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This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
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Author
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Topic: Alternative contents projection
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Frank Angel
Film God
Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 07-18-2004 05:41 AM
Just last night a friend of mine, a layman, told me that he saw one of those "The Twenty" programs and as really annoyed by the commercial content and the fact that it was much to dim to see with all the lights on. But then he said he thought something technically went wrong and wanted to know what I thought. I asked him to explain. He said at the end of the video program, the image froze on a screen that said "the feature will start momentarily." He said it stayed there for more than 10 minutes....enough time to get the audience in a nasty mood. They started clapping and cat-calling. I guess when Ken said, It is still the operator's responsibility to be there when the preshow is nearing its end and start the film when it is over, that's what happens when that responsibility is given to the popcorn jockey.
He also said that the audience got even angrier when the trailers started because they had just suffered through all that commercial stuff and they though they were finally going to see the film which they came for and paid for, only to find they had to sit through another 5 trailers before the feature started.
About alternative content. I know this concept has been touted as the great moneymaker that video will allow theatres to recoup because all that off-time can be used to bring in ticket sales with things other than traditional movie fare. Only problem is, what and who is going produce and market this "alternative content"? What kind of excitement will it generate compared to, say, a major movie release? And if it is really quality, audience-drawing programming, the producers will look at the size of the audience that can be reached through the theatrical route (number of screens, potential ticket sales, available time slots, i.e., the theatrical market) and weigh that against other established routes like the cable and satellite pay-per-view markets and they may very well conclude that the theatre potential is almost insignificant compared to the direct-to-home audience. I think the really top quality, one-of-a-kind type of alternative programming that doesn't lend itself to DVD release but is time-dependent (like prize fights and concert "events') will have a much, much wider audience via the well established pay video outlets.
I mention prize fights because up until the mid-80s, we were a venue for quite a number of closed circuit prize fights. It was very lucrative for us, but as soon as pay-per-view and satellite technology because a reality, the producers shut down all the theatres which they usually contracted for close-circuit presentation and move the entire operation to direct pay-per-view. Even though we had sold-out, 2500 seat houses, and they had at least a dozen theatres enlisted to show the fights, all combined they couldn't begin to generate the money the producers could make by going exclusively to pay-per-view. Now picture this same scenario with even smaller, multiplex houses where there is even less potential revenue than a big 2500 seat house. It just doesn't compute.
Then the other "advantage" that the advocates of alternative content put forth is that this content can fill time-slots that are normally considereded off-peak hours in theatre operation, allowing the theatre to generate income at what normally are dead times in sales. HELLLLLLLLOOOOO....the reason there are dead times in the theatres isn't because the pictures aren't hot, it's because people don't go to the theatre at 10am in the morning, no matter WHAT freakin alternative content you are going to stick in there.
Brian said, quote: Brian Michael Weidemann
Last night we broadcast the Tour de France, live, at 4:00am in auditorium #17. Not sure how it went.
That's a misprint, right, Bri? You meant 4pm, right? not 4am. Who in their right mind thinks that ANYTHING you put in the theatre at 4am is going to generate enough ticket sales to even pay for the electricity let alone make a profit. Alternative content will NOT pull people into the theatre at times when they do not traditionally go to the theatre. There's a reason why patrons go to see everything at prime times and not at off-hours and it has practically nothing to do with content. A Monday morning 11am time-slot isn't going to magically turn into the kind of Box Office you get on a Friday or Saturday evening at 8pm just because you are showing The Tour de France....and in a substandard format at that.
Theatres can't sell seats in off-peak hours to blockbuster titles that have gotten 5 to 10 million dollars worth of publicity and marketing before they open; does anyone really think some marginal programming content with no major prerelease advertising is going to do better? Sorry, boys, "alternative content," as far as I am concerned, is a joke.
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Ken Lackner
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1907
From: Atlanta, GA, USA
Registered: Sep 2001
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posted 07-18-2004 12:27 PM
quote: Frank Angel
I guess when Ken said, It is still the operator's responsibility to be there when the preshow is nearing its end and start the film when it is over, that's what happens when that responsibility is given to the popcorn jockey.
Regal does not give this responsibility to the "popcorn jockey." There should be someone in the booth (a manager) at all times.
quote: Frank Angel
He also said that the audience got even angrier when the trailers started because they had just suffered through all that commercial stuff and they though they were finally going to see the film which they came for and paid for, only to find they had to sit through another 5 trailers before the feature started.
The policy trailer, which is the very last thing on The Twenty, clearly states: We hope you have enjoyed this edition of The Twenty. Your Feature presentatioin will begin after the following previews." If the operator is there to start the film as soon as The Twenty is over, the trailers always start at the advertised start time, just like they did when there was no digital preshow. It's even better now because there are no "rolling stock" ads on the film, so the trailer package is much shorter.
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Frank Angel
Film God
Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 07-18-2004 02:50 PM
Ken, I was paraphrasing what my friend was paraphrasing. Point is, whatever the exact text is, he, and it seems the whole audience, perceived that frozen frame on the screen as a technical mistake. Obviously the "operator" wasn't at that projector at the right time.
Didn't the slides just go on indefinitely? I mean, I don't ever recall there being any kind of definitive "ending" with a wait for a projector start. In fact, many times the damn things would repeat. Their inane attempts at humor were bad enough the first time round, but every time after that was just painful.
Perhaps that's the difference with The Twenty; it has an actual "end" which requires something to happen pretty much on cue. The operator ("Projection Attendant" as UA likes to call them) would need to be at the projector within a minute or so at the end of the video, otherwise it will look like an error.
Perhaps ditching that last frame might alleviate that tension. Just fade it out and not announce anything. When the film starts, it starts. An audience can sit in the theatre with the lights at half and the curtain closed for quite awhile before they start to get nasty. Ooops...sorry, Regal doesn't have any curtains, do they. ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
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Emma Tomiak
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 238
From: Carrollton, TX, USA
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 07-18-2004 11:43 PM
Robert,
You're absolutely right about the 2wenty actually being 30. When we had our digital projectors installed, the preshow ended ("...the feature presentation will begin after the following previews") EXACTLY 20 minutes after it began.
After a while, I noticed that when I went to start a show, the preshow was still in the policy. Later, it was in the ever-present Coke commercial. Then, it was in the other obligatory Coke commercial. Grrrrrrr. I think I'll time it tomorrow to find out how long it is to the second.
You're also correct about the GM getting a call if a show starts late (or early). I think its a little too paranoid of them, but I do understand the importance of starting the show at the correct time. Plus, we have little blinky lights on the DCN projectors. Green light is "5" minutes (7 mintues) to start, and red is "1" minute (2 minutes) to start.
They make it pretty hard to not start a show on time, so unless there is an emergency, there's really no excuse to be late.
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Ken Lackner
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1907
From: Atlanta, GA, USA
Registered: Sep 2001
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posted 07-19-2004 12:45 AM
quote: Frank Angel
Didn't the slides just go on indefinitely? I mean, I don't ever recall there being any kind of definitive "ending" with a wait for a projector start. In fact, many times the damn things would repeat. Their inane attempts at humor were bad enough the first time round, but every time after that was just painful.
Totally agree! The slide carousel just went round and round, and some of the slides got quite anoying.
quote: Robert E. Allen
What I found really freaky was, after the local GM sets the show times, if any film projector is started late (apparently even a few seconds) they hear from headquarters almost immediately.
There is an Early Start Report, which lists just that. But I've never heard of anything similar for late starts. I guess they just want to make sure that the entire preshow is played (thus, you cannot start the film early). I've never heard of getting a phone call for early or late starts. The theater is just on the report, which is emailed.
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Thomas Procyk
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1842
From: Royal Palm Beach, FL, USA
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 07-19-2004 10:51 AM
AMC's preshow has an animated frame with music playing at the end. Animated colored "lights" behind theater images of people eating popcorn, sitting down, watching the screen... on a rotating strip of film in front of the background. This cycles until the previews start. Very nice.
I also like that AMC has an "intro" to their previews, instead of like Regal where the first green band SLAMS (*POP*) onto the screen after the preshow. I know, AMC doesn't use green bands, which is points off for them.
Regal should take advice from AMC: instead of the frozen, silent frame. What's especially painful is once that last frame on the T2we2nt2y stops, the jaggies appear BLATANTLY -- like when your computer freezes. TACKY!
From what I gather, do both Regal and AMC use NCN?
=TMP=
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