8mm Forum: Why Watch Trailers?

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Posted by Brad Kimball (Member # 5) on March 31, 2018, 08:37 PM:

I’ve always been intrigued as to why people collect trailers. It’s only 2.5 minutes of wipes, dissolves and jerky cuts with words obstructing the action and/or a narrator talking over what litte dialogue there is to be heard. Personally, I never got bit by the “trailer bug”. Even Headline editions from home movie outfits at least had 3 full minutes of uninterrupted action with minimal title cards.

Posted by Bill Phelps (Member # 1431) on March 31, 2018, 09:01 PM:

I like splicing them on the beginning of a show reel that you run with guests to give your home cinema the feel of a theater experience. Also, I like having trailers of my favorite movies and if I have the feature it is also nice to have the trailer to go with it. Some trailers are very good. [Smile]

Posted by Douglas Warren (Member # 1047) on March 31, 2018, 09:01 PM:

I collect trailers in 16mm. Trailers can really differ from decade to decade as far style is concerned. I think for me it allows me to relive the excitement of new films being announced in the pre-internet era.

Posted by Bob Furmanek (Member # 3734) on March 31, 2018, 09:56 PM:

Many older trailers (pre-1970) contain alternate takes or deleted scenes.

For instance, several Elvis trailers contain brief clips of songs that were deleted from the final edit of the feature.

Posted by Oliver F. R. Feld (Member # 1911) on April 01, 2018, 02:26 AM:

I only screen trailers of features I own before the big show begins.
So my audience can figure out what will come next or what is „new“ in the programme.
It creates this special movie atmosphere.

Posted by Mark Mander (Member # 340) on April 01, 2018, 03:11 AM:

I never used to bother much about trailers then I bought a few off a forum member who was really into them,I caught the bug after buying a few of my favourite films,I have now got approx 45 400ft reels of super 8 and a few on 16mm,they can make a good reel to sit and watch instead of a cutdown,Mark

Posted by Maurizio Di Cintio (Member # 144) on April 01, 2018, 04:16 AM:

Same for me: splicing trailers before the film to be screened is a way to re-create the typical movie theatre experience: I even add some commercials (self-made, because they must be in Italian and contemporary) and a "policy" reel.

Posted by Brian Fretwell (Member # 4302) on April 01, 2018, 04:21 AM:

Yes some trailers, adverts and sometimes a "look at Life" or newsreel starts off a feature very well. I have a couple of reels spliced together that I have labelled "Program Start".

Posted by Michael Lattavo (Member # 4280) on April 01, 2018, 05:56 AM:

Whenever I run an outdoor show I set everything up during the day, so running trailers oce it gets dark is a nice way to get the lenses focused and sound set before the feature.

Plus, I think they're fun, it helps to mimic a theatre experience!

Posted by David Ollerearnshaw (Member # 3296) on April 01, 2018, 06:06 AM:

All part of the 'And full supporting programme'

And on quite a few modern films even the trailers are too long.

Posted by Oliver F. R. Feld (Member # 1911) on April 01, 2018, 06:21 AM:

I was lucky to get the original trailer of DAVID LEANS „Great Expectations“ from a forum member which is approx. 4 minutes: magnificent. It was shown before „The Magic Box“ feature and my audience asked for the LEAN feature after the “Box“ has ended.
They expect commercials and a trailer before the show starts as in good old theatre times - and I think it should be a part of the screening.

Posted by David Fouracre (Member # 3883) on April 01, 2018, 06:59 AM:

I think in some cases. the trailers are better than the feature, containing the best scenes.
The old MGM trailers are an entertainment in their own right, and very well edited. Their sound editing for musical trailers is skilful and classy.

Posted by Joe Caruso (Member # 11) on April 01, 2018, 07:27 AM:

We just ran a reel of horror and comedy trailers, some Real-art reissues, some originals - There are alternate takes, I find trailers very interesting to study, the older the better - Shorty

Posted by Melvin England (Member # 5270) on April 01, 2018, 04:29 PM:

10 reasons to watch trailers on super 8

1) West Side Story

2) Rambo

3) Twister

4) Father Of The Bride

5) Four Weddings And A Funeral

6) Schindler's List

7) Oliver

8) The Rock

9) Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World

10) Help!

I will happily be shot down in flames by fellow forum members if I am proved to be wrong to say that these titles that I have in my possession do not exist in any other version in the super 8 format other than as trailers.
( I nearly included the DiCaprio "Titanic" but I think Steve Osborne would beg to differ).

.

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on April 01, 2018, 08:28 PM:

Derann used to have an extensive trl list and over those years I bought these.. [Smile]

1...Jurassic Park
2...Braveheart
3...Titanic "flat"
4....Lord Of The Rings
5....Castaway
6....The Perfect Storm
7...Pearl Harbour
8...Waterworld
9...The Lion King.
10..Dinosaur

In Scope....
1...Titanic
2...Peter Pan "2003"
4...Mutiny on the Bounty
5...Dr Zhivago
6...Star Wars Trilogy
7...The Phanton Menace
8...2001

And a few others I cant remember oh! Both "The Lion King" Promo Elton John singing "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" and the "Dinosaur" Promo were very good.

At the moment have have boxes of 35mm trls, but only a few make it onto a mix of trl/ads reels both in flat and Scope.

Its a lot of fun picking them out and compiling the odd reel or two... [Cool]

...its a bit of nostalgia looking back and some were very well made [Smile]

However this one I uploaded to you-tube is my favorite..

https://youtu.be/mLgb4K_hTls

Posted by Dominique De Bast (Member # 3798) on April 02, 2018, 02:13 AM:

Melvin, West Side Story exists in super 8 😉

https://www.bd-cine.com/fiche.php?id=14892

[ April 02, 2018, 11:30 AM: Message edited by: Dominique De Bast ]

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on April 02, 2018, 02:58 AM:

I also believe the feature of Rambo is about, although rare

I love trailers and agree that often they are better than watching the whole film. Castaway is a trailer that more or less gives you the whole plot in less than 3 minutes, (but i do enjoy the feature to).Many of my Disney long promos are mounted onto 600ft spools and make great half hours worth of entertainment for any audience. Other trailers are joined onto the start of a feature, Zulu and Battle of Britain are together on a full 200ft spool while some are left solo.
Here are mine at present.

A Day at the races & A night at the opera
A Bridge Too Far Scope
A View to a Kill
101 Dalmations Disney live
2001 a space odyssey
Aliens/The Fly Trailer reel
An American tale
An officer & a Gentleman Scope
Batman, (Michael Keaton)
Broken Arrow Scope
Casino Royal
Castaway
Chicago & The Matrix reloaded Scope
cinema cinema.promo
Clash of the titans
Dark Star teaser trailer
Dinosaur . Includes Virgin cinemas opening
Dinosaur promo reel.
Dragonheart Scope
Elf Scope
Evita
Fantasia 2000
Finding Nemo/Jungle book 2/Treasure Planet
Future Generations & The runaway Train
Goldeneye
Gone with the wind re-release trailer
Home Alone
Hunchback of Notre Damn Disney version
Independents day. ID4 scope
Indiana Jones / last crusade in production
Jaws Special promo scope
Kawasaki Bike ad Scope
Kelly's Heroes Scope
Lawrence of Arabia Scope
License to Kill
License to kill
Lion King promo Elton John video
Lion King special preview
Little Mermaid sing a long promo
Master & Commander
Men in black Scope
Men in Black 2
Miracle on 34th Street Richard Attenbrough.
Mobile Phone spoof
Murphy's war Scope
Mutiny on the Bounty Scope
Oliver Scope
Once upon a time in the West Scope
Pocahontas. Disney special preview
Phantom of the opera.
Psycho. Alfred Hitchcock special promo
Pulp Fiction
Rambo
Rooster Gogburn Scope
Saturday night fever promo
Saving Private Ryan
Scars of Dracula teaser trailer
Scope 55/ Carousel Promo Scope
Silent Running teaser trailer
Singing in the rain
Sleepy Hollow
Spider Man 2002
Star Wars. The Phantom menace Scope
Star Wars Revenge of the Sith Scope
Tarzan. Disney special preview
That’s Dancing
The Alamo Scope
The Battle of Britain Scope
The Cat in the Hat Scope
the Empire strikes back Scope
The Good the bad & the ugly
The Human factor
The Klansman
The Jazz Singer
The last Samurai Scope
The Living Daylights
The Living Daylights (with Odeon daysets)
The Man with the Golden Gun.
The McMasters
The Passage Scope
The Raven Scope
The Sound Of Music Scope
This is it Scope
Titanic
Tommy
Toy Story
True Lies
Who Dares Wins
Winchester 73
Where Eagles dare
Who framed Roger Rabbit
Young Frankenstein
Zulu Scope

Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on April 02, 2018, 12:13 PM:

Some trailers are a work of art and you're never likely to be bored by them. And if it's all you can buy, it can be a nice souvenir. Good ones will of course encourage the audience to see a feature, so it's always good to be able to preview the feature at your next show, if you happen to have the trailer. Very occasionally, you find something out of the ordinary, such as Peter Cushing as Baron Frankenstein addressing the audience in the scene shot specially for the 'The Revenge of Frankenstein' trailer. Or there's the fun appearances by William Castle in trailers such as 'Homicidal'.

It used to be great when you could really surprise people with Super 8 trailers. I recall once astounding my audience at a show which included the scope trailer for 'Terminator 3' weeks before it was released in the UK, thanks to CHC obtaining it fast and putting it on a reel of three scope fantasy trailers!

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on April 02, 2018, 12:14 PM:

Bob's right, often there are alternate shots or even shots from deleted scenes in general.

Posted by Melvin England (Member # 5270) on April 02, 2018, 12:39 PM:

Dominique - I had just read the latest film list from CHC just before reading your comment, and on that list was reel #5 of West Side Story. I would have corrected my list but you beat me to it.

Tom - One hell of a collection !

Posted by Brian Fretwell (Member # 4302) on April 02, 2018, 01:55 PM:

For something very different from the actual film I like the Hitchcock "Psycho" - walking around the sets trailer.

Posted by Rich Malmsten (Member # 5787) on April 02, 2018, 03:25 PM:

I don't have many Super-8 trailers, but I'll sometimes get one if I have the digest of the movie. I splice them together to make a double feature. I've done this for:

"Star Wars - Phantom Menace" in front of Derann's "The Pod Race"

"Captain America First Avenger" with the new Captain America cutdown

"Fellowship of the Rings" with "The Mines of Moria" extract

"Raiders of the Lost Ark" with the Marketing digest

It's not a big thing for me, but fun to do every now and then.

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on April 02, 2018, 03:28 PM:

Thank you Melvin,

Brian, hows this for luck, some years ago i bought a 400ft U8 copy of Psycho from a second hand list,When it arrived i thought it was a nice full reel, when i viewed it i knew why, clearly, the dealer didn't check it before putting it on his list, (how unusual [Big Grin]

), spliced at the start of the reel was this very promo, and it was the original first release so is on b/w stock. It's a great openeing for the 400 footer. [Wink]

Posted by Panayotis A. Carayannis (Member # 1220) on April 02, 2018, 03:56 PM:

Generally,I don't buy individual trailers because they are expensive.For two or three minutes the price is that of a full one reel short. But I have been lucky to find trailer reels,full 8 to 10 minutes,where the price is ... that of a regular one reel short!! Also I have found, second hand,multiple trailer reels made by collectors,which I have embelished little by little into thematic ones! Of my most prized are two 600 ft reels of MGM musical trailers from the thirties and MGM musical trailers of the forties ,both arranged chronologically.Others are: Republic serial trailers ,400 ft;Silent serial trailers,400 ft; Silent western trailers;400 ft;Bette Davis trailers;400 ft;Sherlock Holmes trailers;200 ft; Cinemascope musical trailers etc,etc,etc. Promos,I keep separate as they are full one reelers.
And of course many use different or discarted scenes and contribute to the fun of film watching!

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on April 02, 2018, 04:11 PM:

Aside a few exceptions, most of our trailers were under a tenner, many costing between five and ten quid, there were a few we bought new, titanic and saving private Ryan two name two.

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on April 02, 2018, 07:18 PM:

Thats an impressive list Tom [Cool]

some very rare ones to [Smile]

Years ago I watched a film called "Dear Frankie"....a Scottish one [Smile]

Anyway I saw the trl on you-tube and the kid doing the dialogue sounded like he was an American doing a Scottish accent.. [Eek!]

NOOOOOOOO I thought. Anyway I had the trl on 35mm, but had never watched it, so screened it the other day and to my relief the dialogue was spoken by the same Scottish youngster as used for the dialogue in the film.....thank goodness [Big Grin]

Posted by Burton Sundquist (Member # 5813) on April 04, 2018, 12:20 AM:

...I remember when I was a young lad going to the local cinema was quite an event to look forward to. The coming attractions were always a thrill to see, some even more exciting than the feature presentation itself! Today, as other members have mentioned, I look for trailers to companion the features I have,
And show it prior the feature to warm the audience up for the full presentation.

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on April 04, 2018, 06:16 AM:

Thanks Graham, it all started with the free trailer that came with a few iver films i bought from new. They use to offer free trailers, my first few were The Human Factor, The Klansman and The McMasters, all freebies and all full length. Human Factor and Klansman were sold on but still have McMasters and all the others. Again, its a list i will be downsizing over the coming year in order to reduce 8mm and get a few more 16s.

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