Trailer Sighting

[Jade Jaguar]

Joe, for a short while in the 80's, I did theater evaluations for Lucas Film. The lights should dim during the last trailer. This leaves time for everyone to be seated with the lights on, but the lights should be out when the feature starts. Back then, the lights would usually not come up until a couple of minutes after the credits start, or later. Now they start raising the lights as soon as the credits start. Bakana correctly points out that all this is done with timers. Most multiplexes never have more than two, usually one projectionist on duty, at least around here. Other glaring errors due to timers: Leaving the slide projector on when the trailers start, not opening up the masking to match the wider trailers, and still wider feature, and worst of all, not switching to the panavision lens when the trailers, or even the feature require it, so that the Universal globe looks like a cigar standing on end. As you probably know, widescreen is often compressed on the print, and then stretched by the projection lens to it's proper aspect ratio. I've seen them forget to switch until 5 or ten minutes into the film, and once I had to miss some of the film, and go ask them to do it.

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You're speaking treason! Olivia De Havilland as Maid Marian
Fluently! Errol Flynn as Robin Hood
You're talking treason! Olivia De Havilland as Arabella Bishop
I trust I'm not obscure. Errol Flynn as Dr. Peter Blood

Pallindromes of the month: Snug was I, ere I saw guns.
Doom an evil deed, liven a mood.

 

[bakana]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR> As you probably know, widescreen is often compressed on the print, and then stretched by the projection lens to it's proper aspect ratio. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, actually, it is Always "compressed" on the print. Standard movie film has the same aspect ratio as common 35mm film.
When the studios started experimenting with Wide Screen, way back When, it was Much cheaper to just pop a special lens on the front of the camera (and the projector) than it would have been to have two (or more) sets of camera and projection equipment.
BTW, the Wide Screen ratio was originally trademarked as "Cinemascope".

The fact that standard movie film is 35mm is one of the reasons 35mm is such a common size film.
It's cheaper to make (and sell) as much as possible in the Same Size.
Also, a lot of film companies used to (maybe still do) Sell the leftover film when they changed out a film cartridge during shooting.
Changing a cartridge with a few hundred feet of film left in it is cheaper than losing what Might be the best take of a scene.
Or the Only take of an expensive or dangerous stunt or effect.
When they did sell that leftover film, it usually went to "repackagers" who would sell it through photo magazines to pro and amateur photographers.
They also sold 35mm film cartridges that could be reloaded over and over again in a darkroom by the photographer.


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Do not ascribe your own motivations to others:
At best, it will break your heart.
At worst, it will get you dead."

[This message has been edited by bakana (edited January 02, 2002).]

 

[gkarfan]

Hey, they left some of the lights on when I saw Rings, too! What's up with that, anyway?

Tammy

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"We're in here! Can anyone hear us?"
"I hear you." [giggle, laugh]
"In here!"
"We are here." [giggle, laugh]
-- Londo and G'Kar in Babylon 5:"Convictions"

Tammy's Station
http://community.webtv.net/gkarfan/TammysStation

 

[Jade Jaguar]

Bakana, not all wide screen film is compressed on the print. I work on a festival of independent and experimental film, and we sometimes get prints that are WS, but do not need a special lens, but do need a special aperture plate to cover up the vacant parts of the frame. I think a lot of trailers come that way. The way to tell is by the reel change cues. If the print is not stretched by the lens, they will be round. If they are stretched by the lens, they will be ovals with a horizontal long axis. These cues will be in the upper right hand corner six seconds, then one second, before the end of a reel. Since all reels are spliced together in multiplexes, sometimes the second one is missing.

If you are interested in how many different WS formats there are, look in the beginning of Leonard Maltin's movie guide book. He has a page full of them. Yes, cinemascope was the first, I think panavision is the most common these days. The WS format was invented in the early 50's, to try and get people back into the theaters after TV hit. They started showing in 1953, and most films since are in one WS format or another.

------------------
You're speaking treason! Olivia De Havilland as Maid Marian
Fluently! Errol Flynn as Robin Hood
You're talking treason! Olivia De Havilland as Arabella Bishop
I trust I'm not obscure. Errol Flynn as Dr. Peter Blood

Pallindromes of the month: Snug was I, ere I saw guns.
Doom an evil deed, liven a mood.

 

[bakana]

I wouldn't call the trick with the aperture plate Wide Screen. It'd be the same width as "normal" screen with the top and/or bottom chopped off.
A cheap way of getting the same aspect ratio without paying to rent the more expensive lenses.

But, unlike Wide Screen, it doesn't deliver More, it delivers Less.
It's the same sort of trick as Letterboxing a standard TV.
The resulting picture is Smaller.

I can recall seeing the same trick done years back by printing the unused portion of the frame Black so they wouldn't need the aperture plate.
They were special 16mm prints for use by the US Navy.

BTW, I've operated a 35mm carbon arc projector a couple times, so I know about the change reel cues.

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Do not ascribe your own motivations to others:
At best, it will break your heart.
At worst, it will get you dead."