7 ms·

I have an idea to fix this. - Start the movie on time - Don't play trailers before the movie - Don't play ads EVER for people paying for their ticket

ugh123 2y ago
Unfortunately, the lost revenue from marketing would just add cost to tickets. It's likely the theaters get a portion of that revenue if not most of it since it's time spent in their seats.
- delichon 2y ago
  That ignores the lost revenue from my butt missing from the chair. I watch at home lots more because of such shenanigans.
  - mbreese 2y ago
    How likely is it really that you'd go to a theater to watch a movie if they didn't have previews? If you want to see a movie in theaters, that's where you're going to be. If you're taking that view, you're probably not in their target (ahem) audience. I suspect that people are more sensitive to ticket prices than they are seeing ads, so if you're trying to maximize revenue, you'd want to limit increases in ticket prices to keep getting viewers in the seats. Then once they are there, try to extract as much additional revenue as possible (concessions, ads, etc). The theaters showing ads aren't trying to attract new viewers, they are trying to extract as much revenue as possible from their existing customers. (For better or worse)
    - TeMPOraL 2y ago
      I'd say your explanation is accurate, that's the calculus. It's the same everywhere. Unfortunately, the calculus never factors in the fact that it's unsustainable and over time destroys the medium, by changing peoples' and society's relationship with it. C.f. all the stories about "good old times" that are just remembrance of things before they got enshittificated.
  - jjmarr 2y ago
    If your time is worth a lot of money, you'll buy a home theatre anyways.
    - autoexec 2y ago
      Only if you have the money to spend. $30.00 to see a movie every so often is a lot easier to afford for someone living paycheck to paycheck. A person could probably see movies for several years without reaching the price of a good home theater system.
stemlord 2y ago
This is the best part of indie theaters. You show up and when the clock hits about the time shown on the ticket, the lights dim and the film just... starts
- Reason077 2y ago
  My local indie cinema has locally produced indie ads for local businesses. It’s cute and part of the charm! They also play trailers, but just 1 or 2, not a whole bunch like big chain cinemas.
slig 2y ago
Even all that won't fix: - assholes looking at their smartphone during the movie - assholes who won't shut the fuck up Gave up the whole movie theater experience. My fancy reclining sofa and huge 4K OLED TV are way better already.
- etrautmann 2y ago
  sure, those are completely separate issues from what's being discussed.
  - cjbgkagh 2y ago
    I think the point is that instead of asking cinemas to self regulate one could simply watch to movie at home. I see it as part of a general trend where public spaces are tarnished by a general public that is unable to behave itself. I think in time the process will accelerate and more and more public spaces will be replaced by private spaces. This is fine for people like myself who can afford such private spaces but I think it’s bad for society which I still have to live in.
    - ryandrake 2y ago
      Unfortunately, society in general, not just cinemas, has decided not to hold assholes accountable to their assholic behavior, so behavior is only going to get worse. It's something voters (and consumers by voting with wallet) have the collective power to change, but we refuse to.
      - cjbgkagh 2y ago
        There is a general loss of civility, in my view nothing can be done about it and those who try will be simply throwing themselves against the gears of the machine to no avail. If I was responsible for maintaining behavior in a public space, say as a restaurateur, the law would not be on my side. If I tell a minority woman that she needs to behave is that a hate crime or criminal misogyny? I'm sure my life would be destroyed while we found out. The state has in effect taken over the role of policing behavior and has done an incredibly bad job of it. This isn't a figment of my imagination - I was pulled into a tribunal because I expressed amusement at something my female colleague said, I thought it was funny and I thought we were friends, she made a misogyny complaint to hr. Trying to explain why I thought it was funny didn't help nor did the explanation that I would have acted the same if a man had said what she did. I've since avoided working at large companies which has been an impingement on my career but at least I don't have to be stressed each day about some possible perceived microaggression. Perhaps an intentional community which can use ostracism as a punishment to police behavior could be effective.
rolph 2y ago
there was a time when bumperclips were used, a time of film so merging between rolling projectors was an arcane ritual, the jumping hotdog is difficult to unsee https://yt.artemislena.eu/search?q=theater+intermissions https://yt.artemislena.eu/search?q=theater+intermissions [VIDEO]
HarHarVeryFunny 2y ago
Playing ads in general is fine - I like to see trailers for OTHER soon-to-be-released movies ... BUT, don't show trailers for the movie that is actually playing, or maybe simpler (no need to make it movie specific) just don't show trailers for movies that have already been released.
- mbreese 2y ago
  I like previews and trailers before the movie... sometimes it's informative (new movie that I didn't know about). But really, for me, they act as a palate cleanser of sorts. It sets the stage that I'm about to watch a movie. It serves to separate the "before movie" time from the "movie time". They let my mind shutdown the outside world. But showing documentary footage that spoils the movie I'm about to watch? Yeah... don't do that.
- yreg 2y ago
  If you consider the trailer for the movie you are just about to watch a spoiler, then I would expect that trailers for other movies that you might watch at some other time would be considered spoilers as well, no? What's the difference? (Other than the probability of actually at some time watching the movie being spoiled.)
  - HarHarVeryFunny 2y ago
    I don't tend to remember details of trailers - just that it looked good (or not), and then the name of the movie may stick in my head (or I may mark release date on my calendar). By the time the movie comes out months later, I'm not going to have remembered much about the trailer.
- stavros 2y ago
  I don't know, if the film starts at 9, start it at 9, don't start it at 9:15. I don't want to see the trailers, I'm just there for the film. Start the trailers at 8:45 if you want, but have the actual film start at the time it says, so I know how to skip the trailers I don't want to see.
nomel 2y ago
Where I am, this is deterministic: the "be quiet, the movie is starting" pre roll starts exactly 30 minutes after the claimed start time. I haven't seen an ad at a theater in years.
- asadm 2y ago
  this is how it is in bay area. we just arrive 30 mins late.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

ugh123 2y ago

Unfortunately, the lost revenue from marketing would just add cost to tickets. It's likely the theaters get a portion of that revenue if not most of it since it's time spent in their seats.

delichon 2y ago
That ignores the lost revenue from my butt missing from the chair. I watch at home lots more because of such shenanigans.
- mbreese 2y ago
  How likely is it really that you'd go to a theater to watch a movie if they didn't have previews? If you want to see a movie in theaters, that's where you're going to be. If you're taking that view, you're probably not in their target (ahem) audience. I suspect that people are more sensitive to ticket prices than they are seeing ads, so if you're trying to maximize revenue, you'd want to limit increases in ticket prices to keep getting viewers in the seats. Then once they are there, try to extract as much additional revenue as possible (concessions, ads, etc). The theaters showing ads aren't trying to attract new viewers, they are trying to extract as much revenue as possible from their existing customers. (For better or worse)
  - TeMPOraL 2y ago
    I'd say your explanation is accurate, that's the calculus. It's the same everywhere. Unfortunately, the calculus never factors in the fact that it's unsustainable and over time destroys the medium, by changing peoples' and society's relationship with it. C.f. all the stories about "good old times" that are just remembrance of things before they got enshittificated.
- jjmarr 2y ago
  If your time is worth a lot of money, you'll buy a home theatre anyways.
  - autoexec 2y ago
    Only if you have the money to spend. $30.00 to see a movie every so often is a lot easier to afford for someone living paycheck to paycheck. A person could probably see movies for several years without reaching the price of a good home theater system.

stemlord 2y ago

This is the best part of indie theaters. You show up and when the clock hits about the time shown on the ticket, the lights dim and the film just... starts

Reason077 2y ago
My local indie cinema has locally produced indie ads for local businesses. It’s cute and part of the charm! They also play trailers, but just 1 or 2, not a whole bunch like big chain cinemas.

slig 2y ago

Even all that won't fix: - assholes looking at their smartphone during the movie - assholes who won't shut the fuck up Gave up the whole movie theater experience. My fancy reclining sofa and huge 4K OLED TV are way better already.

etrautmann 2y ago
sure, those are completely separate issues from what's being discussed.
- cjbgkagh 2y ago
  I think the point is that instead of asking cinemas to self regulate one could simply watch to movie at home. I see it as part of a general trend where public spaces are tarnished by a general public that is unable to behave itself. I think in time the process will accelerate and more and more public spaces will be replaced by private spaces. This is fine for people like myself who can afford such private spaces but I think it’s bad for society which I still have to live in.
  - ryandrake 2y ago
    Unfortunately, society in general, not just cinemas, has decided not to hold assholes accountable to their assholic behavior, so behavior is only going to get worse. It's something voters (and consumers by voting with wallet) have the collective power to change, but we refuse to.
    - cjbgkagh 2y ago
      There is a general loss of civility, in my view nothing can be done about it and those who try will be simply throwing themselves against the gears of the machine to no avail. If I was responsible for maintaining behavior in a public space, say as a restaurateur, the law would not be on my side. If I tell a minority woman that she needs to behave is that a hate crime or criminal misogyny? I'm sure my life would be destroyed while we found out. The state has in effect taken over the role of policing behavior and has done an incredibly bad job of it. This isn't a figment of my imagination - I was pulled into a tribunal because I expressed amusement at something my female colleague said, I thought it was funny and I thought we were friends, she made a misogyny complaint to hr. Trying to explain why I thought it was funny didn't help nor did the explanation that I would have acted the same if a man had said what she did. I've since avoided working at large companies which has been an impingement on my career but at least I don't have to be stressed each day about some possible perceived microaggression. Perhaps an intentional community which can use ostracism as a punishment to police behavior could be effective.

rolph 2y ago

there was a time when bumperclips were used, a time of film so merging between rolling projectors was an arcane ritual, the jumping hotdog is difficult to unsee https://yt.artemislena.eu/search?q=theater+intermissions https://yt.artemislena.eu/search?q=theater+intermissions [VIDEO]

HarHarVeryFunny 2y ago

Playing ads in general is fine - I like to see trailers for OTHER soon-to-be-released movies ... BUT, don't show trailers for the movie that is actually playing, or maybe simpler (no need to make it movie specific) just don't show trailers for movies that have already been released.

mbreese 2y ago
I like previews and trailers before the movie... sometimes it's informative (new movie that I didn't know about). But really, for me, they act as a palate cleanser of sorts. It sets the stage that I'm about to watch a movie. It serves to separate the "before movie" time from the "movie time". They let my mind shutdown the outside world. But showing documentary footage that spoils the movie I'm about to watch? Yeah... don't do that.
yreg 2y ago
If you consider the trailer for the movie you are just about to watch a spoiler, then I would expect that trailers for other movies that you might watch at some other time would be considered spoilers as well, no? What's the difference? (Other than the probability of actually at some time watching the movie being spoiled.)
- HarHarVeryFunny 2y ago
  I don't tend to remember details of trailers - just that it looked good (or not), and then the name of the movie may stick in my head (or I may mark release date on my calendar). By the time the movie comes out months later, I'm not going to have remembered much about the trailer.
stavros 2y ago
I don't know, if the film starts at 9, start it at 9, don't start it at 9:15. I don't want to see the trailers, I'm just there for the film. Start the trailers at 8:45 if you want, but have the actual film start at the time it says, so I know how to skip the trailers I don't want to see.

nomel 2y ago

Where I am, this is deterministic: the "be quiet, the movie is starting" pre roll starts exactly 30 minutes after the claimed start time. I haven't seen an ad at a theater in years.

asadm 2y ago
this is how it is in bay area. we just arrive 30 mins late.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]