Business screen magazine (1946)

HOW NOW BROWN COW? How fares the industrial film in the age of "future shock"? BY LOUIS MUCCIOLO Louis Mucciolo. Communicator. Henry Strauss Associates, New York. C'hanyc 'brown cow" to 'iiuliisiri.il films' ;md loihiy, ihiil m;irshin;ilU)w soft question coiilil cxplmic up a provncalivc harragf ol lornuila-shatlcring evaluations. Should wo finally bury industrial films'.' Arc our audicnci-.s slill with us'.' Is the film spt)nsor giving'.' — or lakinj!? Arc stalislici/cd audience listings a valid measure of effectiveness? Is the producer meeting tomorrow — is the sponsor'.' The probable answer to ctirli of the questions is yes. no, maybe, sometimes. The s.ime kind of answers battered the complacency of our onccupon-a-dictatorial-time fashion industry. As well as many of the supersmugly confident labor leaders who suddenly lost control of ihcir masses, and the vaunted politicos who arc now not so certain of the youth vote, the donkey vote, the elephant vote, the left or the right. Suddenly, we have liberals for repressive action, conservatives li>r change and all people daring to clamor for their rights. Pulpits arc befuddled, educators arc ducking, patriotism is a farce, heros a shrug, the moon a romantic flop and a plethora of traditional values are battling valiantly against an oozing oblivion in the quicksand of change. What happened'.' — Who cut the reins'.' — Where did the norm go'.' — Why are they moving the numbers on the charts? Perhaps it's a piece of "future shock." but it's also our audience! Changing people, not static numbers. Ci roups of individuals, not measured masses. They're part of the onrushing tomorrows which arc clobbering our todays. Like the general audience films that will appeal to all. Who is all? Well, if you take a composite of sponsors, "all" is personified by dollops and additives. A dollop of contemporary music, fast cuts and crazy angles — ■for the youth, you know." Add a touch of historical background, integrity and experience — "that's important to a lot of mature people." Put a creative dollop handle on our diverification — "good for potential investors and the street analysts." Community involvement and anti-pollution expenditures --"everyone's interested in that today, it's a must!" "Do we have (/// the divisions represented?" "We ought to he able to get public TV for this. Its going to be damned exciting" "A natural for schools — upper grades, 1 guess." etc.. etc. Sponsor trap? Sure, and many a proiiuccr falls right in. The final film is great, the\ say and it's shown to all. The numbers who see it are fantabulous and the statistics arc real. Hut. who ions'! How many were motivated, how few did you really need to reach? Which oiicv did you touch? The constancy of change, when coupled with today's highly accelerated obsolescence has threatened a new b.ill g.ime // you want to play. A lilm iloes not appeal to "all" and if we honestly understand our objective, it IS never made for all! Other mcd have learned and are still adjustin The general maga/ine is lu-ing placed b\ specific audience and call gory periodic.ils; trade mags have ha a phenomenal growth; TV progra are targeted time-wise and region-wiilj single concept films have proliferal in the schools; CCTV in indust abounds in specificity; CATV channelized for special audiences an video cassettes are hovering on thcl horizon, taking dead aim at each frag-f ment of our splintered audience. Andl don't forget industry's own visual outl pourings in safety, training, produci demos, sales and education — all es| tremely selective and localized. So how now. brown cow? Perhapl the sponsor should try meeting tomorl row with single audience — single obi jeciive films in the vital fields of marl keting. productivity, image, cnvironi ment. multi-nationalism and social inl volvement. He should have rcsearcll and sampling, as in other media, bel come a major element in the effort t<| truly identify and locate that specifiF objective and audience. Discard thi numbers game and have effectivenei| be related to reaching and motivatii the fifty, five-hundred, or fifty thou and indiviiluals who were selected cause they might be involved. Yes. thil may mean more films — shorter if length, more topical in content an I more modest in budget, and far nior| meaningful in satisfying real needs. ". . . the sponsor should tr meeting tomorrow with singi audience-single objectiv films Is that the end of the "numberj audience? NO. not for a while, bi the numbers will he less and the pit ture will change. Where the sponsor is ready to f nerealize the self serving mirro images of the past and is ready vivt — there's a large, vitally interesic audience awaiting. The produci-le film that inspires awareness or pr motes understanding, that exaniin values and offers alternatives, encou ages involvement and is willing philosophize — that one will brii greater returns from now on becau of a stronger Ixmd with a conccrni viewer. But, here again, stay aw. from the traditional measuremc syndromes! Thru returns will be ch; acterized by a relationship of renew credibility, mutual respect, joint S' cial responsibility and a grudgin, continued on page .'I S2 Rii<;iNr<;c: <;rREM