Mary Poppins DCP - Intermission Time

[Steve Pike]

Hi,

We are screening Mary Poppins next week for a special “dementia friendly” screening.

Given the length of the film and the audience type expected, we are looking to put in an intermission.

We are going to use the Intermission feature on Cinelister, but don’t have a time that’s suitable to insert the intermission. We’ve reached out to the distributor but they’ve not got back to us.

Just wondering if anyone has done this, or know the best best time in the film to insert it? Unfortunately our KDM isn’t active until the day of the screening!

Thanks!
Steve

[Marcel Birgelen]

That's a common issue for all those who want to stage an intermission nowadays. The distributer will probably remind you that you're not supposed to put an intermission in it.

We usually try to do a full QC and find some consensus over what's the best place to put an intermission in. If a full QC isn't possible due to late delivery or KDM restrictions, then the only option left is "winging it". Not really optimal, but unless someone has already seen it and comes up with a good intermission timestamp, there is nothing else you can do.

[Steve Pike]

Thanks Marcel

[Antti Näyhä]

IMDb might offer something useful here:

In some theaters, likely British theaters, there was an intermission after Mary Poppins finished singing Stay Awake. The 2004 DVD includes a fullscreen clip of the number fading to black and an intermission card appearing.

[Randy Stankey]

That's funny.

If the distributor says that theaters should play the movie in its entirety, the way the director/producer intended then, when the original presentation of the movie has an intermission, that should be the way it is played. Right?

Isn't an intermission part of the movie, the way the director intended it to be?

It doesn't make sense that a distributor doesn't allow an intermission, then. Does it?

[Marcel Birgelen]

Distributors and studios going potentially haywire about inserting intermissions into movies is something typical "American". I've never heard a studio or distributor complain about the practice right here, even big, international movie chains keep doing it. Bollywood movies are still being made to this very day with an intermission built into them.

But we had that discussion before, I'm a sucker for intermissions, especially when they're well executed.

I guess Antti's comment is pretty helpful and can give some guidance of where to put this intermission.

[Ryan Gallagher]

hollywoodhalftime.ca is a great resource. Unfortunately the Marry Poppins page has not been populated yet, but they do LIST it, perhaps falsely as being possibly intended with an intermission.

That said, this thread about the seemingly missing entre-act music seems particularly insightful, and it appears it was indeed never intended to have an intermission, although some UK theatres got special permission to insert one in opening presentations, and might be the source of the prints that included intermission cards and stoked all the confusion later on. Those intermission having prints did seem to locate it after "Stay Awake".

https://community.magicmusic.net/thr...on-music.1815/

As suggested, where they choose to do the disc/tape swap on the DVD or VHS release is often a decent option when you are trying to invent one with little information to go on.

For us, we generally don't do one unless original presentation allowed it, but for exceptionally long shows with expected children in the audience, we might make exceptions. ;-)

They really aren't the same animals without overtures and entre-act music anyway. Can make for an even more awkward presentation than just making people suffer through, unless you are clever with music curation and timing. ;-)

[Marcel Birgelen]

I'm also a sucker for building up suspension and giving people a good show, so when you let me build a "roadshow presentation" including intermission, I'll go all in... including mixing my own overture and entr'acte out of the soundtrack if there is none and building my own custom intermission cart... The distributor or studio may call it sacrilege, but I call it showmanship... I seemingly have more respect for the product you're shipping than you have...

[Steve Pike]

Hey all, thanks for all the info and tips. We screened today and put it just after the Stay Awake song and seemed to work.

Thanks also for the website Ryan - really useful

THanks all.
Steve

[Jesse Crooks]

We only run intermissions when they are already meant to be included, but when we do run them we try to do it right. For our screens that don't have a curtain, we always make custom overture/entr'acte/intermission slides (matching the film's aspect ratio) if they are not provided. When the DCP includes overture/entr'acte/walkout music we run the DCP audio over the slide, played via the the Blu-ray player. I like to run thematically appropriate music for the intermission when time allows.

I had to write up instructions for this after a manager built a playlist that brought the lights down with a blank screen for the entirety of a 5min overture. The manager working the night of the public screening called me in a panic because he thought there was a problem with the projector. Knowing the production date of the film, my first question was whether it had an overture... Since then I've made sure our projectionists know what to do!

[Ryan Gallagher]

Yeah they really are the best opportunity to display showmanship. Having a curtain is a huge bonus. Unfortunately for us I wish our house lights panel included a preset for curtain warmers ONLY. Warmers+Half is as close as I get. I'm trying to get this sorted eventually, but out of buttons and they all have a function. It might become a macro only option one day if I can work with the house electrician on automation. Coming from a Ballet and Opera background, IMHO overtures and entre-act music are part of the show and house lights should be out, provided you have something for them to look at, ideally a well lit curtain.

[Mike Blakesley]

Having projected Mary Poppins at least once (maybe twice)in my career, I don't remember it ever having an intermission. I also saw it as a kid at the drive-in and it didn't have one then, either.

Maybe the studio offered it either way...?

[Terry Monohan]

Steve hope you are playing a stereo DCP copy of Mary Poppins. This is one of the few early Disney movies that was released in a 4 track magnetic stereophonic surround version in many movie theatres when It came out. Some cinemas played It like a roadshow but no intermission. Shot in flat ,Disney very seldom used widescreen Cinemascope on many of their mid 1950's movies.

The Blumenfeld Roxie Theatre in downtown Oakland CA played 'Mary' like roadshow and had a cut up intermission to sell popcorn and candy. They had to add a stereo sound set up system If they wanted to play It in Oakland 1st run. Opened in San Francisco first. The Roxie Theatre is now a office building but the front was kept.

Most retro theatres just do what every they want when they play a old DCP or Blu Ray /DVD. Most of the major studios have no idea what is playing .