Business screen magazine (1946)

as film. Portable TV cameras and VTR back packs will be interchangeable with film loaded modules. Cable television will offer local film makers additional outlets for their services. Most CAT~V stations, in the interest of keeping overhead down, will not want to maintain large film staffs but will buy services from independents as they need them. As the emphasis increases for more locally originated programs, many ethnic shows, specialized educational and religious programs, will offer people in the industry additional opportunities for profit. Many producers will find syndication another means of increasing annual profits. One company, using my corporation's consultation services, is now producing syndicated films which are given to local stations. Instead of receiving money, the stations pay them in time which the producing organization then sells to agencies and advertisers. In effect, they are bartering the show for its worth in TV time. They then turn around and act as a time bank. A recent Starbecker credit is The Day the Vagina Closed, a satirical spoof on zero population released by Seven Oaks/McCullough. Producers presently thinking merely Jin terms of shooting everything at 24 Sframes per second will lose out on new profitable markets unless they remain flexible and learn to utilize variable Npced projection systems such as Norclco's PIP. Designing projects and -hooting for variable speed projection cquires a whole new orientation on film making. The reason? One film nay contain an opening sequence shot It 6 frames per second. The next two It 1 frame/ second and the fourth at -4 frames per second. Electrical impulses programmed on the track then nstruct the projectors to change its projection speed to match the speed it the sequence shot. Variable speed Mojection systems will enable you to ■>:ick a lot of visual content on a fifty oot reel in lightweight, self-contained Tojectors. The projector will then turn the reel into a twenty to thirty minute show. Super 8, touted today in audio-visual circles by manufacturers with hardware to sell, will really catch on. So will the use of Vz " video tape cartridges and even smaller band widths as increasing numbers with time on their hands study everything from chess to Chaucer at home. Several new inventions by Telattach Corporation should be explored in the years ahead. They will permit audiences to interact directly with the movie screen or TV set they are watching. Each device attaches instantly to the TV or motion picture screen with a suction cup which is placed over a tiny spot of light appearing in the corner of the screen. Flashing on and off, this spot speaks in a language of light to the electronic circuitry within each device so that the viewer may participate in the action on the screen. One of the devices called a Telattacher contains grids. Overlays of every description placed on it permits you to study math, language and even to play a game of chess with Bobby Fi«her. Those using the devices learn instantly if they are right or wrong. Their correct responses are recorded on a counter. The hardware is in a price range most school systems and consumers can afford. The software that will be needed is as limitless as your imagination and ingenuity. My staff, for e.\ample, is presently working on an audience participation program being syndicated to CATV stations and hotel closed circuit systems. The program permits viewers to interact with actual race drivers in simulated races. If the driver at home hits a car on the screen with his simulated racer on the face of the tube, buzzers go off and points are recorded. At the conclusion of a race, viewers can match their score with scores racked up by name drivers competing against them in the studio. Man Power and Ms. Power Problems In the next five years, the nomadic habits of many people in the factual film industry will change. Rapid turnovers most producers face with staff personnel will ease up. Even the free lance pool will remain more constant. As long hair thins and turns grey, and children, planned or not, need rearing, many free spirits will settle down and establish their roots and develop an association with others transmitting favorable vibes. In the next decade, don't be surprised to see a few competent all-fe male film crews gain a foothold in the industry. A few may try to capitalize on the novelty of a totally female crew. Others will direct their attention to the production of films designed specifically to better conditions for women in a male oriented world. And if the supply of film makers being "turned out" by communications departments at our nation's schools of higher learning presently exceeds the demand, it will become even worse in the years to come. Film makers, long on patience and willing to take the time to teach, will find an ample supply of good inexpensive labor. Only a producer's personal needs, and the quality he or she is striving to achieve in a production will determine whether it's wise to place the chips on proven talent that has emerged from the rank and file as cream rises in a jar of milk, or to gamble on raw energy learning on the job. Although the writing projected on the cork wall before me is beginning to blur a little, here are a few more scribblings I can just about make out. Most cities in the world will establish film festivals, thereby giving every Multi-speed projection systems, such as Norelco's PIP, offer profitable new market for producers. film maker the chance to replace worn out wall paper with all sorts of new awards. Film laboratories, interested more in cranking out footage than service, will find new labs springing up to fill the small producer's need. Instant processing will force the labs in the chips to acquire video tape capabilities and here, much to their surprise, they will discover their stock answers when color quality is questionable will not be accepted. Clients will he able to instantly see the color of their show and insist that it be monitored to their satisfaction as it is transferred. And for you "Deep Throat" fans, don't be surprised if some smart producer gets Linda Lovelace to make a series of mouthwash commercials. Keep in mind, this is what I see on my wall. If you see something different, get in touch. I September-October, 1973— BUSINESS SCREEN | 33