Film-Tech Cinema Systems
  Home     Products     Store     Forum     Warehouse     Contact Us    
Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE


  
my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home
  next oldest topic   next newest topic
» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Ground Level   » How many trailers would you put on? (Page 2)

 
This topic comprises 5 pages: 1  2  3  4  5   
Author Topic: How many trailers would you put on?
Thomas Pitt
Master Film Handler

Posts: 266
From: Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK
Registered: May 2007

- posted 08-27-2007 05:27 PM      Profile for Thomas Pitt   Email Thomas Pitt   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Ads in the MIDDLE of movies would be a big mistake. If it suddenly went "The movie continues after these messages" like on TV, I'm sure half the audience would walk out! Most would probably treat it as an intermission and use the bathroom or get popcorn/soda refills - so there would be nobody there during the ads!

Perhaps there could be a little advertising 'ticker' at the bottom of the screen, scrolling ads while the movie is on (like some TV networks do). The Simpsons Movie did a little parody of that at one point [Wink]

Anyway, I wonder if it would be worthwhile showing both the 'ad start' and 'feature start' time on the display boards and website? People could then come in later and not worry about missing any of the actual movie.

Another idea - perhaps have the advertised start time of the movie at the time when the movie actually begins, and just start the showreel (show-platter?) 20 minutes early. Also put up a big notice saying that the movie itself starts at the advertised time, and the adverts are earlier [Wink]

 |  IP: Logged
Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

- posted 08-27-2007 05:41 PM      Profile for Bobby Henderson   Email Bobby Henderson   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Thomas Pitt
Ads in the MIDDLE of movies would be a big mistake.
I wasn't suggesting that as any horrible possibility. The movie distributors and exhibitor chain executives already seem pretty opposed to any intermissions breaking up 3 hour-plus movies.

It would be a horrible mistake for any movie theater chain to try to scroll ads on the bottom of the screen, if doing such a thing were technologically feasible within the current crop of d-cinema systems (I don't think it is, but some simple "picture in picture" modifications either in software or hardware might be simple to do).

Already there are several cable TV networks I almost always avoid for their overly intrusive in-program ads. Fox's "FX" channel is the worst. You'll be watching a movie or some other show on that channel and some noisy ad for Rescue Me or The Shield will use up the bottom third of screen and simply disrupt whatever you were watching. Then you get to endure 5 minute long commercial breaks when you don't have TV series spam screwing up your entertainment. And these network executive fuckers are wondering why so many people are "time shifting" their shows onto DVR's?
[Roll Eyes]

There's only so much of this ad shit we're going to endure. After a certain point, we just give up on the experience of watching that show and go do something else -like surf the 'net, watch DVDs, play games on a X-Box360 or even something really novel like reading a book or going outside and letting the sun shine on you!

 |  IP: Logged
Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 08-27-2007 06:27 PM      Profile for Mike Blakesley   Author's Homepage   Email Mike Blakesley   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
If it suddenly went "The movie continues after these messages" like on TV, I'm sure half the audience would walk out!
Right, and the other half would either be yakking, or staring at their cellphones or GameBoys. They certainly wouldn't be watching the ads!

For Dustin - my wife and I attended a movie at the Wynnsong 10 at Billings, MT a couple of weeks ago on the way home from vacation... they only had a 10-minute trailer/ad pack. (We were a few minutes late so I don't know what the exact content was.)

 |  IP: Logged
Jason Black
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1723
From: Myrtle Beach, SC, USA
Registered: Nov 2000

- posted 08-27-2007 08:45 PM      Profile for Jason Black   Author's Homepage   Email Jason Black   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I can assure you that most Carmike locations will ALWAYS run 20+ minutes of ads/trailers mix. They have for at least the last ten years and I see no slowdown any time soon.

If it were MY operation, up to 15 minutes or so of pre-show ADS with a MAX of 4 trailers. TRAILERS would begin at the advertised start time. ADS would be shown before the start time for the benefit of those who are punctual.

There will ALWAYS be folks who show up early, just to get a good seat, so advertisers will ALWAYS have a base audience.

 |  IP: Logged
Frank Angel
Film God

Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999

- posted 08-28-2007 12:04 AM      Profile for Frank Angel   Author's Homepage   Email Frank Angel   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
If Coke or Pepsi or Shick or Johnson & Johnson want me to feel good about their products, rather causing me to make a note to myself to NEVER EVER BUY THEM AGAIN because they annoyed me with a commercial before the a movie I PAID to watch, just give me a free soda or some sample product when I walk into the theatre. It would impress me to no freakin end and I would certainly remember that brand fondly.....instead of wanting to rip some CEO's nuts off for torturing me with tv ads before the film.

And BTW, I really have no objection to product placement in a movie, as long as it's not done intrusively. In fact, real products in a movie go a long way to improving realism. I use to hate it when they would put these generic props in a film. I mean, you might as well put a blinking sign that says, THIS IS JUST A MOVIE and break the suspension of disbelief when you see someone drinking a beer and the can says BEER. Let it say Budwiser (ah....now THAT would be a great item to give away as samples before the show!!).

And how come someone can't come up with a way to give real telephone numbers so every telephone number that is ever mentioned on film has to start with 555? They even make the TouchTones be 555 no matter what the actor presses.

Can't every studio maintain a bunch of numbers that just forward to some advertising recording (they could sell "fake movie number" ads to advertisers!) Wouldn't THAT piss off the imbeciles who call the telephone numbers they hear in movies! And anyway, how many people actually make prank calls to the movie phone numbers? Are there THAT many that every movie ever made has to have the number for Directory Ass? (555 + anything will always get information). And how come the phone companies themselves don't get pissed by the pile of prank calls made to Directory Ass from the 555 numbers?

I say, put in real phone numbers....the 555 thing is as bad as the can of beer that is labled BEER.

 |  IP: Logged
Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 08-28-2007 01:42 AM      Profile for Mike Blakesley   Author's Homepage   Email Mike Blakesley   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
They ought to use the director's phone number, that way people could call and tell him how much the movie sucks. Hell, they could call from their seat! "Hey GREENGRASS, your camerawork is making me seasick!"

 |  IP: Logged
Dustin Mitchell
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1865
From: Mondovi, WI, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

- posted 08-28-2007 02:13 AM      Profile for Dustin Mitchell   Email Dustin Mitchell   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Mike, was it the last show of the day? They may have started the show very early in an attempt to get out at the end of the night earlier (a very bad practice of course).

If that isn't what happened and they are really running that small of a trailer pack....either they are dropping previews after the first week figuring there won't be a checker after that or they're playing with fire. One screenvision check showing non-compliance would be a big deal. Two non compliant checks? You might see a change in managment after that....

 |  IP: Logged
Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 08-28-2007 10:43 AM      Profile for Mike Blakesley   Author's Homepage   Email Mike Blakesley   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
No, it was a 7:00 show, we got there about 7:10 and the feature movie was just starting. Thinking about it now, by the time we got the car parked and tickets bought etc it was probably closer to 7:15 by the time we got into the actual auditorium.

 |  IP: Logged
Dustin Mitchell
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1865
From: Mondovi, WI, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

- posted 08-28-2007 12:21 PM      Profile for Dustin Mitchell   Email Dustin Mitchell   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
That's still too small a trailer pack. They are supposed to be running a fire exit trailer, a fandango ad (if they are fandango capable), screenvisions, coke ads, at least 5 trailers (typically 6-8), the carmike policy, and two digital trailers.

If they can get away with it great I guess, just hope for their sake they don't get caught.

 |  IP: Logged
David Stambaugh
Film God

Posts: 4021
From: Eugene, Oregon
Registered: Jan 2002

- posted 08-28-2007 12:28 PM      Profile for David Stambaugh   Author's Homepage   Email David Stambaugh   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
4 trailers = Fine

5 trailers = You're pushing the limit

6 or more trailers: You better be running trailers for some very highly-anticipated movies or else you're wasting your time and annoying your customers.

Around here both Regal and Cinemark are very good about starting the trailers at the advertised showtime. It makes me wonder how the advertisers in the digital preshow figure they're getting their money's worth when so many customers time their arrival for the advertised showtime or even later, knowing they won't miss the start of the movie unless it's ungodly crowded. A small percentage of the customers see all that preshow stuff, the rest miss most or all of it.

Do advertisers pay more for placement near the end of the preshow where their ad is more likely to be seen by the most people?

 |  IP: Logged
David Zylstra
Master Film Handler

Posts: 432
From: Novi, MI, USA
Registered: Mar 2007

- posted 08-28-2007 12:47 PM      Profile for David Zylstra   Email David Zylstra   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
If memory serves Screenvision requires their national ad spots to run at or just after the advertised showtime and the proposal I've seen from NCM runs the national spots just before the previews start (i.e. just before showtime) . . . .

Star Theatres in Michigan used to run a 15 minute preshow that started before showtime - i.e. the advertised showtime was the actual feature start time . . . . . . we had lots of complaints when we signed up with Screenvision since the new requirement was that the ads had to run at the end of the previews just before showtime - it sucked to have previews before showtime, ads at showtime, and then the feature . . . . . . (the Screenvision deal was signed because it was too good to pass up and it kept the company very solvent while Loews went bankrupt)

Of course when Loews/Onex bought out the partnership they changed the policy back to starting previews at showtime and the ads ran before previews . . . . . eventually our newspaper ads stated "actual feature start times will be 15-20 minutes after advertised start times" - I think there was a lawsuit in Chicago over the ads at showtime that spurred this disclaimer.

 |  IP: Logged
Chris Slycord
Film God

Posts: 2986
From: 청주시, 경북도, South Korea
Registered: Mar 2007

- posted 08-28-2007 01:20 PM      Profile for Chris Slycord   Email Chris Slycord   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: David Zylstra
Of course when Loews/Onex bought out the partnership they changed the policy back to starting previews at showtime and the ads ran before previews . . . . . eventually our newspaper ads stated "actual feature start times will be 15-20 minutes after advertised start times" - I think there was a lawsuit in Chicago over the ads at showtime that spurred this disclaimer.
I'm certain it was 10-15 minutes when it was Loews/Onex. In fact, we had received official signage to put up in our lobby stating exactly that.

Though it always felt weird that if we had some Disney movie that had no ads, we had to start it late to get into the official 10-15 minutes.

 |  IP: Logged
David Zylstra
Master Film Handler

Posts: 432
From: Novi, MI, USA
Registered: Mar 2007

- posted 08-28-2007 02:15 PM      Profile for David Zylstra   Email David Zylstra   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
You are probably correct on the 10-15 mins, at that time I was only loosely involved in the booth so I don't remember specifics - Loews kept me on only in the MIS capacity (same pay/benefits, much lower responsibility, talk about boring!)

 |  IP: Logged
Thomas Pitt
Master Film Handler

Posts: 266
From: Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK
Registered: May 2007

- posted 08-28-2007 03:31 PM      Profile for Thomas Pitt   Email Thomas Pitt   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Today I decided NOT to actively watch the preshow, and instead keep an eye on how many people were coming in and going out of the auditorium during the preshow. It seems there are always people who come in super-early (before the preshow starts), plenty of people who come in during the ads, and a few who come in while the trailers are playing.
There were even a couple of people coming in during the movie's opening credits sequence!

Regarding the ads at the end of the preshow - there is often an advert between the last trailer and the movie itself. This is called the 'Gold Spot', and is usually filled by a 'switch off your phone' advert. In the UK, Orange have held the Gold Spot position for quite a while, and I assume they pay a lot to get their ad there.

 |  IP: Logged
Andy Muirhead
Master Film Handler

Posts: 323
From: Galashiels, Scotland
Registered: Dec 2000

- posted 08-28-2007 06:46 PM      Profile for Andy Muirhead   Email Andy Muirhead   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Thomas Pitt
Anyway, I wonder if it would be worthwhile showing both the 'ad start' and 'feature start' time on the display boards and website? People could then come in later and not worry about missing any of the actual movie.
Just doesn't work, in the UK at least. You get more people coming in late, after the feature has started.

 |  IP: Logged


All times are Central (GMT -6:00)
This topic comprises 5 pages: 1  2  3  4  5   
   Close Topic    Move Topic    Delete Topic    next oldest topic   next newest topic
- Printer-friendly view of this topic
Hop To:



Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classicTM 6.3.1.2

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.

© 1999-2020 Film-Tech Cinema Systems, LLC. All rights reserved.