University Daily Kansan
Banner Says TV Influence 'Great'
Page 3
The executive producer of the Gary Moore Show last night called television the greatest influence the United States has ever known.
Bob Banner spoke to 143 students, teachers and visitors at the tenth annual Radio-TV Film Banquet in the Kansas Room of the Kansas Union. He described the problems and responsibilities of the television director and producer.
"Television is really the greatest influence we have ever known," he said. "This is indeed a responsibility.
"THE THING that influences them (the public) most is what they see and hear at the same time." Little things in a television program may influence people in unthought-of ways. A slang expression, a style of dress, an accidental off-the-cuff remark can have nation-wide effect.
"In television today you have to maintain a sense of proportion, a sense of dignity," he said.
Banner also described the administration problems faced by the television producer or director.
"The job of a television director is to be a creator with a large group of people," he said, "To get these people to think and act as one . . . this is television's problem."
HE SAID THE only way to compensate for the lack of time in producing a weekly television show is to use a larger staff. "Your immediate creative staff must be some 16 or 17 people," he said.
The major obstruction to unified effort is communications breakdown. The central creative staff is itself large enough for internal communications problems. And the problem becomes even more pronounced when the creative staff tries to communicate with the technicians. Creative ideas must be converted into practical applications and everyone on the show must have the same concept of the ideas and applications.
BANNER SAID the producer or director must stay between the two extremes. On one extreme he called "ivory tower approach." Such a director has creative ability based on a broad background but he cannot communicate with the stage hand holding a paint brush in one hand and a hammer in the other. The other extreme is the approach so practical that the creative element is lost entirely.
Banner named seven other key problems the producer or director must deal with;
- "Television is an instantaneous medium. If a television show is done and nobody is there to see it, the cycle is not complete." Banner compared this incomplete cycle to the sound in the desert which may not really be a sound because no one heard it.
- Television is a business, not just an art form. The transmission of art is not television's primary reason for being.
- The television audience is not captive. While the theater-goer has already paid his admission price and will watch the show for some time before leaving out of boredom, the television viewer will switch channels in a few seconds if he is disinterested.
- "You have to take a realistic view of how your show will be received." Everyone from the sponsor's wife to the Catholic church will look at it differently.
- The director must remember that television is a mass medium.
  "You do not have to look for the lowest common denominator, but it is important to look for the highest common denominator."
- Beware of the "rating trap," "Sheer numbers is not always the answer." A television show can be one of the most popular on the air, but it will not help its sponsor unless it reaches the specific market the sponsor seeks.
Patronize Your Kansan Advertisers
Official Bulletin
May 11 — H. L. Iml, Personnel Director (Elem. & Sec.), Cleveland, Ohio.
Cathleen Daily Mass: 7 am & 12 pm.
Lawrence Chapel, 1910 Stralford Road.
Teacher Interviews:
Mary J.
Confessions: Weekdays, 7 a.m. (during Mass) & 11:45-12 noon: Satdays, 4-5 & 7-8 p.m. St. Lawrence Chapel, 1910 Stratford Road.
Teacher Interview
Mike Trahern, Imel, Personnel Director
(Elem. & Sec.), Cleveland, Ohio
KUOK: 3-News & Weather; 3:05-Top Forty Tunes; 4-Hilltopping; 5-Hilltipping; 6-News & Weather; 6:15-Sports; Spotlight on Science; 6:20-Spotlight on Science; 6:30-Bonjour Medames? 6:45-Public Service Program; 7-Countdown; 8-Night Flight, Stage II. Weather; 10-15-Night Flight, Stage II. 12-Portals of Praver.
TOMORROW
Le Plique-nique annuel d'Curie Francais aura lieu mercredi a cinq heures 13h00 du samedi 920 Missouri. Si vous pouvez y assister, veulez vous inscribe avant midi mercredi. Francais Fraser. Vous pouvez y payer soixante-cinq cents, ou les payer au piqué-nique.
Episcopal Holy Communion; 9:30 p.m.
Danforth Chapel.
KU Freshman Is Top Bowler
Miss Member captured the title last week at the Women's Intercollegiate Bowling Tournament in Phoenix, where she won more titles than any other contestant in the tournament.
Betty Jo Hember, Shawnee Mission freshman, is the 1962 Women's Collegeg "All Event" bowling champion.
Teaming with Fran Feauer from the University of Iowa, they won the doubles title with a 1072 score. Her share of the doubles score was 550.
Miss Hember bowled a 1,090 score to win the "All Events" title.
She also placed second in the singles with a 550 score.
The tournament was sponsored by the Association of College Unions, the Women's International Bowling Congress and the Brunswick Co.
The contestants for the tournament were selected last March according to their bowling scores. Miss Member and Miss Feauer represented Region 8, comprised of colleges and universities located in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa.
SUA Film Tomorrow
Student Union Activities will sponsor "The Cat People," a film starring Simone Simon, at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow in the Forum Room of the Kansas Union. Tickets will be available at the door for 60 cents or by season ticket.
908 Mass.
HI-FI STEREO
BIRD TV - RADIO
VI 3-8855
Tuesday, May 8, 1962
- Quality Parts
- Guaranteed
- Expert Service
WASH 10C May 9-10-11
HILLCREST LAUNDROMAT
A professor of ancient history at the University of Minnesota will give the last Humanities Lecture at 8 p.m. today in Fraser Theater.
Humanities Lecture Tonight in Fraser
Hillcrest Shopping Center
The lecturer, Tom B. Jones, will speak on the "First Civilization." Because the lecture is illustrated there will be no KANU broadcast.
A gift from the past for the present for MOTHER'S DAY at the BOOK NOOK
DO-OR-DIE FOR NIXON:
CAN HE WIN IN CALIFORNIA?
Nixon is staking his career on the gubernatorial race. Can he win? (He carried the state in '60, but time and political factors have changed.) In this week's Post, you'll learn how he's doing against a right-wing Republican faction. How he's coping with his Democratic opponent Pat Brown. And why he thinks he went down to defeat in 1960. The Saturday Fanning
POST
MAY 12
INSTORE NOW
ON BALL
Spanish Department Host To Over 500
The KU Spanish department entertained over 500 guests Saturday in its 38th annual memorial to Miguel de Cervantes, writer of "Don Quixote."
Teachers and students of Spanish from various cities in Kansas and Western Missouri attended. Delores Marti de Cid, visiting associate professor of Romance languages at KU, was the featured speaker.
Lovely lingerie — the perfect gift idea for Mother's Day! Come in soon to make your choice from crispy-cool pima cotton and dacron-cotton-nylon blends. Mother will love her gift from
935 Mass.
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