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Author Topic: Intermissions... Dan Chilton Expert Film Handler Posts: 191 From: Springfield, MO Registered: Mar 2004 posted 03-30-2004 06:25 PM                        I'm considering running intermissions at our theater. Do you think it would be easier to program an intermission through automation with a platter, or to use reel-to-reel with 6,000 foot reels... rewinding them in between films?  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 03-30-2004 06:39 PM                     No intermissions. Few movies have a designated (or good) place to put one in and people expect for the film to run non-stop. Most all film companies will prohibit it as well. You don't really have a choice here. If you are insistent to run reel to reel, you will have to buy two of everything and do changeovers. While there is nothing wrong with this, you WILL be spending a LOT more money just to get your theater running and the customers don't care how you make their film run, just so long as you do...without interruption and without film damage. Once you start running movies over 3 hours long, if the studio wants or is willing to permit an intermission, there will be a designated place for it. Regardless, platters are still easier.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-30-2004 06:50 PM                        Agreed to everything Brad said about adding intermissions to films which are intended to be shown without them. Audiences won't be happy and film distributors will hate you. Intermissions _between_ different films are OK, however, if you run double-features. In this case, the film transport system doesn't really make any difference. I feel pretty strongly that a single-screen house should have two projectors (ideally with 6000' capability) for redundancy and short runs/festivals/etc., even if there is a platter for extended runs as well. You don't want to lose an entire night's worth of shows because you stripped a gear in your one and only projector. With 6000' reels, you can run the entire show on one machine with one short intermission (during which someone can apologize to the audience and offer passes). This isn't ideal, but it's far better than turning away your customers at the door. Do you really need/want automation in a single-screen house? The high-end stuff (CA-21, etc.) is nice, but expensive, and the low-end stuff doesn't really seem to offer much benefit if you have a full-time operator (which you should).  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 03-30-2004 07:14 PM                        You might take a look at your master licences before making a decision like this. As far as I know, all studios clearly obligate you to run their pictures without interruption or modification of any kind. There's even some occasional debate whether "attached" trailers constitute part of what's expected to be run, but that's another issue. Aside from alienating your customers, many of whom would see this as a mid-show marketing attempt, stopping a picture for an intermission would clearly be a violation of your contract. That could get you taken off-service as the distributors learn of this.  |  IP: Logged Dan Chilton Expert Film Handler Posts: 191 From: Springfield, MO Registered: Mar 2004 posted 03-30-2004 07:24 PM                        Hmmm, thanks for the replies. I was basing the intermission model after a small arthouse theater in the town where I went to college. They had intermissions in every single film... I don't know how they did it, but they did. Patrons seemed to enjoy it - they saw it as a time to get up, stretch, use the restroom, and (most importantly) refill their beer / wine / soda / popcorn / etc.. Although I'd like to have them, I'd obey the rules set forth by a distribution contract.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-30-2004 10:59 PM                        I just got a new copy of our contract from New Line, and it specifically states NO INTERMISSIONS -- even has a separate subparagraph on the subject. I think NATO should start working on one of their "resolutions" that all films over 150 minutes should have an intermission built in. This would be more worthwhile, and better for theatres, than the failed "trailer volume" initative that they keep beating to death.  |  IP: Logged Mike Olpin Chop Chop! Posts: 1852 From: Dallas, TX Registered: Jan 2002 posted 03-30-2004 11:35 PM                     For our free summer kids film festival, we run intermissions. We place them between two reels close to the middle of a film, for instance after the 3rd reel of a 6 reel movie. In this environment, it is a good because it allows kids to stretch and get the "wiggles" out. In prior years, when we didnt have the intermission, I would walk in to find kids litterally hanging from the curtains. However, in most cases, I have to agree with what everyone else here has said. Even durring our kids festival, the flow of the movie is abruptly haulted by a flashy intermission logo with horible graphics and sound, sometimes mid-sceene.  |  IP: Logged Dan Chilton Expert Film Handler Posts: 191 From: Springfield, MO Registered: Mar 2004 posted 03-31-2004 08:57 AM                        Do you think the college-town theater just ignored the "intermission" clause in their contracts? I can't figure how else they could get around that.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-31-2004 10:59 AM                     quote: Mike Blakesley: ...all films over 150 minutes should have an intermission... Agreed! When one of our concerts, shows or stage presentations are planned to go longer than 90 minutes we usually automatically put in an intermission. Our customers just expect it. When it comes to movies, we will play them all the way through as much as we possibly can. We've got the smaller platter decks because of limited space in the booth. If the film is too big to safely fit on one deck I'll automatically break the film. We've only had that happen one time. There is one time when I probably should have but didn't. (It was a squeaker!) We have had a couple of movies with built-in intermission. Sound of Music comes to mind. We will also be playing Lawrence of Arabia in the next few weeks. Those are no-brainers. I say that you should try to play the movie all the way through as much as you possibly can. IF your system can only play short reels or has small decks then it's OK to put in an intermission for technical reasons. If you are in a non-theatrical (college, non-profit, etc.) venue then the heat is off a little bit. If your customers want intermissions, certainly go ahead but, still, try to do it all in one shot if you can.  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 03-31-2004 12:30 PM                        quote: IF your system can only play short reels or has small decks then it's OK to put in an intermission for technical reasons. If you are in a non-theatrical (college, non-profit, etc.) venue then the heat is off a little bit. Nothing in a master license makes this "OK". Matter of fact, theatrical master licenses give the studios the right to evaluate our booths in person... ostensibly for the purpose of making sure "technical reasons" won't interfere with our ability to show their pictures as intended. The studios can, and have used one theatre's capabilities over another's as reason for placing a title when both theatres want it. Non-theatrical rentals may be another thing. If there's no contractual terms to the contrary, I guess you could do pretty much whatever.  |  IP: Logged Dan Chilton Expert Film Handler Posts: 191 From: Springfield, MO Registered: Mar 2004 posted 03-31-2004 01:24 PM                        What if you happen to be the only theater in town showing that particular film? Then the scenario of "who gets the film" wouldn't play in. Is this more a matter of don't ask, don't tell? **I'm not trying to be an a-hole, I just want to make sure I get all the angles.  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 03-31-2004 01:40 PM                        Well, "don't ask, don't tell" only works if you "don't get caught" If you're running on the break, the studios aren't going to let you put in an intermission. If you ask them about it, they'll certainly know you're thinking about something you've already agreed in writing not to do. You have to make your own decision. In an isolated area, you might make a case that you're not big enough to get the studios' attention, and that the chances they'll care enough to send someone out to your little piece of the world is remote. On the other hand, pissed-off customers do have the ability to reach the right ears, if you get them stirred up. I had one case where an old splice oozed and pulled two layers of film into the platter brain, causing a wrap & jam. We cut the show before it caused any damage. Two weeks later, I got a call from Disney, asking about the situation. A customer had emailed them, accusing us of cutting the credits so we could shoo them out early. So...... like speeding where you don't think the cops are likely to be... I suppose you can make your own choices about how literal you get with your studio contracts. However, you probably shouldn't look for too much encouragement in places like this... lurkers & all. One other thing: There are precious few suppliers in our business. Like them or not, you can't afford to alienate very many of them before you find yourself with little decent material to run. These companies have longer memories than elephants and are mighty slow to forgive, once you've befouled them.  |  IP: Logged Dan Chilton Expert Film Handler Posts: 191 From: Springfield, MO Registered: Mar 2004 posted 03-31-2004 01:58 PM                        Thanks for your replies, Jack. I doubt we'll be running intermissions, I just wanted to get as much information about it as possible. You've been very informative. Thanks!  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 03-31-2004 03:46 PM                        Agreed generally about the undesirability of putting an intermission in where the film wasn't scripted to include one. But occasionally you get a situation where there's no choice. I once ran Titanic at a university show which consisted of a projection box rather smaller than the average broom cupboard, containing a GK-37 and a Westrex tower. Said tower would not hold the complete film, full stop. The spool capacity was officially 12,000 feet of acetate. Even allowing for acetate being thicker than the polyester of that print, the 16k feet-ish that film ran would have overlapped the spools by a long way, so we had to stop in the middle. Luckily, the end of one of the reels was a long, static close-up of someone's face just after the ship hit the iceberg, so I faded the stage spots up and closed the tabs in such a way as to not make it look too brutal. But I couldn't help thinking that a 195-minute film which dosen't really allow for an intermission is not exactly realistic. The way this is dealt with in Seven Samurai gets this issue right, IMHO: after the second big raid scene there is a fade to black, and then the following scene - set days later - fades up. It doesn't really affect the story if 5 seconds or 15 minutes elapses in between, which gives the exhibitor total flexibility as to whether to include an intermission in the programme or not. The pressures of multiplex scheduling notwithstanding, any film-maker contemplating a 150-minute plus production should really try and script in a convenient break point, IMHO.  |  IP: Logged Daniel Alt Expert Film Handler Posts: 111 From: Lakewood, OH, USA Registered: Mar 2004 posted 03-31-2004 04:32 PM                     quote: But I couldn't help thinking that a 195-minute film which dosen't really allow for an intermission is not exactly realistic. The way this is dealt with in Seven Samurai gets this issue right, IMHO: after the second big raid scene there is a fade to black, and then the following scene - set days later - fades up. Seven Samurai is also supposed to have 4 minutes or so of walk in music at the start of the second half. When we ran it earlier this year, we discovered that it had been removed. (There was a handwritten note on the reel bemoaning the fact) Is this a common occurance for movies that are supposed to have music attached to the intermission?  |  IP: Logged

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