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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Author
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Topic: Showing Trailers in the Lobby
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Aaron Mehocic
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 804
From: New Castle, PA, USA
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 05-03-2001 12:01 PM
We may have covered this before, but I couldn't find anything during a quick search ...
(In Ground Level that is)Anyway, I'd like to have your opinions regarding TV's mounted in the lobby for showing trailers. As a projectionist I personally don't care, but I can identify with the complaints from other staff members. First, there are two TV's, one mounted above the box office, the other above the concession cash register. The sound is pumped through the lobby speakers as well as the unit speakers. This does make it difficult for our older employees to hear the customers in both locations during the showing of action trailers. Second, many of the trailers are downright tastless. I never realized how stupid and sickening the trailers for "Animal" and "Dr. Dolittle II" are. Think about this: If NATO made the much-publicized statement of no R rated trailers on PG films, then shouldn't these TV's be out the window too. Granted, the above films are not R rated, but we're showing restricted previews on our particular tape in our lobby (things that make you go hmmmmm). Lastly, and this is more personal for our folks, that money could have been spent on other items. Our ice machine is from 1986 and on it's last leg, the stand needs more counterspace, and I need about $1000 in parts upstairs. None of our customers really pay much attention to the TV's anyway, but we HAD TO HAVE 'EM. Let me know about your views on this marketing tool. Do you like it, hate it, or are indifferent? Don't get me wrong, it has its good points and its bad points. I'm just saying lets spend the money where the money is needed.
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John Pytlak
Film God
Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000
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posted 05-03-2001 01:23 PM
Can't do much about the content of the trailers, but the problem of hearing the sound clearly while in line without having to turn up the volume to deafening levels would be helped by using multiple speakers closer to the audience. Sort of like they use at Disney World, Universal Studios Tour, and other theme parks as you wait in line.To keep a "movie theme", how about some classic drive-in in-car speakers mounted on the posts used to hold the line ropes? That way, no one would be more than a few feet from the speakers, and the volume could be kept at a comfortable level. ------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion
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John Pytlak
Film God
Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000
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posted 05-03-2001 01:35 PM
Just a personal "rant" on the quality of video displays and "video walls" in theatres --- I find the quality is often  The impression a theatre makes on the audience begins while waiting in line and in the lobby. Do the best you can to maintain quality in the video and audio display. Use a direct video feed to the monitors, not RF. Use a distribution amp to maintain proper video signal levels if multiple monitors are used. If a VCR is used, maintain it to keep the heads clean and drop-out free, and tracking properly. Adjust the monitors to have matched color and tone scale, ESPECIALLY in video walls. Avoid showing copies-of-copies VHS tapes, as the quality is . IMHO, if theatres maintain  cinema as poorly as they maintain today's video displays, digital cinema has a tough time ahead. ------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion
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Doug Willming
Film Handler
Posts: 45
From: San Antonio, TX, USA
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 05-03-2001 03:32 PM
As a company that provides trailer tapes for showing in lobbies, I thought I'd make a comment or two. I agree that some of the trailers we get that are green band are tasteless, and I have thought about reactions by patrons with children to some of this material. However, I have the same complaint when watching "Star Trek Voyager" with my 9 year old son on UPN, where ads for their stupid "reality" shows (i.e. Chains of Love)are run constantly through what I consider a family show. We occasionally get red-banded trailers from the studios which I don't even put on our list. That said, if theatres are going to advertise in their lobbies, I as a moviegoer would much rather see trailers than anything else. Most of the newer theatres I've been in have done away with the expensive video walls and gone to 27 - 35" monitors, sometimes spread across the lobby or snack bar area. I think these make more sense, since they last longer, do not require the maintenance the video walls require, and are easier to see if you're standing close to them. I agree that the sound is usually either impossible to hear or just adds to the noise level of the theatre. Most trailers have so much visually in the way of action and titles that the sound could just be turned off without losing anything.
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Evans A Criswell
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1579
From: Huntsville, AL, USA
Registered: Mar 2000
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posted 05-03-2001 03:37 PM
John, about VHS machines being used for these types of applications: Most stores and such that I've seen that use VHS VCRs for playback of music videos, commercials, movie trailers, and other material on a repetitive basis frequently have serious problems with their video quality. VCRs and video tapes are not made for that type of application. Even if the VCR is built to take that type of continuous use, the video tapes themselves cannot. They get wrinkled, creased, scratched, worn, and so on, creating all types of playback problems. I've seen too many VHS tapes playing in stores showing horizontal bars of noise, excessive snow, jitter, flagging, and skew. Once the tape is damaged, it is going to give a poor impression until a new one is substituted.If the organizations (theatres, stores, etc.) using prerecorded video for this type of purpose cannot afford to have the repetitive material put on DVD and have the player hooked up to decent quality, properly-calibrated monitors using at least an S-Video cable, they don't need to be using video at all. ------------------
Evans A Criswell
Huntsville-Decatur Movie Theatre Info Site
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Jason Black
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1723
From: Myrtle Beach, SC, USA
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 05-04-2001 12:13 AM
Brad:In our chain, the cost of the equipment, upkeep and tapes comes directly out of the theatre's P&L. I can tell you, dropping $85+ for a 1/2 VHS tape at least once a month adds up. The company we use has begun to produce DVD's now, but they want damn near $200 for each one! When I asked why they were so much, I was told that the video compression/tranfer method was more time consuming and costly in DVD production. Whether or not it's true, I don't know. I'm no production/transfer major. What I do know is that were they reasonably priced, I would order them in a minute! A GREAT advantage to DVD loops would be the fact that one could actually put MORE trailers from EACH distributor on the DVD which would increase overall exposure for each film! Of course, since this makes perfect sense to me, and you know, I'm just a lowly multi=plex manager, there's no way in hell it would ever work out that way... If I had more insight, I'd be interested in setting up a little production/transfer/distribution company of my own... Especially if there are SUCKERS out there willing to pay damn near $200 bucks for a DVD!!!! DOUG: Mayeb you should contact me offline to discuss future potential ordering from your company??? Jasonwan@sccoast.net
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Doug Willming
Film Handler
Posts: 45
From: San Antonio, TX, USA
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 05-04-2001 08:45 AM
Well, Jason, we charge $39 per 1/2 hour tape original and $12 per dub. With our program, you get to pick which trailers you want and we put stuff like policy trailers and advertising on for no extra charge for theatres that want to pick up extra revenue from local advertisers. You can go to our web site at www.WRonyourscreens.com/30min.htm for a current list. Some of our customers order 2 tapes per month so they have a backup when the first tape starts looking bad - occasionally, I get complaints from people that have run these tapes day in and day out for several weeks that the tape isn't holding up! Hey, it's videotape! Rent a tape from Blockbuster that's had 100 passes put on it and see what it looks like. We don't offer DVD yet for the reason you've mentioned - price. DVD's are still expensive and time consuming to produce in small quantities. If we had a circuit that needed several hundred copies every month, maybe it would be cost effective, but many of our customers are people with 1 - 4 theatres. They are usually looking for the cheapest option (we offer SVHS at a $10 surcharge, and SVHS machines are cheap now, but I still have no takers currently). I get requests for DVD, but we can't offer it for $19.95 like a studio that has made hundreds of thousands of copies of the same title. A one-off DVD is expensive and time consuming. The studios don't give us the trailers in a digitized form, which means we would have to digitize and compress each trailer we get (and we get them in different tape formats). Also, it would be difficult to just do one master DVD per month with every current trailer we have on it, and just give everyone a copy of that and let them do their own programming. For one thing, a lot of them would probably not know how to program the DVD player to play the selected titles (and nobody wants to advertise a film in their lobby that will be playing across the street at a competitor's theatre). Also, we get trailers from studios constantly, and try to use the most current version. A DVD master would go out of date quickly.
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John Pytlak
Film God
Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000
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posted 05-04-2001 11:00 AM
SVHS would certainly be a step up in qualilty over VHS, especially if the S-video output was used.Digital mastering involving compression "authoring" is NOT inexpensive. DVDs are relatively inexpensive when the mastering costs can be prorated over a pressing of several thousand units, but the price climbs dramatically on smaller runs. ------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion
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Price! Ian is actually the reason the monitors are so bad because it was his job to make sure they all matched. Since this is Ian 
we are talking about, that is why one monitor will be green, another purple, etc...
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