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[indrani majumdar]

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First film advertisements
by Indrani Majumder

One of the first film advertisements I have found are the advertisements of first series of public shows of bioscope published in the Statesman (Calcutta) dated 19th November 1897 onward. Similar advertisements can also be found in other newspapers from the same period. Along with the first advertisement the Statesman also published a technical article explaining its readers what cinema really was and how it worked. The advertisement itself highlighted cinema as a new technological device and sited a list of visual ‘attractions’ it offered. It was designed as an announcement: the arrival of a new scientific marvel, a modern wonder that was bound to mesmerize everyone. The first series of advertisements did not carry any photograph of the machine itself or any stills from the films but just depended on textual matter for communication. These were simple typeset advertisements that used one or more fronts of different sizes and were primarily designed as interesting texts for reading and not emphasized on visuals at all. The first film advertisements were modeled on contemporary product advertisements, which were usually presented as announcements for the reading public. They incorporated the ‘direct address mode’ of public announcement in order to intimate the arrival of a new scientific ‘wonder’. Early cinema at the beginning of 20th century yet to become a new form of cultural commodity and the first generation of entrepreneurs were not very sure of its marketability. Because of this uncertainty, these advertisements read more like appeals directed to the general public in a very straightforward manner emphasizing on what they would miss rather than what they will gain. Words were selected carefully to arouse interest of the reader. Some of the words were repeated two or three times to emphasize on the value and significance of new scientific experience in the offering. The objective was rather clear: cinema had to be experienced as a ‘scientific marvel’ as it was not a consumable good.. 

The language of cinema advertisement started changing as cinema became more and more popular and entertaining. As I study the early film advertisements of the first decade I realize that the texts of the ads evolved very dramatically from ‘announcement’ to ‘advertisement’ as the cinema acquired the status of a new form of commodity. Films were being mass manufactured for public consumption and it required to reach the largest possible audience. Accordingly the advertisements were modified to appeal to popular sentiments. This transition is noticeable in contemporary theatre handbills, which contained advertisement of films of short duration and scenes from different plays and were presented as added attraction to the theatre going public. The arrival of cinema in the public domain proper – first in popular stage which considered the spectacle of cinema as an extension of the illusory stagecraft, and then in separate tent shows or private screenings which presented cinema as an independent form of entertainment – created the urge to design new advertisements exclusively for film marketing.