Moving Picture World (May - Jun 1918)

846 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD May 11, 1918 simply sawed along the angle to the edge. If you have an obliging printing office they will cast up the advertisement from the mat for you and saw off the discarded portions. The full drawing is made for the larger cut and then such portions of this are taken as may be required. The lower portion of the cut might have been put to similar use had it been desired. The last example shows the triple use of a design. The two outside examples are pretty much alike and are interesting only as showing' how two compositors may vary in setting almost precisely the same copy. That in the middle shows the use of only the top part of the cut. You can do about the same sort of stunts with the mats supplied by the manufacturers. If you do not like the entire cut, take such parts as you do want and have the rest sawed off. If you cut off ornamental lettering because it is too large or too small or not just what you want, have the cut notched so that the type with which you replace the lettering can set squarely against the surface and you will have no trouble at all. Even in a small-town printing office much can be done to a cut cast from a mat. It is not like taking chances with an original cut. If you make a mistake you can cast another and try all over again. A lot of those Paramount mats could be used to better advantage if trimmed up to be practical, and it is a simple thing to do it. Ruff Stuff. Ralph Ruffner, of the Liberty and Columbia, Portland, Oregon, has a new labor-saver. Instead of sending letters with his samples, he pins one of these cuts to the batch. We can gather that it is an inquiry as to whether we are going to pan it, can it, or hang the laurel wreath upon it, but that blot is a very subtle pun. It has sand glued to it to make it rough and so serve as a signature for Ruff (laughter and applause). We regret to note a tendency on his part to indulge in white letters on a background. Now and then he gets an excellent effect, but almost as often he gets something not particularly good. This advertisement for The Flames of Chance turned out well, though it is hard to read at first glance. Note the house signature in the top bar of the F and the description of the film in the middle bar of the E. The two letters just below the bomb are the Go, which is the Liberty slogan. Most of the Ruff ads are now signed by the Apostles of Originality, whoever they may be, but tlrere is such a thing as getting too original, and even apostles of originality should not monkey too much with reverse cuts until they learn how they will work. This works well, as does an example previously shown, but there is too much of a tendency to run the letters together in some of the examples. Lately we spoke of Ruff's use of filler titles, but he caps the climax when he puts the one-reel at the top of the feature, as shown at the right in this next example. As we have explained, the Finley pictures are yiBra <?; WINDING TRAIL VIOLA DANA" mmm LEY NATURE PICTURES ■ -Br* •* Ctw «*J fi«*'-IlMfcj C« HVTT A XEJT Ets or TBI AMUTC nCTOOUffl WINDIKC TRAIL VIOLA. OAX<A -^"1 a local production and stand more booming. The left-hand example shows the same advertisement pulled in from eight to five and a half inches. Note in this latter Ruff's 2 day 2 morrow 2 days in all That's all. It is those little touches that the people come to look for, just as they look for more or less freaky advertising now and then anyhow. That is one of the secrets of Ruff's success. He gets far enough from the beaten path to make the people look for his advertising instead of waiting until the advertising comes along and speaks to them. We think Ruff gets something really new when he works the star portrait as supporters to the house signature. The Dorothy Dalton advertisement carries twin pictures of her leaning against the flower box one ITVOLVmC THE &0XVI NOBTOVEST MOUHTW POUCE IMTILTUir GET ME sheet frames that Ruff first used in Spokane. He promises a photograph of these new and improved boxes soon, and will be held to his promise. The other example of this pair is pretty because of its simplicity. There is nothing in particular to be said for the story, so Ruff does not try to overboom it and get in bad with his audience ; instead, he tries to get the atmosphere with the pine trees and lets it go at that. Should Be Reversed. Loew's Boulevard theater, New \ork, sends in a well laid postcard In red and black, but makes the mistake of using the red for the body type and the black for the display. This is a reversal of the proper scheme. The reader is used to reading black impression. He will have trouble getting through a lot of six point red, unleaded. On the other hand the black does not give the emphasis that the red offers. Another little thing is that the front of the card carries .no red. evidenly being a second impression. Had the cards been cut double size they could have been printed in red and black on both sides with no greater number of impressions, being cut apart after the run.. Red Gait, Ont., gave two children's matinees. The first was in the morning, and the admission was five cents. Ten cents was charged at the afternoon show, but in each instance the house paid the war tax and made It a flat rate.