Movies for TV - Early Television Foundation

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THE PROGRAM ANGLE
If the film is being made on a firm order for someone, the
number of prints required will have been specified, but in any
case it is a good idea to give an extra one "free." In the case of a
spot or commercial this would be less than 100 feet and would
be a good-will gesture which would pay dividends in the event
the original became lost or damaged and the customer needed
another one in a hurry. It's not very likely that the film will run
as many as 500 times, but in case it does a spare print is good
insurance. Sometimes the academy leader is specified. If it is not,
it is always a good plan to provide at least ten feet so that the
user can suit himself.
Unfortunately a good many advertisers and even agency men
who are in a position to place contracts for film production have
erroneous ideas about 16 mm film quality. As a result they are
biased against the small man or even station using 16 mm ex-
clusively. Probably they have been exposed to amateur and poorly
done industrial advertising films which gave them the idea that
16 mm is not good. Also, many of the older companies which
specialize in 35 mm productions and already have the equipment
to comply with fire and city laws are eager to keep the new firms
out of the field by continuing the fable that 16 mm is not good
enough for television.
If first-class equipment is used to photograph the story and
process it, and the sound is also recorded on high-fidelity apparatus
it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to tell the differ-
ence between 16 mm and 35 mm on the television screen.
We have already mentioned the awful sound that only too
often accompanies the old movies that "grace" today's television
screens. In every case, that is caused by the use of old films which
have probably shrunk and been printed from prints which were
themselves printed from another duplicate, so by the time the film
reaches the television projector there is no high-frequency response
anyhow. The station equipment itself is often at fault. Generally
speaking, the 16 mm equipment is only improved, high-grade,
amateur equipment which cannot stand the use it gets and will
not remain in adjustment. Many people have complained of high