Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: No more 35mm Tr's (that's TRAILERS in normal English speak)

This is topic No more 35mm Tr's (that's TRAILERS in normal English speak) in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Jerry D. Cox (Member # 701) on 06-04-2013, 12:59 PM:

Fox inform me that they were no longer
making 35mm Tr's

Posted by James Westbrook (Member # 3690) on 06-04-2013, 01:06 PM:

Clarification: Do you mean "trailers?"

Posted by Jerry D. Cox (Member # 701) on 06-04-2013, 01:19 PM:

YES They told me at Fox last Wed.
That they were no Longer making
35mm Trailers

Posted by Daniel Schulz (Member # 1881) on 06-04-2013, 04:49 PM:

Confirmed. There will be exceptions, especially for Searchlight titles; but in general, Fox trailers will now be DCP only for North America.

Posted by Jock Blakley (Member # 6552) on 06-05-2013, 04:33 AM:

Seems to have already happened Down Under - the last title we received a 35mm trailer for was DJANGO UNCHAINED, and that was after a significant gap.

Posted by Ken Lackner (Member # 1002) on 06-05-2013, 07:18 AM:

Can somebody please edit the subject so people like me won't waste tome clicking ont the topic wondering what the heck a Tr is?

Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 06-05-2013, 09:25 AM:

I knew what the subject meant when I read it. No problem.
But what I'm curious about is "how" were you informed of this?
Is there a letter or press release you can post?
Tnx

Posted by Barry Floyd (Member # 385) on 06-05-2013, 01:43 PM:

Knew that was coming sooner or later. Once you go digital though, you'll have more trailers than you can actually play. I rarely find 3-4 new trailers per week on the trail mix drives.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 06-05-2013, 02:02 PM:

Does "trailers" really take that much effort to say/type that it needs to be abbreviated?

But Fox (and others) will soon stop making 35mm anything, so be prepared.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 06-05-2013, 02:50 PM:

quote: Barry Floyd
Once you go digital though, you'll have more trailers than you can actually play. I rarely find 3-4 new trailers per week on the trail mix drives.

That's for sure. I sure wish whoever makes the trailer DCPs would get together and figure out how to name the stupid things sensibly (and stop with the #%@$ abbreviated names already! Who knows what the hell "SDE" means? If the title is too long just use the first couple of words, or at least whole words.)

Who knew that managing trailers would turn into the most complicated job in the booth?

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 06-05-2013, 03:59 PM:

(I always used the "Tlr" for my trailer shortcut)

Yet, you think the DCP naming convention could shorten up the content naming some (like, why do we need to know the MDY and similar..)to it can be easier to use along with having it alphabetically in order on the trailer drives (or, it could be the server/lms's fault not getting the titles in order), so one doesn't have to hunt for them when doing the builds?

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 06-05-2013, 05:00 PM:

There is often too much over abbreviation and Monte, you are definitely in that category.

If you want to get into the trailer naming thing...is there a decent place to figure out the various versions of the stupid things? The "branded" ones are easy to figure out...I'm talking about the trailer version numbers and alternates...why does one pick the "Trailer 2" versus the "Trailer 3" or "Trailer 3 Alt" versions? Some just use the highest number trailer and if that is the best method...why do they continue to include the "stale" versions?

I can understand having "Teasers" and "Trailers." But a bazillion versions? Please.

DCI naming convention requires the month/day/year thing and I'm okay with that...it is a quick way to know when it was made and that it is the same version one is looking for to use.

How about a DCI requirement that ALL DCinema servers have to be able to display the whole DCI name on any screen where content is to be ingested or even "built" up? Often the important stuff is cut off (5.1/7.1, Dbox, Brand Specific stuff...etc).

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 06-05-2013, 05:31 PM:

I am amazed they are still bothering to send trailers out on hard drives.

A much better solution would be to have a password-protected website where a cinema could download the trailers they want, rather than having to slog through all the crap on the hard drives.

Such a website could be categorized, into sections like "Most recent versions," "Chain-specific versions," "Non-IMAX versions," "Policy tags," and "3-D Glasses notices," among other categories.

Surely the bandwidth required for this would be way cheaper for the studios than paying for UPS and FedEx to haul thousands of drives all over the world.

If this idea WAS implemented, cinemas that don't have broadband internet should still be able to get the hard drives if they desired.

The other "wish" I have is that they use Technicolor and/or Deluxe for this, and stay away from the "each studio has its own website" option. It'd be much better for an operator to go to one site, check off the items to download, then go home for the night, rather than having to slog through a dozen different sites.

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 06-05-2013, 05:43 PM:

Why would it need to be password protected? Trailers are ADVERTISING -- you know, the stuff that you want to expose to everyone possible so they come to your theatre and watch the move.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 06-05-2013, 05:48 PM:

At least with film, the difference between a "version A" and "version B" trailer is often just the inclusion of a release date at the end. Typically, the "version A" would just say "coming soon" (or something to that effect) and "version B" would have an actual date. I could see where a theatre that is opening the film on its national release date would want to advertise that, while a theatre that is playing the same film later would prefer not to show the date.

I don't know if this is still the case, as I am out of the loop on first-run exhibition practices and have been for a few years now. In any case, there definitely should be a way to find out what the differences are between versions.

Posted by Kevin Markwick (Member # 2698) on 06-05-2013, 07:57 PM:

Surely the dumbest thing yet is having a KDM for a trailer as Warners have done, in the UK anyway, with Man of Steel. A trailer I can download freely from Youtube or Apple.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 06-05-2013, 08:21 PM:

quote: Frank Cox
Why would it need to be password protected? Trailers are ADVERTISING

True but I was just trying to think like a piracy-fearing studio executive. Having a password wouldn't cost them any more money and it would save bandwidth by preventing laypeople from getting in and downloading stuff that they wouldn't be able to use anyway.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 06-05-2013, 09:24 PM:

It would be nice if there were 2 trailers per movie. The teaser and the regular trailer. End of story. None of this "playing in EXD" branding nonsense. Just 2 versions.

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 06-05-2013, 09:31 PM:

I hate the title of this thread. We used to have rules around here. [Roll Eyes]

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 06-05-2013, 09:34 PM:

Password management would indeed cost them money. For technical support, if nothing else. "My dog ate my password."

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 06-06-2013, 11:38 AM:

Yeah but it could be more automated. It would definitely not cost as much as shipping all those drives around -- not to mention the cost of loading said drives with content.

quote: Manny Knowles
I hate the title of this thread. We used to have rules around here.

I don't see how the title breaks the rules. Anybody should be able to surmise that "35mm Trs" means trailers -- what else could it mean?

Maybe we should just ban abbreviations altogether. After all, a real film newbie might not realize that "mm" means "millimeter." Our local pharmacy sells Kodak products and the entire staff over there used to refer to 35mm as "thirty five em em" because they didn't know what the "mm" stood for.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 06-06-2013, 12:22 PM:

quote: Scott Norwood
I don't know if this is still the case, as I am out of the loop on first-run exhibition practices and have been for a few years now. In any case, there definitely should be a way to find out what the differences are between versions.

Surely the way to go would be for the industry to establish a central website that enables theatres to view all the different trailer versions available for a given feature in a YouTube type window, and then, having found the one they want to play, download the DCP? As Mike points out, that would work for all but a small number of rural venues that don't have a broadband connection, and would probably pay for itself very quickly compared to the cost of shipping physical media.

quote: Mike Blakesley
I don't see how the title breaks the rules. Anybody should be able to surmise that "35mm Trs" means trailers -- what else could it mean?

I think what Manny's getting at is that the subject being discussed has wandered from the demise of 35mm trailers to the problems in handling and managing digital ones.

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 06-08-2013, 12:28 PM:

quote: Mike Blakesley

Maybe we should just ban abbreviations altogether. After all, a real film newbie might not realize that "mm" means "millimeter."

Don't be silly.

"Tr" has never been a standard abbreviation for anything on here.

More importantly, THANKS to whoever edited it. [thumbsup]

Posted by Brent Francis (Member # 5008) on 06-10-2013, 12:56 PM:

I suspect the curse of text-speak creeping into everyday language. U 2?

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 06-10-2013, 02:41 PM:

U2? Nah...

BTO [Big Grin]

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 06-10-2013, 07:02 PM:

quote:
No more 35mm Tr's (that's TRAILERS in normal English speak)

And Tr's is standardized Newspeak?

There never were any 35mm trailers! They have always been digital and always will be...

(If you still happen to encounter some by accident, be sure to throw them down the memory hole.)

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 06-10-2013, 07:08 PM: