WHEN-'I \' of Huffalo and WBAP-TV of Fori Worlh xvith half of iheir screening time devoled to films. The video industry estimaus that an a\crage of three persons view programs on each set. This means ihai it set sales reach an estimated 700.000 by January I. a daily audience of 2.100.000 persons will be viewing lelexisioii programs and the liliiis and film spots shoxxii on iheiu. Vltalis Commercials Will Feature Sport Stars for Video Programs ♦ Sports stars are feaiiired in the new Vital is commercials on Break Ilie lituili over WJ/TV Friday nights. In ihc first "good g;room({;ontini;ei> on the next pace) NUMBER 8 VOLUME 9 I ? 4 8 39