Reel and Slide (Mar-Dec 1918)

40 REEL and SLIDE The "Class" Audience (Continued from page 33) In planning our pictures we made no effort to disguise them in a plot or "play" because we believe the public, in theaters as well as in every-day life, seeks and appreciates information relative to our products imparted in a serious manner. That is the spirit which induces so many to visit our factories and the same rule must hold elsewhere. Although the visitor to the factory seesthe beautiful pictures in the offices in their natural colors, and is impressed with the area covered by the numerous factory buildings, the observer of the film gets a more intimate knowledge of the many ingenious machines which displace so much manual labor and this is accomplished by the numerous "close-ups" which emphasize the salient features in the various processes. Who the Audiences Are Our films have been exhibited in the following places : (a) Selected theaters in neighborhood districts, patronized largely by women and children. (b) Educational institutions, including high schools, colleges, etc. (c) By our salesmen, before selected audiences. (d) In our plant, before visitors. Believing that people desire to know exactly under what conditions their food is produced, and that this is a strong selling argument, the Postum reels are designed to impress the audience with the cleanliness of our methods and the wholesomeness of our raw materials. If we could get the millions of picture fans to make a trip through the Battle Creek plant, perhaps this would be more effective than the film ; but the impossibility of accomplishing this makes the film the next best thing. Every line of business in which films are used for exploitation offers its own individual problems. Most of these problems have to. do with distribution rather than production, though both distribution and production are closely linked, or should be. First of all, the film should be produced for its effect on a particular audience and then the film user must seek out that audience in the best and most direct manner possible. It is very hard for us to say how many people have seen our films, but two or three years ago I made a careful estimate and at that time it seemed to me about three and one-half millions. Possibly four millions altogether. Salesmen Used in Distribution We have only one picture, "The Making of Pure Foods in Battle Creek," approximately 1,000 feet in length. We have endeavored to correlate the film with our other advertising and sales activities by putting them in the hands of our salesmen and through their efforts securing the exhibition of same in motion picture theaters and schools throughout the country. The method of distribution in the first place was through the Rothacker Film Manufacturing Co., which placed the films with various exchanges and when the circuits were covered the prints were returned to us and we used them in educational institutions and through our traveling salesmen. Slides Combined With Films Make Ideal Campaign AB. COLE, of the Westinghouse department of publicity, vouches for • the value of lantern slides as a means of reaching the millions of housewives in America. The Westinghouse Company, whose films were described in the last issue of Reel and Slide, have used slides for many years. These slides have been exhibited in theaters, churches, schools and community centers. They are of the finest quality and are designed to arouse interest in the electrical kitchen appliances made by the company. "We have not decreased our use of slides since films became a part of the Westinghouse campaign," said Mr. Cole recently. "On the contrary, we plan on adding to ourslide sets from time to time. A great many can use slides who do not use films. Our slides reach great numbers of people who, perhaps, would never see our films. "Slides offer an excellent medium for publicity, are inexpensive to use considering the number of people they may reach and their cost. Add to this their power to attract and hold attention and you have what is, perhaps, the least costly campaign possible." We have had some sixty prints, but, of course, quitea number of them have been destroyed and worn out. At the present time they are in use largely by educational institutions and have been shown quite continuously at the various camps throughout the country. AND in iy[ A G A Z. I N E WATCH IT— GET IT REGULARLY Send in Your Name on This Coupon Today And We Will Send You a Bill Later REEL AND SLIDE Magazine, 418 So. Market St., Chicago, 111. Gentlemen: Please enter my name on your list as a subscriber to REEL AND SLIDE, and send me a bill for $1 the first of the month. Name _ :. Address City State.