FilmIndia (1940)

FILMINDIA July, 1940 have been applied to any type of motion picture good or bad, and it is suggested by some that if we told the truth in just so many plain words, business would be better as the average man in the street would be able to make up his mind more easily. This is only in a very few instances which are not important. Naturally there are times when the form of advertising used is an exaggeration beyond the comprehension of the average cinema goer and is not of benefit to the theatre. These, however, are isolated Instances and need not be taken into account generally. There are good points in almost every production, and it is those good points which should be stressed in order that the public should know the type of picture that is being offered. There is no harm in over-stressing providing such an effort is not misleading. In other words, do not say that the picture is crammed with action if there is no action in it, do not call a picture "the biggest laugh of the year" if it is a sad production. DIFFERENT PICTURES DIFFERENT METHODS Let us analyse advertising under various headings: First, let us take newspapers. It is safe to say that a very large proportion of the cinema going public read newspapers. The percentage who do not read a newspaper of some description can be ignored in consideration of this particular point in advertising. First and foremost, therefore, we get to our patrons by means of a newspaper. Newspapers serve different types of public according to their political views and their general standing. It is, therefore necessary that the theatre manager has a very complete knowledge of the circulation of each newspaper and the type of people amongst whom it circulates. It is not necessary for me to go into detail of the amount of advertising which should be done or should not be done in newspapers. This can be left to the discretion of the individual theatre avd the circumstances. I would, however, discuss the question of proper advertising in newspaper's irrespective of the amount of money spent in this man ner. It very frequently happens that a theatre adopts a policy in advertising in almost exactly the same way for every picture, that is to say the same amount of space is used in every paper for every picture with the exception of possibly a few outstanding pictures where a little extra space is used all-round. I claim that this method is bad and a definite waste of money. There must be as many arrangements in regard to the matter of space in newspapers as there are different types of film. A BETTER WAY OF DOING IT Let us take a simple example: A small city has two newspapers; one a conservative paper which is purchased only by ten per cent of the more wealthy population of that city; the other ninety per cent. The local theatre advertises a classical picture with practically no mass appeal by taking every day twelve inches of space in the conservative paper and six inches every day in the newspaper of mass appeal. The following week an action picture of mass appeal is screened at the theatre. The appeal of this picture is not big in as far as the so called "better audiences" are concerned. The theatre continues the same form of advertising, that is to say they take twelve inches a day in the conservative paper and six inches a day in the paper of mass appeal. A better method would obviously have been to have curtailed the twelve inches to six and increased the six inches to twelve. Advertising in newspapers is not as simple as this in big cities such as Bombay, but the same principle can be applied and if applied with intelligence and common-sense, the exhibitor can get a lot more for his money. Never let a personal prejudice enter into the matter of advertising. You or I may like or dislike a certain newspaper, but our likes and dislikes should have nothing to do with the advertising of a picture. .In this respect we are only concerned vnth the likes .and dislikes of the people who are going to buy tickets at our Box office. I am afraid that stereotyped advertising in newspapers has developed to a very great extent and Is a matter which requires some careful thought. Some theatres are apt to advertise in such a stereotyped manner that it is doubtful if their public read more than the title of the film and the name of the star. If the exhibitor is not going to prepare his advertising in a form palatable enough to encourage the average cinema going public to read it completely, then he is much better off by curtailing his advertisement to a mere statement of fact concerning the name of the picture and the stars performing therein and save his money. Why spend a lot of rupees on tripe which is read by hardly anybody? So often I find the exhibitor allocates a certain amount of money for the purpose of newspaper advertising and leaves the matter of of fact concerning the name of the spending this money spread over certain newspapers according to instructions given to an Advertising Clerk or a Publicity Manager without supervision. The exhibitor Chintamani Talkies, Madura, fitted with the WorldFamous &ANSING SOUND SYSTEM. 48