Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: MPAA and TAP stamps

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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 05-21-2001, 04:13 PM:

I've noticed a few prints coming in lately with the MPAA rating at the front of the feature, before the studio's logo. Is this going to become a standard (and required) practice? I don't know how others feel, but I like it. It lets the patrons know RIGHT THEN AND THERE that the movie they are about to watch may or may not be appropriate for them or their kiddies.

I would like to see this implemented for the TAP prints. I say reel 1 should be:
LEADER
ATTACHED TRAILER
5 FEET MINIMUM OF BLACK (oh please pay attention to that one you lab guys!)
MPAA RATING STAMP
TAP STAMP
FEATURE

In this fashion not only would the patrons know the rating before the feature started, but they would be reminded to complain to the management if there are any problems and to call TAP after the movie. Just putting the TAP stamp at the end of the credits is not enough to truly get the most out of TAP controlled releases.

Any thoughts on this? Anyone have a recommended wording that perhaps TAP would adpot?

Posted by Aaron Mehocic (Member # 15) on 05-21-2001, 06:16 PM:

I agree with everything Brad said. I often thought it silly that the ratings band and TAP information were at the end of the print in the first place. Think about it . . . If you are going to complain because the quality was crap, you wouldn't stay through the whole film plus the credits. I LOVE THE FACT THE RATINGS BANDS ARE MOVING TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE!!!! This will without question help our box people, ushers, and management with those "well I didn't know" morons. I hope with all my heart it become policy for all studios to follow.

Posted by Jerry Chase (Member # 660) on 05-21-2001, 06:21 PM:

"Anyone have a recommended wording that perhaps TAP would adopt?"

How about "This film should be projected properly. If it isn't, please bring your drink and popcorn cups out of the theatre and spill the contents directly in front of the boxoffice as a warning to other customers." (Just kidding)

The MPAA rating used to be in front of the feature. This was fine for a while, but the quality of that few feet of film with solid light green got to be terrible after the film had been to a theatre or two. The logo was also about as artistic as a fart in an opera.

Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 05-21-2001, 06:24 PM:

When the rating system came out, films had the tags at the beginning rather than the end. I consider the ones that have been at the beginning of Miramax films to be spoilers (they show the rating and the reasons for it)- I don't want to know whether or not I'm gonna see nudity, that's part of the surprise!

As for the TAP tag, I think that only people who care enough to watch the ENTIRE movie should be calling that number in the first place. Tell everyone beforehand and you'll get Joe Sixpack saying "The durn sound was so loud it split mah eardrums!" or even worse "I didn't like 'The Mexican' cause Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt weren't together in it very much!"
I remember at my old theater there was one guy who truly WAS crazy (and I've got people who can vouch for it) who complained several times about the sound being loud (of course it wasn't, he was the only one complaining out of a packed theater)- he even tried reporting the theater to the city government for violating the local noise ordinance, which of course told him where to stick it. The thing I found truly hilarious was that ALL the films he had complained about had the TAP tag on them- if he knew ANYTHING about what he was talking about, THAT'S where he would have reported it.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 05-21-2001, 06:44 PM:

Theaters run green bands with no film damage problems (ok, well the good ones do), so why should the rating band be any different? Besides, the new tags are white lettering on black background. They look very nice.

I do agree that the "nudity, violence, etc" part of the rating stamp is not needed and would be best if left out of the beginning slate. However, the end slate should STILL be left in tact and not removed completely. The reasoning for the rating can be placed there, at the end of the movie.

On the TAP stamp, I would definitely like for the lettering to cover the majority of the screen and be a reference for focusing. There should even be a line about the lettering being in focus. Also and very important, the TAP stamp should have some easily referenced center framing mark and CLEAR frame lines with a notation such as "if you see clear lines at the top and bottom of the screen, please report the misframing to the projectionist immediately". One step better would be to print on the analog sound track "this movie is not being presented in digital sound", whereas all 3 digital formats can have "this movie is being presented in Dolby Digital (or SDDS or DTS...whatever it is) sound" on the appropriate tracks. NO MORE FALSE ADVERTISING! But why stop there? Place the text over a bright yellow colored background and it could serve as scratch and dirt examination demo too.

TAP could do an immense amount of good to presentations in general if they could get such ideas to fly. But are the studios interested?

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 05-21-2001, 09:39 PM:

IMHO, putting the rating tags and TAP info at the beginning of a movie are a very good idea. The audience should also be told that the theatre personnel appreciate hearing about any correctable problem (bad framing, misfocusing, sound level, etc.) immediately, so they can correct it.

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

Posted by Ky Boyd (Member # 23) on 05-21-2001, 11:11 PM:

Given the growing trend in logoitis on almost all films, I am not in favor of adding any additional content between the trailers and the feature. I swear there were four or five logos on the front of Billy Elliot. Saving Grace also had quite a few. Even O Brother had several. It's ridiculous to have all these logos and then at the beginning of the credits X, Y, Z, AA and B present a C, D, and E production of a G film. Put it in the credits and ditch the logos. There are features where I don't have a Dolby Digital tag put on between the trailers and the feature due to all the logos and other nonsense.

Also, who is going to remember the TAP number if its at the beginning of the feature. Leave it at the end where it belongs. Putting it up front just creates an additional annoyance for those of us who are in non-THX theatres. If my patrons have a complaint about our presentation, they know they can address it with me, the owner. I don't need TAP between me and my customers.

Posted by Joe Schmidt (Member # 822) on 05-22-2001, 02:28 AM:

Brad, that's a great idea about having a tag with a line saying "IF YOU CAN'T READ THIS THE MOVIE IS NOT IN FOCUS."

But it wouldn't work in my town. carmike would just cut it off.

Posted by James R. Hammonds, Jr (Member # 673) on 05-22-2001, 02:44 AM:

i have not seen any films with the rating at the front.....which ones have you guys seen?

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 05-22-2001, 03:32 AM:

Brad and I talked about having the digital sound announced on each track long ago, and it is a great idea. Each track would be completely different, and the analog track would just be a boring voice saying something like "This movie is being presented in analog and not in digital sound". I am also all for the opening TAP logo. If Carmike cut them off then TAP would give them an incredible amount of hell when they came to do their inspection.

Let's separate the men from the boys!

Posted by Dick Vaughan (Member # 540) on 05-22-2001, 05:45 AM:

Putting the BBFC rating at the front is standard in the UK and has been for many,many years. I have to say that I never could figure out why you guys in the States put the rating at the end.At last you guys are catching up with us Brits!

BTW do you're trailers have separate ratings like we do over here where you can have a "PG trailer for a 18 film"

Also do you have to display an explanation of what the ratings mean at the box office?

For any one interested in our classification system take a look at http://www.bbfc.co.uk/

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 05-22-2001, 08:04 AM:

Ky -- I agree the cluster of producton company logos before the film has sometimes become burdensome, and might better be put in the closing credits. But IMHO, putting the rating tag and any TAP tag BEFORE the film is a good idea. If they are at the very end of the credits (as they have been), 90% of the audience has probably left the theatre and never see them. I agree with you that the FIRST place any problems should be reported is to the theatre personnel.

Posted by Ted Costas (Member # 473) on 07-02-2001, 06:32 PM:

Brad,

I would love our TAP tag at the head of a film... unfortunately, the studios want it at the end, if they want it at all. There is still a debate about how much control Distribution should have over Exhibition, and our end credit tag "1-800 PHONE THX" is one that crosses those lines. If I was the director and a theatre played my film improperly, I'd want the studio all over them... and when there are complaints, the studio does get involved. However, exhibition does have a responsibility to their patrons, a quality presentation, and we're there to help give the audience a voice when that's not the case.

But at the head of the film... who do we think we are, ScreenCheck?

I do agree that the rating tags at the head rather than the tail is a trend that needs to be thoroughly adapted... and soon, it probably will.

And I loved Jerry Chase's suggestion about the popcorn and drinks... I may have to put him in touch with our marketing people.

All the best,

Ted Costas
Manager, THX Theatre Alignment Program

Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 07-02-2001, 07:01 PM:

James R: Miramax now places the rating card at the beginning. I saw the rating card in front of Spy Kids (Dimension) and Bridget Jones's Diary (Miramax/US). Oddly, I didn't find a rating card OR the Miramax logo when I saw With a Friend Like Harry (Miramax Zoe/US).

Dick V: A Loews megaplex near me has a one-sheet framed by the box office to explain the US ratings code. Since the one-sheet doesn't have any corporate logos it might be provided by the MPAA.

Ky: Bridget Jones's Diary (US release) has 5 tags at the beginning with the rating card coming first.

Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 07-02-2001, 09:11 PM:

I noticed that "Atlantis" also has the rating at the beginning.

Posted by Greg Anderson (Member # 235) on 07-03-2001, 12:32 AM:

I'm under the impression that the only reason they're moving the ratings tag to the beginning is to respond to the political tough-talk from last year. I wonder if, after things calm down, the tags will quietly move back to the end of the movies.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 07-03-2001, 09:12 AM:

Charles said: "Dick V: A Loews megaplex near me has a one-sheet framed by the box office to explain the US ratings code. Since the one-sheet doesn't have any corporate logos it might be provided by the MPAA."

The MPAA Classification and Rating Administration (CARA) has a website that lists ratings of all films, and has the posters:
http://www.filmratings.com/

Posted by Jeffry L. Johnson (Member # 453) on 07-04-2001, 10:41 AM:

I think I still have a "G-M-R-X" trailer. Don't know exactly where it is though.

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 07-06-2001, 04:40 AM:

Just so long as the censorship tags don't have audio starting underneath them. Every now and then we seem to get a batch of second hand prints from the States and I'd hate to have to cut into the sound to get rid of a foreign censorship tag.

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"If you think THIS is fantastic...wait until you see the full effect with the HIMP!"
- Chief Inspector Clouseau.

Posted by Bernard Tonks (Member # 809) on 07-08-2001, 04:51 PM:

John: You have made a very good point about the sound being underneath the censorship tag. In the UK the advanced soundtrack is often as the BBFC certificate commences to fade out, in particular on 20th Century-Fox films.

Do you have censor certificates in Australia, and if so what are the ratings ? often wondered. Thanks.

Back in 1970 in the West End of London I worked with a projectionist who was from Sydney, previously employed by Hoyts. I was amazed when he told me that all screen advertising in Australia then were on 3.3/4”x 3.3/4” slides. In the UK adverts have been on film with a soundtrack since 1955.

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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 07-08-2001, 05:41 PM:

I just screened a film the other night (I think it was "Legally Blonde") that had the MPAA rating tag at the front of the feature...and the audio started during the rating tag!

Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 12-04-2001, 06:07 PM:

AFAIK Miramax has stopped putting the rating card before the 1st logo. That was the case at least with Apocalypse Now Redux and Amelie. OTOH theaters might have found that the rating card in front was wasting the public's time and removed it while building the print.

Brad: IIRC there was no rating card in front of Legally Blonde.

Posted by Aaron Sisemore (Member # 145) on 12-04-2001, 07:36 PM:

The print of Legally Blonde that I saw a couple months ago had the rating card before the feature (white on black)

-Aaron