Movies for TV - Early Television Foundation

CHOOSING FILMS FORTY 257
background noise in the film programs; this can generally be
traced to noise in the projectors due to poor design or main-
tenance.
Everything that can be done in 35 mm can also be performed
in 16 mm and with just as good results in most cases. In fact, 16
mm film is more versatile in television than 35 mm, for many
more stations have 16 mm equipment only than have both and
none has 35 mm exclusively. The ratio is somewhere along these
lines. Two-thirds of all television stations have 16 mm only and
do not expect to add 35 mm in the foreseeable future. Most of the
kinescope recording companies use 16 mm. One exception is
Paramount which also incorporates it into its intermediate film
big screen system. Either size film will give
better detail than
present day television is capable of.
The print which the reader as a producer will present to his
client depends on how well he has followed common sense and all
the advice he has got from friends and "experts." It is assumed
that he will not do his own processing; therefore, the film quality
should be good if it is done by a good laboratory. A density of
negative which satisfies the laboratory will be good enough for
television use. In general, a print one or two points lighter than
a movie print is best. The labs usually use a standard developer
and to avoid changing this with attendant cost they often vary
the exposure of the positive in printing so as to produce a televi-
sion print.
When it comes to paying for the films which the film director
may rent for his organization, he will find that prices vary almost
from day to day and certainly from year to year. Thus, the prices
about to be mentioned are sure to be wrong by the time the book
is in print, but they are included for comparative purposes. As
much as $550 has been paid for a feature in New York and as
little as $25 for a short in the same town. More and more films
are becoming available all the time, but to offset the decrease this
should bring, the daily increase in receiver owners tends to hold
the price up. The western film is probably the most used;
it cer-
tainly is the most popular with the younger set! These (the films)