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If you already own an 8mm. movie camera, a projector, a film editor and a splicer as I do, you can start yourself off in a very pleasant and profitable business venture in your home town.

Since I hit upon the idea during a recent summer vacation (I teach the seventh grade in a junior high school in Forest Hills, New York), I have made motion pictures for business concerns which want to show the operation of their enterprise to such organizations as fraternal groups, churches and young people's clubs.

Many large businesses maintain a speakers' bureau to supply social clubs which are in need of a luncheon lecturer. Usually clubs like Kiwanis or Lions invite speakers who can explain the inside functions of their business, whether it be a bank or a newspaper. Most of these lecturers talk about their work, but I came to the realization that for them one picture would be worth a thousand words.

I approached one community newspaper in Brooklyn and offered to make a motion picture showing the entire operation involved in getting out the paper each week. I explained that whenever the editor or the publisher was out on a speaking engagement, he could project the film and offer a running commentary explaining "The Newspaper Business." The idea struck the publisher's fancy, and we agreed that I should be paid $100 to shoot the movie.

HERE IS how we did it: A scenario was drawn up first to include every operation of the newspaper, from the reporter taking notes at the scene of an accident to the circulation truck leaving the building with the printed and folded issues. The original script was submitted to all departments of the paper's staff for alterations and suggestions. When it was finally in shape, we began to shoot.

Attempting to emulate the procedure of the Hollywood producers, we shot our scenes in whatever order seemed convenient under the circumstances. When all the "takes" had been completed, the real work of putting the movie in shape began, for the films had to be edited, some parts re-taken and the whole clipped and spliced together in proper order after titles had been inserted.

Using the most inexpensive black-and-white film Eastman Kodak markets, I shot the film, utilizing floodlights for the indoor scenes. Whenever possible, action shots were made without any staging or posing, as, for example, the actual press run of the paper. When I had shot every phase of the business, I found that I had taken considerably more film than was to be used in the twenty-minute completed reel. In all I "wasted" or used up nine rolls of film, which cost approximately $27, including their purchase and developing.

I THINK a review of my first movie production might offer suggestions to other film hobbyists who plan to sell corporations a business film.

The movie starts with a flash of a map showing the territory covered by the newspaper's circulation; this is after the proper title and various credit-lines are flashed. The introductory map shot is taken as close to the map as possible and still remain in focus. Next follows a quick seven seconds showing the paper's headquarters, and inside the movie quickly introduces several of the important staff members, like the publisher, the editor, the business manager, the plant foreman—all in their shirt-sleeves and working clothes. Each is pictured at his respective job.

Now appears a shot of a reporter at the scene of an "accident." This was staged at a local automobile wrecking lot with a policeman cooperating by making believe he is describing the accident to the scribbling newsman. The reporter pockets his notes and heads for the office and his typewriter.

You see him next transforming into a newspaper story the notes he had previously taken. The editor is next on the scene and he appears editing the copy and writing a headline for the story. In the next scene the linotype operator picks up the copy and begins to set it into "slugs" of type. In a close-up you watch the slugs put into a galley, or long tray for the type. It is inked up and a proof is pulled which is sent to the front office for correction.

The proofs are corrected. Then comes a short "montage" on the news photographer who is back at the scene of the auto wreck. This scene of the photographer and of the reporter interviewing the cop were both made during one trip to the auto lot, but later the scenes were spliced into place according to the proper continuity. You next see the press photographer's negative being made into a print and the print being made into a two-column zinc cut, a half-tone metal plate used for printing pictures in a newspaper.

Advertising scenes begin with a shot of the advertising man in conference with a local merchant. He is explaining the layout of the first advertisement in the series planned by the businessman. Back at the office you see the advertising solicitor pasting up the advertisement and writing and editing the copy before it is sent downstairs to the composing room.

Now we are ready to put the paper to bed. The editor lays out a dummy sheet of the front page, the type is placed in the metal forms on the composing room stones and the front page is made up before your very eyes. A page proof is pulled and a close-up shot shows a few final corrections being made before the form is locked and put on the press. All of these shots were not staged, being taken while the work on the newspaper was actually being done. Nothing is more authentic in a movie of this sort than taking actual films of the actual work being done during a routine day.

The press begins to roll now and the work of the mailing and distributing gets under way. You see the addressograph in operation and you see the papers being flipped into a mail bag. Other papers are picked up by the local carriers and others are taken to the newsstands. The beauty of these scenes, as far as filming them goes, is that you bother no one at his work. It is up to you to see that while the men are doing their work that you get the proper angles worked out regarding lighting. A word of warning to the workers on the job will prevent some one suddenly looking up from his duties and staring at you and the camera, which destroys the realistic quality of the film.

AFTER FINISHING the pictures, editing the films and splicing them together into a twenty-minute reel, the next step is inserting titles. The plan called for a few titles to introduce the picture much the same way any commercial movie begins. Since most of the burden of the narrative is carried by the speaker, presumably only a few titles are necessary. From literature distributed by Eastman-Kodak, you will be surprised to know that you can achieve professional results with amateur equipment when it comes to titling.

I include a few titles in my movies—but as few as possible since I believe audiences can tire of them easily. Since the guest lecturer will be providing an oral description, titles are needed whenever there is a change from one department to another, such as in the newspaper film. For instance, when the scene jumps from the editorial office to the composing room, a title is in order. In this case a title like, "The Composing Room Now Makes Up the Issue!" is sufficient introduction.

Titling can be done by means of a titler, a device arranged to hold the camera and the title filmed. The title can be written, typed, drawn or painted, on a card which is held upright in a frame while being photographed. Any sort of background for titles may be used—still photos, cloth, metal or even a strip of paper pasted onto a photo or wallpaper.

The name of the film and the opening credits I leave up to the customer. The trick is to keep these at a minimum. The opening should include the film's name ("The Newspaper Business"), the name of the company sponsoring the film, name of the president and the board of directors, and perhaps a brief history of the company can be printed. All this should take no more than one minute of the movie.

ONCE THE entire newspaper film had been fully completed, I sent the reel away to have a duplicate made at my expense and for my purposes. This duplicate reel I have used in my sales talk to prospective customers who answered my letter proposing the plan and offering to show them free of charge my "sample" movie.

My letter to potential clients is simple and straightforward. Rather than use a Mimeograph machine, I type up each letter and send it personally to either the public relations director or the president of a company. I found that this personal touch makes your letter more authentic—something that a printed form could never accomplish as effectively. My letter of solicitation reads as follows:

Dear Sir:

As a home movie-making fan of long standing, I recently hit upon an idea which could help your organization no end. Under the assumption that one picture is worth a thousand words, I am sure that speakers representing your company in their public relations talks throughout the community would welcome a short motion picture showing in detail the behind-the-scenes daily operation of your business.

What I have in mind is this. Why not a movie about the day-to-day routines of your office and plant which would explain the workings of your company while your representative is the guest speaker at anyone of the various clubs which weekly invite such talks? Many large-scale corporations do have movies made for just such purposes. But these films are produced by professional studios and run into an amazing outlay of cash.

For $100 I will make you a twenty-minute (silent) film of your business. This film will be yours to use as you please once it is completed. There are no strings once the movie is turned over to your office. Already I have made movies for several companies who now number among my satisfied customers. For promotional purposes I have a film which I should be glad to show (at no cost whatever) to you and your staff at your convenience. This film is a duplicate of one I made for another company not long ago and is currently being shown at various clubs.

May I hear from you in the immediate future? Thanking you for all courtesies, I am

Sincerely yours,
J. J. Lobello

GETTING THE names of firms which might be interested is not as hard as it might seem. I use several methods. One way to find out if a corporation maintains a speakers service for club engagements is to read the community newspapers, which usually report the meeting activities of the women's clubs, fraternal organizations and the like. Usually somewhere in the article the name of the speaker (if any) and the organization he represents are mentioned.

Another effective method is this. If you happen to know personally a club's entertainment committee chairman, he might be in a position to allow you access to his correspondence files regarding the engaging of such speakers. Because his letters date from many years back, you'll have a gold mine of such worthwhile addresses.

The last technique involves some expense on my part—but it can bear fruit. By consulting the telephone book's classified directory, you will be able to get a number of company addresses that sound promising. Also, look around and see what local companies advertise here and there. Any businessman who advertises is usually a smart businessman and knows the value of promotion. Chances are you can get to talk to a man of this type and he will give you an attentive ear as well as an interested eye when he sees your sample movie. You can send letters to any of these addresses you come across or phone the company and ask the switchboard operator if the company maintains a speakers bureau for club engagements. If the answer is yes, dash off a letter. If the answer is no, it might be well to disregard that one for the time being.