Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Hey, Regal... the "FEATURE PRESENTATION" should be the FEATURE!

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Topic: Hey, Regal... the "FEATURE PRESENTATION" should be the FEATURE!

Mark J. Marshall
Film God

Posts: 3188
From: New Castle, DE, USA
Registered: Aug 2002

posted 04-30-2011 05:30 PM

quote: Frank Cox
Of course, you can/should just not use a Feature Presentation announcement when a short is included

I disagree with that.

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Frank Cox
Film God

Posts: 2234
From: Melville Saskatchewan Canada
Registered: Apr 2011

posted 04-30-2011 05:58 PM

Why would you disagree with that? If I see "Feature Presentation" I expect the next thing on-screen to be the feature presentation. And a short isn't the feature.

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Chris Slycord
Film God

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

posted 04-30-2011 06:38 PM

quote: Frank Cox
Why would you disagree with that? If I see "Feature Presentation" I expect the next thing on-screen to be the feature presentation. And a short isn't the feature.

Not to speak for him, but I disagree with it because the short is part of the feature. In fact, if these shorts weren't part of the feature, then the studios wouldn't send out notices saying that they'll eat your children if you separate the short from the rest of the reel.

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

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

posted 04-30-2011 07:45 PM

I was informed about the short by our booker so I wasn't surprised by it, but I was peeved that it was the exact same short that was included with "Gulliver's Travels."

Of course...nobody saw "Gulliver's Travels."

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Chris Slycord
Film God

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

posted 04-30-2011 08:32 PM

quote: Frank Cox
Funny, they walked right past a sign that says the same thing when they entered the auditorium but I guess they need to see it on the screen before it registers.

At an old job, every time we had a meeting of the managers and supervisors, the following conversation occurred:

One female supervisor: We need to put up more signs that say [x].
Head manager: People don't read signs.

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Mark J. Marshall
Film God

Posts: 3188
From: New Castle, DE, USA
Registered: Aug 2002

posted 04-30-2011 10:46 PM

quote: Frank Cox
Why would you disagree with that? If I see "Feature Presentation" I expect the next thing on-screen to be the feature presentation. And a short isn't the feature.

I disagree with it because the studios consider the short to be part of the feature. I'm not sure how old you are, but I remember when shorts and cartoons were advertised as part of the feature. Old posters of Honey I Shrunk The Kids had Roger Rabbit ads on them for example. Even the trailers had both. The studios haven't continued that practice religiously, but their thought process is the same, evidenced by, as Chris pointed out, the documentation they send with their films.

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Frank Angel
Film God

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

posted 05-01-2011 05:38 PM

But Mark, I AM old enough and I can tell you, even in a small town in Texas, we used to run the cartoons and attraction reel and the "Select Short Subject" which was always included if we were running a film under 100 minutes, and we would not only place the Feature Presentation snipe BETWEEN the short and the feature, but we would have a curtain close/open cue between the short and the snipe. There likewise was a curtain cue (along with a curtain warmer cue as well) between the attractions reel and the feature, preceded of course by the Feature Presentation snipe. In the big markets like NYC where I grew up, this presentation rubric was followed pretty religiously, until curtains disappeared with the advent of cheap multiplexes.

So, you just have to be REALLY old to see that historically, short subjects were regarded as additions to the feature, not part of it. The most of the studios had a separate cartoon and shorts production division that supplied the shorts either separately -- the theatre could book shorts on their own if they wanted to in addition to the features -- or the studio would supply shorts with the feature, but they were always separate entities.

So I diagree that the studios mindset was that the short be treated the same as the feature or refered to in the presentation as the "Feature Presentation" simply because the studio supplied it, not to mention that it simply is not what the words mean.

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Chris Slycord
Film God

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

posted 05-01-2011 06:08 PM

Frank,
So in other words: Today isn't many years ago.

Today, the studios treat shorts included as being part of the feature and tell you absolutely not to have them separated.

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Mark J. Marshall
Film God

Posts: 3188
From: New Castle, DE, USA
Registered: Aug 2002

posted 05-01-2011 07:22 PM

That was a different time, Frank. Now you're in the time of mandatory everything. If you're booking a short separately to go in front of the feature you booked, then ok. But if the studio is sending you a feature, and reel 1 of that movie is a cartoon, or if it's 1A and 1B, or if there's a note in the can that says that the short and the feature are to be treated as one inseparable entity, then the short is part of the feature and the FEATURE PRESENTATION goes first.

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Frank Angel
Film God

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

posted 05-02-2011 01:59 PM

Well, I book classics so I can't say with any authority, but do the studios specifically say you CAN'T put a snipe between the short and the feature? What about sound format logos? What about the chain's logo stuff? I know you are required to PLAY everything that's attached, but would they seriously whine if you put in your logo and Feature Presentation snipes where it makes sense?

When I play sneak previews that come with trailers attached, I always put them at the very end of the Attraction Reel (what you guys call the trailer pack) -- curtain cue in between as well. The feature opens with the house custom Feature Presentaion snipe. Surely the distrib wouldn't object at that, i.e., making his product play better and more logically on the screen. Or would he?

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

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

posted 05-02-2011 02:02 PM

quote: Frank Angel
do the studios specifically say you CAN'T put a snipe between the short and the feature?

Yes they do. They say the short+feature is to be treated as one print, exhibited as one print and not to be cut. (Well at least Disney uses that language.)

They DO say you are allowed to cut off the attached trailer and put in your sound logo or company snipe, etc. in there.

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Elizabeth Betty Gross
Film Handler

Posts: 18
From: Astoria, NY, USA
Registered: Jul 2004

posted 05-02-2011 03:09 PM

What a glorious restoration!! PLEASE, please don't go digital!!You have already gone so far to bring back original quality to your theater, it would be a terrible shame to settle for less than the best. If you don't have them already, find a few "old-timers" for your booth who remember quality presentation (not just the "commercially acceptable" of the multiplexes) and you'll be good to go!

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Frank Angel
Film God

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

posted 05-03-2011 10:55 AM

Ah, yes; crazy Disney. So you can put your Feature Presentation snip in front of the feature for all the other studios. I'll take that.

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