Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: trailer order

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Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 02-27-2006, 06:43 PM:

When programming trailers, do you show them in:

a) release-date order (soonest first)
b) reverse release-date order (soonest last)
c) random order
- or -
d) some other order that I haven't thought of?

One theatre I know always runs everything in reverse-release date order (to the point of changing the trailer order if release dates change); when I make up my own trailer reels, I usually do release-date order (with dater tags between) for no particular reason other than that it makes sense to me to do it that way. This assumes that one will only show trailers for films that are booked for the theatre in question. Does anyone show trailers for films that aren't confirmed bookings and, if so, why?

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 02-27-2006, 09:30 PM:

Reverse playdate order.

Our schedule is set weeks/months in advance. I already know what's going to play and what trailers I have on hand.

Each week, when you break down the print it's very easy to pull the last trailer off the ring before you build next week's show. New Additions can be center-dropped quite easily.

If you do things right, you center-drop a new trailer into the program. Each time you drop a new one you pull an old one from the outside. Trailers will magically seem to migrate from the center to the outside of the pack.

Posted by Mathew Molloy (Member # 666) on 02-27-2006, 10:06 PM:

In the case of a single screen:
Reverse Release Date Order to maximize the number of eyes seeing the trailer for the film coming in next.
In a multi or if I don't have trailers for our next title(s):
Shortest to longest. This just feels right. I'll also try my best to group the trailers by format where applicable. If we're showing a scope film with 1.85 matted for scope trailers I'll group all those matted trailers first followed by the widescreen trailers.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 02-27-2006, 10:22 PM:

I try to put the trailer we've been running the longest first. The crowd has seen it before and so it has no major effect, and gives them time to settle down.

If I have a brand new trailer for a huge upcoming blockbuster, I'll put that last -- or the movie most anticipated, at least. I want to leave a big dose of "Wow, I want to see that one!" leading into the feature.

Since we don't run ads, Disney's "Cars" trailer that looks like a car commercial is a cool one to place at the end just before the feature.

Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 02-27-2006, 10:24 PM:

5 Trailers
3 Each From Random Film Companies in spots 1,2,3
Spots 4 & 5 go to the enclosed and attached trailers from the release print company

Posted by Phil Blake (Member # 2012) on 02-28-2006, 04:14 AM:

usually run 2 trailers on each feature.

I place the next to play last , so that customers who always arrive late will get to see the trailer for the next new release film.

I try to match suitable trailers with the film the are about to watch. for example I would run "Hostel" trailer on Wolf Creek with the idea if people enjoy what they have come to see , we will have more of a similar nature coming soon.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 02-28-2006, 04:28 AM:

If a flat trailer pack, I try and program the "letterboxed" trailer first, as this is a nice guarantee that the projector is in perfect framing. Otherwise, I play them in release date order, even if that means the attached is the first thing on the roll. This way it is rare for more than the first trailer, or maybe the first two, to have any handling past the initial assembly. It also makes trailer changing that much easier.

If a scope trailer pack, I try and program the "flat matted" trailers first, so the picture only gets bigger. Otherwise I go by the standard release date order.

Posted by Steve Scott (Member # 630) on 02-28-2006, 10:40 AM:

At Muller we programmed earliest-latest & no features that were more than two months out (unless trailer stock was low). At St. Anthony it's mostly random, but we stick to obvious content matching. We like to place trailers based on what we assume we'll be booking, but going week-by-week it's hard to tell sometimes.

Ideally, I like to see each available trailer & just go by what runs well together in particular orders. And of course, I'd have Coke Fantana Invasion snipes [Mad]

Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 02-28-2006, 12:17 PM:

At the first run GCC and Pacific Theatres in Hollywood / Westwood and select Los Angeles areas. The booking department made the call on the trailer placements. Because of what the studio wanted the lineup tobe.

Posted by Dominic Espinosa (Member # 2122) on 02-28-2006, 01:47 PM:

We play in reverse-release date order.
And we match trailers to the movie, i.e. I'll cut a comedy off of a horror flick in favor of a darker trailer.

Posted by Jeremy Jorgenson (Member # 2989) on 02-28-2006, 03:16 PM:

At my current job ... the order is set by corporate. In the past when I've been able to determine the order, I would do it similar to Mike B... and put the trailer that I thought would have the most impact as the last one before the feature. If I felt they were all about the same, then usually earliest to latest start date. (but if the start date changed, I didn't feel any need to alter the placements). Also, if building multiple prints that require the same trailers, I'd alter the order, or at the very least, the first trailer.

quote: Scott Norwood
Does anyone show trailers for films that aren't confirmed bookings and, if so, why?

Yes, in all booths I've worked in, we've run trailers for films that we haven't booked yet. I've never been in charge of booking, so I might not be the right one to answer, but in my opinion, getting an audience exposed to titles that will be shown theatrically is a good thing.

Posted by John T. Hendrickson, Jr (Member # 849) on 02-28-2006, 07:20 PM:

Release -date order. I deal with multiple screens It's easier to remove that first trailer when the release date comes around. Sometimes I will substitute another trailer in it's place, but if the remaining trailers in the pack total 10 or more minutes, I don't add another one.

If we end up playing a film for a long run, and the trailers become dated, I'll pull the whole pack and substitute a new one.

If the attached trailer makes it to it's release date, it gets pulled and I will try to replace it with another trailer from that company, provided I have one in stock and it's appropriate for the feature it's to be played with (per subject matter, rating, etc.).

Posted by Kenneth Tiffany (Member # 3643) on 02-28-2006, 07:25 PM:

Whatever trailer the person building wants to see the most goes first. Then, 2 more they want to see.

Posted by Anslem Rayburn (Member # 1267) on 02-28-2006, 08:35 PM:

Films we don't know the booking status play first, if there is room after we place trailers for films we are confirmed for. Films we know we are getting go on closest to the feature. That way, stragglers that miss the first few trailers still see the ones we know are coming to our theater.

Naturally, as soon as we find out we are not getting something, all materials for it are taken down (posters, trailers, etc).

If we know we are not getting a film, and it's trailer is attached to something we are playing, we remove it only if we have another trailer from the same company that is being removed to replace it. We do not like to knowingly advertise for the competitor.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 03-01-2006, 12:01 AM:

Here's a better question...

If you open a new movie and the attached trailer comes out ONE WEEK LATER, do you even bother putting it on? I know "studio contracts" require it, but seriously guys...do you?

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 03-01-2006, 01:51 AM:

quote: Brad Miller
I know "studio contracts" require it, but seriously guys...do you?

..unless, being a new movie and the film companies sends out "trailer checkers" to make sure that they're on as in the contract between film company and theatre....and if they're not on, you'd got some explaining to do to the home office on this...

I always put them on just to keep peace with the theatre company-didn't make a hoot and holler to me...

Posted by Ross Oba (Member # 3433) on 03-01-2006, 02:34 AM:

I know in one case we were notified to change the attached trailer on Brokeback Mountain which was for Something New to Kinky Boots.

Posted by Steve Scott (Member # 630) on 03-01-2006, 10:33 AM:

Luckily, at Muller I built the prints not fifty feet from the corporate offices, which were on-site. I would ask our ops manager about it & usually he was confident to run without "next week" trailers. Trailers like that would only be useful for opening weekend, since I started trailer changeouts on Monday.

Posted by Dominic Espinosa (Member # 2122) on 03-01-2006, 02:42 PM:

Me theory for all advertising in general is within a week or two before a movie opens, TV and radio ads are pretty much taken over the bulk of the adervising. So posters, banners, and trailers are best pulled a couple weeks ahead with the exception of oddball prints getting broke down within that period.

Anybody else do this?

Posted by John T. Hendrickson, Jr (Member # 849) on 03-01-2006, 02:47 PM:

One week? No, unless I'm looking to fill some time (which almost never happens, given the fact that everybody and his brother wants their trailer to play).

If (and if "ifs" and "buts" were candies and nuts what a Merry Christmas we would have [Wink]

) it were something we really wanted to push, it would get first position.

Then one week later it gets yanked.

Posted by Steve Scott (Member # 630) on 03-01-2006, 04:05 PM:

I think its better to keep running trailers up to the release of the feature, or as close as your booth duties require. If you're programming a theatre with nearby competition, you want to put on the best show possible throughout the building & then remind patrons that they're already sitting in the right location to see that great upcoming attraction. But it's always seemed cheesy to leave trailers on after a feature has begun it's run. A good trailer teases until the movie arrives. But I think it's alright to leave banners up through the run, unless its ugly, or you can't get it down (both of which I've encountered).

Posted by Timothy Eiler (Member # 383) on 03-01-2006, 09:42 PM:

quote: Brad Miller
I know "studio contracts" require it, but seriously guys...do you?

absolutely YES As an outdoor theatre the only trailers I run are the attached ones. As a majority the features open at the indoor and I have to wait for them to be dropped before I can play them. There have been several instances where attached to the second feature is a preview for the First movie,or visa versa. At other times I am running a preview for a movie that has played and left.

Posted by Jason Winn (Member # 3568) on 03-09-2006, 01:51 PM:

At AMC, corporate told us what trailers to put on, but the order didn't matter. For the most part, I would put them on in a random order. I would only worry about the first and the last trailer. I usually put new trailers towards the end. If we got a trailer to some big, highly-anticipated blockbuster, I always put it on at the very end. For example, when we first got the trailer to Star Wars: Episode III, I always put it on at the end right before the feature. It just has the biggest impact on the audience.

Also, if I was going to screen the movie I was building up, I would usually put the trailer I wanted to see the least on at the beginning. Because, I would start my movie in booth, then check my film path, check for scratches, and check the presentation. Then, once everything is perfect, I would head down into the auditorium to screen the movie. So, I would usually miss the first trailer. Whatever went on between the first and last trailer didn't really matter. I just threw them on any random order. The only thing that sucked was that we had to put like 7 or 8 trailers plus 3 AMC snipes. It took forever before the feature started playing.

quote: Brad Miller
I try and program the "letterboxed" trailer first, as this is a nice guarantee that the projector is in perfect framing.

Yeah, I sometimes did that too. I'm real nit-picky about my presentations. Everything has to be perfect. I would often use letterbox trailers to check my framing. Even if the framing is off by a quarter-inch, it annoys the hell out of me and I have to fix it.

quote: Brad Miller
If you open a new movie and the attached trailer comes out ONE WEEK LATER, do you even bother putting it on? I know "studio contracts" require it, but seriously guys...do you?

Oh, absolutely! I always ran a trailer even if it came out the next week. But, the day before the movie came out, we would remove it. I remember one time, we ran the trailer to "The Polar Express" on "The Incredibles". "The Incredibles" came out on a Friday, and "The Polar Express" came out the following Wednesday. We ran it anyway.

Posted by Ron Curran (Member # 3631) on 03-10-2006, 10:51 PM:

We assembled 3 trailers on the front of Memoirs of a Geisha. The first is Good Night and Good Luck. It plays fine in Dolby Digital but we drop the level to 26 - we don't like to shout at our customers first thing. Next up is Keeping Mum. Dolby Digital and magenta SR printed very light. Fader up to 32. Finally, the scope trailer for Casanova. Dolby Digital OK, fader up to normal trailer level of 28. Casanova trailer ends with "Valentine's Day February 14." On another show, the trailer tells our audience January. Anyway, the feature runs DTS at normal feature level of 38. Thank goodness for projectionists who can work a fader. How do multis get by without being able to monitor trailers.
On the date thing, when will trailer makers think about sub-runs and stop putting release dates. In Australia, we sometimes get the US release date on our trailers for a movie that comes here a month later.
Why can't trailer co

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 03-11-2006, 12:30 AM:

quote: Ron Curran
On the date thing, when will trailer makers think about sub-runs

At least they could put something like "Beginning March 17" instead of just "On March 17." I think some morons really think the movie will only play on that one day.

Posted by John Hawkinson (Member # 1135) on 03-11-2006, 02:23 PM:

Is it just me, or are there more letterboxed trailers around the past two years than before?

We run changeover and can straightforwardly enough intersperse flat and scope trailers when necessary. Lately I've felt more inspired to run scope trailers because the flat variants look so bad. I've even been tempted to hunt for a lens to blow them up to the full width.

Odd that we, as a university campus theatre in the same position as Randy, choose the opposite approach. We show trailers in chronological order interspersed with datestrips. "Friday & Saturday," trailer, "Saturday & Sunday," trailer, "Next Saturday & Sunday," etc. with occasional special things, like "Tuesday," "A Free Sneak Preview."

Traditionally we had an "In Stereo," and while it hasn't run for about 15 years, our audience still screams "IN STEREO!" after the datestrips. Nothing like being well-trained [Smile]

--jhawk

Posted by Luci Reeve (Member # 3651) on 04-03-2006, 07:06 PM:

Being a sub-run theater we play whatever we can beg (from the movie company..."Oh, I'm sorry, we don't have any more of those), buy (we've gotten them from e-bay) or steal (if the film came with a trailer on it and I don't have that trailer). Ian used to send us care packages from the Rialto (and since he left Ky has sent us 2 boxes). I put the ICE AGE 2 trailer in front of EIGHT BELOW because it seemed to fit.