Movies for TV - Early Television Foundation

CHAPTER 14
USING FILMS ON TV
From the point of view of the budget-restricted program director,
the motion picture film offers the nearest approach to getting
of half an hour
something for nothing. If he has to fill a period
to one hour he can rent footage to fill the time at prices that range
from $50 for the half-hour to $125 for a feature program. Ad-
mittedly, the films are probably over ten years old ; however, many
people enjoy seeing the old films again, and quite
a lot of them
are worth reseeing. That is the basic advantage of the motion
picture for television. In a way, however, this is a very minor role.
The real use for film is in helping the producer of live productions
to establish the right atmosphere by making it possible for him to
portray scenes that would normally be quite beyond the capability
of any television studio to construct. The major film studios
think nothing of spending $50,000 on one scene, but $50 is a lot
of money to the program director of a station operating in, or
very near, the red. For one thing, the physical space to construct
the number of extras re-
such a set is not available; for another,
quired would render it beyond the scope of the organization.
Let it be assumed that a program is being produced which re-
quires the action to take place on a crack cross-country train. Most
of the action is in the lounge car, but it is necessary to show the train
traveling across the country to establish the atmosphere. It might be
merely the opening shot faded in after the titles, or it might be in-
serted between a shot of the principal characters walking down the
corridor as the train dashes through the night. Quite obviously the
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