This is topic Coke Matrix Commercials: "SPLICE HERE" frames in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 04-17-2003, 01:06 PM:
 
Setting aside the fact that the commercial itself is pretty lame, the first frame of picture on the film is immediately preceeded by a frame with large letters saying...
"\/ SPLICE HERE \/"
And the last frame is immediately followed by...
"/\ SPLICE HERE /\"

Now, how do you interpret this? Since everyone knows that the correct place to cut the head is a good two dozen frames before that frame, does one just assume that "SPLICE HERE" is part of the commercial?

Clearly this is just a pathetically produced piece of crap that by its design is impossible to "do right." So, how would you best compromise in a situation like this? Yes, it's just a commercial, but that's not the point. Our Movie Tickets.com trailers have giant vertical white bars running down every black frame right up till the first picture too, and it also looks like crap on the screen. Do you just cut it there and forget it? Or cut it in the right spot and leave the "SPLICE HERE" frames in place as an to Coke? Or do you cut in the right place, then somehow block or remove the "SPLICE HERE" frames?
 

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Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 04-17-2003, 02:12 PM:
 
Personally, I think it is a good idea, and hopefully projectionists will remove that frame when they do splice.

I would presume there is a lead-in on the sound track that should not be removed from the film.

It makes me angry when people "guess" where to splice, and they cut out part (if not all) of the sound track during a black-out scene that is supposed to be heard by the audience.

With analog soundtracks, that is 20 frames (inclusive) before the head of picture.
 

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Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 04-17-2003, 07:55 PM:
 
Looks like someone beat me to this. Our theater is running these horrible things as well, and I thought the Will Rogers ones were crap!!

Paul -- From what you said, I assume you haven't seen one of these trailers. The "SPLICE HERE" is on the absolute last frame of black before and after the image, so you would be leaving NO black at all at the beginning or end. (Not that there was enough to begin with anyway...) What's more, there IS sound present in the black area before the "SPLICE HERE" message.

And, to top it all off nice and sweet, the Scope versions of these trailers are windowboxed HORRIBLY off-center. I thought the lens was out of alignment the first time I saw this run, but looking at the film itself, the black bar on the left side is MUCH thicker than the one on the right.

All in all:

But that's what The Matrix gets for selling out to Powerade. Bastards...

=TMP=
 

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Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 04-17-2003, 08:19 PM:
 
Hahaha....anyway, make sure the soundtrack is clean of intelligence where the splice is made.
 

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Posted by Sam Hunter (Member # 1119) on 04-17-2003, 09:37 PM:
 
Could you maybe take some yellow splicing tape and just cover the thing?
 

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Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 04-17-2003, 10:51 PM:
 
I'll try to scan in a copy of this junk tommorrow night to show those who have the pleasure of not having to deal with it what the rest of us have to work around.

For me, I colored over the 'Splice here' with a black magic marker and then covered that with white splicing tape, one side only. It doesn't cause much of a jump going through the projector.
 

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Posted by Daniel Fuentz (Member # 1684) on 04-18-2003, 02:39 AM:
 
I just saw this tonight -- it looks like ! It projected all the way to the right of the screen at the theater I saw it at. I wonder if this was some idiot producer's idea to do that on purpose -- it did make the ad stand out amongst all the others that were projected in the center of the screen, but for the wrong reason!
 

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Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 04-18-2003, 07:24 AM:
 
I'm thinking of ordering all new ones and saying that the projectionist on duty cut them all in the wrong place. Then cut them in the CORRECT place, and leave that frame there. Since, obviously, someone who knows a lot more about producing trailers must have intended it to be there for some reason.

Sorry. This shit really pisses me off. All I need is someone like Brad to come in and watch a movie and think that *I* am an idiot for not knowing how to cut heads and tails off trailers without cutting the soundtrack.
 

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Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 04-18-2003, 09:00 AM:
 
The words splice here is standard on large format prints that have no married soundtrack.
They denote the location of the first and last frame of picture
 

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Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 04-19-2003, 02:44 AM:
 
But are they intended to be projected Gordon?

I forgot to bring a sample home tonight, I will tommorrow. But if one adhered to the 'splice here' mark there would be NO black before the picture and the soundtrack would get chopped off.
 

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Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 04-19-2003, 09:40 AM:
 
No they mark the last frame of the leader and the first frame of the tail piece
 

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Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 04-20-2003, 12:29 AM:
 
So let me get this straight, they put a "Splice Here" frame in a place that will cause you to cut soundtrack audio? See what happens when TV people try to do film?! Boy am I glad I work in venues where I never have to run commercials.

Well if you HAVE to run these pieces of trash, I guess rather than cutting the sound, I would cut out that single frame so that the lead-in sound starts correctly rather than jump starts.

Frank
 

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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 04-20-2003, 12:48 PM:
 

quote:

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I guess rather than cutting the sound, I would cut out that single frame so that the lead-in sound starts correctly rather than jump starts.

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