Movies for TV - Early Television Foundation

FILM COMMERCIALS 311
air. This includes, of course, the sound tracks and the sudden
change in contrast and picture quality which comes with the cut
from live to film. The human errors of omission and commission
will eliminate themselves as technicians become more proficient.
In all the productions which are made for television advertis-
ing, as well as for program purposes both on film and as live shows,
the most important requirement, apart from technical excellence,
is creativity on the part of the producer. Unless he has a creative
sense the best technical support in the world will not turn a poor
film into an acceptable one for the viewers. On film, if the director
has made an error of judgment, his mistake goes on the floor of
the cutting or editing room, and he either has the scene reshot
or edits around it to produce the same result. In fact, the editor is
almost as important as the producer since on his judgment de-
pends a lot of the film's appeal. In most cases he and the producer
work very closely together. In a few cases, especially for low-
priced television films, the producer is often the editor as well.
On a live show the producer is the editor as well and any mis-
takes in production cannot go on the floor this time because he
is editing even as he is producing, and any errors will go on the
viewers' screens.
In closing this chapter it may be of interest to describe a most
ingenious commercial which was used by Schaefer Beer over CBS
live.
The technique used was one which has not so far been used
by many producers. It is the / technique with the camera playing
the part of the eyes of the viewer so that everything that is seen
appears as it would if the viewer were standing in place of the
camera. Of course, Robert Montgomery used it in Lady in the
Lake and various other producers have dabbled with it but it
was left for CBS and Schaefer to apply it to the television com-
mercial, and a most effective use was made of it.
A prop bar was set up complete with barman and taps which
worked. The scene opened with the camera glancing across the
bar and coming to rest on the barman who was pouring a foamy
glass of beer. The camera's hand came out from the side and