Part 4

“With pleasure,” she replied, and forthwith got down to business.

“I must say that they are considerably more interesting than the advertisements that meet your eye in the newspapers. How nice it is to watch an industry on the screen and be taken through a big manufacturing plant. It is an education in itself, and it never strikes you as though it was intended as a boost, although the particular thing--the point the advertiser wishes to bring home, I believe you call it--leaves an indelible impression on you.

“I also enjoy the films in which there is a story. One such film, I remember, told of a poor family who took in washing. Disease abounded, and the folks who had their laundry done learned their lesson. Then the sanitary methods of the steam laundry were contrasted. It impressed me very much.

“The comic films are frequently laughable, but I remember being offended once at seeing a man like somebody’s beer so much that he drank it until he was dead drunk. I noticed that I was not the only spectator to leave the hall. I like, at all times, my photoplay fare to be in good taste.

“At some of the movie theaters I attend they make a practice of running a number of slides after the reels. They relate to neighboring stores, but are so dry and shown for so many weeks without being changed that I always skip them.”

“Would you prefer,” I chimed in, “that the advertising film portion be abolished?”

“I would not so long as the ordinary pictures did not suffer in quality and quantity. A show I regularly visit out in New Jersey always runs the ad. films after the program has finished. As the pictures are invariably good ones, I always stay to see them through, and most others in the audience seem to do likewise. And another thing, the subjects are frequently changed, for naturally one grows tired of seeing the same things over and over again.”

“Have you,” I broached, “any suggestions for improvements?”

“Sure; I would like to see some of my favorite photoplayers take the leading parts in the ad. stories. It would be just crazy to watch Mary Fuller and Francis X. Bushman as a pair of newly weds who try to overcome housekeeping difficulties with various modern articles to be bought at stores.

“I also think that there is considerable room for improving the film plots. They should be as good as the ordinary photoplays. What they seem to lack is strength. There is seldom any of the strong, exciting situations which I am accustomed to see, and the punch is often conspicuous by its absence at the end.”

III.

THE DOLLARS AND CENTS OF ADVERTISING BY MOTION PICTURES

So far as I am aware, the cost aspects of advertising by motion pictures have not been dealt with in print before. This may explain why so many advertisers, national or otherwise, have neglected to avail themselves of the many opportunities offered by the new publicity medium. As in all things, the cost is the deciding point, and although the average advertiser will not quibble over a few dollars where there is the prospect of increased business, he, nevertheless, likes to know beforehand just what the campaign is going to cost.

Every business man thinks of the facts before anything else, and this chapter is intended to furnish them so that he need grope in the dark no longer.

I will suppose you follow the vade mecum of most advertisers and arrange to have a single-reel motion picture produced showing conditions at your plant. Even though it is only an industrial subject, it calls for much careful thinking and painstaking effort. A scenario will have to be prepared, and in this the various details you wish emphasized are introduced in logical order. You can, of course, withhold the trade secrets that are not desirable for the public to see. There is also a knack in inserting and wording the subtitles, for one is frequently employed to explain the obvious. This results in film wastage, while all the difficult points should be explained as explicitly as possible, as each word used consumes one foot of film.

A very bad habit which readily becomes apparent and detracts the attention of spectators from the object of the film is the employees at the plant staring hard at the camera while working. This defect has marred a good many industrials, and it gives the impression that the workers are aware of what is happening, whereas everything should appear perfectly natural.

The movie camera man next films the picture according to the scenario, allowing, however, a certain amount of feet for each incident, which depends on the importance of same. Providing sufficient daylight is available, the usual inclusive fee charged for the producing and developing of such a film is fifty cents per foot--or $500 for the entire reel, which is exactly a thousand feet. This is only for the negative, ten cents per foot being charged for each positive copy. You will, naturally, require more than one print, so you can figure on a cost of $100 for each copy. I will come back to this point later.

Maybe in parts of your manufacturing plant daylight is at a premium, in which event you will be obliged to pay fifty cents more per foot for the negative copy for installing the necessary artificial lighting. These charges include an allowance for padding, which is promptly eliminated, thus improving the whole picture.

One does not have to seek far why the comedy and dramatic photoplay is not popular with most motion-picture advertisers down to date. Yet, if they only knew the truth, they would find that movie audiences enjoy an entertaining story better than an advertisement contained in a film which merely strives to educate. The former, as one might expect, is more involved and expensive. In the first place, a good story is essential, and this may only be expected from an experienced photoplaywright who has an appreciation of advertising values. Personally speaking, I have received as much as $100 for conceiving and putting a one-reel photoplay in scenario form. Then you will need a capable cast of actors and a talented director to produce the picture in order to give it a distinctly expert professional touch. Probably interior scenes are called for outside of your works. These have to be erected in the studio at an additional expense.

The cost, of course, depends on the nature of the play, but all these things should be provided from $1.25 to $3 per foot. This works out at a cost of from $1,250 to $3,000 for producing the negative.

It is well to remember that, once the film has been produced, it is always available, the only extra charge being for extra positive copies you may require to replace the ones in use when worn out. If you want to save expense in the matter, and do not object to delay in operating your campaign, you can arrange for a given number of your dealers over a certain territory to retain the film for a day, then loan it to the local motion-picture theater for its evening show. If, however, you want to cover all the territory at one time, then you will need more prints in circulation.

Do not permit a print to be constantly in use for more than six months without replacing it with a new copy, for you have to make a due allowance for wear and tear. It would not do to let your film graduate to the “rainy” stage, since your pictorial advertisement, to leave a good impression on movie audiences, must be in perfect condition.

Unfortunately, no general advertising circulation plan has been put in execution, but it is best either to have the producing concern help you out, or else rely upon your dealers to aid you in their respective localities. Being on the spot and knowing the co-operation is to the advantage of all concerned, he can, no doubt, arrange matters with the best local exhibitor. The fee for showing is merely a matter of arrangement, but in many cases you will incur no expense.

IV.

SOME FILM ADVERTISING METHODS FOR THE MANUFACTURER

BOOSTING TRADEMARKS

I will first endeavor to show the proprietor of an advertised article the best uses to which the motion picture can be put, for some “copy” screens better than others, and the advertiser should use discrimination.

Now, one of the greatest assets a manufacturer can have is a trademark. This he uses as fuel when trying to point out to the public, by means of press announcements, posters and literature, not to accept substitutes. Be the trademark a good one for pictorial purposes, and a specialist is called in to give the branded article a lasting impression on the public desired to reach, and the results will please. I am a photoplay writer who specializes in writing such plays to order, so I know what I am talking about.