Sponsor (Jan-June 1954)

WTVP CHANNEL 17 DECATUR. ILLINOIS . SOLID COVERAGE IN THE HEART OF PROSPEROUS CENTRAL ILLINOIS WTVP CHANNEL 17 DECATUR, ILLINOIS ^ DELIVERS ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING MARKETS IN AMERICA SELL IN... THE MARKET THAT MARKETING FIGURES CAN'T KEEP UP WITH! WTVP CHANNEL 17 DECATUR, ILLINOIS . National Representative George W. Clork, Inc. TIPS TO BEGINNERS [Continued from \><i£e 64) your Bound track (<> eliminate a voice oi two. Check and make >nic whether ii iic< essai j for each Bpeaking character i" appear on camera. The more [aces you keep nil the film, the more \cui < lit costs! If vou need a location shot a picture "I a Btore <>r the like — save l>\ shooting a big Mill and panning across it. Gives you almost the same effect, and costs a whale of a lot less. If your product embodies a definite improvement over some "old-style" product or technique, and if you wish to demonstrate the difference between the old way and your new and better way, here's where you really strike pay dirt. Remember the old silent movies you used to watch? Dozens of them are still around, in good finejzrain 35 mm. prints. For a nominal cost, you can use clips of these old movies. Simply clip out the sequence you want, reduce it to 16 mm., and make it part of your commercial. If you wish to show an old-fashioned kitchen, baking in a wood range, old cars, old homes, you couldn't ask for finer footage. You'll get them complete with your characters dressed and made up with absolute old-time authenticity, if your tv producer can't help you here, ask your local movie distributor, and you'll end up with a commercial that'll knock their hats off! \\ hen \our client requires more than one film commercial, your opportunities to cut costs multiply in direct ratio to the number of commercials needed. If you need a one-minute spot, plus a 30-second and 20-second spot, you need pay for only one commercial. Here's how you do it. Write and produce your one-minute spot so that vou can lift 30 seconds out of it intact. I here are no talent costs on shorter versions, so long as they're lifted out without change. Your only expense for shorter commercials is your print cost. If you need a number of one-minute spots, trv to standardize as much of your footage as possible. Thus, the same film can be used throughout the series. For example, one demonstration sequence could serve for all your spots. Another money-saver on series of commercials is blocking off \ our commercialinto two or three sections, and interchanging the various sections of the -et. Thus, if \oii write three commercial-. with interchangeable parts of three each (three lead-in's, three demonstrations, three lead-out's, for example) you can end up with 28 oi bo different commercials! The foregoing onlj scratches the surface df cost-cutting methods. \ie you troubled about camera directions? Don't jiive it a second thought. In live production \our producer will usuall) know far better than vou what -Imt to ;i-k lor. In film production you can ea-ilv work out your camera effects with \our producer. And bow about setting scenes? \uain. keep it simple. If you want a rural scone, an old-fashioned H.F.D. mailbox with the flag up may be a far more effective background than a drop showing a complete farm. You II give both live and film producers a great helping hand if vou 11 always bear in mind that lar«e blocks of small print, and very tin \ objects, don't project as well on a tv screen as they do at the corner movie. Remember, too, a grain of rice can look big as a mattress on a tv set. If you need a second object to appear, for size comparison, be sure to include one. Onlj experience can give you a welldeveloped sense of timing that will tell vou how long to leave any given visual sequence on the srcen. Some scenes establish rapidly . . . others take longer. Fay attention to your timing, and you'll soon know automaticallv how long a scene should take. Most frequent beginners' errors: 1. Trying to < ram too manv scenes in too short a time, thus not establishing any one of them well. 2. Letting the eye tire, and the mind wander by leaving a dull, static shot on too long. I Watch this when advertising appliances, especially!) If you're in the beginning phases of television remember you probably know as much about it as anyone else. Mull your problems around in your mind, solve them as best vou can. and don't let anyone shake your faith in \our own natural sense of iiood showmanship. YouTl find tv a tremendous challenge. It's a headache, a heartache, and a pain 'most anv place \ ou could name. But as Mehitabel the cat said to Archv the cockroach, "whatthehefl kid whatthehell exclamation point." ^ ou're a pioneer, and no pioneer ever had it ea-v ! • • • 74 SPONSOR