Reel and Slide (Mar-Dec 1918)

SCENARIO — PRODUCTION — DISTRIBUTION M OTHER FEllOWS IDEA AjT PERHAPS sixty per cent of the efficiency of an industrial picture is lost through idleness. In fact, the percentage is no doubt much greater in many cases. Where dealers distribution is the system adopted, the film lies on the dealer's shelf or in the nearby theater projection room or vault 18 hours or more out of each 24, to which must be added idleness during shipment. And day by day deterioration gets in its work. A number of film users with large dealer organizations have in a measure solved this problem by the use of portable projectors in the^dealer show windows during the day, followed by exhibition at night in the theater or school. A machine is now on the market which takes 500 feet of film and runs continuously, automatically rewinding at the end of each exhibition. The small screen is enclosed in a shadow box frame which permits sufficient illumination in the average street show window. Something like this is badly needed. It is unusual that the portable people have not constructed a type adapted more suitably for this particular purpose. If a practical plan of show window display could be hitched up with theater exhibition, much greater advertising value would be possible from the investment in the production. THE germ of a most interesting idea is seen in the theory evolved by the Department of Industrial Exhibits and Motion Pictures of the Y. M. C. A. This department is engaged in the distribution of industrial pictures through its industrial secretaries in the large factories and mills of the country. That the steel worker, mechanic or constructor should ij know — and is interested in knowing — those '' processes which either come before or after he has done his particular line of work, is the keynote of this campaign. What the miner must do and what the shipbuilder does with the finished product is best told by moving pictures. At least, that is the belief of the Y. M. C. A. WRITES Camilla Donworth, in "American Industries" : I "The most important part you ] play in planning the picture is in connecI tion with titles. I heard a very prominent I may say the other day that the spoken word seemed to be disappearing from the motion picture. This is far from true. The titles of a picture are very important. I've seen splendid pictures spoiled by badly planned titles. On the other hand, I know of one ] industrial picture which, from a picture standpoint, is the worst thing I ever saw ; but the titles are such fine selling talk that \ the picture has been shown all over the country and very favorably commented on. Those titles were written by a man who knew." By this Miss Donworth is probably speaking of the sins of commission rather than the sins of omission. Too many titles spoil the effect. The standard should be, "Is a title nprpQcarv here — can't we t^ll it w'th a picture?" O-^. rather, "Doesn't the picture tell it?" Too often it does not. f ,-V/5>-' MUCH has been said about the harm done screen advertising by certain "early birds that caught the worm," overlooking the "worm" of to-morrow in the greed of to-day. What may sound like altruism, but which the reputable producers and distributors of the country seem to agree is almost necessary to re-establish confidence on the part of the advertiser was voiced recently by N. J. Baumer, something like this : "You can see the ad you pay for in proof before the bolt is shot in the Saturday Evening Post ; if you don't like the ad, you can replate on it. But you can't do that with an industrial film. As the greater cost lies in negative, the picture must be seen before any judgment is possible. This being the case, it may be necessary for the producers who really desire to raise the standards of the business to charge for the picture after it is screened. If that is necessary, it should be done." AT the Motion Picture Exposition, held in Madison Square Garden, New York, in October, there was a total absence of display bearing on the screen advertising section of the industry. There were plenty of cold cream booths, grape juice displays, and the projector people were pretty much in evidence. But the really interesting and new things about moving pictures were missing. Probably a good comprehensive dispaly on screen advertising would have interested the exhibitors who came to look things over. AS an advertising medium, nobody can dispute the fact that the film is compelling. Where exhibited, it has a universal reading. It is totally unlike magazine, newspaper or direct advertising, which claims the attention of only a small fraction of those who see it. The very nature of film advertising makes it inescapable. Its attention value is complete. It affords opportunities for illustration and demonstration that no other medium possibly can afford. It gives an opportunity to present a selling talk in actual words that undoubtedly has more of a psychological appeal than any written w'ord. For one thing, a screen advertiser's message 27 will be delivered in approximate darkness, where there is nothing to distract the reader from the film. No outside influence, short of fire or panic, will tend to make him stop reading in the middle or to ignore what he reads. Even though he might be ^ uninterested, his attention will be held because of the mental impossibility of taking his eyes away from the film. It is a fact that advertising men have purposely overlooked the potentialities of film advertising. They have done this for two reasons — the first, that tradition had developed a beaten tract in advertising; the second, that they feared motion picture advertising as a standard branch of the business, because it offered less chance for profit for the amount of work involved. Obviously, the preparation of one page for The Saturday Evening Post is less costly for the amount of revenue it will bring in than the preparation of $5,000 worth of film. If we look on advertising for what it really is, as merely a short cut to prestige and public confidence, we are obliged to regard motion pictures as an important element in advertising. It is dignified — much more dignified in most neighborhood theaters than the daily newspaper is in the same districts. And above all things, it is a straight path into the minds of the people who see it. It is a straight path to a rich market. In some Hnes it will reach more people at less cost than any other form of advertising, and it will reach them at a time when their minds are most open to suggestion. There is no more conclusive way to reach women, and women form eighty per cent of the buying power of the country. Motion pictures can more forcibly demonstrate many products than any other form of advertising. It can take the place of costly demonstration by the personal method. There are two ways to convince buyers. One is by testimonial and the other is by demonstration. The latter has proved itself to be the most effective. IN October, the Industrial Department of Universal was engaged in the production of 11 industrial pictures, all at the same time. Such an output calls for organization and skill. In the production of a dramatic work onlv the public and the censor must be regarded ; with an industrial the client hovers in the background with his '"-los^" and "mallet." E. J. CLARY. \