Sponsor (Jan-June 1954)

The point: by working closely with the agency, the producer helped plan the program commercials from the very beginning so that they could be cut easily to minute length without sacrificing any production values or selling impact. If the consultation had not been made, the two sets of commercials would have cost the client twice as much as he spent. 7. Try to keep admen with little film experience from tampering with commercials during production. The inexperienced advertising executive or ad manager who "takes over" at the last minute has become a grim joke in the film commercial business. Reason: He usually manages to run the costs up before he's through. "I've seen account supervisors and advertising managers who didn't know an 'answer print' from their elbow show up on the set during shooting and louse up everything," one New York producer confided. "Few of them are aware of the costs involved in making changes at a late stage of production," the producer added. "For example, 'camera time' costs perhaps $500 an hour within the normal working day — and this doesn't include the charges for talent. If you go into overtime — as we have on some occasions when admen have held creative bull sessions on the set — it will cost you $750 an hour; again that is plus talent charges. You can see what this does to production budgets if nothing is being accomplished. "My advice to tv clients is to work out all the details of their tv objective before the cameras start to roll, assign a supervisor to the job who knows film technique and then keep hands off." sponsor heard many other comments on this topic from film executives, all of whom seemed to feel about the same way. Some producers reiterated^ the "don't rehearse on camera time" warning; others warned against letting inexperienced executives see processed film in the pre-final stages since narration, sound, music or opticals may be missing and only an expert could visualize a good final result. As Charles W. Curran of New York's Times Square Productions sums it up : "The most important advice is to let professionals do the job and not the amateurs." 8. Try to learn (or have your admen learn) as much as possible about 8 FEBRUARY 1954 the techniques, problems ami trends of tv commercial film production. Several producers advised tv sponsors and their staffs to pay close attention to what's being done today in the way of new film commercials. As Gerald L. Karski, president of San Francisco's Motion Picture Service Co., stated : "The trend in tv film commercials is back to the old proven principle of more picture and less talk. Watch the ingenious new screen tricks on your television screen. Study the commercials. Producers are lying awake nights to dream them up and many of them contain valuable pointers foi ou I!' member thai t\ i for the eye" 9. At the same time, beware lest your tv admen get so immersed in technique that your film commercials become "gimmicky." This is the othe] side of the coin. Film producers frequent!) warned that fane) film techniques, like too much of any good thing, can spoil a commercial's effectiveness. "As I can see it, the trend todaj itoward a growing complexity of technical structure, with agencies placing more emphasis on wipes, superimpositions, and special effects than on actual A Message of interest to: Motion Picture Producers, Distributors, Advertising Agencies, Sponsors, Film Libraries, TV Film Producers and Distributors Peerless Protective and Preservative Film Treatments Release Prints, Trailers, Television Shows on Film, Kinescopes. TV Commercials, Theatre Screen Advertising, Prints for Continuous Projection Negatives. Masters. Originals, Filmstrips. Transparency Slides, Microfilm Film Rejuvenation Shrinkage Reduction Scratch Removal Rehumidification Cleaning and Repairs Film Library Servicing Shipments, Inspection, Cleaning. Repairs. Inventory and Booking Records. 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