Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: DVD or Digital Previews

This is topic DVD or Digital Previews in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 11-27-2004, 08:23 AM:

Are previews available in digital or DVD form? That is, can one set up a "Preview" screen in the lobby and run the show from either a DVD player or computer. Do the studios make the product available in that form?

Note, I am not referring to prviews for DCinema shows but specifically to be assembled for lobby presentations on a non-DCinema projection/sound system.

Are any of you using such a system? If so, who supplies you with the previews?

Steve

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 11-27-2004, 09:37 AM:

I recall there is a company in Texas that can supply trailers on DVD or tape for use in lobby advertising. They have posted here on Film-Tech.

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 11-27-2004, 01:48 PM:

www.preshowproductions.com

Doug Willming posts here occasionally and they were at ShoWest last year. They used to be Willming-Reams and did animated policy trailers like Cinemark's Front Row Joe series. Now they make custom lobby programs on VHS and DVD where you choose the trailers and snipes.

Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 11-27-2004, 11:17 PM:

Don't they put the trailers on the EPK disk? (Electronic Press Kit)

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 11-28-2004, 12:26 AM:

All of the EPKs I've seen have a CD-ROM with a tiny Quicktime or WMP file, nothing appropriate for full-screen viewing or conversion to DVD.

Posted by Jarrod Cocker (Member # 2773) on 11-28-2004, 02:18 AM:

We play a Trailer DVD that runs for about 25 minutes in the lobby where i work - on a plasma tv which is owned by a local company (free advertising for them to have it in our foyer)

We have a subsciption to a company called company in australia- i think it costs us about 50 bucks a month.

I've had a look at the dvd on a pc - its a proper dvd with 'vob' files

Posted by Dan Harris (Member # 1759) on 11-28-2004, 07:30 AM:

Here in the UK, Carlton Screen Advertising supply a VHS tape or DVD with play lists customized for each major exhibitor. They then add the corporate logos and their own sponsors adverts.

Unfortunately, the DVD isn't produced in 16:9 which is a bit of a pain.

Sound Associates also do a computer based system, where trailers are downloaded from their server as the become available, and are automatically added to the play list. Unfortunately, only 3 of our cinemas have an ADSL connection!

Over here, the studios will supply, on request individual VHS copies of current trailers for promotional use, but they make it very clear we're not allowed to digitize them.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 11-28-2004, 07:55 AM:

thanks for the info.

I see that the previews are letterboxed, for the most part. I wonder if they encode for 16:9 to maximize the resolution of the DVD.

I also am curious if an exhibitor can obtain the previews directly from the studios like the film versions to author their own DVD. I can see where some of the smaller circuits would not want to pay $79/month to have updated discs. I also find it odd that DVDs cost more than VHS.

We already have some customers that are doing their own slide shows on computer so this would be also interesting for them.

Steve

Posted by Ron Yost (Member # 1850) on 11-28-2004, 12:23 PM:

Since the purpose of trailers is advance advertising, why would the studios 'allow' only one company access to decent-rez mpeg files of them?? I'd think they'd WANT to distribute them in any way they could to whoever wanted to see them.

Piracy paranoia, I guess. [Eek!]

Ron Yost