Publix Opinion (Aug 31, 1929)

§ INVOLVED ING A TALKIE ! ur 1 iby Permission) can be stronger than itd producin “A ; g yer before in the history of the motion ts the thing.” A company may have ‘in the Rivoli theatre in New York when Paramount Magnafilm was projected on a screen 40 feet wide and 20 feet high. This demonstration, which took place before an invited audience of editors, bankers, scientists and motion picture executives, was hailed as other revolutionary develop-| ent in motion pictures, compa-| rable to the advent of dialog films. The pictures, which included seenes of the seashore and a country road, as well as a four-| were photographed on film 56| 10 in millimeters. wide and 19144 milli-| Pass. meters high. Standard film is 35 | Para millimeters wide and is projected | on a screen 20 feet wide and 15! feet high. Already the production depart-| ment is taking steps looking toward the production of Paramount Magnafiim features. Average Oost $250,000 To most persons the making of a motion picture appears to be a simple matter. The layman believes that if you have a story, | some actors, a director and a cam eraman you have all the elements required to make a successful film. Such is not the case, however. ' Nineteen separate and distinct elements must be considered during the production of a talking picture. First, there is the istory; then the scenario and after ithat direction, acting, wardrobe, | laction and hand properties, con‘struction of sets, operation of | sets, striking of sets, lighting ef‘fects, recording, materials, music and sound effects, locations, negative film and sample print, titles, | associate producers and staff and miscellaneous. The average cost of a feature | E; | sits G1 a. a BH TTab eF ae of lreel talking and singing feature, |: MT PUBLIX OPINION, WEEK OF AUGUST 3lst, 1929 — if Clip this and paste it down as { ' @ CONSTANT REMINDER, : on your desk where you pre3 pare your copy. ! WHERE? Where is the -‘Pustixx TRADEMARK in 5) nis A : = = = é: = s : your ads, trailers and posters? Where is the “Home of Para sv uuenecouraveacceaneceerevecriteccyoraeeeeeevtzaneneeceengcencveneyacereceeceesoevareneceeenaecnante . | | line mount Pictures!” in vpeuunvensnneeenevenennaneneeneangveegnaneuentnseeneanenrentaa ebeQsgnyoMgvere tt as RPARMEDAAOSORLERUEROEREEDAUELIEO ESP HSUUSERTUASEREL AND EPRADAUREUOHOERREEEAOERE your copy? A GENERAL ORDER makes both part of your theatre sig. cut. PUBLIX OPINION has often reminded you about this. 1A LUNDA | pares teuuouenceevvquUunaeeenadvuUrOeeeeenaotUcereencnenyiUoRereRaAAMUUUAEERTONOQUOUURETRETGE OATH UEREERES HOUTEN MANU U URCEE ETAT _ DONT FORGET ’EM! saveunusnensnosveesotereneeneetanets 1#urtaeyrOurseaneeagsvs4erece er ts REPC Hts MebUMBEHI HEH while fiction is read and all new plays are seen in the constant search for story material. Once a story is decided upon it} is necessary to have a scenario | written with dialog. Before the | ink is dry on the mimeographed pages of the script the casting di-}| rector at the studio is busy inter| viewing prospective players for | the picture. As soon as he has a} tentative cast of characters he aneeaereannennett | drawing a closer and closer paral land co-operation. s When Paramount — And Columbia Joined (Reprinted from VARIETY by Permission) When the Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation and the Columbia Broadcasting System joined forces several weeks ago, history was made in both of these entertainment fields. But, when the announcement had had time to receive mature thought, those in both the motion picture and radio industries realized such a tie-up was as inevitable as it was sen| sational. dium will help the box office. Developments in both the aural Turning the other way, stars of and visual entertainment fields, the radio, hitherto unseen, benot only. scientifically, ‘put in pro-| come subjects for pictures and use duction, distribution and merin Publix Theatre presentations. chandising problems, have been | Public demand to see as well as hear these microphone stars have lel for the past year or so until|made a lucrative business for they have reached such mutuality small bookers and Paramount will as to be almost common ground. draw many radio fans into their Scientific developments have houses for a glimpse of the radio served to introduce sound into favorites. motion pictures and a reasonable rospect for vision into radio a alacant Ba 8 This advent of an| A lot is heard about Television element into each field that was ae a a few know a great deal formerly peculiar to the other re ion ae ante cpa re reopen it : r it be in two caused a meeting of the problems years or five. of both fields. Tie-Up Inevitable Columbia can lean on, Paramount for the new problems en A great assembly of theatres, u exhibiting Paramount productions tailing the broadcast of actual and those distributed by them, stage presentations in full coscover the country like a huge | tume, and Paramount knows it blanket. Reaching out into the has an outlet in presenting its same area, the wire line network |'Television features to the public. connecting the powerful ColumIt is hard to tell just how Telebia radio stations has been en-|vision will be handled. Whether gaging that same public and .ca-| it will be confined to the home tered to its amusement needs in solely, or whether entertainment the home. lhouses will also show it on the The probability was that these|screen is still problematical. In two dominating forces in enter-|respect to the latter, it looks as tainment would ultimately find | though, because of the size of the themselves in competition and | theatre screen, which would make even in conflict — an unhealthy | Television more enjoyable, and economic situation. The present | the attractiveness of well rounded tendency of civilization is to do| programs presented in the theatre, away with conflict, every one conthat Television will somehow fit cerned benefiting through unity |into the scheme of things there. It was ineviImagine Paramount flashing Teievision a + picture is $250,000, but in the confers with the director and be| be paid in | produces at least 12 super feaone that cost $500,000 or more, : ; making the total production costs for a year approximately $20,000,/ 900. Paramount has announced 65 re|feature pictures on its 1929-30 schedule and the average length of these pictures when shown before audiences will be 7,000 feet, but in the course of ithese pictures, approximately 10 |million feet’ of film will be ex; _ The average director in | making a picture exposes 150,000 ifeet of film _jand for the bigger pictures on the "| program it will reach 800,000 for ja picture. i E nl ie FEE + 2 ris EeEeES g New Elements The making of a silent motion ture was a complex process, but with the advent of sound the problem becomes even more complicated. Not only must a scenario be written, but dialog must be "| somposed, songs must be written, ission has to be obtained to use published music, s musicians must be engaged, and sound en&/gineers assigned to their jobs. All the|of these are new elements that stu-| gid not have to be considered in the days of the silent film. In the days of silent films it cost 10 cents a foot to ea print, but with the addition of sound it costs 13 cents. If the picture is synchronized on discs an additional charge per reel is added. All of these additions uired to make talking pictures have greatly increased the cost of production of pictures. It takes an average of 10 weeks to make a picture, five weeks of this time is actually spent in filming the scenes, three weeks in iminary preparation and two weeks in editing and cutting. In many instances this time is longer. One of the most difficult problems in the producing of motion ures is the selection of stories. rge staffs of ‘York and Hollyw tained and every P soak? fr Ef Es alist iece of worth course of « year’s time Paramount | tween the two, with the assistance | of direction, facilities, talent and | producing | assistant directors, and mechanics pop up as if by|One often hears radio referred to magic and the cameras begin tolas an infant industry, but, never\theless, 600 million dollars of the readers in New y ood are main sometimes of the author and scenarist, a cast of players is selected. While the cast is rehearsing, the | art department and wardrobe de-| partment begin designing sets and | necessity that the public has to lbe amused, costumes. When these are ready the director summons his cameraman and the company is ready to go to work. Electricians, carpenters, property men, script girls, sound men, grind out scene after scene. All of this requires @ finely who respond This amount varies geared organization of highly spe-; itable that these forces be welded together in a-master combination | resources to the ultimate. Important Ally It is a physical and economic entertained and recreated. ‘The motion picture has | done much in this necessary task and the world recognizes its importance. Radio now steps into the picture as an important ally. American publie’s hard-earned money went into radio receiving sets last year alone. Radio sta H with spontaneity to the orders of the director. | ganization everything would be chaos, and it would be impossible | to produce successful pictures. ) Studio Spirit | It is a strange thing, but in a | motion picture studio there is an esprit de corps such as generals in ‘the army would call marvelous. \The members of each production unit work to obtain the very best | results possible. They all want \to make a picture that will please ‘the public. If the department istore slogan is “the customer is lalways right,” then the slogan in | the Paramount studios is “the | public is always right,” for the one thought uppermost in the minds of everyone associated in ‘the production of & Paramount |picture is to make one that will |make a hit ‘with the public. And, as everyone in the motion picture business knows, the public i c\kle. Its amusement appetite is a difficult one to satisfy. But once ‘its palate is tickled it is generous in rewards. | gible things in the producing | famous Lasky Corporation that ecessful and | audience. | to the public for more than 10 on the screen instantaneously in sight and sound a news event of major importance as it is taking place! Whatever comes, be it Television or any form of new entertainment, which in any way has to do with. sereen presentation, stage presentation or radio presentation, the amalgamation of in ‘terests finds Cclumbia-Paramount wholly prepared to take advantage of it. The best part of all this is that the public directly receives the full benefit. A new day in broadcasting is dawning—and a fine new impetus tistics show that there are twelve million receiving sets—or, if you, prefer to call them that, 12 million private miniature theatres all over this country at which fifty nightly. Two years ago the Columbia System was conceived, now it is the focus of others. : The brightest stars of the stage have been broadcast from Columbia studios. Concert and operatic performers of highest reputation are frequently broadcasters from the Columbia studios. It is a conservative estimate that the cost of the attractions which Columbia will broadcast in is about to be given to the major accomplishments of the motion picture theatre as part of the daily life of the great American public. —_— Manager F. W. McKay used a novel stunt in ballyhooing “Broadway Melody” to an excellent boxoffice gross when that picture played the Publix ‘Strand Theatre, Rutland, Vt. A sport model LaSaile was borrowed for the occasion and then a vaudeville team was engaged to sing and play while riding in the rumble seat, alternating with megaphone announcements. The front seat of the sport model was filled with gay young girls alongside the driver and the front fenders supported two ushers in full uniform displaying banners advertising the attraction— the “Broadway Melody” at the ) This feeling of obligation to 1929 will exceed five million dolthe public is one of the intan| lars. cae . : Strand. This stunt was used on Stars who have made repula”| opening of picture on Monday. In on of the Paramount tions in the picture field are available for broadcasting to the radio | the early evening of Saturday this This will satisfy the|same sport model LaSalle filled that inspired the slogan known demands of the een audience | with the same occupants again set for “names” on their programs, | +);:n—only this time they formed : “Ef it's a Paramount picand, at the same time, this addi: it’s the best show inj|tional contact a part of the Shriners parade Saturday afternoon before the with the public through a_ hitherto unused me with two bands and 300 men. scsi apa eNO Cae ena a a