Dave
 

Sometimes we get used trailers with the ratings missing. So i find another old trailer with the same rating and chop the logo off that to put on the new trailer.

Chopping off the 1st second of the trailers audio (seen it many times) is not "Film done right."

Does anyone shorten them to just a second or so on screen (assuming no sound is cut off)?

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 585-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 585-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion
 

Assuming no MPAA rule is being broken, I like them off. I feel like a deer in the headlights when I see one. As Brad said, this could be a problem with some trailers... in this case save the audio and perhaps shorten the band to 24 frames. Of course, that makes for an inconsistent presentation. Ahhhhh for the wisdom of Solomon.
 

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http://www.autoramadrivein.com

come on out to the drive-in and spend a night out with the stars"
ME!!
 

A more subtle way would be to make sure the soundtrack begins adjacent to the very first frame of the rating so that removal would totally mangle the trailer.

I go quite a bit to an AMC 30-plex (my friend is duly amused by "the screens that suck"), usually to see films I was too busy to watch during while press screening it and can attest that they always cut the bands. Oddly, this particular venue (South Barrington, IL) hasn't seemed to figure out where to cut their own policy and other corporate thingies to avoid the 2-Beep.
 

Reducing the length of the green bands is probably a reasonable idea, although I like to leave a couple of frames' worth of black film attached before the green band, since splicing tape (even the good Neumade clear tape) tends to be very obvious when it is placed over the green background.

I still think that there should be an option for PG-rated ("yellow band") trailers? There are too many G-rated trailers that shouldn't be and too man R-rated (red-band) trailers that have only mild language or a brief suggestion of nudity.
 

The point was made you cant get a good focus on a green band? I disagree. If you can see, and you can tell what in focus is, then the green band is as good as any source to focus. Even if the image was printed out of focus, a good eye can spot this and get a great focused image within one or two seconds.

Dave
 

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Christopher Wehrman
Head Projectionist
Belle Starr Theater
 

isn't the reason why they don't have Green Bands in Canada is because of our rating system? It's not the same as the MPAA.
 

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- dave
Look at this! His chin strap has been cut!

The only thing I dislike about them is they are all different formats, shades. There should be only 5 different bands-the four ratings and a not yet rated. Trailer on Dragonflr have totally different bands, nasty lookin'.

 

If the MPAA had a standard (including a fade up) it would make things much nicer and perhaps less people would chop them off trying to imitate tv.

BTW, remember most of those videogame commercials have REALLY stupid lines like "rated F for fun". Ugh!

Weighing in on the original discussion, I like the green bands because they provide a kind of breathing space between the trailers. Especially now that trailers have multiple cuts per second and LOUD music and sound effects (so, perhaps, someone will confuse loud with good) I feel like I need a second or two of respite before the next trailer comes.

Besides, a really well-made trailer (and there are very few of them) like the "Dark City" trailer is like a mini-drama that I like a little time to absorb before the next "story" comes along. But, then, I tend to overthink these things.
 

I think there should be a required "white band" or "100% Clear Band" with black text. This should not be allowed to be cut off and it will show off all of those lame ass theaters who don't keep everything clean quite nicely.
 

I cut them off whenever I can, although I have come across some where the audio actually starts in the last few frames in the rating. Those I am forced to leave in so as not to cut off the opening audio, but I make them short enough just to let the rating box subliminally sink into the audience's brains and no more. Besides, aren't almost all trailers cut [G] so they can play with any feature, no matter what the feature rating? If ALL the trailers you are playing are cut to play with [G] pictures, why need them at all? The actual rating of the feature is almost always placed at the end of the trailer anyway so the audience will be given that information. If as Paul G says, there is a question of the audience wondering if they are going to see T&A during the trailers, I would have Filmack make a snipe (nice and in focus) for me that says "All trailers at this theatre are rated [G] for all audiences." Stick that right after your "Previews of Coming Attractions" and be done with it, rather than repeat the same 15 second green junk 6 times.

What I will NEVER EVER play is the rating at the END of the feature, not that most people are still sitting there, but what's THAT about? Does the MPAA think the people don't know what the rating is before they buy their tickets and enter the theatre? Do they think people will see the rating at the end of the film and say, "Gee, I didn't know this picture was rated R, I want my money back."? It serves no useful purpose and besides, it ruins showmanship for those venues that have curtains. I close the curtains after the last frame of the feature, not on some ugly MPAA bid for free self-promotion.

Then there's the question of the rating title BEFORE the feature. Has anyone seen this? I have had a few -- I will try to remember the titles -- but come on, does the MPAA really think I am going to ruin the feature opening by preceding it with foreign nonsense? It ruins the presentation. I close the curtains after the cartoon/attraction reel. It must open on the first frame of the movie, not some MPAA gack. If there are studio trailers attached to the head of R1, then they are taken off and put in the attraction reel. Curtains close after the cartoon, attraction and short subject play --- warmers are brought to a glow -- during the pause the mask moves from 1.37 to whatever wide screen ratio and then the feature starts....at the feature's first frame, not with additional trailers or a rating title. The MPAA can frown all they want, but that's the way we do it and Jack Valenti himself won't make us change it.
 

Some of the hollywood trailers we get here in Sweden still have the green band on. MPAA ratings don´t apply here so they go off, whether they contain sound or not.
 

They really aren't very annoying...In fact, i never heard one mention of this until this site. If you think they are too long, edit them down, but don't chop them off.
 

The green band is one of those expected things, people expect to see them before trailers it has become part of watching a movie in a theatre, look at how it is imulated in our culture in advertisements and such so, DONT KNOCK THE GREEN BAND!

Also... I believe that the blueband shopuld be shown also, maybe theatres cut them off because they do not leave anough leader and they get dirty? Thats FILM DONE WRONG
 

What I decided to do was that when these come along I play them on the closed curtain as I dim the lights so I still have the curtain opening with the studio logo to good dramatic effect as with other films.
 

For you guys seem to love the rating title before the actual beginning of the feature for informative purposes, well, let's see, the patron sees the rating in every newspaper ad, Ebert and Roper give the rating in their weekly critic show, it is up on the marquee before he even enters the theatre, it is on every one-sheet in the theatre display cases, it's next to the title at the box office where he buys his tickets and it is next to the title above the door of the auditorium that he has to walk under to get to his seat. The chance that a patron would be unaware of the film's rating and need to see it on the screen before the feature is ludicrous.

And excuse me, but I DO run the entire contracted title -- everything from the first frame of the FEATURE on Reel 1 to the very last frame of the FEATURE on the last reel. I DO NOT run everything that is on the reel. I don't project the countdown leaders or tail run-out, and by gum, I don't project a self-serving, out-of-focus green or blue, 480 frame length of irrelevant footage attached to the head of the reel with all the other non-projectable, extraneous lab run off, even though it is placed incorrectly by the lab between the leader and the first frame of the film.
 

All these bands suck. They were designed in a time when there was a very real threat of censorship, and were part of an attempt to change the perception that kids could see nudity or extreme violence. They are as much a part of a modern show as Lowell Thomas narrating a short on passenger trains before the feature. You guys that like bands are just whiners.

That would be spectacular!!!
 

The only ecxeption is that evil RED BAND, those stay on no matter what.

Anyoone and everyone who taught me projection are all dead....long gone to that big projection booth in the sky (where there are only carbon arcs and no platters).

Frank

I think they are useful to us in the booth in terms of letting us know that "this is a green-band trailer."

As far as checking/matching appropriate content, I use the Scoreboard sheets and some common sense. I am also pretty good about honoring the trailer placement requests, so there's zero chance that a trailer for an R-Rated movie is going to end up showing during previews for a G-Rated movie.

But ratings aren't the only "match-factor" for trailers. I usually program a trailer reel to suit the probable audience for the feature. An action movie will get action trailers and maybe I'll cross-plug with a preview of a chick-flick (for those poor girls who get "dragged kicking and screaming" by their macho boyfriends).

I don't think that audiences particularly want/need to see green-bands and I don't have a want/need to show them. Green-bands make the pre-show long, and I don't like it when the room falls into silence.

As for those few seconds of audio...I used to fret over the impact of their loss, but I can't say that there's ever been any real harm done...and this might be because the trailer editors KNOW that most of us are gonna yank the bands anyway...they'd be idiots to put crucial audio there!

If the studios suddenly got up-in-arms about taking the bands off, then maybe I'd start leaving them on but, until that bright and shining day, they're so outta there!

Also...house lights are at half during trailers...I'm the anti-Christ, right?

Red band stays on always. In fact, those trailers are rare and for me to actually program one of them into a pre-show is even more rare.

Blue band is part of the movie and it is shown always.

One good use for Green-bands: make a loop to do a quick check of shutter timing when you can't use RP-40.

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And, hey! Let's be careful out there.

~Manny.

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 585-477-5325 Cell: 585-781-4036 Fax: 585-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion
 

We release day-and-date with the U.S.A. so the studios send our prints up to a full week in advance to accomodate our ratings system. Ever wondered where Print #0001 goes? I get a lot of them! Quite often, my print # will be a single-digit.

Ratings are assigned by The Bahamas Plays & Films Control Board (aka "The Viewing Board"). The quorum is a mere FIVE voters and they are all Civil Servants (Gov't employees). Unlike the MPAA system, ours is not voluntary; Bahamian cinemas are not self-regulated. We are required under the Films & Plays Act to pre-screen all of our movies for the Viewing Board.

There's a representative from the Royal Bahamas Police Force and one from The Royal Bahamas Fire Dept. While these two often attend ratings screenings, their primary function on the Board is to monitor other areas of legal compliance (building code, hygene, occupancy, booth conditions).

There's also a nun and a priest...The nun (doesn't matter which one) will usually want everything banned! The priests are usually pretty mellow about sex and violence.

And then there are some other general issue people. I've never been sure if there were psychologists or educators. There don't seem to be any specific criteria as to who can/cannot be on the Viewing Board.

All in all, the ratings come out matching those of CARA. The available codes are:

A - All Ages Admitted.
If it comes in with a G Rating, they might automatically apply this one. Sometimes they will only want to see the first reel. Other times, they might elect to watch the whole movie.

B - Viewers Under Age 18 Require Accompanying Parent or Responsible Adult Guardian.
While the "B" Rating was once the one that was most commonly applied, drugs and violence (even in PG/PG-13 movies) are making the "C" Rating more prevalent.

T - All Viewers Must Be Age 15 or Older.
We call this "the kiss of death" because adults think that the "T" means that the movie is "for teenagers" but, of course, a lot of teenagers can't see it.

C - All Viewers Must Be Age 18 or Older.
Movies with an R or NC-17 CARA Rating will usually be expected to get a "C" Rating.

The Viewing Board may also ban movies and plays. Usually this will happen if the movie is full of drug references. There isn't much tolerance of that.

But SOUTH PARK was banned "for crudeness and excessive religious humor" and HALF BAKED was banned "for excessive drug references and also for being a stupid movie." So it isn't always about drugs. I remember hearing (from a friend at the competing chain) that JAY & SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK was banned "for being a stupid movie."

Interesting point: Films & Plays Control has no jurisdiction over television and video, so SOUTH PARK, HALF BAKED and others are all freely available here on video. I've argued time and again that a person has to overcome more barriers to see a movie in a theatre and, meanwhile, any child or unsuspecting adult can pop in a tape or switch to something shocking on television.

It's also interesting to see what gets past these people...I thought for sure that THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE would be banned, but they only added a strong warning. Ditto for EYES WIDE SHUT.

Only once have I had to excise selected scenes and that was for SCARY MOVIE. The "explosive orgasm" and the "penis in the ear" had to go. But the rest could pass with a "C" rating.

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And, hey! Let's be careful out there.

~Manny.

Sorry, I don't know the Steve Guttag reference.

Obviously that's bad, so:
1) It serves as a feedback mechanism because you _know_ you got the changeover imperfect. Without something like this, you don't really get any feedback at all.
2) Because it looks bad, it's inspired us to take some more careful measurements of where countdowns should be wound-down to.

--jhawk
 

Just last night I ran SANDSTORM, a 2000 Indian film that cut a change-over at a fade-in. You could see that some guy was threading so short (he left grease pencil X's at his start frame which was a few frames before [3] !) that he would have totally missed the fade-in if he had actually threaded up on that "start" frame. Of course, if he missed it totally, then he wouldn't have even known he was screwing up big-time.

Once you run into one of these fade-outs / fade-ins at a change-over, you will realize how important it is to "back-time" a change-over to see exactly where your start frame should be on each machine. It could even vary from machine to machine, projectionist to projectionist, given varying projector roll-to-speed times and human reaction times.

Besides, having a change-over system doesn't preclude automating it, if you wanted to go that route.