Do any theaters still do those slideshows/trivia cards before the previews?

bluetoast · 05-13-12, 01:13 PM

It's been many years but I'm just not a fan of this "pre-show entertainment" nonsense with commercials for Iced Tea, or some TNT show nobody's going to watch.

I miss listening to Miles Davis while reading trivia cards, quotations from stars and seeing ads for local businesses.

Granted these days I don't really arrive that early so I only catch like 5-10 minutes of it, but when I went to the theater as a kid, we would usually arrive pretty early, so maybe that's why I remember seeing it more.

So do any theaters still do this? Anyone?!

Mike86 · 05-13-12, 01:17 PM

My local theater (Carmike Cinemas) still does this. They have something called Screen Vision that shows little multiple choice trivia questions along with some behind the scenes featurettes on upcoming movies and stuff.

mcfly · 05-13-12, 01:21 PM

Every major chain around here does (Regal and Cinemark/Century theatres). They're played before the Pre-Show countdown thing.

Jules Winfield · 05-13-12, 01:33 PM

I see trivia questions sometimes still. It would be nice if theaters showed a short, cartoon, anything besides ads.

Giantrobo · 05-13-12, 02:08 PM

AMC does as far as I can tell. To me pre show stuff is better than a blank screen.

Why So Blu? · 05-13-12, 02:31 PM

I think the Nuart in L.A. does.

scott1598 · 05-13-12, 02:48 PM

Shannon Nutt · 05-13-12, 03:11 PM

Mine does, but I prefer Cinemark's BTS videos. The theater that shows the slide cards only has about a dozen of them, so if you're in the theater 15 minutes early, you've got to sit through those things about 20 times. They contain such "fascinating" trivia as John Haam's nickame is "Ham and Cheese", and Anne Hathaway's first career choice was to be a nun. They're pretty lame.

Drexl · 05-13-12, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shannon Nutt

Mine does, but I prefer Cinemark's BTS videos. The theater that shows the slide cards only has about a dozen of them, so if you're in the theater 15 minutes early, you've got to sit through those things about 20 times. They contain such "fascinating" trivia as John Haam's nickame is "Ham and Cheese", and Anne Hathaway's first career choice was to be a nun. They're pretty lame.

Now I'm imagining a movie of The Flying Nun with Hathaway.

The Bus · 05-13-12, 04:08 PM

Otm Shank!

Spottedfeather · 05-13-12, 05:28 PM

AMC still does this. They also show the commercials for TNT shows. The thing about going really early is that they can run through the same trivia cards several times before the movies.

EdTheRipper · 05-13-12, 05:47 PM

My local theater has music videos, trivia questions and brief vignettes presented by the Reelz Channel.

arminius · 05-13-12, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shannon Nutt

Mine does, but I prefer Cinemark's BTS videos. The theater that shows the slide cards only has about a dozen of them, so if you're in the theater 15 minutes early, you've got to sit through those things about 20 times. They contain such "fascinating" trivia as John Haam's nickame is "Ham and Cheese", and Anne Hathaway's first career choice was to be a nun. They're pretty lame.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spottedfeather

AMC still does this. They also show the commercials for TNT shows. The thing about going really early is that they can run through the same trivia cards several times before the movies.

Well there is only a finite amount of trivia so it is understandable that they have to repeat them.

Shannon Nutt · 05-13-12, 06:44 PM

You'd think a big theater chain would invest in creating new serials. They're always looking for ways to get people to come to theaters...anything but making us look at a blank screen for 20 to 30 minutes.

Hokeyboy · 05-13-12, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Bus

Otm Shank!

Goddamn you...

brayzie · 05-13-12, 11:59 PM

I remember them from when I was younger. They showed trivia about movies like Pet Sematary {"What was the cat's name? a) Church b) Fluffy c) Jeffrey d) Kiwi"). All the cool movies were used like Chinatown, The Fly, Aliens, etc.

I haven't seen any of those trivia slideshows any more and I usually go to Century and AMC.

Now it's just ads for video games, and television shows.

mcfly · 05-14-12, 12:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brayzie

Now it's just ads for video games, and television shows.

AMC and Century still show them, you just have to basically be one of the first people in the theater. I tend to stay until after the credits for movies and for the most part the trivia bits start up after the film ends.

The United Artists theater here that's a cheap show only shows the trivia bits. They don't have that other stuff before the movie.

The Brendan Theater chain has one location about 45 minutes from here and the times I've gone they have more local ads and things, then the trailers start.

I started a thread on it a number of years ago because it was so different from other theaters I had been to.

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/other-talk/...s-theater.html

Matthew Chmiel · 05-14-12, 01:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcfly

I started a thread on it a number of years ago because it was so different from other theaters I had been to.

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/other-talk/...s-theater.html

I can't believe I didn't notice that thread when you posted it.

The Brenden Theaters location here in Vegas is one of the best theaters in town. Great IMAX screen, all their auditoriums are converting to Barco DLP systems within the next few weeks, and it'll be one of the first theaters in the country with the Dolby Atmos system installed. You know what? Johnny Brenden is actually a geniuenly swell dude and does a lot for the Vegas community.

... and after a business deal we did with him, he allowed us to watch the Super Bowl a few years ago in his fucking sweet office that is located above the movie theater's box office.

davidh777 · 05-14-12, 03:20 AM

I don't get the trivia any more (mostly Regal and AMC)--just commercials and promos. "Be sure to get here 20 minutes early to watch our crap!"

bdshort · 05-14-12, 03:52 AM

Local theater does this. Movie music, local advertising, and occasional movie "trivia", though it mostly consists of new releases. I wish they would throw in some trivia from older movies.

troystiffler · 05-14-12, 08:03 AM

Of course they're still used everywhere. It brings in big ad revenue for the theaters.

They used to use slide projectors. Now they use video projectors. Most everyone transitioned in the early 2000's. Everyone got on board because it wasn't very expensive.

Jaymole · 05-14-12, 08:29 AM

Jumble fun...guess the title:

rforste upmg

Alan Smithee · 05-14-12, 04:02 PM

Sad that the stuff they're currently doing is making the older slides look tasteful in comparison. I just about hit the roof when the theater I was a projectionist at got slide projectors installed. They made the screens look like fucking billboards, some of the trivia slides were even wrong. We had one screen with curtains that opened when the film started and closed at the end, but we had to disable them when the stupid slides were installed.

I mainly resent any kind of advertising in theaters because they already charge too much for tickets, then they expect you to buy overpriced snacks, so THEN force-feeding you ads that they're being paid to show is just going too far. (And when I had to put ads on the screens, I did NOT get a raise.) Besides, going to the theater should be an ESCAPE from crap you'd see on TV. Given that I hardly ever watch broadcast TV nowadays, I bet my TV hasn't shown nearly as many commercials as most theater screens have!

Another thing I hate about pre-show crap (and this is why I left my job at Regal) is that many new theaters have been built with common-width screens so scope movies are shown letterboxed with masking at the top and/or bottom of the screen. This is poor design in itself, but theaters that show ads have the masking go up in between shows so the ads are shown on a bigger screen than the actual movie, then the audience sees the masking come down at the start of the movie making the screen smaller.

fujishig · 05-14-12, 04:06 PM

I thought that most theaters don't make that much money from the actual ticket prices...

brayzie · 05-14-12, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan Smithee

Besides, going to the theater should be an ESCAPE from crap you'd see on TV. Given that I hardly ever watch broadcast TV nowadays, I bet my TV hasn't shown nearly as many commercials as most theater screens have!

.

I agree. I liked going to the theaters, and if you got there too early you got those cinema trivia slides, then a few preview trailers for other films, then the main event.

Showing ads for TV shows and candy bars makes it seem more mundane and less special.

05-13-12, 01:13 PM	#1
bluetoast DVD Talk Limited Edition Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 6,019	Do any theaters still do those slideshows/trivia cards before the previews? It's been many years but I'm just not a fan of this "pre-show entertainment" nonsense with commercials for Iced Tea, or some TNT show nobody's going to watch. I miss listening to Miles Davis while reading trivia cards, quotations from stars and seeing ads for local businesses. Granted these days I don't really arrive that early so I only catch like 5-10 minutes of it, but when I went to the theater as a kid, we would usually arrive pretty early, so maybe that's why I remember seeing it more. So do any theaters still do this? Anyone?! __________________ Uh oh...

05-13-12, 01:17 PM	#2
Mike86 DVD Talk Platinum Edition Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 3,970	Re: Do any theaters still do those slideshows/trivia cards before the previews? My local theater (Carmike Cinemas) still does this. They have something called Screen Vision that shows little multiple choice trivia questions along with some behind the scenes featurettes on upcoming movies and stuff.

05-13-12, 01:21 PM	#3
mcfly DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: California Posts: 8,877	Re: Do any theaters still do those slideshows/trivia cards before the previews? Every major chain around here does (Regal and Cinemark/Century theatres). They're played before the Pre-Show countdown thing. __________________ "I think, Lisa, that you've been taken in by an obvious forgery. Unfortunately, historical research is plagued by this sort of hoax -- the so-called confession. It's just as fake as the Howard Hughes will, the Hitler Diaries, or the Emancipation Retraction." *"You won't be seeing any prison movies where you're going - prison!"*

05-13-12, 01:33 PM	#4
Jules Winfield DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: wandering the earth like Caine in the Kung-Fu Posts: 19,702	Re: Do any theaters still do those slideshows/trivia cards before the previews? I see trivia questions sometimes still. It would be nice if theaters showed a short, cartoon, anything besides ads. __________________ The critics are raving about the return of Jules!! "Go fuck yourself!"- Bandoman "And maybe Jules should have just stayed away?"-d2cheer "...you judgmental prick."-Abob Teff "Oh, great...another crazy cat lady around here."-Mikael79

05-13-12, 02:08 PM	#5
Giantrobo DVD Talk Hero Join Date: Apr 1999 Location: TORRANCE, CA Posts: 48,267	Re: Do any theaters still do those slideshows/trivia cards before the previews? AMC does as far as I can tell. To me pre show stuff is better than a blank screen. __________________ XBOX Gamertag: Giantrobo On my 4th 360 as of 3.26.10

05-13-12, 02:31 PM	#6
Why So Blu? DVD Talk Platinum Edition Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 3,890	Re: Do any theaters still do those slideshows/trivia cards before the previews? I think the Nuart in L.A. does.

05-13-12, 02:48 PM	#7
scott1598 DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: I want to go to there! Posts: 19,343	Re: Do any theaters still do those slideshows/trivia cards before the previews? yes. __________________ "stranger than fiction" Movie collection "almost famous" SteelBook™ collection "Even though I am no better than a beast, don't I have the right to live?"

05-13-12, 03:11 PM	#8
Shannon Nutt DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 9,731	Re: Do any theaters still do those slideshows/trivia cards before the previews? Mine does, but I prefer Cinemark's BTS videos. The theater that shows the slide cards only has about a dozen of them, so if you're in the theater 15 minutes early, you've got to sit through those things about 20 times. They contain such "fascinating" trivia as John Haam's nickame is "Ham and Cheese", and Anne Hathaway's first career choice was to be a nun. They're pretty lame. __________________ http://www.highdefdigest.com/author/shannon-nutt.html XBox Live Gamertag: PittsburghNutt

05-13-12, 04:08 PM	#10
The Bus DVD Talk Godfather Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: New York Posts: 51,620	Re: Do any theaters still do those slideshows/trivia cards before the previews? Otm Shank! __________________ Movies: 2002 / 03 / 04 / 05 / 06 / 07 / 08 / 09 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 2013 "Too much disclaiming in this post." – Dr. Mabuse

05-13-12, 05:28 PM	#11
Spottedfeather DVD Talk Gold Edition Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: The lonely depths of my mind Posts: 2,380	Re: Do any theaters still do those slideshows/trivia cards before the previews? AMC still does this. They also show the commercials for TNT shows. The thing about going really early is that they can run through the same trivia cards several times before the movies. __________________ You are NOT entitled to an opinion. You are entitled to an INFORMED opinion.... God bless the ignore list....

05-13-12, 05:47 PM	#12
EdTheRipper DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Rhode Island Posts: 11,027	Re: Do any theaters still do those slideshows/trivia cards before the previews? My local theater has music videos, trivia questions and brief vignettes presented by the Reelz Channel.

05-13-12, 06:44 PM	#14
Shannon Nutt DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 9,731	Re: Do any theaters still do those slideshows/trivia cards before the previews? You'd think a big theater chain would invest in creating new serials. They're always looking for ways to get people to come to theaters...anything but making us look at a blank screen for 20 to 30 minutes. __________________ http://www.highdefdigest.com/author/shannon-nutt.html XBox Live Gamertag: PittsburghNutt

05-13-12, 11:59 PM	#16
brayzie DVD Talk Special Edition Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 1,836	Re: Do any theaters still do those slideshows/trivia cards before the previews? I remember them from when I was younger. They showed trivia about movies like Pet Sematary {"What was the cat's name? a) Church b) Fluffy c) Jeffrey d) Kiwi"). All the cool movies were used like Chinatown, The Fly, Aliens, etc. I haven't seen any of those trivia slideshows any more and I usually go to Century and AMC. Now it's just ads for video games, and television shows. __________________ Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.

05-14-12, 03:20 AM	#19
davidh777 DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Seattle Posts: 15,945	Re: Do any theaters still do those slideshows/trivia cards before the previews? I don't get the trivia any more (mostly Regal and AMC)--just commercials and promos. "Be sure to get here 20 minutes early to watch our crap!" __________________ Challenges: Drive-In 2013 \| Action 2013 \| Academy Award 2013 \| TV on DVD* 2013 \| Holiday 2012 \| Comedy 2012 \| Horror 2012 \| Criterion 2012 / 2011 \| Animation 2012 / 2011 / 2010 \| Sci-Fi 2012 / 2011 / 2010 \| Historical 2012 / 2011 / 2010 \| Make-Your-Own 2012 (Buffy/Avengers) / 2011 (Chuck) \| Leap Day 2012

05-14-12, 03:52 AM	#20
bdshort DVD Talk Ultimate Edition Join Date: Oct 1999 Location: The Last Frontier Posts: 4,575	Re: Do any theaters still do those slideshows/trivia cards before the previews? Local theater does this. Movie music, local advertising, and occasional movie "trivia", though it mostly consists of new releases. I wish they would throw in some trivia from older movies. __________________ PSN: bdshort

05-14-12, 08:03 AM	#21
troystiffler DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Nov 1999 Location: Phoenix, AZ, Passively angry as heck but gosh darn I'll sit back and take it you know, whatever Posts: 10,252	Re: Do any theaters still do those slideshows/trivia cards before the previews? Of course they're still used everywhere. It brings in big ad revenue for the theaters. They used to use slide projectors. Now they use video projectors. Most everyone transitioned in the early 2000's. Everyone got on board because it wasn't very expensive. __________________ Hrmph.

05-14-12, 08:29 AM	#22
Jaymole DVD Talk Limited Edition Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: N.Y, N.Y Posts: 5,231	Re: Do any theaters still do those slideshows/trivia cards before the previews? Jumble fun...guess the title: rforste upmg __________________ Seeegnature? I don't I have to show you any steeenkin seeegnature!

05-14-12, 04:02 PM	#23
Alan Smithee DVD Talk Reviewer Join Date: Oct 1999 Location: USA Posts: 3,562	Re: Do any theaters still do those slideshows/trivia cards before the previews? Sad that the stuff they're currently doing is making the older slides look tasteful in comparison. I just about hit the roof when the theater I was a projectionist at got slide projectors installed. They made the screens look like fucking billboards, some of the trivia slides were even wrong. We had one screen with curtains that opened when the film started and closed at the end, but we had to disable them when the stupid slides were installed. I mainly resent any kind of advertising in theaters because they already charge too much for tickets, then they expect you to buy overpriced snacks, so THEN force-feeding you ads that they're being paid to show is just going too far. (And when I had to put ads on the screens, I did NOT get a raise.) Besides, going to the theater should be an ESCAPE from crap you'd see on TV. Given that I hardly ever watch broadcast TV nowadays, I bet my TV hasn't shown nearly as many commercials as most theater screens have! Another thing I hate about pre-show crap (and this is why I left my job at Regal) is that many new theaters have been built with common-width screens so scope movies are shown letterboxed with masking at the top and/or bottom of the screen. This is poor design in itself, but theaters that show ads have the masking go up in between shows so the ads are shown on a bigger screen than the actual movie, then the audience sees the masking come down at the start of the movie making the screen smaller.

05-14-12, 04:06 PM	#24
fujishig DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Aug 1999 Posts: 13,695	Re: Do any theaters still do those slideshows/trivia cards before the previews? I thought that most theaters don't make that much money from the actual ticket prices...