This is topic Screenvision Advertisments in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Aaron Mehocic (Member # 15) on 07-28-1999, 03:17 PM:
The post regarding Pepsi Ads got me thinking about Screenvision. Can anyone tell me about it? As I understand it, this company will pay our theater big bucks if we run various ads promoting stuff like Noxzema, MCI Farm Aid Concerts, Hasbro Toys, hell even the U.S. Navy! One of the assistant managers and I feel that any money collected from these ads should go into BOOTH SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT! We used to run these things for a little bit about five years ago, but quit when some customers complained about "Capitalist intrusion on expressionist art", or something like that. What do you know about Screenvision?
Posted by Ky Boyd (Member # 23) on 07-28-1999, 06:56 PM:
Isn't Screenvision just another one of those
annoying slide programs? Could anything be more lame than those stupid trivia slides? Excepting of course SDDS which ties for the lame award.
Posted by Aaron Mehocic (Member # 15) on 07-28-1999, 09:56 PM:
We have slide projectors but never used any slides from Screenvision. They have only sent commercials transposed on 35mm film. I'm not sure if this company does slides.
Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 07-28-1999, 11:43 PM:
If you REALLY want to have Ads on you movies, I'm sure you could just call ScreenVision.
1-800-AD-FILMSI understand your point about the money but I don't like the extra level of bureaucracy that comes with it. They tell you what you have to play and when. They threaten you with "breach of contract" if you don't do it.
Personally, I think ads on movies are 'okay'.
If it's just one ad at the beginnig and it's kind of movie related, it's okay. (Most of our Coke ads are.)
What really gets me is that you have Coke ads and National Cinema Network (N.C.N.) ads and Will Rogers Inst. PSA's and OSCARs 'plugs' and your company 'policy' trailer and the SDDS/DTS logo trailer.... and ON and ON....
I've got 17 projectors to take care of and there are only 24 hours in a day.
Buena Vista doesn't want ANY ads on their movies, except Will Rogers Inst. Warner Bros. will let you have NCN ads but not Coke ads. Coke ads only come in FLAT. NCN only sent you 4 SCOPE ones and you have 8 movies on SCOPE. The lights have to stay UP for NCN ads and go to 1/2 for Coke ads and down to DIM after the policy trlr.....
YOU'LL GO NUTS TRYING TO KEEP UP WITH IT ALL!! -- AND the rules keep changing too!!!
Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 07-29-1999, 05:10 AM:
What is the deal with dimming the lights? That doesn't make any sense! Whose rule is that? We get scope Coke ads all the time! What are NCN ads?
Posted by Paul Konen (Member # 41) on 07-29-1999, 09:36 AM:
With Cinemark, here is what we do.
Lights up refers to running the Coke / NCN ads with full house lights. Once you start your regular trailers, then 1/2 lights.Oh yeah, tonight (7/29) is NCN changeout night. Replace 1 of the 2 NCN trailers with a new one on 24 screens.
We also have received Scope Coke but not enough for the Spring rush on scope movies. At the 20 screen I was at before, 16 scope, 4 flat movies. Anyone else have that.
Posted by Kevin Wheat (Member # 81) on 07-29-1999, 11:55 AM:
NCN in my book is a close second to Techicolor when it comes to being a pain in the you know what. We never get enough of the scope ads, and if you try and order more... you get them sent to you along with the new batch which makes them totally useless. Furthermore, stop calling me and asking how many are on screen, if we have them then they are on! And this business of running lights up. It is only so the theater can get away with subjecting the customer to 5 minutes of ads by saying that it is their time and not the film company's. In the end it is all about money.
Posted by Adam Birge (Member # 20) on 07-29-1999, 03:56 PM:
I cannot stand NCN! Our NCN-lady comes every tuesday night, which I am always working, and bugs me constantly while I'm trying to do trailer changes and such. "Why isn't pre-show on this movie," and "We should have pre-show on WB movies," and "Where are my new slides," and "Why isn't this slide projector on," etc. I wind up having to do more work for her than concentrating on running my 12 projectors...
A fellow operator at my theatre said he was called by the same NCN representative 4 times on wednesday to make sure that we knew what 3 trailer changes had to be done on all 24 movies by friday..
I hate that company. If people want to see commercials, they can stay at home and watch T.V., or drive around and look at billboards. It's stupid having 3 minutes of advertising tacked on to the beginning of a movie. It really pisses me off when I'm watching a movie and have to find out about Lee Jeans or the marines. It's a shame that all of the studios don't carry the same rules as Buena Vista.
Posted by Thomas Ferreira (Member # 96) on 07-29-1999, 11:30 PM:
Basically, ScreenVision ads are just 35mm blow ups of the same bad TV ads you see all the time. At any given time there could be as many as five of them running at once, including variations for different ratings, etc. Is there any other studio besides BV that prohibits these ads on their films? ScreenVision sure in hell isn't going to give you that information. My all time favorite though was the ads that came for The Alliance Against Youth Smoking, or whatever it's called(you've seen them on TV-a sullen pissed off teenager walking through a parking lot in the most ineffective PSA I've ever seen, but that's another subject). Anyway, the ads came with a letter that said in big letters-Do not play with "200 Cigarettes". We all had a good laugh over that, and if I were playing the movie, would have put the ad on it just to be ironic.
Posted by Jim Ziegler (Member # 86) on 07-31-1999, 03:57 AM:
I never seem to have a probelm with Coke ads. Lately, they have been sending close to 1 flat and 1 scope per screen (I think last shipment was 18 each). All you have to do is call them and tell them how many of each they should send. As for NCN, they really suck... What is with this "new" Lee Jeans ad BS? The old Lee jeans ads are fine...
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 07-31-1999, 06:44 PM:
I gave up on that crap a long time ago. If they send them, I'll see to it they get on. If they don't send enough of a certain format, tough sh*t! Every time I have called I get the runaround and they never show up, so I've given up trying. At least with the Moviephone ads, I can keep running the same old ones year after year. I've got the old "parking lot", "laundromat" and "previews" versions running currently since they won't send me any new prints! I saw one the other day at a Loews with a guy "cleaning his car the old fashioned way" (found out it was called "carlicker"). Now THAT I would be happy to run. Anyone seen this? Very funny. Unfortunately many circuits have banned it's exhibition because it is apparently offensive and obscene. It's sad when someone comes up with a nice little advertisement which people will actually remember, and some (you know what) comes along and complains about it.Who remembers that Jeep ad a couple of years ago where the flat prints were printed OUT OF FRAME? For a good 2 months, every theater in town was running their flat films out of frame because they were centering on this hard matted trailer. That should be reason enough for the studios to ban the exhibition of such nonsense ads! I've always said people pay a premium to get into the theater to see a movie and then pay several times over what the concessions are worth. There is NO REASON to subject them to commercials!!! By the point they get into the theater, they have more than paid enough to NOT have to sit through commercials. When are we going to start with 5 minute commercial intermissions? I can see it happening. These commercials are going to end up seriously hurting movie going.
If the chains can't make a profit without such ads, they shouldn't be building 30 screen complexes near other 20+ complexes.
On a similar note, a few years back there was an AMC in Florida (don't know the exact one) where when the lobby cleared out, the manager would go upstairs and CUT THE FILM to simulate a film break! He would then go in and make an announcement "the film will be back up in about 5 mintues. Please get free refills on your concession items." Apparently he figured out few people would bother with refills, but the others who didn't spend money at the stand would get up (after being subjected to the smell) and purchase more concessions!
Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 07-31-1999, 11:43 PM:
I pretty much agree with Brad on just about everything here. Except the carlicker ad. It was mildly cute the first time I saw it, but after several months, it gets old FAST! We played that one along with another Moviephone ad about deviled eggs... it was all scratched up and since it was the first thing that appeared onscreen, it made customers initial opinion of the place pretty bad. The new one has something to do with an art film (even has a phony green band) with a guy talking to a potato or something like that.
Posted by George Roher (Member # 91) on 07-31-1999, 11:48 PM:
Christ! That sounds like a classic AMC ploy to me. That just proves that they don't give a flying damn on a stick about film. But we already new that!
Posted by Paul Konen (Member # 41) on 08-02-1999, 10:45 AM:
The coke ads earlier this year had the fake green ban too with the IDYKYDG phone dangling. One ad that I saw at Loews onetime was the Hot and Bun doing tricks and then the hot dog finally jumping into the bun. I don't remember the movie but it was teen orientated and there were a bunch of comments said. I found them funny but I could imagine someone complaining. What a programming nightmare too, Placing countdown ads inbetween trailers. Scary!
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-22-1999, 04:48 PM:
Anyone else been getting these ads in WITHOUT CORES? I'm sure everyone else does, so I guess my question is, does the FedEx delivery guys around the country like to play soccer with your trailer packages? By the time they get to my theater, they are so bent up, over half won't run smooth until they have been on screen for a few days. There's nothing quite like having the first thing customers see to be a bouncing focus and violent shaking all over the screen. Sometimes regular previews with cores get dropped in the "bags" (which is extremely sad since UPS will give free shipping boxes) and the cores get bent up. For the most part, they come in fairly decent shape.
These Screenvision people need to take a hike!
Take luck!
Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 08-23-1999, 09:53 AM:
Sending trailers without cores or wound on very small diameter cores is "penny-wise and pound-foolish". At a minimum, 3-inch cores should be used, to minimize "core-set" and problems with focus flutter.------------------
John Pytlak
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-23-1999, 02:03 PM:
3 inch cores? You must be dreaming. Not anymore. Nowadays if we just get a trailer on a core, we're happy. Actually, provided the films come in wound emulsion out (directly against the 'ol SMPTE recommendations) we have no problem whatsoever. It is the trailers coming in wound emulsion in which have the registration and focus problems (Paramount and Fox). Those must be wound over to another core (can be a small one) and left for a few days to relax before projection.
SMPTE desperately needs to update their "recommended practices" in regards to polyester film stocks. What year was that one made? 20 years ago? Although I prefered the emulsion out for triacetate stocks to reduce warping, it should be mandatory for all labs to wind polyester film emulsion out, as it is much less forgiving than triacetate.
Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 08-23-1999, 03:20 PM:
Brad is on to something there --- SMPTE Recommended Practice RP39 "Specifications for Maintaining an Emulsion-In Orientation on Theatrical Release Prints" was based on the Kodak study "Effect of Winding on the Projection Performance of 35mm Motion-Picture Film" by Paul Preo and Eric Yavitz, published in the June 1965 SMPTE Journal. Re-reading this excellent paper, there is no mention of polyester film, so it is safe to assume the work was based on the characteristics of triacetate film. Since the "core-set" and "humidity curl" characteristics of polyester film are different than triacetate, the preferred winding orientation MAY be different. I will suggest that the SMPTE Projection Technology Committee review RP39, and revise it if necessary. I'm sure that any test results or supporting data that members of this forum can provide to the committee will be greatly appreciated. The current chairperson of the committee is Bobby Pinkston of Dolby.------------------
John Pytlak
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-23-1999, 03:30 PM:
Looks like the time to give Mr. Pinkston an e-mail! Thanks for the tip, John.
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 09-28-1999, 12:01 AM:
Getting back to Screenvision...what is everyone doing when it comes to the sloppy "black" leader? Just this week came new Coke ads, and the scope ones have GREEN scratchy, nasty looking lead in film...overlapping the audio track.Is everyone cutting it for the picture or sound?
Posted by Erika Hellgren (Member # 22) on 09-28-1999, 01:54 PM:
Brad, I haven't put mine on yet because, as usual, they didn't come in till Friday, and I only deal with that s**t on Tuesday or Wednesday, but I'll let you know.
Posted by Ben Wales (Member # 92) on 09-28-1999, 05:02 PM:
In the UK it is usual pratice to screen Cinema Adverts, love them or hate them, they can generate a lot of income to cinemas, in fact I did hear recently, that one Multiplex operator needs only to screen these ads to make money!.The ads should run for about 10 mins long depending the contract you have, they can last up to over 20 mins long, and all these have to be changed along with trailers on a thursday night, what fun!