Pre Show Commercials

[Terry Monohan]

Well It had to happen and now It did. Went to see the new movie 'Reagan" yesterday at our local movie theatre the CineLux Scotts Valley 9 Cinema in Scotts Valley CA near Santa Cruz CA.

Enjoyed the scope movie on a semi curved screen with nice stereo surround sound The scope screen in Theatre #4 has a small crease in the bottom fabric, needs to be tied down better to the frame. . Got there early and sat thru about 20 minutes of repeat commercials. At least here they keep the sound low for the paid ads.

Then the studio previews/ trailers started up and the house lights dimmed they had about seven. To my shock just as I was getting used to seeing all the spliced together short previews with the ratings they put a ad commercial after the 3rd trailer for 'Tick Tock' After a few more Marvel movie previews and just before the 'Reagan' movie started they just had to annoy me again with a 'Samsung' commercial ad.

I hope this is not going to be a new trend. If a cinema wants to show boring ad commercials so be It but to put more overload commercial spots in with the regular up and coming movie trailers It a bit much. I heard many people grumble in the audience after seeing some so so trailers when they got hit up again with TV type commercials.

Did the theatre program manager make a mistake and put these ads in the trailer section? Are some companies paying extra to promote their product close to the movie starting time? I tried to hunt the acting candy counter manager down after the movie but as usual he was not to found.

Some small theatres I have seen do a great job mixing the paid ads with classic candy counter trailers and funny policy shorts. This is not the case in Scotts Valley. Next time I go will have to see If this is still going on. They may start out with just two commercials mixed in the trailers and If they think they can get away with It they will add more.

[Brad Miller]

I am sure it was intentional, but running a commercial after the first trailer has started is simply crossing the line of what I feel customers will accept. Theaters can only push customers so far.

Too many theater owners these days are busy scavenging for pennies to realize they are effectively driving their customers away little by little with this advertising assault against their customers. They also tend to forget that their customers can watch the same movie at home now a couple of weeks later and yet they think they can charge a premium for people to see a movie at their theater a couple of weeks sooner, yet on top of it all they STILL think it's ok to shove commercials down their customer's throat. Anytime there is a high ticket cost, commercials are simply not welcome but many people will put up with it. However since most people consider trailers part of what they came to the theater to see, running a commercial (even if it's only 10 seconds long) anytime after the first trailer is a recipe for abandonment.

It won't be much longer when people simply become unwilling to return and that's when cinemas go out of business not just because of short release windows, but because of the intrusion of commercials.

[Ryan Gallagher]

Agree with Brad. And if you are comparing to home streaming experiences, where many paid providers will now still show you commercials too, getting a commercial right before the film is effectively identical to the home experience that many are having. One would assume they made the effort to leave the house to avoid at least some of those parallels.

[Frank Cox]

I never play commercials.

One or two (and rarely three) trailers, then the movie starts.

Sometimes people who have never been here before get caught out by that. They come in 20 minutes after the show has started and say, "The movie hasn't started yet, right?"

[Ryan Gallagher]

I never play commercials.

One or two (and rarely three) trailers, then the movie starts.

Sometimes people who have never been here before get caught out by that. They come in 20 minutes after the show has started and say, "The movie hasn't started yet, right?"

Even more extreme. There was quite a gaggle of folks who showed up to our Amelie screening (2nd of a double feature)... we don't even have any pre-roll on the back half of a double, curtain opens and wham, movie. We held the house 10 minutes for the bar/house lines but people were still later than that.

[Agnius Acus]

I never play commercials.

One or two (and rarely three) trailers, then the movie starts.

Sometimes people who have never been here before get caught out by that. They come in 20 minutes after the show has started and say, "The movie hasn't started yet, right?"

Same.

The difference is, we don't even show trailers anymore. It's redundant unless the trailer is not yet available elsewhere.

Speaking of which, I remember reading that people went to theatres just to see the Phantom Menace trailer.

[Frank Cox]

That depends on what you're playing.

The latest Disney super-blast-em? Everyone's already seen the trailers. A smaller arthouse-type movie? The audience may not have been exposed to it at all until they walked into your theatre.

[Marcel Birgelen]

I've only encountered this once, and it was about 27 years ago. It was in the UK in a cinema in Torquay. The movie was Jurassic Parc II. They still staged an intermission, even though the movie officially doesn't have one, which surprised me back then, as I've never seen this anywhere else in the UK, but apparently it's more common till this day than I presumed. But they didn't just play an endless string of TV commercials before the movie started, no, they actually played commercials after the movie continued from the intermission... not only that, after those commercials where over, there was a loud ding-dong, the curtains closed, the house lights came back on and a lady selling ice cream manifested itself in front of the screen. They already pulled the same show before the movie started.

For me, this was a somewhat bewildering experience, but if I'd lived there, it woud certainly have impacted my decision in regards to a repeat visit... and I usually DO like intermissions...

[Ryan Gallagher]

I've only encountered this once, and it was about 27 years ago. It was in the UK in a cinema in Torquay. The movie was Jurassic Parc II. They still staged an intermission, even though the movie officially doesn't have one, which surprised me back then, as I've never seen this anywhere else in the UK, but apparently it's more common till this day than I presumed. But they didn't just play an endless string of TV commercials before the movie started, no, they actually played commercials after the movie continued from the intermission... not only that, after those commercials where over, there was a loud ding-dong, the curtains closed, the house lights came back on and a lady selling ice cream manifested itself in front of the screen. They already pulled the same show before the movie started.

For me, this was a somewhat bewildering experience, but if I'd lived there, it would certainly have impacted my decision in regards to a repeat visit... and I usually DO like intermissions...

A co-worker recently shared his UK experience similar to that near where he was living as a boy. I think commercials during forced intermissions are a bit much, curtain or a static slide is really the only thing that feels appropriate because of my theatre background, but i'm in the camp that there definitely needs to be more intermissions too, preferably the artistically effective variety. 2001's intermission actually heightens the suspenseful moment... if done right.

[Agnius Acus]

A co-worker recently shared his UK experience similar to that near where he was living as a boy. I think commercials during forced intermissions are a bit much, curtain or a static slide is really the only thing that feels appropriate because of my theatre background, but i'm in the camp that there definitely needs to be more intermissions too, preferably the artistically effective variety. 2001's intermission actually heightens the suspenseful moment... if done right.

We will be screening Once Upon a Time in the West, and that's my only gripe with it. No intermissions.

During the screening of Oppenheimer that my friends attended in some small theatre in Rome film simply stopped in the middle and lights went on. Well, I would never do that kind of thing, but... That made me think about it.

[Frank Angel]

I was told by a friend who worked in Delhi that universally in India it is customary and it is expected by the audiences, they have intermissions in every movie no matter the length. When they run Hollywood titles which of course don't have any built-in intermission, they put one in anyway. And when the distributors there actually watch the US movies and put intermission snipes in as much of an appropriate spot as they can find. In the age of digital, most US companies author their titles with an intermission built in specifically for that market. I don't know why exhibitors don't push harder for intermissions, especially on longer films -- at the very least, it always boosts concessions sales -- you know, the life-blood of edxhibition industry.

I hope this is not going to be a new trend.

Terry, anything that makes more money can easily become a trend.

[Ryan Gallagher]

I was told by a friend who worked in Delhi that universally in India it is customary and it is expected by the audiences, they have intermissions in every movie no matter the length. When they run Hollywood titles which of course don't have any built-in intermission, they put one in anyway. And when the distributors there actually watch the US movies and put intermission snipes in as much of an appropriate spot as they can find. In the age of digital, most US companies author their titles with an intermission built in specifically for that market. I don't know why exhibitors don't push harder for intermissions, especially on longer films -- at the very least, it always boosts concessions sales -- you know, the life-blood of edxhibition industry.

Terry, anything that makes more money can easily become a trend.

I know our FOH and bar managers are always asking about intermission options on the longer films. We don't do them unless originally intended, but they still ask. Definitely $$ available in intermissions.

[Marcel Birgelen]

I was told by a friend who worked in Delhi that universally in India it is customary and it is expected by the audiences, they have intermissions in every movie no matter the length. When they run Hollywood titles which of course don't have any built-in intermission, they put one in anyway. And when the distributors there actually watch the US movies and put intermission snipes in as much of an appropriate spot as they can find. In the age of digital, most US companies author their titles with an intermission built in specifically for that market. I don't know why exhibitors don't push harder for intermissions, especially on longer films -- at the very least, it always boosts concessions sales -- you know, the life-blood of edxhibition industry.

Terry, anything that makes more money can easily become a trend.

We've discussed this in previous topics. This isn't just a thing in India, although India, AFAIK, it's pretty consistent all across the board. It's an actual thing in many countries over the world and often times not the entire country, but more like regions in said country. Over here, in the tiny Netherlands, it's actually pretty customary to put in an intermission, although there is one commercial chain that has eliminated it across all their locations. It's not so custom in the bigger, more international cities like Amsterdam and also art-house cinemas generally don't do intermissions, because of the "sake of art". Another example is Italy. Also, in parts of the UK, it's still a thing. I've not seen it in Germany, unless it's a very long movie. Interstellar, for example, I've seen with an intermission, even though the movie didn't have one.

Back in the film days, intermissions were simply put between reels, nowadays, with digital, it's usual to do some QC and decide where to put the intermission. There are some locations that just drop the intermission in halfway throughout the movie, no matter what's happening on screen... very very bad. Still, almost every movie does have a moment where you can put in an intermission.

Like I stated before, I do like the concept of having an intermission in almost any feature length movie, especially when done right:

- An intermission adds some "heft" to the presentation. It makes the event feels more like an evening out than "just a movie" in a dark room. Ever since the advent of the duplexes, triplexes and the black-box multiplex experience, it seems like the exhibition industry has largely given up on the idea of making the movie experience feel special again, unless you pay extra for the "PLF experience".
- It allows you to get back to reality, to discuss the movie with the people around you. It actually keeps the chatter in the room down.
- It allows people to get their bathroom break, which also solves a lot of disruptions throughout the show.
- It allows people to fill up their drinks and other concessions and I'm pretty sure this added revenue greatly makes up for the lost time due to the intermission.

So, why studios don't like it? Primarily, because it costs them screen time... Those studios seem to think they're running some kind of low-cost airline: The time you're not showing a movie on screen, they're not earning anything, as they don't get a cent from the concessions you sell. They may tell you that they don't like it, because it's not the way the movie is intended to be shown, but I call b.s. on that. Because, they don't seem to give a damn if you present it at 5 fl, unmasked and unfocussed on a dirty screen with 2 audio channels missing, as long as you pay them their dues.

[Paul H. Rayton]

Another reason for intermissions is that, in some less-industrialized countries, a local cinema would only have one single projector. They would have a set of large reels, e.g. around 5000' length, or about 55 minutes worth of running time, after which there would be ... an intermission. IIRC, that was how the show was being run in "Cinema Paradiso"; when I was working in the art-movie world, often Italian films would arrive with a built-in pause at the end of, maybe, reel Digital Cinema Forum We would typically just do a changeover prior to that intermission title showing up on the screen, because we didn't need to have an intermission after only 55 minutes (of a movie that ran less than 2 hours.) But those places with only one single projector didn't have a choice; the domestic films of those countries were often constructed to make the mid-show intermission a fact of life.

[Allan Young]

I attended an overnight showing of Sátántangó a couple of weeks ago. What's the last thing you want to see before a movie that runs for seven hours and twenty minutes? Yeah - a whole bunch of trailers.

The show was scheduled to end at 0700 and I had a train at a nearby station to catch at 0700, so I figured I'd miss the credits and maybe the last five minutes of the movie at most. At the second intermission, they made the announcement that they hadn't factored in the runtime of the trailers and that it wouldn't be finishing until 0715.

Infuriating!